Su Ming'an placed Li Mingyue's body in the ice coffin inside the church chamber.

Who would have thought that there would be an ice coffin in the church chamber, precisely the right size. Guided by the priest, the moment Su Ming'an saw the ice coffin, he understood... Li Mingyue had prepared in advance.

The ice coffin contained eternal flowers of yellow roses and purple hyacinths. As he laid the cold body down, Su Ming'an felt as if he were letting go of a pile of melting frost and snow.

He sat by the ice coffin and suddenly noticed the wall covered in dense writing—methods of Matrix Orders transitions, suitable regions for The Republic, the affairs across the millennium...

All were Li Mingyue's handwriting.

[February 19, Year 5, Time line 3546 (643, 164) coordinates, is one of the areas for placing The Republic, remember this.]

[November 3, Year 9, estimated observation of 800+ gamma, suitable for Eighth-level Word Spirit and below to complete transition.]

[April 11, Year 13, saw my expected lifespan, 12,271 years remaining, should be sufficient to pay the price...]

[December 31, Year 14, last time visiting Wensheng's grave.]

[January 13, Year 15, last time confirming no mistakes with conditions, do not forget the final blessing words for Ming'an, written here: "Heaven bestows prosperity, Earth grants abundance, may the gods bless..."]

[...]

Su Ming'an silently observed the wall, as if seeing Li Mingyue arranging his death alone.

... He found it hard to imagine how immense that solitude was.

For many years, Li Mingyue likely sat alone in this narrow chamber, thinking day and night about his death. He wrote down the instructions with meticulous attention on the surrounding walls. He collected various eternal flowers by himself, arranging them in every corner of the ice coffin.

He sat by the ice coffin, repeatedly contemplating this foolproof death—

Calculating how much cost must be paid to be enough to transition Shadow's curse.

Calculating what words to say to the child at the last moment to ease their mental burden.

Calculating what beautiful blessing words to give at the end.

Calculating how to maximize the benefit of his own death.

And the only thing he considered for himself, was this ice coffin. He arranged a beautiful ice coffin for himself and informed the priest to bury him in it.

This was his only selfish desire.

[You can melt the frost and snow, because you are hot enough. —Godfather]

...

This was a note Su Ming'an found.

He thought he could find something else in the ice coffin, like items left by Su Wensheng, or the peach blossom brew left by Su Shaoqing. After all, this was a rest place meticulously arranged by Li Mingyue, there should be some relics of the children nearby.

However, except for the note blessing Su Ming'an, there was nothing else.

Gazing at Li Mingyue's still visage, Su Ming'an suddenly understood.

Perhaps... Li Mingyue believed until the end that Su Shaoqing and Su Wensheng wouldn't forgive him, so he couldn't keep their relics by his side.

"..."

Suddenly, Su Ming'an felt an emotion akin to pain.

The quietness around was piercing; his heart seemed pricked with a sharp, painful point, oozing bitterness. He didn't understand what this was.

He looked one last time at the white-haired person in the ice coffin. Li Mingyue lay quietly with closed eyes, requiring no grooming; he was in the most orderly state on his own, his collar and cuffs meticulously folded to the dimensions required by the church, his white hair flowing amidst the clusters of yellow roses and purple hyacinths, like new snow melting among spring blooms.

His eyelids were slightly closed, giving the impression he might still open his eyes. His lips were almost colorless; even the last traces of life's redness had vanished. He seemed to sleep peacefully, like he was caught in a long dream.

Su Ming'an reached out, placing Li Mingyue's cold hands over his abdomen, slowly setting the original copy of the Rule Book, transcribed by the priest, on Li Mingyue's shoulder.

Since you don't want the children's relics to accompany your sleep, then...

He found inside his backpack a bright red butterfly hairpin, just like the blackbird sculpture—it was miscellaneous, not knowing when it ended up in his backpack.

But at least at this moment,

... it could be an elegy for the Godfather.

This butterfly hairpin was placed on the edge of his flowing white hair, the bright red butterfly rested by Li Mingyue's face, as if kissing him.

"... Goodnight, Godfather." Su Ming'an took one last look at Li Mingyue's pale face.

... This truly was the last glance.

He closed his eyes, raised the Sword of Destiny, and swung down—

The causal lines around Li Mingyue snapped with a crackling sound.

To ensure that the Word Spirit on Li Mingyue wouldn't be reclaimed by Shadow, he needed to sever all the causal lines on Li Mingyue.

In the next moment, the words on the surrounding walls began to disappear, as if wiped away by an invisible hand. The church's exquisite murals, the unfinished orphanage lists, a kettle of wine warming on the stove, children's doodles in the glass cabinet... all began to vanish.

These were all traces from when Li Mingyue existed.

With all of Li Mingyue's causal lines severed, the traces of his existence would be erased. Only Su Ming'an, who is essentially a deity, and other deities could remember him.

—In the collective societal consciousness, Li Mingyue no longer existed.

This is "forgetting" in terms of causality, not "erasure."

The name "Order Angel" in mythical books disappeared, replaced by other words. "Thirteen Principals" turned into "Twelve Principals." In the Rule Book, the name "Li Mingyue" was erased, and no one knew who wrote this book. People would rather believe that such a beneficial book was created by the God.

No one would remember his contributions and achievements. No one would remember that there was a white-haired Godfather here, who planned a foolproof death.

If Li Mingyue hadn't transferred the Word Spirit for Su Ming'an, the one being forgotten now, would be Su Ming'an.

Su Ming'an slowly closed the ice coffin, suddenly felt something, and took out his own cellphone—this was the phone he found upon initially entering the instance, in Su Wensheng's room, which Su Wensheng used in life.

...

[Xia Jiawen (Note: University counselor)]

[Lin Yunting (Note: Head of the Psychological Counseling Center)]

[Yue (Note: Godfather)]

[Please call me Demon King (Note: Dream Patrol Family Su Luoluo)]

[? (Note: Unknown when added as a friend, forgot who it was)]

...

Su Ming'an stared at these five contacts, watching the name of the third contact start to change—

...

[Yue (Note: Godfather)]

...

[...]

...

[? (Note: Who is it?)]

...

The name "Yue" turned into "?"

He quickly dialed the number, and after two beeps, the number that should have transmitted the cold voice of the Godfather instead sounded in his ear: "Sorry, the number you dialed is an empty number..."

At this moment, he understood the weight of "forgetting."

——He suddenly seemed to know why, at the beginning of the instance, he saw a "?" among the contacts.

...

[? (Note: Don't know when this friend was added, forgot who it is)]

...

Goosebumps suddenly covered him.

Could it be...

Before he arrived, this scenario had already happened once. Who was this forgotten person?

However, investigating this no longer holds any significance.

At this time, the clone Ming approached. The clone Ming had no independent consciousness, because Su Ming'an had long injected the copied "self" into the clone Ming, completing the body switch.

Previously, when Su Ming'an was trapped by Shadow in the Nine Serenities, he had previously copied "himself" onto the clone Shadow, leaving the original body in the Nine Serenities, completing the escape of consciousness. Now, once again, he copied "himself" onto the clone Ming, completing the escape of consciousness once more.

However, if he gets trapped again, there will be no extra bodies for him to escape.

Su Ming'an transferred his consciousness to the clone Ming, opened his eyes, and saw the divine state of himself in front of him. The deity Su Ming'an had empty eyes, white hair hanging to his waist, and the white tendrils dragging behind him due to the loss of Su Ming'an's control, like a lifeless porcelain figure.

Su Ming'an left himself in the church, cut his consciousness back to the deity Su Ming'an, and flew toward the sky.

His expression returned to indifference, no one knew he had shed his shell.

——This is the final step.

Throw this divine body into the starry sky, to escape the civilization scope of the World of Old Days, then Shadow can no longer directly attack this civilization.

As for Su Ming'an himself, his consciousness can cut back to the clone body left in the church, safely passing through this millennium. To prevent Shadow from following the causal lines of others and therefore finding Su Ming'an himself, everyone should best believe that the deity Su Ming'an heading towards the sky is Su Ming'an himself.

He needs to perform a play.

——[The deity sacrifices himself for the World of Old Days, throwing himself into the starry sky.]

This might be written in the mythological records, the final story of the Old God.

...

After being thrown by the white tendrils and hitting the ground, Xiao Ying ran away.

He couldn't destroy the Old Divine Palace, had already prepared for Shadow's kill. He hurt the pure White Tower for his mother's life, but his mother wasn't saved in the end.

He didn't want to live anymore.

But he didn't expect... even if he accomplished nothing, Shadow spared him.

Shadow appeared before him, calmly said: "When everything is over, I'll send you and your mother to a safe civilization. Now, leave my sight, find a quiet place to stay. You're free."

Despite saying impatient words, Shadow promised him a vow he didn't need to give.

Something was thrown over, Xiao Ying caught it, it was the black bird sculpture. He originally discarded it because he didn't want to see such evil again, yet Shadow picked it up and returned it to him.

He had received his wish, yet seemed not to awaken from a dream, stupidly holding the black bird sculpture, as if losing his soul.

"Get lost, I need to continue the invasion." Shadow disappeared from his sight, returning to the canopy above.

Xiao Ying closed his eyes.

Holding the black bird sculpture, step by step he walked back.

He didn't know where he was heading. As the Principal, he should have stayed firmly in the sky like Chao Yan and the others, resisting the invasion.

However, Xiao Ying's heart felt empty, nothing remained.

Initially, it was the Organizers' coercion, followed by the Old God's bet restricting free will, and finally Shadow's coercion... for his mother's salvation, he never lived for himself even once. Now, he finally got his wish.

As long as he kept walking forward, leaving the scope of the Holy City, he could live freely.

At this moment, he heard the cries of people—in fact, it was the deity vanished for some time, flying up to the sky again.

Xiao Ying stopped his steps, gazing blankly at the pure white figure... He truly became a pure white tower, holy, just, beautiful.

He suddenly realized that he was no longer coerced—so, he wanted to boldly express his true thoughts.

He wanted to say to that noble white tower—

I'm sorry.

It was me who couldn't give up my mother's life.

I exhausted my efforts to beg Shadow to change the mission, now I still wish to atone to you.

Xiao Ying threw away the black bird sculpture.

What was once regarded as a treasure from his hometown, was now discarded by him. He ran towards the center of the Holy City. He wanted to face his sins directly, even if Su Ming'an doesn't forgive, at least... he wants to express his apology, even if he hasn't done anything this round.

He possesses the strong combat power from the Perfect Pass. For the remaining millennia, Su Ming'an surely needs combat power, he can fight for Su Ming'an to atone for a thousand years. In the past, he had no choice, now, he doesn't want to run away.

They still have a millennium, he will try his best to make up for it...

But what he didn't expect was Su Ming'an's next words.

Su Ming'an gazes at the starry sky, looking at Shadow.

"I promise you." Su Ming'an says: "I'll go with you, you spare the World of Old Days."

Xiao Ying's eyes widened.

Everyone who heard this sentence froze on the spot.

His mind contemplating a thousand-year atonement plan, shattered.

The deity doesn't even have time to accept his apology... to save the World of Old Days, he chose to sacrifice himself to the High-dimensional.

...no.

Xiao Ying ran forward.

The cobblestones under his feet pounded loudly. He ran with all his might, wanting to reach beneath that sky.

Like countless times he ran past pools of water on the way from school, he ran with large strides forward, the fiery wind lifting his black hair, for a moment he felt, as if he became the young hero chasing the Qilin.

...right, Positional Rank... Positional Rank!

His positional rank is also high, if let him become "the price," could he help Su Ming'an transfer Word Spirit? Mother has already been saved, he no longer has the desire to live, if he lets go... can he protect Su Ming'an?

Once this idea emerges, it's uncontrollable. He starts to think about how to transfer Word Spirit, how to save Su Ming'an...

"Splash, splash."

The puddles on the cobblestones splashed his boots wet, he ran forward.

But what he simply didn't expect was, even such method of atonement had already been practiced by a Godfather. Even if he wanted to give his life, Su Ming'an no longer needed it. Moreover, even as a sacrifice, he's far from enough.

From beginning to end, the world seems to not need him at all.

...

Shadow heard Su Ming'an's words, showing a joyful expression: "...truly?"

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