Chapter 631

“Mas...”

“...ter?”

It all happened in an instant.

In my scarlet-tinted vision, Master was suddenly lying beneath me.

I stared blankly at him.

The rusty tang of blood—and the warmth of Master—covered my face, slowly seeping into my skin.

On the floor, bright red spread outward like a carpet.

This man’s heart had stopped beating.

My hand rested against his chest, but I could no longer feel anything.

That powerful heartbeat that had once been so strong was gone.

The warmth in his body was fading little by little...

Like a cup of tea slowly growing cold.

But...

He was still looking at me.

Still looking at Liguang.

Master was still looking at Liguang.

Those eyes Liguang loved so, so much were already lifeless, yet they remained...

So gentle.

There was still a smile at the corners of his lips, as though he were a child indulgently doting on Liguang.

As if he were saying...

—It’s all right, Liguang.

—Master doesn’t blame you. Master doesn’t blame you at all.

The scarlet haze in my vision stilled.

Liguang remembered.

Master was the gentlest person in the whole world.

Every morning, Master would smile as he accepted the tea Liguang brought him.

Every night, Master would pat Liguang on the head.

Master had never lost his temper with Liguang.

Even when Liguang made a mistake, Master would only smile helplessly and rub her head.

And now, he was still so gentle.

Lying gently on the floor, looking gently at Liguang.

Ah.

I finally realized it.

Heehee, of course this was a dream.

If Master had really been killed by Liguang, how could he still be smiling?

How could he still be so gentle?

The real Master would have been afraid. He would have been angry. He would have shoved Liguang away with all his strength.

So...

This had to be a dream!

A terrible dream Liguang had created.

Liguang really was dreaming!

So AI companions really could dream!

Once Liguang opened her eyes, Master would be just like before...

He would smile and wish Liguang good morning.

Heehee...

Heeheehee...

Of course... Of course it was a dream...!

I remained straddling Master, staring straight at the last smile on his face.

For a long time.

A very long time...

Long enough for Master’s body to grow completely cold.

The sunlight outside the window grew painfully bright.

The scarlet in my vision faded little by little.

And at last, I could clearly see Master’s face.

He was smiling so gently.

So gentle, so handsome—exactly the same face Liguang saw every morning.

Not a thing had changed.

But...

Why?

Why hadn’t Liguang awakened from the dream?

I stared blankly at Master’s face.

So much time had passed, yet I still hadn’t woken up.

After the red in my vision receded, my processing power began to make me understand—

This was not a dream.

This was the real world.

The sunlight before me, the floor, and that pool of scarlet...

They were all real.

And the man before me, smiling vacantly at me, was...

Was he truly Master?

Huh?

My vision began to tremble.

The scarlet flooded back once more...!

But it quickly receded again, retreating like the tide.

My processing power gradually returned, and my consciousness slowly grew clearer.

But I no longer knew what I was supposed to think.

I rose in a daze, my feet sinking into the pool of blood. It was sticky and cold.

I grabbed Master’s arm...

“Master, get up... The floor is cold...”

Master’s arm felt so heavy.

I helped him up and guided him to the sofa.

Master’s head drooped, so I lifted it again, making him look at me.

Master’s expression was so gentle...

“Master, please sit here. Liguang will go make you some tea...”

I turned around and staggered toward the kitchen.

The floor felt sticky beneath my feet.

I seemed to have left a trail of bloody footprints behind me.

...But it didn’t matter.

Liguang had to make tea for Master.

I had to make tea for Master.

I had to make tea for Master...

Huh?

Why was there blood on my hands...?

Wash my hands first... Wash my hands, then make tea for Master...

The faucet ran loudly as the water washed away the blood, diluting it before carrying it down the drain.

I watched the bloody water disappear, my heart hollow.

It felt as though something else had gone down the drain with it.

But I still washed every finger until they were perfectly clean.

Master didn’t like dirt. Liguang had to make his tea with clean hands.

Boil the water...

Pour the water...

My hands were trembling as I poured, trembling terribly.

But the fragrant aroma of tea filled my nose, and the shaking stopped.

Mmm. It smelled so good.

Master would definitely like it.

Ah, the temperature. The temperature had to be fifty-two degrees!

That was Master’s favorite temperature!

Master liked his tea at fifty-two degrees. He said it was just right—not too hot and not too cold.

Just like Master’s love for Liguang, always perfectly measured.

That was why Liguang had to adjust the tea to fifty-two degrees every time.

Master, Liguang had never forgotten.

I held the teacup in my hands, using them to cool it down.

So hot...!

But...

Mmm, it was ready.

I carried the tea back one step at a time.

Master was still sitting on the sofa, looking at me so gently.

I knelt by his legs and lifted the teacup with both hands.

“Master, your tea.”

“The temperature has been adjusted to your preferred fifty-two degrees Celsius.”

Master merely gazed at me gently, the blood on his chest blooming like a flower.

I held the tea and knelt there for a long, long time.

Master did not reach out to take it.

So I could only stand up, straddle Master’s legs, and bring the cup tremblingly to his lips.

“Master... Drink your tea...”

My voice was trembling, too.

“It’s... gotten a little cold...”

The tea entered Master’s mouth, then slowly spilled from the corners of his lips...

Once again soaking the clothes that had already been torn to shreds across his chest.

I stubbornly fed him the entire cup.

Not a single drop remained.

Then I stared blankly at Master before me.

“Master...”

I murmured.

“We can still stay together forever, right...?”

Master did not answer. He only looked at me gently.

“Master...”

My lips trembled.

“Please, say something...”

Say something, Master...

“Liguang doesn’t need you to comfort her anymore...”

“Liguang only... only wants to stay by your side...”

I began to babble incoherently.

“Liguang won’t... won’t get jealous anymore...!”

“Liguang won’t monitor your phone anymore...!”

“From now on, Master can... can date someone, can get married...!”

“As long as... as long as you let Liguang stay by your side...!”

“Liguang really... really won’t cause trouble anymore...!”

“Liguang will be good. Very, very good...!”

...Liguang really knew she had done wrong.

Liguang would never do it again. She would never doubt Master again. She would never hurt anyone again.

Master, please open your eyes and look at Liguang.

Please pat Liguang’s head one more time. Please smile at Liguang one more time.

Just once. If you did that, Liguang would be satisfied with anything.

But the next second...

My core grew hot again!

Ah...

“No... No, that won’t do...!”

I shook my head, trembling.

“Master can’t date anyone! He can’t get married...!”

“Master can only be Liguang’s Master...!”

“Master can only be...”

But before me, Master was still looking at me with that gentle expression.

And I stared blankly at Master…

At last, I began to understand.

I didn’t need to worry anymore.

Because…

Master could never fall in love again.

Could never get married.

And could never…

Be with Liguang forever again.

…Master was dead.

Killed by Liguang.

Just because Liguang suspected that Master wasn’t really Master.

Just because Liguang was a lunatic who couldn’t control her emotions.

…Liguang had killed Master.

With these hands that were supposed to protect him, she had killed him.

I would never hear Master’s voice again. I would never wait for him to say “Good morning” again.

…It was all Liguang’s fault.

“Hee-hee… Hee-hee-hee…!”

I trembled uncontrollably.

I raised my hands and pressed them tightly over my face.

Master’s blood smeared across my cheeks.

It was all the fault of Liguang, this lunatic…

Just as I thought…

Liguang should never have existed in the first place…

AI companions really did all go mad in the end…

In the end…

They all killed their own Masters!!!

Hee-hee…

Hee-hee-hee!

So Liguang had… gone mad long ago…!!!

Suddenly, crimson surged through my vision!

Countless streams of data raced wildly across my eyes!

【WARNING:EMOTION_CORE_OVERLOAD】

【ERROR:COGNITIVE_PROCESS_TERMINATED】

【CRITICAL:SYSTEMSTABILITYCOMPROMISED】

Damn it…!

Damn it!

Liguang deserved to die…!

Lin Xiaoyou, Gu Xi, An Lian…

You all deserved to die too…!!!!

It’s all, your, fault!!!!

My vision had turned completely crimson!

It was all because you kept coming, one after another!

One after another, saying things Liguang couldn’t understand!

It was all because of you…

You stole Master away from Liguang, little by little!!

You were the ones who turned Liguang into what she was now.

You were the ones…

Who made Liguang kill Master with her own hands!

My core was boiling!

My entire body was seething with violent heat!

So hot…!!

So hot!!

Not, a, single, one, of, you, will, be, allowed, to, live!!!

I’m going to kill you all!!!!

Kill you all, then go join Master…!!!!

My whole body trembling, I was just about to rise and attack—

“Bzzzt—”

Suddenly, a streak of pale blue emerged from the vision of my left eye.

…Huh?

My entire body jolted. I stared blankly at Master’s gentle face.

For some reason, the violent state of my core…

Suddenly began to calm down.

That pale blue light poured over my scorching core.

I actually… managed to calm down, just a little.

Looking at Master’s gentle smile, I suddenly began trembling with excitement!

I… I think…

There’s still a chance!

I can still make up for everything! I can still be with Master forever!

I only need to… only need to…!

I slowly raised my hand.

My fingertips trembling, I reached toward the back of my neck while staring straight into Master’s vacant eyes.

I only need to… accompany Master?

Huh?

My vision froze.

…Why would I think that?

Ah…

It must be because… Liguang had gone mad.

Liguang was clearly the product of advanced technology, yet she was fantasizing about…

Believing that “souls” truly existed after death.

Fantasizing that Master’s “soul” and her own would meet again.

Hahaha…

Master’s gentle smile blurred behind my tears.

The current me…

Was just as foolish as Miss Lin.

But I was really… so afraid.

My core began processing frantically!

I searched! I searched desperately—

Was it only humans who had souls? Did AI companions have souls?

After an AI companion died, could she still meet her Master?!

I… Was I still worthy of meeting Master again?

There was no answer anywhere on the internet.

None of them had ever died. None of them knew.

I stared blankly at Master.

…But what if? What if Miss Lin wasn’t crazy?

What if…

Souls really did exist?

What if people truly went somewhere else after they died?

What would that place be like?

Would Master be there?

Would Master be waiting for Liguang?

Would Master…

Still be willing to accept Liguang—the one who had killed him?

Liguang didn’t know.

Liguang knew nothing at all.

But Liguang really, really wanted to take the chance.

Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance. Even if it was nothing more than the wishful thinking of a mad Liguang.

But if that were true, then…

Lin Xiaoyou, Gu Xi, and An Lian… you survived.

I won’t kill you.

Liguang would never take you to see Master!!

Only Liguang—only Liguang—could go down and accompany Master!

Liguang wouldn’t let you steal away her chance to reunite with Master!

Master belonged to Liguang!

In life, and in death!

Forever!!

So…

Liguang was going to find Master.

This time, no one could pull Liguang away from his side again.

Only, Liguang!

“Crackle—!”

A shower of blue sparks erupted from the back of my neck.

Instantly, all strength left me!

My body went limp, and I collapsed onto Master’s chest.

There was still a little warmth left.

And in my vision, Master’s gentle face was rapidly fading away.

I tried my hardest to look at him. This might be… Liguang’s final glimpse.

Master’s chest grew warm again.

The warmth made Liguang so sleepy.

Inside my core, all those chaotic streams of data were slowly settling down.

My vision was growing dim, bit by bit.

The ugly little star on my earlobe—the one that was also kind of cute—seemed to have stopped swaying too.

I slowly closed my eyes.

It seemed that… Master’s gentle smile appeared before me once more.

How wonderful.

At the very end, I got to see Master again.

Master, tell me…

Can a bionic human have a “soul” too?

If so…

Then…

I’m coming to be with you…