No one knew how long the extraordinary concert lasted. When a ray of sunlight pierced through the dark clouds and shone upon the now-empty long table, everyone slowly snapped out of their trance.
If not for the way all the negativity in their hearts had been swept away, and for the hope rekindled in those who had been immersed in grief, they might have thought what had just happened was nothing but a perfect dream.
"Lian, I can feel the hope in their hearts reigniting… and their gratitude toward you," Inori said softly, walking behind Chu Lian and glancing back at the people still standing frozen in place.
"I just did what I should. However they treat me doesn't matter anymore," Chu Lian replied faintly, her fingers twitching slightly as if still immersed in the emotions from her performance.
"What you should do, hmm?" Inori murmured at that, her wine-red eyes growing brighter, as though she had made a decision. She quickened her pace, caught up to Chu Lian, and took her hand. "Lian, I want to fly…"
"Huh? Fly now? Unless I draw the Void Greatsword, that's impossible…" Chu Lian was startled. Drawing the Void Greatsword meant the recently vanished Valkyrie would reappear.
The timing would be too suspicious. It would be nearly impossible to clear herself of suspicion afterward—especially since she had few ways left to conceal herself, and walking alongside Inori, such an eye-catching duo, would guarantee exposure.
"I don't mean that kind of flying…" Inori lifted her gaze, pointing toward a building even taller than the Qingping Grand Hotel. "I want to stand at the top and see the sky from there."
It was the first request Inori had ever made to her—one Chu Lian could not refuse. She nodded. "If that's the place, then let's go. I think… the world beneath the ruins must be beautiful."
Hearing her agreement, Inori's eyes sparkled. Smiling, she tugged Chu Lian toward the tall building.
Meanwhile, on M Station, someone had already uploaded a video of Chu Lian's performance, titled: Goddess of Dawn—The Stunning Girl Who Brings Hope. In the description, the uploader wrote: "Disaster had already struck without warning, leaving me feeling hopeless…
"I lost my parents and my younger brother. Only my sister remained by my side. And then… she suddenly appeared before me. She was so dazzling, so radiant, that it burned my heart. I hated her, envied her—until the first melody began…"
His tragedy was heartbreaking. A rare family trip had ended in catastrophe. Not only did his parents perish, but his young brother as well, leaving only him and his sister.
He had been ready to give up, intending to record the last scene on his phone before taking the coward's way out. But then, two radiant girls appeared, hand in hand.
Their clothes were spotless, their bodies uninjured, their energy brimming with vitality—a sharp contrast to the despair consuming him. It only fueled his resentment.
But when they began to play music, to perform in harmony, and finally when Chu Lian stood alone with her zither before hundreds, revealing such deep compassion for the world—his emotions slowly calmed.
He no longer cursed the world, no longer wallowed in despair, no longer sought death. Instead, he stood firm, determined to protect the only family he had left—his sister.
Rumor has it that, in the future, he became a doting big brother, while his sister turned into an equally devoted little sister, and the two went overseas together to get married… Just kidding. Or maybe not—you can believe it if you want.
Fortunately, he had been using his phone to record what he thought would be his final moments, which ended up capturing everything—from Chu Lian and Inori's entrance to the very end. While the resolution wasn't the highest, the boy's decent-quality phone ensured the footage was clear enough, with only some finer details lost.
When he first uploaded the video, it sank without a trace into the ocean of new uploads. It wasn't until a member of "The Heart of First Love" stumbled across it and shared the link that it ignited a storm.
"Compassion for the world—the little goddess who uses music to comfort the hearts of disaster survivors."
"The Gothic loli with a loli heart—the girl who broke her own promise for the sake of the world."
"A return to the stage—Twin Lotus' first public duet."
"The most heartwarming moment after the disaster—two girls performing together amid the ruins."
Soon after, major news outlets began covering the story on their online platforms, all reporting on Chu Lian's performance to comfort those affected by the disaster.
Some questioned whether Chu Lian was using the tragedy for self-promotion, but such voices were quickly drowned out by praise. In a time so desperate for positive energy, only fools would stir trouble without understanding the situation.
It wasn't just online—real-world media reported the story too. Many hadn't made it to the scene in time and relied on the boy's video for coverage, but a few outlets that had been livestreaming the aftermath managed to capture fragments of Chu Lian's performance themselves.
What Chu Lian had done "just for peace of mind" brought her—this girl who had been out of the public eye for some time—back into the spotlight.
Even in the middle of a school trip turned disaster, she hadn't been paralyzed by fear. Instead, she did what she could—using music to heal the wounded hearts of the survivors. Her actions didn't just warm those present; they also reached those watching from afar, offering a quiet strength.
Perhaps this was all she could do, yet it paved the way for others' efforts—be it compensation, rebuilding faith in life, or dispelling grief and despair. In that moment, she truly stepped into the hearts of everyone who knew of her.
She wasn't just a girl of extraordinary talent and brilliance, but also one with responsibility and compassion—proven through action.
No reasonable person could dislike her, and with her beauty and skill, even less so.
Naturally, alongside discussions of Chu Lian, many also spoke of the pink-haired girl who had first played alongside her and then stood quietly behind her.
No one doubted her identity. The moment their duet of Euterpe began, there was no need—no other voices could be so distinctive, and their singing carried the same feeling.
What people discussed instead was her extraordinary appearance: flowing pink hair that was clearly natural, beauty rivaling that of Chu Lian—who was already seen by many as the most beautiful girl in Huaxia—and an otherworldly aura, as if she stood outside the world, gazing upon it with calm detachment. A girl like she had stepped right out of a painting—impossible not to notice.
"No wonder Chu Lian calls their duo 'Twin Lotus.' Only someone like Inori—equally captivating and beautiful—could stand beside her. If the red-dressed beauty were here, they'd be three peerless women. Aside from Huaxia, could such beauty even exist?" This was a comment written by a well-known member of The Heart of First Love, which received overwhelming agreement.
In this world, without extraordinary circumstances, it would be impossible for beauties like Ayase and Chu Lian to exist. Yet fate always brought unexpected twists. Few knew that Inori was actually a girl from another world—an otherworlder. Chu Lian had given her a foreign identity simply to help her blend into this world.
As for Chu Lian and Inori, they ran the whole way. Even after entering the skyscraper, they didn't take the elevator, choosing instead to climb the stairs to the 67th floor.
While the Qingping Grand Hotel had 4-meter floors, this building's were about 3.5 meters. Yet with more total floors, it still rose higher—making it the tallest building in the area.
Standing at the edge, the two girls held hands, gazing in silence at the ruined Qingping Grand Hotel in the distance.
"Lian, if we hadn't come here… would this have happened?" Inori broke the silence with the same question Chu Lian had been asking herself. Now that it was voiced aloud, she didn't quite know how to respond.
"A destined calamity, perhaps. Even if we hadn't come, they would have met the same fate—it was already set. But our arrival saved many. Perhaps some who should have perished in that disaster had their fates rewritten because of us. Still, we're not truly gods. We can't reverse cause and effect to prevent everything, which is why so many died beyond our power to save." Chu Lian murmured as she gazed at the sky.
Maybe it wasn't the absolute truth, but in this moment, it was the answer she needed.
"I see…" A gentle breeze lifted Inori's pink hair, mingling with Chu Lian's long black strands as they stood there until sunset.
They had come with 44 people—40 students, 3 teachers, plus Inori. When they departed for the next city, only 42 remained; one teacher and Zhang Feng stayed behind to handle matters.
Chu Lian was surprised. She hadn't expected that, after all this, so many still chose to continue. Perhaps these young people truly had more maturity and resolve than most.
That night, Chu Lian sat gracefully by the window's edge, holding Tina in her spiritual form, lost in thought. After a day of emotional upheaval, the other students began dozing off as soon as the plane took off, and most were already asleep.
Inori's hand was looped through Chu Lian's arm, Chu Chu's hand through Inori's, and Li Xiu'er's arms wrapped around Chu Chu's—linked together, all of them had drifted into dreams.
"Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum… what could be there?" With that lingering question, Chu Lian succumbed to the pull of sleep and closed her eyes.