Chapter 286: Bluewave city 18.

Choose.

Mo Yuxin stepped into the seventh circle.

The moment her foot touched the center, the world disappeared.

She found herself standing on a black ocean.

No city.

No harbor.

No Su Yubing.

Only endless darkness.

A voice came from above.

"Choose."

Mo Yuxin looked around.

"What?"

"The old life or the new one."

"What do I get if I choose the old one?"

"Everything you once lost."

"And the new one?"

"Nothing except what you built yourself."

Mo Yuxin laughed.

"Then there is no choice."

"Why?"

"Because everything I want is in the new one."

The voice became silent.

Then Su Yubing appeared at the edge of the sea.

She looked exactly as she did now.

Her clothes were plain.

Her hair was loose.

She was smiling.

"Yuxin."

Mo Yuxin walked toward her.

The sea tried to pull her backward.

She kept walking.

"Yubing."

Su Yubing held out her hand.

Mo Yuxin took it.

The entire black sea shattered.

The seventh circle ignited.

The black mark vanished from Su Yubing’s body.

The chains across Bluewave City broke all at once.

The white palace stopped moving.

The black door in the sea began closing.

The woman in black screamed.

The second Mo Yuxin lowered her sword.

The second Su Yubing dropped the crown.

Both women looked toward the collapsing gate.

The woman in black turned to run.

Mo Yuxin appeared in front of her.

"Not so fast."

The woman stared.

"You cannot stop me."

Mo Yuxin lifted one finger.

"That is where you are wrong."

She snapped her fingers.

The woman’s cultivation vanished.

Her connection to the black palace disappeared.

She fell to her knees.

The city lord and several elders surrounded her.

The woman looked furious.

"You don’t understand what you have done."

Mo Yuxin replied,

"Probably not."

She looked toward Su Yubing.

"But I understand enough."

Su Yubing nodded.

The ancient beast rose from beneath the city one final time.

Its massive head broke through the harbor.

The city trembled.

The creature looked at the two women.

"The choice has been made."

Mo Yuxin asked,

"What happens now?"

"The gate will close."

"Permanently?"

The beast hesitated.

"For this generation."

Mo Yuxin sighed.

"Of course."

Su Yubing looked at it.

"And the palace?"

"It will return to where it came from."

"And our past?"

The beast’s expression became strangely gentle.

"You do not need it."

Su Yubing smiled.

"Good."

The palace began dissolving into white light.

The second versions of Mo Yuxin and Su Yubing stood together on its deck.

The second Su Yubing waved.

The real Su Yubing lifted her hand.

The second Mo Yuxin looked at the real Mo Yuxin.

Neither spoke.

They did not need to.

The palace disappeared.

The black ship faded.

The enormous door in the sea vanished.

The water returned to normal.

For the first time in days, Bluewave City was completely quiet.

Then someone on the wall shouted,

"The sea is blue again!"

Another person cheered.

A child started laughing.

Soon the whole city erupted.

Mo Yuxin and Su Yubing stood at the end of the pier.

The city lord walked toward them.

He looked older than he had the previous night.

But he was smiling.

"It is over."

Mo Yuxin shook her head.

"For here."

The old man understood.

"Then perhaps that is enough."

He bowed deeply.

Not as a city lord to a powerful cultivator.

As a person thanking two strangers who had saved his home.

Su Yubing returned the bow.

"Take care of your city."

"I will."

Mo Yuxin looked around one last time.

Bluewave City looked ordinary again.

Fishing boats rocked in the harbor.

Smoke rose from restaurant kitchens.

Street lamps were being repaired.

People argued about prices.

Children ran between stalls.

It was strange.

After all that had happened, the city looked exactly as it had when they arrived.

Maybe that was the best ending possible.

Not a monument.

Not a grand celebration.

Just people going back to ordinary life.

That evening, Mo Yuxin and Su Yubing returned to the small inn where they had been staying.

Their room was on the second floor.

The window overlooked the sea.

Su Yubing sat on the edge of the bed and brushed her hair.

Mo Yuxin was packing.

"You are really leaving tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"We haven’t bought souvenirs."

Mo Yuxin stopped.

"We survived an ancient immortal conspiracy and your main concern is souvenirs?"

"Yes."

Mo Yuxin laughed.

"What do you want?"

"That little shell bracelet from the market."

"The expensive one?"

"It is pretty."

"You can buy it."

"You are paying."

"Again?"

Su Yubing smiled.

"You’re the husband."

Mo Yuxin threw a pillow at her.

Su Yubing caught it.

They both laughed.

Later, after the lamps were extinguished, they lay together beneath the blanket.

Su Yubing rested her head against Mo Yuxin’s chest.

"Yuxin."

"Hmm?"

"Do you really not care about the past?"

Mo Yuxin was quiet for a moment.

"I care."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"But?"

Mo Yuxin gently stroked her hair.

"Knowing who I was might explain some things. But it doesn’t decide who I am now."

Su Yubing smiled.

"Good answer."

"Thank you."

"And if someday we remember everything?"

"Then we remember together."

"And if it is something terrible?"

"Then we deal with it together."

Su Yubing raised her head.

"And if it is something wonderful?"

Mo Yuxin smiled.

"Then we laugh about how dramatic we used to be."

Su Yubing laughed softly.

She leaned over and kissed her.

The kiss lasted longer this time.

No ancient seals.

No city lord.

No prophecies.

Just them.

When they finally separated, Su Yubing whispered,

"I love you."

Mo Yuxin kissed her forehead.

"I love you too."

Outside, the sea moved gently.

For the first time since they had entered Bluewave City, nothing strange happened.

They slept peacefully.

The next morning, they bought the shell bracelet.

They also bought dried seafood, two boxes of spirit cakes, three bottles of local wine, a set of seashell hairpins, and a ridiculous carved wooden crab that Su Yubing insisted was cute.

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TO BE CONTINUED.