Spoilers from the novel

"I..." An Zhe smiled, but a bout of coughing interrupted him. Tears trickled down his face, their temperature mirroring the blood. Struggling for breath, he told Boli, "I... lied to you. I wasn't infected by a monster. I am one. I'm not human. I just... consumed someone's genes. I just... look like a human."

Boli seemed taken aback for a moment. Then, his gray-blue eyes filled with a gentler sorrow, "No matter what you are, can you hang on a little longer, please?"

An Zhe shook his head.

"I don't have a disease," he said. "My lifespan... is just this long. It can't be changed... Don't try to save me."

As he finished speaking, Boli hugged him tightly. They locked eyes, sinking into a mournful silence.

Compared to illnesses and injuries, the predetermined lifespan of a species was an even more unyielding force. From the moment of birth, the end was set, a threshold no one could cross – a barrier God had supposedly erected, if God truly existed.

In this wordless silence, the howling wind carried Boli's voice. Amidst the gusts, An Zhe heard him say something.

— Upon hearing those words, his heart jolted. They were so familiar, as if he had traveled back three months to that night when he faced Lu Fen. The wind had been strong that day too.

Boli Joan inquired, "What do you have there in your hand?"

With An Zhe, there was nothing else he needed to conceal. He slowly unfolded his fingers.

In the palm of the hand lay a silent silver badge, the emblem of the Arbiter's authority.