Simulated immortality allows me to calculate talent stats.

Snow fell heavily, and the wind howled fiercely.

After the war in the Western Regions ended, tourism in Jintang City flourished even more.

[Based on your suggestion, and with the investment of revenue from the Western Regions and the Central Plains.]

[It made Jintang City seem to bloom with a beauty no less radiant than the fireworks of Yangzhou in March.]

[At the city gate where carts passed by.]

[A formidable array of iron cavalry.]

[The second-generation leader, Pang Hai, is currently the Grand General of Xiguan and the head of military and political affairs in Yongzhou.]

[Clad in a black robe, riding a divine steed, hand resting on a long sword.]

After returning from the Western Regions, his sword also acquired a name.

[You asked, and the second-generation Pang Hai laughed heartily, maintaining his mystery.]

[I said I had a surprise for you.]

Thinking of that guy who vanished without a trace, you suddenly feel a little weary.

I hope it's not a shock.

The first generation, Xu Hui, floated around him like a lost ghost.

[He's becoming increasingly taciturn.]

He always had an urge to ask questions, but before he could organize his thoughts, they would vanish into blank.

Every time I take out my notebook, I find it hard to write anything.

I can't even keep a record to remind myself.

[This is what caused him to become like this.]

Unless one comprehends the principle of 'tampering,' one would believe that their thinking has been altered.

He was confident.

[Someone is attempting to revise and distort their own perceptions.]

He will definitely notice.

Therefore, the confusion remains unresolved.

Then, this confusion vanished without a trace.

Wei Qi rode up, removing his blood-stained, battle-worn armor.

[He donned the brocade robe of a noble young master, which Chen Zhe had painstakingly searched through his chests and drawers to find.]

However, he was wearing it at the moment.

There's a kind of incongruous contradiction.

[Like a bloodstained murder weapon, now adorned with a glamorous exterior.]

[The murderous intent was barely concealed.]

The sound of tires crunching over the snow filled the air.

Chen Zhe arrived in his magnificent carriage.

Beside the vehicle frame, in a space completely isolated, only those with true celestial knowledge can perceive it.

[The frame is in use.]

[Water is boiled in a stove, and steam rises in wisps.]

Zuo Shiruo brews tea for you as usual.

[Feeling the bicycle stop, the hand holding the teapot paused.]

[She raised her eyes, unable to conceal her lingering affection.]

[Then it transformed into unwavering devotion: "My husband, I await your return."]

Your gentle smile.

He held her soft hand in his left.

"Once I've settled into my position in the central courtyard, I'll take you there to experience the prosperity of the capital."

Zuo Shi covered her mouth and chuckled softly: "Then I wish my husband a rise in power and influence."

You shrug and chuckle, "You don't necessarily have to stand high to be stable. If you're low enough, I don't mind either."

[Upon receiving the imperial edict.]

The reason I'm so impressed by Wei Zhi's dedication is...

[It's because she practically tailored the best arrangements just for you.]

[A great and virtuous teacher.]

[The title is prestigious and carries a very high level of prestige.]

However, the official position held no real power; it was merely a nominal title.

Isn't this a coincidence?

In the capital city, a single brick could potentially knock down a number of officials of the sixth or seventh rank.

You'd be perfectly at home in this environment.

Zuo Shi may not understand your words, but she never spoils the mood.

I shook your hand back, and said goodbye silently.

Reluctantly, she let go, lifted the curtain, her pale pink dress swaying, and stepped down from the carriage.

[In the isolated space beside it.]

[The figure of Yu Ci emerges.]

[Saying goodbye to Zuo Shi.]

"Hahahaha..."

[The second-generation leader, Pang Hai, let out a hearty laugh.]

[He mounts his horse and places his sword on his hand.]

[A rare, composed and deep light appeared in the tiger's eyes.]

"Brother, if you need anything, send me a message. I'm leading my army to conquer the capital!"

You noticed the composure in his words.

This isn't boasting; we genuinely have the confidence to back it up.

He nodded and smiled, "Okay."

You didn't exchange many pleasantries. Having experienced life and death together, what's a temporary separation?

[The second-generation Pang Hai, along with the first-generation Xu Hui and Zuo Shi, watched them leave.]

The bicycle frame gradually disappeared into the snowstorm.

[The twelfth year, at the end of winter.]

As you leave Yongzhou and enter Qingzhou, what greets your eyes is a scene of widespread desolation.

[Late winter, early spring.]

But many people cannot survive this period of time.

[Clinging only to that faint hope, we sink into endless darkness.]

[Boom!!]

[A rare phenomenon: thunderclaps in the dead of winter.]

The rolling black clouds surged like monstrous waves, obscuring the sky and the sun; the thunder rumbled deep and chilling.

The pitch-black lightning tore out a winding, zigzagging trajectory.

The rain poured down like a waterfall.

The apocalyptic scene plunged the people, who had been gritting their teeth and holding on, into utter despair.

Winter is hard enough as it is.

If another torrential downpour, hail, and damp cold descend, it will completely extinguish the people's hope.

Thick, murky, and filthy black rain, like silt, fell.

The perplexing situation could no longer shake the people's despair.

Let the black rain fall on me, and await death.

But the next moment...

A glimmer of hope shone in the dim eyes of the people.

Like a tiny firefly, yet stubbornly refusing to be extinguished.

[The lights began to twinkle, gradually spreading like wildfire.]

"This rain...it's so warm...the chilblains don't hurt anymore, and I can move my necrotic fingers again..."

The frail old man, trembling, raised his hands and looked up at the sky.

"Mother... I think I'm really not hungry anymore..."

The young child suddenly grabbed his mother's clothes with delight.

I had been enduring the hunger, not wanting to worry my mother.

But surprisingly, bathed in the black rain, I wasn't hungry anymore.

She excitedly shared this with her mother, only to find that after shaking it a few times...

[There was no gentle touch from her mother.]

Her innocent eyes lifted.

[The woman maintained her protective posture, but her body was already stiff and cold.]

"Mother... Mother..."

[Children don't understand the concept of death, but as a young girl, she witnessed many such scenes throughout the winter.]

[As long as the person stops moving and speaking.]

We'll never see each other again.

She didn't want to never see her mother again.

The child shook the woman's arm, wailing loudly.

[Within the chassis.]

You sit gracefully, a dark arc of electricity crackling at the corner of your eye.

The hope, gratitude, and exhilaration I felt were shattered by the child's cries.

You look up.

[His gaze pierced through the curtain, landing on the mother and daughter who had no eaves.]

The child was wrapped in strips of cloth made from a tattered man's robe.

[His empty right sleeve fluttered, and billowing black mist billowed out.]

[He drifted to the mother and daughter like a ghost.]

[Disobedience, chaos, inversion.]

[To extinguish a woman's life force to the brink of death is neither a cure nor a restoration.]

Instead...

A complete reversal.

The woman's frosty eyelashes trembled.

I feel warm all over and full of life.

[I heard my daughter's heart-wrenching cries.]

He instinctively hugged her and soothed her softly.

"My dear girl... Father will be back soon... He'll bring you hot steamed buns..."

The child, feeling the familiar comfort, immediately stopped crying and started smiling.

"Mother, I'm not hungry anymore."

[She even proudly raised her little head as she spoke.]

At that moment, hurried footsteps approached.

The barefoot, armless man saw the unharmed mother and daughter.

A relieved smile appeared on his face.

【"Father!"】