"Thud!"
"Xiao Huan, I caught you!"
Near a dilapidated orphanage in the South Ward.
On the sandy ground littered with cigarette butts and other trash, an even more dilapidated old-fashioned children's playground structure tottered precariously.
Most of the perfect afternoon sunlight was blocked by uneven, dark green leaves. As if annoyed by this, the light seed to summon a breeze to vigorously shake the branches they clung to.
"Rustle, rustle."
The dappled tree shadows outlined the shape of the wind, and the interspersed spots of light flashed into the eyes of the boy who had been tackled by the young girl, making him frown.
"Get up, An Le!"
A second later, he patted the back of the girl in his arms.
But feeling his pats, the girl simply blushed, panting as she raised her head to look at him.
"You lost, Xiao Huan! Now it's your turn to be the ghost and catch !"
"Alright, alright, I'll catch you in a bit... Get up first, you're heavy..."
"Mmm..."
Wearing a princess dress with a small hair accessory tied on her head, An Le pouted the mont she heard Yan Huan call her heavy.
Along the way, she observed Yan Huan's reaction beneath her.
Upon discovering that his eyes only held the sa indulgence as a parent's, a trace of imperceptible annoyance flickered within her.
So, as if throwing a tantrum, she disobeyed Yan Huan for the very first ti.
Instead, she sat directly on top of him, raising her arms to show off her clothes.
"Look, Xiao Huan. This is the birthday present Mama bought . I picked it out myself and always wanted to wear it for you to see... Does it look good?"
"Cute."
Yan Huan looked her up and down. Just after praising her, he worriedly reminded her,
"But, An Le, this is the South Ward. It's best if you don't wear such expensive clothes walking around outside. It's very easy to be targeted by bad people, you know?"
"O-Okay..."
An Le subconsciously nodded, but when she realized how earnestly Xiao Huan was speaking, she felt indignant and deliberately sang a different tune.
"Xiao Huan, don't always take care of
like Mama and Papa do. I can take care of myself, I can take care of you, and I can take care of others too!"
"Yes, yes, yes."
Hearing Yan Huan's perfunctory response, as if coaxing a child, An Le grew increasingly angry.
Finally, a second later, she crossed her arms and simply turned her head away.
"I... I'm ignoring you, Xiao Huan!"
"Huh? I'm just looking out for you, alright? Auntie has told you the sa thing before, hasn't she?"
"But even if it's out of care, it's... it's not the sa. Mama is Mama, and Xiao Huan is Xiao Huan..."
"...What a weird way to categorize it."
Seeing An Le cross her arms and throw a temper tantrum, Yan Huan found it truly unusual.
After all, An Le was usually soft and sweet beyond asure. He had no idea what was wrong with her today to provoke such a reaction.
Thus, he sat up, waved his hand in front of her face, and coaxed her,
"Alright, alright, don't be mad. Co on, it's my turn to catch you."
"Mmm..."
An Le turned her head back to look at Yan Huan. Seeing the unchanged look in his eyes, she seed to grow even more irritated.
"Hmph!"
"Thud!"
But a second later, she only tackled Yan Huan down with even more force, burying her head in his chest and refusing to get up no matter what he said.
'What kind of temper tantrum is this?'
It was simply a tiny outburst of wrath.
Pinned to the ground by her, Yan Huan was unexpectedly tolerant.
After all, in his eyes, An Le had always been a little sister who needed taking care of.
At least, that was what Yan Huan thought.
"Smooch!"
The sound of the two falling to the ground gradually overlapped with the present. Only this ti, the An Le before him no longer buried her face in his arms like she did in the past.
Instead, she took the initiative to cup Yan Huan's face, claiming his lips.
This wasn't Yan Huan's first ti doing such a thing.
Although his first kiss had been given away quite casually, after repeated practice with Spencer, he could finally be considered sowhat proficient.
But this ti, his feelings were unprecedentedly intense.
Under the blessing of the Kiss God, Yan Huan felt as if his very soul was about to be sucked away by An Le.
'Did she use her modifier?'
Yan Huan subconsciously thought this, attributing his intense reaction to her modifier...
...Rather than to An Le herself.
But no matter how much he tried to deny it, the true reason followed him like a shadow, refusing to let go.
Because of the close distance between them, he inevitably felt sothing completely different from An Le than he had in the past.
That feeling seed to whisper in his ear, saying softly:
'I've grown up now, Xiao Huan~'
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Hearing Yan Huan cough, An Le, having successfully lifted the curse, considerately let him go.
Before a dazed Yan Huan could check her expression, An Le imdiately lowered her face, panting.
"Haha..."
Because she didn't want Xiao Huan to see her hollow eyes at this mont.
Kissing Xiao Huan was obviously very comfortable and should have been a very happy thing, so why was she...
She lowered her head, covering her forehead and bangs with her palm, unable to stop the questions echoing in her mind.
'Xiao Huan... why is your kissing technique so skillful?!'
'It feels... really comfortable. It doesn't feel inexperienced at all...'
'As expected, Xiao Huan has already done this with Spencer countless tis, hasn't he?'
'Just when did it start?'
'Xiao Huan's reaction during the Club Battle Finals didn't seem like his first kiss at all...'
'Could it have been even earlier?'
'Just how early?!'
'Spencer, what exactly have you been doing behind my back this whole ti...'
"Hiss... An Le, you..."
Just as An Le stared blankly, growing increasingly eager to eradicate the Little Finger's kind residing in the other hosts, she suddenly felt sothing on her lower abdon.
She subconsciously reached out to check, only for Yan Huan to grab her wrist halfway.
"Smack!"
An Le blinked. From the corner of her lowered eyes, she had already caught sight of sothing.
But imdiately after, Yan Huan sat up at lightning speed, holding her shoulders and gently pushing her a short distance away.
"What are you doing, An Le?"
"..."
Facing Yan Huan's question, An Le blankly raised her eyes to look at him.
What entered her vision was his utterly unnatural expression.
It was clearly a look that could make the atmosphere awkward, but for so reason, it caused An Le's previously hollow eyes to gradually shimr with light.
'I can't be wrong. This reaction from Xiao Huan...'
'It's definitely his first ti experiencing this!'
"Pfft~"
Thus, a second later, beyond Yan Huan's expectations, she actually covered her mouth and laughed out loud.
"You..."
Yan Huan had no idea what she was suddenly laughing at. All he knew was that the smile wasn't creepy; instead, it felt warm and cozy.
He could tell she was very happy right now.
'Is it because she kissed ?'
Yan Huan wasn't sure. At that mont, An Le also spoke up in her soft and sweet voice to explain,
"Just now... after I ca out of the restroom, I heard people shouting that there was a snake. The doorway was crowded with people, so I had to follow the crowd to the won's changing room...
"I thought that classmate Bai was also here in the won's changing room, so I ca in to warn her about the snake outside, but I didn't see her..."
As she spoke, An Le suddenly thought of sothing and asked Yan Huan,
"Speaking of which, Xiao Huan, why did you... barge into the won's changing room?"
"..."
The question made Yan Huan pause. After all, he couldn't just tell her that the black cat she had been holding earlier had telepathically inford him that an apocalyptic bloodbath was taking place in here, right?
Therefore, he had no choice but to use the sa excuse.
"I heard people outside saying a snake had slithered into the changing room, and since no one was coming out, I ca in to save people."
There was actually a loophole in his statent here:
Naly, that upon hearing about the snake, Yan Huan imdiately rushed to the changing room to save Bai Yi, instead of checking on An Le, who was closer.
Perhaps from clashing with the sensitive Ye Shiyu so often, Yan Huan had beco particularly ticulous in this regard.
So, he spoke again to patch up this loophole.
"Originally, I was worried you might be scared by the snake, but then I rembered that you've liked snakes, lizards, and such since you were little.
"You understand them well and wouldn't be afraid, so..."
Hearing this and realizing that Yan Huan still rembered her preferences, An Le blushed slightly. She lowered her head and said shyly,
"Y-Yes, that's right..."
'Good, it looks like there are no problems now...'
Mainly, Yan Huan still didn't know exactly which phase An Le had entered.
Even if he subjectively believed An Le wouldn't enter an unreasonable tyrant state, what if she did?
She wasn't so small fry or a Little Bronze player anymore; she was a smurf among smurfs.
If she followed in Ye Shiyu's footsteps and started flooding him with pleasure at a single wrong word, who could withstand that?
Therefore, it was better to be cautious.
Overall, on the premise that neither of them wanted to expose their modifiers or superpowers, explaining why they entered the changing room was quite easy.
The only thing that wasn't easy to explain was that kiss just now.
Yan Huan didn't need ow-chan to recount it to guess so of the inside story regarding that kiss.
First, he knew the passive ability of Bai Yi's modifier.
Second, when he first ca in, An Le was in imnse physical discomfort. Now, after the kiss, her condition had improved.
Combining these two points, Yan Huan could guess that An Le had been struck by a curse, and kissing just so happened to lift it.
But Yan Huan also instantly realized that this was a great opportunity to understand An Le's current state of mind.
Let's not forget, he had invited An Le here precisely to better understand her current thoughts and condition.
Thinking of this, Yan Huan asked inquisitively,
"An Le, just now you..."
Understanding that Yan Huan was asking about the kiss, An Le's face turned slightly red.
But imdiately after, she suddenly felt aggrieved.
Because she clearly rembered that during the Club Battle Finals, when Spencer forced a kiss on Xiao Huan, he hadn't resisted or even questioned it.
So why was he questioning her now, after she forced a kiss on him?
An Le forcibly suppressed the negative emotions in her heart, still wearing a bashful smile on her face.
She shyly turned her head slightly to the side and asked in a low voice,
"Xiao Huan... have you and Spencer made your relationship official?"
Yan Huan blanked for a mont, pondered for a second, and replied,
"...No, we haven't."
Hearing this, she finally turned her head to look at Yan Huan.
"Well, Spencer forced a kiss on Xiao Huan, and Xiao Huan didn't get angry... So, if I do it too, there shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"..."
Staring at An Le, who spoke such words as a matter of course, Yan Huan opened his mouth.
Then, truly unable to bear it any longer, he raised his hand and gave An Le a flick on the forehead.
"Ouch!"
This strike imdiately made An Le clutch her head. Raising her bright and sparkling eyes, she looked at him pitifully and said,
"Of course there's a problem! How can you treat sothing like this so casually?"
'Then why is it okay for Spencer?'
An Le thought this but didn't voice it out loud.
As she thought this, An Le's eyes once again grew hollow.
Just as that unsettling pink color began to creep up the walls again, Yan Huan, unaware of the lurking terror in the shadows, spoke first.
"Who told you I wasn't angry when Spencer forced a kiss on ? Besides, she's an idiot; even if I scold her, she wouldn't understand. Are you an idiot too?"
At this mont, Yan Huan wasn't wearing his expression managent mask, yet he didn't reveal a single flaw.
Because when his first kiss was stolen by Spencer in the infirmary, that was genuinely what he had thought.
So, this couldn't be considered a lie, right?
In any case, as soon as these words ca out, so light finally returned to An Le's eyes.
"I... I'm sorry, Xiao Huan..."
'That's right, this isn't Xiao Huan's fault.'
'It's all the fault of those things residing in those hosts...'
'As long as I eradicate everything on them, I can save Xiao Huan.'
'I...'
'...can also get Xiao Huan's first ti.'
Thus, An Le swallowed a mouthful of saliva and hastily changed the subject.
"Right, where... where did classmate Bai go? I didn't see her earlier either, and the performance is about to start soon..."
Hearing this, Yan Huan, who had wanted to continue the previous topic, had no choice but to drop it.
He hadn't gathered much information from this brief exchange.
But judging by feel, An Le's condition was nowhere near as severe as Ye Shiyu's.
She was still the sa as in the past: a clumsy little sister who needed taking care of.
'So, is the problem the incarnation of the modifier on her?'
Thinking this, Yan Huan was forced to join An Le in shifting his attention to the other party involved in this conflict.
'That's right...'
'Where did Bai Yi go?'
"Tick-tock... tick-tock..."
"Haha..."
With Indifference activated, Bai Yi sprinted frantically outside, passing countless people until she arrived at a secluded corner of the courtyard.
Her mind was completely blank, still tortured by that gangrenous sore of pleasure.
Unable to endure it any longer, Bai Yi bent over, tightly gripping the pocket watch with its rapidly spinning hands, her heart filled with lingering fear.
'Superpowers...'
'That An Le definitely has a superpower, just like !'
'And it feels super terrifying...'
'What do I do?'
"Tick-tock... tick-tock..."
Within her heart, as the desire to surrender to everything—brought on by the modifier's pleasure—grew, another thought grew increasingly powerful alongside it.
At the sa ti, the hands of the pocket watch in Bai Yi's grip began to spin at lightning speed...
A sar of transparency began creeping up her long hair again, even more severe than before.
Finally, the second thought achieved a crushing victory, completely destroying the aftertaste of the modifier.
All doubts and cowardice faded entirely, replaced by unprecedented indignation and confidence.
'But, why?'
'Why does she get to have one too?'
'I'm supposed to be the most special one. With a superpower like this, I could do whatever I want...'
'I've been tolerant enough! I haven't done anything overboard!'
'So why does she get a superpower too, and even dare to spout such nonsense at ?!'
"..."
The mont she thought of what An Le had said to her earlier, Bai Yi's eyes began to dye a deep scarlet.
Unbeknownst to her, An Le's final explanation that "those words were all fake" had also turned transparent, much like the ends of Bai Yi's hair right now, rendering them imperceptible to her.
"Tick-tock... tick-tock..."
Flustered and exasperated, Bai Yi deactivated Indifference, returning bit by bit to the real world, yet the sar of transparency at the ends of her hair did not fade.
'Don't panic. She definitely didn't see
just now, and she can't even be sure she caught .'
'As long as I hold steady and pretend not to know, there's nothing she can do to . Besides, I have Indifference and ti stop; there will be plenty of opportunities.'
She straightened her clothes and muttered indignantly,
"I'm clearly prettier than her, and I'm better than her in every way, yet she dares to talk about
like that...
"Fine. Call
a vase, say my singing is awful? I'll prove you wrong later!"
Bai Yi wore makeup on her face, so the excessive flush caused by An Le's modifier wasn't obvious.
She carefully walked back to the area where she had originally done her makeup. Seeing that An Le hadn't returned, she breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Instead, Jiang Xiong had returned from his smoke break and was sitting in his seat, looking at his phone.
"Yi Yi, you're back?"
Hearing the sound of high heels, Jiang Xiong raised his head to look at her.
Seeing Bai Yi alone, he asked in confusion,
"Where are Yan Huan and that little girl?"
"...I don't know where Yan Huan went."
Bai Yi bit her lip and sat down beside Jiang Xiong, completely omitting any ntion of An Le.
Jiang Xiong blinked but didn't press the matter.
He glanced at the ti on his phone and said,
"The performance is about to start. They're probably already lining up over there..."
"Miss Bai Yi, Miss Bai Yi!"
Just then, a heavily perspiring staff mber rushed over and said to Bai Yi, "We're very sorry to inform you, but the performance has been temporarily canceled. We don't know how long it will take to resu..."
"What?"
Bai Yi looked at the staff mber in disbelief and asked,
"What happened?"
"They say a cancer patient has gone missing in the hospital, and her son is frantically asking everyone for help to find her. The hospital authorities are taking this very seriously, so they suspended the performances."
"So how will this be resolved?"
"They're currently considering recording the performances and broadcasting them online later, or sothing along those lines."
"Huh? Doesn't that an we made a wasted trip today?"
"The main issue is that the patient previously showed tendencies of giving up on treatnt. If anything happens to her, not only the hospital authorities, but we won't be able to escape the bla either... Right now, the patient's son keeps saying our event caused his mother to go missing. If this turns into a ssy dispute, who knows how much trouble it'll cause."
Jiang Xiong glanced at his watch. It was already late afternoon, approaching dusk. If they didn't start soon, they'd have to reschedule for another day.
Bai Yi turned her head and saw that many other artists' teams were packing up their belongings, preparing to leave.
Luxi'na was among them.
She was seen throwing on an overcoat, donning her sunglasses, and departing right in front of Bai Yi, surrounded by several assistants.
As she left, she didn't even spare Bai Yi a glance.
"Tick-tock... tick-tock..."
At this mont, Luxi'na's dismissive attitude was like the final straw that broke the cal's back.
Blue veins bulging on her forehead, Bai Yi clutched her head and ground her teeth as she hissed,
"She just had to go and die today, of all days. Not earlier, not later..."
Hearing this, Jiang Xiong glanced at Bai Yi in disbelief and imdiately barked out a reprimand to silence her.
"Yi Yi!"
The shout startled Bai Yi. Her eyes widened as she whipped her head toward Jiang Xiong.
"Uncle Jiang..."
Sensing the tense atmosphere, the staff mber gave an awkward smile.
"I'll go notify the other artists who haven't heard yet..."
The mont the staff mber left, Jiang Xiong furrowed his brow and demanded of Bai Yi,
"Do you have any idea what you were just saying?"
Bai Yi blanked montarily, looked at the retreating back view of the staff mber, and hastily said,
"I... I'll go talk to that person and make sure he doesn't spread it around..."
"Is this about whether it spreads and affects your career?!"
Jiang Xiong reached out, his brows tightly knitted, and grabbed Bai Yi's shoulders to stop her from leaving. Then, he asked in a deep voice,
"Right now, a patient who might be seeking death is missing. That is a living, breathing human life!
"Even if it has nothing to do with us and we can't help, you still can't say such things! Do you understand?!"
The roar, so vastly different from his usual gentle deanor, froze Bai Yi on the spot. She couldn't even manage to voice a rebuttal.
"This isn't an issue of work or career; it's a question of basic human decency!
"When did you beco so extrely selfish, completely inconsiderate of others?
"Yi Yi, you would have never acted like this in the past. What on earth is wrong with you?!"
Jiang Xiong's simple words pinned Bai Yi directly in place, forcing her to reflect on what he had just said.
"I..."
When she realized this and began to think about the underlying cause, her hair, which had begun to take on a transparent hue, finally started returning to its dark ink-like color.
And as the transparency completely faded from her body, the previously vanished doubts, unease, and fear all rushed back into her heart.
In an instant, her confidence and ego were utterly crushed, causing her eyes to grow red at the corners as she murmured,
"I don't know... Uncle Jiang, I... I don't know what's wrong with ... Wuu... I'm sorry."
Seeing Bai Yi's pitiful expression at that mont, Jiang Xiong paused, his own expression softening slightly.
"Uncle."
Just as he was about to speak, Yan Huan's voice called out from nearby.
"Ah, Yan Huan..."
It was Yan Huan and An Le returning.
Upon hearing Yan Huan's voice, Bai Yi subconsciously turned her head to look.
But the first thing she saw was An Le, standing silently behind Yan Huan, staring directly at her.
"Eek!"
With her confidence buff temporarily gone, Bai Yi instantly recalled the terrifying scene from earlier.
Shuddering all over, she hurriedly took a step back, hiding behind Jiang Xiong like a shield.
"Classmate Bai, you're here. I went to the changing room to look for you earlier, but you weren't there..."
Fortunately, An Le obviously wouldn't resort to violence against Bai Yi in public.
"...I... I had to step out to take care of sothing just now."
Unbeknownst to them, both modifier hosts maintained an unspoken agreent not to expose themselves.
anwhile, Yan Huan secretly scrutinized Bai Yi and noticed that her condition was significantly better compared to the two other victims, Ye Shiyu and Spencer.
Spencer went without saying; her body had gone entirely limp.
Ye Shiyu was even worse; she had been driven completely senseless and only recovered after sleeping beside him for a whole night.
'So that ans you, Bai Yi, have the highest armor of them all?'
"Uncle, what's going on? Wasn't the performance about to start?"
Yan Huan asked in confusion, looking around at everyone packing up their belongings.
Helpless, Jiang Xiong could only recount what the staff mber had just told him.
"..."
"A patient with suicidal tendencies went missing?"
"Yeah, everyone is searching right now. It looks like a major incident is going to happen today. We'd best not linger here for long."
"..."
After hearing the whole story, Yan Huan froze completely.
'A mother who is a patient, and she wants to commit suicide...'
For so reason, he almost instantly thought of the old lady he had escorted onto the elevator earlier.
'No way, right?'
"Uncle, is there a way to contact the people searching? I have sothing I need to ask..."
"You..."
Left with no choice, Yan Huan revealed the fact that he had helped an old lady wearing a headscarf onto the elevator heading for the top floor.
Beside him, An Le blinked upon hearing this.
Given Yan Huan's description, it seed she had also seen that old lady.
She had mistakenly wandered into an old lady's hospital ward earlier and was scolded by the lady's son.
Upon hearing the details, Jiang Xiong also gasped in shock and hurriedly pulled out his phone.
"I'll ask around. I kept the contact info for soone from Golden Lion Entertainnt. Wait a mont, I'll make a call."
The call connected, and he tilted his head, exchanging a few words with the person on the other end.
With each passing sentence, his expression grew increasingly solemn.
"...You guys are still on this floor, right? Okay, okay, we'll head over imdiately."
Without hanging up, Jiang Xiong swallowed hard and looked at Yan Huan.
"You kid might actually be right. Hurry, they haven't found the old lady yet. Where did you send her earlier?"
Yan Huan pursed his lips and looked toward the elevators.
At this mont, on the twenty-seventh floor, in the hospice ward area.
The old lady wearing the headscarf had been standing in the quiet corridor for a long ti.
She stared at the patients lying on their beds inside the wards, their consciousness dreamy and fading. A trace of sorrow entered her eyes.
Before coming up to the hospice ward, she had actually harbored a shred of fantasy about this place.
She thought that by giving up painful treatnts and entering end-of-life care, the doctors might have a way to restore her to her pre-illness state, allowing her to spend the final period of her life in peace.
But the reality was that this was utterly impossible.
"Haha..."
She let out a panting breath and forced her gaze away from the ward.
Then, leaning against the wall, she shuffled bit by bit toward the rooftop terrace beside the hospice ward.
Pushing open the glass door that separated the interior from the exterior, it was a walk of less than ten ters to reach the edge of the rooftop terrace—an edge entirely devoid of guardrails, featuring only a ledge barely wide enough for a pair of feet to stand side by side.
"Whoosh..."
The old lady painstakingly pushed open the glass door. The fierce wind of the twenty-seventh floor rushed in, nearly blowing her over.
But even so, she exhausted all her strength to tear off the headscarf covering her head, revealing a scalp completely bald from hair loss.
A second later, she took a deep breath and walked toward the edge, step by step.
"Ding~"
At that mont, the elevator doors on the twenty-seventh floor opened, revealing the dozen or so people who had taken the lift up first.
Before the doors could even fully open, the anxiety-ridden middle-aged man beside Yan Huan dashed out of the elevator first.
"Mom?! Mom, where are you?!"
This hysterical shouting was nothing like the old lady's silent footsteps. In an instant, the nurses doing rounds and the gloomy patient family mbers inside the wards all stepped out of their rooms.
"Who are you? Loud noises aren't allowed he—"
Just as a nurse was about to scold him, she caught sight of the large crowd standing outside the elevator and instantly beca tongue-tied.
"This..."
After calling out and searching without result, the middle-aged man, his face fraught with tension, spun around and seized Yan Huan by the collar, demanding,
"Are you sure my mom ca to the 27th floor?"
Yan Huan helplessly glanced at the man's hands, then glanced at the floor plan map on the wall.
After a second of silence, he spoke to the man.
"Let go of
first. There's only one place the granny could go on the top floor... Follow ."
"..."
The man blanked for a second and imdiately let go of Yan Huan.
Yan Huan briefly checked his bearings, then led An Le and the others toward the rooftop terrace.
Reaching the glass doors, Yan Huan swept his gaze outside but saw no one at first.
But as he pushed the doors open and looked further out, he clearly spotted a figure in a hospital gown leaning against the edge of the ledge to the side, resting and gasping for breath.
His pupils shrank slightly, and he imdiately sprinted out.
"Granny!"
"Mom!"
Unexpectedly, the mont the middle-aged man shouted, the old lady by the ledge shuddered violently. She stepped right onto the edge, preparing to jump without the slightest hesitation.
Seeing this, Yan Huan knew it was too late to reach her.
In a flash of quick thinking, he tightly grabbed the shoulder of the middle-aged man beside him, who was trying to rush forward.
His body had been enhanced by the Kiss God, and this grip slamd the man down into a crouch as effortlessly as snatching up a chick.
At the sa ti, Yan Huan shouted at the top of his lungs,
"Granny! Even if you must go, you can't just leave without a word! At least say a few words to your son, leave him with a final mory!"
"..."
Hearing these words, the old lady, who was on the verge of jumping, finally paused.
Standing on the edge of the ledge, she lacked the strength to even turn her body around, so she could only turn her head slightly to look behind her.
Seeing his mother look back, the middle-aged man could bear it no longer. He fell to his knees on the ground and sobbed,
"Mom, why are you doing this? Do you really have the heart to abandon ? What will I do without you? I'm begging you, please co back. Let's hold on a little longer. There will be hope... There will be..."
On the side, seeing the old lady halt her advance, Bai Yi pursed her lips.
She looked around at the staff mbers and the spectating patient family mbers of the twenty-seventh floor, realizing that not a single person dared to step forward.
But the old lady simply shook her head at her son's words. In imnse agony, she said,
"Mom is in pain, son..."
She pointed to her head, then pointed to her stomach.
"Mom hurts everywhere, hurting to death... The chemotherapy drugs feel like they're soaking into my bones, making
wish I could yank my own bones out...
"Take good care of the family, take care of my grandchild... Don't always go out running business errands. You can never earn all the money in the world, and you're ruining your health drinking yourself under the table...
"Let Mom go, alright? Consider it my final plea to you..."
Listening to his mother's trembling voice, tortured by illness and pain, the middle-aged man's face stread with tears. His kneeling posture collapsed into a grovel as he struck his forehead against the ground.
Yan Huan lowered his eyes, and even Bai Yi couldn't help but clutch the pocket watch in her hand tightly.
The family mbers from the hospice ward nearby were even worse off. Unable to bear watching, every single one covered their eyes and turned their faces away.
"Mom... jumping down will hurt too... Don't do it. Co back... I beg you... We'll go ho. We won't treat it anymore..."
The man kowtowed continuously on the ground, pleading for his mother to co back.
Seeing this, Yan Huan took a deep breath. Unable to watch any longer, he turned his head to look beside him.
But his eyes t only Jiang Xiong and Bai Yi, who shared the sa expression of sorrow.
That single glance instantly brought Yan Huan back to stark clarity.
'Where is An Le?'
"Uncle, Bai Yi, have you seen An Le?"
"An Le?"
Jiang Xiong and Bai Yi blanked montarily and turned their heads, only just realizing that An Le had disappeared to nowhere.
Yan Huan frantically scanned his surroundings but couldn't spot her anywhere.
However, the very next second, the crowd of twenty-odd people erupted into an uproar.
"Hey, hey, hey, auntie!"
"The old lady is having a dical episode! Oh no, she's going to fall! Hurry! Hurry up!"
"It's too late!!"
Just at that mont, an unexpected crisis occurred behind them.
The heavily ailing old lady's face suddenly turned ferocious. Her entire body stiffened, and she convulsed as she bent forward inch by inch.
It was cancer pain.
That pain, as if drilling directly into her soul, made the old lady's body go limp. She narrowed her eyes, and catching sight of the bottomless abyss below from the corner of her eye, she suddenly felt that it was her ultimate release.
She tilted her body slightly. Just as she was about to plumt...
"Hum~"
High above the clouds, the setting sun, on the verge of sinking below the horizon, abruptly pierced through the cloud cover, scattering the haze entirely.
The evening sun hovered over the horizon, making it impossible to tell whether it marked the end of all things or the gateway to heaven.
But the next second, as the warm pink light of dusk washed over the old lady's face like a tide...
All the suffering, all the tornt, seed to vanish like fading clouds and smoke, as if it belonged to a distant lifeti.
The old lady gazed blankly at the distant setting sun. Her agonized, rigid body gradually softened.
And when she could hold on no longer and collapsed forward, she did not fall into the bottomless abyss before her...
But rather, into sothing like the swaddling clothes of a mother's embrace, a tender sanctuary for wandering souls.
"Hum."
A gentle pair of hands slowly stroked her wrinkled cheeks, eventually drawing her face and the upper half of her body completely into an embrace.
Everyone's eyes widened in sheer disbelief as they watched the falling old lady be caught and embraced by the young girl who had appeared at the side with open arms.
Once the old lady had fully settled into her arms, the girl quietly sank to her knees, resting her cheek against the old lady's hairless crown.
That was...
An Le.
"It's alright now, Granny...
"It won't hurt anymore... It doesn't hurt anymore..."
The soft voice, like a lullaby, finally roused the old lady from the dreamlike illusion.
Cradled in the young girl's arms, the old lady—who was many tis her senior—resembled a child.
The Great Power of the high-dinsional modifier that had invaded the world erupted instantly, endlessly flowing into the old lady's body.
Thus, surpassing all dications and all objective limitations, it etched pure joy into the deepest depths of a soul that was on the verge of burning out.
It wasn't anesthesia, erasing all sensations alongside the pain.
It wasn't death, crudely drawing a simple period on everything life encompassed.
At this mont, even the old lady could no longer describe how she felt.
She only widened her eyes, staring at the sky do, and murmured,
"Living... this is what living feels like...
"It's so wonderful... being alive is so wonderful..."
The murmured words, the faint smile on her lips, and a solitary, murky tear gathering and rolling down from the corner of her dry eyes seed to say it all.
To the side, everyone held their breath as they watched that murky tear—a symbol of liberation and extre bliss—roll down her cheek.
That smile was rely a normal human reaction.
Yet, for so inexplicable reason, when the family mbers from the hospice ward saw it, they all fell to their knees, weeping uncontrollably. Bowing their heads toward An Le, they began to sob bitterly,
"Wuu... wuu-wuu..."
The rooftop terrace was utterly silent. Yan Huan stared unblinkingly at the young girl holding the old lady.
He saw her kneeling on the ground, her gaze lowered peacefully.
The halo of the setting sun enveloped her bowed head, the pink evening light seeping into her tranquil cheeks.
Her appearance was exactly the sa as always, yet at so point, it had taken on a shade that Yan Huan found profoundly unfamiliar.
It was as if, right up until this very mont, Yan Huan was truly seeing this young girl for the first ti.
Only now fully realizing...
That her na was An Le.
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