Chapter 843
Genshin Impact Activation
Lee Doona opened her eyes, which shone with the light of her youth.
She placed her hand in his and slowly stood up.
Their movements were no longer agile; their dance steps were simple and slow, basically just swaying gently in place, but that was enough.
Su Chen put his arm around her waist, and she put her hand on his shoulder.
They moved gently to the music, just like they had done years ago, only now they needed to support each other to maintain their balance.
"Do you remember?" Lee Doona leaned against his chest and asked softly.
“I remember every single detail,” Su Chen replied, gently resting his chin on the top of her head.
The music continued, and time seemed to overlap at that moment.
Su Chen closed his eyes, as if he could see them in their youth.
She wore a white wedding dress, and he was so nervous his palms were sweating as they danced under the gaze of everyone.
At that time, they didn't know what the future held, they only knew that they had to hold on to each other tightly.
Now, the future has become the past, and they have walked through everything hand in hand.
When the song ended, they did not separate immediately, but instead embraced quietly in the courtyard.
The sun was warm, leaves were falling, and the laughter of the neighbor's children could be heard in the distance.
"I'm tired," Lee Doona said softly.
Su Chen helped her sit back in the chair, adjusted the cushions, and covered her with the blanket again.
Then he sat back down and took her hand again.
"Go to sleep for a while," he said. "I'll stay here."
Lee Doona nodded and closed her eyes. Her breathing gradually became steady, and a peaceful expression appeared on her face.
Su Chen looked at her sleeping profile and felt a sense of peaceful gratitude.
Having traveled through time and space to come to this world, he was once afraid of loneliness, afraid of not being able to fit in, and afraid of not finding a place to belong.
But now, sitting in this old courtyard, holding the hand of the lover he has spent his life with, he knows he has found something more valuable than any great achievement.
A home, a love, a complete life.
The wind continues to blow, and the fallen leaves continue to drift.
The sunlight moved across the courtyard, from the east wall to the west wall.
When Lee Doona woke up, it was already afternoon.
She opened her eyes and looked at Su Chen immediately, only to find that he was looking at her too.
"How long have I been asleep?" she asked, her voice still groggy from just waking up.
"Soon, just enough time to have a sweet dream," Su Chen smiled.
How do you know I was having a sweet dream?
"Because you're laughing."
Lee Doona raised her hand and touched the corner of her mouth; it was indeed turning upwards.
She couldn't remember the specific details of the dream, only that it was a feeling of warmth, safety, and happiness.
"When is Enxing coming?" she asked, looking towards the courtyard gate.
"Next week, there are still seven days left." Su Chen remembered it very clearly.
Lee Doona nodded, her gaze returning to the courtyard.
An orange cat had somehow slipped in and was now lying lazily in the sunniest spot, licking its paws.
"Does it look like the one we used to have?" Su Chen asked.
"Fatter than that one," Lee Doona commented, a smile in her eyes.
They chatted casually, jumping from topic to topic, from the past to the present, from family to trivial matters.
They don't need complete sentences; a single word or a glance is enough to understand each other's meaning.
This is the tacit understanding that can only be cultivated through decades of living together.
As evening approached, the temperature began to drop.
Su Chen got up, preparing to help Li Doona into the house.
"Sit a little longer," she pleaded, like a child who didn't want the game to end.
"You'll catch a cold," Su Chen said gently but firmly.
Lee Doona sighed and gave in.
She reached out her hand, asking Su Chen to help her up.
As she stood up, her joints made a slight cracking sound, and her brow furrowed slightly.
"Does it hurt?" Su Chen asked with concern.
"It's an old problem." She shook her head, but didn't immediately let go of his hand after regaining her balance.
They slowly walked back into the house, each step slow and steady, supporting each other.
After entering the house, Su Chen turned on the light, filling the room with warm yellow light.
Photos of them from over the years hang on the wall.
Photos of them when they were young, various stages of Eun-sung's growth, family portraits, and her granddaughter's birth photo. Each one tells a story.
Lee Doona sat down on the sofa, and Su Chen went to the kitchen to prepare a simple dinner.
Although they have hired a caregiver to come and help regularly, they still try to do these daily chores themselves as much as possible.
This makes them feel alive and useful.
After dinner, they sat in the living room listening to old records.
Lee Doona rested her head on Su Chen's shoulder with her eyes closed.
The needle makes a soft rustling sound as it traces across the record, and the music flows through the air like the sound of time itself.
"Su Chen," she called softly.
"I'm here."
"Thank you."
"What are you thanking me for?"
"Everything." She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Thank you for everything."
Su Chen felt his eyes welling up with tears. He hugged her tightly and said, "I'm the one who should be thanking you, Lee Doona. Because of you, my life is complete."
They stopped talking, just sat quietly, listening to music and feeling each other's presence.
Outside the window, night had completely fallen, and the stars began to appear.
The ginkgo tree in the courtyard swayed gently in the night breeze, and the fallen leaves continued to drift down, covering the ground like a golden carpet.
The years are quiet, but so.
Two people in love, in the autumn of their lives, still hold each other's hands tightly, their eyes still shining with the light they had when they first met in their youth.
Su Chen looked down at his wife in his arms. She had fallen asleep again to the music, her expression peaceful.
He gently adjusted his position to make her more comfortable, and then placed a kiss on her forehead.
"Goodnight, my love," he whispered.
The music continues, time continues to flow, but some things will never change.
Love, promises, and the gradual merging of two souls into one over the long years. This is their story, from youth to old age, from passion to tranquility, from uncertainty to unwavering commitment.
Having traversed time and weathered storms, I finally found eternal tranquility here, in this old courtyard.
And tomorrow, when the sun rises again, they will sit here again, watching the falling leaves, counting sparrows, reminiscing about the past, and looking forward to the future.
As long as we have each other by our side, every day is a complete life.
hall.
"You deserve to die, living such a happy life! I curse you two to be together forever!"
"Alright, alright! I thought it would be some weird or strange experience, but it turned out to be like this. You're such a rascal, always neglecting your duties!"
"Knowing that you have a unique mental ability, why don't you develop and study it in depth? Even if you don't dare to study your own body, you could pass it on to others and let them study it for you. You wouldn't be so old and physically weak now."
"Well, you're incredibly lucky to be here. While you still have time, keep up the good work and keep striving. This is the perfect time for you to work hard!"
"Cough cough cough~"
The newlywed smiled and said, "If I had come earlier, my life as an ordinary person would have been a bit of a regret."
But now is the perfect time to come. I will absorb all the lessons you have taught me, accelerating the alteration and evolution of my genes.
"By the way, you need to be careful not to evolve too fast, otherwise you will need to consume a lot of energy and it will be very complicated. Just like in ancient times, there were many other types of humans that were more powerful than humans. They died out because they could not adapt to the environment of the planet today, just like those ancient dominant large creatures."
"Even if you decipher your genotype, accelerate evolution, and bring your lifespan to its theoretical limit, or even break through it, if you don't venture towards the stars and acquire higher energy, you will eventually be trapped on your own planet."
"learn."
"Those who pursue immortality on their own planet, it's not that easy. If it were that easy, our planet would have had at least some strange creatures or some brilliant civilizations over billions of years."
They are all gone, either to other planets or to even greater places, where they achieved the evolution of civilization and the elevation of life levels.
Either they disappear into the annals of history, or ultimately they need to venture out into the world.
"Ah."
……
The morning light pierced through the misty mountains and slanted across the cobblestone path.
Su Chen took a deep breath of the morning air in this unfamiliar world; it was crisp and carried a faint, almost imperceptible sweetness.
He has been in this world for half a year now, and his initial shock and fear have gradually been replaced by a deeper confusion.
The people here dress in simple, rustic clothes, and their farming methods are so primitive that they remind him of illustrations in history textbooks. The layout of the village and the way people talk and act all exude an indescribable sense of antiquity.
However, if this is said to be ancient times in a parallel world, some details don't add up.
Occasionally, I hear villagers mention the names of distant countries, the stars in the night sky that are too bright and arranged in a strange way, and the feeling in the air that... seems to contain some kind of energy.
He settled in a small mountain village called Qixia Village.
The villagers are simple and honest; although they are wary of outsiders, they are still quite kind.
The only thing that made him uneasy was Old Chen, who always loved to sunbathe under the ancient banyan tree at the village entrance.
Upon their first meeting, Old Man Chen stared at him for a long time with his cloudy eyes, his withered lips moving as he uttered two words: "Immortal..."
Su Chen's heart skipped a beat, but she forced a smile and denied it.
The old man said no more, but every time he saw him, his eyes were complex and unfathomable, filled with awe and a vague familiarity, as if he were looking at something else through him.
"This world is definitely not simple." Su Chen thought this more than once.
It's probably the game world from my own memory.
He had tried to subtly inquire about terms like "Eye of God" and "Elemental Force," but the villagers looked completely bewildered.
But the changes in his body were real.
When I first transmigrated, this body was no different from my previous, unhealthy self.
Driven by his survival instinct, he practiced Baduanjin (Eight Pieces of Brocade) every morning and Tai Chi in the afternoon, relying on his memory.
These skills, which are more like health exercises on their home planet, have produced unexpected results here.
At first, he only felt that his breathing was a little easier. A month later, he found that he could lift loads of firewood that the villagers found heavy without any effort.
In just two months, he was able to easily climb the low cliffs that previously required tools.
Now, half a year later, his five senses are so sharp that he can hear the splashing sound of fish tails moving in the distant stream, and his vision at night is much clearer. When he throws a punch, he can even create a huge gust of wind.
This is not an effect that can be achieved through normal exercise.
The rules of this world seem to allow and amplify this method of cultivation that guides inner energy.
Besides the physical changes, there was a more hidden and elusive feeling, like an undercurrent in the water, that stirred within him from time to time.
It's a strange impulse or sense of deviation, especially when emotions are fluctuating or the mind is highly focused, and one feels everything around them.
Falling leaves, flowing stream, people's movements.
For a fleeting moment, it became...disjointed? Or like it was stretched or compressed?
But when he focused his attention on feeling it, everything returned to normal, as if it were just an illusion.
He tried to concentrate on something, but he could never quite get it right.
It felt like touching the outline of the world through frosted glass—knowing there was something behind it, but unable to actually reach it.
Until this time.
In order to explore the terrain further out, he ventured alone into the deep mountains for three days.
It was dusk when we returned to Qixia Village.
The familiar banyan tree at the village entrance was empty; the hunched figure who always sat curled up in the wicker chair was nowhere to be seen.
A strange feeling crossed Su Chen's mind, but he didn't pay much attention to it. Perhaps Old Man Chen wasn't feeling well today.
He walked toward his temporary hut, passing by the village's threshing ground where a group of children were chasing and playing.
One of the boys, about seven or eight years old, wearing patched but clean coarse cloth clothes, ran with his face flushed and accidentally bumped into Su Chen's leg.
"I'm sorry!" The boy hurriedly steadied himself and raised his dirty little face to apologize.
In that instant, Su Chen was struck as if by lightning.
Those eyes... though clear and bright, full of childlike innocence, the shape of the eyebrows and eyes, the curve of the bridge of the nose, and especially the small, perfectly positioned light brown mole at the corner of the left eye... clearly made him look decades younger than Old Man Chen!
"You..." Su Chen's throat went dry. He squatted down, trying to keep his voice calm, "What's your name?"
"My name is Ayu! Chen Xiaoyu!" the boy answered loudly, looking at the pale-faced stranger with some curiosity.
陈。
His surname is Chen.
Su Chen's heart began to pound.
He steadied himself and carefully examined the boy's features, becoming increasingly terrified with each look.
The still-developing bone structure subtly overlapped with the framework beneath Old Man Chen's aged face.
Not only in appearance, but also in some subtle gestures, such as unconsciously pursing the corners of the mouth when speaking, or unconsciously curling the fingers when thinking... all of them are exactly the same as that old man.
"Who else is in your family?" Su Chen's voice trembled slightly.
“My grandfather! And my parents went into the mountains and haven’t come back yet.” Xiao Yu pointed to the east end of the village.
"Could you take me to meet your grandfather?"
The courtyard under the old elm tree was much tidier than the dilapidated courtyard where Old Man Chen lived alone in Su Chen's memory, but the layout was exactly the same.
An elderly man, around sixty years old, was sitting in the courtyard weaving bamboo baskets. He was in good spirits.
It wasn't the old Mr. Chen he knew.
It's an earlier version. (End of Chapter)