Yue Li's hand rested against Han Li's.
"Don't cry now, will you?"
"..."
"Everybody dies, Xiao Li," she said through deep breaths. "Everybody does."
"Mom..."
"Ah, there you go again, don't cry..."
He tightened his grip over her hand, and his tears fell.
"Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes," she held his hand as tight as she could. "Because for those who love with heart and soul, there is no such thing as separation."
Gritting his teeth gently, Han Li asked, "Who are you to teach me?"
She smiled. "I always told you to give me a baby. You would have had a piece of me with you if you did." Ruo was leaning against her from the side, and she, too, was sobbing. "At least, you are here... I am content."
"..."
"Xiao Li, sing me a poem. Tell me, would you miss me?"
"..."
To ask me if I miss her,
It would be like asking the stars if they missed the night,
Asking the sun if it missed its warmth,
Or asking the ocean if it missed the rivers that give it life.
"You know what I like to hear, huh..."
I would recognize you in total darkness.
Were you mute and I deaf,
I would recognize you in another lifetime entirely in different bodies, different times.
And I would love you in all of this,
Until the very last star burnt out to oblivion.
"Do you love her to death?"
Speak of her over my grave,
And watch how she brings me back to life.
"..."
Han Li breathed heavily.
Suddenly, Han Li frowned, and his eyes grew strangely red. It had always been black, but somehow, it flickered, and a profound sensation of awakeness spread throughout him. He looked to his side and found the sobbing Ruo.
Immediately, his heart began to beat a little faster.
This situation. This moment.
Right after my mother's death?!
His gaze moved toward the old man in front of him, and he frowned at the unclear face. Who was this person, I do not remember. But then he looked sideways, and his heart ached at the sight of Ruo's sobs.
An illusion?
Who is casting this on me?
Ruo muttered something incoherent and clung powerfully to him. An encroaching sense of horror began to appear in Han Li's heart. Suddenly, the old man's face became immensely clear.
The War General of the Wisdom Seeking Villa. A person Han Li himself murdered in wrath after Ruo died. A good man who had done no wrong to Han Li personally.
A fearful thought echoed at the back of Han Li's mind.
Was the past few years a dream?
Was going back to the past not real?
Then, a calm heart chuckled at the thoughts.
He unconsciously chuckled in reality. Stay with us at m.v.l.e.mpyr
Ruo looked at him worriedly. The sight of this Ruo, the one who had walked ups and downs with him, made Han Li freeze.
He took a deep breath.
This was not real. He knew this was not real.
But did there exist a real and fake?
As long as a human experienced everything one could experience in real life inside an illusion, was it not just as real?
He turned and looked straight at Ruo.
He hugged her.
"When I had you, I never saw how much you were important to me. When I lost our mom, I was too blinded by the grief, and only when you hung yourself did I understand how much you meant."
"...Big Brother."
"Ruo. Don't worry about mom."
"Big Brot—"
"Not Mom, not you. None of us are going to die." She looked at him with fearful eyes. He comfortably kissed the woman's forehead.
"I know you are but an illusion and that you would once again vanish when I wake up. But let me live a life with you without any regrets."
Taking her hand, he returned to the room with his mother. Face still growing slightly slack with sorrow, Han Li carried her with him and left the Wisdom Seeking Villa, left the bustling city surrounding it, and withdrew from everything.