"But she always remembered you."
Xiao Xiao paused. He glanced at the old woman's stunned face and red-rimmed eyes.
"She kept waiting for you at the place where you'd met."
Zhujian tilted its head.
Had it met this human before?
It shook its head carelessly.
It didn't remember.
Besides...
Humans changed the most over time.
It had gone from being surprised at first to getting used to it.
"You..."
The old woman rose to her feet in a panic.
She unconsciously straightened her clothes.
Tugged at her hem.
Smoothed her sleeves.
"You don't recognize me anymore?"
The old woman's eyes widened.
Her voice took on a faint, barely perceptible quaver. "You don't remember me?"
"I..."
The old woman stopped.
Her face turned deathly pale in an instant.
"Grandma Ji?"
Noticing something was wrong, Xiao Xiao spoke up.
"Are you—"
Realizing what the old woman intended to do, Xiao Xiao reached out.
He wanted to keep her from touching the Little White Fox and getting a "welcome" from its tail.
The old woman didn't notice the young man's thoughtfulness at all.
She grabbed his arm.
Her lips had lost all their color.
"Who am I?"
The old woman's voice was hoarse.
Yet, contradictorily, it held a sharp edge.
"Who am I?!"
"I can't remember..."
The old woman clutched the young man's arm.
"Thud—"
The handbag she'd been holding fell to the ground.
The old woman didn't care.
She hadn't even noticed.
She stared fixedly at the young man.
"I don't remember..."
She'd meant to tell Fei who she was.
She'd hoped that would bring back Fei's memories of her.
But then she'd realized her mind was completely blank.
She'd even forgotten herself...
How terrifying was that?!
Xiao Xiao didn't mind the old woman gripping his hand.