TMWTGD CH89

Had His Majesty arrived? Arrived at the Princess Manor? Was he looking for him?

Why would he look for him? Yan Ke wondered in bewilderment.

Loren was completely lost in a daze, barely registering the announcement outside.

Who cared if the Emperor was arriving? No one’s arrival mattered now; his love had ended before it even began.

Why did he come to the human realm? Why did he follow His Highness here?

Loren regretted it more deeply than ever before. If he had never come, he would never have laid eyes on Yan Ke, never fallen in love at first glance, and never had his heart completely consumed by a single person like this.

Yet this person loathed him, despised him, and never wanted to see him again.

He told him to leave, commanding him never to show his face again.

Loren could leave, could return to Panlia, but once back, how many years would it take to forget this brief encounter?

It sounded ridiculous, but even before departing, he was already terrified of the future.

So why had he come to the human realm in the first place?

Yet if he hadn’t, he would never have known someone could make his heart flutter so wildly, never have known he could fall head over heels into love from a single glimpse.

He didn’t regret it; he still didn’t regret it. Even if he lost everything the moment they met, he still could not bring himself to regret it.

Yan Ke, he would keep this name carved into his heart for the rest of his life.

When Xie Jianwei and Lu Li entered, both paused upon seeing Loren.

Xie Jianwei remembered him, as he was the one who had taken his giant panda away back then.

Seeing no outsiders around, Lu Li simply shifted into human form, stood up, and asked, “Loren, what are you doing here?”

Loren bowed to Lu Li, and Yan Ke also stood up to salute Xie Jianwei.

Both observed proper etiquette, but after completing their bows, they stood like hollow shells, their bodies present while their spirits had vanished.

Xie Jianwei was sharp-witted. One look at Yan Ke’s miserable state, and he essentially grasped the situation.

He asked, “Is he your guardian beast?”

Hearing this, Yan Ke’s heart ached terribly. They were both guardian beasts, so why was the disparity so vast? A-Li was devoted, returning immediately after leaving. But what about Loren? He bullied him, humiliated him, betrayed him, and now that he was getting married, he even came here to flaunt it.

Without comparison, it was painful enough, but with the comparison, Yan Ke wished he had never grown a heart, so he wouldn’t hurt like this.

Yan Ke remained silent, but Loren paused in surprise. Having been a coward for several lifetimes, he finally caught on and asked eagerly, “Am… am I not Shen Xue’s guardian beast?” He looked pleadingly toward Lu Li.

Lu Li was speechless. The fellow in his head, get out here right now!

The real Yan Ke was completely dumbfounded. What was going on?

Of course, he wasn’t about to show himself. What a joke; the Lord Marshal hadn’t recovered his memories, so showing himself would be pure suicide.

Unaware of the hidden truth, Yan Ke finally lost his temper upon hearing Loren’s words. Glaring viciously at him, he snapped, “Get out! Loren, get the hell out! I was blind, blind for those first ten years and brain-damaged for the last five! Go be Shen Xue’s guardian beast! Get out, looking at you makes me sick to my stomach!”

Loren felt miserable under the scolding. He had no idea what was happening. A faint suspicion flickered in his mind, but he dared not ponder it deeply. What if it was a misunderstanding? Yan Ke already hated him enough.

Xie Jianwei stepped in to soothe him, “A-Ke, don’t be hasty, there is a misunderstanding here.”

Yan Ke discarded all decorum before the emperor, wanting only to tear this unfaithful scoundrel to pieces. “There is no misunderstanding! There can’t be any misunderstanding! He stayed in the human realm for five years without once coming to find me! If I hadn’t run into him myself, I wouldn’t even know he’s getting married! Your Majesty, he’s getting married, what misunderstanding could there possibly be? He… he…”

As he spoke, Yan Ke broke down, unable to continue. He felt thoroughly pathetic, yet refused to show weakness before Loren. Before a heartless beast, showing vulnerability was only double the humiliation.

Xie Jianwei was taken aback. “Getting married?”

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Lu Li said, “There truly is a bit of a misunderstanding here.”

Yet Yan Ke assumed A-Li was merely defending his own kind, entering a stubborn state where he refused to listen to anything.

Loren panicked, protesting hurriedly, “How could I marry Shen Xue? We’ve known each other for less than ten days, how could we possibly marry?”

Yan Ke exploded. “Whether you marry or not has nothing to do with me! Go be her guardian beast! Get out, hearing your voice makes me want to vomit!”

A mountain of words crowded Loren’s tongue only to be choked back down. Looking despondent and helpless, he felt as if pierced by ten thousand arrows, struggling even to breathe.

Pitiably, staying was unbearable, but leaving… leaving would likely kill him on the doorstep.

Knowing he couldn’t count on the rascal in his head, Lu Li got straight to the point. “When we return to our clan to transform, we lose all memories of the human realm. Loren forgot you, and I forgot A-Wei as well.”

These words finally returned a shred of rationality to Yan Ke. He paused in disbelief. “Forgot?”

Lu Li nodded. “Whether ten years or twenty years, none of it is remembered.”

Yan Ke looked at Loren, confusion clouding his eyes.

Loren didn’t dare speak, trying desperately to convey the turmoil in his heart through his eyes.

Yan Ke stared at him for a moment, then turned expressionlessly to Lu Li. “So what? You forgot His Majesty, yet found your way back in such a short time. What about him? He forgot me and immediately found someone new.”

Hearing this nearly tore Loren’s heart apart.

Lu Li had to explain further. “Blame me for this. I thought he was Shen Xue’s guardian beast. Loren remembered nothing, so when I told him Shen Xue was his master, he believed it.”

Xie Jianwei chimed in timely, “Didn’t you forget everything as well? Why would you think Loren was Shen Xue’s guardian beast?”

Lu Li was rendered speechless.

With his spouse staring at him, Lu Li gave up and laid out the truth. “You might not believe it, but a voice in my head told me.”

Frowning, Xie Jianwei asked, “What happened exactly?”

Lu Li recounted honestly that upon returning to Panlia, he had forgotten everything. A month later, a voice in his head guided him to the human realm, so he came. (Here he emphasized how heartbroken he felt, knowing he had forgotten someone vital, proving himself a model devoted husband.) Loren… Loren glared at Lu Li, so Lu Li amended his words, saying that Loren also felt he had forgotten someone precious, so the two journeyed together.

By coincidence, Loren rescued Shen Xue, and that voice resurfaced, declaring with certainty that Loren was Shen Xue’s guardian beast.

Lu Li passed the message along, and Loren believed it.

Now that the misunderstanding was brought to light, silence fell over the room.

Watching from an omniscient perspective, the real Yan Ke was dumbfounded.

What on earth was this plot?

Loren was Yan Ke’s guardian beast? Yan Ke thought he had been dumped and made a dramatic scene? Loren loved Yan Ke, Yan Ke loved Loren, and their romance was an endless wave of melodrama? This was far too wild!

If he substituted himself into Yan Ke’s place, this dream was pure poison!

Just then, Xie Jianwei recounted everything Yan Ke had previously shared with him.

Yan Ke’s eighteenth birthday wish was for Loren to become human, and the panda had temporarily shifted into human form.

The more a guardian beast treasured their master, the more easily the master’s wishes could manifest.

Xie Jianwei didn’t want A-Li to grow up, so A-Li stayed tiny, accompanying him as a palm-sized creature.

The logic was identical. If Loren hadn’t already fallen desperately in love with Yan Ke, that wish could never have come true.

After becoming human, the two pledged their lives to each other, sharing two sweet years together. When time was up, Loren promised he would return quickly after completing his permanent transformation to stay by his side.

Yan Ke believed him, only to wait for five years.

No one could fathom how Yan Ke had endured those five years.

Waiting and yearning for five years, only for the man to reappear engaged to another.

Their solemn vows turned to ash; that Yan Ke hadn’t murdered Loren already showed remarkable restraint.

When Xie Jianwei finished, Loren froze completely.

He had fantasized about being Yan Ke’s guardian beast, but even that felt like an unreachable fantasy. How could he have dared imagine they had been lovers?

Yet they truly had been in love, and such a vital memory had been wiped clean from his mind.

Forgotten entirely, to the point where upon returning, he mistook a stranger for him.

No wonder Yan Ke was so furious, so indignant, and despised him to that extent!

Anyone in that position would plunge into despair and collapse!

Imagining Yan Ke’s suffering, Loren felt an agonizing ache in his chest. “A-Ke… I…”

Xie Jianwei tugged Lu Li’s hand, and the two quietly took their leave.

With the misunderstanding clarified, their presence was no longer needed.

Hand in hand, they departed, while the real Yan Ke wished he could jump out of Lu Li’s head to inspect the room.

Good heavens, how did this happen?

Why would such a thing unfold in the Military Advisor’s dream?

The meticulous, brilliant Military Advisor actually believed he and Admiral Loren had a thing going on?

And actually put them together?

Yan Ke couldn’t imagine how he would ever look Admiral Loren in the eye again!

His head ached, wishing he could return to reality and down some ice water to calm down

_.

Inside the room.

“I’m sorry…” Loren said with immense difficulty.

Yan Ke had yet to recover from the shock. It was simply too overwhelming; he had been crying his eyes out in despair, only to learn it was all a misunderstanding?

It was as if he had been sentenced to death, scheduled for execution the next morning, only for a general amnesty to pardon him out of nowhere.

Should he be happy? It seemed he ought to be, but…

Loren whispered, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have forgotten you, I…” His mind was in chaotic turmoil as he babbled, “I might have forgotten you, but I never abandoned my love for you. You might not believe it, but the first moment I saw you at the Duke’s…” He avoided the woman’s name, fearing it would upset Yan Ke. “…over there, with just a single glance, I knew I wanted only you in this life.”

“Get out.”

Loren felt stung.

Yan Ke refused to look at him, stating stubbornly, “Get out.”

Loren’s insides felt ground beneath a millstone, but this was what he deserved. Thinking of what Yan Ke had suffered, he wished he could kill himself.

“I will go. Rest well.” Loren stepped outside, standing beside the door completely motionless.

Sitting inside, Yan Ke could see the silhouette cast against the window by the sunlight.

The tall frame stretched long, appearing humble and haggard beneath the blazing light.

Yan Ke retracted his gaze, staring blankly at the table, unaware of his own thoughts.

As summer approached, the weather grew scorching, the sun blazing outside. Yet Loren stood still, drenched in sweat beneath the furnace-like heat, guarding his doorway.

Yan Ke treated him as air, resting after lunch. When he woke, rain was pouring outside.

The weather was completely unreasonable, swinging from scorching heat to a torrential downpour. Baked for a day and soaked by cold rain, Loren still didn’t budge.

Yan Ke ignored him, rolling into bed beneath his quilt to sleep.

The rain poured all night, Loren stood watch all night, and Yan Ke lay awake through the entire night.

Three days later, the Grand Princess entered the palace. Seeing Xie Jianwei, her eyes reddened on the verge of tears. “Your Majesty! Please go talk some sense into Xiao Ke! That boy is going to torture that big fellow to death!”

Xie Jianwei’s expression tightened, asking hurriedly, “What happened?”

Lu Li listened intently as well, feeling guilty. At the end of the day, he bore responsibility for the mess between Loren and Yan Ke. He thought clearing up the misunderstanding would resolve everything, but clearly something was wrong.

Wiping her tears, the Grand Princess said, “Your Majesty, please go take a look! That big fellow has been standing outside Xiao Ke’s door nonstop! Xiao Ke won’t let him in, so he refuses to enter, and when others urge him to leave, he refuses to go! In this erratic weather, standing there without food or water, even a man made of iron would collapse!”

Xie Jianwei said hastily, “Imperial Aunt, do not panic, I shall go speak with them immediately.”

Xie Jianwei and the Grand Princess returned to the Princess Manor. Approaching Yan Ke’s quarters, they met the sight of Loren standing like a stone statue.

In barely three days, the tall, handsome man had grown emaciated and haggard, standing without food, water, or sleep. An ordinary person would have collapsed long ago.

Yet having fought on battlefields for years, Loren possessed remarkable physical endurance and extraordinary willpower, allowing him to hold out.

Frowning at him, Lu Li asked, “What on earth have you turned yourself into?”

Loren remained silent.

Xie Jianwei sighed, “You really are…”

Lowering his gaze, Loren whispered, “I don’t know what to do to earn his forgiveness.”

Xie Jianwei found him pitiful. Stepping toward the door, he dropped a sentence, “He might not necessarily be refusing to forgive you.”

With Loren standing outside, Yan Ke was suffering just as badly.

He appeared to eat and sleep normally, but his heart was in absolute turmoil.

Did he stop loving Loren? If he didn’t love him, why hate him so deeply?

He loved him, so watching him suffer like that, how could his heart not ache?

Yet…

Yan Ke wrapped himself in the quilt, escaping into clumsy, pitiful isolation.

Leaving Lu Li outside, Xie Jianwei entered the room alone. Seeing Yan Ke’s state, he sighed softly. “Why put yourself through this?”

Yan Ke exposed his eyes, looking at him pitifully. “Cousin…”

Sitting by his bedside, Xie Jianwei spoke words that struck straight at his core. “You are afraid he will lose his memories again, aren’t you?”

Those few words brought tears streaming down Yan Ke’s face.

Did he avoid Loren because he refused to forgive him? No, of course not. Loren hadn’t intentionally forgotten; he had been forced to forget by tribal law. Once memories vanished, even the deepest love disappeared.

Yet Loren had still fallen in love with him at first sight, proving how deeply he loved Yan Ke, feeling from the depths of his soul that this was the one he desired.

Loren wasn’t at fault, and Yan Ke didn’t want to blame anyone.

Yet he couldn’t step past the fear Xie Jianwei had voiced.

“Cousin, what if he forgets again? What if…” If he had to endure that agony a second time, Yan Ke would lose every shred of will to live.

It wasn’t that he didn’t love Loren, nor that he refused to forgive him. He was simply terrified.

Loving too deeply made one fear gaining love, and having gained it, fear losing it. He was currently like a frightened rabbit, abandoning the chance to forage out of terror of the predators outside.

Hiding in his burrow, refusing to see, hear, or accept, spared him both sweetness and pain.

Looking at him, Xie Jianwei asked earnestly, “Can you truly accept this?”

Yan Ke paused.

Xie Jianwei’s words resonated in his mind like morning sunshine dispelling thick fog.

“You love him, and he loves you. You were meant to spend a blissful lifetime together. Yet now, you halt your steps, refusing to make an effort, declaring the board dead before playing. Can you truly accept that?”

How could he ever accept it!

Patting his shoulder, Xie Jianwei murmured, “Don’t overthink, A-Ke. Be brave. As long as there is room to strive, there is no need for despair.”

Human effort determined destiny. Stumbling in one place didn’t mean one couldn’t step over it next time.

No romance was ever entirely smooth sailing. Two people truly in love had to learn together, dodging obstacles and drawing their beating hearts closer, rather than becoming strangers in the end.

Yan Ke’s experience in this dream was awkward to the extreme.

As one could imagine, the dream versions of Loren and Yan Ke eventually tangled together without shame.

Having swallowed enough affection between the Military Advisor and the Marshal, Yan Ke now had to stomach double the couple sweetness from himself and Loren, suffering immensely.

He never imagined Admiral Loren was this kind of man; calling him henpecked was an understatement.

Like father, like son; with the Lord Marshal being a doting madman, Admiral Loren followed suit, spoiling his spouse to the point of utter helplessness.

The dream lasted a very long time, and since the Lord Marshal never recovered his memories within it, Yan Ke watched the entire journey from start to finish.

The Military Advisor and the Lord Marshal lived out a devoted lifetime, painting both the Empire and Panlia in rosy romance.

Loren and Yan Ke were equally relentless in displaying their love, dazzling the capital in the human realm and dazzling a flock of giant pandas in Panlia.

Initially, they planned to settle in Panlia, but Yan Ke was an avid panda lover. Seeing pandas everywhere, he became hopelessly captivated.

Terrified that his spouse would be lured away by other fluffy creatures, the giant panda Loren begged and pleaded until they settled in the human realm instead.

Yet it made little difference. The moment Yan Ke said he wanted to visit Panlia, Loren opened a teleportation portal faster than his brain could process.

Watching Yan Ke surrounded by shameless giant pandas, Loren regretted it so much he wished to chop his own hands off.

Later, Xie Jianwei offered Loren an idea, and with Lu Li backing it, Loren finally managed to escape dying of jealousy.

Xie Jianwei suggested establishing an academy in Panlia for Yan Ke to teach young panda cubs.

Yan Ke agreed immediately.

Seeing his spouse surrounded by panda cubs no larger than rabbits, Loren’s mind was at ease.

These cubs were barely weaned, equivalent to three-year-old toddlers in the human realm. No matter how many there were, they couldn’t steal his spouse away.

Yan Ke was thoroughly content, as tutoring panda cubs was the finest job under heaven, leaving the real Yan Ke watching with sheer envy.

In this lifetime, Yan Ke found true happiness. What he had feared never occurred, because his partner grew remarkably formidable.

Assisting Lu Li in campaigns across the realm, Loren helped unify the beast kingdoms. Having secured absolute authority, they shattered the barrier between beasts and humans, enabling complete cultural exchange.

Humans learned physical strength from beasts, while beasts absorbed wisdom from humans.

With deepened ties, protective regulations were established regarding guardian beasts.

Since tragedies would no longer occur, the ritual enchantment wiping away human memories upon transformation was smoothly abolished.

With this accomplished, the dream drew to its close.

Only then did Yan Ke realize that amnesia was not only what dream Yan Ke feared, but also the Military Advisor’s deepest lingering anxiety.

The words Xie Jianwei used to comfort Yan Ke back then were actually spoken to comfort himself.

Love could make one courageous, but it could also make one timid.

Yet above all, one must never give up.

Despair was terrifying, but one should never abandon embracing a beautiful life out of fear of heartbreak.

Upon waking, Lu Li still remembered the dream. Pausing, he murmured slowly, “It felt so real.”

The real Yan Ke felt it was pure fantasy. Real? How was that real? It was completely out of character! Admiral Loren, a straight man who adored women, had been bent into circles and developed a terminal case of henpecked devotion.

Who would believe it? If spoken aloud, women across the galaxy would laugh until breathless!

Naturally, Yan Ke dared not speak, nodding superficially while roasting it madly in his head.

Looking at the slumbering Xie Jianwei, Lu Li’s pupils contracted suddenly.

Noticing nothing, Yan Ke asked, “My Lord, do you need to rest for a day?”

Staring intently for a moment, Lu Li said word by word, “Continue.”

Yan Ke answered, “Understood!”

Relaxing his gaze, Lu Li reached toward Xie Jianwei’s right side, encasing those slender fingers entirely within his palm.

Yan Ke thought little of it, as an affectionate couple holding hands was hardly unusual.

Closing his eyes, Lu Li maintained his grasp on Xie Jianwei’s hand.

After a fleeting trance, Lu Li opened his eyes.

Yellow sand filled the sky before him, the landscape distorted by shimmering heat waves, the air thick with a pungent stench mingled with sparks of burning flame.

The scene was familiar yet distant. Looking down, Lu Li saw a pair of tender, child-sized hands.

Right then, a beast’s roar tore through the air. Moving with lightning reflexes, Lu Li leaped upward, narrowly evading a lethal swipe of a claw.

Yet this was not the end, but the start of battle.

The predator before him resembled a cross between a lion and a tiger: powerful, agile, its fangs protruding outward, sharp enough to rip through any living throat.

It clearly coveted this tender meal, its predatory stance declaring the child’s doom.

Yet Lu Li would never sit waiting for death.

He hadn’t twenty years ago, and he certainly wouldn’t twenty years later.

A six or seven-year-old child should have been at the weakest stage of life, yet his dark eyes were cold and focused, blazing with lethal intent.

Beasts possessed keen instincts. It sensed a faint whiff of danger, yet was deceived by its own eyes.

The prey was far too small; a single pounce would suffice to swallow him whole.

Without hesitation, the predator sprang forward again, unsheathing razor-sharp claws still caked with dried flesh, eager to shred fresh meat once more.

Lu Li waited for its approach. His physical constitution was exceptional, his jumping height astonishing and his speed blinding.

The beast lunged swiftly, but he dodged faster, moving like a flash of lightning, leaving behind only an afterimage.

Infuriated by missing twice, the beast whirled around and charged again.

Lu Li had no need to scan his surroundings; he knew this terrain intimately down to every pebble.

Where traps lay, where boulders stood, where carnivorous flora waited, all was etched in his mind.

With far greater ease than twenty years ago, he dispatched the predator that coveted his flesh.

The clash concluded, and catching his breath, he followed his memories to find a small stream.

Clear water flowed gently. Only here did the burning heat particles cease their crackle, resting serenely upon the surface like dormant sprites.

Approaching, Lu Li saw his reflection in the shimmering water.

A young face, dark eyes, and a small body marked by scars from constant combat.

Over twenty years ago, he had similarly awakened in this unfamiliar world inside the body of a strange child.

Back then, he had no memories and no identity, yet knew with certainty that he shouldn’t be a child like this, nor live in such a desolate place.

Where was this? Who was he?

He hadn’t known.

Yet he had to survive, at all costs.

To find answers, he had to live.

In an uninhabited wasteland, how was a small child supposed to survive?

Lu Li barely remembered the details of those early struggles.

Evading beasts, locating edible fruits; though a child, he possessed adult intellect and judgment, combined with an innate constitution, allowing him to endure.

He survived alone for an entire year.

Then, he met Grandmother, a formidable woman who lived fiercely on this isolated planet.

Seeing him, Grandma Lu had been astonished, remarking, “You little brat… you’re actually still alive.”

Young Lu Li had watched her with deep vigilance.

Grandma Lu laughed. “Put away your claws, we are of the same kind.”

Though small and memoryless, he could tell she was human, the only other human beside himself.

They were of the same kind, yet he could not understand her speech.

Perhaps the language he spoke in his past differed, making her words unintelligible.

Grandma Lu said, “I forgot, you don’t understand, right?” She gestured with her hands as she spoke.

Language was unnecessary when actions spoke clearly.

Human connection was never bound solely by words.

How did young Lu Li accept Grandma Lu? He remembered she had felled a three-meter-tall ox-beast with a single punch, a creature he could only flee from.

A single punch. Her hair was white, her face lined with age, her fist appearing frail, swung unhurriedly like a casual greeting.

Yet near the beast, her power exploded, scattering the heat particles and cleaving the air like an ocean parting, sending the giant beast flying meters away, dead before it hit the ground.

Young Lu Li had stood dumbfounded.

Grandma Lu gestured, “How about it, want to learn?”

Young Lu Li looked up, his eyes burning with desire.

Grandma Lu laughed heartily. “Now you look like an actual child.”

Grandma Lu taught him to speak, taught him to read, and told him his name.

“Your name is Lu Li.”

Young Lu Li had frowned, wondering if “Li” meant parting.

He didn’t ask, and she didn’t elaborate, merely saying, “Your parents died. When you first arrived, you were only this big.”

A one-month-old infant could only be measured with hands.

Grandma Lu said, “I never raised children. I managed to keep you breathing, only for you to vanish the moment I turned my back.”

When he went missing, he had been only two years old, barely able to babble.

Rubbing his forehead, Grandma Lu had marveled, “I never imagined you could survive.”

It truly was a miracle.

The planet was perilous, overrun with beasts, unstable terrain, frequent disasters, and scarce food, an unforgiving environment for a toddler.

Death should have been certain, yet young Lu Li had survived and grown.

That was why she had been so shocked to see the six or seven-year-old boy.

Living was a wonder, a magnificent wonder.

Young Lu Li began his life on the barren planet with Grandma Lu; with companionship, both found happiness.

Though formidable, Grandma Lu was advanced in age, her remaining days few.

Knowing this, she poured everything into teaching young Lu Li, wanting to pass down her lifetime of knowledge.

Young Lu Li never disappointed her, proving obedient, brilliant, and remarkably gifted.

Even someone as powerful as Grandma Lu often marveled at his physical constitution.

“This body of yours hardly seems human.”

Young Lu Li said, “Not as strong as Grandmother.”

Grandma Lu said, “I am over ninety, can you compare to me?”

Young Lu Li said, “Grandmother is not old.”

Grandma Lu laughed. “Old or not isn’t for you to say.”

Young Lu Li hated discussing it, but both knew the truth.

Grandma Lu wouldn’t live long, and once she was gone, he would be all alone.

Across the vast planet, aside from beasts, he would be the sole sentient being.

When young Lu Li was twelve, Grandma Lu passed away.

The woman who had felled an ox-beast, bantered with him, and smeared mud playfully across his forehead the previous evening was gone the next morning.

Closing her eyes forever, resting her mighty hands, she found eternal rest.

Young Lu Li kept watch beside her for a full day and night. When the morning sun rose again, he understood she would never open her eyes, and the world had left him alone once more.

Young Lu Li buried her in the finest spot and built his home beside her grave.

With her resting place nearby, he felt anchored.

He had to keep living. He survived alone from age twelve to seventeen, until he met the man who illuminated his entire existence.

Xie Jianwei.

Divine, beautiful, and brilliant.

Lu Li pulled his thoughts back, looking down at his hands once more.

This was the barren planet, and this was himself at six years old.

Having such a dream was natural, since the entity knew his memories.

Yet was that truly all?

He recalled the single character Xie Jianwei had traced on his hand in reality before slipping into a coma.

With his finger, the comatose Xie Jianwei had traced one word.

“True.”

Only that single word. What was Xie Jianwei trying to tell him?

True, what was true?

Was this dream true?

If this was real, what was reality?

Lu Li rose to forage for food. After filling his stomach, he called out softly in his mind, “Yan Ke?”

No one answered.

Upon waking, Lu Li had already noticed that Yan Ke’s presence had vanished entirely.

Had the entity sensed Yan Ke and blocked him?

Did it possess such power?

Not that Lu Li underestimated it, but if it had such capability, he and Xie Jianwei would have perished long ago.

So was what lay before him real or an illusion?

Lu Li could not tell, but one thing was crystal clear.

He had to find Grandma Lu and take her away from this barren world.

He had to return to the Federation, find the young Xie Jianwei, and wake him from the Xie family’s nightmare.

Real or illusion, as long as he had the power, he would never allow Xie Jianwei to suffer the slightest grievance again.