"Please, let me go. Just give me permission to leave. I don't want to be a burden anymore… I will disappear on my own."
She looked up, her eyes burning—not with hope, but with resignation.
Not the kind to move forward.
The kind to end everything.
I Couldn't Allow That.
Because that's not how I see the world.
No one is useless.
Not because they failed.
Not because they lost something.
Not even if they lost everything.
I opened my mouth—to disagree, to fight back, to say something, anything—
But Ru Xian suddenly lashed out.
"You don't understand!" Her voice turned raw, almost hysterical. "I had one purpose in life! One! And I failed!"
"You think I care about some grand cultivation path?! Some noble dao?!" Her eyes burned with pain. "I just wanted to be of use! To be valued! To belong!"
She let out a bitter, broken laugh.