Second Prize: Best Love -- The Death of Liu Xin

Author: Stubborn Persistence!

I want to start by explaining why I chose Xia Jie and Liu Xin from Witch's Song. In all of Pig Head's other books, except this one, the male and female protagonists end up together. Even if it's not explicitly stated, all signs point to them being together. Witch's Song is the only exception.

In Ascending Dragon, Yi Chen and Fili ended up together. In Evil Wind, Lu Feng and Zhao Yue'er got together. In Reverse Dragon, Reinhardt and Wei were together. In Dragon War Starfield, Distel, Lan Jing, and Ling Xue were together. In Rogue, Yang Wei and the Little Girl, Stini, and Ya Ling also ended up together. In Human Journey, Fang Wen and Martina got married and even had children. In Gods and Demons, Lei and Li were together, and although Li died in the end, no one cared. In almost all the books, the male and female protagonists end up together, but only in Witch's Song.

When I first started reading Witch's Song, I never expected it to have such an ending. From the moment Xia Jie first met Liu Xin, no one could have imagined their outcome would be so tragic.

That girl who loved to blow bubbles, Liu Xin, who always treated Xia Jie like a laborer and bullied and beat him as she pleased, but wouldn't allow anyone else to touch him – every little detail is unforgettable.

I think whether it was Xia Jie or Liu Xin, that one accidental touch was enough to make them unforgettable for eternity. That gentle, shallow, fleeting kiss made everyone, not just Xia Jie and Liu Xin, but everyone including myself, feel a jolt in their hearts. The feeling was so wondrous. Let's see how Pig Head described it: Liu Xin's face came very, very close. She had just eaten some fruit, and a sweet, fresh aroma wafted onto Xia Jie's face, making him instinctively feel hungry. As if by some strange impulse, Xia Jie's face leaned forward slightly. Heaven and Earth bear witness, Xia Jie could ask Hongjun Daozu and the Three Pure Ancestors to testify that he only instinctively wanted to nod his head. However, Liu Xin's face was too close to his. As his head moved forward slightly, his lips gently brushed against Liu Xin's lips.

It was a kiss that came suddenly, like the first lightning strike in the universe when Primordial Chaos Beginning first occurred. It was so sudden, so uncontrollable! Gradually, Xia Jie felt a slight warmth on Liu Xin's cold lips, like ice shards. A very faint blush, like a tender peach that had been sun-kissed for two days, appeared on her face, which had always been as delicate and fair as clear water with a few drops of grass juice. Naturally, the kiss began. Xia Jie's movements were somewhat hurried and clumsy, but he at least knew how to kiss a girl. His heart was pounding rapidly, at a terrifying frequency. As for the panic that came with a first kiss, Xia Jie was an old hand, but he didn't have that kind of hazy, pure feeling. And Liu Xin? She stood there rigidly, like a wooden post, holding her breath, passively accepting this sudden first kiss in utter panic.

Seeing this, I was truly happy. I genuinely laughed, from the bottom of my heart. You might not understand, but I know that I was reading this right after I had gone to see the girl I liked, only to have... But seeing Xia Jie and Liu Xin's kiss, I truly laughed, and I was so happy. I ask, how many such kisses exist in this world? It was for Xia Jie and Liu Xin.

This was the beginning of their love. This kiss, an accidental one between a seasoned veteran and an absolute rookie, marked the beginning of a romance that caused countless people to curse Pig Head, and countless others to weep, grieve, and be heartbroken. Even now, recalling it makes me feel scared, sad, and upset. I still want to cry.

And after their kiss ended, Liu Xin's reaction was that of someone who had been thoroughly corrupted by her grandmother. Her demands of Xia Jie made me laugh uncontrollably. Xia Jie's only hobby was eating dog meat (um, were there dogs back then? I'm confused). Because of this kiss, it was completely out of reach for him.

This was the beginning of their love. I originally thought their love would last for a very, very long time. Perhaps one day, when I was out on the street, I might suddenly encounter a giant man over ten feet tall with strangely yellowish-brown skin and arms that reached past his knees, accompanied by a petite woman in a moon-white lapel jacket, black coarse cloth trousers, and exquisite moon-white bamboo shoes. And then there would be a stunningly beautiful girl with ink-green hair and beautiful emerald green eyes, but with two balls of eerie green ghost fire burning within them. What a strange combination! And I would go up to them, say a few words, give them directions, and perhaps, if fate allowed, share a meal of dog meat with them. How wonderful that would be! Honestly, I dreamed of it.

Unfortunately, Pig Head ruined my dream. I hate him!

Yet, in just a few years, a disaster struck. A war with the heavens emptied the Great Xia's national strength, leaving the surrounding feudal lords covetous. With only a sliver of inheritance left, those damned Outer Demon Race bastards, who deserved to be fucked and killed and chopped into pieces to feed maggots, arrived! And those Atlantis scoundrels also came to stir up trouble. Damn it! I was so angry! Damn their mothers, these bastards, whores, villains! (Unfortunately, my vocabulary is poor, and I don't know how else to curse them. If anyone knows, please tell me, thank you.) Because of their arrival, everything was destroyed. It was all gone.

Is this what that old man Hongjun said, that the Witch Tribe should be destroyed and the Human Race should prevail? Damn it. For the first time, I hated Hongjun so much.

Barbarian King Pan Geng's tribe was annihilated, the Dong Yi People's grasslands were massacred, and the Qi Cultivators were powerless to resist. The entire world was plunged into misery. Lü Gui died, Tai Yi died, the four great families died, the Nine Great Witch Venerables died. The entire world was nearly destroyed. Just as Xia Jie was preparing to lead the remaining witches away, a scene unfolded that made everyone grief-stricken, heartbroken, and wanting to wail: Xia Jie stared blankly at Liu Xin. Liu Xin rushed into Xia Jie's arms and bit down hard on his lips.

"I don't know who Xiao Hua is, and I don't know who Yang Tou is. But anyone whose name is called out in dreams by someone with such immense power must be unforgettable, right?" Liu Xin smiled gently, then floated up softly. She looked at Xia Jie tenderly and suddenly chuckled, "It's just a pity I didn't leave you a child. But that's your fault... If you hadn't disappeared for ten years, our child would probably be running around by now."

"Ancestors of the Witch Tribe, please protect our people!"

In the void, Liu Xin, with her hands outstretched and gently floating, began to sing a mysterious song.

The melody was so slow and ethereal that all living beings on the great road heard the song.

The song was filled with the power of life. Like a tender sprout growing in the soil, a newborn beast, a young bird flying in the sky – it was a song of life. It was the song that the ancestors of the Li Wu Hall, generation after generation, had sung as they walked across the boundless Nine Provinces, witnessing the blooming and fading of flowers, the growth of grass and the flight of eagles, observing the changes of 'wind, flowers, snow, and moon,' and comprehending the song that aligned with the root of life.

Amidst the song, Liu Xin said softly, "Star Sacrifice!"

Liu Xin's body exploded, and a ball of green light appeared in the sky.

In the void, the star representing the Li Witch's life essence, countless large and small rock fragments shot out into the endless void.

That ball of green light transformed into a green sun. Liu Xin's soul merged into this light. Liu Xin was no more in the world. What remained was this ball of green light imbued with the power of life's origin.

Another Star Sacrifice. This is the second time I've written about Star Sacrifice, and the second time I've cried. At that time, eight thousand Great Witches went mad, hundreds of thousands of Qi Cultivators went insane, and countless common people lost their minds. I was about to lose my mind too. Liu Xin, just like that, completely vanished.

Who can understand the pain in my heart? At that moment, I had an illusion that I was Xia Jie, or that something similar was happening around me. The person I loved most had completely disappeared. I became numb. I no longer felt pain. What is pain at its extreme? I've tasted it, I know. The first time I read it, and again now as I write it, tears flowed freely at the beginning. But later, I didn't want to cry anymore. Instead, I wanted to laugh. A tragic love, a life etched into one's soul, unforgettable even after countless reincarnations, a love that cannot be forgotten, dare not be forgotten, and is reluctant to be forgotten, was presented before me in its entirety at this moment. Yi Chen and Fili, or Lu Feng and Zhao Yue'er – at this moment, I forgot them all. I only remembered Xia Jie and Liu Xin, me and her. In this instant, it was as if I had personally experienced these events. I could no longer distinguish between reality and the world in the book.

Although Fili died, her soul remained and she was eventually resurrected. Zhao Yue'er went through many trials but eventually, she and Lu Feng, lovers, became husband and wife (at this time, Xiaoxing didn't exist yet). But what about Xia Jie and Liu Xin? They completely vanished. Even the Three Pure Ancestors couldn't save them! Pig Head, you are so heartless!!!

Liu Xin died just like that, leaving us with endless sorrow and pain. This love was so tragically beautiful, making us happy, making us sad, making us want to cry, making us want to go mad. Joy and sorrow, separation and reunion, human hardship, anger and happiness, the emotions of the world – all were vividly displayed in this love story destined for tragedy.

I want to say that this love is more tragic than Yi Chen and Fili's, more miserable than Lu Feng and Zhao Yue'er's, and more bitter than Lin Xiao and Yao'er's. To me, this is the most tragically beautiful, sentimental, and sorrowful romance in Pig Head's writing. A pure witch, and a Qi Cultivator disguised as a Great Witch, destined this love to have no good ending. But I never imagined it would be so tragic, sorrowful, and heartbreaking.

Love, what is love? To some, it is everlasting. To some, it is parting ways. To some, it is sweet talk. To some, it is spending money lavishly. To me, it is marrying the person I love and living a simple but happy life together. But to Xia Jie, it was being able to look at Liu Xin one more time, to kiss her again, to embrace her again, to hear her scold him, to let her kick him, even just once more. Alas, none of that happened. With a single "Star Sacrifice," everything was gone.

As the words "Star Sacrifice" echoed, Liu Xin's exquisite figure plummeted from the sky. Her ink-green hair fluttered in the wind. Her emerald-like eyes gradually lost their color. Slowly, slowly, she fell from the sky, while below, bloody battles raged. Blood pooled into oceans, and severed limbs and broken bodies filled every corner of the earth. Violence, bloodshed, yet so tragically beautiful, driving people to madness, breaking their hearts.

It seemed even the heavens could not bear to let such a beautiful woman fall into that filthy sea of blood. As she fell, Liu Xin transformed into specks of green light, dissipating into heaven and earth. No, she dissolved into heaven and earth. Xia Jie, the eight thousand Great Witches, the hundreds of thousands of Qi Cultivators, and the countless common people – all had Liu Xin's green light within their bodies. At this moment, Liu Xin coexisted with heaven and earth.

Even now, I can close my eyes and see that scene. It is so heartbreaking, so sorrowful, yet also filled with joy!

Commonly, people say there is no "most," only "more." But here, I want to tell all the friends who have read this far, having seen no less than two thousand books and so many short stories, movies, and TV dramas, that among all the love stories I know, the love between Xia Jie and Liu Xin is the "most," without exception. It is the unique "most." Whether it's the best, the most tragic, or the most sorrowful, this love deserves this "most." The sole "most."

That final scene of their love, I will remember forever. A love that will not end, will never end, and will never be surpassed. Witch's Song, Xia Jie and Liu Xin – forever etched in my heart, I dare not forget!!!

Stubborn Persistence, written at 2 AM on September 21st.

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To classmate Liu Xin:

Pig Head can only say:

This was a beautiful find. He found such a female character. How did he write her? Pig Head himself is confused. In short, he felt she should be this way, so he wrote her this way. The love between Xia Jie and Liu Xin... Well, let's call it love for now. It was Liu Xin's one-sided love. Xia Jie, he passively accepted it. Hmm, the important point to mention is: indeed, tragedy leaves a deeper impression! (To be continued)