Lin Yi held her breath. Even the shock of the phrase "program error"—a term so obviously tinged with modern technology—was overwhelmed by the sheer vividness of the scene.
"Then," Gu Fang continued, "came the scene I remember: the sky shattering, the earth splitting, colors twisting into blocks, everything crumbling. That voice never spoke again, but the collapse had already begun. At that time, people were still conscious. Faced with the cataclysm, they panicked and fell into chaos. I saw Emperor Ying Xu backhand Consort Zheng, sending her sprawling to the ground, and furiously accuse her of killing Ying Baichuan and bringing down divine retribution."
A faint, almost imperceptible smile flickered across Gu Fang's lips as he spoke. "And Consort Zheng—perhaps feeling that since heaven itself was falling, she had nothing left to lose—let it all out. She pointed at Ying Xu's nose and screamed out, for all to hear, every single scheme he had plotted over the years, his heartlessness toward Empress Wang, and his secret persecution of Ying Baichuan. From their hysterical shouting match, I finally learned that this exalted imperial couple were the true instigators of all this calamity, the very root of heaven and earth's collapse."
Gu Fang slowly raised his eyes, his gaze calm and steady as it fell upon Lin Yi's shocked face. Then, smiling, he added one final line: "So, after I was reborn... I let none of them off."
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