The Mind-Read Heiress: From Impostor to Family Favorite-Chapter 652 - 372 Shen Jingxiu of the IF Line: Time_6

The people who had been searching all day were finally able to go back and rest for a while.

But Wenyan couldn’t sleep.

She couldn’t sleep without finding Shen Jingxiu.

Forty-Six was still there.

Wenyan didn’t believe that Shen Jingxiu would leave this old companion behind and go away on his own; she thought he must be nearby.

She wanted to go out and search again.

Wenyan gently stroked Forty-Six’s head, pressing her face gently against the large creature.

"Forty-Six, you know where he is, don’t you? Take me to him, please? I have so much to say to him, to them. I didn’t realize that this visit would span fifty years apart from them. Take me to him, please, Forty-Six, just like you brought me here and then took me away. Can you?"

Forty-Six was a horse.

It couldn’t talk.

But it lifted its hooves.

Wenyan opened the gate of the horse pen, letting it lead her.

They walked slowly across the grasslands at three in the morning.

From afar, Wenyan heard the sound of wind chimes.

Looking ahead, it was that huge tree emitting light.

Fifty years and two days, eighteen thousand two hundred and fifty-two lamps.

Each lamp alone could only emit a faint, insignificant light.

But put together, eighteen thousand two hundred and fifty-two lamps became a bright lighthouse on the grasslands, guiding the way.

Guiding Wenyan in that direction.

But Wenyan had just come back from there.

Yet, she refused to give up any opportunity.

The closer she got, the clearer Wenyan could see.

Under the tree of lights, there really was a figure, as tall and upright as ever, so familiar.

"Shen Jingxiu!"

Wenyan cried out excitedly, rushing towards the figure.

But as she ran, the tall figure turned bent and aged.

It was the elderly Shen Jingxiu.

But no matter what Shen Jingxiu looked like, Wenyan didn’t stop her pace.

"Shen Jingxiu, where have you been all day! Don’t you know we were all worried about you? We searched for you all day, we even called the police."

The old man just glanced at Wenyan, then quickly turned away.

He reached out, shakily took down a lamp from the tree, and slowly turned to hand it to Wenyan.

"Take it back, this is your lamp."

Wenyan shook her head, "Hang it up. I’ll wait with you for her, and when you see her one day, we won’t hang it anymore."

"Eighteen thousand two hundred fifty-two lamps. I didn’t hang any today, but there are eighteen thousand two hundred fifty-three lamps on the tree. This lamp isn’t mine, take it back."

Wenyan chuckled lightly, "You stubborn old man, with so many lamps did you actually count each one? Can you even keep count?"

The old man laughed as well, "Why count when every lamp of mine is numbered. This one isn’t, though it looks exactly like mine, it indeed isn’t my lamp; I know it doesn’t belong to this world. Go back, Wenyan."

"It’s just like you, so..." Wenyan initially wanted to say, ’It’s just like you, Shen Jingxiu, so clever,’

But her mind suddenly realized that she had just heard him call her Wenyan.

"What did you call me?" Wenyan looked at the old man, tears instantly overflowing, "You recognize me, don’t you? You remember me?"

Shen Jingxiu’s face was already teary, at eighty years old, the area around his eyes was full of wrinkles, but those eyes, washed over by tears while looking at the girl he loved, were still bright and spirited, yet mixed with reluctance and a sense of inferiority. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

"Go back, you don’t belong to this world. Return to where you originally were, live the life you were supposed to live. We, after all, are not from the same world."

"But I’ve come back. You waited for me eighteen thousand two hundred fifty-two days, isn’t it for this day?"

"Once, I thought it was for this day, even for every day after this one. But truly thinking of you, actually seeing you right in front of me, I realized that just seeing you for that moment has already been enough for me. I know you would definitely stay, even take care of me, but I can’t be that selfish. You are still young, only in your twenties now, so beautiful and lively, you have a wonderful future ahead of you."

"No, don’t talk to me about these things, I don’t want to hear it! If you say so, then what does those past fifty years mean? That’s fifty years! Eighteen thousand days!!! Not fifty hours! Not fifty days! Since I’ve come, and since we’ve reunited, I will not leave!"

Shen Jingxiu slowly shook his head, "Yanyan, we stand on different timelines, my life is already counting down. Mom and Dad have already been gone for decades, Laosi and Yulong, we’ve all grown old. Your staying here has no meaning, it will only make me feel guilty when I am dying. So go back, seeing you once more is already enough for me."

"By the way," Shen Jingxiu asked again, "Fat Brother and Xiao Meng, those who were in the car accident with you, are they alright?"

"Fine."

"And how have you been all these years? Pit number forty-six collapsed after you left, we guessed you might never be able to come back."

"Then why did you still wait for me here?"

"Because loving someone means blindly hoping. But please don’t feel burdened, I’m just an old man nearing the end, who might forget everything at any time. These fifty years were willingly given by me, you don’t have to pity me. Yanyan, go back."

"And what if I say that sometimes, I didn’t really see you as a brother."

"Then I would die without any regrets."

"I want to stay."

"That won’t do, I want you to go."

"But I might not be able to leave."

"I have a strong premonition, tonight. You need to go."

"So I came back just to say goodbye to you once again? Fate is too cruel to me."

"But fate has granted me a gift. In my lifetime, to see my loved one once more. Take this, it’s your lamp."

"I don’t want it."

"Please."

Wenyan wept uncontrollably.

Fifty years ago, when she was leaving, he, who never asked anyone for anything, said, ’Please don’t go.’

Fifty years later, when she wanted to stay, he pleaded with her to leave.

For the last time, he trembled as he embraced her, stuffing the unnumbered lamp into her hands.

Her tears fell on the lamp, and in that instant, nearly all the lights on the lamp tree went out, and the sound of the wind chimes abruptly stopped.

It seemed as though all the light was absorbed by the lamp in her hands.

Once again, Wenyan felt herself being drawn into a powerful vortex.