Before we can get to the final battle there is some business that will have to be taken care of. Some the drama covered but some were omitted.
◦ Qing Shui, our heroine’s BFF who betrayed her, apologizes for causing Tang Bao’s death and asks Qiangu to kill her instead of everyone else. When Qiangu just ignores her, seemingly with no intention of forgiving her, Qing Shu throws herself in front of Qiangu and takes a killing blow from Sha Qianmo’s right hand man. Rolling her eyes at Qing Shu’s self sacrifice when she was never in any danger, Qiangu refuses Xuanyuan Lang’s (the emperor Qing Shu loves but he loves Qiangu instead) plea for her to save Qing Shu. Giving Xuanyuan Lang a long overdue stinging slap when he tearfully apologizes for being the cause of Qing Shui’s betrayal and confesses his unchanging love for her, Qiangu replies in disgust “You are still a fool! What love? The only thing you love is your own bullheadedness. You pride as an emperor refuse to let you accept not getting what you want. You ignored the one that had stayed by your side all these years and instead chased after something you imaged. What have you and I experienced together that you think that you understand me? Just some silly love at first sight made you forget the person who had fought beside you day and night?! You keep talking about love but how can someone like you really understand love? Take a good look at your own heart to figure out who you really love!” I take Qiangu’s little speech here as a sign that she has already forgiven Qing Shu…to a point. She might not be able to completely forgive her best friend for causing Tang Bao’s death but in her own way, she was trying to give Qing Shui and Xuanyuan Lang a second chance to have their happy ending.
◦ Zhu Ran has his long awaited showdown with his father, Mo Yan. Unlike the drama where Zhu Ran lost to Mo Yan, in the novel, Zhu Ran actually has the chance to kill Mo Yan but Qiangu was the one that stopped him at the last second. Zhu Ran’s lifelong goal was to kill Mo Yan to avenge his mother’s death. However, just like Zhu Ran might be the one that understands Qiangu the most, our heroine also understands Zhu Ran like no one else does and knew that despite Zhu Ran’s hatred towards Mo Yan, deep in his heart he still loves his father/master.
Okay, back to regular programming…
With a wave of her arm, a golden chain shoots out of Qiangu’s long sleeve and head straight towards the sky, causing havoc and lightening.
“The Chain of Heaven!” Overtaken by fear, everyone looks up at the eerily blood red sky.
“Xia Gu, what are you planning to do?!” Stunned, Bai Zihua couldn’t believe what Qiangu has done and finally understood why her power has diminished so much.
Alarmed by the Chain of Heaven, the Alliance quickly set off their attacks but Zihua steps in and took all the attacks that were meant for Qiangu. Zihua stumbles backward and coughs up blood as he shakes his head weakly and mutters “Don’t…” He keeps saying he will “take care” of his own pupil but how could he kill her? He has already promised that he would never hurt her again or allow her to be hurt.
Her eyes full of mockery, Qiangu didn’t understand before why he keeps trying to kill her but then keeps protecting her at the same time. But now that she knows he loves her, she also understands that no matter what he says, he can’t go against his heart.
“Bai Zihua. If you can’t bear to kill me then why not go live with me somewhere where it could be just two of us? I will stop being the demon goddess and you leave Zhang Liu behind.”
“You know as well as I do that’s impossible so why lie to yourself.”
“Don’t you want me?” Appearing right before Zihua’s side, Qiangu forcefully grabs his arm until blood starts to sips through. “Fine. That’s switch to something easier. Why don’t you tell everyone here how you got that scar on your arm, why you were willing to scrap off your own flash to hide it, and who you really love, then I will let everyone go.”
His brows knitting into a deep frown, Zihua remains silent and wonders why Qiangu is so fixated. Is an admission really that important to her?
Qiangu slowly opens her palm to stare at Zihua’s blood in them. In truth, she and Zhu Ran is the same, they just want to be acknowledged. She gave him one last chance but he didn’t take it.
Slowly backing away with an icy smile, Qiangu grabs the Chain of Heaven and gives it a mighty tug, causing mountains to fall in its path.
Rushing after Qiangu, Bai Zihua yells “Xia Gu, Stop!”
“Bai Zihua, didn’t you say I can’t go against my nature? I am going to show you today that even if I die I am going to drag you and this world down into the grave with me! Pay attention, I want you to see for yourself how the world you love so much will die and crumble in my hands.”
His heart breaking, Zihua pleas “Xia Gu, this is all my fault. Just kill me. Don’t give up, you can still stop this.”
Laughing so hard until tears came, Qiangu asks “I have no master, no friends, no lover, no children. I once thought I had the whole world, but it was all fake. The ones that loved me died because of me, the ones I love want me dead. The ones I trust betrayed me, the ones I relied on abandoned me. The only thing I ever wanted was a simple and peaceful life but the heaven left me no choice, YOU left me no choice. Do you think there is still a way back for me now?!”
Another tug on the chain from Qiangu sends an explosion through the air and makes the ocean itself start to boil. Stunned as the blanket of bloodstained ocean water wash over the shore, Bai Zihua is rooted to the spot. With no way of knowing if Mo Yan and those with him are still alive, Bai Zihua tries to tell himself that this must be fake but his brain refuses to form a coherent thought.
The drama really didn’t show the extent of how much Qiangu pushed Zihua to kill her. One thing I think wasn’t very obvious in the show is that Zihua really didn’t see death as a very scary thing at all. Which was also why he didn’t kill young Qiangu even when he knew she is the one that is supposed to bring about his downfall. In Bai Zihua’s logic, if he really is supposed to die because of Qiangu then that’s what fate had chosen for him and not Qiangu’s fault so why should he kill an innocent girl? The existence of Zhang Liu was to safeguard the people of six realms so while it would pain Zihua to lose any member of Zhang Liu but I am not sure going by his personality it was enough to make him lose control. As Qiangu has mocked again and again, the people of the six realms, the ones Zihua has vowed to protect is the thing that Zihua has always valued above all else. So, when Zihua was forced to watched Qiangu destroyed the six realms piece by piece, killing all the innocent people in it, THAT is what finally made him lose control.
—————————————————————————8/22/2018——————————————————————————-
Her face twisted into a hideous smile, Qiangu laughs “Don’t worry, they are not all dead yet but they will soon…” Before she even finished her sentence, Qiangu tugs on the Chain of Heaven again.
Bai Zihua tries to catch up to Qiangu but couldn’t even get close enough to touch her.
“STOP!” Bai Zihua yells angrily!
Tossing a sword to Zihua, Qiangu offers “Don’t you love this world the most? You want to save the six realms? Your only way is to kill me.”
So shocked that he almost fell from the sky. She is doing this on purpose! This whole thing was just to force him to kill her. She hates him so much that she came up with such a cruel revenge? Because he loves her so he should kill the person he loves the most?!
Amused as she watches a horrified Zihua shakes his head, Qiangu laughs “I am just curious how much my life is worth to you. The six realms and me, you can only choose one.”
Another tug on the chain. Zihua doesn’t even have look to know the destruction it caused.
“STOP!” Eyes red with desperation, Bai Zihua could only watch hopelessly as millions of lives are lost with each tug from Qiangu. But Qiangu is still unmoved even as cries of pain and grief from the elderly, the women and children echo through the six realms…
Why? How did it come to this? The protective shield around Bai Zihua disappeared and he is left standing in the torrent rain as the blood flows down from his arm. Like casting a spell, Qiangu whispers “Kill me…”
His eyes hollow with despair and confusion, Zihua shakes his head “Don’t force me!”
She has become like this all because of him. After hurting her how can he raise a sword against her? He has never once thought about killing her. Not when he realized she was the one that was supposed to bring about his downfall. Not when she released the power of the demon goddess. No matter what the six realms think of him, he refused to give up on her. Not even when she really became the destructive demon goddess. Even then, all he ever thought about was how to bring her back. She is the pupil he vows to protect with his own life… but she wants him to kill her with his own hands?
Standing in a strange posture, seemingly in immense pain, Qiangu continues “Didn’t you do so well last time when you pierced me with your sword? You can do it again now. Pick up the sword, the great Bai Zihua. What can you not do for the sake for saving all the lives in the Six Realm? Kill me and everything can go back to the way it was.”
Backing away from Qiangu, Zihua feels like he can’t breathe from the pain. How can she be so cruel? How can she force him to make this kind of choice knowing that he loves her. Especially when they both know if she is killed with this sword then her soul would be torn apart with no chance of reincarnation anymore.
Memories of their past flashing through his mind, countless voices are shouting inside him “What does the Six Realms matter?! What do the lives of other people matter?! I just want you…”
However, the images of the horrific destruction are also pounding into him. He can’t bring himself to kill her but he doesn’t want to her continue to stain her hands with blood either.
When Bai Zihua finally saw Zhang Liu fall, all abilities to reason left him. It has really come to this? Zhang Liu destroyed in his hands? But without her, what meanings would any of this have?
Choose, the world or me?
Qiangu is surrounded by her demon goddess’ protective shields but even it could not prevent the earth-shattering Xuan Yuan sword’s (that’s the sword Qiangu gave to Zihua) strike as it buried itself into her chest until only the hilt was visible.
Her body swaying from the force, Qiangu smiles sadly. She already knew what the result would be but still…
“Xia Gu…” Catching Qiangu in his arms, a trembling Zihua presses his face against hers but all he could feel were damp coldness. The pouring rain washes over the two, staining his robe then the ocean water with her blood…. just like the nightmare that has hunted him through countless nights.
“Do ‘t be afraid…” Feeling like his own heart has been pierced through, Zihua could hardly get his words out.
Don’t be afraid, I am coming with you. Didn’t you want me to take you away? I will take you away and we will be together no matter what.
Not looking at Zihua, Qiangu ignores the droplets of rain mixed with Zihua’s tears and just stares up at the sky, still wearing an eerie smile.
Bai Zihua’s power begins to seep out of his body… turning into nothingness along with Qiangu’s.
“Zihua!” “Qiangu!”
Startled by the yells of concern, Zihua raises his head woodenly until his surrounding finally comes into focus. The terrible truth dawning on him as he stares at the concerned faces of all those he thought had died along with the Six Realms, Zihua feels like his head is about to explode.
What had he done?!
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I’ve been refreshing all day hoping for an update and your explanation makes so much more sense than the drama. Thank you so much! 😍😍😍
OMG ANOTHER CHAPTER! WOOOOWWWW!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! You don’t know how much this means to fans of the show and book! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! just imagine me kissing your feet in gratitude!!!
I was a bit unsure if there are still interest out there for this show so I am glad to hear from those of you who are following the translation. I had always felt that the chapters AFTER the big epic battle were the best parts of this novel so I was super sad to see the show decided to end where it did and not even tell the viewers the real ending for our two leads!
awww, thank you for sharing your gorgeous translations with us. even after all these years, i still want to know how their story turned out. yeah the drama ending could have been better. by a mile. but this remains one of the most epic love stories out there for me. and your translations flesh them out so much it’s the next best thing to seeing them onscreen again. thank you 🤗
Thank you so much for continuing to translate! I agree with you, the scene after BZH stabs XG is the part I’ve been waiting for ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
me too! this is like everything i’ve ever wanted to know from all those years ago when the drama ended 🙂 i can’t thank Ninja Reflection enough for doing this. Thank you!!!