Chapter 883 Collector's Pocket Watch White ceiling with a few cracks here and there, white walls with somewhat poorly done plaster, a small bedside table with a lamp and a cell phone on it, a wooden desk in the corner and a clothes closet attached to the wall opposite the bed.
Bai Zemin looked at his surroundings and a flash of confusion shone in his eyes momentarily. He slowly sat up, making the bed creak softly in the process.
He was so dazed that he didn't even notice that the door to the room had been opened by someone.
"Even though this is my room... somehow I feel like something isn't right..." He muttered as he scratched his head, his hair in a mess.
"What is it that you're mumbling about so early in the morning?"
Bai Zemin jumped slightly in surprise and raised his head towards the source of the sound.
At the door of his room, an incredibly beautiful girl with ink-black hair and red eyes was looking at him with a playful smile on her youthful face.
"Zemin, do you know what time it is?" the girl asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Time...?" He muttered still feeling that something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on what. Subconsciously, he reached out his hand towards the cell phone and as he touched the screen it lit up.
"Ah!" All confusion disappeared from his head when he saw the time on the screen of his cell phone. He threw the covers off his body and jumped to his feet, revealing that he was sleeping in his underwear.
"Nice boxers hehehehe..."
"You- Stop playing around, Lilith! We'll be late, late I tell you!"
"...And whose fault is that? Mine? Well, it's your fault!"
Bai Zemin jumped all over the place as he pulled on his pants and then struggled to put on his footwear.
As for why he wasn't ashamed.... Why should he be embarrassed about his girlfriend seeing him in his underwear? It wasn't like this was the first time anyway.
After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he picked up a few things and ran out, saying goodbye to his father, mother, and younger sister in the process.
"This kid..." Bai Delan shook his head.
"Lilith, help me take care of that little mess." Ye Linger smiled kindly.
Lilith made a leave it to me gesture and quickly followed Bai Zemin's footsteps closely.
The two had been sweethearts from very early on, they had met in high school when she moved there for family matters and from the first moment the two had hit it off. Now they were both students at Beijing University, one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
... Then one day, the world changed.
Most of the humans turned into zombie-like creatures from the movies and the domestic animals went crazy, growing and becoming tremendously strong. However, the government of each country managed to respond very quickly so the casualties were not as disastrous as they would have been in case of a late response from them.
Years passed, and Bai Zemin together with Lilith became something everyone admired; soul evolvers. The two made sure to fight relatively strong enemies but not to the point of being difficult and deadly, so although they did not have the highest status in the city they lived in, they were not too bad either, the two could allow their families to live comfortably and not have to worry about food or a roof over their heads.
Under the leadership of the army troops and the president's daughter, Xuanyuan Bing Xue, along with other outstanding talents, China eventually expanded its territory slightly while forcing the zombies and mutant beasts to retreat.
More than 2 centuries passed, but during those 2 centuries, the relationship between Bai Zemin and Lilith never wavered even for a second. Even when one of them was in trouble while facing an enemy, the other did not hesitate to risk all to help their partner.
Although Lilith was considered one of the most beautiful women in the entire empire and at first there were some soul evolvers who tried to take her away from him, Bai Zemin turned out to have some talent and his main skill Blood Manipulation was feared by most; moreover, over the years, his normal appearance slowly changed and he was now considered one of the most handsome and powerful soul evolvers.
Five hundred years later, the inhabitants of Earth began to move around the universe using large warships. Humans met other species, were friends with some and enemies with others, but none of this seemed to affect the life of Bai Zemin and his family.
Even though he had never really tried hard, even though Bai Zemin only did what was necessary to support himself and his loved ones, he somehow managed to become one of the generals of the Federation of Planet Earth. With his strength as a Third Order level 180 soul evolver, he was at the top among soul evolvers and surprisingly was on par with legendary figures such as the ruler Xuanyuan Bing Xue, the first general Chen He, and the nature guardian Wu Yijun.
Even Bai Zemin did not understand how such a thing was possible, but Lilith kept teasing him saying that if he wanted to, Bai Zemin could rule the universe. As for his response, he simply smiled and said that he would rather spend his time with his family or reading books and novels.
Although Lilith was a bit speechless for her lazy husband, she was also deeply in love with him. There were many women who wished to be with Bai Zemin, as many as there were men after her; but even then, the two remained loyal and the idea of having a second partner never crossed their minds.
The two of them were the envy of everyone, a couple that had been born before the world changed but had survived those changes and the fierce passage of time that could corrode everything.
Three years later, Bai Zemin and Lilith's first daughter was born; she was named Bai Shilin. Unfortunately, Bai Zemin could not stay long with his family as he was soon called to the battlefield and had no choice but to comply. At the end of the day, privileges and responsibilities came hand in hand.
That day, when his daughter was only 2 years old and had just begun to take her first steps, Bai Zemin kissed his wife and said his farewells to his family. He would never forget the pure and innocent look in his little angel's eyes when he kissed her forehead and promised to come back soon, because that was the last time Bai Zemin saw those eyes again.
No, not just those eyes. A year after being on the battlefield, just as Bai Zemin was preparing to return to his family, the news that his home world had been destroyed by an attack from an enemy race caused his inner world to tremble.
"However, your wife has survived, General Bai." These were the "good news" that the First Order soul evolver gave to Bai Zemin.
It seemed that Lilith had traveled to Planet Mars, a quick trip of a couple of hours using the army shuttle. This was the reason why she was not there when the Earth was smashed into thousands of pieces.
The sadness of having lost all his loved ones and seeing his only loved one alive crying inconsolably made Bai Zemin's lazy heart change. He didn't realize it, but he started taking on more dangerous missions, hunting the strongest evolved beasts, and except for spending time with his wife the rest of his life became something completely different.
A thousand years passed, Bai Zemin and Lilith were still together, loving each other more than ever. However, neither of them mentioned the idea of having a new baby. They were both still miserable over the loss of their families and the little Shilin.
Everyone knew that even the most powerful beings could not live forever, however, Bai Zemin shocked everyone when in some way unknown to all he managed to break the chains of mortality. From that moment on, the leadership became his but only in name as he had no interest in ruling, and although neither he nor Lilith said it out loud, they both tried to aspire to the pinnacle in search of answers and perhaps solutions for that distant but at the same time so persistent past.
Finally, with great effort and the company of his faithful partner, Bai Zemin reached the absolute top of the universe by the time he was about 5000 years old.
Just as Bai Zemin had become the pillar that held Lilith firm for all those years, she had become his pillar. It was clear to Bai Zemin that he definitely would not have been able to move forward with a clear goal in mind had it not been for her staying by his side and hugging him at night.
Thanks to the use of several of his skills in conjunction with Blood Manipulation, Bai Zemin managed to bring back his loved ones. However, there was one more object that fulfilled the most important function of all in this as without its existence even a thousand Bai Zemins would not have been able to gather the shattered soul fragments.
One thousand.... passed two thousand... three thousand... four thousand years of happiness.
Bai Zemin had many children with Lilith, and together, they watched them grow into wonderful adults. There was no one capable of challenging him, no one who was brave or stupid enough to hurt his family who was now the most powerful family in the cosmos.
"Mm..."
That particular morning, Bai Zemin was sleeping in his bed when he felt something tickling his nose.
He tried to slap it away but after a moment of peace that something returned as if it was unwilling to give up. Even when Bai Zemin turned his body to the side in an attempt to get away from his enemy, that thing came back for more with much greater ferocity than before as if it was taking revenge for something he had done wrong.
When Bai Zemin opened his eyes with a deadpan expression, his black eyes met two ruby eyes that looked at him with a hint of amusement as she playfully shook a strand of her long black hair.
"Hehe..."
Hearing that childish giggle and seeing the joyful expression on the face of the most beautiful woman in existence, Bai Zemin couldn't help but smile as thousands of memories flashed through his head in an instant.
Lilith looked at him wistfully, and without a word, she gently laid her head on his chest as she looked into his eyes.
He hadn't become a bloodthirsty demon thanks to her, and she hadn't fallen apart thanks to him. The two of them had been through so much together, from incredibly happy times to the greatest sadness of all; they had experienced it all...or so they both believed.
It wasn't until now that Lilith and Bai Zemin realized that there was something even more painful than losing their loved ones, as hard as it seemed to believe.
"Ten thousand years..." She whispered as she looked at him with love and a touch of sadness. "Since this morning commenced, we have been together for ten thousand years."
Bai Zemin said nothing but his hug around her tightened as he heard her speak. The source of this content is Freeᴡebnovel.cᴏm.
Lilith smiled bitterly and said softly, "Ten thousand years may seem like a lot but somehow I am not satisfied... Is it because I'm too greedy or nonconformist?" she asked as she looked at him as if she wanted to record each of his facial features in her memory for all eternity.
Bai Zemin shook his head and held on to her tightly. He, who had been able to restrain his tears that day when he lost his family to become her pillar, this time could not and did not want to do anything to avoid starting to cry silently like a little kid.
Lilith hugged him tightly, and while she was shedding her own tears she said with a somewhat choked chuckle: "Hehe.... What would your subordinates say if they saw you crying like that, Blood Emperor Zemin?"
The sunlight felt warm as it pierced through the silk curtains of the room.
The chirping of the birds was a beautiful melody that put everyone in a good mood to start a new day in their lives.
The tic-tac of the clock on the wall, the softness of the sheets under his body, the comfort of the pillow on which his head rested... the warmth of the woman's body in his arms and her tears caressing his chest...
Everything felt so real, so very real...
"... You've been sleeping too long, husband." Lilith reached up gently and pressed her forehead to his.
Bai Zemin looked into those two beautiful ruby eyes through tears, the sadness in them felt as real as the moisture falling on his face while she looked at him as if she wasn't really willing to let him go.
However, she was really kind.... How could he not know that after having been together for ten millennia.
"Go." She said, pulling away from him a bit to get a better look at him.
She gave him a smile that she was sure he couldn't forget no matter how many years passed and said gently, "The me from your world won't know anything about our experiences, but she is me and I am her.... Don't be sad, you just have to .... be with me on the other side. Recreate all these ten thousand years together with my unconscious self. Ah, but try not to have so much sadness in between, hehe..."
Bai Zemin covered his face with his forearm as everything around him began to tremble and crumble. However, he soon uncovered himself again to look at the face of the woman who had been with him for ten millennia, and even though it was a little blurred by his own tears Bai Zemin refused to stop looking at her.
He had realized long ago that this was an illusion. However, by the time he realized this, it had been many years, too many years.... He didn't want to leave and abandon his life partner, but the Lilith of this world of illusions, who was no different from the Lilith of the real world, was right.... He had been sleeping for too long.
There were so many things that he needed to do.... So many people were waiting for his return and needed his help.
How long had it really been? Was he even alive in the other world? In reality, none of this mattered to Bai Zemin at the moment, and all his focus was on the woman in front of him who was looking at him with sadness, love, reluctance, affection, appreciation, longing....
Rumble... Seeing the figure of the woman in front of him becoming more and more blurry, Bai Zemin did not want to leave like this. For the first time since he had opened his eyes this morning, he spoke albeit with some difficulty because of the emotions choking him.
"I love you."
Lilith smiled and said in a small voice, "I know."
The Lilith of the world of illusions did not tell him that she loved him, not because she did not, but because her eyes spoke what her heart felt. Like the ten thousand years they spent together, her emotions were real as if she were really alive even though she was only an illusion.
[Congratulations!] [The Demi-god grade treasure 'Collector's Pocket Watch' has accepted you as its owner.]
For the first time in ten thousand years, Bai Zemin saw green letters in his eyes again. In this world, there was no Soul Record after all.
* * * * * * * A/N: Another long chapter, just a little below the previous one. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3

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