With Ye Lan residing in Bai Tu, she could not only clearly feel Bai Tu’s emotions, but was easily influenced by them as well.

As her mind went hazy for a moment,

Ye Lan realized the surroundings had changed again.

Bai Tu had grown quite a bit. She was around ten now, and even cuter than before.

Bai Tu was interacting with a little girl with short, silvery-gray hair. The girl looked about six, and was probably Bai Tu’s younger sister, Bai Yu.

Ye Lan fell into thought.

“Bai Yu’s getting cuter and cuter. And so is Senior Bai Tu. Are these the legendary sister beauties?”

Right now, she really wanted to land beside them in an instant and squish Bai Yu’s chubby little cheeks. Then she could cuddle up close to adorable Senior Bai Tu, too. That would feel so nice!

Well, she was only imagining it.

Then Ye Lan realized that her own soul seemed to be residing in Bai Yu, too. It was just like Yexing and Ye Lan being split apart—giving her the feeling of operating on two fronts at once.

“Sis, why isn’t Mom back yet?” Bai Yu spoke, her voice soft and sweet.

Bai Tu patted Bai Yu’s head and smiled. “Mom has something to take care of. Let’s wait a little longer.”

“Oh, okay.” Bai Yu nodded calmly, seemingly unfazed.

But Yexing could sense emotions, and she knew Bai Yu was hurting inside. She was deeply disappointed.

Had Bai Yu learned to hide her feelings at such a young age?

As Yexing wondered in surprise, a rush of memories flooded into her mind, revealing a great deal.

These were Bai Yu’s memories.

Growing up, she had only ever seen her father. She had never seen her mother.

She hardly ever saw her father, either. Whenever he came back, it seemed he only checked on her, made sure of something, and then left.

Her older sister, on the other hand, spent the most time by her side.

Because Bai Yu was physically weak, she couldn’t attend school like other children. Her father hired tutors to teach her things like reading and general knowledge one-on-one.

Now, aside from her social skills and physical condition, Bai Yu seemed no different from other children her age.

Ye Lan could sense how things were on Bai Tu’s side, too.

Bai Tu was hurting as well. She could tell Bai Yu wasn’t happy.

Bai Tu loved her younger sister. When she’d first heard she was going to have a little sister, she’d been excited for a while.

She’d planned to do whatever it took to cheer her sister up.

But now, no matter what Bai Tu did, Bai Yu couldn’t be happy—and that made Bai Tu unhappy, too.

The sisters fell silent, and the atmosphere grew heavy.

Then Bai Yu couldn’t hold back any longer. Her voice trembling, she asked, “Sis, does Mom not come to see me because she hates me?”

Seeing that Bai Yu was on the verge of tears, Bai Tu froze, then pulled her into a hug.

“No. Mom loves you. More than anyone, she wants to see you. But…”

“Why?”

“I… don’t really understand. But you have to believe she’ll come back to see you. I promise.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You have to trust your big sister.”

“Okay…”

A little while later, Bai Tu left. Bai Yu was alone in the empty hospital room, staring into space.

Yexing felt what she was feeling.

Sadness, confusion, frustration…

“Dad said Mom had to leave because of my illness. Is she staying away because she thinks I’m disgusting?”

Bai Yu took four letters out of a drawer.

They were from her mother, and each one contained just a few simple lines.

Those letters always filled Bai Yu with hope for her mother. She wished that one day, Mom would come back and hold her.

But as time went by, more and more time passed.

After several years, the hope in her heart began to fade.

“So… it was all because of me…”

Bai Yu’s gaze went unfocused. She murmured to herself, curled up under the covers, and fell asleep.

“Mmm…”

Yexing’s expression turned complicated.

She had that memory, too.

Her father had said that Mom was working hard to cure Bai Yu’s illness, and that she’d come back as soon as they found a treatment.

But Bai Yu seemed to have taken it as Mom abandoning her. She thought her sister had been lying to her, too.

Kids could sometimes misunderstand a sentence in a huge way.

And Bai Yu’s nature was to hide her thoughts instead of asking too many questions.

That was how things had gradually reached this point.

“That’s not it…”

Yexing wanted so badly to tell Bai Yu that, but when Bai Yu fell asleep, she lost consciousness as well.

……

Meanwhile, Ye Lan…

After leaving the medical facility, Bai Tu took a car in another direction. They traveled a long way before reaching their destination.

This was another medical facility run by the Night Watchers, far from the hospital where Bai Yu was staying.

Bai Tu passed through door after door, then stopped outside a room.

A familiar man was talking with the researchers. Bai Tu stopped to listen.

“Bai Yuan, Ye Qingya’s Stars are becoming increasingly unstable. They’re already on the verge of going out of control. If we don’t find another solution, this will gradually develop into Star Eclipse. We’ve also discovered a strong connection between the Stars inside Bai Yu and Ye Qingya’s. It’s as if they’re both symbiotic and locked in a fight to the death. The instability in Ye Qingya’s Stars may be caused by the Stars awakening prematurely inside Bai Yu. Ye Qingya could lose control and go berserk because Bai Yu exists, while Bai Yu’s life force could wither because of Ye Qingya. Perhaps if one of them disappeared, then…”

Ye Lan understood.

This wasn’t just a matter of distance. It was a matter of whether they existed at all.

No matter how far apart they were, as long as they both existed, they would inevitably affect each other.

Bai Yuan’s eyes widened, disbelief written all over his face.

“You mean… I have to give one of them up?”

The researcher adjusted his glasses and replied calmly, “That’s only the worst-case scenario. At the rate Bai Yu’s life force is fading, I’m afraid she won’t make it to next month. Ye Qingya could lose control at any time, too. We need to find another way before then.”

Time was running out.

There couldn’t have been a better way to describe the situation.

The researcher turned and left, leaving behind the haggard man, frozen in place. From a distance, he looked utterly defeated.

Bai Tu had been listening from nearby. Her eyes slowly widened.

She understood most of what she’d heard.

“Mom and my little sister… are going to die?”

Her heart hurt so much.

She wanted to cry.

What should she do?

Bai Tu wanted so badly to do something, but she felt utterly powerless.

In the end, it seemed all she could do was take good care of herself and not make Dad and Mom worry.

Bai Yuan stood there for a long time, lost in thought. At last, he took a deep breath, pulled himself together, and went into the room where Ye Qingya was.

Bai Tu followed him in and sat obediently on a little stool beside the door.

Ye Lan watched quietly as another memory flooded into her mind.

These were Bai Tu’s memories.

Ye Qingya’s condition was getting worse and worse. The clearest sign was the change in her personality.

They said it was caused by her unstable Stars.

Ye Lan had heard Ling Miao say that a person’s condition could affect the state of their Stars.

But the reverse was true, too. Unstable Stars could affect a person’s condition.

The Stars were what had become abnormal, so Ye Qingya, as their host, was being affected.

At first, she suffered from mental fatigue. Her memory and reflexes were both badly affected. She became forgetful, and her reactions slowed considerably.

Then came the emotional problems. She wasn’t exactly moody, but she was usually down and couldn’t seem to feel happy no matter what. She only felt a little better when she saw her husband or daughters.

Bai Yuan had to stay with Ye Qingya, so he spent very little time with Bai Yu.

Bai Tu had to go back and forth between them, taking on the responsibility of caring for her little sister at a very young age.

Ye Lan was left completely stunned.

“It’s… really that complicated?”

Suddenly, she felt that even if she were right there in the middle of it all, she wouldn’t be able to change anything.

So what was the point of having her reside in Bai Yu and Bai Tu, letting her watch the whole thing unfold?

Was she supposed to feel all the despair of it?