TGA Chapter 125

After the dazzling bright light, the seven-star linked-beads dial on the Gate of Truth slowly retracted, and the shimmering walls also returned to their original state. The scene, brilliant as the starry sky and dreamlike, vanished like smoke.

Only the prostrate Lin remained as proof of the relic’s power.

Those around carefully examined Lin’s condition, then silently shook their heads at Q, confirming there was no hope left.

If anyone had initially harbored any hope regarding the relic, seeing Lin in a vegetative state truly frightened them, filling them with an unknown terror. No one understood the principle behind the murals, nor why others were unharmed—only that Lin had fallen into brain death.

Q stared at Lin on the ground, his expression complicated. Helplessly, he said, “Perhaps this is fate.”

The person he had trained had gone astray, and now had fallen to such a miserable state, which made him feel helpless. At first, he had hoped for the family’s prosperity and longevity, but somehow the goal and the outcome drifted further and further apart, leaving him utterly exhausted.

Perhaps it was time for him to rest.

Without Lin leading, Shi Zhuoqu and the others outside the ruins were soon subdued. Facing the people from the Chinese side and Country H, they had no strength to resist.

Lilith was captured on the spot. Joe also broke free from his restraints and regained his freedom.

Eberner attempted to move the crystal ball. He found that now he could easily take it off; it was no longer stuck immovably to the stone pillar.

The chaos ended, and everything calmed.

Everyone prepared to leave the main hall, but they noticed tire marks inside the corridor. These were left when Lin and the others recklessly drove the vehicle in earlier.

Eberner scratched his head in frustration. “I wonder if there’s any way to fix this.”

The group avoided the tire marks and passed through the dim corridor, finally seeing daylight outside.

Outdoors, Liu Jun and the others were tallying personnel after the skirmish. Luckily, Huang Xian had reminded them in time, so there was no loss.

Chu Qianli had been shrinking behind Tan Muxing the entire time, tightly clutching something in her hand. After the completion of the Seven Stars in a Row, a stone rolled out from the dial, but the light inside the hall was too strong for her to examine it in detail yet.

Now, having come out of the corridor and back to the familiar group, she finally had the chance to open her palm and look at the dazzling, round gem in her hand. It looked like a red star in the sky, shining brilliantly with flowing radiance, seemingly made of a special material.

“This is…” Tan Muxing saw the golden-red gem in her palm and hesitated, “…a ‘Ying Stone’?”

The Ying Stone was a pure red crystal, but it was far less radiant than the gem in her hand. The gem before her overflowed with dazzling light, similar in style to the murals when the ruins closed.

“It seems made from Ying Stone, but purified,” Pan Yicheng said with a worried expression. “Did you find it inside the ruins? Could it affect your body?”

Because Lin had mysteriously collapsed in the hall, people from Mondeson Group were panicked.

Joe and others believed Lin had angered a god and was punished, which made everyone else respect the ruins and fear being cursed. Those who remained inside the ruins acted much more cautiously than before.

Pan Yicheng did not share such superstitions. He suspected that the Ying Stone had some irreversible effect on the body, which eventually caused Lin’s emotional collapse.

Chu Qianli stared closely at the gem and honestly shook her head. “It wasn’t found, it was given to me.”

“Given to you?”

Tan Muxing and Pan Yicheng both showed surprised expressions.

“Yes, because it has my name written on it.” Chu Qianli lifted the gem, showing it to the two of them, and blankly said, “Is this the character ‘Li’?”

Pan Yicheng’s eyes darkened. He hurriedly put on his glasses and confirmed, then exclaimed, “Oh my, it really is the semi-cursive ‘Li’ character. This is quite uncanny!”

At the center of the stone was a golden “Li” character, integrated into the purified golden-red gem. One had to hold it under sunlight carefully to verify.

Among those present, only Chu Qianli’s name matched it, and the gem naturally fell into her hands. No wonder she said it was given to her.

“But who prepared this?” Tan Muxing asked curiously. “And it’s written in Chinese.”

Chu Qianli recalled the Seven Stars in a Row dial, and suddenly thought of the young man in ancient robes and his astonished expression when he saw her. Suddenly enlightened, she said, “It’s the Patriarch.”

The Ying Stone ruins were definitely not built overnight. It must have been accumulated by predecessors over generations. After all, the arts were evolving, and metaphysics would also cycle between old and new. That required someone to repair and continuously patch past flaws.

The crystal ball pillar was related to Kabbalah, but the Seven Stars in a Row on the Gate of Truth was clearly the work of Ziwei, probably the creator of the Ying Stone compass. Ziwei astrology greatly benefited the overall construction of the ruins, and likely many facilities were left by the Hao Sect Patriarch.

Ziwei astrology emphasizes the name, and engraving names on gems fits the predecessors’ thinking.

“We really made eye contact then; it wasn’t just my illusion. He saw me too!” Chu Qianli happily held up the gem. “This is the Patriarch’s gift to me. Even grandpa hasn’t seen it. When I return to the village to sweep the tombs, I have to show off!”

It was exactly that brief glance crossing time and space in the corridor that made the Patriarch leave a small gift on the dial, patiently waiting for descendants to come and claim it after a long time.

Although Chu Qianli had studied Ziwei astrology since childhood, she didn’t know if she was truly of the Hao Sect. After all, Chu Yilie had already left the sect, and tracing her lineage was complicated.

Now that she had obtained the Patriarch’s gift, it was undoubtedly the predecessors’ recognition. She was the rightful inheritor of Ziwei astrology; no matter how others questioned her identity, who else could compare with the founding Patriarch’s authority?

She didn’t care about outside opinions or fame, but this was the predecessors’ affirmation and care—something very meaningful!

“If we go by four-dimensional space theory, such a thing isn’t impossible,” Pan Yicheng laughed. “Your grandfather had been searching for the Patriarch’s whereabouts, but in the end, you accomplished it.”

Chu Qianli held the golden-red gem, proudly raising her chin. “Even the Patriarch acknowledges I’m the best of this generation.”

Tan Muxing asked puzzled, “Did you two communicate in the corridor?”

“No, just a glance.”

“When did he say that?”

Chu Qianli confidently said, “He already gave me the Qian Li Stone; isn’t that praise for me being number one?”

Tan Muxing: “… You even named the stone already.”

The purified golden-red gem had no name, but Chu Qianli called it the Qian Li Stone, thus completing its naming.

Chu Qianli floated on air. “He also encouraged me to keep researching the stars, strive to master both Chinese and Western knowledge, promote the sect, and eventually become a cross-era astrology genius, surpassing several past generations. It’s fine if I even surpass him…”

“…”

Facing her proud little look, Tan Muxing had no idea what she had imagined from that one glance, to interpret the Patriarch’s gaze with such rich meaning.

Regrettably, the Patriarch probably would no longer connect with them, nor could he appear to clarify, “I never said those things in the corridor.” Ultimately, the right to interpret belonged entirely to Chu Qianli.

Chu Qianli wanted to put away the Qian Li Stone. She held it cautiously but didn’t know where to keep it.

“I’ll help you hang it on a chain,”

Tan Muxing fetched a necklace with a small glass vial attached. He carefully placed the Qian Li Stone inside the vial and gently helped her wear it. The golden-red gem inside the glass vial remained intact; not only could she carry it with her, but it also wouldn’t come into direct contact with the outside world.

“You can study its composition when you get back,” Pan Yicheng said. “But if it was specially given to you, it probably isn’t harmful.”

If it was a gift from the Patriarch, then it contained blessings and couldn’t be something bad.

Chu Qianli nodded. She gazed at the gem shining like a star inside the vial, as if she were once again seeing the people under the same starry sky across hundreds of years.

They had once set foot here harboring the same ideals, then became small stars in the long river of history.

After the ruins closed, Lin and the others’ crimes were dealt with one by one, and the researchers finally welcomed peace.

The Chinese side and Mondeson each took back their keys for safekeeping. After negotiation, the crystal ball was left in the ruins in Country H, and the remaining keys returned to their original owners.

Chu Qianli later learned that the pendulum did not belong to Mondeson; it had always been Eberner’s private property. He was unwilling to sell the pendulum at the time, which is why he cooperated with Mondeson to help explore the Ying Stone ruins.

“I plan to stay in Country H to continue researching the corridor murals after finishing restoring the ruins I’m responsible for. Although we cannot witness the ruins reopening, we can still excavate valuable information from the murals,” Eberner said with a smile. “Are you interested in staying together?”

Eberner had always appreciated the tranquility of Country H. Since he originally intended to live there, he extended the invitation to Chu Qianli and Tan Muxing.

Tan Muxing awkwardly said, “Sorry, we still have to return to our country to attend school.”

Eberner was taken aback: “Ah, right, you’re still students. I suppose your families wouldn’t agree…”

Chu Qianli nodded in agreement: “Yeah, plus the money printer isn’t far away; otherwise, I’d be at a loss.”

Eberner: “?” He had thought Chinese culture was about “Parents are not far away from their children…”

Eberner was responsible for repairing the pendulum placement site, while Joe helped repair the Rune Stone placement site.

The key holders each took charge of improving the ruins. They not only recorded precious inheritance at the placement sites but also adjusted the mechanisms according to their own experiences.

Mei Rujing originally wanted to return the hidden arrows, but upon discovering that the six-pillar plum blossom stakes stored an incredible amount of arrows, she started scheming how to make the checkpoint more difficult.

Chu Qianli asked in confusion, “Sister Rujing, are you making things hard for the younger generation?”

She always felt that the difficulty of the key placement sites was rising sharply.

“That’s two hundred years later. The mechanisms shouldn’t be too difficult,” Mei Rujing replied matter-of-factly. “Given technological progress, shouldn’t we upgrade to nuclear weapons?”

Tan Muxing weakly said, “Please don’t have such dangerous ideas.”

Chu Qianli: “Exactly! You can’t force your Spartan childhood on future generations!”

Mei Rujing: “…”

Meanwhile, Xu Zaiyuan was doing similar work. When repairing the ruins, he decisively increased visual misdirection effects. Apparently, he still held a grudge for having once been lost in the maze there, and he showed no mercy to future successors.

In Xu Zaiyuan’s words, “If they can’t surpass me, then there’s no reason for them to open the ruins.”

Hearing the companions’ approaches, Chu Qianli clicked her tongue and sighed, “Too intense, too intense. This is exam competition at its worst, everyone racking their brains to make things hard for those who come after. I can’t do that…”

“So you’re going to lower the difficulty?”

“No, I’m not intentionally making it harder for them. I want to set genuinely tough challenges!”

“?”

Chu Qianli asked the construction team to repair the bottom of the majestic pillar damaged by the explosion, and added many clever ideas at two key placement sites to restore the damaged Ying Stone ruins to their original state.

Of course, the new ruins naturally had increased difficulty. Chu Qianli would definitely not quit the race to excel (or “chicken-wake,” as the expression goes).

The restoration days quickly passed.

When Huang Xian had already become close friends with the local Arctic foxes, the group was finally ready to embark on their journey back home.

They dined with Eberner, Joe, and the others, and the next day would take a flight back to their homeland.

After the meal, Chu Qianli and Tan Muxing strolled along a snowy path, taking their last chance to admire the clear skies of Country H before returning soon to their warm motherland.

It was a rare moment of peace for the two.

In the quiet night, stars hung like bright lamps, gathering in the dark curtain like a flowing river of life.

Tan Muxing kept pace with Chu Qianli, hesitating as he clenched something in his hand, watching her happily crunch snow beneath her feet, unsure how to begin speaking.

Chu Qianli played with the snow, casually saying, “I’ve already fulfilled my original promise; now it’s your turn to fulfill yours.”

“Huh?” Tan Muxing was suddenly startled, mistakenly thinking she had guessed his inner thoughts. He was about to awkwardly explain, but seeing her expression unchanged, he suppressed his fluster and asked, “What promise?”

“You said you’d get fat again once everything was over,” Chu Qianli said, hands on hips. “I’ve cracked my lifespan; when will you turn back?”

Tan Muxing had become thin after falling off the Gobi Desert. Chu Qianli had been heartbroken and fed him. Later he said maybe after everything was resolved, he could become a big white bear again.

Now that she had her lifespan, she naturally questioned him.

“…You actually remember that,” Tan Muxing sighed softly. Seeing her calm face, he felt a strange subtlety in his mood and quietly said, “I guess I was overthinking.”

She sometimes seemed like a carefree child, completely forgetting some important details.

“Overthinking what?”

Seeing her confused look, Tan Muxing took a deep breath, finally mustering courage to take her left hand and carefully put a colorful knotted bracelet on her wrist. The old bracelet had been destroyed in the majestic pillar’s explosion; recently he had found materials to weave a new one.

It is said that the bracelet carries the meaning of protection and safety. Although he didn’t believe in metaphysics, he wasn’t sure if it was related to this recent narrow escape, but he still wove a new one for her.

“That day in the hospital, I always felt something was off,” Tan Muxing recalled the kiss in the ward. His gaze immediately drifted away, lips pressed tightly, and even his ears flushed slightly. He nervously said, “I think there was something I hadn’t properly said…”

After a moment, he leaned in gently and whispered in her ear, making up for the missing words.

His low, soft voice mingled with warm breath, like a feather casually slipping into her ear, causing her cheeks to flush rosy pink under the light snow.

“I like you.”

It had been that way for a long time.

In the many dawns to come, there would always be the brilliant Tan Muxing by her side.

— End of text

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Finallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!! The main story is finished, yayyyyyy!!!!

Thank you everyone for taking time out of your schedule and reading this.
I’ll gradually upload the extras.