“Time to eat!” After cleaning his hands, Wang Meng walked out to the courtyard and called out. Once Xu Lan regained consciousness, he completely renovated his Western-style house into a traditional Chinese one: there was a courtyard, a pagoda, and a pavilion in the middle of a lake. Everything that was needed was available, like a small-scale version of The Surging Waves Pavillion.

After getting into an argument with Xiao Feng, Wang Meng was placed in a tight spot. With nowhere else to go, he was forced to hide away in Xu Lan’s place. He frequently came to Xu Lan and cried his heart out. His actions infuriated Xiao Feng tremendously, but there was nothing that Xiao Feng could do about it.

Liang Yu fell gravely ill after bringing Xu Lan back from the dragon clan. He barely survived the ordeal and was nearly left for dead after falling sick. His every breath was wholly dependent on expensive medications, and being bed-ridden for nearly a year, his appearance had aged by about 20 years.

“Let’s go in and eat.”

Qin Lao was visiting Xu Lan that day, and since he had nothing to do, it was like killing two birds with one stone. Time passed quickly and it was already noon. Supported by his walking stick, Qin Lao stood up and patted Xu Lan’s shoulder lightly while beckoning him to go in.

Xu Lan wrapped his overcoat tightly and nodded. It was early autumn, but Xu Lan was already wearing a marten-fur coat. It was a birthday gift from Qin Lao some three years ago. Wang Meng dug it out and draped it over Xu Lan because it was windy during Xu Lan and Qin Lao’s game of chess in the courtyard.

“Qin Lao, is there really no way to recover him? I’ve been dreaming a lot recently. I dreamt that he was covered in blood and digging a passageway.” Xu Lan coughed out some blood on his hand.

Six years. It was six years since he was rescued by Liang Yu. He suddenly felt somewhat grateful that his old man had left a sizeable inheritance to him due to all the persecutions in the past. Xu Lan was able to simply resign himself to fate because of that.

“… Liang Yu called me a few days ago. He said that there was some progress. Soon, I believe.” Qin Lao sighed. Since he was already very old, he handed all his experiments to Liang Yu. Other than keeping Xu Lan company, there was nothing else that Qin Lao could do.

“Why are both of you still looking so distracted! Come and eat already!” Wang Meng lost his patience from all the waiting, so he went out once more and urged them.

Stifled emotions accompanied the meal. Like an old man, Xu Lan once again started his long-winded talk, saying that life was short and that one should never sulk at the expense of one’s true love. Naturally, Wang Meng was exasperated, so much so that he threw his bowl upstairs!

“Sigh, why don’t you ever listen to advice?” Xu Lan sighed and mumbled before placing down his chopsticks.

“Liang Yu said that he detected the existence of life.”

Ever since Xu Lan returned, not a word was mentioned of the events that happened in the dragon clan. However, a few isolated phrases from Liang Yu were able to provide a rough idea of how dire the situation was back then. Other than the area where Xu Lan was at, the entire dimension turned black, even to the point that oxygen was thin in the air. Bai Wu’s back was carbonized, but he used his wings to create a tight space that would protect Xu Lan at all costs.

“Back then I thought he was already… I never thought…” As Xu Lan spoke, his eyes glanced across the courtyard. He then gazed blankly at the dark sky above. There were no more tears to be shed.

The deterioration of cells was so rapid that even the pinnacle of Qiao Yi’s strength was unable to counter it. In the end, Ka Daiwen could not be saved. The entire dragon clan perished too, including Bai Wu. When Xu Lan pushed over Tang’s corpse, Bai Wu had been laying in the icy snow for God-knows-how-long. Xu Lan shouted until his throat was bleeding, and those tiny drops of blood became frozen from the cold.

He hugged Bai Wu and found a comfortable place to lay down. As soon as his body hit the floor, the bundle containing the stray bullet rolled out. Was there any meaning to Xu Lan’s life if Bai Wu was gone? The stray bullet exploded unexpectedly, and right after that, Bai Wu used the last of his strength to carry Xu Lan in a tight embrace and fly out of harm’s way. Liang Yu was certain that it was Bai Wu’s dragon might because Bai Wu’s remains were found nearby. Still, Xu Lan was unable to forgive himself.

“… Wait a while. Maybe we can send you there. At least his efforts wouldn’t be in vain.” Qin Lao supported himself on his walking stick and trembled as he got up. The doctor said that Xu Lan’s will to live was becoming weaker, but despite treatment, his medical condition only grew worse.

“.. Okay.” Xu Lan forced a smile so Qin Lao would not worry too much, but little did he know, the smile caused Qin Lao to feel even sadder instead.

Once Qin Lao left, Wang Meng was brought back home by an angry Xiao Feng. Xu Lan was left all alone in the spacious courtyard. Nightfall came quickly, and the darkness brought about a sense of unease.

Dreams involving Bai Wu were hard to come by, but they were oddly frequent as of late. It delighted Xu Lan and he was eager to sleep early. In the dreams, Xu Lan was able to see Bai Wu’s handsome mien as well as feel his hot chest and muscular arms. Xu Lan’s lips curled into a rare smile. He dreamt that Bai Wu was standing in the middle of a lush field of grass, beaming with a smile under the radiant sunlight and opening his arms out wide.

The scene then changed into one where Bai Wu was half-kneeling on top of the bed and calling Xu Lan to wake up. Sunlight shone through the window curtains, creating lines of light and shadow on Xu Lan’s face. Bai Wu could not resist giving a kiss. He ripped off the blanket and joined Xu Lan under the covers.

“Mm?” Xu Lan mumbled and turned to hug Bai Wu before sleeping back again.

“Time to wake up and eat.”

“Mm… Hug me.”

“… I guess you can eat me then.” Bai Wu giggled and bit Xu Lan’s ear.

In the midst of his deep sleep, a bright ray of light flashed unexpectedly in the vacuous night sky.