"I think you're thinking of something inappropriate," the divine beast said softly.
"Of course not," Wang Rui awkwardly smiled, "You continue."
The three-eyed golden lion glared at him. Unknowingly, she had begun to see this stranger, originally just a temporary sounding board, as a friend.
"I saw those records of the fate of our world, a novel called Douluo Dalu. I also feel that many people in the vast network like me and are outraged on my behalf. I think the reason I can find this world is because of their affection for me. And human thoughts are a kind of spiritual power, even though I am weak, I was able to recover some vitality."
"Almost everything of mine was handed over to Yuhao, but there's still a little bit of power left that belongs only to me — that is, the right to choose my own fate," the three-eyed golden lion said seriously, coiling her tail around herself as she sat upright like a large cat. "I can still choose to give up the fate of the divine beast and hand it to someone else, so that my last bit of self can be free."
"If you agree to exchange, I can transfer the fate completely to you and let you be reborn as the divine beast of the Star Dou Forest, living out my life," the three-eyed golden lion looked at Wang Rui, a barely perceptible plea in her eyes. "And if possible, I hope you can live on… Because after my sacrifice, the Star Dou Forest's fate was transferred to the divine realm by Yuhao… a thousand years later, the inheritance of soul beasts was nearly cut off."
"This is my mistake, I am a sinner of the soul beast clan," the three-eyed golden lion said in a near-cold tone, criticizing herself. As proud as she was, she would never attempt to erase her sins. "But I don't regret sacrificing to Yuhao. I should have handled the fate of Star Dou Forest better. And I hope that, after you take over my fate, you will take care of him a little, at least not let him be harmed by a bad woman…"
"Wait, wait." Wang Rui's scalp tingled as he listened to the three-eyed golden lion speak as if she were leaving behind a will.
He couldn't understand why Miss Jinji trusted him so much.
[T/N: Jinji is a simplified form or nickname derived from her full name, 三眼金猊 (which translates to "Three-Eyed Golden Beast)]
This sudden trust was too heavy, it directly left him stunned. "This is your unwillingness, your obsession, so you should go back and make up for the regret yourself. Why are you asking me?"
"..."
The three-eyed golden lion glared at Wang Rui, her sharp teeth grinding in her mouth. "So you didn't listen to what I said at all, did you?"
Wang Rui briefly visualized his younger sister, Wang Xiaohua, angrily throwing a tantrum. He sighed inwardly, but still smiled and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Ah, it's better to make up for regrets yourself, right? Rebirth is definitely better than leaving it to me."
"That's because I can't do it!" The three-eyed golden lion's tail slammed the ground. She looked quite angry, clearly unwilling to admit that she was powerless.
"Didn't you understand? I can't reverse time and bring people back to the past, even gods can't do it! I can only glitch the fate and let you inherit my memory! As long as you want to live, you will definitely achieve my goal of staying in Douluo Continent!"
… Glitching fate? This addiction to the internet is really severe, Miss Jinji.
"Okay, I agree," Wang Rui said.
"Why wouldn't you agree? It doesn't harm you, didn't you say you didn't want to die…?" She looked at him dazedly, "You agree?"
"Yeah." Wang Rui shrugged.
"I thought you'd hesitate for a bit," the three-eyed golden lion said in surprise, looking at him for a while. Even her third eye opened and spun a few times. "I thought you'd be reluctant to leave your parents and sister."
"What's there to be reluctant about?" Wang Rui said nonchalantly. "I'm already dead."
"… You don't seem to be that sad. Aren't humans supposed to be upset about life and death?"
"There's nothing to be upset about, it's me who died. My parents and sister are fine, and my parents have Wang Xiaohua to take care of them…" Wang Rui smiled. "Besides, you said 'exchanging fates.' If you hand your fate to me, you naturally won't have a place to go, and you'll definitely take my fate."
"And I'm already dead, so I don't know how you'll handle it, but you definitely can't let others know I died, right?… Whether it's inheriting my life or erasing my existence, no one will notice, so it's like I never died. My parents and sister won't be sad, and I can live on in another world… nothing bad about it."
"This is a good thing!" The young man repeated with a smile.
"This…" The three-eyed golden lion awkwardly tucked her tail behind her legs, clearly surprised by Wang Rui's sharpness.
After all, she had been vague about her desire to swap his fate — in her place, she would never allow anyone to take over hers.
"You humans are so hypocritical," she muttered softly.
"Give me some face, Miss Jinji." Wang Rui forced a smile, then petted the three-eyed golden lion's large head, deciding to admit that he was a fan of cute beasts.
"But you just trust me like this? Aren't you afraid I'll trick you?"
The golden lion leaned in closer to Wang Rui's face, still a little unconvinced — not sure what she was doubting.
"Yeah, stupid human just trusts me like that,"
Wang Rui grabbed the lion's head and rubbed it. "What's the benefit of tricking you? Plus, you trusted me first."
Indeed, hypocritical humans are capable of reckless abandon. Wang Rui thought to himself with a bitter smile. No matter what is said to him now, he'd probably believe it all.
Because he truly didn't want his parents and sister to face his cold corpse.
If he could spare them the pain… then he would do whatever it takes.
"You trusted me first…" The three-eyed golden lion muttered in a daze, looking at Wang Rui.
She had been observing the young man for several days, and based on her shallow understanding of humans, she could tell that he was a compassionate and responsible person.
But as for trust, there was not much of it.
However, with the last of her powers slowly returning, the world's rejection of her had become apparent. She had no other choice but to gamble that this person could fulfill her wish.
And the three-eyed golden lion, who wielded the power of fate, was never afraid of betting. She trusted herself.
"Stupid human," she muttered.
"Alright, I'm the idiot. But I have one more question," Wang Rui said, "How did you pick me?"
Immediately, the three-eyed golden lion visibly became guilty. "Uh… well, it's a complicated story."
Wang Rui suddenly had an ominous feeling. "How did you choose me?"
"Uh… well… I read an article online, and I thought it was really well written."
Although he didn't understand what an article had to do with him, Wang Rui's sense of unease grew stronger.
"What article?" He stared at the stammering Jinji.
"Uh, alright, alright," after a long silence, the three-eyed golden lion gave up, sulking as she grabbed Wang Rui's phone. He wasn't sure what she did, but after a flash of golden light, the screen of his phone, which had been drained of power, lit up again.
Wang Rui twitched his lips as he watched the three-eyed golden lion, now transformed into an internet-addicted lion, expertly casting magic to log into the internet. She climbed onto an unfamiliar, crude webpage and pulled up an article.
On a 1619 Book Bar!
He glanced at the table of contents and was immediately blinded by the direct and crude text. It was a story where Tang San was first ***, then ***, and finally ***, eventually falling to *** — a piece of "Liu Bei" literature.
The author really hated Tang San, but somehow it made sense why the three-eyed golden lion liked this story so much…
But what does this have to do with me? Wang Rui was baffled.
Then he saw the author's username: "Village Head Wang Jixiang."
He fell silent instantly.
… Wang Rui's pen name on regular websites was… "Village End Wang Dahua."
For a moment, all his sadness evaporated. He wasn't sure if he should ridicule Wang Rui or thank her.
His younger sister, who once worshiped Tang San as her idol, had now gone from fan to anti-fan. Is this what it's like for a woman to change fandoms…?
Scary.
"This… this wasn't written by me," Wang Rui finally thought to clarify for himself, saying this with difficulty.
"I know, you have a twin sister," the three-eyed golden lion dryly said. "But it's hard to tell the fate of twins, and I'm very weak… I mixed you up with your sister. But the result is good. You're a good person, I trust you."
She unhesitatingly issued a "Good Person Card."
"Uh, also, I'll copy a version of the memories to you. If you don't know how to act as the divine beast, you can refer to them. But your experience and mine are definitely different… You were born into this world, so your natural control over fate will be higher than mine, and you'll probably have a lot of new abilities."
The golden lion nudged Wang Rui with her big head. "If it's still not enough, you can try contacting me. Our connection won't break after the fate exchange. Now, go! It's time to leave!"
"Wait, wait? That's it? No ceremony?"
"Ai, hurry up! Are you a guy who takes forever? Ceremony? You look like a ceremony!"
"Hey! Can I at least go back and see my parents one more time?"
"No time! Go!"
"Then remember to clear my browsing history, ahhh!!!"
...
"Eh? Who was I about to call just now?" Wang Rui put down her phone, muttering in confusion.
"Meow~" A golden cat, looking very weary, jumped onto the girl's lap.
"Wang Jixiang, why are you suddenly so sweet-talking? Wait, let Mom open a can for you!"