After a year, Su Youzhu returned to that stormy highway again. Cold rain fell on her face, and before her eyes, flames soared as willow trees swayed in the wind.

Yes, that desperate highway was also her nightmare.

Forgotten memories surged back like a tide, fragmented images reorganized once more. She clearly remembered herself passing through the burning sea of flames, rescuing the dying boy from the collapsed car, desperately pouring Life Medicine Liquid into his mouth, calling his name.

Yet even so, she could not save his life, feeling an unprecedented sense of helplessness and despair. She could still remember that face stained with blood, and eyes trying hard to stay open.

She could only hold him tightly, attempting to warm him with the softness of her chest.

"Be good, close your eyes. We won’t look, let’s not look, okay?"

Su Youzhu turned her back to the burning flames, holding him tightly as if afraid someone might take him away, gently covering his eyes: "He doesn’t love you anymore, but you still have me..."

But as she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.

Because vermilion flames soared to the sky.

On the burning highway, the heavily damaged Ghost Car knelt on the asphalt, raising its hands towards the sky as if offering itself as a sacrifice, proclaiming the descent of a God.

No, not the descent.

But the awakening.

The man named Gu Ci’an held his head high within the pool of blood, sprouting burning wings.

Covering the sky, eclipsing the sun.

For Su Youzhu, this was a memory she absolutely did not want to recall.

It’s said that the human body has a latent protective mechanism: when your suffering exceeds the limit you can bear, your brain automatically forgets those memories.

The girl didn’t remember these events, not just because of Qiongqi’s Authority, but more because she herself was unwilling to recall them. She believed she was the only witness; as long as she didn’t remember, it was as if it never happened, allowing her to hide it for life in peace.

This was her only bit of selfishness.

No one in this world can face such cruel reality.

Even Gu Jianlin cannot.

That was her boy; she only wanted to protect him well.

The world is cruel enough; why extinguish the last ray of light deep in his heart?

It was on that rainy night, Su Youzhu finally understood a truth.

Death doesn’t necessarily mean loss.

Sometimes living is the true farewell.

Boom!

The laboratory trembled, and the girl on the ancient throne abruptly opened her eyes, dark red patterns spread across her delicate skin, like an Ancient Dragon totem.

In the Ancient Dragon’s vertical pupil, golden radiance flowed.

In an instant, the dimension trembled violently, and the girl suddenly disappeared without a trace.

"Did it succeed?"

Su Youxia watched this scene, speaking softly: "She almost died."

Jiang Ziyue shook his head: "Merging the Third Law is not so easy, luckily she made it through, what supported her... must be her love for him, right?"

The Saints guarding the laboratory door breathed a sigh of relief.

Merging the Third Law is indeed extremely dangerous. These inexperienced rookies, even with perfect equipment, couldn’t force a merger in such a short time.

The real help came from another person.

"Thanks, Si Hao."

Ying Changsheng exhaled deeply: "You really hid well."

Nie, the Deacon scratched his head, chuckling: "The President had me infiltrate the Judgement Court for the day when the research results were needed. But now is not the time to relax; I just opened a relic left by the President, recording the secrets of the Vermilion Bird Venerate..."

·

·

In a desolate, silent world, the Candle Light Divine Tree burned quietly across the sky and earth.

The man under the Golden Tree stood before the Divine Seat, eyes filled with reminiscence.

This is Gu Ci’an, also the legendary Vermilion Bird Venerate, his appearance unchanged from those years, only more dignified and majestic, his eyes void of emotion.

Faced with this lofty God, Gu Jianlin touched his heart, feeling emptiness in his chest, descending from the sky to land in a daze. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Rarely could he maintain his sanity, quickly understanding the ins and outs of the matter, dispersing the fog of that stormy night, revealing the truth.

The so-called Gu Family curse perhaps never existed from the start. Because it was the Vermilion Bird Clan’s ploy to complete the Third Law. Those clansmen who vanished were not killed, but awakened, transforming from human state back into God.

Just like what happened on the Vermilion Bird Mother Star.

Even the Vermilion Bird Venerate was no exception.

Rather, the previous curses were merely His experiments.

His own merger started only thousands of years later.

In the 1970s, amidst the Fusang Divine Palace war, He was not banished into the dimension’s chaos, but began merging the Third Law, returning to His primal state from eons ago, entering the real world in a human guise, experiencing human joys and sorrows anew.

He lived, studied, worked, married, had children like an ordinary person.

Thus the paradox called Gu Jianlin, who shouldn’t exist, was born.