Chapter 637: No, does it really matter?

It was late at night.

The Enna Family's Wooden House fell silent; the hearth fire had gone out, leaving only a few dark‑red coals in the ashes that flickered dimly, like drowsy eyes.

Enna and Xi Ge Li De slept on the inner room's bed, breathing evenly.

Alf slept on the outer room's wooden couch, one leg draped over the blanket, snoring softly.

Ying Ge curled up on the small bed by the window, still clutching that little wooden horse in his arms, a strand of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Yu Lin opened his eyes.

He rose from the lounge chair, moving lightly without making a sound.

Moonlight slipped in through the window's crack, falling before his feet as a thin line, like a silver thread.

He stood, walked through the outer room, passed the stove, reached the doorway, and pushed the door open.

A cold wind rushed in, carrying the night's distinct chill and the scent of the distant forest.

The moonlight was bright, a thin veil of light spread over the roof and over the branches of the old tree.

Haila had already left.

A shallow imprint remained on the stone slab where she had lain, as if someone had rested there for a long time.

It was unclear whether it was intentional.

Yu Lin glanced, then lifted his head to look at the sky.

The moon hung at the zenith, round and large, its light rendering the cloud layer translucent.

Stars were countless, densely strewn, stretching from the eastern horizon to the western horizon; some bright, some dim, some hanging alone high up, some clustered together as if shivering from cold.

He watched for a while, then raised his hand and waved.

The Starry Sky began to rotate.

It was not the violent whirling of heaven and earth, but a very slow rotation, as if someone were turning a massive knob.

Stars rose in the east and set in the west, their speed increasing, their trails growing denser.

Moonlight shifted from one pane of the window to another, then back again.

Day and night alternated, like someone rapidly flipping the pages of a book—light, dark, light, dark—each transition bearing the characteristic gray‑blue glow of dawn and dusk.

The light struck the ancient oak, the fence wall, the ground where the snow had melted, and the tree's shadow leapt from east to west, then back from west to east!

No one noticed.

Enna was still asleep, Xi Ge Li De still asleep, Alf still snoring, Ying Ge still clutching the wooden horse.

Their breathing did not change, their posture remained the same.

Time stood still upon them.

Or rather, it halted across the entire Wooden House, the whole courtyard, the entire forest, the whole world.

Only Yu Lin was awake, and the stars were turning.

"Found it."

Yu Lin withdrew his hand.

The Starry Sky stopped.

Moonlight fell again, brighter than before, shining as if someone had lit a lamp in the heavens.

Starlight gathered together, converging from all directions, intertwining, winding, and weaving in midair.

They amassed ever more, weaving ever denser, until they formed a massive image suspended at the center of the night, like a borderless mirror reflecting events from long ago!

The image depicted a forest.

It was a forest from long ago, before the snow fell, the leaves still yellow, the ground carpeted with fallen leaves that rustled underfoot.

Enna bore a bow on his back, an axe hanging at his waist, walking along a forest path.

He was younger than now, with a few fewer wrinkles on his face, his shoulders bearing a lighter load.

Xi Ge Li De followed behind, carrying a basket in her hand, the basket holding a few mushrooms and a handful of wild greens.

They walked very slowly, as if searching for something, yet as if searching for nothing, simply walking.

"This way," Enna said, pointing to the left.

Xi Ge Li De followed, stepping on the fallen leaves he had trodden, footprints overlapping footprints.

They walked a few steps and stopped.

In the thicket by the road lay a clump of something, gray and compacted, like an abandoned little animal.

Enna crouched, pushed aside the foliage. It was a baby, wrapped in a gray cloth, its face frozen purple, lips cyan, eyes closed, uncertain whether it was asleep or unconscious.

Xi Ge Li De knelt down, reached out and touched the baby's face—ice‑cold.

She lifted the baby, lifted the cloth for a glance, and saw it was a girl.

"Whose child is this?" she asked.

Enna looked around; there was no one in the forest, no footprints, no sounds, only the rustling wind passing through the treetops.

He stood, looked around again, and shook his head.

"I don't know."

Xi Ge Li De pressed the baby to her chest, covering her with an apron. The baby moved, opened its mouth briefly, then closed it again.

Xi Ge Li De lowered her head to look at her, watching for a long while, then lifted her gaze to Enna.

"Shall we take her back? She's so pitiful.........."

"Alright," Enna said, looking at her, then at the baby, and nodded.

At the moment he nodded, the scene paused here.

For an instant, it was as if someone had pressed the pause button.

Enna and Xi Ge Li De's expressions changed, an unseen force flowing through them, like water washing a stone, erasing the original marks and leaving new patterns!

They blinked, and when they looked again at the baby in their arms, their gazes had changed.

From "a picked-up child", it became "our daughter"!

This realization wasn't formed gradually; it was completed in an instant, like someone turning a page in a book, the previous page's content completely overwritten, never to be seen again!!

"Ying Ge, my child." Enna said.

Xi Ge Li De lowered her head to look at the baby and smiled.

"Ying Ge."

"Shall we go home?"

She repeated it once, and the baby's mouth twitched slightly, as if responding.

The scene continued.

They held the baby and walked out of the forest, heading home.

The baby slept in their arms, face pressed against Xi Ge Li De's chest, warming up, gaining color.

Watching this scene.

Yu Lin frowned slightly, raised his hand again, and Starry Night chose once more.

Afterwards.

The picture dimmed, then brightened.

It was an earlier time, the same forest, but the leaves were green, sunlight leaking through the gaps, the ground covered with wild grass and wildflowers.

A figure stood in the center of the forest, wearing a dark robe, the hood pulled low, covering most of the face.

He stood there, motionless, like a stone.

Then he raised his hand.

His fingers were long, knuckles prominent, nails trimmed neatly.

That hand plunged directly into his own chest, grabbing something and pulling it out!

What emerged was a heart, still beating—thump, thump, thump!

He held the heart in his palm, looked down at it, then split it in half, one half shoved back into his chest, the other half thrown to the ground.

The moment that half-heart hit the ground, light blazed forth, inside it a baby grew—from curled to stretched, from closed eyes to open, from silent to crying!

The cry was loud, startling the birds in the forest into a flurry of flight.

The figure crouched down, gazing at the baby.

His features remained hidden in the hood's shadow, his facial details unclear, but the corner of his mouth could be seen moving, as he spoke.

"Yu Lin, wait for me!"

His voice was low and heavy, carrying a long-suppressed, finally found outlet of unwillingness:

"I will ultimately deceive you!"

At the moment the words fell.

The picture shattered.

The canvas woven from starlight split open from the middle, like a piece of glass smashed, fragments scattering in all directions, flashing once in the air, then vanishing!!

Night returned to silence, the moon still hung overhead, stars still shining, wind brushing the tree branches, producing a faint rustling.

Yu Lin: ".........."

"No, is it really like that?"