When Li Zhe woke up the next day, he opened his eyes in a daze, then almost went crazy on the spot.

He actually...

"I’ll pay your hospital fees."

Seeing him awake, the man in the next bed glanced over. "Don’t think too much. I’m a man of principles. Once I say something, I mean it."

Li Zhe’s face turned deathly pale. He refused to look at him.

He was afraid that if he did, he would break down and cry.

Last night... he hadn’t resisted much.

He knew it himself.

When he thought about the crushing debt and hospital fees, he had closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and desperately told himself, just treat it like being bitten by a dog.

And so, he endured a night of unbearable humiliation.

He didn’t understand.

He had lived two lives, so why did fate still treat him like this, again and again?!

This world was too unfair!

In one life, he struggled desperately. Now that he had been reborn, he was still like moss in a ditch, never able to see the sun.

The one he loved... belonged to someone else.

Hatred surged wildly in his chest.

After leaving the hospital, Li Zhe dragged his still-aching leg down the street.

He looked up at the gray sky, feeling as if the entire world was pressing down on him, suffocating him.

Wasn’t he supposed to rise to greatness after rebirth?

How had things ended up like this?

Wandering aimlessly, waves of despair and resentment churned inside him, his emotions rising and falling chaotically.

At this moment, he had no money at all. He couldn’t even afford a taxi back to his rented apartment or even scrape together a single coin for the bus.

The thought of last night made his stomach churn.

He didn’t even dare look back.

Just thinking about it made him want to vomit.

Lone Sword at the World’s Edge, it was all his fault!

Li Zhe’s eyes turned bloodshot, his heart filled entirely with hatred.

Originally, the only thing he could target was the book A Drunken Song of Swords.

But now, even that path had been cut off, the other party had changed the ending, leaving him with nothing.

No... That’s not right.

Li Zhe’s heart suddenly tightened.

If his rebirth wasn’t an illusion, then what about Lone Sword at the World’s Edge?

Could it be... that he had also been reborn? Did he already know everything?

The moment this thought appeared, Li Zhe felt all the strength drain from his body.

His hatred instantly turned into fear.

Maybe... he wasn’t the protagonist at all.

Maybe Lone Sword at the World’s Edge was.

He couldn’t win. He was destined to lose. Why?

Why was fate so cruel, letting him be reborn, only to become someone else’s stepping stone?

No! He refused to accept it!

Having finally been given another chance at life, even if it cost him everything, he would take something back!

If he couldn’t have it, then no one else would either.

"Host! Host! Something’s wrong! I have been following your instructions and monitoring Li Zhe. He’s just been discharged from the hospital and is now stalking the female lead, Fang Yaoyao! His mental state is very unstable, he’s almost gone mad!"

"What?!"

Jiang Jiamian, who had been leisurely eating the orange segments Shen Muzhou fed him, suddenly stood up.

"What happened?" Shen Muzhou was startled.

"It’s urgent. I’ll explain later!"

Knowing he couldn’t explain everything in just a few words, Jiang Jiamian grabbed his coat from the chair and rushed out.

"Hey, Jiamian!"

Shen Muzhou quickly threw down the orange in his hand and chased after him.

Soon, the two of them disappeared into the night.

Jiang Jiamian quickly hailed a taxi at the roadside.

When Shen Muzhou caught up and got in, Jiang Jiamian didn’t stop him. He simply gave the driver an address without explanation.

"What exactly happened?" Shen Muzhou asked.

Now that they were in the car, there was finally time to talk.

Jiang Jiamian hesitated.

He didn’t want to explain because he couldn’t fully explain it.

But then he thought... Shen Muzhou was different.

He already carried memories from multiple lifetimes. Perhaps, if he explained a little, Shen Muzhou would understand, at least enough not to question him further.

After a brief pause, Jiang Jiamian said simply, "We’re going to save someone."

It wasn’t that he couldn’t call the police. But without concrete evidence, without anything actually happening yet, what reason could he give?

At most, the police would issue a warning. But Li Zhe was already unstable, teetering on the edge of madness. A warning wouldn’t stop him.

On her way home from work, Fang Yaoyao vaguely sensed that someone was following her.

She didn’t dare to look back. Instead, she silently quickened her pace, faster and faster.

But perhaps her sudden change made the person behind her more anxious. The feeling of being followed only grew stronger.

Several times, she even heard hurried footsteps closing in.

Thankfully, she was almost home.

But the street outside her residential complex was usually dark and deserted... and it was the only way she could take. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

What should she do?

"Yao Yao!"

Just as Fang Yaoyao’s heart pounded wildly, a voice suddenly rang out behind her.

Her whole body stiffened. Her legs felt like they were filled with lead, refusing to move.

"Yao Yao, I want you! I want you!"

A hoarse, frantic voice rushed closer.

Summoning all her strength, Fang Yaoyao turned around and saw a ferocious, crazed face.

"Here. And call the police."

Jiang Jiamian calmly placed the phone, its camera already recording, into Shen Muzhou’s hand.

The next instant, he shot forward like a swift swallow.

Just as Li Zhe reached for Fang Yaoyao’s waist, Jiang Jiamian kicked his wrist aside and slammed him hard against the wall.

Shen Muzhou: "..."

Shen Muzhou subconsciously touched his neck. It seemed his conclusion, based on memories from those lifetimes, that Jiang Jiamian could actually twist his head off... wasn’t wrong after all.

"What are you still standing there for? Go!"

Jiang Jiamian turned, glanced at Fang Yaoyao, who stood frozen in shock, and gave her a push.

"Oh, oh, thank you! Thank you!"

That push finally snapped Fang Yaoyao out of it. She didn’t dare stay any longer and ran toward home.

"Who are you?!"

Knocked to the ground, Li Zhe looked up at Jiang Jiamian with bloodshot eyes. He glanced unwillingly toward the direction Fang Yaoyao had fled, but she was already gone.

He tried to get up, but every movement sent sharp pain through his ribs.

"Why do you care who I am?" Jiang Jiamian didn’t even bother to explain. "But don’t worry, I know you’re down on your luck, so I kindly found you a place with free room and board."

Just as he finished speaking, police sirens echoed in the distance.

Li Zhe’s pupils shrank sharply. He immediately struggled to get up and run.

But before he could even stand, Jiang Jiamian kicked him back down.

"What? You don’t like it? I thought you’d thank me!"

"I have no grudge against you, why are you interfering in my business?! She’s my girlfriend! What’s it to you if I flirt with my own girlfriend?!"

"Girlfriend?" Jiang Jiamian let out a cold laugh. "Whether she is or not, the police will hear her statement soon enough."

The verdict came half a month later.

"Sentenced. Six years."

"Mm." Hearing Shen Muzhou’s words, Jiang Jiamian leisurely took a sip of his coffee. "Forget about him. Come on, I’ll continue helping you recover your memories..."

At the end of this life, Shen Muzhou seemed to understand that a brief separation only meant a reunion in the next.

So this time, he remained unusually calm in his final moments.

"Jiamian... wait for me..."

His voice was weak, but steady. "Maybe next time, I won’t remember you again. But you have to believe me, even if I don’t remember, I will still love you. No matter where you are... or what you look like... I will find you."

Jiang Jiamian smiled faintly and held his hand. "If you say that... aren’t you afraid I’ll deliberately hide?"

"Not afraid..." Shen Muzhou shook his head with difficulty. "I believe... even if I lose my memories again... I will still find you. I believe..."

Jiang Jiamian fell silent.

His heart stirred, complicated, heavy, and impossible to fully express.