Chapter 1167

Heavy snow covered all of Ai Diliya.

Xiaodie was like a lone boat in the ocean, trudging alone through snow that barely reached her ankles. She desperately tried to escape the executioner's fate, but her foot slipped and she fell heavily into the snow.

She kept struggling, gasping for breath, the white mist she exhaled instantly torn apart by the wind and dissipated into the falling snow.

Is the snow colder than her hands?

Xiaodie lowered her head; the hands that gave death were frozen red, fingers stiff and curled. She wanted to rise and go on, but her frozen legs felt as heavy as if filled with lead, the cold relentlessly draining her warmth, until her vision went black and she collapsed completely onto the snowy plain.

……

Who knows how many years passed; Xiaodie had grown from the girl she once was into a slender, graceful maiden. She donned a black robe, bowed farewell to the executioners who had raised her, and set out alone toward the outside of the city-state.

Xiaodie walked on tirelessly, trampling the long passage of time beneath her feet, taking in all the world's myriad sights.

She had seen civilians raise crude farm tools to survive, launching a desperate charge against the nobles within the high walls. But this fierce resistance only brought more corpses strewn across the wilderness, valleys of white bones.

She had seen prosperous city-states reduced to scorched earth by war, lovers parting in despair at the brink of life and death, proud poets singing defiantly at the execution ground for dignity, and innocent children amidst ruins clutching broken toys and weeping.

……Who knows how many years later, when that familiar city-state reappeared at the horizon's end, Xiaodie stopped her wandering steps.

She had finally returned to Ai Diliya.

——

Dragon Clan.

If I'm not mistaken, this should be the Age of Conflict after the descent of the Three Titans of Calamity? During this period, Weng Faluos was quite chaotic, with war, death, and slaughter constantly emerging. In fact, when Xie Die shed her identities as a saintess and executioner and came to the mortal world, she would discover that for someone like her bearing the 'death' curse, the death they bring is actually nothing at all.

The king issued a decree that sparked a war; the number of deaths would likely exceed the total number of people Xie Die has executed over thousands of years.

Caesar found it most ironic that those who are closest to death, like Xie Die, respect life the most; conversely, the palace nobles who are farthest from death and forever enjoy affluent lives like to send ordinary people's children to the battlefield without question, watching them die to protect their own purses.

From a certain perspective, those warmongering kings and nobles are truly Senatos's agents in the mortal world.

"Speaking of which, how many years have passed since Xie Die visited the mortal world of Weng Faluos?"

"Probably a few dozen years," Chu Zihang said. "The temple of Ai Diliya still stands, so it hasn't fallen yet. After this snow country collapses, she will likely have to wander for thousands more years."

Caesar couldn't help but click his tongue: "Thousands of years... To be honest, she has lived longer than Aglaea, but Aglaea's humanity has gradually faded, while Xie Die still retains that reverence for life and death and her original resolve; even after experiencing so many mortal deaths and tribulations, it has not changed... Truly not easy."

——

"Xie Die came to the cemetery, her fingertips lightly brushing over those cold tombstones. Suddenly she noticed a stooped old person not far away placing flowers before a tombstone. She slowly turned around, and a flicker of surprise crossed the old person's aged face: "Is… that you, Sister Xie Die?""

"Xie Die recalled the bonfire from decades ago; the old person's face before her overlapped with that of the girl who once handed her a branch, as if separated by an age."

"Everyone… has already gone." Just like decades ago, the old person and she walked forward holding a branch, "Answering the death god's summons, we go to its realm. I too… it's time."

"In Ai Diliya's sky, snowflakes drifted, cold and endless, as if the heavens were draping a light veil over Ai Diliya's death."

"I'm not afraid, just… a little regret. Having always tended to people's deaths, you must be… very lonely." The old woman lifted her head, smiling at her, "And I would also like, at the moment of parting, to embrace someone fully."

"Xie Die suddenly realized something, panicked, she threw down the branch in her hand and kept stepping back: "No… these hands… are so cold…""

"The old woman merely smiled. She stepped forward, firmly gripping Xie Die's hand, and placed it solemnly against her own chest."

"Her body began to fragment and disintegrate, her skin turning into purple specks of light, like petals blown away by the wind, peeling off piece by piece from her aging form. Yet she had no intention of letting go; instead, she clenched Xie Die's hand even tighter."

"Sister Xie Die's hand… is actually warm."

"Just like ordinary people… let's embrace fully."

"The old woman's words were like a key, finally unlocking the rust‑stained lock in Xie Die's heart. The longing that had built up over decades surged forth, turning into an uncontrollable bout of weeping."

"Xie Die opened her arms and tightly embraced the old woman's gradually dissipating body, like plunging into a spring that had been long overdue."

——

Kobayashi's dragon maid.

"This is Xie Die's first hug, I suppose."

Kobayashi took off her glasses, silently pulled two tissues from the coffee table, and gently wiped the tears at the corners of her eyes: "Sigh, really, at my age I truly can't bear to see this… the first peer‑aged girl who wanted to show kindness to Xie Die, and also the first elder who voluntarily gripped Xie Die's hand."

Kobayashi drew a deep breath; this outcome was truly too cruel for Xie Die.

"Sniff… Kobayashi! I want a hug too!"

"Tuo'er's tear point was even lower than Kobayashi's; upon seeing the image of the two embracing on the firmament, she had already burst into tears. Seeing Kobayashi take off her glasses to wipe her tears, she lunged straight into Kobayashi's arms and held her tightly."

"Tuo'er, Tuo'er… wait! It's too tight——!"

"Kobayashi hadn't even gotten her glasses back on when Tuo'er's draconic strength almost strangled her to the point of nearly passing out; her face flushed red, she desperately patted Tuo'er's back, "I—I can't breathe! Let go quick! My ribs are going to break!""

——

"\"Sister Xie Die…\""

"In a daze, Xie Die seemed to see her younger self offering a branch to a girl, but the girl didn't take it; instead, she grabbed Xie Die's wrist and pulled her into the brilliant sunlight."

"At that moment the world was suddenly repainted."

"Xie Die held hands with them, running across the grass that barely reached their ankles; they formed a circle, frolicking in the night as the bonfire blazed, they embraced and celebrated to their hearts' content, they stood side by side in the temple, counting the countless brilliant stars overhead——"