"There's no point saying any of that." Li Tianming shook his head. "Tell me what exactly happened first. Let's see whether I can solve it and save the two of you."
"Can't be saved." Ye Chen said directly. After saying that, he still smiled, his smile growing ever more exaggerated. "I once thought I was the only protagonist beneath heaven and earth, that my story could go on without end. Until I met you. After that, even though you paid no attention to me, I still didn't give up. I kept thinking that even if I wasn't first, I could still be second. I waited, thinking that one day, my chance would surely come. When that time came, either I would meet you at the summit, or I would seize your luck and rule alone..."
At this point, he could no longer smile. A sobbing note entered his voice as he choked out, "Yet reality delivered its most crushing killing blow, making me truly understand that my meaning in your story was a joke, a tragedy, a filthy backdrop."
"I stopped seeing you as an opponent long ago. You don't need to force yourself into that role. What matters now is that I want to save you, truly. So tell me the reason first. Why did you become like this? Is there any way to save you two?" Li Tianming said very seriously.
"You want to save me?" Ye Chen looked at him in confusion. "Although you ultimately didn't kill me, we... are opponents."
"Can you say something useful?" Li Tianming asked.
"This is useful! No matter what, we're opponents! At the very least, we've clashed before! I even gave you a huge problem!" he said excitedly.
"Yes, I admit it." Li Tianming could only go along with him. Then