"So, shall I start?"

Without waiting for Yang Ze to reply, Lin Meilin's lips curled up in a slight smile as she began to narrate her story in a soft tone.

"Once…" She learned back slightly, comfortably resting on the chair before resting her face on her right hand.

"There was a small village at the end of the endless mountain."

"There was nothing special about it. There were no sects around it, no cultivators and not even demonic beasts. Everyone there was a mortal who lived and died quietly."

"The only thing that was special about it was that winter ruled that village. Half the year was snow, and the other half was spent waiting for snow to return."

"In that village, crops were scarce, and most of the people stayed quiet, knowing fully well that surviving was already a kind of victory."

"And in that village, lived two people who grew up together."

"They weren't anything special… Just two mortals amongst the sea of mortals with no fortune or great ambitions."

Speaking till here, Lin Meilin paused for a moment as she let out a soft breath, directly hitting Yang Ze's face, as if trying to wake him up.

After seeing no reaction from him, she then merely let out a silent sigh before continuing her story.

"One of them loved the stillness of winter. She loved how the world became smaller under the snow, and sound died there. She loved how the ever-present snow would quietly swallow their footsteps, erasing any existence of their presence there. In that place, even grief was silent, as if the land itself was telling people not to cling too tightly to what had already passed."

"The second person, however, hated winter. He hated how cold crept into the bones and reminded him about how fragile a human body truly was."

"And so he trained… He didn't have any techniques or a mentor. The only thing he had was stubbornness. He would often lift the stones till his hand bled and practised with a broken spear made out of animal bones because it was all he could afford."

Lin Meilin's voice turned incomparably soft as she narrated further.

"When the girl asked him why he was training so hard, the boy gave a rather strange reply."

"He said he wanted to protect her…"

"Heh." Lin Meilin couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.

"Can you imagine that?"

"A man trying to protect a woman… what a weird thing to say."

"The girl, however, didn't laugh or mock him. On the contrary, she merely used to smile at him whenever he practised. She would even find ways to make him laugh."

"And so… two people who loved each other more than their lives began to spend their days leisurely."

"Even though their lives weren't comfortable and even difficult, they had no complaints. As long as the two of them had each other… they had everything."

"And thus, the two of them spend a long time like that."

"They grew older. They argued. They laughed. They even spoke about leaving the frozen plains one day, even though neither of them believed in that."

"But this didn't stop them from dreaming further… hoping for a future where the two of them could live in happiness."

"And then one day…" Lin Meilin paused. "Everything changed."

Speaking till here, Yang Ze could hear the tremor in Lin Meilin's voice as if she was experiencing it personally.

"One winter, something descended from the mountains."

"No one knew what it was. Some say it was a demonic beast, some say it was bandits, and some even argued that it was something far worse."

"But the details didn't truly matter."

"What mattered was the fact that the village was too small… too weak, to survive it."

"And so, the villagers panicked. Some ran, some just froze in fear, and some even kneeled on the ground, hoping for mercy."

"Out of all those villagers, only a single person stepped forward."

"A rather frail boy with a bone spear in his hands."

Lin Meilin's voice carried a faint hint of a chuckle as she spoke those words as if she herself was laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

"Do you know what he shouted at that time?" Lin Meilin asked with a gentle smile as she poked Yang Ze's nose once again.

"He shouted that he was going to save the girl he loved."

"He shouted for her to close her eyes."

Lin Meilin paused, letting the silence engulf the room for a while.

"But she didn't."

"She watched as the boy pointed the spear in front of him clumsily, with his hands shaking in fright and a face that was twisted with fear. She watched him hesitate… she watched him take a step forward to face against the danger and then…"

"Then she watched him die."

Speaking till here, Lin Meilin went silent for a long time, letting Yang Ze immerse himself in the story. It wasn't until a few more minutes passed that she spoke further.

"No one knows what happened after that, but the village barely managed to survive."

"After that, the villagers began to bury the bodies of the dead once the snow softened enough to dig. And when it was time to bury the boy… the girl refused to let anyone else do it."

"She dug the grave herself."

"She didn't place a stone marker, but instead chose to plant a sapling."

"And her reasoning…"

"Heh." Lin Meilin lifted her head while taking a sharp, deep breath as she muttered softly.

"She said that graves were too final. Trees, at least, pretended at continuation."

"She didn't shed a tear. She didn't cry out."

"Instead, she would return to the tree every day. She knew just how much the boy hated the snow, so in winter, she would always brush the snow away from the sapling's roots. In spring, she cleared the weeds, and in summer, she brought water when the land cracked from heat."

"Every day, she would speak to the sapling, as if she were talking with the boy."

"She told it all about the fact that he lied when he said he wasn't afraid. About how his hands always shook before a fight. About how foolish it was that someone so scared still chose to step forward."

"And so… Years passed."

Lin Meilin's voice once again stopped, leaving behind the sound of only Yang Ze's and her breathing.

"People left the village. Some died… some forgot…"

"But the tree…"

"The tree grew."

"And one day, a scholar passed through. She saw the girl sitting by the tree, constantly chattering to it and asked her why she still came back to a place that held nothing but memories."

"She told her that the dead were already gone."

"She told her that clinging to the past only chains the living."

"But the girl… Heh… She quietly listened. Not talking back, not stopping her or even refuting her."

"She just sat there in silence with a gentle smile on her face.

"And then…"

"Then she asked her a question."

"'If no one remembers why he stood there,' she said, 'then what was the difference between his death and an accident?'"

"The scholar had no answer."

"The girl, however, didn't just stop there but told her something else too."

"'As long as I live,' she said, 'there is proof that he existed. Proof that fear did not stop him. Proof that love made someone step forward.'"

"'If I die', she continued, 'then he dies again. Not in just body, but in meaning.'"

Lin Meilin's voice lowered, turning into almost a whisper as she continued speaking.

"And so she lived."

"She wasn't happy, and her life wasn't easy. She lived while carrying bitterness. She lived while hating herself for being powerless. Even breathing felt like a punishment."

"Even when she didn't wish to live, she had to…"

"Years later, the land was engulfed in war…"

"And with the war, the village burned, and so did the tree. And the frozen plain once again swallowed everything."

"Nothing survived… not the village, not the villagers, not the grave, not the tree and neither the girl."

"And yet…"

"The only thing that survived was the story…"

"Because she told it."

Speaking till here, Lin Meilin couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle as she poked Yang Ze's nose once again.

"She told it to the travellers… she told it to the children… she told it to the scholars… she even told it to the strangers who didn't care."

"And every time she told it, the person who died standing in front of her, trying to protect her, lived again."

Lin Meilin took in a deep breath as her hand slowly travelled from Yang Ze's nose to his hair, as she ruffled them gently, almost like an elder trying to coax the children.

"People don't truly die when their hearts stop."

"They die when there is no one left to remember why they lived."

She leaned slightly towards Yang Ze, this time her face almost a hair's width away from his as her orchid breath hit him on the face while she gently tapped his nose once again.

"If you seek death now," She whispered quietly, "you are not following the one you loved."

"Instead, you are abandoning her."

"You are telling the world that her death was so insignificant and light that it couldn't survive memory."

"Right now, you think dying will reunite you with her, don't you?"

Yang Ze's fists clenched in response, but he didn't reply. Though from his expression, Lin Meilin already had her answer.

"But tell me this…" Lin Meilin's voice turned a bit cold as she flicked his nose in annoyance. "If no one remains to speak her name… if no one remains to talk about the things she did and what she stood for… if no one remembers her…"

"Who will she be when you meet her?"

"A beloved…" Lin Meilin's voice was raised a bit as she continued speaking, "Or a shadow that faded because no one stayed behind to remember?"

Lin Meilin leaned back again, this time, a cold breath escaping her lips while her eyes were still stuck on the boy in front of her.

"If you still want to die, I won't stop you."

"And if you truly want death, I will give it to you."

This time, Lin Meilin's voice was missing her usual warmth and playfulness. Instead, the entire room felt like it was being frozen by her chilling words.

"But understand this…"

Her voice turned a bit hoarse as she said further.

"If you die today, she dies with you."

"And this time," Lin Meilin murmured softly, "this time, there will be no one left to tell her story."

After taking one last look at Yang Ze's face, she poked his nose one last time before standing up and walking out of the room, leaving behind the figure of Yang Ze sitting there in silence.

Yang Ze, who initially wanted to die, quietly listened to her words without interrupting her once. When she was finally done with the story and left the room, raised his head to look in the direction of the footsteps.

He could still remember every word of the story, and even though he was blind, he felt like he could see the entire thing played out in front of him.

"Heh." This was the first time he let out a sound, and it was the sound filled with self-mockery.

Just as Lin Meilin told him… If he died as well, Cang Yue too will fade from existence.

As a veteran reader of novels in his past life, he had extensive imagination. Since this was a cultivation world, resurrecting someone must be possible.

After all, he had seen it once already. Although he didn't know how Lin Wan came back to life, the moment he saw her in that weird illusion, he automatically understood that she was alive.

His initial thought was that his supreme dao body had the function of resurrecting the women he slept with, but with Cang Yue gone, he wasn't so sure about it anymore.

In the end, Yang Ze clenched his fist before raising his head while taking a deep breath.

With the help of his cheat, it was only a matter of time till he reached the top of this world.

At that moment, he was going to revive Cang Yue. Even if it costs him his life.

With every passing moment, Yang Ze's breathing hastened as he kept on nodding to himself as if wanting to reassure himself that he could definitely do it.

Then, he slowly raised his left hand in the air as a small pocket clock appeared in it.

Without any hesitation, Yang Ze took a deep breath and then…

He pressed the button.

In the next moment, the entire room seemed to be frozen in time. From the flowing dust, to the falling leaves and even Yang Ze's breathing… everything paused.

*Tick… tick… tick…

The only sound that was left in the room was the sound of the clock that got faster and louder with every passing moment, and with it, Yang Ze's body floated in the air as a river appeared beneath him.

Yang Ze didn't know what was going on. Due to the loss of his eyes, he couldn't see, but he could definitely feel that there was something standing in front of him, calling out to it, and the moment Yang Ze focused on it, it seemed to merge in his body and then… He found himself sitting on the bed once again.

Only this time, he wasn't missing a hand or eyes…

Looking at the luxurious room around him, Yang Ze took in a deep breath as he muttered softly.

"Just wait for me…"

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