"How long was I asleep?" The softly spoken question was barely audible in the vast room, yet to the other sleeping girls, it was as loud as a thunderclap from a clear sky.
"Not long. You only slept for a little while." Liu Yanran held her hand and pressed it against her cheek, gently rubbing against it. She had kept telling herself that Chu Lian was fine, that nothing was wrong with her, but when Chu Lian finally woke up, she still could not suppress the trembling in her heart.
"That's right. You only slept for a little while, Lian. Sleep a bit more." Inori climbed down from the windowsill and sat beside Liu Yanran. She reached out to stroke Chu Lian's face, feeling the warmth of her skin. She's awake. That's wonderful.
"So that's how it is? I thought I'd been asleep for a very long time." The pallor of her face could not hide her exhaustion. Even after sleeping for ten days, now that she had awakened, her spirits were still poor.
But she did not want to sleep anymore. This sleep had lasted a little too long, so long that even she could not remember when she had last slept for an even longer period. Nothing had even happened to her, yet she had still ended up like this. I'm really fragile, aren't I?
Still, her strength had increased considerably. If she worked a little harder, she should be able to break through to Earth Rank, right? That would be wonderful. Once she reached Earth Rank, she would no longer be subject to so many restrictions.
"Big Sis, are you hungry?" Chu Chu carefully brought over a plate of cake, sat down by the window, and held it out to her with an expectant smile. She did not know how to take care of someone. She had simply thought that after her sister had slept for so long, she must surely be hungry, right?
"Now that you're awake, don't be so lazy. Drink some water first." Cai Ya turned on the light. Seeing the pale color of Chu Lian's lips, a trace of heartache flashed through her eyes, but with so many people present, she could not say much. She brought a cup of warm water to Chu Lian's lips, wanting her to drink.
"You girls really don't know how to take care of someone..." They all meant well, but how could someone who had only just woken up eat and drink like that? Ruriko Nana hurried over and stopped Cai Ya and Chu Chu with a helpless smile, then turned toward Lux Lyle.
"Lux, go ask Aunt Li if there's any soup or something. Something light, and nothing too nourishing."
"Okay." As soon as Lux heard that, she ran out of the room without even putting on shoes, her feet clad only in white stockings. Her steps were quick yet light, and she seemed very happy.
"I'm sorry for making all of you worry." Seeing them like this, Chu Lian felt touched. She knew she was the reason they had become this way. Although she did not know how long she had been unconscious, judging from the situation, it must have been quite a long time, right?
"You've always taken care of us and protected us. Isn't it only right that we take care of you now?" Liu Yanran tightened her grip on Chu Lian's hand, letting her feel the warmth of her cheek. Her voice was somewhat hoarse, but she remained strong and refused to cry.
"Is that so? I've always been taking care of you? I don't really remember that. We've always been together, so how does that count as me taking care of you? Did I sleep for too long and scramble my memories a little?" Liu Yanran's words left Chu Lian somewhat confused. Have I really always been taking care of them?
Seeing her like this made everyone's hearts ache, but they knew that her memories were not confused at all. They simply viewed things from different perspectives.
Everything Chu Lian had done was something she wanted to do and had worked hard to accomplish. She had never considered it as taking care of anyone. To her, it was her responsibility. She was simply fulfilling the oath she had made to protect them.
How could the girls possibly fail to understand someone who gave without ever considering whether she would receive anything in return? Chu Lian herself might never have noticed it, but all of them had silently remembered everything she had done.
By now, it had become an unspoken understanding among them. Since Chu Lian protected and cared for them, then it was only natural that they would give everything they could for her in return.
"It's fine. As long as you still remember us." Liu Yanran struggled to suppress her emotions, kissed the back of Chu Lian's hand, and spoke softly.
"Of course I do. I remember Yanran, Inori, Chu Chu, Ya, Nana, and Lux. Oh, right, and Sisi too..." Even if she somehow forgot who she herself was, she would never forget these girls before her.
"As long as you remember us, that's enough, isn't it?" Liu Yanran's words represented what every girl felt. They silently savored the tenderness of this moment. Chu Lian was their sky. Now that she was awake, their sky would not collapse.
"Mm. I'll always remember." Chu Lian reached out and caught Inori's small hand. She gently took the tip of Inori's finger into her mouth, licked it once, then let go. Afterward, she closed her eyes.
Only after quite some time did she open them again beneath everyone's puzzled gazes and murmur, "So that's how it is?"
"What's wrong?" Her strange actions and the words she had spoken inevitably made everyone curious about what exactly she had just been doing.
"I was sensing my own aura." Chu Lian's explanation only confused them even more. Sensing her own aura? How was she supposed to do that?
"Oh, I suppose you wouldn't know. Inori and I have a contract, so I can sense my own condition through her. But I don't have any strength in my body right now, so I could only use a method like this to sense it." Seeing their bewilderment, Chu Lian realized that she had not explained herself clearly, so this time, she elaborated.
"Oh, so that's what it was. I thought Big Sis had started taking advantage of people the moment she woke up." Chu Chu nodded in sudden understanding, but what she said afterward left Chu Lian embarrassed. When had she ever done anything like that?
Seeing Chu Lian's mortified expression, as though she refused to admit she had ever behaved that way, Chu Chu pouted and began counting off examples.
"Look, there were those times when you..."
"Ouch..." Before she could finish speaking, she received a light flick to the back of her head. Clutching the spot, she looked aggrievedly at Inori. Seeing the tenderness flowing through those wine-red eyes, she understood that now was not the time to bring up such things. After hesitating for a while, she fell silent.
"By the way, everyone's all right, aren't they? The last thing I remember is shattering that meteorite, but I have absolutely no idea what happened afterward." Seeing that they were no longer dwelling on the previous subject, Chu Lian asked about what had happened after she lost consciousness.
"The other cultivators in Sucheng joined forces to destroy the shattered pieces of the meteorite. But everyone has placed all the credit on you, almost as though they'd reached an understanding beforehand. I think this was a measure taken by the Huaxia government. They wanted to create a hero and completely establish a positive public image for cultivators as a group."
"Ever since you fell unconscious, reports about you have been everywhere. They've completely flooded the media. At this rate, maybe they're trying to wake you up through sheer publicity, or perhaps they want to turn you into some kind of national Martial Goddess. After all, CCTV was the first to call you the 'Valkyrie.'"
Cai Ya paid the most attention to these matters and was also the most familiar with them, so when Chu Lian asked about what had happened, she told her everything she knew.
"I see. Dad probably discussed it with the people over there. After all, if cultivators—this group of people with supernatural abilities—are going to gain a stable foothold among ordinary people, then they need a positive image..." Now that Chu Lian was awake and clearheaded again, she could easily understand the reasoning behind it.
"Mm. And what happened that night was broadcast live around the world. In other words, anywhere capable of receiving the signal could watch everything from shortly after the forbidden spell began until the moment you destroyed the meteorite."
"On top of that, the form you took after growing larger was distinctive and had a very positive image, making it perfect to use as the most favorable public symbol. It would've been ideal if a superhero had appeared during the dragon attack in America earlier, but unfortunately, for whatever reason, they didn't do that and wasted an opportunity. Still, having a contrast like this now makes the impact even stronger, doesn't it?"
Cai Ya had originally felt neither fondness nor dislike toward America, but after encountering so many dangers there during the school trip, she had lost whatever feelings she once had toward the place. As a result, whenever she spoke about America now, her tone always carried a faint indifference.
"After all, even the self-proclaimed number-one military in the world couldn't kill that dragon after deploying an aircraft carrier. They just let it slaughter more than half the city and leave. But when danger appeared on our side, a hero stepped forward to save everyone."
"Only with a comparison like that can people truly understand what supernatural ability users mean for humanity, right? The American media have already cursed out everyone in their own country, from the government and military to their so-called superheroes. Then look at our side—it's nothing but praise. Hahaha... Big Sis, don't you think that's hilarious..."
Chu Chu filled in some of the remaining details. Hearing them made Chu Lian smile as well. Fortunately, all of these developments were good ones.
"Actually, the most important thing is this stone you were holding at the time. We don't know what it's used for, but you were gripping it so tightly that we didn't throw it away. We kept it." As Cai Ya spoke, she returned to her bed and searched around for a moment. When she came back, she was holding a milky-white crystal.
"This is... a Spirit Moonstone..." The others might not know what this stone was, but how could Chu Lian possibly not recognize it? This was something she desperately needed. Ayase had also told her that this kind of stone was extremely important to her.
Whenever Ayase spoke so seriously about something, Chu Lian always remembered it and treated her words almost like a creed to live by.
"So it really is something you need." When Cai Ya heard Chu Lian name the stone, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they had noticed how tightly she had been holding it and had not thrown it away. Otherwise, there would have been trouble this time.
"Yes. It's very important. Thank you..." Chu Lian reached out, accepted the Spirit Moonstone, and carefully put it away. Although she still did not know what this kind of stone was used for, she was certain there would be a way to uncover its secrets in the future.
Chu Lian had that feeling, and she believed it had to be right. Because Ayase had said so.
Ayase... Thinking of Ayase made her miss her again. Is she doing well?
"Mommy!" "The soup's here..." Just then, two girls' voices sounded from the doorway in quick succession. When Chu Lian heard them, she smiled, her expression extraordinarily gentle...