Oh no! I'm surrounded by female ghosts!

After Yu Mengnian said the words "very important", her figure became blurry again.

Even in the blurry image, her upright figure is still clearly visible.

Like a nail, it's stuck on the boundary between 1995 and 1996, unmoving.

That boundary line had no physical form, yet it was more solid than any city wall. On one side was the fading old year, and on the other, the new year yet to begin.

Yu Mengnian stood right in the center of the rift, like a needle forgotten by time, stitching together two years that could never be reconnected.

Su Ming wanted to walk over.

But as soon as he lifted his foot, he felt an invisible resistance.

The closer he tried to get to Yu Mengnian, the stickier the surroundings became.

It's as if someone poured the entire universe into amber, and he was the insect that was sealed inside.

After taking a few steps, Su Ming turned back to look at his former destiny: "What exactly was the choice you mentioned before?"

Old Fate gave him a deep look, then raised his hand and made a sweeping motion in the air.

As space distorted, a door slowly emerged.

It was an ancient bronze stone door.

The facade is covered with intricate and dizzying patterns, each pattern resembling some kind of writing.

A lamp that Su Ming recognized very well hung in the corner of the door.

This ever-burning lamp is the same one that hangs at the entrance of a traditional courtyard house in Beijing.

"Go inside."

"We will disappear along with the door."

"I don't know what will happen next."

The cycle of fate is not omniscient or omnipotent.

Otherwise, there wouldn't be constant changes in the universe.

It's more like a cleaner that keeps everything running.

Clear out variables and maintain order.

It doesn't know where the world will go after each cleanup; it only knows that variables are mistakes, and mistakes should be eliminated.

Su Ming stared at the door.

This is the fifth door, and the fifth ending.

"So, your choice is..." Old Fate looked at him, his gaze as calm as still water.

It means she should stay here, trapped in an endless cycle of reincarnation.

Let's liberate her and free her from this fateful end.

Two options lay before me, one as light as two feathers, the other seemingly heavier than anything else.

After a long silence, Su Ming suddenly asked a strange question.

He said, "How many times have I made this choice?"

Old Ming paused for a moment.

He then laughed.

However, this smile carried a deep-seated, profound weariness.

Like an audience member who has watched the same play countless times, the curve of their lips has become muscle memory, and they are too lazy to even feel sadness.

"There are too many to count."

After a few seconds of recollection, Jiu Ming said, "Every time, you stand here and ask me the same question."

"And then every time, you'll make the same choice."

"You believe that since there are no absolutes, there must also be no absolute destiny."

"Turning the impossible into the possible."

So you turned and left, heading towards the future, to fight for that sliver of impossible possibility.

"After a very long time, the new life ended, I returned, and you stood before this door once more."

"Again and again, without end."

Su Ming's breath caught in his throat.

countless times.

He has appeared here countless times.

Old Ming had said these words countless times.

But every time he stands here, it means he has chosen the future and is willing to fight for that tiny, insignificant possibility.

He wanted to say, "This time, it will be different."

But the words just wouldn't come out.

Perhaps Jiu Ming has heard this phrase countless times.

Every Su Ming standing here thought he was the first person to say those words.

Each of them believed that their determination was unique.

But in the eyes of the old man, they were nothing more than countless sides of the same coin, flipped over and over again, but in the end, they were still the same coin.

Its eyes were complex at this moment, containing something that Su Ming couldn't understand.

It was like expectation, and also like pity.

But it's more like someone who already knows the ending, watching another person's futile struggle.

"Wen Qi, did you make the same choice before?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Su Ming gave a wry smile.

Perhaps he has asked this question countless times.

Wen Qi had also experienced this endless cycle of choices.

In those four doomsday lines, she reincarnated time and time again, repeatedly obscuring the eyes of her old destiny, causing it to fall and become the Su Ming of today.

Like Su Ming, she may not have retained the memories of each reincarnation.

But she must know.

At this moment, Su Ming seemed to understand why Wen Qi liked to spout toxic motivational quotes.

Because in that kind of despair where there is almost no future, in the cycle of endless repetition, only toxic chicken soup can tear open the truth, chew it up, and then swallow it with a smile.

The truth is too bitter, the lie is too sweet, and the toxic chicken soup is just right, bitter with a hint of astringency, and a hint of stubbornness that refuses to die completely hidden in the astringency.

Hearing Wen Qi's words again now evokes a completely different feeling.

She spoke solemnly to Su Ming at that time.

"Kuafu was not praised for chasing the sun, Jingwei was not remembered for filling the sea, and Yugong was not revered for moving mountains."

"What the world praises is not the final perfection, but the courage to still choose to go for it even knowing that it may not be as desired."

"We never persist because we see hope."

"It is through perseverance that we have the hope to ignite hope."

"Whether the outcome is as we wish or not, I will always be here for you."

She didn't mention the outcome; what she really emphasized was courage.

Courage and will are humanity's only battle song.

The old destiny offered no answer.

Its silence is the best answer.

In a universe written to death by the cycle of fate, in a cycle where all endings have been played out countless times, the act of making a choice is the greatest act of rebellion.

Even if every choice leads to the same end, even if that end has long been seen to death by the old destiny, as long as Su Ming is still making choices, as long as he is still taking steps, the Ring of Destiny has not truly won.

A moment later, Su Ming asked another question: "So... what will you choose?"

Old Fate pointed to the sky and said with a smile.

"When we return to the cycle of destiny, I will have no emotions. I will precisely and ruthlessly eliminate all variables to maintain the eternity of the universe."

"But now, all I feel is exhaustion."

"Su Ming, people get tired."

"To humans, this universe is too cold and lifeless."

"Right now, I hope you can break free from fate."

Its expression held a profound meaning: "Death, in fact, is the true meaning."

"I wish I could end forever and never return."

Su Ming understood.

Different identities lead to different perceptions, different ways of thinking, and different choices.

The old fate is now on my side.

But when the old destiny truly returns, it will no longer be on his side.

At that time, it will forget its current fatigue and expectations, and become that ruthless cleaner again.

next second.

Su Ming's cross-shaped pupils began to sting intensely.

He knew that his eyes could no longer withstand the backtracking.

The image from 1996 began to distort, like a painting soaked in water.

That door—the figure of Yu Mengnian, the silhouette of Jiu Ming—are all disappearing.

At the last moment, he heard the voice of his old destiny coming from the far distance.

"Go look for them among the stars."

As the image completely disappeared, Su Ming's vision was filled with the familiar room.

His pupils suddenly contracted.

The last words of the old man instantly soaked his back with sweat.

Look for them among the stars.

This sentence contains a lot of information.

Could it be that Lin Jiajia and the others come from the stars?

Su Ming couldn't help but look up at the starry sky that covered the entire Blue Star.

That starry sky was so beautiful, it seemed unreal.

Each star is like a closed eye, quietly gazing at the blue planet.

And at the very center of all the stars, the enormous eye of the stars is gazing at him through layers of nebulae.

It turns out it's not just candy.

There were also some of them who were once members of the Old Gods.

That wasn't something He came up with on the spur of the moment.

That was a game of destiny that was destined to happen.