309: Chapter 309 Love Has Become a Funeral

The fifth was Su Wanyue.

She put on the old school uniform she often wore in high school and tied her hair in a simple ponytail.

She took Su Chen's hand and returned to the high school they once attended.

The library of Jianghai City No. 1 High School was perhaps one of the best-preserved buildings in the city during the catastrophe.

Perhaps because of its remote location, or perhaps because the structure was sturdy.

Or perhaps, it was just some coincidence of fate.

Although the glass curtain wall had cracks, it had not collapsed.

The bookshelves were toppled and crooked, books were scattered all over the floor, covered in thick dust, but the structure remained intact.

Su Wanyue pressed Su Chen into the seat by the window.

That was the seat Su Chen loved to sit in when he used to explain problems to her.

"Brother?"

Su Chen tilted his head, but there was no reaction.

Su Wanyue didn't mind and continued to put on a carefree act.

"Got it, got it, big brother. Memorize one hundred words in an hour, then a pop quiz later, right?"

She smiled slightly and made a gesture for silence.

"Right, brother."

"At this point, you'd say, 'Shh, shh, shh, keep it down, don't disturb the other students studying.'"

"I know it all, I know it all."

Su Wanyue patted Su Chen's outstretched hand with great bravado.

It was as if the two of them had truly returned to those days.

No Transcendent Heroic Spirit, no illness, and not even any other worries to consider.

She only needed to wait ten minutes outside Su Chen's classroom every day before the end of evening self-study.

That big brother who belonged solely to her, the best in the world.

Would hold her hand without any hesitation and take her home.

The afternoon sun slanted slightly westward, casting mottled light across the nanmu table in the library.

At this time, it was usually when Su Wanyue was most sleepy.

She leaned against the desk, half-slumped, holding a copy of '4500 Essential High School English Vocabulary'.

"a, a, a"

"abandon, abandon, abandon..."

This word was a star word in the high school English dictionary,

Because it was on the second page of the book, and its actual meaning was 'give up'.

It was always teased by classmates.

Starting to study with full confidence at first.

But as soon as they encountered this word, they would start to feel like giving up.

Su Wanyue recited the word 'abandon' a few times, then raised her head.

Su Chen still held his hands in a loose embrace, not even blinking.

The handwriting on the workbook was gradually blurred by the tears dripping from Su Wanyue.

...

Finally, it was Teacher Wang Jin.

She brought Su Chen back to the small but cozy rented room she had in Jianghai City.

Back to that bed where, on the day Su Chen played the hero to save the damsel, they had held hands and laid awake all night.

Teacher Wang Jin didn't say much.

She held his hand, guided him to the bedside, and let him sit down.

Then, like the most ordinary wife, she busied herself in the kitchen for a long time and brought out a steaming bowl of noodles topped with two poached eggs.

She sat beside him, very close, their shoulders touching.

"A-Chen, have a bite."

"You haven't eaten in a long time. This is your favorite."

Teacher Wang Jin held the bowl, carefully blew on it to cool it down, and held it to Su Chen's lips.

Su Chen's lips moved slightly.

Teacher Wang Jin felt a surge of joy.

But the noodles slipped down the corner of his mouth as it opened unconsciously, falling onto his clothes.

He had even forgotten the instinct to swallow.

Teacher Wang Jin put down the bowl and hugged Su Chen tightly, crying and laughing at the same time.

"That night... I drank too much."

"At that time, it was the first time I found a sense of peace in you."

"You, Teacher Wang Jin, a dignified woman in her thirties, holding you and crying like a child."

"Saying sorry, saying I dragged you into this, saying I was so tired..."

"I have never cried like that once."

"It's awful, really. I can't remember any of the words you used to comfort me that day."

Teacher Wang Jin paused, reached out, and carefully touched the tips of Su Chen's newly grown white hair.

"Later... you fell asleep."

"I just sat here, watching you, for the whole night."

"When dawn was about to break, you were groggy, grabbed my hand, called out 'Sister Wang Jin'... and then fell asleep again."

"At that moment, I was thinking."

"I, Teacher Wang Jin, finally have a younger brother."

"Finally have someone... worthy of giving my whole heart to."

The corners of her mouth curled up, looking like a bitter smile, and also like self-mockery.

"I know, you have them in your heart, many people, many things."

"Your sister... doesn't have much ability, isn't as capable as them, and can't help you that much."

"I only know how to use a blade, only how to stand in front of you."

She looked up at Su Chen.

"But little brother A-Chen, after that night, I had already made up my mind."

"In this lifetime, no matter who you are with, no matter who you have in your heart, no matter what you become."

"As long as I am alive, as long as I can still hold a blade, I will stand in front of you."

"If I can block one strike, that's one strike; if I can protect you for a moment, that's a moment."

She reached out, gently wrapped her arms around Su Chen's stiff body, and rested her face on his shoulder.

This posture was a bit awkward.

Because Su Chen had no response, his body stiff.

But she just leaned there, closing her eyes.

...

But even though all six women tried, without exception.

Yet.

All measures, all attempts to trigger memories, had no effect on Su Chen.

His soul seemed to be completely welded into a tomb named 'Su Daji', refusing to receive any signals from the outside world.

In the blink of an eye, half a year passed quietly in this day-after-day despair and attempts.

The outside world had already been turned upside down.

The situation of fighting against the Otherworldly Demons, which had initially improved somewhat.

Suddenly took a turn for the worse.

Natural disasters and rifts for Otherworldly Demons in the inland became frequent again.

This forced the Great Xia authorities and the Hall of Valor to withdraw a large number of warriors from the East Sea defense line to support the inland.

In this way, the East Sea defense line, which was already not optimistic, became even weaker.

Although people from the White Snake Cult also joined the allied forces.

But for some reason.

The two strongest leaders of the White Snake Cult, 'Qing' and 'Bai', never appeared in public again.

The flames of war from the Otherworldly Demons burned through every corner of Great Xia.

And in this quiet secret room of the Huayu Association, time seemed to be frozen forever.

In the half-year, Su Chen remained in that dazed and foolish state.

He barely ate, relying entirely on the spiritual energy within his body to maintain his vital signs.

His figure was terrifyingly thin, like a skeleton draped in human skin.

Although Su Chen could barely maintain his original handsome appearance.

But the hair on his back, having not been trimmed for half a year, was now almost reaching his waist.

And what was most shocking.

Those newly grown hairs were no longer the black that symbolized vitality.

But from the roots to the tips.

Every strand was snow-white.

That was the white of love having become a funeral.