Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

When I typed "The End," I stared at the screen for a long time, reluctant to close the document.

This book begins with Su Chang'an being trapped in the Northern Region and ends with her escaping a three-thousand-year-old prison. In between, there is Su Qing exhuming her heart to exchange for her life, Gu Xiang carrying the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart through three years of wind and snow; Su Xiaojiu facing death in the Guanghan Palace, and Bai Yin sharpening his sword for nine years, waiting for her to return home with a lamp in hand; Chen Xuan having his Supreme Bone removed, yet regaining his grip on the sword from the ruins, and Li Changgeng guarding a broken body, only to realize at the end that a master is not an heirloom, and feelings cannot be retained through possession.

These plots were not easy to write.

I wrote some chapters quickly, but others I stopped at a certain paragraph and revised many times. Should Su Chang'an be saved? Can Gu Xiang live? Should Bai Yin let go? Can Chen Xuan move on from the old grudges of the Chen family? Should Li Changgeng die in the end, or should he stay? Everyone has their own choices, and everyone has things they are unwilling to let go of.

What I like most is that they didn't continue down the old path in the end.

Gu Xiang no longer chose to die for Su Qing, and Su Qing no longer saw herself as a sacrifice that had to disappear. They held a second wedding ceremony, not to worship fate, but for all people, and for each other.

Chen Xuan neither accepted the Emperor's Golden Seal nor carried the Supreme Bone back on his back. He smashed the ancestral stele, reforged the broken sword, and named it "Chang'an." The name sounded a bit cheesy, but he liked it. Su Chang'an complained, but ultimately didn't ask him to change it.

Bai Yin finally stopped proving his love through death. He guarded Yunmengze, distributed hot porridge to the refugees, repaired irrigation ditches for the little demons, left the knife in his hand to the enemy, and left the lamp in front of the door to Su Xiaojiu.

Su Chang'an finally understood that Su Qing was not her shadow, and Su Xiaojiu was not her debt. They emerged from the same soul, yet each possessed their own heartbeat, place of belonging, and life. Their three mortal bodies were not meant to die in place of anyone else, nor to erase all debts. They simply wanted to live well.

In the end, I didn't give them the exact same future.

In the capital, people wait to offer comforting words; in the Central Continent, someone teaches children swordsmanship; in the Cloud Dream Marsh, someone catches fish with a lantern. In the Northern Region, Su Chang'an guards the newly formed spiritual vein alone. They can sense each other, yet they no longer devour one another. This is the answer I wanted to give them.

I would also like to thank the readers who have followed me all the way here.

Thank you for being there for Su Chang'an through the snow in the northern regions, for Gu Xiang cursing in the court, for Chen Xuan drawing his sword time and time again, for Bai Yin catching fish, grilling fish, and combing his hair, and for Li Changgeng slowly learning to let go amidst his three thousand years of obsession.

Thank you for still leaving comments, reminding me, and continuing to read even when my updates are inconsistent, chapters are incomplete, and the plot occasionally goes astray.

This book isn't perfect; it has many shortcomings, and some parts weren't written to the ideal degree. But from the first chapter to the last, I genuinely wanted these characters to live to the end. They weren't killed off by fate, nor did they disappear to fulfill someone else's wishes.

In the end, what they possessed was neither the imperial throne nor immortality.

There are people waiting to go home.

This is enough.

Thank you to everyone who has read this book. No matter which chapter you came from or where you stayed, thank you for giving your time to Su Chang'an and the others.

The story ends here.

I hope that when this book is mentioned again in the future, everyone who has read it will remember the joy it brought. Thank you all for your companionship, the author is deeply grateful.

Just a heads-up, my new book will be coming soon. I'm planning to try out a new genre of supernatural tales, and I hope all of you readers will support me. Thank you so much!