"Kallen, don't give up, keep moving forward. I'm right here with you."
Hearing this, Karin frowned slightly, as if her eyes were temporarily sore.
After a long while, she nodded gently.
[You can feel that Kallen seems to have noticed something. ]
[You are helpless about this. ]
[Your physical condition is clear. Even if you use the most sophisticated deception in the world, you won’t be able to hide it.]
[You suddenly feel very glad that you decided to accompany Kallen to Taixu Mountain.]
[Because Otto is too smart, he will definitely find your problem. ]
[You don't want to tell Otto and Kallen about your physical condition. ]
[On the one hand, you don’t want them to see your embarrassment directly, which would make you feel more incompetent.]
[On the other hand, if you let them know that you no longer have the determination to sacrifice yourself to pave the way for them.]
【This is what you don’t want to see. 】
[Your disappearance is an inevitable result. If you could choose, you would definitely hope that Otto and Kallen could be happier in the future.]
[Now, Kallen can see your physical condition in advance. ]
[This directly disrupts all your assumptions, but it doesn’t seem to be a bad thing. ]
[It's too cruel to ask them to accept your departure suddenly. ]
[Just like that, you sealed the purple box containing erosion tightly with a heavy heart.]
[In addition, you also carved a stone tombstone for the Red Kite Immortal and built a fake grave.]
[The voice and smile are still there. 】
[When she wakes up again, you should be gone. I hope she can see the "surprise" left by you, a person who has died.]
[After everything is over, you are mentally prepared and wait for Kallen's questions or emotional release. ]
【However......】
[You haven't waited for anything. Karen doesn't seem to be planning to point out your affairs here.]
[And just when you were relieved, Kallen said something you didn't expect. ]
Under the setting sun, Taixu Mountain was in a mess.
The girl held the man's broad shoulders, and looked up with her blue eyes, as clear as the sky after the rain, meeting the eyes of the night that were looking down.
Karen took in Lu Mian's surprise and said in a clear voice:
"Let's not go back to Europe..."
“Go on.” Seeing that Karen was still hesitant, Lu Mian encouraged her.
"I think China is good everywhere. Why don't we just stay here and live any life and do anything?"
As the last trembling note fell, Kallen's eyes were filled with pleading.
Compared to Kallen's excitement at this moment, Lu Mian was extremely calm.
It’s not that he is not afraid of death, he is very afraid. When the simulation was just started more than ten years ago, he actually spent every day in anxiety.
Will he die? I think he will.
Are you scared? Yes, be scared.
That was a past so gloomy that no one wants to think about it again.
But right after that, he unexpectedly received a candy, a snow globe.
How should I put it? From that time on, his life could be divided into two parts.
He found "something" that was more precious than life and needed to be cherished.
Lu Mian pulled Karen into his arms, stroked her soft white hair soothingly, and said softly:
"If we don't go back to Europe, what will happen to Otto? I really can't bear to leave him alone."
"Otto," Karen's voice was muffled, as if it was surrounded by a layer of gray fog. "We all took it for granted. At least, I took it for granted."
Lu Mian disagreed with Karen's statement. "I was not reliable when I was young, and I did a lot of bastard things. Do you want to know why I am so reliable in front of Otto and you?"
Hearing the voice, the girl slowly raised her head.
What caught my eye was the man's extremely proud smile, which blocked out the light from the sky.
"Because I have to make you feel at ease. If I can only make you live in fear, then I must be very, very incompetent.
"In fact, I've always been surprised that I can do this. Not bad?"
[Karen silently watched your smile. ]
[Karen Kaslana silently watches your smile.]
[After all, she still didn't have the heart to let you choose between her and Otto.]
【At the same time, she vowed that she had to do something. 】
【...】
[Many years later, when the saint holding the red flag put all her ideals into reality, she would still think of this distant afternoon.]
[Although immature, although very careless. ]
[But this is still her first step in the true sense. ]
[Similarly, this is the last step she takes under your gaze.]
[On every night when she doesn’t dream of you, she always wants to tell you everything she has done. ]
[But when she really dreams about you, she forgets everything and can't say anything. ]
Chapter 25 She Can't
The remaining summer heat has faded, the rain has fallen suddenly, and a leaf of the phoenix tree is startled;
Cattails and willows sway, the autumn wind blows, and the cicadas chirp in response.
The sunflowers are half-opened, the cold dew blooms, and the red water lilies are all over the sandbanks;
It was getting late on the grass path, I looked up and saw wild geese flying in a line.
Lu Mian and Karin embarked on the journey of “going home” together.
Walking the same path again, their identities had been swapped.
Lu Mian became the one being taken care of.
The weather at this time is not too cold, just a cool breeze that makes people feel refreshed.
Karin was afraid that he would get cold, so she insisted on buying him some more clothes.
The mountain road is rugged but not steep, allowing people to walk through it with confidence.
Kallen was afraid that he would get tired, so she always took him to rest.
In the morning, Kallen cooked porridge for him; in the middle of the night, Kallen lit a lamp for him...
Insisting on doing something you have never done before is just like a toddler who is extremely stubborn and wants to walk the right path in front of his parents.
Stumble forward, get up when you fall, and keep moving forward.
[You are like an old man who is about to die and has to count every breath he takes, and you are being taken care of by Kallen meticulously.]
【That’s not wrong. 】
[After all, according to the life span standard of "Void Ten Thousand Treasures", you are now like an ancient artifact that has not yet been unearthed, and you are only one step away from being turned into a handful of dust by the sun. ]
[You know you are old, you know you are useless, you know you can no longer take good care of Otto and Kallen.]
[You don't want this to happen, but you can't help it. ]
[Karen's act of "caring" for you is like a magnifying glass facing the midday sun. ]
[It both magnifies your embarrassment and burns your powerlessness. ]
[Will you be angry about this? ]
[Would you blame Yu Kallen for this? ]
[No, none of them.]
【Your emotions about this are long and complicated.】
[Thinking back on your long life and vague memories, when was the last time someone of the opposite sex took care of you like this? ]
【This question will never have an answer.】
【because......】
[Karen's figure has already covered up everything that has never been important and has left no trace. ]
[You love Otto and Kallen. ]
[It is difficult to give, but for them, you would do it thousands of times. ]
【Why on earth can you do this? 】
[Does he simply want to watch Otto and Kallen grow up? Or is it because he himself has been caught in the rain, so he wants to hold an umbrella for others? ]
【Not all of them. 】
【From the beginning to the end, you are the one who is loved first. 】
[Think about your first encounter with Otto. You just said a few insignificant words to the child.]
[Think about your initial interactions with Kallen. You didn't even have the interest to look at this little girl.]
【And what did they do? 】
【They gave you the courage to face two bleak worlds. 】
【Love and be loved, love and be loved. 】
-----------------
The journey home for Lu Mian and Karen was a long one.
During this time, there were still pursuers sent by Tianming to block the way. This time, Kallen did not let Lu Mian take action, but used Judas to kill these pursuers one by one herself.
She stepped over piles of corpses, her eyes unwavering - it was as if she had become a completely different person.
[After accidentally discovering your physical condition, Kallen has realized it, which also makes her full of determination. ]
This seems like a very good thing, but not that good.
[After all, this also means that she will infinitely increase the priority of her thoughts and actions. ]
[You are so familiar with the feeling of going all the way to a goal. ]
[It's like looking in a mirror.]
【Right. 】
[After all, you raised Karin, so how could she not look like you? ]
【With books, it is long; without books, it is short. 】
[Karen tore open the golden locks that bound you and took you back to Europe.]
[During this time, she has repeatedly begged you not to interfere with her choice.]
[You can roughly guess what she is thinking, but you don’t say much, just answer directly. ]
[You will die anyway.]
[You have to do what you should do no matter what.]
[But you will not stop Karen from doing something for you. This is her own right and you have no right to interfere.]
[So let her make her own choice and hand you the final answer sheet on the word "growth". ]
