Shu Ying turned around abruptly and discovered that her mother's figure had appeared on the sea, which had been empty just moments before.

The mother, Yang Wan, rose and fell on the sea, struggling desperately by sliding her arms. Her pleading eyes fell on her, reaching out her hand and calling Shu Ying's name over and over again.

"Yingying, Yingying, please save Mommy... Mommy can't hold on much longer."

He kept repeating this sentence over and over, shouting it incessantly, pleading for help.

Shu Ying immediately wanted to help, but the rock she was standing on was at least a meter and a half away from the sea.

She turned around and looked around but couldn't find a stick that could save the person.

Shu Ying even turned her head to look and realized that the reef she was standing on was actually a rock in the middle of the sea, not at all near the shore.

She had no way to get off the rock and find tools elsewhere.

Having exhausted all other options, Shuying gritted her teeth and considered jumping down to save her mother.

However, she closed her eyes, jumped, and felt a sense of weightlessness.

He thought he had already jumped, but when he opened his eyes, he was still on the reef.

Shu Ying stared wide-eyed in disbelief, trying repeatedly but still unable to leave the rock.

She watched helplessly as her mother struggled on the sea, her movements becoming slower and slower, her voice growing weaker and weaker. She was frantic, not knowing what to do, and her breathing became increasingly rapid.

She couldn't care less about herself anymore; her breathing rhythm was completely disordered, and sometimes she even forgot to breathe, feeling a tightness and pain in her chest, which was extremely uncomfortable.

Shuying instinctively wanted to find her father for help, but she couldn't find him anywhere; only her mother was floating on the sea.

And it drifted further and further away.

At first, you could see half of its body above the water, but gradually only its head remained, and then... only its hair was floating on the surface.

Shu Ying was extremely anxious, her whole body trembling.

The feeling of watching your mother die with your own eyes, being powerless to help, and only being able to watch helplessly, is even more painful than killing her directly.

The painful emotions were stuck in my chest; at first, it felt like my emotions were locked up, and I couldn't cry.

The moment she could no longer see her mother, the floodgates of her emotions seemed to burst open, and Shu Ying burst into uncontrollable sobs.

She clutched her chest, tears streaming down her face like broken beads, dripping continuously down her cheeks and chin.

Shu Ying cried so hard she could barely breathe, her breathing becoming increasingly rapid until it hurt as the air she inhaled and exhaled rubbed against her throat.

But what was this little pain to Shu Ying at this moment? The pain she felt was a heart-wrenching, excruciating pain.

"Mommy, Mommy—"

Xie Zhiyan was awakened by the sobbing and crying in his arms.

Confirming that he wasn't dreaming, Xie Zhiyan immediately frowned, turned on the light, and nervously looked down.

Shu Ying's eyes were tightly closed, tears already wetting her eyelashes and her fair face.

Her eyelashes were trembling incessantly, her breathing was rapid and disordered, her face was pale, and even her voice was intermittent.

Xie Zhiyan immediately thought of the respiratory alkalosis that Shu Ying had mentioned before.

The symptoms are very similar.

Xie Zhiyan didn't dare to delay. He immediately got out of bed, found a paper bag, put it over Shu Ying's mouth and nose, gently stroked her hair, and whispered in her ear to guide her.

"Yingying, listen to me, adjust your breathing."

"breathe--"

Xie Zhiyan's voice was gentle yet firm. Shu Ying kept her eyes tightly closed, but subconsciously followed his voice and adjusted her breathing rhythm.

After a while, she finally calmed down and her breathing returned to normal, but Shu Ying's eyes were still tightly closed, and her eyelashes and eyelids kept trembling.

Even without a visible expression or seeing Shu Ying's eyes, Xie Zhiyan could sense that she was afraid.

Xie Zhiyan returned to the bed, picked her up again, and let her lean against his chest. He gently patted Shu Ying's arm rhythmically with his right hand, coaxing her softly.

"Yingying, don't be afraid, it's alright, it's alright..."

He lowered his head and tenderly kissed her forehead.

In the past, Shuying would have woken up long ago by now.

But today, for some reason, she seemed trapped in this nightmare, unable to wake up, still sobbing and mumbling "Mommy," looking very distressed and heartbroken.

Although Xie Zhiyan didn't know what happened in the dream, anything related to his mother always touched Shuying's heartstrings the most.

He couldn't bear to see her continue to be so sad and upset, so after thinking for a moment, he increased the pressure on his hand and gently pushed Shu Ying's arm.

"Yingying, it's time to wake up."

A moment later, Shu Ying suddenly opened her eyes, breathing heavily as if she had just surfaced from the seabed.

Xie Zhiyan frowned even more deeply.

"How are you feeling? Are you alright?"

Hearing Xie Zhiyan's voice, Shu Ying seemed to be instantly pulled back to reality.

She turned her head, her empty gaze gradually focusing on his face.

Shu Ying stared at Xie Zhiyan's face as if in disbelief, and tentatively called out.

"Xie Zhiyan?"

Xie Zhiyan nodded firmly.

"It's me, Yingying. That was just a dream. You've already come out of the dream."

"I've come out of my dream..."

Shu Ying looked around in a daze.

Only when the familiar scene came into view did she feel a sense of reality returning to the present.

The next second, Shu Ying suddenly threw herself into Xie Zhiyan's arms, hugging him tightly, as if she wanted to draw more reassuring strength from him. She pressed her head against his chest and bit her lip hard.

But as soon as I close my eyes, the scene from my dream reappears before me, as if I can't escape it at all.

Two more tears rolled down Shu Ying's cheeks.

Xie Zhiyan felt extremely distressed seeing her panicked and upset.

He tightened his arms, holding her even closer.

Once her breathing had calmed down a bit, she finally asked.

"Yingying, what happened?"

It took Shu Ying a long while to make sure her voice sounded less choked up when she spoke.

"I... just dreamt about my mother. I dreamt that she fell into the sea and struggled on the surface for a long, long time, constantly reaching out her hands to me for help."

"But I... I can't save her at all. I'm standing on that rock, I can't jump down, and I can't find any tools. Every time I jump down, I just end up back where I started..."