Chapter 32

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye after Su Yue left.

For the Crystal Clan, half a year is but a fleeting moment. He had lived in the stone house for a hundred years, witnessing the vicissitudes of life; what was half a year to him?

But since parting ways with Su Yue, the past six months have become exceptionally long and unbearable.

That day, Noah was patrolling the forest as usual, passing by the ancient castle hill.

There is no castle on Castle Hill; the real castle is atop the "veil." But this doesn't stop Castle Hill from being a popular tourist destination.

He stood in the shadows, silently watching another group of young people who had come to camp.

Then, he saw Pat Sue.

Caught off guard.

He blinked, took three deep breaths, and confirmed that it wasn't a hallucination.

Su Yue exchanged a few words with his friends, then sat down alone by the campfire.

As always, unlike the sweet and cheerful Claire, he always pursed his lips and had a sullen face, as if the whole world owed him money.

His quiet demeanor, contrasted with the lively atmosphere around him, made him appear somewhat lonely and forlorn.

Su Yue was somewhat absent-minded, and suddenly glanced in the direction where Noah was.

Noah's heart skipped a beat. Even though he knew Noah couldn't see him, he felt as if Noah's gaze pierced through the shadows and landed directly on him.

He almost stepped out of the shadows, rushed forward, hugged him tightly, and recognized him.

He used all his strength to restrain his impulse, even biting his lip until it bled.

Later, Su Yue went to the observation deck and enjoyed the scenery alone.

As night deepened, everyone extinguished the campfire and returned to their tents to rest, but Su Yue quietly came out, wrapped in a leather jacket, and walked towards the open grassland in the cool breeze.

He wandered around the grass for a while, and when he seemed tired, he sat down against a tree and looked up at the starry sky in solitude.

After a long while, he returned to the tent and sat there in the cold wind, lost in thought...

The moonlight stretched his shadow long and thin, making him appear even more lonely.

After Su Yue finally fell asleep, Noah quietly came to his side.

Under the moonlight, Su Yue slept soundly, as quiet as a porcelain doll.

Noah gazed silently, his heart filled with turbulent emotions.

This silly child, how could he fall asleep outside? Even though the weather is warm, he could easily catch a cold...

He silently activated a temperature-controlled insulating aura, gently enveloping the slender figure. Then, holding his breath, he leaned closer, lifted a strand of silver hair, placed a deep kiss on his lips, and quietly placed it back in its place.

Before dawn, before Su Yue awoke, Noah departed quietly, just as he had come.

This unexpected encounter with Su Yue at the ancient castle mountain nearly drove Noah mad after they returned to the stone house.

God knows how much self-control he used to stay behind the scenes, and how much regret and breakdown he felt afterward!

In truth, he had never had a good time in the nearly one hundred years since Claire left. Depression, suffocation, and despair were his constant companions, and the black mist of his supernatural power accumulated deeper and deeper within him... But as time went on, the pain gradually became numb, and despair became a part of his daily life, as commonplace as drinking water and breathing. The clock continued to tick, and he lived on like a walking corpse.

Until Su Yue barged in.

During the month that the boy spent recuperating in the stone house, everything changed.

Su Yue looked remarkably like Claire. Every time Noah saw him, it was as if he were seeing Claire herself, and he couldn't help but care for and look after her, almost always granting her every request.

Not only him, but even Da Bao mistook Su Yue for Claire. Although it had been domesticated and was not hostile to humans, it was still a bear and would never be so affectionate, compliant, and obedient to a stranger.

Even more coincidentally, Su Yue possesses a conductive nature that he does not reject.

If it weren't for the numerous authoritative assessments that confirmed Claire had been completely annihilated after that accident, leaving not a single cell behind, he would almost believe... that Su Yue was Claire's rebirth.

But they are ultimately from two different worlds.

So a month later, he saw Su Yue off without hesitation.

Although during that month, he felt the warmth of the sun again and breathed the fresh air of the forest, he was no longer an empty shell.

But once you've tasted the light, how can you go back to the darkness?

During the six months they were apart, he felt suffocated and wanted to die.

He tried all sorts of extreme sports, fell and broke bones, and bled, but still couldn't release his emotions.

Images of Su Yue and his memories of Claire kept flashing uncontrollably through his mind. Sometimes he couldn't even tell whether the person in his memories was Su Yue or Claire.

Noah staggered down into the underground storage room.

That place houses all of Claire's belongings and photographs, his only refuge during his century of solitude. Every year on the anniversary of Claire's death, or when he was too grief-stricken to bear, he would lock himself inside for an hour, half a day, a day, or even three days... until he could gather some strength again before he could come out.

The storage room door is fitted with a gene lock with the highest level of security.

Nearly losing control of his emotions, Noah pressed his trembling finger into the recognition area.

The door opened. Familiar scenery came into view, and his tense nerves relaxed slightly.

He slowly stepped inside, his gaze sweeping over the displayed photographs, documenting every stage of his and Claire's journey from meeting to marriage. From their first encounter, to her designing the stone house, her studies at Oxford, and then...

Suddenly, I tripped over something.

He looked down and was startled to see an incongruous pen lying on the ground.

He bent down to pick it up and took a closer look—it was Su Yue's paintbrush.

Su Yue often used it to paint during his recovery period; he bought this brush in town when he had some free time.

Claire had no habit of painting, so there couldn't have been any paintbrushes among her belongings, and she would never have brought unrelated items into this special room. There's only one answer: Su Yue came in.

Noah was struck dumb, his heart filled with turmoil.

Su Yue actually came in here?!

He immediately checked the status of the gene lock. Everything was normal, and the screen clearly displayed: the two keys that could unlock this lock were his own genetic information and... Claire's.

Noah felt a loud "boom" in his mind, as if something had suddenly exploded.

Pat Sue, is that Pat Claire?!