Watching everything he had created, Lu Ban felt as though the surging current of fate was sweeping him forward.
The Cleansing Flame was still spreading, but at least he had this final moment to bid farewell to that giant.
When he arrived at the crater, Lu Ban saw that most of Old Song's body had already been gnawed away. His organs and blood lay scattered around him, announcing the final countdown of his life.
The giant was on the verge of death. He gazed at the dawn breaking over the horizon, his eyes losing their focus.
"Are you still there?"
Old Song asked.
He did not know whether Old Song meant Lu Ban and Xiya, or his own companions.
"We're still here."
Lu Ban answered as the flames gradually flowed downward, slowly submerging Old Song's body.
Old Song felt no pain—or rather, his body had already lost the ability to feel pain.
Only the slowness of the dying process allowed him to retain a certain degree of consciousness.
Hearing Lu Ban's voice, Old Song slowly raised his eyes.
The Cleansing Flame burned in his unfocused eyes, like the final afterglow of a civilization's setting sun.
"You said you came from the future, right?"
Old Song asked with the last of his strength.
"Yes."
Lu Ban nodded.
"Then in the future—in the future where you live—have we already defeated this pollution and successfully broken free from the Outer Gods' corruption? Everything we're doing now, all these sacrifices, they're meaningful, aren't they?"
Old Song asked.
He seemed to be asking Lu Ban, yet also asking himself.
Lu Ban fell silent for a moment.
".Yes."
Xiya answered for him.
"We have defeated the pollution. The Unnamable Great Beings have all been sealed away by us. Everyone can obtain and share knowledge without restraint.