Chapter 1588 - 1584: Bird in a Cage

"It does exist, but the price is very high. If we could still live with Ye Qiu and Mom, it would be a dream.

Whenever he thought of those days, Ye Qiu felt a strong longing in his heart. Although it happened just a few months ago, the memories seemed to vanish without a trace.--

Ye Qiu held Dong's body in his arms and then quietly closed his eyes.

"This is not a dream... Ye Qiu will achieve it soon..."

Perhaps after not entering the imaginary world for some time, Ye Qiu's brain felt quite fatigued, and soon a strong drowsiness would come over him.

"Good night, Ye Qiu."

Dong, like a silver bell, gently soothed Ye Qiu's consciousness, which gradually sank into warmth and darkness. It felt like two birds snuggling together, singing their morning song on a white table.

After leaving her right hand, her fingertips immediately touched the glimmering jade-like feathers. But soon after, the two birds quietly flew up. After tracing an arc in the air, they headed toward where the light entered.

She stood up from the chair and chased a few steps from behind. But they immediately encountered the golden railing blocking the way. The birds slipped through the gaps, flying farther and farther, soaring into the sky.

Fang Wushang stood by the railing, slowly turned around after a while, until the birds merged with the color of the sky, and sat down on the chair.

A cold, rigid white marble round table and chairs stood in front of her. Beside them was a luxurious white canopy bed. These were the only pieces of furniture in the room. Of course—if it could be called a room.

The floor was round, laid with white tiles. It was about twenty steps from one end to the other. The walls were built with shiny metal railings. Although the gaps between the bars were large and she seemed to easily pass through, the system wouldn't allow her to do so.

The cross-shaped bars rose vertically, ultimately sealing the person inside within a hemisphere. Its apex was attached to a massive ring, supported by rather thick wood passing through the ring. Additionally, a great tree could be seen growing everywhere. Its branches and leaves covered much of the vast sky around it. The supporting wood was connected to the trunk of the great tree......

That is to say, the room was essentially a golden cage hanging on the tree—no, this description seemed somewhat inaccurate. The birds that occasionally visited could come and go freely. The only one imprisoned here was Fang Wushang, so calling it a prison was more apt.

Slender, elegant, beautiful, yet an icy arboreal prison.

Fang Wushang had woken up here for about 60 days. Of course, this wasn't a very accurate number. In a place where there was no way to leave any marks, she could only calculate the date in her mind. And the setting here seemingly went through 24 hours in what felt quicker, so even if she worked by her internal clock, it wasn't necessarily day or night when she awoke.

Every time she woke up, she'd tell herself what day it was today, but recently she began to lose confidence in this number. Perhaps she had repeated the same date many times—in reality, many years had passed. The more this thought occurred, the more Fang Wushang immersed herself in the memories spent with him.

At that time--

The entire Aient City collapsed, and the world gradually disappeared into the light. Fang Wushang and the boy hugged each other tightly, waiting for consciousness to fade away.

At that moment, she wasn't afraid, because she had accomplished what she wanted to do and was certain to live a life without regrets. Disappearing with him could even bring Fang Wushang joy.

As the light surrounded the two of them, the body disappeared, merging with each other's souls, then flying into the air—but his warmth suddenly vanished.

And she was immediately enveloped by darkness. Fang Wushang reached out her hands, called the boy's name. But the relentless torrent still dragged her into the darkness. Then there were intermittent flashes.

Fang Wushang felt herself taken to an unknown place and cried. Not long after, a colorful light appeared, leading herself into that light—but when she awoke, found herself trapped in this place.

A huge mirror was nailed to the wall, supporting the roof of the Gothic bed. Subtle differences existed between the image projected above her and images from the past. Her cheeks and chestnut long hair hadn't changed much besides color, but she wore an unnervingly thin white dress.

A bright red ribbon was near her chest. The cold from the marble tiles continually transmitted into her body through her feet. Apart from not having any weapon equipped, there was an incredible pair of transparent wings, bird-like but resembling insect wings on the back.

At first, she thought she had truly arrived at the world of time. But now she knew that wasn't the case. Even though the menu window didn't appear, even if you waved your hand, this wasn't the previous world, it was another imaginary world. It was a digital prison created by a computer. Fang Wushang was imprisoned here due to human malevolent intent.

If that's the case, you cannot admit defeat. You can't be defeated by the evil intent. Fang Wushang relied on this mindset to fight the loneliness and anxiety that invaded her every day.

But recently, it has become increasingly hard to hold up. She found the poison of despair slowly eroding her heart.

Fang Wushang sat on the cold chair, crossed her hands on the table, and as usual, spoke to the unseen.

"--Hurry... hurry and save me, Ye Qiu..."

"That's your most beautiful expression, oh queen."

Suddenly, another voice echoed in the cage.

"You look like you're about to cry. I really want to have it frozen and preserved forever."

"Then you can do it."

Fang Wushang said, turning her head towards the source of the sound.

A small gate was set in the part of the golden railing facing the so-called World Tree. From outside the gate, stepped branches could be seen, and the stairs themselves were a pathway connecting the world main trunk road.

What stepped in from the doorway was a tall person.

As he walked, thick golden hair swayed, wearing a silver crown on his head. He wore a deep green robe embroidered with silver threads. The wings on his back were like Fang Wuwei's, but the man's wings weren't transparent; instead, they were massive butterfly wings. The four black velvet wings had bright green patterns.

The man appeared quite dashing, as if perfectly designed. Besides a smooth forehead, there was a noticeable nose bridge. From his slender eyes, you could even see pupils glowing with the same color as the wing pattern. His thin lips had a smile, but what scorned everything was the evil smile.