A Brief Warmth

These days, as the wind and snow grew heavier, Chen Xu could feel Luo Xiyun becoming increasingly anxious. She would wake up from nightmares every night.

He had never seen her so vulnerable and helpless. At this time, he could do nothing but give her more physical and mental comfort.

He took her hand, looked into her eyes, and said, "No matter what happens, I will always be by your side."

Luo Xiyun placed his hand on her face, feeling the coolness and slight roughness of his palm, and slowly closed her eyes, the worry between her brows gradually smoothing out.

Chen Xu looked at her calm and peaceful face, and a string in his heart was plucked.

These days, a thought had been lingering in his mind. When this Dream Realm ended and he woke up, what would happen to this Dream Realm world, and what about Luo Xiyun, who lived in this Dream Realm?

He wanted to ask the Virtual Dream Device that had sent him to this Dream Realm world, but no matter how he called, there was no response.

In his feeling, this Dream Realm world had some unreal aspects, and it was not difficult to accept this.

However, the feeling Luo Xiyun gave him was that of a living person. Her body temperature, her breath, her murmurings, her screams, her cries, her trembling, her convulsions... were all so real.

When the Dream Realm ended, would she disappear with the Dream Realm? But even if this Dream Realm world could be preserved, if he left and the whole world was left with her all alone, it might be more terrifying for her than death, right?

He was a little confused.

"If one day, I die, leaving only you..."

"I will live well," Luo Xiyun said in a very soft voice without opening her eyes.

"How sad, I thought you would commit suicide for me."

"Don't be so sentimental. I won't live for anyone."

After Luo Xiyun finished speaking, she waited for a while, but didn't hear him speak. She opened her eyes and saw him staring at the fire, and said softly, "What's wrong? Hurt your pride?"

"Yes, it's deeply hurt."

Chen Xu smiled and said, "Okay, you go to sleep first. We still have work to do tomorrow."

The next morning, the two got up to work, spending the whole morning filling all the empty buckets they had brought. This was hard physical work, and it exhausted them to the point of almost collapsing.

So, they rested here for another night to recover their strength, and on the morning of the third day, they left here and embarked on the road home.

They returned the same way they came, and the road they had cleared was still there, making it much easier along the way. It only took them five hours to return to the Villa.

Chen Xu breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately, there were no accidents along the way. If they saved some of the gasoline they brought back this time, it wouldn't be a problem to last for two months.

To celebrate the successful completion of this mission, the two took out the few remaining Tomatoes and stir-fried them to eat.

The heavy rain had come too quickly, and when they moved, they didn't bring many fresh vegetables. To preserve them, they could only freeze them. These few Tomatoes were the last of their stock.

Outside, wind and snow filled the sky.

Inside, it was warm as spring, and the two sat at the dining table, eating hot meals. At least in this small world, this was the happiness that belonged to them.

However, Chen Xu knew that when the Dream Realm entered its countdown, this kind of happiness would not last long.

On the fifteenth day of the countdown, in his sleep, the glass window of the room suddenly shattered with a bang, and the biting cold wind wrapped in snow particles blew in. The original room temperature of a dozen degrees instantly turned into Tens of Degrees Below Zero.

Awakened, the two wrapped themselves in blankets and quickly fled the room.

When they got outside, they found that all the glass windows in the Villa had shattered, without exception. The originally warm little world could no longer resist the invasion of the severe cold.

In the end, they could only hide in the cloakroom next to the master bedroom. The two wrapped themselves in a blanket, listening to the howling wind outside, hugging each other to keep warm.

Chen Xu had already anticipated the arrival of this day, and was not discouraged. However, he was very worried about Luo Xiyun.

To his surprise, Luo Xiyun in his arms seemed very calm, not panicked, and did not say a word.

Slowly, he closed his eyes, no longer thinking about the Dream Realm, no longer thinking about the Tens of Degrees Below Zero outside the door.

A down comforter isolated them from the outside world, forming a small world.

In this pitch-black darkness, the two listened to each other's heartbeats, felt each other's breathing, and sought each other's warmth.

Enjoying this brief warmth and tranquility.

After dawn, Chen Xu and Luo Xiyun put on their thick Cold-Weather Clothing and used entire wooden planks to seal all the windows. Except for the floor-to-ceiling window on the living room balcony, because they couldn't find a wooden plank that large.

Fortunately, the basement had no windows, so it escaped unscathed. The generator placed here was unaffected.

As long as the generator could still be used, the problem wasn't too big. At least, they didn't have to worry about freezing to death.

They spent two days cleaning everything up. However, their lives were still significantly affected. At least, every time they went out to the living room, they had to put on thick clothes.

Moreover, Chen Xu clearly felt that the weather was getting colder day by day. The heating effect of the heater was getting worse and worse.

This was the South after all, and the temperature in winter rarely reached below zero. Although this Villa used some insulation materials, it wasn't built with Tens of Degrees Below Zero weather in mind.

Luo Xiyun also became more and more silent.

When the countdown entered the tenth day, Chen Xu also figured it out, let go of everything, didn't want to think about anything, just wanted to enjoy the time with her to the fullest.

Fifth day of the countdown.

In the morning, Luo Xiyun woke up from Chen Xu's arms as usual, got up gently, and tucked in the quilt. After washing up, as usual, she put on her thick Cold-Weather Clothing and opened the door a crack.

She immediately noticed the abnormality. It was easy to open the door, and the expected cold wind pouring in from the crack in the door didn't appear.

Her heart suddenly jumped, and she opened the door a little more, finally confirming one thing.

The wind had stopped.

She rushed out of the door, stood in front of the balcony, covered her mouth, and tears rushed out of her eyes.

Outside the balcony, it was still a world of silver, but the snow that had lasted for more than half a month had stopped, and at the end of the sky and the earth, a round of golden sun was spreading light and heat.