novelhk Page 1162
Page 1162
"No, no, no, I'm just sleeping here!" Arya waved her hand with a smile, but her tail was sticking up high.
“Come in,” Annie said.
"Uh-huh!"
Arya followed Any into the room.
Elsa had long since recovered and was sitting in An's office chair, resting with her eyes closed.
Since there was only one chair in the room and Annie wasn't there, she sat down.
A different succubus might definitely not dare to sit there, but Elsa 6 never felt that Zero and An Yiqi were in a superior-subordinate relationship, after all...
They're friends!
Seeing the two enter, she quickly stood up to greet them.
However, the thought of the chair getting warm from sitting on it made me a little embarrassed and unsure of what to do.
An Yi glanced at the empty room, then at the two of them: "Let's talk somewhere else. There's not even a place to sit here."
We've always taken your presence for granted, but it's time to ask why you're here in the first place.
Chapter 7 The Holy Maiden Awakens! (4k)
No one knows when it started, but An Yi, who was practicing swordsmanship in the morning as usual, went home, collapsed on the bed, and never woke up again.
He didn't live to see his seventieth birthday; despite spending his entire life exercising, he died before Lycorina.
Upon discovering An'i's death, the equally aged Lycorina wept for countless days.
I heard from her children, grandchildren, and neighbors that she seemed to have cried all her tears until the day An Yi was buried.
Her children and grandchildren had grown up, and she had no more things she wanted to do in her life. An Yi's death seemed to sever all her thoughts, and in the end, she lost her appetite and could no longer eat or drink.
With her face covered in wrinkles and her once silvery-white hair now dry and pale, Lycorina became increasingly melancholic and emaciated, thus drawing near to her death.
Perhaps wanting to see An Yi as much as possible in the final moments of her life, she would always have her family take turns leading her to An Yi's grave.
Their eldest son is already fifty years old, and their youngest granddaughter is a graceful young woman.
Her children all have their own careers, but it's her young grandchildren who have time to spend with her.
Another day passed, and Lycorina came to Any's grave.
She said nothing, just slumped there, leaning against the tombstone.
The grandchildren who accompanied her witnessed this scene almost every day. At first, they couldn't help but cry. Even though they've gotten used to it now, they still feel heartache and their eyes sting.
The two of them have such a good relationship...
Lycorina's posture while sitting there was less than dignified, and more of a sense of helplessness;
Weak.
She closed her eyes and looked back on her life.
After An Yi's death, she kept reminiscing about all the days she spent with An Yi.
For some reason, when she looks back on all of this from her childhood, she always feels that there are many unnatural aspects.
It should be said that... there are parts that are not real.
She's old now; she's only two years younger than An Yi.
The two grew up in the same village and have spent nearly seventy years together.
Lycorina has also transformed from that somewhat clumsy little girl into the elderly woman she is today.
As she gains more experience and accumulates more wisdom, she will inevitably discover everything that was unusual in her youth.
Putting aside all the illogical details, the biggest anomaly is that An Yi has practiced swordsmanship his whole life.
When she was young, she and An Yi had traveled between the north and south, but at the time they didn't realize anything was wrong.
But looking back, this world is very peaceful; different countries have no armies, no wars, and no bloodshed.
However, An Yi firmly believed from the beginning that she would protect her family by practicing swordsmanship.
This idea remained steadfast until he grew old and died.
He never once raised his sword for his family.
What is the purpose of the village-guarding swordsman?
There aren't even any village-guarding swordsmen elsewhere.
The small village where the two lived almost completely lost its guardian swordsman after the previous generation died of old age, leaving only An Yi.
Lycorina made absolutely no attempt to have her descendants learn swordsmanship from Any, as she felt there was no need to learn martial arts at all.
Why didn't we notice it before?
I used to think that because it was An Yi, it was only natural for her to practice swordsmanship, or maybe it was just her hobby or something.
Can……
An-yi's hobbies are out of touch with the rest of the world.
In a world where there is absolutely no need to shed blood to protect others, he has no reason to even wield his sword.
What are the village-guarding swordsmen protecting? What dangers are they trying to prevent?
The man who had been with her for life, the man she had truly spent so much time with, raising children together, and traveling the world, had left her with nothing but inexplicable abnormalities in the end.
If she were younger, it would be normal for her to find it strange.
But now she is no longer young, she is so old that she has lost her teeth, and these abnormalities are hard for her to let go of.
What are the people who will accompany you throughout your life hiding, and what have happened between them?
An Yi studied swordsmanship from a young age and became the strongest swordsman in the village, so...
Why did he study swordsmanship from a young age?
Is it just longing for her own father?
Is it merely a longing for Zero's father, who also died without ever taking up the sword ninety-one times for his six families? (8:☆～)
Licorina could not fathom the motivation behind Anina's nearly seventy years of unwavering sword practice.
She lost her appetite and became depressed, not just because of An Yi's death.
It was also because she suddenly realized that she seemed to no longer understand An Yi.
In this wonderful world, where is An Yi's enemy?
Her memory returned to that day, the day An Yi went to town to take the first-level swordsman exam and returned.
Lycorina had a dream, a dream of a world filled with sacrifice and bloodshed, of brave men and enemies.
In fact, this dream appeared more than once, although not frequently, but it was interspersed throughout her sleep throughout her life.
She suddenly realized that the An Yi in her dream, who was single-mindedly fighting the enemy, was the An Yi she had always known.
In that world, there were no imagined enemies, only endless battles.
An'i's fight in that world had practical significance; he had a reason to fight.
Do not understand.
She doesn't understand.
She couldn't understand whether it was An Yi, the man she had spent her life with, who was projected into her dream, creating an enemy for her in the dream.
Or perhaps... An Yi from the dream was projected into "reality".
This is an unreasonable reality.
That's a reasonable dream.
However, the other side of the dream seems a bit too cruel.
There are powerful enemies, unavoidable bloodshed and sacrifice, and it seems that I also bear some heavy responsibility.
Compared to living a happy life here, dying peacefully in my old age, it seems much more terrifying over there…
...?
At this moment, something lit up in Lycorina's previously cloudy golden eyes, as if they had become much clearer.
Even though her old eyesight was failing and she couldn't see everything blurry in front of her, she felt as if she saw something.
in case……
Is my happy life, all the wonderful things I've experienced, actually just a beautiful dream created specifically for me?
Lycorina strained to support herself and used the tombstone to stand up from the ground.
"grandmother……!"
The grandchildren seemed to want to come and help.
"I'm fine..."
Lycorina managed to squeeze out a sentence from her dry throat, then stared at Any's tombstone in front of her.
"If you were still alive... would you tell me this was all a beautiful dream...?"
Am I being a little too happy?
She chuckled.
All the happy moments of her life flashed through her mind like a revolving lantern; this happiness almost filled her mind.
A wonderful life, a wonderful world, everything is too wonderful.
Why have I always simply felt that I am very happy?
But is it a blessing that An Yi died before her?
Oh no.
If this is a beautiful dream that ends happily...
One's own will must awaken from happiness.
The only way to turn this beautiful dream into a truly perfect one is to end it!