"Mmm! So fragrant!"
Draining the tea in his hand in one gulp, Sara said with a smile, "Tea really is the best drink."
"Is that so... I prefer coffee. It wakes you up, and it smells good too," the little old man said leisurely, reclining in a rocking chair.
This was a small grove with a little clearing enclosed in its center. Two parasols stood here. This was where Sara and the little old man relaxed and rested.
"What's wrong? You seem to have something you want to say to me."
The little old man opened his eyes. After thinking for a moment, he finally spoke slowly.
"Why did you let that girl go there?"
"She wants to find what she wants to know."
"So? You just let her go there? Did you do it deliberately?"
"No, I merely guided her toward finding her own truth."
"The Great Calamity is almost here. Aren't you sending her down a road to certain death by doing this?" The little old man sighed helplessly. "You shouldn't have let her go there. Didn't we agree? That place isn't open to anyone."
"That girl carries an unprecedented sense of regret and persistence in her heart..." Sara's gaze was deep.
"When the choice stands before her, it's still hard to say whether she'll make her own decision."
"But rest assured, when that time comes, I'll make my own choice."
The little old man fell silent for a moment. "That treats the symptoms, not the root."
"Even if you buy another twenty or thirty years, what good will it do?"
"The Great Calamity will still come again. When that happens, there won't be a second Sara in this world."
"What we need is time." Sara poured himself another cup of tea.
"Time and again, humanity has been