The sky curtain makes you a useless class monitor, yet you act arbitrarily for eternity?

"I...I!"

Ye Chen's anger only lasted for three seconds.

That sentence was never uttered.

He opened his mouth, his Adam's apple bobbed a few times, and finally lowered his head and sat back down in the chair.

He picked up the bottle again and took a big gulp.

He drank the entire bottle of wine in just two gulps.

"Bang."

The empty bottle lay on the table.

Ye Chen lowered his head and smiled, his eyes filled with exhaustion.

"never mind."

Say whatever you want.

"Anyway, no matter how much I publicize it, no one can laugh at me now."

He bent down, picked up the second bottle, and bit off the cap with his teeth.

"Click."

The bottle cap fell to the ground.

Ye Chen didn't look at Ye Chuhao opposite him anymore, picked up the bottle and continued to pour the wine into his mouth.

He reached out and grabbed a handful of beef skewers, taking a big bite.

The familiar taste spread across the tip of the tongue.

The next moment, his eyes reddened again.

Ye Chen held a bottle of liquor in one hand and a piece of barbecue in the other, chewing with his head down.

Tears slid down her cheeks and into her mouth.

He didn't wipe it.

With his mouth full of beef, he mumbled indistinctly:

"Dog Squad Leader!"

"you……"

He sniffled, his voice cut off by a sob.

"You just came here to laugh at me, didn't you?"

"Can't you buy something better when you buy things?"

"Why would you buy it from the stall near our school gate...?"

As he spoke, his tears fell even faster.

Ye Chuhao sat opposite him, chuckled, and picked up a skewer of beef as well.

"I just like this because I thought of you."

"I paid a hefty price to get that uncle back to his old ways at a time like this."

"At a considerable cost?"

Ye Chen paused.

He looked up at Ye Chuhao's illusory body.

"You idiot, you're not going to travel back in time again and have someone make it for you, are you?"

Ye Chuhao rolled his eyes at him.

"It's not that bad."

"That uncle isn't dead yet."

Ye Chen's eye twitched.

Ye Chuhao, biting into a beef skewer, said slowly:

"I told him that your current ruler is the same boy who used to carry a snakeskin bag and climb over the wall every night to go and buy goods from him at the gate of Jinling Martial Arts School."

"Now, he sits in the palace, dealing with the war without rest for three consecutive months."

"As his classmate, I feel bad for him and would like to ask you to cook him a nice meal."

"Then, when he heard that, he was incredibly moved."

He immediately shouted, "Your Majesty, wait for me! Don't underestimate the bond between us!"

Ye Chuhao took a bite of the beef skewer.

So, you got to eat it.

"..."

Ye Chen remained silent for a moment.

Finally, he sighed helplessly.

"You shameless dog, squad leader."

"Oh."

Ye Chuhao smiled.

"Same to you."

"However, this is the first time I've realized that you cry so much."

"..."

Ye Chen looked up and glared at him.

If you can't speak properly, then shut up.

He didn't argue anymore, but just drank in silence.

The Imperial Study fell silent once more.

The barbecue on the table was steaming hot.

The aroma of wine mingled with the smell of charcoal fire, slowly spreading through this palace where too many people had already perished.

After a long while, Ye Chen looked up again.

His gaze fell on Ye Chuhao's gradually fading body.

"you……"

"What's wrong with your body?"

"I?"

Ye Chuhao paused for a moment while biting into the beef skewer.

Then, he smiled nonchalantly.

"It's nothing serious."

"Click."

A tiny crack appeared in the wine bottle in Ye Chen's hand.

"Nothing serious?"

His voice lowered.

The next moment, he suddenly looked up.

"Then why...?"

"Are my memories of you fading little by little?"

"What are you hiding from us?!"

Ye Chuhao glanced at him calmly.

"Doesn't that just mean I don't hold a high enough place in your heart?"

"Ye Chuhao!"

Ye Chen slammed the wine bottle down.

"Don't change the subject!"

"I am someone who has been to the source of the Ruins!"

"I've glimpsed a corner of the world behind the source!"

"Oh?"

Ye Chuhao raised an eyebrow.

"So what did you see?"

Ye Chen gripped the wine bottle tightly.

He stared at the firelight on the table, his voice gradually lowering.

"I saw the sea..."

"That sea stretches across the heavens, its waters are pitch black, and it has no end in sight."

"In every wave, there are remnants left behind by the destruction of the universe."

"Between the rising and falling waves, I witnessed the rise and fall of eras..."

Ye Chuhao did not interrupt him.

Ye Chen's fingers slowly tightened.

"And at the end of that sea..."

He paused for a long time before continuing to speak.

"I saw an afterimage."

"That person cleaved the source of darkness with a single sword strike and walked alone into a place I could not see."

"That person..."

Ye Chen raised his head and stared intently at Ye Chuhao.

"Was it you?"

Ye Chuhao tilted his head slightly.

He seemed to think about it carefully for a moment, then smiled.

"I think so."

"I don't remember when those marks were left."

Ye Chen closed his eyes and remained silent for a long time.

When he opened his eyes again, his voice had become hoarse.

"Is that just a mark on you?"

"uh-huh."

Ye Chuhao nodded.

"Otherwise what?"

"So, how strong is the enemy you're facing?"

"Um……"

Ye Chuhao shook the wine bottle in his hand.

"Not very strong either!"

"It's probably on the main road."

Ye Chen's fingers tightened even more.

"On the Great...Great Road?"

"So when I, the class monitor, said you were slacking off, you still didn't believe me."

Ye Chuhao looked up at him.

"You are now only facing a few minor monsters that I, the squad leader, have revealed, and you've been beaten and driven away by your own deserters and small fry."

"They can't even handle these small fry."

"How can I, the class monitor, reuse you guys in the future?"

"Click."

The crack in the bottle continued to widen.

Ye Chen lowered his head again.

This time, he did not refute it.

He watched the wine drip through his fingers, his lips moved a few times, but he never made a sound.

That silence...

That feeling of powerlessness...

The feeling of watching your loved ones die one by one, and being unable to do anything about it.

It made him almost unable to breathe.

The class monitor sitting in front of him had already reached a place he could no longer reach.

They can't even fight side by side.

Even looking up requires all one's strength.

Ye Chen raised his hand to cover his face, his shoulders began to tremble.

"Grass……"

"How many times did I cry today?"

Tears seeped through his fingers and dripped onto the table.

Ye Chuhao put down the wine bottle.

His tone remained lazy, but his voice carried a hint of the helplessness one feels when a parent scolds their child.

"alright."

"You guys aren't that bad."

"It's just that you have too little time to grow up."

Ye Chen slowly raised his head.

"us……"

"But they already..."

"rest assured."

Ye Chuhao raised his hand, cutting him off from what he was about to say.

"As your class monitor, how could I possibly watch you die in front of me?"

Ye Chen's eyes flickered.

"Then my master..."

Ye Chuhao looked at him.

This time, he did not continue to answer.

"Ye Chen".

"You are now qualified to bear those memories."