Chapter 307: Starfall ruins 5.

"There is more. The command does not say to kill you. It only says to prevent you from reaching the central tower until the arrival of the seventh bell."

Mo Yuxin’s eyes narrowed.

"The seventh bell."

"Yes."

"How many bells have rung?"

The city lord swallowed.

"Six."

Su Yubing’s expression changed.

"Where is the seventh?"

The city lord looked at the little girl.

"She is the seventh bell."

Silence filled the room.

The girl stopped eating.

She looked at them.

"Mother said that was not supposed to happen yet."

Mo Yuxin stood.

"Where is your mother?"

The girl pointed downward.

"Still sleeping."

"And how do we wake her?"

The girl looked nervous for the first time.

"You don’t."

Su Yubing gently asked, "Why?"

"Because if she wakes before the road is ready, the door will open."

Mo Yuxin immediately asked, "What door?"

The girl looked at her.

"The one on the other side of the sky."

Mo Yuxin knew what she meant.

The same door.

The same presence.

The same thing that had watched them through the seven gates.

The only difference was that now they finally understood why it wanted them.

It was not hunting them.

It was waiting for them to become the key.

Mo Yuxin turned to Su Yubing.

"We should leave."

Su Yubing nodded.

The city lord looked surprised.

"Leave?"

"Yes."

"What about the seventh bell?"

"It will ring when it needs to."

"And Skyfall City?"

Mo Yuxin looked around the broken hall.

"You should rebuild it."

The city lord almost laughed.

"After this?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Mo Yuxin glanced at Su Yubing.

"Because people live here."

Su Yubing nodded.

"And because rebuilding cities is usually the part where everyone tells stories about surviving the great disaster."

Mo Yuxin smiled.

"Exactly."

They spent one more night in Skyfall City.

The little girl stayed with them.

They found an old residence that was still standing on the edge of the city.

Mo Yuxin repaired the roof with a flick of her finger.

Su Yubing swept the floor.

The little girl sat in the courtyard watching them.

For some reason, the simple scene felt strangely peaceful.

Later that night, Su Yubing sat beside the pond.

Mo Yuxin came from behind and wrapped her arms around her.

Su Yubing smiled.

"You are clingy."

"Yes."

"You used to deny it."

"I’ve accepted the truth."

Su Yubing leaned against her.

"Good."

They watched the moon together.

The little girl had fallen asleep nearby.

After a while, Su Yubing quietly asked, "Do you think the records are about another version of us?"

Mo Yuxin thought about it.

"Maybe."

"Do you think we really built those cities?"

"Maybe."

"Do you think we lived here before?"

"Maybe."

Su Yubing turned around.

"You don’t know anything."

Mo Yuxin kissed her forehead.

"I know one thing."

"What?"

"Regardless of what we were before, I choose you now."

Su Yubing smiled.

"That’s the only answer I wanted."

The next morning, they left Skyfall City.

This time, the road was quiet.

The little girl traveled with them.

She said she could not go far from them because the symbol in her hand kept pointing toward Mo Yuxin.

Mo Yuxin found that annoying.

Su Yubing found it funny.

"You have a child following you now."

"She isn’t ours."

The little girl looked back.

"Do you want me to be?"

Mo Yuxin nearly tripped.

Su Yubing burst out laughing.

"No," Mo Yuxin said immediately.

The little girl looked disappointed.

Then Mo Yuxin added, "You can stay with us until you find your mother."

The girl smiled.

"Okay."

They traveled for another five days.

On the sixth day, they reached a mountain overlooking a massive plain.

The seven lantern symbols appeared in the air again.

One by one, seven points of light spread across the horizon.

The little girl looked at them.

"Mother says this is where the road begins."

Su Yubing looked toward the distance.

There was nothing but mountains and empty plains.

"What road?"

The girl pointed forward.

"The road to the place where you became us."

Mo Yuxin’s expression froze.

"Us?"

The girl nodded.

"The two people in the records."

Su Yubing’s eyes sharpened.

"So the records aren’t from another life."

"No."

The girl looked at Mo Yuxin.

"They are from the future."

The wind stopped.

Mo Yuxin stared at the little girl.

"What did you say?"

"Mother said the old records are written by you after you lose your memories."

Su Yubing was silent.

Mo Yuxin looked toward the distant mountains.

Everything suddenly fell into place.

Homeward City was not remembering their past.

It was remembering their future.

The city had been waiting for them to arrive because they were the ones who would eventually build it.

The seven gates were not leading toward a lost history.

They were leading toward a future they had not yet lived.

And the door outside the world was something they would eventually lock away.

The little girl looked at them.

"Mother said you must not be afraid."

Su Yubing took Mo Yuxin’s hand.

"I’m not afraid."

Mo Yuxin squeezed back.

"Me neither."

They stood together as the seven lights formed a road across the sky.

One light after another appeared.

The road stretched farther than the eye could see.

At its end was a faint outline of a gate.

Not a city gate.

A heavenly gate.

Beyond it was pure darkness.

Mo Yuxin looked at Su Yubing.

"Still want to travel?"

Su Yubing smiled.

"As long as you are beside me."

Mo Yuxin smiled back.

"Then let’s go."

The three of them stepped onto the road.

The little girl walked between them.

The instant Mo Yuxin’s foot touched the first light, the entire Southern Continent trembled.

Far away, Homeward City awakened.

The sleeping woman beneath it opened her eyes.

She whispered one sentence.

"They remembered."

And somewhere beyond the heavenly gate, the enormous eye appeared again.

But this time, it did not look angry.

It looked afraid.

Because the two women walking toward it were no longer the same two women who had once built the prison.

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TO BE CONTINUED.