Three months later.
The textile factory compound.
"Jianguo, out buying groceries again? You're so busy working at the factory every day, and you still have to look after the children's meals. You're still lacking that person by your side, aren't you?"
Su Jianguo was carrying a vegetable basket back when he immediately encountered someone in the courtyard initiating small talk.
He understood what the other person meant, but he had long since abandoned that thought.
"Jianguo, I have a distant female cousin about your age. Her husband died in an accident a few years ago. She is exceptionally virtuous. If you feel..."
"Sister Wang, thank you for your kindness. But I don't have those intentions."
Su Jianguo interrupted her directly, without even waiting for her to finish.
Seeing how resistant he was, Sister Wang found it difficult to continue.
When Su Jianguo returned home, Su Qiang was sitting in the courtyard doing homework. Seeing him return, he immediately stood up to take the vegetable basket.
"Dad, go check on Sister. I feel like she seems a bit different today than she did yesterday."
Upon hearing this, Su Jianguo's expression changed instantly, and he ran straight into Su Yan's room.
On the bed, Su Yan still had her eyes tightly shut, motionless.
"Yan Yan?"
Su Jianguo called her name softly.
Su Yan had been sent back by Zhou Li and the others three months ago. After seeing every doctor, the conclusion was always the same: she was in a state of weakness and coma caused by excessive exhaustion. Logically, she should have woken up after resting for a while, but she had been in a coma for three whole months.
The doctors had no way of determining when she would wake up.
Since the hospital couldn't help, Su Jianguo had brought Su Yan back home, taking meticulous care of her every day.
Although he didn't know exactly what had happened to Su Yan, seeing his daughter like this caused him a suffocating heartache.
Over these past few months, as time passed, his emotions had finally begun to slowly improve.
After calling her several times, Su Yan still showed no reaction.
At this moment, Su Qiang also walked in.
Su Jianguo immediately asked, "Xiao Qiang, what do you mean Sister is different?"
Su Qiang wanted to say that he saw Su Yan's finger twitch today, but he was worried he had misseen it and would give his father false hope.
"I just feel like Sister's complexion is getting better and better."
He was young and didn't quite understand what "complexion" meant, but he had heard the people in the compound mention it frequently.
Su Jianguo looked at Su Yan's face again. If he didn't know she was in a coma, she truly did look as if she were merely sleeping.
"Sigh."
What he looked forward to most now was for Su Yan to wake up.
"Let's go out."
In a daze, he called Su Qiang to leave Su Yan's room together.
The moment Su Jianguo turned around, Su Yan's finger moved gently once more.
"Yan Yan? Yan Yan? Wake up, please, wake up!"
In the darkness, Su Yan seemed to hear someone incessantly calling her name.
But she had tried her best; no matter how hard she struggled, she could not open her eyes.
Until a flicker of light appeared, and a figure slowly emerged before her eyes.
She finally saw clearly who it was.
"Big Brother Gu..."
Gu Yang was so close to her that if she were willing to lift her hand, she could touch his face.
But she didn't dare, fearing the phantom would shatter.
"Yan Yan, you shouldn't stay here. There are still many people outside waiting for you to wake up." Gu Yang was still that gentle, his gaze filled with far too many emotions.
"No. Big Brother Gu, Teacher, Monkey, Big Brother Ma, Lanlan... you all left me behind. Why am I the only one, the only one still alive..."
Those painful memories seemed to take physical form.
If she could, she truly wished that the person who died was her, while they all lived on safely.
"Yan Yan, you are the person we love most. Even if we are not by your side, we all hope you can live out the rest of your life in peace. Yan Yan, you shouldn't be such a weak person..."
"I don't care! I don't want to leave you all, I don't!"
Su Yan cried like a child. She wanted to embrace Gu Yang, but her outstretched arms passed right through his body.
At this moment, she truly felt the chasm between life and death.
"Big Brother Gu, don't leave me, okay? I beg you, don't leave me..."
She had never made such a humble plea before.
But Gu Yang could only look at her with heartache and helplessness. "Yan Yan, promise me, you must live well. I also promise you, one day we will meet again."
How he wished time could stop at this moment, but he knew it was impossible.
"Yan Yan, promise me!"
Looking at the gradually becoming transparent Gu Yang, Su Yan screamed with all her might, "Big Brother Gu..."
"Yan Yan, promise me, live on! Live on!"
Gu Yang repeated it over and over until he completely dissipated.
A single tear slid down from the corner of Su Yan's tightly closed eye.
In the dead of night.
Su Jianguo was suddenly startled awake from a dream. Even though it was deathly silent both inside and outside the room, he immediately sensed something was wrong.
He hurriedly threw on a coat, cautiously got out of bed, pushed open the door, and walked out.
When he saw Su Yan standing in the courtyard, he was utterly stunned, even wondering if he was dreaming!
"Yan Yan?"
Even his voice was trembling violently.
Su Yan slowly turned to look at him, her face covered in tear stains.
"Dad, I'm sorry. I made you worry."
As her raspy voice rang out, Su Jianguo's eyes also welled with tears as he strode toward her.
"Yan Yan, you've suffered so much."
He pulled Su Yan tightly into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Su Yan felt the warmth and stability from her father; only this could slightly soothe the tearing pain in her chest.
Su Yan had woken up, but many others would sleep eternally.
In the period that followed, Su Jianguo often saw Su Yan sitting alone in the room, staring blankly and then weeping incessantly.
He didn't know exactly what had happened to her, but Su Yan's sadness, grief, and pain were something no one could replace.
Later on, Su Yan began to avoid Gu Qingfeng and Song Sining.
She had no way to face the two elders and tell them that their son was dead, and that even his remains were gone.
Zhou Li had come to visit her once. At this time, they were no longer as innocent or youthful as before; both of their faces bore the same traces of hardship.
Although Zhou Xiongfeng had survived that battle, he had reached the point of being near death. Zhou Li forced himself to grow up quickly so he could shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the entire Zhou family.
Regardless of what changes had occurred in their hearts, the world was at peace.
They no longer needed to worry about broken formations or rampaging demons.
For this peace, they had paid too much in blood and sacrifice.
Su Yan could finally live a stable and ordinary life like a normal person, working at sunrise and resting at sunset.
This was once the life she yearned for most, but only now did she realize that without her lover and having lost her friends, all happiness would vanish along with them.
But she no longer had the strength to change anything. Every day she lived like a walking corpse, only hoping that one day, time would soothe all her sorrows.
(End of Chapter)