Chi Yuliang stood by the pillar next to the cremation furnace, her head bowed deeply.
Her purple bangs veiled her eyes, but they could not conceal the unspeakable sorrow etched across her face—a face of heartbreaking beauty.
All her attention was focused on the stretcher before her, propped up on iron slabs and draped with a white cloth. She stared down at it intently.
She hadn’t even noticed Ye Zhibai and the others approaching.
Ye Zhibai surmised that beneath that white sheet lay the body from her previous life.
Yun’er had guessed as much too.
Seeing her sister about to rush forward regardless, Yun’er gripped Ye Zhibai’s hand tightly and shook her head.
“Sister… don’t get too close. You’ll be scared.”
“I… I’m fine.”
Afraid of myself?
No, that’s impossible.
Even so, Ye Zhibai halted her steps.
No matter how cool or capable Yun’er was, she was still just a high school girl.
Bringing her to a place like the crematorium today was already too much. Ye Zhibai had no intention of letting her venture any closer.
Guang Yu, fearless as ever, was still clamoring in Ye Zhibai’s mind.
“Ye Zhibai! I can sense what’s under there—it’s your past-life self! I saw you back then in the Heavenly Realm, so I remember!”
Yeah, I know. You don’t need to tell me.
And you’re wasting divine power again!
The Head Maid directed the two young misses to step back a little.
She checked the time. Cremation was set to begin in less than three minutes.
This moment… it was for the living to bid farewell to the departed.
Chi Yuliang wasn’t afraid of the brother who had once been helpless and alone in the orphanage.
Without the slightest hesitation, she gently lifted the edge of the white cloth, revealing the face beneath.
There lay the Ye Zhibai of her past life.
At such close range, seeing that once-ordinary face that had been hers, Ye Zhibai nearly lost her composure!
What a bizarre experience!
The face of the deceased “Ye Zhibai” was utterly bloodless, yet impeccably clean. Clearly, after failing to save him at the hospital, someone had wiped away the dust and bloodstains.
It was a small comfort to Ye Zhibai, at least.
To come into the world clean and leave it the same—having a proper beginning and end.
The gentle Chi Yuliang had no intention of disturbing his peace any further.
She longed to stroke Xiao Bai’s forehead as she once had and tell him:
— “It’s okay. Don’t be scared. Big sister’s here.”
But… Xiao Bai was gone now.
Even today, Chi Yuliang could scarcely believe it.
Everything had come too suddenly.
Perhaps only now, in this very moment, was she truly shaking off her desperate hopes.
Gazing at “Ye Zhibai’s” pale face, tears welled up and swirled in her eyes, still as warm and radiant as sunlight.
Slowly, Chi Yuliang half-squatted down.
She positioned herself at what felt like the perfect distance for Xiao Bai to hear her words.
Standing nearby, Ye Zhibai could hear Sister Liang’s voice too—plaintive yet unwaveringly tender.
“Xiao Bai, you know, I brought back a gift for you from the capital. It’s… that osmanthus cake we loved as kids. The kind we could only split a tiny piece of every time? Haha… We couldn’t afford it back then. Yours always got snatched by those bully kids. Now that I can buy as much as I want, I find out no one’s selling it anymore… We were so mad about it. You even said, ‘Why does osmanthus cake have it out for me?'”
“That day, I messaged you because I’d finally tracked down some of that old osmanthus cake in the capital. I wanted to send it straight to your school so you could taste it. But I waited and waited, and you never replied… Were you avoiding seeing your big sister again? Or worried you’d hold me back? I’ve never cared about that sort of thing, though…”
“Xiao Bai was always trying not to trouble me. Well, I’m not in a tough spot anymore. Mom and Dad won’t have anything to say about it… Xiao Bai, come back, okay? There’s so much osmanthus cake—your sister can’t eat it all by herself…”
Ye Zhibai took in every word, each one slicing into her heart like a knife.
Were it not for her ironclad control over her expression, she would have utterly fallen apart.
As she spoke, Chi Yuliang’s calm tone grew thick with sobs.
“Xiao Bai, you promised me before… that once you graduated university, things would get better. You wouldn’t need your big sister’s help anymore. You lied and told me you’d moved to a nicer place… I was over the moon that day. I even ordered a cake at school to celebrate with you.”
“But when I got back and checked… I went to the place you were staying. You were still in that tiny apartment…! Did you forget our promise from when we were kids? No lying to each other… If things are rough, big sister wants to help. We pinky-swore on it…”
Sister Liang, you’re the one who broke our promise first—not me.
You lied and said those gifts you sent were bought with your own pocket money.
But that money… it was from begging your parents for help, deducted from your living expenses.
For someone like you, who didn’t keep her word and lied to me… why shouldn’t I tell a little white lie in return?
Ye Zhiyun listened to these unknown stories from their past. Though she couldn’t fully relate, given her different circumstances…
Yun’er still silently squeezed Ye Zhibai’s hand.
Family is precious. No matter what, I won’t let my sister suffer even a hint of harm again.
Chi Yuliang continued pouring her heart out to her “disobedient” little brother.
But time waits for no one.
The clock struck ten precisely.
The cremation staff’s clear call echoed loudly through the enclosed Cremation Building.
“Number eleven! Ye Zhibai! Family, please step back—cremation is about to begin!”
“Xiao Bai…?”
The shout shattered Chi Yuliang’s reverie.
Before her, the staff had re-covered “Ye Zhibai” with the cloth and were wheeling the stretcher toward the furnace.
“Xiao Bai… Xiao Bai?”
Chi Yuliang reached out toward the receding stretcher, as if to grasp something.
But her hands closed on empty air.
Her mind buzzed, her strength ebbing rapidly away. The noises around her were chaotic, yet when the staff opened the furnace and the roaring flames burst forth—when the stretcher carrying “Ye Zhibai” was slid onto the rack before it—
Chi Yuliang’s breaths grew ragged, uncontrollable, agonizing.
“Xiao… Bai…”
Those were the words she managed through her fading awareness.
A stabbing pain pierced her heart, clashing with a flood of warm memories against the cold reality of the stretcher and the blazing furnace.
It was too much. Chi Yuliang could no longer hold on. A violent headache sent her toppling backward.
She would have crashed hard to the floor.
But not if Ye Zhibai had anything to say about it!
She had seen Chi Yuliang swaying unsteadily and was ready.
The instant she began to fall, Ye Zhibai darted forward, bracing Chi Yuliang’s back with her body.
But…
With my slight frame, can I even hold her up?!
