"You are terrible at comforting people."
Yan Mo closed his eyes again after that, his expression calm as though the conversation had already ended for him, and after watching him quietly for a few more seconds, I finally turned back toward the ceiling myself.
The room slowly became quiet afterward.
Outside, faint sounds from the village could still occasionally be heard, distant footsteps, low voices, the crackling of firewood somewhere far away, but compared to before, everything felt peaceful.
Safe.
Exhaustion slowly pulled at me, and before long, my eyes finally closed.
…
I did not know how much time had passed before I suddenly opened my eyes again.
The room was dark now.
The lantern had almost burned out completely, leaving only faint light flickering against the walls.
For a second, I thought something had happened.
Then—
[Ding!]
The familiar mechanical voice echoed inside my head.
I instantly became fully awake.
