Chapter 30: The Village That Can Never Be Returned To

“What’s with that distracted look…”

Until a pair of fair hands waved in front of Su Li’s eyes, snapping him out of his daze.

“Ugh, Brother Su’s been in this state of mind lately. Can’t be helped.”

Cheng Yehai shook his head helplessly, shoving a bottle of cold soda water into Su Li’s hand.

The cold sensation cleared Su Li’s vision a bit, and he saw Alice and Cheng Yehai standing around him with different expressions.

“Your condition is really off, Su Li.”

Alice crossed her arms.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Su Li lowered his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

The other two in his group were training hard, while he just stood there doing nothing.

“I was just thinking about something… I’ll get back to it right now.”

Su Li took a deep breath and was about to stand up.

“Wait.”

But he heard Alice’s voice from behind him, her tone not as arrogant as usual, but with a rare seriousness.

Su Li stopped and turned to look at her.

She pursed her lips, then spoke.

“Forget it, today’s training time is over. Besides, maintaining a good mood is more important than forcing yourself to train.”

Alice turned her face away, her tone seeming a bit reluctant.

“We’re teammates after all. If something’s wrong or you’re in trouble, you can talk to us. Don’t keep it bottled up alone.”

Cheng Yehai nodded vigorously on the side.

“Exactly, exactly. Brother Su, don’t be so tense. I might not be able to help much, but at least I can be a qualified listener.”

Su Li looked up and saw the clear blue sky and the two people beside him who cared about him.

There was only one thing on his mind: that day, You Xue had left without saying goodbye, and he, out of spite, hadn’t chased after her.

Logically, he should steel his heart and not think about her.

After all, it was her own decision.

He had no responsibility or ability to interfere.

That was what he declared in his heart, but he couldn’t act on it at all.

He kept thinking, the outside world was so dangerous—what would she do alone out there?

What if, because he didn’t go after her, something happened to You Xue?

“I…”

Su Li opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Alice and Cheng Yehai didn’t seem impatient.

Not caring if the ground was dirty, they sat down directly next to Su Li.

Cheng Yehai said bluntly.

“Brother Su, if you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. Just take a rest first.”

Then he winked and tried to ask.

“Brother Su, you’re not still thinking about that friend you cut ties with, are you?”

“Mm.”

Su Li didn’t deny it, nor could he.

He had to admit that You Xue did occupy a corner of his heart, and she still existed there.

Originally he wanted to keep it hidden, but feeling like he was the only one agonizing, he wanted to say it out loud, at least to make himself feel better.

“She’s a friend, but that girl is more like my childhood sweetheart.”

Su Li said slowly.

“Childhood sweetheart?”

Alice looked surprised.

Su Li nodded.

“We grew up together, and neither of us had any family. In the village, it was just the two of us relying on each other.”

Cheng Yehai’s eyes widened in surprise.

“A village? Brother Su, you actually came from outside the city? I didn’t think anyone could still live out there.”

“Not anymore…”

Su Li lowered his eyes.

The village in his memory was indeed beautiful, as if every part was full of life and gentleness.

But for him, that village was also barren—no decent houses, no stable food, and not even a complete road.

They lived on wild vegetables and wild fruits.

They planted a small field, but without strength or experience, they couldn’t grow anything well.

What they planted came out withered and tiny.

Sometimes they would help the villagers with work.

They were just kids, so they couldn’t do much, but the farmers who agreed to let them help would always treat them to a hot meal.

So in the end, they managed to survive well enough, until now.

But that village…

“That village no longer exists.”

“No longer exists?”

Cheng Yehai was stunned.

“Mm.”

Su Li nodded softly.

“The demon beasts came and destroyed the entire village. The two of us ran and ran for a long time, and finally we met a Superpowered Individual and survived.”

That was truly a nightmare.

Or rather, his life was made up of one nightmare after another.

“In the end, that demon beast was killed, and the village was destroyed, so I came to this city.”

This was supposed to be a good thing that happened in the midst of misfortune, but it seemed like everything was slowly turning bad again, and Su Li was powerless.

“Is that childhood sweetheart of yours okay?”

Alice asked cautiously.

Su Li looked up at the sky.

The white of the clouds resembled her long hair, and the blue of the sky was like her eyes.

But objectively, it wasn’t really similar.

The clouds were too white—they should be a bit darker.

The sky was also too blue—it should be a little paler.

Su Li knew it wasn’t these colors that stirred his thoughts; he had already been thinking of her.

“She’s fine.”

“Then why did she and you…”

Cheng Yehai didn’t finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear.

Su Li was silent for a moment.

“Because she doesn’t need me anymore.”

He felt ridiculous.

Even now, he was still fantasizing about going back to the past.

“Isn’t she just a bad woman?!”

Cheng Yehai patted Su Li’s shoulder, his tone carrying a bit of indignation on behalf of his brother.

“It’s okay, there are plenty of fish in the sea. Besides, Brother Su, you’re so handsome—you’ll definitely find someone better!”

Seeing Cheng Yehai so indignant, Su Li couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

“I told you, she’s just a childhood sweetheart, nothing more.”

Su Li defended himself.

Alice, however, didn’t join in the teasing.

She just quietly looked at Su Li, the sunset reflected in her emerald eyes.

“It’s okay.”

Her tone was serious.

“At least now you have us with you. Don’t think about that person anymore.”

“Mm.”

Su Li replied softly, then stood up.

“Thank you for listening to my nonsense.”

Alice snorted and turned away.

“Instead of thanking us, you should get back to training sooner. After all, in the Practical Combat Drill, we need to get a good ranking.”

Then she shot a displeased glare at Cheng Yehai.

“After all, our team also has a waste who lies on the ground for three hours after using his Supernatural Ability once.”

“Hey, hey, hey, don’t say that. Teacher An Bian said my ability can play a big role.”

Cheng Yehai’s face immediately fell.

Alice raised an eyebrow.

“Talk to me when you can use it once without collapsing on the ground!”

Alice mercilessly delivered another blow, then stood up and brushed the dust off her uniform.

“That’s it for today. We’ll continue tomorrow. Su Li, get some rest and don’t overthink.”

Su Li nodded and watched them leave.

The sun set, and only he remained on the training ground.

He picked up the training longsword from the weapon rack.

His Supernatural Ability might have a disruptive effect on humans, but against thick-skinned demon beasts, simple blinding was hard to inflict substantial damage.

So he had to master weapons.

The weight of steel was heavy, but it was a weight he could use to protect himself.