I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 378 - 378 377. The sorrow of parting_1

Chapter 378: 377. The sorrow of parting_1 Chapter 378: 377. The sorrow of parting_1 The Bandaged Man had a narrow escape and made it to the island. As an assassin holding an official secret order, he issued a wanted notice at the local yamen on the island.

Both the protagonist and Amber were present and heard this wanted notice. They knew that such tranquility in life would always be shattered.

The protagonist entered the yamen alone, intending to kill the Bandaged Man, and then flee far away with Amber.

Mrs. Meritt drained her cup of wine.

She watched intently as the protagonist fought and killed the Bandaged Man.

Then, Mrs. Meritt saw the monster.

From a rotten coin, that grotesque monster from the beginning of the film appeared in the room.

These monsters could corrode everything, infect everything – people who fell to the ground cried out in agony before mutating into monsters, and even that seemingly invincible dog couldn’t move freely amidst the spreading black fog.

“Oh, no.”

Seeing this, Mrs. Meritt could already guess the unfolding storyline.

She saw the black fog devour the island, mutating the people into twisted monsters. She saw the protagonist and the dog flee, taking the girl and her mother with them. She watched Amber witness it all and make her choice.

Pale flames arose, somehow giving Mrs. Meritt a sense of the divine.

Seeing the multicolored black flames incinerate all impurities, with the young girl standing amidst the flowing blaze, Mrs. Meritt’s mind flashed back to the daily life of the two people from before.

She was caught in a dilemma.

This conflict was not about opposing factions in the storyline, but about the young girl’s choice – whether to abandon her duty to roam the world freely or to persist in her duty and sacrifice her freedom.

To the French, who valued freedom, escaping and hiding seemed the best option. After all, just by raising a white flag, everything would be sorted out.

However, the progression of the plot made Mrs. Meritt feel that if she did not protect this world, more tragedies would arise.

These weren’t just numbers; they were tragedies unfolding before her very eyes.

Those twisted and terrifying monsters could only be resisted with the help of a Shrine Maiden.

And Mrs. Meritt knew that Amber had already made her choice.

She chose the world.

Mrs. Meritt poured herself another glass of wine, which she drank in one gulp.

She rarely got drunk, but now, she wished she could be a little intoxicated, think a little less, and just follow the progression of the film.

Even the blooming giant sakura tree and the continuous red torii gates of He Dao couldn’t lift Mrs. Meritt’s spirits.

She was filled with melancholy, the melancholy of parting.

The plot of the Great Shrine of Harmony Island that spanned over ten minutes marked a transitional phase for Mrs. Meritt.

The views on the Shrine Maiden and Amber from each person they encountered gradually built up an irrefutable answer for her.

That staying here was the best for Amber.

It was this helplessness that made Mrs. Meritt feel a deeper sorrow.

If something was wrong, characters acting upon it and giving up beautiful things would evoke anger, regret, and reluctance.

But when something was right, one could only sigh at the fickleness of fate and lament the helplessness of life.

All of this reached its peak when Amber hit the bullseye with ten arrows in a row during an archery contest.

Whether it was the protagonist or the audience, by now, everyone already knew; the ending was set in stone, Amber was bound for the attic above, while the protagonist would continue to wander the seas.

Mrs. Meritt’s heart was wrapped in an indescribable melancholy; it was strange—many past movies had failed to evoke such a strong resonance in her, but now, as an experienced film critic, she found herself lamenting the sorrow portrayed in the film.

Before the ceremony, Amber arrived at the protagonist’s house, and their conversation was ordinary, as if they would meet again tomorrow, as if they could continue to be together in the future.

In the end, Amber told the protagonist that the moonlight would be beautiful tonight.

As the piano music in the background intensified, all emotions reached their peak at that moment.

Mrs. Meritt quietly shed tears.

She saw the flames at the ceremony, the happy and laughing people, the world that was about to maintain peace.

It was so beautiful, yet she always felt she had lost something.

“Indeed, it is an incredibly touching movie.”

Mrs. Meritt had to admit that the film had perfected that ambiguous and mournful atmosphere, and the plot itself wasn’t slow, but well-paced, with different characters’ choices sketching out the entire world. And Amber, with her innocence, gentleness, kindness, and valiant effort, had already deeply embedded herself in Mrs. Meritt’s heart.

The credits should be coming up next, and Mrs. Meritt relaxed slightly. She tried to organize her thoughts but couldn’t find a starting point.

Picking up the bottle of wine, she was about to pour herself a drink to settle her nerves when the screen suddenly lit up again.

Mrs. Meritt looked over.

She saw the protagonist getting ready to pack up and leave, but a surge of emotion welled up in him as he gazed at that attic.

He went to the shrine hall, that sealed-off place, and with the mask he got from the Bandaged People, turned into smoke and slipped inside.

This courtyard was supposed to be for retired shrine maidens to live in, but it was empty.

Only the cold moonlight shone down.

The protagonist felt that something was amiss. He entered the Shrine Hall and saw a row of shelves in the darkness, upon which the bone ash boxes were neatly placed.

Mrs. Meritt found it strange. Why show these now, at this point in the story? If it was to indicate that the two would be worlds apart and could never meet again, it seemed somewhat superfluous.

Her curiosity, along with the protagonist’s exploration, grew stronger. When the protagonist left the courtyard that was supposed to be inhabited by retired shrine maidens and discovered it had been unoccupied for many years, Mrs. Meritt’s heart skipped a beat.

She thought of some rather unpleasant things.

But there was still hope.

Mrs. Meritt sat up straight; she saw the protagonist finally head toward that attic.

Suddenly, Mrs. Meritt seemed to smell a burning odor.

Like the foul stench released when animals are scorched by flames.

The attic was mottled with burn marks everywhere, and the heavily locked door proclaimed the fact that it could not be opened.

If this place could not be opened…

Mrs. Meritt’s heart hung suspended.

She followed the protagonist into the attic, saw the chaos on the first floor, the bloodstains all over the second floor, and then arrived at the third floor.

In her initial assumptions, Mrs. Meritt thought Amber should be dressed in magnificent clothes, sitting dignified and resolute in the bright and clean attic, shooting off fire arrows to protect the world.

But when Mrs. Meritt saw Amber, she couldn’t help but cover her mouth.