Having received Hannah’s promise, Qingyu still didn’t feel at ease, but rather felt guilt, "I’m sorry."

He knew he was a troublesome person.

...

The place where Qingyu once lived was called Fairy Forest.

Fairy Forest was a place that could be called a "heaven on earth."

It had almost entirely cut off contact with the outside world.

There, there were no gunsmoke nor wars, neither were there worldly disturbances.

Acres of peach blossoms bloomed, streams babbled, and the grass on the banks was lush.

In this land, people still maintained the ancient lifestyle of thousands of years ago.

Without high-tech life, it was simple, yet also fulfilling.

They worked with the sunrise and rested with the sunset.

On the first and fifteenth of each month, they went to the temple to burn incense and pray for protection.

Because of his weak health since childhood, Qingyu was sent to a temple to recuperate by his family.

Latterly as he grew older, having been influenced from a young age, he considered taking up spiritual practices with his hair still unshorn.

The day the starships intruded into paradise was the day he had decided to become a monk and shave his head.

The once paradise of Fairy Forest turned into a hell on earth.

The fragrance of the peach blossoms was gone, replaced by the pungent smell of blood.

People were wailing and weeping bitterly.

Questioning why heaven had brought such a calamity upon them.

Was it their fault? So they had been punished?

Or was it the fault of the invaders, because of their greed?

No one could answer.

Only because he had been hidden in a secret passage by the senior monk who had taken him in, Qingyu had narrowly escaped this disaster.

He was born into a wealthy family, and although he was brought up in the temple, he had lived a luxurious life.

Now faced with such a drastic change, his weak body could hardly withstand it.

Hunger almost consumed all his sanity.

With the last bit of his strength, he crawled out of the secret passage.

Outside, everything was in a shambles; the invaders had looted all valuables and left.

He only found a bloodstained bun nearby.

At that moment, hunger finally overpowered his reason.

As he ate, he couldn’t resist the urge to vomit.

He didn’t even realize when tears had started falling.

Until a pleasant voice fell upon his ear, "Little monk, why are you crying?"

At that time, outside the window, the bright sun shone high, revealing a scene of destruction, ruins and walls, and saw blood-stained pears and peach blossoms fallen like a blanket covering a sea of corpses.

And it also revealed the girl’s smile, blooming like a flower.

She was a flower, a bloom in a land of desolation and decay, filled with moonlight and starlight.

Then, he reached up to wipe the tears from his own face, the salty taste of tears mixing with the taste of the bloodstained bun, making it even more bitter.

Yet it seemed not so hard to swallow anymore.

Hannah was sitting on an overturned table nearby, her legs swinging lightly, occasionally tapping on the tabletop.

She was looking at the sunlight and also the pear tree in the corner blooming with flowers.

As if casually, she asked, "Little monk, do you want to come with me?"

Half a minute later, unable to wait for a response, she turned to look at the person standing beside her.

Qingyu swallowed the last bite of the bun with difficulty, his hunger alleviated, then he lowered his head to see his hands covered in mud.

His teal robe was stained with blood, though whose it was he didn’t know.

For the first time, the always ceremonious him appeared so disheveled.

Hannah said to him again, "Little monk, there’s no one else here."

Given Qingyu’s condition at the time, if he didn’t leave and continued to stay here, he probably wouldn’t live for a few more years.

He was frail, born with an infirmity that couldn’t be cured, only tempered with care.

Qingyu was a gentleman, and a gentleman is like an orchid.

Orchids are hardest to keep alive.

So Hannah had always thought this description was quite appropriate.

Qingyu didn’t hide it and told Hannah about his poor health.