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The pink figure ahead stiffened slightly. He heard the sound of the wind blowing the remaining snow off the branches; snowflakes drifted gently down, sprinkling on the ground like a ray of sunlight falling into water.

Whether the world changes or the sea dries up and the rocks crumble, I only hope that you can be by my side, half-asleep and half-awake, acting all cute and playful.

Xu Lie straightened up, filled with such anticipation, and breathed heavily as he uttered the complete words: "Galan, I have finally found you."

His almost pleading mood, coupled with the scars accumulated over time, caused him to feel a surge of sorrow in his eyes during this moment of ecstasy.

Why do we always say that relationships begin and end, and that gatherings and separations are fleeting? It turns out that we truly knew from the very beginning that there would always be an end.

The bonus volume, "Where Are We Going, Across Mountains and Rivers?", is now complete (paper version).

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Chapter Thirteen: Looking Back

Chapter Thirteen: Looking Back

The tall man was the first to turn around. He looked at Xu Lie with a puzzled expression and asked, "Lanlan, do you know this person?"

Xu Lie's gaze was fixed on the pink figure. All his attention was on her, so even though she spoke softly, Xu Lie still heard her. Without turning around, she said, "I guess so."

Xu Lie felt as if his heart had been struck hard. The indifferent tone, tinged with bitter helplessness, was as if the voice was talking about a complete stranger, someone he had only met by chance, which instantly emptied all his thoughts.

"Are you... Mr. Xu?" the elderly woman asked hesitantly.

Xu Lie heard her words, but he couldn't answer, nor could he even look away.

"Xu Lie?" The tall man, Lin Jiaqi, the elder brother of Jialan, finally turned from confusion into raging anger. His voice sounded like it could tear his name apart, "Xu... Lie?"

Xu Lie had actually heard his words, and he wanted to reply, even just nod, but at that moment he was powerless to do anything. He walked step by step toward the woman who had always kept her back turned. She stood quietly, without moving or speaking, the wind gently blowing her slightly curled hair. After the owner of this figure uttered the word "I suppose so" in the voice he had longed for day and night, she made no further sound.

Xu Lie couldn't be sure if it was all real, if it was just his imagination, or another dream that would only leave him feeling more empty after waking up in the middle of the night. He desperately wanted to hug her, desperately wanted to confirm if she was really there in front of him.

Thus, his body broke free from his will, his instincts transcended his reason, and Xu Lie completely forgot everything around him, walking step by step toward the slightly slender woman in the breeze.

"Bang—" Something struck his face hard, the pain blinding him. A roar assaulted his eardrums, conveying the speaker's deep-seated rage and hatred.

Xu Lie wasn't unwilling to resist or to face reality; he simply couldn't do anything but watch that figure from behind and walk towards her step by step.

The punches that landed on his face were heavy, but the sound of Xu Lie's footsteps struck deeper into his heart even more powerfully. So, slowly, the sound of the punches weakened, and he could no longer bring himself to throw them.

There seemed to be someone talking nearby, but Xu Lie only heard one sentence: "...Go back..."

Then, he saw the woman who had only appeared in his dreams for the past six months, leaning on something, walking away from him step by step.

He was suddenly jolted awake by intense fear as he stumbled forward. She was leaving…she was leaving him again…it would all be just a dream again. How could he bear it? How could he possibly bear it now?

"Galan—!" Before he even realized what he was doing, he had rushed forward and hugged her tightly from behind.

Only when that slender body pressed tightly against his chest did Xu Lie slowly return to reality from his dream of fearing loss. He knew he shouldn't be so impulsive, that he wasn't worthy to hold her in his arms, but he couldn't control himself, couldn't control his body and mind.

He whispered hoarsely in her ear again and again, "Galan...Galan...I'm sorry..."

Until that familiar yet strange voice calmly interrupted him. Xu Lie, who so longed to hear her voice yet was deeply terrified by the coldness in her tone, finally heard the first words Galan spoke to him after their reunion.

She said, "Let go. I don't have the ability to fly or disappear again."

Faced with such indifference and nonchalance, even with all his lingering affection and desires, Xu Lie had no choice but to let go little by little.

"Brother, let's go inside." His calm tone revealed not a trace of emotion.

"Galan!" Xu Lie suddenly called out to her, not knowing why he called out, or why he said the following words. Was it simply out of fear that she would leave, or something else? Xu Lie himself couldn't tell.

He said, "Galan, I did not sign the divorce papers."

As the last word fell, he felt a chill rush into his mouth and nose, which jolted him awake.

At the same time, Garan's voice rang out: "And then?"

That voice, tinged with a hint of mockery and a cold laugh, yet calm to the point of being ruthless, repeated the question: "And then?"

She never looked back at him once, and she never said a word to him. Holding onto this despair, Xu Lie knew that even if he spoke, there would be no chance, yet he couldn't bear to give up what might be his only hope.

“Come back with me.” His voice was hoarse, like a saw cutting through his throat. “Give me one more chance… I will never let you get hurt again.”

Garan slowly turned around...

Xu Lie stood stiffly in the snow, his hands and feet growing colder with each passing moment, but not as cold as his heart. Just moments ago, in those few minutes, what had he seen and heard?

Garan's lifeless, dull eyes, the pained furrow in his brow as he tripped on the stairs, and the profound sorrow on his face when he spoke of his children.

When Galan tripped over the steps clearly visible in the moonlight behind him, Xu Lie finally saw Galan's eyes clearly and discovered what had always made him feel uneasy and afraid.

“Galan…” Xu Lie called her in an almost fearful voice, “Galan, your…eyes…”

“Blind.” Galan answered him in a calm, even indifferent voice.

Xu Lie strained to open his mouth and eyes, feeling as if many things were a dream. One morning, he and his beloved wife had a fight, and she went back to her parents' home. He just wanted to find her and bring her back. That was all! Wasn't that all? But, blind…blind…what did that mean?

The pain, fear, and regret in his heart transformed from bubbles into a tidal wave, surging and engulfing him.

“…Child…” When Xu Lie heard himself make that sound, he almost thought it wasn’t his own voice.

“It’s gone…” Galan’s voice finally became a little hoarse, or rather, choked with sobs. “When you said, ‘Even if she’s pregnant, I’ll still worry about whether it’s my child,’ it was lost!”

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Chapter Fourteen Once