Xiao Ning Wan Wan gritted her teeth and walked towards Xiao Si Zhan, shouting, “No, I won’t let you die. My grandmother said we must cherish our lives. If you die, your parents will be heartbroken.”
Xiao Si Zhan lowered his eyes, his expression dim and lifeless, exuding loneliness between heaven and earth.
“Little brother… don’t die. If you die in front of me, I’ll be very sad… and I… I’m about to…” Ning Wan Wan’s voice trembled slightly, on the verge of tears from fear or anxiety.
Xiao Si Zhan looked up at Ning Wan Wan, struggling towards her, his dim eyes brightening momentarily.
In that instant, he suddenly didn’t want to die anymore.
“Ah—” Ning Wan Wan’s foot slipped, and she sank beneath the water.
Xiao Si Zhan quickly turned around, “Little sister! Little sister!”
“Help… help…” Ning Wan Wan’s head bobbed up downstream before sinking again.
Xiao Si Zhan swam towards her. After struggling for some time, they finally embraced. However, Ning Wan Wan was struck by a hidden reef underwater and lost consciousness.
“Wan Wan…” “Little sister…”
Two voices merged gradually.
Ning Wan Wan opened her eyes, seeing Xiao Si Zhan and the adult Si Zhan’s anxious faces merging. She felt something heavy and painful in her chest, realizing the arrow embedded there.
Above her were tree branches mixed with the night sky. She saw a few bright stars through the branches, and Si Zhan’s face was alternately clear and blurry against this backdrop.
They had been carried by the Bian River’s current out of the city.
Si Zhan trembled as he caressed her face, displaying an expression she had never seen in two lifetimes—despair and helplessness.
A massive dizziness enveloped her head, and Si Zhan’s face became increasingly blurry.
A tear fell on Ning Wan Wan’s chin as she awakened, as if a powerful force guided her to open her eyes and raise her hand. Gently, she wiped Si Zhan’s damp lower face, smiling softly, “Little brother, don’t cry…”
Si Zhan nodded, then suddenly grabbed her hand, clinging to her as if she were slipping away.
“Wan Wan, you?”
