"Hm?"

Li Chunhua, who was crouching while admiring a bunch of colorful flowers, raised her head.

"Brother Jie, did you hear something just now?"

Contrary to her sister, Li Junjie just stood with his hand folded in front of his chest with a bored expression. He showed no interest whatsoever in the flowers or view.

"No. You sure it wasn't your imagination?"

Li Chunhua wasn't convinced, so she looked up to the building, particularly to one balcony on the second floor, where Meng Renshu's room was supposed to be. It was empty with no one in sight.

"Strange. I thought I heard Xiaoyi calling our name."

Li Junjie didn't respond, so Li Chunhua quickly brushed it off as nothing and continued taking a picture of the bed of flowers.

***

Meng Renshu had never felt so pathetic before. Hearing Li Caiyi's explanation was like receiving a slap on the face.

Now he understood why she never seemed to take him seriously. To be fair, she tried, but Meng Renshu subconsciously knew that she took his words with a pinch of salt every time.

'So that's the reason,' He thought inwardly.

There was a period when he doubted his own feelings, but he thought he had long since settled down that doubt. Still, what Li Caiyi said hit him to the core and rendered him speechless.

He couldn't deny that there was some truth in Li Caiyi's words. If someone said that was the only reason for his change, he wouldn't be able to deny it. Because he indeed changed a lot after those series of dreams.

Would he ever see Li Caiyi in a different light without those dreams? It made him doubt himself again.

'Did I really misunderstand everything from the beginning?'

Thinking about this made his headache even more. Meng Renshu looked to the side and found her seat was empty.

"Brother Jie! Xiaohua!"

He snapped his head when she heard her voice, and his eyes widened when she saw her standing on the balcony. Since when was she there?

Sting!

A terrible headache stung him hard at that moment. If previously it felt like a needle prickling on his brain, this headache was like a giant hammer smashed on his head.

"Argh!" Meng Renshu groaned as he held his head, fighting the pain.

A flash of memory passed through his mind as he tried to do so.historical

It was the sight from his dream, where he looked into the bag where Li Caiyi's body was kept. Even now, that horrendous view was etched deeply in his mind, invoking the deepest trauma he wanted to forget.

That despair and bone-crushing sadness came back to him like a tidal wave. His whole body shook, and cold sweat ran down his spine.

"Brother Jie! Xiaohua!"

Her voice once again snapped him out of his reverie. However, his eyes almost rolled down their sockets when he saw her in an extremely dangerous position.

She was leaning out from the railing with her upper body bending downward like she was trying to reach something.

[Your wife committed suicide by jumping down from a high building]

Meng Renshu didn't know where that voice came from, but fear took over his body instantly. Everything seemed to move in a slow motion before him, or maybe his brain just worked in lightning speed.

He couldn't lose her again.

He didn't want to experience that despair anymore.

He didn't want to live a life like a dead person anymore.

Meng Renshu kicked his blanket and ran barefooted on the cold floor. He mustered every strength his currently weak body could muster and ran out of the balcony in horror.

'This time, it will be different. I can't be late again this time!'

"STOP!"

He yelled on top of his lung as he gathered the girl's body inside his arm and pulled her backward, so they toppled to the floor, with Li Caiyi half resting her body on top of him.

Throughout his life, he never felt so scared. His whole body trembled. Only when he sensed the rapid heartbeat of the girl in his arm did he feel everything was real.

'She is alive. She is not dead. She is with me right now.'

Meng Renshu was vaguely aware that he spoke something, but he was far too shocked and relieved to care. He clung to her like his life depended on it.

Then, his vision also became blurry when she raised her head and stared in shock at him. Her clear eyes widened, and her tiny mouth slightly agape.

It was her face and not the smashed version he saw in his dream.

A bittersweet feeling gushed out of his heart, and tears unknowingly poured down from his eyes. Even he couldn't remember when was the last time he had cried.

"Brother..Renshu? Why are you crying?"

Hearing her voice made him feel even more wrenched inside. It felt like centuries since he had listened to her voice, and he couldn't stop his tears.

"Ugh, don't scare me like that. I thought you would leave me again without words."

"What are you talking about?"

"It was all my fault. I'm sorry, Xiaoyi. You can blame all you want, but please don't do that. Anything but that."

"Why would you say that?"

"I know I made a grave mistake, but I didn't mean to corner you like that. Please believe me. I love you." He cried like a child as he cradled her deeper in his arm.

Meng Renshu was so focused on letting his heart out that he missed the horror look on Li Caiyi's face. Blood drained from her face as the meaning behind his every word finally sank into her.

"L-let go!" Li Caiyi struggled vehemently, and the sudden movement made him loosen his hold on her.

Using that chance, she slipped out of his embrace and crawled away to take some distance from him.

Meng Renshu stared at her in puzzlement, but the fear in her eyes canceled any thought of approaching her. She was like a cornered herbivore in front of the beast.

"Y-you..what you said just now..what was that?"

"What did I say?"

"Don't play dumb with me. You said you didn't mean to corner me." Li Caiyi glared at him. "Speak the truth. Did you say that because of your dream again, or is it because of something else?"

"Xiaoyi, your face is pale—"

"JUST SAY IT!"

Meng Renshu's pupils shook at her shout. Any trace of sadness slowly ebbed away from his face and was replaced with a grim look instead. He sat up so they could face each other properly.

"Just like you, I remember it. The so-called past life memories."

Li Caiyi felt the ground beneath her disappear, swallowing her into deep darkness.