When Ling An finished speaking, Wu Li froze.
He murmured in disbelief, "Why?"
Ling An stared straight at him without a word.
Everything she had once loved could now only be seen from her sickbed.
Those landscapes were so beautiful that they brought his wife to tears.
The man's love was genuine, too. Sincere and exhausted, he traveled to famous scenic spots for his wife.
Yet those recorded landscapes seemed to be things the man had "gained."
For his wife, however, all she could see was what she had "lost."
Nothing could have been more painful.
So she had chosen to take her own life.
That was the tragic reality.
Wu Li looked silently at Ling An, relief mingling with lingering fear in his voice. "You're... right. I nearly followed in that man's footsteps."
"You're already doing it." Ling An's words were firm and final.
At that, Wu Li fell silent.
Only after a long while did he slowly speak. "But I have no choice..."
"There's nowhere on Mt. Firmament where time stands still forever. Even if there were, she'd be nothing more than a caged canary. Think carefully about whether your other half would want that kind of life."
Ling An let out a long sigh and headed out of the inn.
It was always like this between people.
Two people who had once been inseparable grew distant because of a grave illness. Even if they still loved each other, it became difficult to open their hearts.
When their feelings could no longer reach each other, everything became an illusion.
Just like the man in the story, who had exhausted every effort only for it all to be in vain.
All he had done was tell Wu Li a story.
What Wu Li chose to do next was none