Chapter 1602 - 1565: Passing Away and Rebirth

“He’s here.”

In the small shrine within Guanjiang Residential Complex, Wang Shanshan seemed to sense something. Her eyes immediately looked outside the door.

Zhang Wenwen and Jiang Yan immediately followed her gaze.

At this moment, outside the door, a young man around twenty-years-old, with fair skin, and slightly immature features was striding towards them. He looked very ordinary, except for a slightly aloof demeanor, there was nothing particularly remarkable about him.

“Is that Yang Jian? How is he so young?” Zhang Wenwen’s face showed some surprise.

According to his guess, Yang Jian should be from the same era as Aunt Jiang and his Grandpa, not to mention being eighty, but at least seventy-something. How could he still maintain such youth?

But soon, he thought of Elder Sister Wang.

Elder Sister Wang had maintained her youth for decades, from his childhood till now, without essentially changing much. Perhaps Yang Jian was the same.

“Yang Jian.” At this moment, Jiang Yan’s eyes instantly moistened, tears started uncontrollably streaming down.

Countless memories began to flash in her mind until those precious recollections filled her heart, and in a daze, she felt she returned to that past time.

But as she stretched out her hand, she saw her arm full of wrinkles, Jiang Yan suddenly snapped back to reality.

She was already very old, over eighty.

If it weren’t for the privileged lifestyle and proper care over the years, she wouldn’t have made it till now and would have died like Zhang Liqin.

“Jiang Yan, you’ve aged.” Yang Jian’s voice echoed, as always, a calmness mixed with a hint of coldness.

Jiang Yan touched her old face, tears flowing: “Sixty years have passed, how could I not age? You remain unchanged, still so young. I feel I have no face to stand before you.”

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Yang Jian said.

“It’s fine, I finally waited for you. These past few years, I’ve been really afraid, afraid that one day I just couldn’t hold on and died. Every night I prayed that I would be healthy enough to make it to today. You wouldn’t know, over these years, I’ve seen many people pass away, some younger than me. Last month, an elderly man in his seventies suddenly fell while taking a walk and died. I watched from the side.”

Jiang Yan wiped away her tears, babbling like a child because, at this moment, she found her cornerstone again.

“Birth, aging, sickness, and death, these are human nature. Compared to many people from that era, you are lucky.”

Yang Jian said calmly, then he looked at the elderly man lying on the ground: “Ah Wei seems in a bad state, he might die.”

“Please, save my dad.” Zhang Wenwen dropped to her knees, pleading.

“It’s not a difficult task.”

Yang Jian reached out, a long red spear suddenly appeared in his hand, then he softly spoke as if a deity was revealing a truth.

“I say, the person before me shall awaken.”

The voice echoed in the small shrine, and at the moment he finished speaking, the comatose Grandpa Zhang suddenly opened his eyes, instantaneously regaining consciousness, though his expression still appeared pained, as if his body had undergone tremendous torment.

“I say, the person before me shall be free of ailment.”

After this sentence, Grandpa Zhang’s body shivered slightly, then he breathed a long sigh of relief. All the ailments were stripped from his body in an instant, bringing him a sense of comfort.

“I say, the person before me shall be robust.”

“I say, the person before me shall be keen-eyed and alert.”

In the next moment.

Grandpa Zhang’s weak and frail limbs suddenly became strong and vigorous, no longer resembling an elderly man awaiting demise, but rather akin to a robust young man. At the same time, his eyes became bright, and his hearing returned to normal, with no signs of blurred vision or hearing impairment.

“Your Grandpa Wai is back.”

Grandpa Zhang shouted robustly at this moment, quickly turned over nimbly, standing up, and casually threw aside the walking stick, no longer needing it.

Zhang Wenwen stood momentarily stunned.

This, how is this possible?

Just a moment ago, his father was on the verge of death, and now he was suddenly vibrant and energetic, as though he had become decades younger.

“Brother Tui, speak a few more words if you can, I’ve been suffering from a sore and weak lower back lately, need some strengthening.” Grandpa Zhang said unabashedly.

“You’re too old to need that,” Yang Jian said. “I didn’t expect that in sixty years you’d have a son. When did you get married? Whom did you marry?”

“I married late, only at the age of thirty to a third-tier actress from the company. You wouldn’t know her, legs brother, not worth mentioning. I hadn’t planned to marry her, but then one day she invited me for grilled skewers and insisted on staying at my house, and after a while, she said she was pregnant. I had no choice but to listen to my dad and marry her.”

Grandpa Zhang waved his hand, recounting a piece of past history.

“Many things happened in the years after you left. Firstly, your company went bankrupt, Shangtong Tower was demolished ten years ago, and the headquarters disbanded. Vice Minister Wang Guoqiang, according to Liu Xiaoyu, passed away twenty years ago, and your teammates couldn’t hold on either, resting in coffins. You saw it earlier, the ghostly trouble in Dachang City was their doing.”

“Well, this is where my Ah Wei shines; anyone else wouldn’t dare lay a hand on former teammates.”

At this time, Jiang Yan said: “Your secretary Zhang Liqin also passed away. She died when she was only in her fifties, very young. Your aunt went away too, but she was well cared for by Zhang Liqin and me, living to over eighty before passing. She missed you very much and cried often.”

“On the day your aunt passed away, your cousin came to pay respects. I met her, and she hasn’t changed a bit from before.”

“Liu Xiaoyu suffers from dementia now and is receiving treatment in the hospital. Doctors say she frequently has fevers, and her health is poor.”

At this point, Yang Jian spoke: “Liu Xiaoyu died, just now.”

“What?” Jiang Yan was momentarily stunned.

Wang Shanshan immediately asked, “Didn’t you save her? If you stepped in, she wouldn’t have died.”

“Her will to survive isn’t strong, and life and death are the norm. I could intervene to save her, but then what? Would she continue to eke out an existence in decrepitude, or rely on supernatural powers to live through the ages? I have no right to make that choice for her.”

Yang Jian said calmly.

Hearing this, Jiang Yan and Wang Shanshan also fell silent.

Indeed.

Everyone dies eventually. After living so many years, they’ve come to understand many things.

Youth is, after all, gone. Even if one survives with supernatural power, how long can one truly live?

Grandpa Zhang couldn’t help but sigh, “I’ve come to terms with it. I’ll live as long as I can in this life. My time has passed, and clinging on to life is meaningless. I’ve held on this long just to see Brother Tui one more time. Now that I’ve seen him, I have no regrets.”

With Yang Jian here, he’s not worried about future hauntings or about his son and grandson being uncared for.

His heart is now at peace.

At this moment, Jiang Yan bit her lip and said, “No, I don’t want this. I’m not resigned. I’ve waited for you for sixty years. I don’t want to just die like this. Yang Jian, I beg you, give us a chance to choose again. I want to return to the past. I still want to continue this journey with you. If possible, I could take care of you forever.”

“Even if you’ve really become a god, doesn’t a god need someone to serve them?”

Years of obsession prevented Jiang Yan from stepping down; she hoped for another chance to start over.

Wang Shanshan still didn’t speak. She looked at Yang Jian calmly, seemingly in contemplation.

Yang Jian looked at Jiang Yan and said, “You’ve waited sixty years for me; I’ll repay you with sixty years. I can give you two choices: return to youth with your memories… or I can erase these sixty years from your memory, bringing you back to the day before I went into slumber, making these years as if they never existed to you.”

Jiang Yan’s eyes lit up with a hint of excitement, but she fell into thought again on what choice she should make.

To keep these sixty years of memory, or not to keep them?

“You don’t need to decide immediately. Take your time to think it through and give me your answer when you’re ready,” Yang Jian said.

It was then that Wang Shanshan spoke, “If you’re willing to give Jiang Yan a chance, then why not give Liu Xiaoyu another chance as well? Her past sixty years weren’t good. Besides, Jiang Yan is right. You have a long life ahead, requiring companionship, so you won’t be alone.”

Upon hearing of Liu Xiaoyu’s death, Wang Shanshan felt uneasy, hoping to alter something.

“Reversing the past, changing life and death, is no difficulty for me. Since you mentioned it, I’ll ask Liu Xiaoyu what she chooses,”

Yang Jian’s words concluded as he was enveloped in red light, stepping forward and vanishing from everyone’s sight.

“Where did he go?” Zhang Wenwen felt curious at that moment.

“He returned to the past,” Jiang Yan said.

“Is he God? He can even return to the past?” Zhang Wenwen was even more astonished, feeling it was akin to divinity.

Grandpa Zhang chuckled and said, “Some things are hard to explain to you, silly boy. You’ll understand gradually.”

At this moment.

Yang Jian restarted the present, overcoming the obstacles of time, and returned to a hospital ward in Dachang City.

At this moment, on the hospital bed, an elderly person was gently closing their eyes, about to take their last breath.

“Liu Xiaoyu.”

A familiar call echoed in her ear, akin to a god’s summons, forcefully pulling this elderly person away from the brink of death.

“Is it Yang Jian?” Liu Xiaoyu couldn’t speak, but her heart responded.

“It’s me.”

Yang Jian seemed to hear her inner voice, “Are you tired? Do you want to just pass on, or do you wish to return to the past and continue this journey with me?”

“I’m tired. I’m very old now and want to have a good rest. However, my youth belongs to you, so take my youth with you, let the younger me accompany you,” Liu Xiaoyu’s heart whispered, responding to Yang Jian’s voice.

“I understand,” Yang Jian said.

Then, in her final moments, Liu Xiaoyu vaguely saw Yang Jian’s figure. He waved his hand in farewell, with someone standing beside him.

It was a young, beautiful woman with twin ponytails, appearing very cute, just like her younger self.

The elderly lady felt extraordinarily happy, knowing that from now on, Yang Jian would have someone by his side.

Finally, she passed away peacefully.

“Let’s go,” Yang Jian called out, bringing Liu Xiaoyu away from the hospital and back to the Guanjiang Residential Complex once more.

Simultaneously.

In the hospital, the elderly person’s corpse, which had been dead for quite some time, suddenly revealed a faint smile, appearing very serene, without previous regrets or reluctance. Now, death was merely old age, tiredness, and pain, but youth, happiness, and beauty remained alive.

When Yang Jian appeared with the young Liu Xiaoyu in the small temple, both Jiang Yan and Zhang Wei were stunned.

“Her memory remains at the day I disappeared, but she knows roughly what happened over these sixty years,” Yang Jian explained.

Wang Shanshan understood and said, “So the real Liu Xiaoyu still passed away? She left her most beautiful time for you.”

“It depends on how you interpret it. She inherited Liu Xiaoyu’s memories but forgot some parts. You could say she is Liu Xiaoyu, or she isn’t. I respected her own will,” Yang Jian said.

“Yes, I think this is very good,” Liu Xiaoyu smiled, her eyes curved like crescents, appearing very cute.

Jiang Yan, watching from the side, was very envious, yet still hadn’t made a decision.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by novlove.com

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