When the Villain is Bound to the Female Lead System

After the lightning dissipated, the small boat and everyone on it had vanished into thin air. The entire marsh was eerily silent, except for the increasing snowfall.

After Yu Yi left, the two sword spirits returned to the Green Bamboo Sword. The sword's sharp edge dimmed, its light receding as if covered by a dull shell, turning it into mere common iron.

Crane Senior Brother lay on the water, crying out in sorrow. Its cries echoed through the marsh, causing the reeds to sway incessantly.

Xue Chenjing lay on the soaked boardwalk, his gaze empty as he stared at the snowflakes falling from above. He watched them grow from tiny grains to full-fledged flakes. The snowfall intensified, covering the ground and even falling upon him.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The system urged him to return, and Xue Chenjing heard it, but he didn't want to move. He didn't know where to go. The world was vast, yet he suddenly felt lost.

He had never had anything before, wandering through this cursed world for one lifetime after another, yet he had never felt this unbearable. It seemed that having and then losing was the most tormenting.

She had only been gone for a short while, and he already couldn't bear it. How would he endure the many years to come?

"Is this still a punishment for me?" Xue Chenjing mumbled to himself, his voice lifeless. "Punishment for my past sins, for being so evil, so heavily burdened with guilt. Is it why I keep experiencing the pain of gaining and then losing?"

In this lifetime, he had once had the love of his parents, but he hadn't cherished it. Only after their deaths did he regret it deeply. He had finally begged for her love, and he knew he should cherish it, but reality didn't allow it.

From the moment of his birth until now, it seemed he had never truly gotten what he wanted.

"Why? Am I really that evil?" Xue Chenjing stared at the gray sky, the melting snow turning into thin streams that slid down his face, mingling with his tears. "If, from now on, I live like Xue Mingyuan—kind, virtuous, selfless, without any resentment—will the heavens and fate be a bit more lenient with me?"

"Can't I just see her one more time?"

The system didn't know how to respond. The world was silent, only the sound of falling snow answering his whispered words.

The snow obscured the sky and earth, and the cold seeped into his body like sharp needles, numbing his flesh, bones, and even his consciousness. This numbness somehow made things a little easier for him.

Crane Senior Brother struggled out of the water, its wet wings dragging as it collapsed onto him. The red-crowned crane made low, mournful sounds, nestling its long neck against his.

Crane Senior Brother had never been this close to him before.

Xue Chenjing moved his stiff arms, pulling the crane into his embrace and gently stroking its back feathers. It was as if he was comforting both the crane and himself. "Don't be sad. She'll come back. We just need to wait a little longer."

Yu Yi had entrusted everything to him—her sword, her home, her crane.

He had to take good care of them for her.

Crane Senior Brother fell asleep against his shoulder. Xue Chenjing used a spell to dry the water from its feathers, carefully drying each one, before carrying it back to the Bamboo Grove Secret Realm.

After settling Crane Senior Brother, Xue Chenjing went upstairs alone. He stripped off his clothes, cleansed his body with a spell, and then crawled into the bedding, wrapping himself in Yu Yi's lingering scent.

He closed his eyes, deeply inhaling the scent of the bedding, wanting to fall into a deep sleep.

The system detected the turbulence in his mind. His inner world was beginning to form vague dreams. Xue Chenjing desperately wanted to escape reality. He tried to use Yu Yi's lingering scent to weave a dream where she existed, wanting to willingly immerse himself in it.

The system, sensing his intentions, warned, "Master, you need to face reality. Escaping like this won't work. The longer you stay in the dream, the harder it will be to wake up. What if Yu Yi returns and you can't wake up?"

Xue Chenjing couldn't think that far ahead. He just needed to do something to get through the present.

The system deliberately made noise in his mind, trying to stop him from building the dream.

Xue Chenjing was annoyed by it and snapped, "Aren't you gone yet? The task is over. Why are you still here? Do you want me to find you and grind you up to feed the pigs? Get lost!"

The system: "..." What a waste of good intentions!

After a long silence, the system still couldn't bring itself to leave. Its host's condition was really bad. If it let him continue like this, by the time Yu Yi returned, she might only find a living corpse with lost consciousness.

That simply wouldn't do!

"I am the HE system. My task is to help you and Yu Yi achieve a HE (Happy Ending) and live happily together. Since you're not together yet, my task isn't finished."

Xue Chenjing eventually failed to enter the dream. The weather had been abnormal since Yu Yi left. It started snowing that day and continued for a month, growing heavier with each passing day. The snowfall turned the mountains and forests into a vast, pale white.

Such severe cold could freeze and starve countless people and animals to death.

Xue Chenjing dug out the gold and silver he had stored and purchased rice and flour in wealthy cities. He then distributed them to the affected households, going from door to door.

He trudged through the snow, traveling through the mountains and fields, going days and nights without sleep. Whenever he saw a household, he would toss them some food without waiting for their thanks before disappearing into the snowy mist.

The heavy snow had also made it difficult for wild animals to find food. On his way back after distributing all the grain, Xue Chenjing encountered a litter of starving tiger cubs.

He sat on a rock, slashed his palm with his nails, and offered his blood to the cubs' emerging fangs.

The cubs gnawed on Xue Chenjing's fingers, but he showed no expression on his face, though his body trembled with the pain.

The system couldn't bear it and said, "Master, why are you doing this to yourself?"

Even Xue Mingyuan, who had compassion for all living beings, only felt pity for his own kind.

Xue Chenjing was never like Xue Mingyuan, someone who felt empathy for all creatures. He just wanted, in the way he had always hoped, that if he tried his best to be a kind person, maybe he could earn some reward.

...

Yu Yi had returned to the real world for three days. During these three days, she still occasionally doubted whether this world was real or just a dream born out of her longing to return home.

Whenever this happened, she would rush to find her parents and sister, touching them to verify the reality.

But when insomnia struck at night, and she stared at the ceiling, she would wonder, was Xue Chenjing real? While time-travel stories were common, in reality, it was still an incredible tale.

Had she really traveled? Had she truly experienced those things in another world?

When such doubts arose, she couldn't touch him or find anything to verify the existence of that other world. Only her longing kept her awake at night.

Just as the dawn was breaking and she was finally feeling a bit sleepy, a sudden sound echoed in her mind.

[System: Ding—Please confirm if you wish to retrieve lost data.]

Yu Yi abruptly opened her eyes, the drowsiness instantly vanishing. She hesitated, "What?"

[System: Greetings, host. Long time no see. System 037's energy has been replenished and successfully repaired. Please confirm if you wish to retrieve lost data.]

"System 037?" Yu Yi pinched her cheek, the pain confirming her alertness. "Why are you here?"

The system replied, "Reporting to the host, the system was never unbound from you. I have always been here, but due to insufficient energy, I have been in a dormant state and unable to accompany you on your journey. I apologize for that. But it's alright now. From now on, I will do my utmost to assist you in completing the subsequent tasks and reaching the pinnacle of your life!"

During the first mission failure, Yu Yi had despaired and committed suicide. To preserve her soul from dissipating in the otherworld, System 037 had expended all its energy to protect her, subsequently falling into a deep sleep until now, when it finally rebooted.

The system repeated, "Please confirm if you wish to retrieve lost data."

As the system's voice echoed, a panel materialized in the void before her, casting a faint light into the surrounding darkness. On the panel, a button appeared, prompting her to confirm whether she wanted to retrieve the lost data.

Yu Yi raised her hand and tapped the "Confirm Retrieval" button.

Inside the system, the data bar raced forward, and the withered task tree suddenly came back to life, glowing with renewed vitality. The task points she had completed during her first mission bloomed like night-blooming cereus flowers, one after another.

Not only that, but the task nodes she hadn't unlocked during her first mission, yet achieved in her second mission, also blossomed on the task tree.

The system's voice continued to ring in her mind without pause.

【System: Ding—Congratulations, host, for unlocking the Li Fire Sword Realm. Your sword rank has ascended, and you have been awarded 1,000 points.】

【System: Ding—Congratulations, host, for obtaining the Thunder Dragon Sword Spirit and unlocking the Zhen Thunder Sword Realm. You have been awarded 1,000 points.】

【System: Ding—Congratulations, host, for achieving the dual sword realm accomplishment. You have been awarded 5,000 points.】

【System: Ding—Congratulations, host, for comprehending the ninth stance of the Spring-Pursuing Heart Sword. You have been awarded 10,000 points.】

【System: Ding—Congratulations, host, for breaking through chaos and restoring order to the three realms. You have completed the final task, and the ultimate reward has been issued…】

The system's voice echoed in her mind for a long time, until the task bar reached completion, and the entire task tree shone brilliantly.

System 037 announced a series of achievements, and the reward points continued to accumulate within it. After a long while, it stared at its fully completed task tree in disbelief and exclaimed, "What?! The task is already completed? Host, did you finish the mission on your own while I was in hibernation?!"

Yu Yi: "..." In other words, you were really quite late.

System 037 finally accepted that the host had completed the task without its assistance. It then realized that not only had she done so, but she had also returned home from the other world.

System 037 began to doubt its very existence. It had just finished repairing and booting up, but now it felt like shutting down again.

The morning light seeped through the gaps in the curtains, illuminating Yu Yi's clear eyes. Her pupils flickered slightly, and a thoughtful expression crossed her face as she said, "I remember you once told me that the final reward would be sending me home. But now that I don't need that, can the reward be exchanged for something else?"

The system, feeling deeply apologetic for its absence during the mission, replied sincerely, "Please tell me. As long as it's within my capabilities, I will fulfill your wish."

Yu Yi closed her eyes, steadied her mind, and then spoke softly, "Let me see him."

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