The wind did not stir, the clouds did not drift, and all constants fell still.
Xiao Nannan, crying her heart out, did not notice anything strange about Heaven and Earth. But she heard those words, heard a voice she knew.
Before she could react, a pair of hands appeared behind her, lifted her up, and drew her into their owner's arms.
"If you cry until you look like a little tabby cat, Nannan won't be cute anymore."
At the sound of that gentle voice, Xiao Nannan caught a familiar scent and looked up at the familiar face of the person holding her.
She cried even harder.
"Big Brother... Big Brother... Big Brother..." Xiao Nannan called again and again through her tears.
The person who had appeared while all of Space-Time stood still was Meng Chuan, long since vanished!
"I'm here. Big Brother's here." Meng Chuan smiled gently as he wiped Xiao Nannan's tears away.
"Where did you go? Nannan missed you. I missed you all the time." Xiao Nannan's eyes were red. "And Big Sister, Brother Ye, and the others... something happened to them. They're going to leave Nannan."
"Big Brother has been with Nannan all along, in a place you didn't know about."
Meng Chuan watched Xiao Nannan's tears gradually stop, then lifted her onto his shoulders.
"And Big Sister and the others won't leave Nannan. They'll always be here with you."
Meng Chuan looked toward Shi Hao, Ye Fan, Ruthless, and the others. With a thought, he released Space-Time from its stillness.
Time flowed once more through Past, Present, and Future, surging onward.
Shi Hao, Ye Fan, and the others, who had been on the verge of vanishing completely, noticed what had happened and saw Meng Chuan for the first time in so long.
Joy and surprise rose