After five bigwigs in Beijing's elite circle fell into their trap, I fled.

Chapter 241 That Distant Time
Three days later.

It's the same seaside hotel as before.

Rong Jingchen entered the room where Li Yubai had once lived alone.

Everything in the room remained as it was, and this hotel had been bought by Rong Jingchen the night he finished talking with Li Yubai, though he actually hoped he would never need it.

But Li Yubai really died, and in the same way he dreamed: he turned into a strange golden-red blood mist, disappearing without a trace, not even a single hair left...

Jiang Shu had already gone back with Feng Li and Yan Yu. When she left, Jiang Shu's eyes were red, and her mood was just as depressed as when Madam Jiang left.

Rong Jingchen's mercenaries suffered numerous casualties, and he spent three whole days working on the aftermath before coming to this room alone for his appointment. The room was cold and desolate, except for the rose bush by the window, which looked much more vibrant than the last time he saw it.

Rong Jingchen was at a loss for what to do. Exhausted, he lay on the bed, his eyelids drooping despite his lack of sleepiness.

Then, it was as if he had fallen into a dream, a real dream, a dream with Jiang Shu and Li Yubai, and he, Rong Jingchen, was like an audience member, watching someone else's story from a third-person perspective...

The story begins with a strange altar.

On the altar, Li Yubai sat in the center of the formation, nine iron chains piercing through his body, blood gushing from within, drawing eerie symbols along the chains. In his arms, he held the lifeless Jiang Shu.

He sacrificed his own soul to recreate her life.

He sacrificed all his cultivation to fuse his physical body with hers;

He transformed the staff into her entire skeleton;

He sacrificed his long life, exchanging his death for her life.

While in his arms, Jiang Shu's blood and energy gradually began to gather. Ten long years passed, and one morning, Jiang Shu began to breathe again!

But at the same time, she turned into a baby... lying in an incubator, where she remained for three hundred years.

Three hundred years later, the baby finally opened its eyes.

Li Yubai gazed intently at the child, gently placing a spell on her forehead:

"I know you don't like the Misty Continent. In this life, I will let you forget your past and live the life you long for in your favorite country, China."

His voice was gentle. After a pause, he spoke again: "You don't need to remember me."

If you don't remember, you won't have to live with the guilt you feel towards him.

Then came the battle at Ziwu Pavilion. Li Yubai, relying on his last bit of cultivation, defeated the people of Jitian, but he was also seriously injured in the process.

At noon that day, Li Yubai, holding Jiang Shu, used his last remaining strength to perform the only deduction of his life. Meanwhile, Rong Jingchen, squatting in the corner playing, was separated from Li Yubai by only a wall and was inexplicably drawn into the world of that deduction…

In that world, Li Yubai was still the richest man in the capital, but the only change was that he raised his own child.

As that child grew up, he became very close to him, his innocent eyes filled only with familial love.

She spent her days chasing after celebrities, and her home was covered with posters of Yan Yu. Later, she unexpectedly met Rong Jingchen, who had grown up.

She said, "I met a really handsome man, and he's an amazing fighter!"

Li Yubai gave a gentle "hmm," but a bittersweet feeling welled up inside him.

Some time later, the girl secretly went to Li Yubai's wine cellar and rummaged through everything. Li Yubai reluctantly accompanied her, asking, "What are you looking for this time?"

"Li Yubai, do you have any red wine from 1842? I've noticed my brother Jiachen likes it!"

Later, the girl would pluck a handful of the black roses that Li Yubai had planted every day and take them out with her. She would leave early and return late, and when she came back, her eyes would be filled with a shy smile. Li Yubai then knew that his girl... was in love.

Li Yubai asked her, "You like him a lot?"

The girl nodded: "I like him." "Do you know him?"

The girl knew him well: "I know him. He especially likes birds of paradise, he likes 1842 red wine, he likes to be a hero who saves the darkness, and he can also develop a lot of powerful weapons. Li Yubai, when he's done with this busy period, I'll bring him to meet you. You'll definitely like him."

Li Yubai smiled as he looked at the girl, unsure of how to respond.

But then, the girl suddenly disappeared.

In that world, Ning Yunzhan was an idle and good-for-nothing who had no connection with the girl. Only the bloodthirsty new master, who always wore a mask, imprisoned the girl.

Then came the battle between the new and the old masters, and Li Yubai died in that dream.

Also dying in that fictional world was Feng Li, the heir of the FY conglomerate. However, in that world, this exceptionally talented young master died of illness at the age of eighteen, and had no connection whatsoever with the girl…

The twenty years in that world seemed like a fleeting shadow, appearing in Rong Jingchen's mind in just a few minutes. It was as if Rong Jingchen had stepped into Li Yubai's memory, but regrettably, he did not hear anything about his own story.

But Li Yubai's memories are not over.

The illusory world that was derived shattered like a broken piece of glass, disintegrating the moment Li Yubai died, and the scene returned to the Ziwu Pavilion nineteen years ago.

Rong Jingchen, who was standing in the corner, collapsed to the ground, his soul injured, because he was accidentally drawn into a divination technique.

On the other side, separated by a wall.

Li Yubai, still covered in blood, emerged from his deduction state, and his gaze towards the child in his arms became more complex.

Then, with a gentle but helpless sigh, he pinched her round little face and muttered to himself:

"I gave my life to ferry you across, and my days were numbered. But I hope that in this final journey, you will see me in your eyes and heart, and not some unrelated stranger."

Therefore, Li Yubai decisively handed the infant to Madam Jiang, who was grieving the loss of her beloved daughter.

Since I don't like the ending, I'll rewrite the story from the beginning.

In this real memory, Li Yubai finally went from being a participant to an observer, watching the precious girl from Xinghua Village grow up step by step, and when she was about to fall in love, he used his persona as the most beautiful woman in the capital to lure her into his world...

That day, the girl scaled the wall and entered, her eyes sparkling. Though dressed in a disheveled black cloak, she openly coveted his good looks—

Just like many years ago, in the mottled corner, under the roses, his young lady.

He watched the young woman, poised to launch into her sales pitch, her emotions surging within him. His gaze softened, and before she could say anything, he found himself speaking almost involuntarily:

"I am willing."

So lightly, as if afraid of scaring her away.

Yet it was so resolute, as if it had finally come to a perfect end.

……

Rong Jingchen opened his eyes and saw the hotel's aesthetically pleasing rooftop.

His mood was complicated.

It felt like I'd found the answer, yet it was such an unreal one.

He was inadvertently drawn into a deduction, growing up in that world in a daze, then meeting that girl, falling in love with her, but it all ended without a trace. When he withdrew from the deduction, he completely forgot everything he had experienced, only subconsciously remembering those fragments…

got windy.

The roses by the window are gradually fading.