Help You

The bright moon hung high in the cloudless night sky, scattered with stars. A gentle breeze swept in from afar, creating waves across the grasslands that brushed past the young man's dark eyes. He lay on the grass, gazing silently at the bright moon amidst the sea of stars. Its silver radiance was trapped within his deep eyes, a world unseen, thoughts unshared.

Whenever he had free time at night, he would stare at the moon, just like Earth's, as if he could see the smiling faces of his loved ones on its uneven surface.

The night breeze was exceptionally gentle. A lunchbox wrapped in a small floral cloth sat quietly beside him. No matter how good the insulation, after several hours, the food inside would surely be cold.

Just then, the faint sound of heavy footsteps crunching on the grass came from not too far away. Ye Zi's eyes instinctively narrowed, then slowly relaxed. This place, right in the center of the army, shouldn't be dangerous. More importantly, listening to those leisurely footsteps, he knew who was coming.

"Why aren't you eating?"

Beneath the bright moonlight, the girl's clear voice, like jade falling on a plate, drifted into Ye Zi's ears with the night breeze. Her silver eyes held a scrutinizing gaze, yet her tone was as calm as a windless lake, making it impossible to detect that she was a little angry at this moment.

Ye Zi's eyes were fixed only on the bright moon, and he didn't notice the girl's increasingly angry expression. He didn't understand what the food in the lunchbox represented, but the girl, its creator, understood better than anyone, even better than that esteemed figure in medicine. So, seeing that the ribbon on the lunchbox hadn't been touched after several hours, she became a little angry.

Ye Zi said calmly, "My injuries have already healed, and I don't feel any deficiency in my Blood Essence, so..."

The girl's delicate eyebrows slowly curved. Her eyes, as gentle as the night breeze, swept over Ye Zi on the grass, then slowly rose to the silver moon in the cloudless night sky. She had eyes as beautiful as the moon. At this moment, the silver moonlight couldn't conceal her equally silver eyes, which now held hesitation and worry.

She said, "That's not for replenishing blood."

Ye Zi blinked, unsure how to respond for a moment. He really wanted to say: if a box of food like this had no benefit to the body, its quantity was barely enough to get stuck between his teeth. But in reality, this was just his unilateral guess.

"Then, why... why did you prepare this for me?" He didn't know the girl's name, nor had he ever thought of asking. If he could, he wouldn't even want to accept it. However, when you might be on someone's operating table at any moment, you couldn't easily ignore their kindness.

The girl didn't answer but asked, "Can I sit down?"

Ye Zi said simply, "Of course."

The girl moved and sat gently beside Ye Zi, her hands clasped around her bent legs. Her head was lowered, her delicate chin resting on her knees. The night breeze playfully lifted two strands of silver hair that fell from her temples.

Ye Zi smelled a faint, delicate fragrance, like that of ginger orchids covered in morning dew. Following the scent, he looked at the girl beside him, noticing the silver strands of hair falling from her temples amidst her dark hair, which were particularly striking. His gaze shifted, only able to see half of her face obscured by her long hair.

The girl gazed at the tips of the grass swaying gently in the night breeze and said softly, "Do you know that the cells in your body are abnormally active?"

Ye Zi was slightly taken aback. After a moment of silence, he said calmly, "I know a little."

The girl said, "This is not a good sign. A person's cells have a limited number of divisions in their lifetime. Based on your current rate of division, your lifespan is less than thirty years."

Ye Zi's expression was very calm. "And then?"

"So I want to help you inhibit the rate of cell division."

Ye Zi suddenly looked at the food container beside him and asked faintly, "Is it these?"

The girl nodded.

Ye Zi looked at her profile, his eyes holding a faint coldness. "Wouldn't medication be more direct? Even more effective?"

The girl met Ye Zi's cold gaze unflinchingly. "I don't dare."

"Don't dare?" Ye Zi let out a strange, cold laugh, then said indifferently, "I am grateful for your repeated treatments, but I don't need your misguided help."

The girl's secretive methods had already touched his bottom line.

The girl was silent for a moment, then said very seriously, "In less than a year, from an anesthetic dosage twice that of normal people to five times the current dosage, none of it works. This indicates that the rate of cell division in your body is still accelerating. The basis for judging that your lifespan may be less than thirty years is the speed of cell division. If it cannot be effectively inhibited, perhaps one day your body will age rapidly. Even so, you don't care?"

Was this statement, which sounded so serious, actually true?

A lifespan of less than thirty years?

One day, his body would age rapidly?

Early degeneration of bodily functions?

This was indeed very serious. However, he had only experienced the benefits brought by his body so far. If it weren't for this, he might not have been able to hold on for so long. If it weren't for this, he might have died long ago.

Ye Zi suddenly sat up, saying coldly, "In this era where death could come at any moment, why should I inhibit it? What if my lifespan is less than thirty years? What if one day I age rapidly? If it allows me to quickly achieve what I want to do, it's all worth it."

Even if one day, dragging his aged body, in a state of lingering breath, he returned to that place, he would still have a sliver of insignificant chakra, as the first ray of dawn after the night.

Only by returning to that world would there be hope...

The determination in his tone made the girl feel its weight. She didn't know what Ye Zi wanted to do, but she could easily tell it must be something very difficult, so much so that he could even sacrifice his life for it. For some reason, she suddenly felt an urge to do something for Ye Zi, just like when she started preparing food to inhibit cell division. Only at this moment, that feeling was clearer and more distinct.

She remembered the first time Ye Zi was brought to the operating table, covered in blood, his breathing so weak it seemed he would die the next second. His tightly furrowed brows held an unresolvable unwillingness, which immediately made her realize how strong the young man on the operating table's desire to live was. So, she had tried her best to save him then. The moment he opened his eyes, she had deeply remembered him. It was only a few seconds, but in his opened dark eyes, there was extreme fear and unwillingness at first. Then, as he felt the oxygen being supplied through the breathing mask, the fear and unwillingness vanished at lightning speed, replaced by bewilderment, and then by calmness. It was a strange calmness that came from knowing he would live, not relief, and certainly not ecstasy. It was a calmness that was utterly incompatible with his intense will to survive just moments before.

She had never seen such a young man before, and that was why she had deeply remembered him that time.

Even now, she wanted to do something for him, and this feeling was particularly strong, at least at this moment, very strong.

"I want to help you, I will help you, you must let me help!"

The usually quiet girl was being forceful for the first time in her life.