Na'er Leaves

Gu Chen silently gazed at Na'er. He clearly saw the complicated emotions in her eyes: thirty percent desolation, thirty percent sorrow, and forty percent utter despair. These three intense negative emotions seemed ready to completely swallow her petite body.

"Ah..." Gu Chen let out a deep sigh. He knew that any further words would be superfluous.

So, he silently reached out and turned off the small bedside lamp, plunging the entire room into darkness.

Then Gu Chen turned and quietly left Na'er's room, leaving only the door to slowly close behind him with a faint sound.

In the empty, silent room, only Na'er's petite figure stood there alone.

Normally, in a situation like this, Na'er would surely sneak into his room like a nimble little cat to ask for a hug.

Yet at this moment, Na'er seemed to have lost her soul, utterly listless.

Yet at this moment, Na'er lay blankly on the bed as though her soul had been drained away, seemingly stripped of all her usual liveliness and spirit.

"Brother..." Na'er murmured, her voice so soft it was nearly inaudible.

Tears poured uncontrollably from her eyes, sliding down her fair, delicate cheeks like pearls from a broken string.

"Although Na'er doesn't want to leave you, there's truly no way I can stay this time. As long as I remain by your side, she will really kill you without mercy!"

The "she" Na'er spoke of was the Silver Dragon King's primary personality, one filled with hostility toward humans.

A full month ago, she had delivered an ultimatum, ordering Na'er to leave Gu Chen immediately. Otherwise, she could imagine the consequences.

But because of her deep attachment to and reluctance to part from Brother, Na'er had been doing everything she could to delay the inevitable.

And today was the final deadline she had set.

This day had finally arrived. No matter how Na'er tried to avoid it, she could not change this cruel reality.

Though she was in immense pain, Na'er did not lie down to rest. Instead, she silently sat by the bed and waited.

Two long hours passed. Once she confirmed that Gu Chen had fallen asleep, Na'er carefully climbed out of bed, tiptoed to the door, gently opened it, and then darted toward Gu Chen's room like a light breeze.

Click! A faint sound rang out. Though it was not particularly loud, it seemed especially clear and abrupt in the dead of night.

Na'er carefully pushed open the door, afraid of making a louder noise and waking the sleeping person inside.

She entered the room softly. Gentle moonlight streamed through the window and spilled across the floor, as though draping the entire room in a thin silver veil.

By that faint moonlight, Na'er could clearly see Gu Chen's peaceful, flawless face.

Asleep, Gu Chen seemed a little less cold and aloof, making him much easier to approach. At least he looked better than the deadpan face he wore during the day.

Na'er slowly walked to Gu Chen's bedside, her movements as gentle as a breeze brushing across a lake.

She took out a letter and an exquisite pendant she had prepared long ago, a dragon scale, then gently placed them into an envelope beside her. Once she was done, Na'er carefully set the envelope on the bedside table.

Standing beside the bed, Na'er quietly gazed at Gu Chen, her eyes filled with reluctance to leave.

She stretched out both hands and gently pressed them against the edge of the bed, leaned forward slightly, and tenderly lowered her head.

On Gu Chen's sculpted, handsome cheek, Na'er left a light kiss filled with endless longing.

"Brother, don't miss me..." Na'er softly murmured, so quietly that perhaps only she herself could hear it.

"Na'er knows that with Brother's talent, you won't be confined to this little Aolai City. I have enough time to wait for you to grow stronger. One day, we will meet again." (We will meet again someday, but there's no need to rush. I have enough time to wait for you.)

As her words fell, Na'er straightened up, took a deep breath, and tried to calm the turbulent emotions in her heart.

At that moment, a dazzling silver-white radiance suddenly lit up behind Na'er.

As the light flashed, an immensely powerful and unfathomable force abruptly erupted, forcibly tearing open the surrounding space and forming a deep, dark spatial passage.

Yet astonishingly, despite how violent and rampant that power was, it did not affect the sleeping Gu Chen on the bed in the slightest. It did not even stir the corner of his clothes.

"Brother... goodbye!"

Na'er hastily wiped away her tears and walked toward the silver-white spatial passage. When her petite figure completely disappeared into it, the passage immediately closed, and the room fell into darkness once more, leaving only the moonlight shining down from above.

"Goodbye, Na'er..." Gu Chen murmured softly, his voice seeming to scatter into the air with the wind.

Was this what it felt like to part with family? That hollow feeling in his heart was like an invisible hand tightly clutching it, making it hard to breathe.

It really hurt.

Gu Chen slowly opened his eyes, a faint tear stain still lingering at the corner of one eye.

"Did I cry? Can a Double Pupil Bearer, born emotionally detached and devoted only to pursuing the Great Dao, cry?" (Don't be stubborn about this. Everyone has feelings. Unless you've achieved supreme emotional detachment, wouldn't you be sad if your family were gone or dead?)

He sat up in bed, his right hand instinctively covering his chest, where a dull ache seemed to throb.

This heart beat for his family.

His skill at pretending to sleep might work on ordinary people, but before someone as powerful and perceptive as Di Tian, or someone as clever as Gu Yue, it would probably be seen through in an instant. It would be no different from being fully awake.

And Na'er probably understood that as well.

She simply chose not to expose him. Perhaps she did not want this parting to become even heavier, nor did she wish to face that unbearable sorrow of separation.

Thinking back to the scene before Na'er left, Gu Chen could not help but sigh softly.

They had not even said a proper goodbye, yet she had already cried her eyes out, helpless like a child.

Gu Chen could even imagine that if they had said goodbye while awake, Na'er would definitely have thrown herself into his arms without hesitation, sobbing as she smeared snot and tears all over him.

At that thought, the corners of Gu Chen's lips unconsciously rose into a faint smile.

However, the smile quickly vanished, replaced by deep melancholy and loneliness. "Na'er, go do whatever you want. No matter what trouble you cause, I'll cover for you."

As for the Tang God King?

He would have to get past me first!