Chapter 101 Is the life of a leaf just to return to its roots?
[Yongen: You cannot escape your fear. Your opponent is yourself.]

[Yasuo: My fate is in my own hands. 】

[Yongen: Two intersecting roads, one of which is destined to end.]

[Yasuo: I will give you a quick death. ]

[Yong En: Their fate will be ended by my own hands.]

[Yasuo: The more you strike with this sword, the more powerful it becomes.]

[Yongen: Demons retreat, swords surge. 】

[Yongen: Brother, our paths cross again, will the ending be the same as last time? ]

[Yasuo: Another bloody ending, brother.]

[Yasuo: Is the life of a leaf just to return to its roots? ]

As the words "The End" fell, the big screen gradually fell into black.

The story ends here.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, looking as if they were still not satisfied.

"It took two hours. I didn't even have a sip of water. I just stared blankly through the whole thing."

"Look at what you said, who isn't?"

"Well written! I like the feeling of this narrative."

"The cause and effect of a Noxian invasion war, the fate of three. No, four people are entangled."

"I guess this war should be a major event in Runeterra, just like Curse of the Ruin, otherwise Su Shen would not have created so many new characters."

"It's only the top 16, is the intensity already so high?"

“The legend continues!”

After the plot content is screened, the judges’ comments and scoring will follow.

Under the guidance of the host Sa Xiaoning, Su Xinghe stood on the stage, waiting for comments and questions from the four judges.

The first person the camera shot was directed at was old man Jin Hong. He stroked his beard and looked at Su Xinghe with satisfaction, then gave him a kind smile.

"Xiao Su, I wonder where the inspiration for your story came from?"

Su Xinghe rubbed the back of his head and thought for a while, then picked up the microphone: "I remember saying before that Runeland is all-encompassing and there is never a shortage of stories of all types."

".That's it."

Hearing this veiled answer, Mr. Jin couldn't deny smiling.

In the previous rounds of competition, Su Xinghe seemed to have used the same rhetoric. I don’t know if it was really as he said or if he was simply trying to hide his shortcomings.

But he didn't want to pursue it too much. After taking a breath, he began to comment on the whole story.

"Compared to the previous darkin gods and the like, this story can actually arouse more empathy from most of us."

"Riven, Yasuo, Yongen, Taliyah, let alone their combat abilities, just looking at their character traits, they are all full of human brilliance without exception."

“Looking at the whole story, there are many other themes that are worth exploring, such as war, betrayal, brotherhood, mentorship, redemption, and forgiveness.”

“Overall, the plot is coherent, the characters are well-developed, and it contains philosophical reflections. It can be regarded as an impeccable work.”

After Mr. Jin finished speaking, Su Xinghe bowed to him with gratitude.

Then, Liu Ciping took over the topic:
"Well, Mr. Jin has actually said everything he can say. Contestant Su Xinghe, I just want to ask one thing."

"The theme of this round of competition is 'Fallen Leaves Return to Their Roots', and you wrote a sentence at the end that touched on the theme."

"But I was totally confused by the first half of the story. Although the plot was very attractive, I didn't see any trace of the theme at all. I even felt that you were a little off topic."

“Now that I’ve finished reading the whole story, I seem to have grasped a certain feeling at the end, but it’s hard to describe it.”

"I think my confusion is also the confusion of most viewers. Can you explain it to us?"

When Liu Ciping asked the question, the audience all echoed it.

"Yeah! The story is enjoyable, but the theme is a bit obscure. At least I can't see it on the surface."

"If you ask me, the theme 'fallen leaves return to their roots' is abstract."

"I feel the same as Liu Ciping, the feeling is on the tip of my tongue, but I can't put it into words." "I understand. Think about the last sentence, 'The life of a leaf is just to return to its roots.'"

“Doesn’t this foreshadow?”

"What does it portend?"

"."

"Liver! I can't tell you."

"See how Su Shen answers."

For a moment, everyone's eyes were focused on Su Xinghe.

Su Xinghe slowly picked up the microphone and smiled easily: "It's actually not that complicated."

Then he began to explain.

"In my understanding, this theme is very meaningful, referring to the eventual return of things to their origin or roots."

"As a misunderstood swordsman, Yasuo was accused of betraying his master and thus fled and wandered for many years."

"So, 'returning to one's roots' for him means returning to the starting point of the story, finding the truth, and restoring his reputation."

"Yong En, before he died, although he was eager to learn swordsmanship and become stronger, in his heart he always longed for a peaceful life and to protect his family."

"'Falling leaves return to their roots' represents the happy life he most hopes for."

"Riven was once deeply disappointed with her country. 'Returning to her roots' is the psychological journey of her finally finding herself after her faith collapsed."

“As for Taliyah, the theme is very straightforward, she left her homeland and went through all kinds of hardships and challenges.”

"But her heart and soul were always directed toward her hometown, and her wish was to bring back what she had learned to her birthplace to protect her family."

After listening to Su Xinghe's explanation, everyone suddenly understood.

"If it weren't for Su Dada's explanation, a loser like me would never understand it in my lifetime."

“I am also a waste”

"Don't underestimate yourselves."

"The author's thinking is different from ours. It's normal for us to just look at the surface. Besides, it's the job of the expert judges to dig into the inner meaning."

"It's too profound. I don't care. As long as the story is interesting, that's all."

"Correct and to the point!"

Chen Kaige gave Su Xinghe a thumbs up. He didn't say much, but just encouraged him: "Keep it up!"

Jiang Tao did the same and gave an approving evaluation. Then the four judges began to score, and in the end Su Xinghe continued to get an extremely high score of 9.99.

After a ten-minute halftime break.

The competition continues and it is the turn of other contestants to present their stories.

This round of competition did not officially end until the afternoon of the next day.

The eight players who advanced from the round of 9.24 are all outstanding players, and the worst score in this round was .

However, these people pose basically no threat to Su Xinghe.

At the end of the competition, Sa Xiaoning came to the center of the stage and began to announce the arrangements for subsequent events.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, contestants."

"Today, our round of 16 competition has officially ended. The next round of the quarterfinals will be held in three days."

"I can reveal a new piece of news to you in advance. We will invite four special guests from the writer and entertainment circles to watch the quarterfinals."

"When we reach the quarterfinals, our competition style and scoring methods will also undergo major changes. In three days, our excitement will continue!"

Sa Xiaoning said to the eight players who advanced: "Remember to go back and have a good rest, and be ready for the next round of tough battles!"

"A tough battle? How tough?"

One contestant curled his lips.

"It's okay. We're already in the quarterfinals. Winning or losing is not important anymore. With Su Xinghe here, our main goal is to participate."

(End of this chapter)