The moon is high in the sky.

The slender, indistinct shadows of the small bamboo grove outside the window are reflected on the white wall inside the house.

It created patches of mottled light and shadow.

Cold, white fingertips touched the teacup on the table, the pad of the thumb tracing the rim of the cup.

She doesn't need to know.

The figure sat opposite Yin Huaizhu with its back to the window.

With his back to the light and shadow, his face was not visible.

“A demon is one year old every two hundred years. In her current form, her mind might be equivalent to that of a five-year-old child in the human world.”

Yin Huaizhu lowered her eyes, and for a moment, the already quiet room was filled with silence.

After a long while, he murmured something.

"It's enough that I can see her again."

Yin Huaizhu raised her eyes and looked at the bamboo shadows cast through the window.

"As long as she is by my side, I will protect her in this world."

Therefore, she doesn't need to know anything.

Including the fact that he is Lin Yu.

He waited year after year until she came.

But now that she's here, he doesn't dare tell her.

The figure stared at Yin Huaizhu, whose face was as pale as paper under the moonlight.

Even so, how long can you keep her here?

Upon hearing this, Yin Huaizhu gave a bitter smile.

“Jinqian, you know I don’t have much time left.”

At most... three to five years...

"She will be sad."

His body had been in a state of complete decay for the past six years.

Current medical tests cannot reveal his true physical condition; at most, he may be described as frail and prone to illness.

Only he himself knew that he had forcibly shortened his lifespan.

No amount of rare medicine can make up for it.

He doesn't have much time left.

She would be heartbroken if she knew he was Lin Yu.

Bai Ying was right. If she knew everything and saw him like this, she would be unhappy and disappointed.

It's better to leave it at that; he can see her for as long as he can.

That way, at least she won't be disappointed in the end.

Keeping her was an uncontrollable obsession he had held for many years.

Not telling her was his last selfish thought.