Night had fully fallen. In his daze, Yue Ling heard someone calling his name over and over beside his ear.
"Yue Ling... Yue Ling? Are you okay? Yue Ling?"
That afternoon, Gongyang Mo had noticed that he had remained silent and secretly glanced at him.
Seeing his eyes tightly shut and his breathing steady, he had assumed Yue Ling was simply too tired and had gone to sleep early.
Gongyang Mo had said nothing, quietly placing the chrysanthemum from his Soul Tool on the windowsill.
"Haah..." He yawned and wiped away the tears squeezed from the corners of his eyes.
After running around for an entire day, he had long since been exhausted.
He lay down on the bed, feeling the breathing of the second living person nearby.
Breathing in the flower's faint fragrance, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier until he slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep.
When he woke up, he turned to see that Yue Ling was still asleep, occasionally letting out pained whimpers in his dreams.
Gongyang Mo's heart skipped a beat, and he instantly woke up completely, abruptly sitting upright.
For a moment, it felt as though he had returned to that noon on the final day of the elimination rounds.
Gongyang Mo's body immediately tensed, terrified that something might have happened to Yue Ling.
That helpless feeling was still etched into his memories even now.
He slipped on his slippers, hurried out of bed, came to Yue Ling's side, and reached out to shake him hard.
"Wake up! Wake up!"
Yue Ling rubbed his bleary eyes and squinted in confusion at the anxious Gongyang Mo. In a hoarse voice, he asked, "What... what happened?"
Seeing that he was fine, Gongyang Mo's suspended heart finally settled. Still somewhat puzzled, he said, "I heard you