She Could Choose Whether to Love Me, but I Could Only Love Her

Thanks to Cao Ah Cao Ah Cao, Chen Chen Chen Chen Chen Yan, and Qian Sha Wei Ni for the rewards, and thanks for your support!

I'll post two chapters first. The Little Black Room just unlocked, so I'm going to work on the next chapter!

Creak—

A long while later, Loxi came out of Kuina's room with an empty bowl. When he saw the Cloaked Figure standing motionless outside the door, he couldn't help staring in surprise. "You're the one who's with Lord Dragon..."

"I want to speak with the one called Bai Ina alone!"

The Cloaked Figure cut Loxi off, brushed past him, and entered Kuina's room, closing the door behind him.

Loxi grew even more confused, but didn't stop him. He didn't think anyone brought by Lord Dragon would hurt Bai Ina. If they meant to harm him, they wouldn't have rescued him in the first place.

He shook his head and stopped wondering what the Cloaked Figure wanted to discuss with Ina. Then he carried the bowl toward the dining hall.

The Cloaked Figure entered the room and walked straight to Bai Ina's bedside. He said nothing, only watching Bai Ina with a cold gaze.

Bai Ina looked at the strange person and raised an eyebrow. For some reason, he sensed something familiar about this stranger, yet his memories told him he had never seen anyone with this build.

They stared at each other for a long time without speaking.

"Who are you?"

A hoarse voice came from Bai Ina's mouth as he broke the silence first.

The Cloaked Figure said nothing, still watching Bai Ina with icy eyes.

"Are you here to kill me?"

Though he phrased it as a question, Bai Ina's tone made it sound like a certainty. He looked coldly at the Cloaked Figure beside the bed. "From the moment you came in, you've been suppressing your killing intent. I don't know why, but there's no doubt you want to kill me."

Shing—

Almost as soon as Bai Ina finished speaking, a glinting long sword slid from beneath the Cloaked Figure's cloak and landed against his neck in the blink of an eye. Its sharp edge immediately cut through the skin, and beads of blood trickled down the blade.

Bai Ina's expression remained cold, as if the sword at his throat couldn't take his life at any moment. He only asked, "Why?"

He truly couldn't understand why this stranger felt such intense murderous intent toward him. The man's presence felt familiar, but Bai Ina searched through all his memories and couldn't recall knowing anyone with this build.

"You're asking me why?" the Cloaked Figure replied with a scornful edge. His clear voice sounded young, that of a boy who hadn't quite outgrown his childishness. As he spoke, he pressed the sword farther down, widening the wound on Bai Ina's neck and sending blood streaming out.

"You have no right to ask why. Any last words?"

Feeling the unwavering killing intent in the other person's voice, Bai Ina sighed inwardly. So this day had finally come.

Maybe it was for the best if he died. Living here was exhausting...

Bai Ina exhaled, and a carefree smile suddenly blossomed across his face.

Why was he smiling?

The Cloaked Figure frowned, baffled by the look of relief on Bai Ina's face as he stood on the brink of death.

"I have no last words. But if you can, please take my body to the Frost Moon Village cemetery and bury it in any old hole beside Kuina's grave."

Bai Ina's voice held a tenderness he had never shown before, and his smile grew brighter.

The look on his face was like that of a man yearning for his wife far away. The sword in the Cloaked Figure's hand trembled, and silence fell over the room. After a long while, the Cloaked Figure suddenly asked, "Who was Kuina to you? Why do you want to die by her side?"

"She was the woman I wronged most in this life, and also the woman I... loved most." Bai Ina answered softly. Since he was about to die, it felt good to confide the secret he had kept buried for so long to a stranger.

"A year ago, I did the thing I regret most in my life just to survive. With my life threatened, I did something terrible to Kuina so I could stay alive. But because of it, I inherited her talent for the sword and her memories. I fell madly in love with her... sharing her joys and her dreams."

The long sword in the Cloaked Figure's hand trembled, and his voice rose sharply. "You're deluding yourself. Someone like you could never make her happy."

"No, Kuina was happy!" Bai Ina shook his head with firm conviction. "I believe Kuina was happy because she could choose whether or not to love me, while I could only choose to love her—or... love her even more! The person I used to be died a year ago. The one who survived is just a lunatic madly in love with Kuina. I only want to help her do what she couldn't, and bear her name as I claim the title of the world's strongest swordsman."

"..."

The Cloaked Figure slowly lowered his sword and looked at Bai Ina with a conflicted expression. After a long while, he said, "What value is there in living like that?"

"Life itself has value, because... there's always tomorrow. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done that to her a year ago just to stay alive. So I'll take with me all the words I couldn't tell her, all the longing I couldn't convey, and keep this life she gave me going."

Bai Ina's words carried such genuine sincerity that it was impossible not to believe him, along with an utterly unrestrained, obsessive devotion.

The Cloaked Figure abruptly turned and headed for the door.

Bai Ina stared in surprise, confusion on his face. "You..."

"I've changed my mind. Since you want to keep the life she gave you going, I'll let you. Because, to me, a life like yours has no value at all. It'll only bring you a pain more terrible than dying right here!"

With that, the Cloaked Figure walked straight out of the room.

Watching the Cloaked Figure's back disappear into the distance, Bai Ina gave a bitter smile. "Maybe..." He slowly exhaled. After pouring out everything he'd been holding in, he felt much lighter in both body and mind.

Meanwhile, the Cloaked Figure didn't speak to anyone as he headed straight for the shore where the ships were moored. Before long, the enormous ship came into view.

On deck, Dragon was talking to a large-headed man with a purple afro. When the Cloaked Figure returned, Dragon called out to those around him, "Prepare to set sail!"

The Cloaked Figure stepped aboard and went straight to the man with the purple afro.

"Ivan... help me change back."

The man called Ivan stared at him in surprise. "Have you given up on your ideals?"

"No. I just think there's nothing special about having a man's body." The Cloaked Figure slowly lowered his hood, revealing an extraordinarily handsome face.

Ivan nodded at his words. "All right." His fingernails suddenly grew long, and he plunged them into the Cloaked Figure's arm.

The next moment, a startling change came over the Cloaked Figure.

His chest gradually swelled, while his height began to shrink. Even his face grew softer. Before long, the handsome man had become a twelve- or thirteen-year-old girl.

If Bai Ina had seen this, he would have been utterly shocked, because the girl the Cloaked Figure had turned into looked so familiar...

"That's enough, Kuina." Ivankov slowly withdrew his hand and asked with interest, "If you want to become a man again, I'll always be here to help!"

That's right—the girl the Cloaked Figure had transformed into was none other than Kuina, who had been dead for a long time!

"I don't need that anymore. Besides, Kuina is already dead!" Kuina slowly turned her head and gazed toward the island. "From now on, my name is Gu Junyi!"