Chapter 21: The Grandfather and Grandson’s Ghostly Encounter

In an instant, the entire scene was engulfed in an eerie silence.

Professor Yu stared in disbelief, clutching his chest as if struck by a severe blow. After several seconds of struggling to catch his breath, he managed to say with difficulty, "...It's gone?"

"Teacher, I’m sorry. We were guarding it the whole time; it was only during meal breaks that..." The students, frightened and sobbing uncontrollably, were suddenly pushed aside by Professor Yu, who staggered toward the spot.

By the time the reporters surged forward, Professor Yu was already kneeling before an empty pit in the earth, his face pale and his eyes devoid of light.

Muttering to himself, he said, “Gone... all gone... retribution..."

There had once been a miraculous flower standing there, but now it had vanished without a trace.

The reporters exchanged glances before frantically scrambling forward, all desperate to secure the first headline.

When the news broke, the entire internet was shocked. Countless people condemned the thieves, yet many also scorned Professor Yu and his team.

Some even accused him of fabricating the whole thing.

“Knowing how important it was but failing to protect it properly, then boasting about it—no wonder it’s gone.”

“They should have had specialists guarding it. It was all for their own careers and interests. What kind of good person is Professor Yu?”

“I have a conspiracy theory: what if it was fake from the start, just an elaborate act? After all, no one has ever seen the real miracle flower.”

“That sounds reasonable. Let’s see how the school explains it.”

The truth remained elusive, and Professor Yu never issued any clarifying statements.

Meanwhile, as the commotion over the missing miracle flower reached a peak, no one noticed a small figure leap down from the hillside, landing gracefully from a height of two or three meters.

Her pink down jacket snagged on a tree branch, but she casually brushed it off.

One arm cradled a cardboard box, the other held a small earthenware pot. The soft soil inside was scattered with green leaves and two smooth pebbles.

Who could have imagined that the brilliantly glowing orange miracle flower, once so magnificent, had been reduced to a seed no larger than a pinky finger?

The flower, named for its beauty, was now buried quietly in the earth.

With an air of confidence, Su Xiqi descended the mountain. At the foot, she found a stick and poked at the fertilizer made from the remains of the miracle flower.

“Little flower, little flower, grow up quickly. Daddy will feed you delicious things.”

Just then, Yue Yi arrived upon hearing the voice. From her vantage point, she could only see Su Xiqi’s back.

“Miss Su, are you already a mother at such a young age?”

Su Xiqi turned around, still somewhat dazed.

“Yes, this is my child, Little Flower. Unfortunately, it can’t talk yet.”

---

Yue Yi stared at the flower pot in her hands—no seedlings had even sprouted.

Putting aside the idea of calling a flower a child, talking to it was hardly plausible...

She did not understand, but she respected it.

Taking a few steps forward, Yue Yi asked, “Miss Su, did you bring me to Yunxia Mountain because my grandmother’s remains are here?”

Su Xiqi nodded. “That’s right. After she went missing, she accidentally came to Yunxia Mountain. Kind villagers found her and erected a tombstone.”

Yue Yi was shocked, her eyes reddening as she struggled to comprehend.

“I’m grateful to the villagers, but why didn’t they report it to the police?”

This was not the old days—how could anyone come across a corpse and think first to set up a tombstone?

Seeing Yue Yi’s emotions stirring, Su Xiqi smiled gently.

“How do you know they didn’t report it? Maybe there were other complications.”

“I can’t imagine what kind of complications,” Yue Yi said, unable to calm herself. That was her grandmother—the person who had loved her most since childhood.

She had needed a long time to come to terms with her unexpected death. Now, to learn she had been buried by strangers—even with good intentions—was unbearable.

Su Xiqi offered no explanation. Instead, she pointed in a direction.

“You’ll understand when you get there. But before you go, you have to meet a ghost.”

Uneasy, Yue Yi nodded. After a few seconds, she suddenly looked up—what did she see?

She had always thought the online stories were fake—the ones about “seeing my great-grandmother in that moment.”

But that belief was shattered after meeting Su Xiqi.

She watched in disbelief as the mist surged forward like a sandstorm. Slowly, a figure emerged from the haze. The sky above was dark and heavy, the silhouette gradually becoming clear.

In the blink of an eye, the mist withdrew like a tide, leaving behind Yue Jianhong standing... floating there, eyes filled with incomprehensible emotions.

“Grandpa...?”

Yue Yi’s mind went blank, as if bound by an unseen force.

By contrast, Yue Jianhong appeared calm. He sighed deeply.

“Xiao Yi, your grandpa never blamed you. It was your grandpa who failed you.”

Yue Yi was stunned, speechless.

Seeing this, Yue Jianhong instinctively wanted to seek help from a master, only to find she had already wandered away.

She squatted beside a haystack, munching on a sweet potato and gazing at the sky and earth—anything but him.

“...”

He had no choice but to summon his courage alone. Time passed slowly, yet she did not come back.

Well, courage could be feigned too.

Suddenly—

“Grandpa, it’s really you.”

Yue Yi, now fully aware, dashed forward but fell to the ground, staring dumbfounded at her hands.

Moments ago, she had passed right through her grandfather’s ghost.

It seemed she only just remembered—her grandfather was dead.

Like emotions long suppressed, tears she had refused to shed in front of her parents now burst forth uncontrollably.

She finally accepted the reality named death.

“I’m sorry, Grandpa... It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have left you behind and run away. I shouldn’t have avoided it. I regret it—I regret it! Grandpa!”

She knelt on the ground, her sobs escalating from whimpers to heart-wrenching cries.

But in a brief moment—

Yue Jianhong instinctively reached out to pat her head, just as he used to comfort her, but he knew he could no longer do so.

His bloodshot eyes could not even shed tears.

With a bitter smile, he said, “Xiao Yi, don’t be sad or feel guilty. Grandpa doesn’t regret dying on the way to see your grandmother. In this life...”

“The ones I failed most were your grandmother and you.”

He had many more words he wanted to say, but they all fell away except for this single sentence.

Yue Yi shook her head vehemently, tears streaming without time to wipe them.

“It’s not your fault, Grandpa. You didn’t fail. In such a situation, if you had not retreated, I wouldn’t be here. So you did nothing wrong.”

Su Xiqi’s words echoed in her ears—ill-timed destiny.

Without her grandfather, the city might have already fallen, and there would be no happiness or peace.

Fate was cruel.

For the first time, Yue Jianhong was stunned by such words.

He wasn’t wrong...?

But he had abandoned his family, left behind a pregnant wife, unable even to protect her.

Perceiving his thoughts, Yue Yi scrambled forward, reaching out desperately but grasping nothing. Finally, she could only cry out:

“Grandpa, you were not wrong. Really, you weren’t.”

Yue Jianhong lowered his head in confusion.

Through the long river of time, he had always doubted himself—were his resolute decisions truly correct?

“You were not wrong.”