Chapter 296: Just Waiting Half a Year, Come Back If You Want
The small courtyard, returned to silence, was filled with the self-talk of Chen An and the system.
“Are you really going to wait?”
“Let’s wait, just to see her one last time, I already promised.”
“But your mission is over. The longer you stay in this world, the greater the rejection your body will experience, and you will suffer greatly.”
“Just half a year, it won’t delay too long.”
The system went offline for a while before finally spitting out the last sentence.
“She won’t come back.”
Chen An shook his head, “It’s fine.”
“I’ll wait half a year. Come back if you want.”
…
…
After returning to his solitary life, Chen An’s body deteriorated rapidly.
His occasional, mild cough gradually turned into violent fits.
His frail body was even more fragile, unable to do any physical labor. Apart from his hobby of carving, he abandoned all other non-essential daily activities.
In July of the same year, two months after Luo Cong’an’s departure.
Li Ye, in the Capital, sent a letter.
He greeted Chen An in the letter and described the splendor of the Capital.
He also sought Chen An’s advice on many tax-related issues, and frankly stated that he would not abandon his original aspirations.
His position in the officialdom was steadily rising, but he had not forgotten his original intentions.
Finally, Li Ye added that his wife had given him a healthy baby boy and that he would visit him if he had the chance.
Chen An did not hold back anything he knew, and replied to all the questions Li Ye mentioned in the letter.
He also congratulated him on the birth of his son.
The time that followed was a day-by-day existence of plainness.
Chen An didn’t find anything wrong with the plainness.
It was just that every morning when he woke up, the weakness and pain from all over his body made him a little troubled.
He did not see a doctor, as this was the world rejecting him, beyond the scope of human healing.
He often comforted himself, telling himself that half a year was just a short time, and he could endure it if he gritted his teeth.
Oh, wait.
It was already July, and there were only five months left at most.
Although his body was growing weaker, his daily life and personal care were still not a major problem.
In this leisurely, almost laid-back mode, Chen An lived for another five months.
The turn of the year arrived as scheduled.
The streets were decorated with festive lanterns, and children in thick cotton-padded clothes ran around, playing joyfully with their friends.
Chen An stood at the entrance of the annex. Perhaps influenced by the festive atmosphere, a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.
Even his daily handicraft work was put aside as an exception for today.
Not long after, a plump figure appeared at the end of the long street.
It was City Lord Ma.
He was smiling broadly, his presence as pleasant as a spring breeze.
City Lord Ma came alone, without any entourage, carrying a delicate wooden box in his hand.
He saw Chen An, who was leaning at the doorway waiting, and his expression was one of surprise.
“Mister Chen, do you perhaps know some immortal arts?”
Chen An was stunned, “What makes you say that?”
“Otherwise, how could you have predicted that I would visit you today?”
Chen An’s expression was a bit odd. He cupped his hands and chose a tactful response.
“City Lord Ma, you are very clever.”
City Lord Ma arrived quickly and left even faster.
He exchanged a few pleasantries with Chen An and then returned to the City Lord’s mansion.
Chen An continued to wait by the door.
The sun rose and set, until a bright moon hung in the sky, emitting a clear light that illuminated one’s hair.
Chen An stood at the doorway for a day and a night, finally unable to bear the encroaching chill, and turned back into the courtyard.
He thought, perhaps something had delayed her?
Or was she confined by her Master, not allowed to descend the mountain?
At this moment, the system’s sigh sounded.
“Fate is sealed, she will not come back.”
Chen An was silent for a moment, then waved his hand, and said nonchalantly, “I’ve waited half a year, what’s another year?”
…
…
Chen An did not expect that this wait.
Would last for a full three years.
Fortunately, although his body was weak, he could still take care of his daily life independently, without troubling others.
He picked up his carving skill again. When he had nothing else to do, he would lie on the bamboo chair in the small courtyard and carve wooden figures.
The wooden figures depicted crying, laughing, scolding, infatuation, and anger.
Yet, each one was the likeness of a certain girl.
Chen An sometimes couldn’t help but wonder, if his system had a proficiency system, what level would his carving skills reach by now?
The absence of an experience bar made Chen An feel a sense of regret.
He often stared out the door blankly, wondering if he had truly become an empty nest elderly person as he had once joked.
This repetitive life continued until the fourth year.
One early morning, Chen An opened his eyes on the bed. As he habitually tried to get up to wash, his body rolled uncontrollably to the ground.
His arm made contact with the ground, scratching the skin and sending sharp, piercing pain.
But Chen An did not rush to examine the wound. Instead, he reached out and tapped his left leg.
Numb, no sensation.
“Ah, I almost forgot, my body is constantly being rejected…”
Chen An muttered to himself. Instead of lamenting the loss of a leg, he laughed.
He gave a thumbs-up, praising the system.
He knew that if it weren’t for the system’s intervention, he would have died silently long ago.
And now, the price for surviving an extra three years was merely an irrelevant leg.
“Are you still going to persist?”
This time, Chen An did not answer.
Dragging his numb leg, he slowly stood up and then tried to walk towards the door.
His movements were a little clumsy, but fortunately, he did not fall.
Under the light of the early morning sun, Chen An smiled.
“Honestly, this experience is quite strange.”
In his mind, a voice sounded again.
It was a tone of complete incomprehension.
“Don’t you feel pain?”
Chen An’s lips trembled, and he bared his teeth in anger.
“You know it hurts, and you still have to remind me, don’t you?”
The rejection from the world was constant. Even when sleeping, it felt like an unseen heavy object was pressing on his heart, making it hard for Chen An to breathe.
Fortunately, over the past four years, his nerves had become much thicker, and his pain tolerance had been forced to evolve continuously.
“I can send you on your way early, spare you this unnecessary pain, and send you to the next world.”
“Don’t worry, it’s guaranteed to be painless.”
Upon hearing this, Chen An’s expression hesitated for the first time.
Limping, he slowly felt his way along the wall to the west wing room.
The courtyard had a total of three wing rooms. Two were for living, and the remaining one was the storage room Chen An had cleaned out earlier.
He gritted his teeth and pushed open the door.
One wooden carving after another came into view.
They filled every corner of the room, some scattered on the ground, others neatly arranged on shelves.
If an outsider were to glance at this room full of wooden carvings, they would inevitably find it eerie.
But Chen An would not.
After all, these wooden carvings were his only companions for the past four years.
He walked into the room and began to tidy up.
He cleared out all the useless clutter and shelves.
After doing so, he patted the dust off his body.
Looking at the storage room again, he saw that the space, which had been full, now appeared more than half empty.
All the wooden carvings had been moved to one corner.
It turned out that the illusion of the storage room being full was only because the shelves and useless clutter took up so much space.
Chen An then thought.
When this entire room is filled with wooden carvings, he will depart.
(End of this chapter)
