Chapter 2

Chapter 2

For some reason, this reincarnation cycle didn’t end after Bai Ruohuan died. Instead, it kept going.

As a born overachiever, I worked hard to expand my territory, determined to evolve into the spirit of the entire city.

Watching my domain grow larger and larger filled me with satisfaction.

This was the empire I had conquered for myself!

Once my range covered the entire palace, I would occasionally see the male lead.

That scumbag male lead was named Liang Qingci, the emperor of this country. Ever since Bai Ruohuan died, he had never once stepped out of the palace gates.

I had once gone to observe him with great enthusiasm, wanting to see whether he regretted anything. But there was not the slightest trace of grief on him, and neither his palace nor the imperial study contained a single object related to Bai Ruohuan.

He did not even remember the anniversary of Bai Ruohuan’s death, and the people under him never dared to remind him.

The woman who had stayed by his side for ten years was gone, and she had left no trace behind.

Bai Ruohuan’s death had punished no one but herself.

I found it boring, so I stopped paying attention to him and continued focusing on my own career.

To be fair, though, if you set love aside, Liang Qingci was a diligent emperor.

He was very busy. Every day, he handled countless affairs of state, often working straight through the night until dawn. Only when the eunuchs urged him again and again would he take a brief nap.

Unfortunately, I knew it was useless. This country was already finished. The building was about to collapse; rebel armies were everywhere. This was not something he could turn around alone.

On the day the rebels broke through the city gates, Liang Qingci stood at the top of Tayue Tower, the highest point in the palace city, and looked down.

His expression was very calm, as if it was not his own capital that had fallen. He paid no attention to the palace servants fleeing in every direction, and even dismissed the attendants by his side of his own accord.

By coincidence, tall towers were harder to control than ordinary palaces. That day, I had just finished taking over Tayue Tower, so my consciousness was lingering there as I admired the results of my labor.

The moment I saw him brace one hand against the railing and sit suspended over empty air, my heart lurched violently.

Holy crap! No way.

Was this couple really taking turns tormenting one poor spirit like me?

Shouldn’t a career-driven character be respected in a romance novel?

The second he fell, I didn’t think at all. I reached out to grab him on pure instinct.

Every time Bai Ruohuan jumped, I had made the same motion. Unfortunately, every single time, she passed right through my transparent spirit body and slammed hard into the ground.

She could not see my devastated tears, nor could she hear me cursing her out.

But this time, I actually succeeded!

My hand became solid, and I seized his wrist in a death grip.

Liang Qingci’s expression of calm acceptance cracked.

First, he looked at the ground. Then he looked up at the sky. Finally, he saw the hand that had suddenly grown out halfway down Tayue Tower.

His pupils trembled in shock. His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something.

But since I had previously knocked out one of his front teeth, air leaked through the few words he managed to say, and he shut his mouth in humiliation.

This guy’s mental fortitude was honestly incredible. Faced with this utterly supernatural mess, he was only shocked for one second before giving up and lying there, letting himself hang in midair.

The wind was strong, blowing him around in circles until his hair plastered all over his face.

Liang Qingci looked numb, his face practically spelling out three big words: let me die.

You are not dying in front of me!

It took me an enormous amount of effort to throw him back onto the tower.

Yes, I called him scum and blamed him for not caring whether Bai Ruohuan lived or died, but that did not mean I was willing to watch another person commit suicide right in front of me.

Watching a living, breathing person die before your eyes was completely different from watching it in a drama.

Every time Bai Ruohuan died, I would wonder if the heavens had made me the spirit of this city precisely so that I could grab her when she jumped.

Every time, I felt like I should be able to catch her.

But I never managed it.

I began to resent it. Why was it always such a coincidence? Wherever my consciousness happened to be, she would jump right there in front of me, splattering me with blood while she was at it.

Honestly, the fact that I had not gone insane meant I had a pretty strong mindset.

I cried as I dragged Liang Qingci up, then threw him somewhere safe. Even knowing he could not hear me, I still could not help cursing him out in a tear-choked voice.

“You idiot! Don’t jump off buildings, do you hear me? What the hell did I do to deserve this? One after another, all of you keep dying on me.”

“If you die on me today, then tomorrow I’ll expand my territory to your grave and have a disco party on top of your tomb. You hear me?!”

Liang Qingci’s hand trembled.

He said nothing. In silence, he walked down from the tower.

He died by poison.

Even in death, he remained calm, with a faint hint of relieved pleasure.