"Little Man Tian Xing might not always be able to see Guardian Spirits."
"This ability..."
Li Yan paused briefly, then continued, "can disappear."
Silence spread through the room.
Li Yan began to feel uneasy.
"Grandpa Man..."
he said softly.
"...Xiao Yan."
The old man's voice finally sounded again.
It was clearly more somber than before.
"You mean..."
"Little Man Tian Xing might..."
"have lost the ability to see Guardian Spirits?"
"Is that what you mean?"
"...Yes."
After a moment of stunned silence, Li Yan answered at once.
The old man had understood more quickly than he'd expected.
It seemed he hadn't grasped what Li Yan meant as quickly as Grandpa Man had.
"...How could this happen?"
Grandma Luo murmured.
The child's rare birthday wish...
They had gone to so much trouble...
At last, they'd thought they were about to succeed...
But they weren't?
They were still facing the risk of failure...
"It's only a possibility,"
Li Yan said hastily.
"Maybe Little Man Tian Xing can still see it."
Then there wouldn't be any problem.
Tomorrow would be a successful birthday party, filled with laughter and joy.
"What if she can't see it?"
Grandpa Man asked.
"...What do we do then?"
"Little Man Tian Xing will be heartbroken."
Grandma Luo sighed.
The way Little Man Tian Xing spoke of Guardian Spirits with such eager anticipation and dependence, her eyes sparkling with joy...
If she found out she couldn't see her Guardian Spirit anymore...
How sad she would be...
That wasn't what they wanted.
They were looking for the Guardian Spirit to make the child happy.
Rather than risk making her sad by letting her find out she couldn't see her friend, perhaps it would be better not to surprise her at all...