This time Shen Tang didn’t try to stop him, she turned and was about to leave.

Xiao Jin watched her turn away without any reluctance, his breath suddenly tightened, and it felt as if his heartbeat had stopped, as though he was about to lose something extremely important.

Tangtang...

Just when she was about to walk out of sight, Xiao Jin couldn’t hold back anymore. He dashed forward and held her tightly in his arms.

Shen Tang suddenly fell into a warm and tense embrace.

He hugged her so tightly, as if he wanted to fuse her into his bones and blood.

She was stunned too, and looked up at the man before her. The deliberately cold mask finally cracked, unable to suppress the fiery volcano under the iceberg.

"Knowing I’m not him, you leave so decisively?"

Clearly, it was him who kept saying he wanted to push her away, but now at this moment, Xiao Jin realized he couldn’t let go at all.

He was more attached to her than he imagined.

At the same time, jealousy and resentment surged madly, and the air seemed to be filled with a sour aroma.

"Tangtang."

Xiao Jin looked at her with eyes full of redness and mist, pulling her hand and pressing it against his heart, his voice hoarse to the point of a whisper, "It hurts here... why?"

Shen Tang couldn’t speak either, only feeling a sharp pain in her heart, both bitter and sour.

She looked up at the man before her, whose face sometimes overlapped with her memory, sometimes was so unfamiliar.

She even found it a bit hard to see her own feelings clearly.

After spending these days together, Shen Tang was certain she had developed feelings and had used emotions. But exactly who was this affection for?

Maybe sometimes, even she couldn’t distinguish it.

Xiao Jin looked down at her silence, offering no comfort nor explanation. His temples throbbed with veins, emotions spiraled out of control again, "Do you love him so much? Is there no sincerity in your feelings for me? Why can’t you choose me? How am I inferior to him... Please... tell me..."

Reaching this point, Xiao Jin saw his heart more clearly. He simply couldn’t bear to drive her away, not even capable of enduring the pain of losing her.

Growing up in the Abyss, he thought he had a warm bright light shining on him, even if this light never intended to shine on him from the beginning to the end, he still couldn’t help but covet it.

Even if he mistook her for someone else, weren’t these days together genuine? Could it be that there wasn’t a shred of sincerity from her to him?

Xiao Jin had even persuaded himself in his heart.

Being a stand-in is just being a stand-in. If it weren’t for this identity, he wouldn’t have had her at all.

What he was truly unwilling to admit and couldn’t accept was that her love for him was false from start to finish, not a bit genuine.

If only she would say, she loves him, not because of another person... he could forgive and love her like before.

So, speak up.

Why don’t you speak?

Why can’t she tell him,

"I love you."

Shen Tang closed her eyes, repressing the surge of bitterness. When she spoke again, her voice was hoarse but calm, "I’m sorry."

"It was my mistake, I mistook you for my Ah Jin."

"You are not him, you are also... not like him."

Xiao Jin slowly released her hand, his eyes gradually losing their craze and frustration, turning into a peace almost bewildered, not like the coldness he pretended before, but more like a certain despair, like a defeated dog leaving dismally.

A long time afterward, he said,

"Okay."

At this moment, they finally reached a consensus.

Going their separate ways. Let the past be as if it never happened.

It was a mistake from the beginning, it should have ended long ago.

Yet neither moved. The bleak mountain wind blew by, making the air seem colder, as if everything around had frozen, even time had stopped.

Shen Tang was the first to break the silence with her voice, "Then... I’m going first. Goodbye for good."

Xiao Jin’s fingers at his side twitched slightly, but he couldn’t find a reason to hold her back anymore. He asked hoarsely,

"Where do you want to go next?"

Shen Tang looked toward the gray and hazy sky in the distance, hesitated for a moment, and replied, "I want to go to the laboratory again and retrieve Ah Jin’s Crystal Core."

Knowing that Xiao Jin’s Crystal Core was still in the laboratory, she must retrieve it, and by no means let it fall into those people’s hands.

The Hand of Creation hid the Crystal Core in the base, who knows what they want to do with it! It can’t be delayed any longer, she must get it back quickly.

"He’s already gone, what’s the use of retrieving the Crystal Core?"

Hearing him ask like this, Shen Tang knew he probably hadn’t finished watching the content in the Memory Crystal Stone, of course, discussing it now was meaningless anyway. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

She answered, "There might still be a trace of his soul power left in that Crystal Core. If I can get it, there might just be a chance to revive him!"