Before the great battle, Song Yueyao had already arranged everything.
Chai Xiaomi’s task was to stay behind and tend to the severely wounded soldiers.
Among them was an older man with the gravest injuries. His wounds needed fresh medicinal powder every day, and the gauze soaked with blood and pus had to be changed. As practice made perfect, Xiaomi grew skillful, chatting idly while bandaging him:
“Uncle Zheng, let me tell you—when my dad used to cut his hand chopping vegetables, he’d squeal like a pig being slaughtered. Mom wouldn’t even glance up from the kitchen. You’re way tougher than him.”
“Your dad cooks?” The old soldier laughed despite himself.
“That’s right! In our family, it’s always been the men who do the cooking. The most Mom ever did in the kitchen was wash fruit.”
The old soldier grimaced through the pain, his grin wide. “That’s a rarity. But if I had a daughter like you, old man like me wouldn’t mind washing dishes and making soup. Looks like your parents raised you well—rosy cheeks, just like a Lucky Doll pasted on the door during New Year’s.”
Xiaomi’s hands didn’t pause. She deftly tied off the gauze, then dropped her gaze with a bittersweet smile. “Not exactly. I haven’t seen my parents in a long time.”
The old soldier froze.
“But,” she lifted her head, shaking off that brief bitterness, her lips curving up, “in the days since they’ve been gone, my husband has taken care of me. He’s raised me well, too.”
“He knows I have a sweet tooth, so he always buys me lots of treats. He knows I love beauty, so he buys me pretty dresses. And he never lets me lift a finger—he snatches the washbasin when I try to do laundry, grabs the broom when I try to sweep, even fights me for the cup when I pour water. I tell him I’m not made of porcelain, and he says I’m his Porcelain Doll.”
“Ha! Old man here just called you a Lucky Doll, but turns out you’re a Porcelain Doll!” The soldier gazed at her with fondness, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes piling up.
Then, without warning, her eyes turned red.
Huge teardrops rolled down, completely unanticipated, splashing onto the fresh gauze and leaving tiny wet stains.
“Girl, what’s wrong?”
Beyond the city walls, thunderous cheers burst through the gates, flooding in from all directions.
“Victory! We’ve won!!!”
The severely wounded soldiers erupted in ecstasy, propping themselves up, ignoring even the wounds that split open again.
But those joyful, excited, fervent shouts were all shut out.
In Chai Xiaomi’s mind, only Youtiao’s hesitant, mechanical voice remained:
‘System detected: Main storyline “Defeat the Barbarians” has been completed. Two characters have been judged as “destined to die” and are being forcibly taken offline. Plot correction complete. Approaching final chapter.’
‘Congratulations, host! Your task of transmigrating into the novel is complete. Did you enjoy this journey? A rating interface will appear shortly. Remember to give this system a five-star review. In ten minutes, the system will transport you back to your original world. Countdown begins.’
Youtiao rattled off the final canned speech in a businesslike tone, then quietly added, ‘Goodbye, Xiaomi.’
It knew they’d never see each other again.
And it knew that Xiaomi’s hope had been dashed.
It just felt sorry—it was only a system, unable to interfere with the plot’s design.
Before her, a glowing countdown display slowly materialized.
“Forcibly taken offline? Who’s forcing who offline?” Not bothering to wipe her tears, Xiaomi broke into a desperate sprint toward the city gate.
Yet the closer she got to the gate, the more frantically her heart pounded.
The cheers gradually faded into silence.
A foreboding dread crept over her, unbidden.
The city gate stood wide open.
A familiar figure knelt in the distance.
The boy—his back to her—was enveloped in a swirling halo of multicolored light beneath a circular revolving formation. Glowing patterns spiraled, blocking everyone out.
Above, a brilliant multicolored orb hovered, slowly rotating.
Crimson threads of blood stretched from Wu Li’s entire body, like strands of silk, flowing endlessly toward the top of the city wall.
Chai Xiaomi raised her eyes. On the rampart stood a man—Grand Preceptor Yin—the blood threads entering his body. In his hand was a divination compass, a cold smirk curling on his lips. “No matter what tricks you pull, none of it will work. The Illusionary Rainbow Stone is the world’s greatest treasure. The formation is complete; no one can break it. Try to force it, and you’ll only die from the backlash!”
“Thanks to a deserter’s intelligence, I finally learned that this precious immortal body was right here in Deer City.”
Grand Preceptor Yin sneered at the others relentless attacking the formation, feeling his lifespan swelling inside him.
“So, it’s you who’s been seeking the way to immortality all along! My foolish father was just a tool you used!” Song Yueyao was blasted back by the formation’s energy, and Jiang Zhiyu rushed to catch her.
Blood stained both their lips. No matter what, they couldn’t break into the formation.
The White Cat, the most grievously wounded, glared at the boy inside the formation with heartache and fury, its voice trembling as it cursed, “You brat! Trapped by your own arrogance! You used all the Nighthoard bats and insect swarms to shield the soldiers, leaving not a single barrier to protect yourself.”
If it hadn’t been for that, how could this despicable man have found his opening?
As the cunning villain himself said, the Illusionary Rainbow Stone was a rare, divine artifact capable of absorbing all powers for its own use. Wu Li’s pure blood was now being drained drop by drop by the orb, channeled into the villain’s body.
Seeing the White Cat about to stagger to its feet again, Wu Li managed a faint, broken smile. “Don’t waste your strength…”
After that, he had no breath left to speak.
He suddenly felt that this ending was never meant for him to escape.
His lovely wife—a luxury, a gift bestowed by fate. She didn’t even belong to this world.
So, when he indulged fully in the warmth, beauty, and joy she gave him, he had to pay the price.
After all, he had once been a thorough villain, with blood on his hands—yet he had accidentally stumbled upon such a precious treasure.
The heavens were so petty; how could they ever keep favoring him?
Or perhaps, his deal with the Lady of the Underworld had finally come due.
If his fate could buy her safety and peace for the rest of her days, why wouldn’t he welcome it?
With that thought, instead of any sadness, he felt a flicker of joy—a joy laced with reluctance.
In the end, he had been greedy…
The boy’s spine slowly bent.
Defeated and lost.
A hundred meters behind him, Youtiao’s mechanical voice now carried a hint of sobbing: ‘A villain is still a villain. No matter how hard we try, the plot will spawn countless variations to erase him.’
‘Xiaomi, open your eyes. Didn’t you miss your family? Only five more minutes. You’re about to return to your own world, to reunite with them! You finally have a way home—don’t be foolish anymore!’
Chai Xiaomi didn’t answer.
She just stared at that stooped figure. At that once-defiant, arrogant boy, now like a dying lamp, fading bit by bit in the darkness.
Her hands trembled. Her eyes burned. But her gaze had never been this clear.
Youtiao was stunned: "Wait! What are you doing? You’ve already completed the mission!"
The young girl raised the bow that shimmered with glacial light. The bowstring stretched under her fingertips like a cold crescent moon. "I remember what Ouyang Huai said—that this divine weapon can shatter the power of any immortal sect’s artifact. He who wields this bow can break all things in the world."
Youtiao’s voice cracked with panic: "No, no! The artifact’s formation is already active. Forcing your way through will trigger backlash. You’ll die!"
Chai Xiaomi’s tone was resolute: "If the plot insists on killing him, then let me bear this destined fate for him."
Youtiao wanted to argue further, but the words died in its throat.
It remembered something.
Given its host’s terrible aim—forget hitting a target—she couldn’t even draw a proper arrow from this ice bow. When Wu Li had taught her before, it had been a total disaster. Honestly, she only knew how to play music with this bow.
The countdown on the light screen showed only three minutes left. Youtiao breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Returning the host safely to her world was the system’s duty. Bringing Xiaomi back to her family was its last bit of selfishness as a friend.
But something unexpected happened.
Chai Xiaomi silently recited the techniques Wu Li had once taught her:
"Three steps: release your fingers, steady your body, fix your eyes..."
In a daze, she seemed to feel the scorching sunlight of that day, the cool wind by the lake, and the lazy drawl of the young man whispering by her ear, as clear as a mountain stream flowing, resonating with her heartbeat: "Archery isn’t about drawing the bow with your hands. It’s about guiding the arrow with your back. At the moment of release, your will must reach the target before the arrow."
"Will..." she murmured, repeating his words.
On the bowstring, a blinding light suddenly gathered, shining into her burning eyes.
Hot tears fell one by one, glittering in the white radiance.
"Mom, Dad, I’m sorry."
If it were you, you would have done the same for each other without hesitation.
The countdown on the light screen read just ten seconds.
Nine, eight, seven, six...
A beam of light shot from the string!
Like lightning, it struck the floating, shimmering crystal in the air. Light rippled across the sky and earth as the orb shattered, petal by petal.
"Xiaomi! Xiaomi! Xia—"
Detecting the host’s life signs fading, the system could no longer cling to her. Youtiao was forcefully recalled by headquarters, its voice fading away.
The crystal burst apart!
Countless fragments exploded outward like a cascading rain of stars, dyeing the entire sky into a patchwork of brilliant colors.
Blinding, dazzling, like a blooming, splendid firework.
She never imagined that the crystal she had once struggled to steal by crawling through a doghole would end up blooming before her eyes in such a way.
Chai Xiaomi seemed almost amused, a faint smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
Then, drained of all strength, she slowly fell...
