Chapter 157: Grade A Evaluation

Xu Xi woke up amidst the jolting.

Half of his consciousness had already stepped into the end of death.

But it seemed…

Someone was unwilling to let him die.

And so, time and again, they carried him along in a wild dash. Amidst the shaking of that run, Xu Xi opened his weary eyes.

The first thing that met his gaze was a night sky where the moon was nowhere to be seen, yet the stars were exceptionally brilliant.

Tonight's stars seemed to be getting brighter and brighter.

So much so that the moon gradually dimmed, becoming nearly invisible.

"It's so similar…"

Xu Xi's eyelids drooped. He felt intense pain radiating from every part of his body, and his thoughts grew increasingly Chaos.

Just like that dimming moon.

About to vanish under the radiance of the stars.

Xu Xi knew.

He was dying.

Or rather, he should have died long ago. It was the effect of the Persistence Trait that allowed him to pull through time and again, continuing to slay demons for the people of the Qiuhuo Army.

But in this battle against the Flood Dragon, Xu Xi had truly burned away everything.

Leaving behind only a hollow shell.

He could even sense that less than ten minutes remained before his consciousness completely dissipated.

"Yingxue."

Xu Xi called out softly, calling the girl who was carrying him on her back while running with staggering steps.

From the beginning, it had been Wu Yingxue carrying Xu Xi—carrying a Xu Xi who was a bloody mess, his original appearance completely unrecognizable.

It was precisely the jolting along this path.

That briefly awakened Xu Xi's final consciousness.

"Teacher, that's wonderful! I knew you wouldn't die!"

The girl was very happy. As she carried Xu Xi forward, she let out an incredibly excited voice.

"Yingxue, actually I…"

"Teacher, we're almost out! Following the path you carved out, we'll be leaving the Hundred Thousand Mountains soon!"

"I've already…"

"Everyone is waiting for us, Teacher!"

Wu Yingxue said to Xu Xi with a smile.

Only, that smile was extremely forced, looking very much like crying.

No.

It was crying.

Xu Xi was stunned for a moment. He clearly saw the tear stains on the girl's face, and her trembling, shaking voice revealed what she was fearing.

The girl understood everything.

She was just unwilling to accept it.

In her heart, she still held onto a certain fantasy, imagining that nothing would happen.

Wu Yingxue carried Xu Xi away from the battlefield, following the road opened by Xu Xi's fists, constantly running toward the world outside the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

She was hoping.

She was evading.

She wanted to use this method to trade for Xu Xi's survival.

The starlight was brilliant, the stars shone brightly, and in the quiet night, there were no more shrieks of demons.

The fight between Xu Xi and the Flood Dragon had intimidated all the surrounding demons, making them no longer dare to make a sound, leaving only the sound of the girl's increasingly hurried footsteps.

In the end.

Xu Xi did not pull back that bloody veil.

He chose to leave the girl her fantasy.

Sometimes, a sensitive and fragile heart needs a few white lies for protection.

A lie is a lie and can never become the truth in a lifetime, but its existence can protect the girl's heart which is on the verge of collapse.

"Yingxue, thank you for your hard work."

Xu Xi smiled with a weak voice.

His condition was too terrible. Although he had just woken up, he felt an unspeakable fatigue.

It was not just physical fatigue.

But mental fatigue as well.

So weary that he wanted to close his eyes and have a beautiful sleep.

Wu Yingxue seemed to have noticed this as well, so she kept finding topics to talk about, chatting with Xu Xi as much as possible.

"Teacher, what will the world outside the mountains be like?"

"It will probably be very cruel, but at least we can live."

"Teacher, does a world where everyone can eat their fill really exist?"

"Yes, it exists."

"Teacher, tonight's stars…"

The girl asked many questions about all sorts of things, very messy and disorganized.

But she was actually a clumsy speaker.

She didn't know what topics were interesting; she was just as much of a blockhead as Xu Xi.

After a short while.

The girl fell into a state of self-conflict because she ran out of things to say. She was anxious, and her running movements became a bit more frantic.

"It's okay, Yingxue."

Xu Xi struggled to keep his eyelids open. Every breath brought pain and a tide-like wave of sleepiness.

But he still smiled, comforting Wu Yingxue with a raspy voice: "If you can't think of anything, then forget it. It just so happens I have some things I want to tell you."

Xu Xi coughed violently several times.

Fresh blood was coughed up.

His face grew even paler. Amidst pain and suffocation, he told Wu Yingxue many things.

From matters as large as experiences in Breakthrough of Martial Dao Realms, to matters as small as leisure trifles of daily life.

He told them all to the girl once.

Wu Yingxue listened very seriously, incredibly seriously. With a sour nose, she heard Xu Xi finish everything, occasionally responding with a sobbing tone.

As time passed.

The distance of their run lengthened.

Gradually, they could already see the Qiuhuo Army's contingent.

And Xu Xi's voice, amidst the whistling wind, sounded increasingly faint, his breath like a fine thread.

"Teacher, we're about to reunite with everyone. Soon, very soon, we'll be out of the mountains!"

Wu Yingxue said to Xu Xi.

"Yingxue, put me down. I'm a bit tired…"

"Teacher?"

The smile on the girl's face froze.

That smile maintained with effort, that smile supported with bitterness, became even more 'fake' at this moment.

"Teacher, what are you saying? We're going to walk out of the Hundred Thousand Mountains together…"

Her delicate face trembled incessantly.

Within the suppression was a hint of forced sorrow.

"I will, but for now, I want to sleep for a bit."

Xu Xi was truly exhausted. His speech was intermittent, and he often couldn't catch his breath. In an apologetic tone, he once again asked the girl to put him down.

"Sorry…"

"Yingxue, you leave with everyone first. I'll catch up when I wake up…"

Still a lie.

A white lie.

At Xu Xi's request, Wu Yingxue finally stopped insisting and tremblingly placed Xu Xi on the ground.

This was the road Xu Xi had carved out.

It was the path forward he had opened for everyone.

He wanted to be here, watching the girl and the commoners leave, while also watching himself depart.

"Teacher…"

The light of the stars still flickered, but it could not illuminate the girl's face.

It was a face that could not stop its tears from falling.

Wu Yingxue had truly grown a lot. There was none of the noisiness Xu Xi had imagined, nor any extreme actions. She just wiped her tears with the back of her hand and asked Xu Xi a question.

"Teacher, what grade evaluation can my performance today get?"

"An evaluation…"

Xu Xi looked at the girl's face, looked at the star-filled sky behind her, and said with a weary smile: "It's Grade A, a very outstanding Grade A."

The girl was very happy, so happy she was choked with sobs.

Tears flowed uncontrollably, wetting the ground in front of her.

"Go on, the road ahead is still very long."

Xu Xi wiped the tears for the girl and lightly pushed her back with his fingers, pushing her to take her steps.

Towards a brand-new future, towards the world outside the mountains.

That familiar, crisp sound of footsteps slowly became inaudible. Vanishing along with it was Xu Xi's own breathing; he couldn't help but want to sleep.

Amidst the brilliance of the star-filled sky, in the silent darkness, the figure of the moon completely disappeared, covered and obscured by the stars.

[You have died]

[Simulation ended]