"Qi Zhimu... Lord..."
"I'm sorry, we... have brought shame upon you..."
Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold's eyes gradually glazed over, their words coming in broken fragments.
The shadows on Qi Zhimu's face completely vanished. Looking at their current state, his heart struggled violently.
"To have been able to follow you all these years and fight for you until the very last moment is... my honor..." A nearly imperceptible curve struggled to lift the corner of Sleeping Snow's mouth.
"It is also... my honor." Clear Cold smiled, like a blooming flower of blood.
Qi Zhimu's mind shook violently.
"Fighting for me...?"
"Yes..."
In this instant, the space around Qi Zhimu seemed to slow down, and even the passage of time became many times slower.
He clutched his head as countless chaotic consciousnesses pierced into his mind like sharp spikes, bringing a pain intense enough to drive one completely into madness.
Bang!
He shattered his own skull with a single punch, blood mist and bone fragments splattering like a bursting watermelon.
But in the next second, flesh and blood writhed at his neck, and a new head had already regenerated.
"If the price is falling into the abyss, are you still willing to fight for me?"
Hearing these words in the final moments of their lives, Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold's lives replayed like a revolving lantern, bringing back past Remembrance... Star Calendar Year 6285.
Qingyun School, the first day of the new school year, night, heavy rain.
The entire school was empty, with few people remaining.
At the exit of the teaching building, two little girls sat huddled together on a hallway bench, looking at the curtain of rain that seemed to envelop the entire world.
After an unknown amount of time, a tall and straight figure discovered the two of them and slowly approached.
"You two students, the Hour of the Dog has already passed. Why haven't you gone home yet?"
Although it was their first meeting, the two children still recognized him as a teacher here.
"Teacher, our umbrella is gone."
"...Are your parents very busy?"
"Great Aunt said they went to a very distant world for trade and won't be back for many, many years."
"...Then what about your Great Aunt?"
"A year ago, a Cloud Knights brother said that Great Aunt died on the battlefield."
"..."
Qi Zhimu's heart trembled slightly.
Having once been a Cloud Knight, he was all too familiar with these things.
Quietly hiding the pity that flashed in his eyes, Qi Zhimu knelt down in front of the two and spoke gently.
"How about I take you home?"
As for the Little Fellow who stole the umbrella, he wouldn't be hard to find; he would deal with that tomorrow.
"There's no need to trouble the teacher. My sister and I will just wait for the rain to stop." The gray-eyed girl looked up with a small face, revealing a clean smile.
"Silly child, taking care of you is the duty of a school teacher."
Qi Zhimu gently rubbed her hair, and an umbrella appeared in his hand.
"Shall we go?"
"...Then we shall trouble you. Sleeping Snow and my little sister thank the teacher."
Under the curtain of rain, three figures—one large and two small—walked through it.
The umbrella tilted slightly, keeping the two children completely dry.
When they returned home and came out after bathing, they saw steaming hot food already laid out on the table.
The teacher had only left a note before quietly departing.
That night, Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold ate the seemingly ordinary dinner, and the chill brought by the wind and rain that the hot bath couldn't dispel was now entirely replaced by a thick warmth welling up from their hearts... Star Calendar Year 6289.
Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold had grown much older and finally entered the class taught by Qi Zhimu.
Over these years, their thoughts had gradually matured, and they knew their relatives would never return.
They knew... that there was a teacher at Qingyun School who had looked after their growth for several years like an older brother.
In Star Calendar Year 6291, they graduated from the school.
In Star Calendar Year 6292, they returned to their alma mater with gifts on Qi Zhimu's birthday.
To give him a surprise, they had not contacted or informed him in advance.
As the setting sun dipped in the west, Qi Zhimu saw them in front of his office door.
Seeing the exquisitely packaged cake boxes in their hands, he understood everything.
"That's very thoughtful of you. Actually, you could have contacted me in advance."
"If we told you in advance, there wouldn't be a surprise, teacher."
"How so? During the time I spend waiting for you to come, I would be just as happy."
"...Oh, but my sister and I are participating in the Cloud Knights Reserve Army selection this year, so we might not be able to come visit you next year."
Qi Zhimu looked a bit dazed.
"Teacher? Teacher?"
"Teacher, what's wrong?"
"...It's nothing. I wish you both get what you desire."
"Then we'll take your auspicious words to heart. Little sister—"
"Respected Teacher Qi Zhimu, we wish you a happy birthday!"
The two girls spoke in unison, the light in their eyes brilliant... Star Calendar Year 6298.
"...Teacher, we have passed the adulthood exams and also passed the Cloud Knights enlistment assessment. We've joined the army."
"Teacher, the General has given us... highest-level mission orders..."
...Star Calendar Year 6299.
"Teacher... the black lines on the Training Phantom's body are too thin. Can a person really accurately cut through this line?"
"On the battlefield, life and death are often decided in an instant. Only by being more familiar with the body structures and weaknesses of Abominations than they are themselves can you defeat the enemy in one strike."
The Vanguard who had returned to the army placed his right hand over the back of the short-haired recruit's hand, gripping the hilt to correct her posture.
"Different weapons have different optimal power postures, and different people will also have their real-time judgment and precision affected by factors like strength and reaction speed."
"Through thousands of refinements, let your body know that feeling better than your brain. Only then can you kill enemies efficiently on the battlefield and survive as long as possible."
"Grip the ground with your feet, tighten your abdomen, pay attention to the tilt of your waist. Yes, just like that. Strike!"
The Modao accurately sliced through the black line without the slightest error.
"...I did it..."
"That's the feeling. Remember it."
"Thank you for the guidance, Tea... Lord Vanguard!"
...Until... Star Calendar Year 6300.
The nightmare-like Crimson Demonic Star, the nightmare-like Undying Giant Tree, and the endless branches... In a life-and-death moment, a thousand sword-lights pierced through the air, cutting through the nightmare enveloping them and reclaiming them from the confinement of the Undying Giant Tree.
During their decades in Yaoqing, through countless battles, he had pulled them back from the clutches of death time and time again.
The sisters' lives had long belonged to him... and now, Star Calendar Year 6338.
Blood dyed the entire battlefield. Amidst the auditory hallucinations were nothing but desperate roars, shrill screams, and hopeless wails... They saw the familiar light again, seeing the Abominations that had devoured countless comrades and half of their own bodies being annihilated by that light.
In the final moment of their lives, they could finally say what was in their hearts with total sincerity.
Yet he was asking—if they were still willing to fight for him?
The answer had always been obvious.
"Willing, for all eternity without regret..."
"Willing, for all eternity without regret..."
Only a final trace of consciousness remained for Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold; their voices were as faint as a mosquito's buzz, yet perfectly in unison.
Qi Zhimu slowly closed his eyes and gently pulled them into his embrace.
Blood generated flesh, and flesh generated bone.
Everything that was lost began to restore, yet it was joined by something that did not originally belong to them, something that would accompany them for a lifetime.