“You didn’t want anyone to know — that’s why you refused to see Ashalina?” Shen Mo felt deeply unsettled inside. He wanted to scold her sharply, but couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“I’m not going anywhere.” He sighed and held her close. “What exactly are you afraid of?”

Bai Youwei let him hold her, her expression lost. “I don’t know… I… I don’t know why I can’t stand up…”

Perhaps deep in her subconscious, she still lived in fear — that once people discovered how ugly her inner world truly was, she would lose everything she had. Friendships, love, trust and support — all of it would vanish.

Including Shen Mo, who was holding her so tightly at this very moment. What was he truly thinking?

Was he genuinely unbothered?

Even knowing she had once hoped not to restore the world to normal — it really didn’t matter to him?

Bai Youwei clutched the back of Shen Mo’s shirt with both hands, her heart sinking, dragged down in slow, heavy waves.

She didn’t dare think about it — if everyone around her left, what would she do? Return to that solitary life she had known before? Eating alone, sleeping alone, watching the sun rise and set alone… Even if she won all the way to the end, what would any of it be worth, living like that?

She was so frightened…

Terrified beyond measure.

Bai Youwei closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. It was only then that she truly realized how small and pitiful she was — and how ridiculous.

Even as she told herself a thousand times over, *trust Shen Mo — trust that even hearing the recording, he won’t despise her, won’t abandon her, won’t leave* — she still couldn’t stand up.

She couldn’t stand up.

She could not overcome the demons in her own mind. Even as she wore the outward appearance of perfect calm, her despicable heart was still trying to use her paralyzed legs to bind Shen Mo to her — to keep him from leaving.

Bai Youwei bit down hard on her lip, suppressing the suffocating ache in her chest. In this moment, she felt utterly and completely defeated.

“It’ll get better.” Shen Mo gently patted her back, his sigh quiet. “We’ll take it slowly. It’ll get better.”

“Yes…” She breathed in deeply, fighting to steady her emotions, refusing to let self-pity claim her.

Shen Mo said, “Keeping this hidden isn’t a solution. I’ll go find a wheelchair.”

Bai Youwei grabbed his arm. “If people find out, recruiting will become even harder…”

Shen Mo frowned. “We can’t hide it for long.”

“It’s just that my state of mind is temporarily out of balance. Give me a little more time…” Bai Youwei bit her lip, her voice dropping, edged with a quiet plea. “Just give me a little more time, and my legs will recover. They will recover… I know they will…”

Shen Mo was caught between two impossible choices.

The effort to recruit subjects was already going disastrously. If word spread now that the King’s legs were paralyzed, it would only make things even more impossible.

He weighed the situation for a moment, then said, “We still need a wheelchair in the house regardless. Get some rest. I’ll go speak with Teacher Cheng and Xiaoxin.”

Bai Youwei released him.

He rose and headed for the door. Bai Youwei watched his back, gripped by a sudden, inexplicable rush of panic. She called out urgently, “Shen Mo.”

Shen Mo stopped and turned, his brow slightly furrowed.

Bai Youwei hesitated for two seconds, then asked, “Will you… will you really be willing to go to Beijin with me?”

She gazed at him, and before he could answer, rushed on: “The recording… it was taken out of context. I didn’t actually mean it that way… Do you believe me?”

“Yes.” The slight tension in Shen Mo’s brow eased, and his eyes softened. “I believe you. Now I’m going to find Teacher Cheng and Xiaoxin — get some rest. Try to recover as soon as you can.”

Bai Youwei watched him, and she didn’t quite know how — she felt like laughing, and at the same time felt like crying. In the end she just nodded, dazed and a little foolish, and said, “Alright…”

……

In the research center at the heart of the city, Li Li received a notice from the front desk that Su Man wanted to see him.

The colleagues in his research lab immediately teased him: “Li Li, your childhood sweetheart is here!”

Li Li put on a show of being annoyed, while inwardly feeling rather smug. After that argument, it seemed Su Man had finally taken the initiative to come to him.

“That girl is exhausting — always insisting on having everything her way. I’ve told her a thousand times, the research lab is not a place anyone can just walk into!” Li Li made his way toward the entrance.

—