Chapter 24: We Will Not Separate

Inside the dungeon, Zhe Zilin piled the messy straw together and sat down heavily.

He had not slept all night. His eyelids were unbearably heavy. He desperately needed a deep sleep to recover.

He immediately closed his eyes to rest and recuperate.

Ailia stood to the side, her mood low.

She regretted taking Zhe Zilin away from the castle back then. If she had been a little more forceful and fed him the magic potion, none of this would have happened.

Zhe Zilin squinted and noticed Ailia’s dejected expression. She stood motionless, as if she had lost her soul.

“You should rest for a while, Ailia. Praying day and night has left you exhausted.”

During the prayer, one could not slack off at all. They had to stay alert and could not rest for three days and three nights.

Ailia’s body was now extremely fatigued. She could barely think about anything else. She only wanted to take Zhe Zilin away from this place of trouble.

But there were guards inside the dungeon. Outside, Leon had stationed a hundred armored guards to prevent her from escaping with magic.

Ailia wanted to escape with Zhe Zilin, but without complete confidence, she would not let him take the risk.

Her spirit was nearing its limit. Her mind was in chaos. Ailia’s breathing grew rapid. After hesitating again and again, she finally made up her mind.

“Ed, I will take you away right now.”

She bit open five of her fingers, intending to use her trump card.

The reason she had been unable to decide until now was because the price was far too great. Even for her, it would be difficult to bear afterward.

Zhe Zilin opened his eyes. Although he did not know what Ailia was about to do, when he saw her expression of facing death without fear, he immediately stood up to stop her.

“Don’t rush. It’s not time yet.”

In truth, even if he wanted to find a way out, Zhe Zilin could not think of any solution for the moment.

Leon would never allow himself to fall under suspicion of matricide. He would definitely insist that Ailia had killed Lady Snow. There was no point trying anything with him.

Osha… Zhe Zilin had hesitated.

He was not stupid. Osha had been testing him the whole time. She had probably noticed something. There was only a thin layer of paper between them, and neither had pierced it yet.

But Osha would not save anyone. At the very least, she would not save Ailia. She might even make things more difficult for her and drive her to death.

However, if the other party was willing to rescue him, then he could also find a way to save Ailia later.

This was what Zhe Zilin was currently hesitating about.

He was waiting. Waiting for Osha to arrive. If that did not work, he would use reload to break the deadlock.

Zhe Zilin reassured Ailia, “We must remain calm even if Mount Tai collapses before us. We need to steady ourselves first before we can defeat the enemy.”

In the past, Ailia had always remained calm no matter what danger she faced and handled everything with composure. But ever since Zhe Zilin had been by her side, she had started to hesitate and look ahead and behind. When she could not find a solution for a moment, she would even panic and lose her footing.

Once a person had a weakness, they could no longer maintain a fearless mindset.

Zhe Zilin also understood clearly that if it were not for him, Ailia would never have compromised in front of Leon. She might have killed her way in and out seven times without any problem.

Therefore, he could not let Ailia take such a huge risk again.

After settling Ailia down on the pile of straw, Zhe Zilin stood up and walked to the dungeon entrance, quietly waiting.

It was not only Ailia who was anxious. There was someone even more urgent. That was why Zhe Zilin did not have to wait long.

The dungeon door opened. Osha had Griet take away all the guards. She came to the cell alone.

Inside the dark dungeon, the two of them stood facing each other across the prison door.

“Didn’t you say you were just an ordinary woodcutter? How did you get involved with the witch?”

The girl tugged at the hem of her skirt. A bone-chilling cold spread out, even more piercing than the sky of the North.

“I’m sorry, Osha. I lied to you.”

Zhe Zilin finally pierced through the tacit understanding between them.

“I am Leibang Ed.”

Osha’s body trembled. The cold instantly stopped pouring out. She rubbed her eyes, looking dazed.

“Ed…?”

She asked in disbelief.

This matter had exceeded her expectations. At this moment, Osha forgot what emotions she had carried with her when she entered the dungeon.

Anger? Annoyance? Resentment?

She had clearly come with killing intent, determined to settle the score with him. The rage she felt had to be released. It would be best if it burned everything down, including herself.

But the moment Zhe Zilin actively admitted his identity, a basin of cold water was poured over her fire. Facing the person before her, she could no longer make it burn.

Osha pressed her lips together and curled up on the ground. Just like before, in front of Leibang Ed, she had always been a fragile princess.

Her eyes lowered. Her voice was unhurried. “Ed, why did you leave? Why did you deceive me?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t remember what happened before.”

Zhe Zilin was not lying. He remembered Osha as a person, but he had forgotten their shared past.

Yet these words were too hurtful. They stabbed deep into Osha’s heart like a knife.

She stood up. The beautiful memories of the two of them appeared in her eyes, only to completely dissipate because of Zhe Zilin’s single sentence. All that remained was disbelief and sorrow.

“Ed, you must be lying to me, right? We first met in the small garden. You proposed to me in Obsidian City. We held our engagement banquet in the palace. You said you would make me the happiest person in the world.”

“You can’t have forgotten. You’re lying to me, aren’t you?”

Zhe Zilin remained silent. He did not want to deceive Osha. The Leibang Ed who had once loved her dearly was gone. Now there was only a Leibang Ed who had lost his memories.

He had no recollections and no feelings for Osha. If he wanted Osha to rescue him, he could have easily pretended and muddled through.

But Zhe Zilin felt that would be unfair. He would be taking advantage of someone else’s feelings.

So he confessed honestly, “I have forgotten everything from the past. The Leibang Ed you see now is no longer the Leibang Ed from before.”

Osha gave a bitter smile and stepped back. Tears welled up in her eyes. Her brows ached, and the tears began to flow uncontrollably.

“Why are you telling me this? Why did you have to tell me you lost your memories?”

“You’re still lying to me, aren’t you? You want to use this method to make me rescue you and, while you’re at it, save the witch behind you. You want to explain through this method that because you lost your memories, you ended up with this witch. You didn’t betray me, right…”

Her voice was low. Because of the tears, it had become somewhat hoarse. The girl’s face was pale as she stared blankly into space.

Zhe Zilin felt Osha’s indescribable grief. The cruelty of reality had destroyed all of the girl’s fantasies. He remembered that when Osha spoke of the past in her room, she had clearly been so happy and content.

Perhaps it was also because of that moment that Zhe Zilin felt he should not have hidden the truth.

When Osha had spoken to him with such hope about their beautiful past, only to find that he felt nothing at all and remained silent, would Osha begin to suspect that the former Leibang Ed had been deceiving her?

But Zhe Zilin was not the former Leibang Ed. He could not deny the memories that belonged only to Osha and him.

“It’s not like that, Osha. I just felt that it wouldn’t be fair to you.”

Osha lifted her head and stared straight at Ailia. Suddenly, a bewitching smile appeared on her face.

“I understand now. Ed, you were bewitched by the witch. You lost your mind.”

Immediately after, Osha ignored the prison door and walked straight through the iron bars toward Ailia.

“As long as I kill the witch, it will be fine. Just kill her…”

Zhe Zilin did not know when a dagger had appeared in Osha’s hand. Perhaps she had been carrying it all along, or perhaps it was magic.

Before he could even process the sight of Osha passing through the prison bars, he stepped forward and quickly stopped her.

“I will come accompany you right away.”

Osha’s voice was soft.

Thud.

She tightly embraced Zhe Zilin. Her chest pressed firmly against his body as the dagger pierced into him.

Warm blood flowed out. Zhe Zilin heard Osha’s murmur beside his ear. “I will come accompany you right away, Ed.”

Osha’s lips drew close to Zhe Zilin. Her messy hair brushed against his face as she gently kissed him.

“This time, we will never be separated again.”

……

[You have died]

[Osha chose to die with you. She wanted to be with you forever, so she personally killed you. After killing Ailia, she would immediately commit suicide.]

[After your death, Ailia was heartbroken. She used all of her forbidden magic to take revenge for you.]

[The two of them fought from day until night and burned the entire North City to the ground.]

[In the end, both of them died by your side.]

[Osha looked at your face and gently stroked it.]

[If there is a next life, she will still meet you. If there is a next life, she will stay by your side forever.]