Chapter 70: The Witch’s Tears, The Witch’s Smile

Parting is so heavy.

Like a boulder.

Like a mountain.

Pressing on one’s chest, making it hard to breathe.

Only when parting truly arrives do people realize that all the rehearsals prepared in advance are as light as a feather, not even one-tenth of the weight.

Cressa was prepared to be scolded.

As an object, she had openly defied her master’s decision.

This was absolutely unforgivable.

The moment the words left her mouth, the Witch’s heart was filled with regret and self-blame, but even so, she still had to refuse Xu Xi’s request.

As if by refusing these requests, she could also refuse the parting.

Make Xu Xi stay.

Let the warm Sun continue to exist.

“Please…”, the delicate face touched by a withered hand trembled as she spoke, “Don’t say anymore, I won’t accept it.”

The Witch’s refusal caught Xu Xi off guard.

His expression changed rapidly, from surprise to confusion, and finally to a gentle relief, with no trace of the scolding the Witch had imagined.

“Hahaha… ahahaha…”

“Hack… cough!”

Xu Xi laughed.

He seemed to be in a good mood, but his weak body caused him to cough violently as soon as he started laughing, coughing so hard and so fiercely.

His aged face showed signs of pain.

“Mentor!”

Cressa quickly cast Life Magic to help Xu Xi recover.

Every weak breath, every sign of pain, became invisible blades, deeply piercing the Witch’s heart, making her whole body tremble.

What to do, how to save him?

Cressa didn’t know, she could only desperately use the highest level of Life Magic over and over again, to make Xu Xi feel a little better.

Soon, Xu Xi’s coughing subsided.

“I’m fine, Cressa, I’m just… too happy.”

Xu Xi’s eyelids grew heavier.

He half-opened his tired eyes.

Gently holding the Witch’s hand, he shook his head to signal her to stop casting magic, and met her empty, lifeless gaze: “For the first time, this is the first time you’ve expressed opposition to me.”

“Cressa, it’s really great, you have your own thoughts…”

Objects have no self-will, and would never express opposition. When the Witch learned to oppose, it meant she had regained her self.

The Witch, in the truest sense, had become—

【Human】

Xu Xi’s eyes were cloudy and blurry, he could barely see the world in front of him, and sleepiness surged, almost taking away the last bit of clarity in his eyes.

“Cressa…”

On the bed, the dying old man softly declared: “You have graduated.”

The world fell silent at this moment.

So silent, so silent that the Witch couldn’t understand.

So silent that it filled her heart with fear, and she dreaded the cruelty that was about to come.

“But, compared to you, I’m still far behind…”, Cressa’s voice trembled as she spoke, her face still expressionless, but the suppressed sadness seemed to break through her shell, echoing in the air.

“There are still so many things I need to learn from you.”

“Without you, I can’t do anything.”

Cressa’s voice gradually became hoarse, the immense sadness like a fire, burning her throat.

She couldn’t understand.

She couldn’t comprehend.

She was an object belonging solely to Xu Xi, a Witch despised by the world, a useless thing that could be discarded at will, lowly, ugly, and worthless, a shadow that would lose its meaning of existence without the light.

Therefore, the Witch couldn’t accept that she had received Xu Xi’s approval and “graduated”.

This meant she would leave Xu Xi’s side.

She clumsily counted, repeatedly listed, magnified her own flaws and shortcomings, to prove that she was not yet at the level of graduation.

“……”

Xu Xi didn’t interrupt Cressa, just looked at her gently, and stretched out his bony, withered hand again.

Gently placed it on Cressa’s head.

Giving her the last warmth.

Gradually.

The Witch stopped herself, no longer telling those lies that deceived herself.

The room was quiet, the outside was bright.

And the Witch’s heart was torn.

True despair is never a sudden disaster, but knowing the disaster is coming, yet being powerless to stop the tragedy.

This powerless torment, this despair of watching the end, made Cressa’s black and gold eyes lose their former mystery and brilliance, leaving only empty sorrow.

“Please… don’t leave me.”

“Or, allow me to leave with you.”

Cressa sobbed, finally saying the words hidden deep in her heart, the voice without any weeping, but full of desolate sadness.

Like a candlelight about to extinguish.

Like a bird with broken wings.

Helplessly begging Xu Xi.

The Witch was ready to die with Xu Xi.

It didn’t matter, nothing mattered, the world, becoming a god, in the Witch’s lonely heart, nothing compared to Xu Xi.

Just as Xu Xi saved the Witch, brought her everything.

The Witch was willing to give up everything, to accompany Xu Xi in silent death.

No reason needed.

No hesitation.

The Witch was willing.

Responding to Cressa was the increasingly weak hand on her head, and Xu Xi’s faint, thread-like voice.

“Cressa, you know, I won’t agree to this.”

On the bed.

Xu Xi’s breathing gradually weakened, each breath like a final struggle, in pain, in suffocation, feeling his body slowly losing sensation.

He showed the Witch his last smile.

The old, ugly face, under the sunlight, faintly reflected a shadow of his youth.

“Please live well, Cressa.”

“This is my request.”

“Don’t be sad for my departure, this is not a farewell, just a long separation.”

“One day, we will meet again.”

The powerless withered hand could no longer stroke the Witch’s hair, losing all strength, resting on the Witch’s head.

The spark of life was about to extinguish.

The shadow of death was closing in.

Xu Xi said his last words to the Witch: “It’s a bit regretful, until now, I haven’t made you truly smile once.”

Suddenly.

Xu Xi was stunned, his pupils slightly dilated, the sudden surprise even delayed the arrival of death for a moment.

“Mentor…”

“Please look…”

“This is, my smile…”

In the golden noon sun, gray hair like a waterfall, Cressa sat quietly by the bed, tremblingly extending her hands.

All four fingers bent, only the index fingers extended.

Two index fingers.

Hooking the corners of her mouth.

Gently pulling, creating a smile.

The smile was so stiff, and tears kept welling up, sliding from her already full eyes, silently wetting her hands.

More like a cry than a smile.

“Such a beautiful smile…”

Xu Xi murmured softly.

In the calm wind, his breathing quietly stopped, and he closed his tired eyes.

This time, he would never wake up again.

【You died】

【Simulation ended】