"Dad, let’s go home and wait for our girl."
"Alright, let’s go. We’ll wait at home for our girl to come back."
"Okay, I’ll go make our girl’s favorite dishes."
"Mm-hmm, Mommy, our girl loves tomatoes the most. We definitely can’t leave those out."
"Alright, I know."
In the pitch-black night, the line of figures slowly vanished. Their footprints on the snowy ground were quickly buried by the falling snow.
Where they had stood, now empty, a burst of colorful light flashed, and two figures reappeared. Shangguan You watched her family’s receding figures grow smaller and smaller, a pang of sorrow in her heart.
"What do you want to do?" Shangguan You asked Lin Mengjie, who stood before her. She longed to feel familial warmth, to experience a mother’s love, but knew it was impossible with Lin Mengjie.
"You’re too weak. I’ll give you one day to say goodbye to your family. Tomorrow night, at this time, I will wait for you here," Lin Mengjie said coldly, glancing at the plum tree, now broken in two, before speaking to Shangguan You. Although she wished to be gentler, such sentiments were foreign to her, and at this moment, she couldn’t allow herself to be swayed by personal feelings.
"Why?" Shangguan You asked faintly. She felt she was already very strong; why, then, did she still appear so weak in Lin Mengjie’s eyes? Recalling her recent battle with Lin Mengjie, however, Shangguan You said no more.
"You are my successor. You must become the strongest presence in this realm to fend off foreign invasions. I don’t have much time to teach you. In three months, I will pass on all my knowledge to you. How much you can grasp will depend on you," Lin Mengjie said lightly, sensing the increasingly strong impacts against the gateway.
I’m afraid I won’t have much time left to teach her, Lin Mengjie considered. And by then, Shangguan You might be too distracted by her family ties to focus on her duties. That was why she had wanted to erase everyone’s memories, so that Shangguan You would no longer exist in their hearts. This way, such a distraction could be eliminated.
"Why only three months? Where are you going? What are you going to do?" Shangguan You’s brows furrowed. Lin Mengjie’s words were cryptic. What did she mean? Could it be that Young Master Ye had done something that even Lin Mengjie, the Guardian, couldn’t accomplish?
"I have my duties. You don’t need to concern yourself with them. Tomorrow night, at this time, I will wait for you here," Lin Mengjie said coldly, not answering Shangguan You’s questions. A brilliant light flashed, and the Crystal Coffin appeared once more. Lin Mengjie’s form swiftly entered it.
"Mommy, you... why are you still sleeping in there? Come home with me. Daddy and the others miss you terribly. Do you really want to live all alone?" Shangguan You cried out as she watched Lin Mengjie enter the Crystal Coffin.
"A lively life doesn’t suit me. Besides, the crystal is my magical artifact, my home, just like the space you’ve obtained," Lin Mengjie’s voice drifted over. With a flash of light, the Crystal Coffin, Lin Mengjie within it, vanished from the spot.
Shangguan You watched Lin Mengjie disappear before her. The colorful light faded from view, and she could no longer feel Lin Mengjie’s presence. She couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.
Heavy snowflakes fell, dusting her figure. Her gaze drifted into the distance. She stood in the snow-covered field, unsure for how long, until dawn slowly broke. She then sighed deeply, stepped onto the snow, and left the plum grove.
That day, she did many things. First, she enjoyed a reunion meal with her family; both Shangguan Hao and Shangguan Yu had taken the day off work. Although Shangguan You kept a smile on her face, they sensed something was amiss. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have skipped school to cling to their side all day.
In the afternoon, Shangguan Qing accompanied her to school to request a four-month leave of absence. Ordinarily, Beijing First University wouldn’t have permitted such a long leave, especially near the end of the term, but the Shangguan Family’s status held sway. The principal, beaming, personally processed her leave of absence.
Even her final exams were deferred; she could take them all at once when she returned next semester. Since enrolling at Beijing First University, Shangguan You hadn’t spent much time there. Besides the month she was unconscious and the days of military training, she had probably attended classes for less than a month in total.
News of Shangguan You’s leave spread quickly. Soon, everyone else in Room 408, except for Yu Zijin and Gui Luo, had also applied for leave. Shangguan You’s department fell quiet once more. Even the flamboyant Bai Muxue and her companions took leave. The principal was unhappy about this, but he had no recourse. He also realized these students had come because of Shangguan You; naturally, they wouldn’t stay now that she was leaving.
After handling school matters, she went to the You Family’s headquarters. She met with some of the company’s earliest members and informed them she would be gone for three months. Seeing Zhong Mingyang’s melancholic expression tugged at her heart.
Although she didn’t know where Lin Mengjie was taking her, she knew she wouldn’t see them for three full months, so she had to arrange many things in advance.
"If you encounter something you can’t handle, go directly to Brother Qing or the Shangguan Family. If you run into troublemakers, you can seek out the Lin Family. No matter who you approach, they will help," Shangguan You instructed Zhong Mingyang, leaving him some lifesaving medicine.
"Young Miss, rest assured. I will take good care of both the Shen Family and the You Family," Zhong Mingyang nodded, his gaze and tone somber as he looked at Shangguan You.
"Tell Chu Yi and the others to keep a low profile during this time. If they genuinely encounter something they can’t resolve, they should wait for my return," Shangguan You added, a lingering worry in her voice.
Then, she gave Zhong Mingyang the firearms she had crafted in her space, for their protection, before departing. Afterward, she visited the Lin Family, where she also left countless medicines and firearms, gave further instructions, and then departed.