If Death Is My Fate, Then I Accept

The figure in the mirror trembled almost imperceptibly.

After a moment of silence, Li Qingluan slowly spoke, trying her best to maintain her usual tone:

"That joke isn't funny."

"I remember when we first met, you suddenly started saying some strange things."

Qin Wangchuan did not respond to this seemingly natural defense.

He had walked to her side, reached out his hand, and his fingertips reached towards the pure White Veil.

Almost simultaneously, her cheek turned slightly, reaching out to meet his fingers, their posture intimate and seamless, as if it were just a casual touch between lovers.

However--

The moment the fingertips touched, there was no warmth of skin, no real feeling of flesh and blood.

The lifelike Li Qingluan before my eyes was actually an avatar formed from a wisp of powerful Divine Soul!

A bitter smile curved Li Qingluan's lips as the White Veil over her eyes silently disappeared, revealing a pair of... beautiful crimson eyes.

Qin Wangchuan stared into those eyes, not feeling much surprise.

"You're not the Li Qingluan I know, are you?"

Li Qingluan's eyes trembled violently, and tears quickly welled up.

She tried to force a smile, but her lips turned down uncontrollably. She wanted to cry, but something seemed to be blocking her throat, and in the end, it only turned into a suppressed sob.

"I am..."

Qin Wangchuan ignored the girl's explanation, his eyes softening slightly. "You must have suffered a lot in the future."

"I never said I came from the future..." Li Qingluan still tried to argue.

But as she said this, her voice trailed off with a hint of a sob.

"You forgot," Qin Wangchuan looked at the girl in front of him, who was trying to hold on, his heart aching slightly, "I can know the future."

He finished speaking without waiting for a reply.

He pulled the girl's cold, trembling hand with one hand, and with the other hand pulled over a chair next to him, and sat down silently.

His posture was relaxed, yet conveyed a silent acceptance.

This action seemed to drain the last bit of strength from Li Qingluan's face, leaving all her pretense shattered like broken porcelain, impossible to piece back together.

A thousand words churned in my throat, but ultimately coalesced into a single admission, tinged with endless grievance and bitterness:

"Yes... I'm from the future."

"I shouldn't have shown up... but I missed you so much, I really missed you so much, I just wanted to talk to you, even if only for a little while..."

She choked back tears, which finally broke free, and she cried uncontrollably, as if she were pouring out all the pain and longing that had accumulated over the years.

This was the first time Qin Wangchuan had ever seen Li Qingluan cry. He didn't say much and simply opened his arms.

The girl, like a lone boat finding its only harbor, suddenly threw herself into his arms, hugging him with all her might, as if she wanted to become one with his very being.

Tears fell, but they were cold.

"I miss you so much... I love you... I really miss you, every day, every moment..." the future Li Qingluan stammered incoherently.

Perhaps even she herself didn't know what she was saying; she was simply instinctively venting the torrent of longing that was almost consuming her.

Qin Wangchuan gently patted her back, again and again, his voice steady and reassuring:

"You must have suffered a lot."

"It's alright, it's alright now. Tell me slowly."

She spoke at length through intermittent sobs and words.

Because it doesn't involve major milestones, it mostly talks about trivial moments, the small warmth of shared experiences, and the loneliness of long waits.

Qin Wangchuan simply listened quietly, remaining a silent and reliable listener.

As he was talking, suddenly...

The girl in his arms trembled violently, her cries becoming desperate and shrill:

"You in the future, you in the future...!"

"Dead?"

Qin Wangchuan calmly took over the conversation and uttered those two heavy words.

Those two words struck Li Qingluan like a thunderbolt.

She abruptly lifted her head from the boy's embrace, tears streaming down her face, her expression one of utter disbelief and horror.

For a fleeting moment, he even suspected that Qin Wangchuan before him also came from the future.

But this conjecture was immediately refuted.

She remained silent for a long time before finally squeezing out a broken confirmation from the depths of her soul. "You... know?"

"Hmm," Qin Wangchuan nodded, his gaze remaining calm, as if discussing something unrelated to himself. "I know."

How could you know?!

Li Qingluan suddenly stood up, grabbed his shoulders, her bloodshot eyes filled with frantic anxiety and confusion, "If you knew the ending now, if you had been prepared now, how could things have come to that?!"

"This is wrong! This shouldn't be happening!"

Qin Wangchuan remained composed until her agitated emotions subsided slightly, at which point she slowly spoke, her voice carrying a strange sense of relief:

"If that's my fate, then I accept it."

The moment the word "fate" left his lips, Qin Wangchuan suddenly realized something, and his pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.

Then it turned into an even deeper calm.

Is it because you saw that future that you chose to accept it at this moment?

'Or is it that this very thought that sprouted in my heart at this moment gave birth to that future destiny?'

Qin Wangchuan thought, perhaps it's both.

He now understands somewhat why his future self, despite possessing the ability to alter numerous events, ultimately failed to reverse the outcome.

The future has created the cause of this moment.

And the 'cause' at this moment will anchor the 'effect' in the future.

The cause and effect have formed a closed loop, like a snake biting its own tail, each link interconnected.

Therefore, it cannot be changed.

"You accept?!"

Li Qingluan's voice suddenly rose to a high pitch, sharp enough to almost pierce eardrums, like a ignited explosive.

"You accept it, but I absolutely will not accept it!!"

She was like a mother beast utterly enraged, her crimson eyes burning with an almost manic flame:

"Everyone can die! But you— Qin Wangchuan— cannot die!"

"You sacrificed so much, endured so much infamy, suffered unimaginable pain, and achieved Surpassing Ancient and Modern... In the end, everyone else lived well, so why did you have to die?!"

"I! Can! Not! Accept! It!"

Qin Wangchuan tried calling her name a few times, "Calm down."

But his voice was completely drowned out by her broken screams and tears.

"How can I accept such a future?!"

She screamed, but her words abruptly stopped.

The next moment, Qin Wangchuan suddenly reached out and pulled her back into his arms. He lowered his head and silenced her hysterical cries with a firm and warm kiss.

The girl's sobs were swallowed between her lips and teeth; her struggles gradually softened, eventually turning into a powerless tremor.

After a long while, the two slowly separated.

After that sudden kiss, the wild flames in Li Qingluan's eyes finally died down, leaving only a bottomless sadness and exhaustion as she stared blankly at him.

Inside the cave abode, the suppressed sobs gradually subsided, leaving only soft whimpers.

"Don't die... please..."

As Li Qingluan spoke, she raised her head, her slender, icy fingers trembling as she touched Qin Wangchuan's cheek.

The touch of his fingertips carried an almost greedy longing, as if trying to etch his features and contours into the deepest part of his soul without missing a single detail.

As her fingertips moved, the almost desperate pleading and vulnerability in the girl's eyes receded quickly like a tide.

Instead, a resolute flame, almost obsessive, burns from the depths of the soul.

"I want to become an immortal."