"Feng..."
"Feng'er."
Song Luoyi gazed at Chu Feng, calling out softly.
There was even a hint of caution in her voice, as if she feared speaking too loudly might frighten him away.
"It's me... Grandmother, it's me."
Chu Feng responded immediately, equal parts surprised and delighted. He had expected his grandmother not to recognize him, and had prepared to explain who he was.
Yet never could he have imagined that she would see through to his identity at a single glance.
"Feng'er, it really is Feng'er."
The flames that had shrouded the void dissipated, and even their residual warmth vanished with them.
Ye Xiancheng and his parents finally let out a breath of relief.
Song Luoyi remained standing where she was, staring at Chu Feng, her lips trembling and tears welling in her eyes.
She was visibly overcome with emotion.
"Grandmother."
Chu Feng flew out from the palace and arrived before Song Luoyi.
"This... isn't a dream, is it?"
Song Luoyi actually began to doubt herself.
Because she knew all too well how often she lost her grip on reality.
Only in dreams could such a happy scene appear. When awake, she was little more than a walking corpse.
"Grandmother, this isn't a dream."
"I am Chu Feng," he said.
Seeing the red rims of her eyes and the disbelief in her gaze, Chu Feng felt his own nose sting with emotion.
By all logic, in her maddened state, his grandmother should not have been able to recognize who he was.
But it seemed that even in her insanity, she had been absorbing every piece of information about the world.
It had to be that way — only when she briefly regained clarity could she immediately identify Chu Feng.
His grandmother's suffering ran deeper than even he had imagined.
She longed for lucidity, because once lucid, she could protect those she cared about.
Yet she could never hold onto it.
What kind of torment was that?
"Feng'er, you... you've suffered so much."
Song Luoyi finally lost her composure, and tears rolled down her cheeks.
Her hands, however, gently caressed Chu Feng's face, trembling softly.
It was not just her hands — her entire body was shaking.
For a figure of her stature to be this emotional spoke volumes about how much Chu Feng meant to her.
"Grandmother, I haven't suffered."
Chu Feng shook his head, saying little, as docile as a child.
In this moment, he was no longer the most powerful young cultivator who had dominated the Martial Cultivation World.
He was simply Song Luoyi's grandson.
Song Luoyi's lips trembled even more fiercely, as though countless words and questions rushed up inside her, but none could find their way out.
But at that very moment, above the void, the Ancient Tomb underwent yet another transformation.
Simultaneously, the words "Divine Curse" surfaced on Song Luoyi's forehead.
Her eyes, which had been brimming with love, once again became devoid of all emotion.
Then her gaze immediately shifted away from Chu Feng, as though she no longer recognized him at all, and turned toward the Ancient Tomb.
"Grandmother!"
Seeing this, Chu Feng called out and hastily formed hand seals once more.
This was his technique.
During the earlier treatment, while he had not been able to fully restore his grandmother's consciousness, he had used the healing formation to implant a formation array within her mind.
By forming the proper hand seals, he could grant her a brief window of lucidity.
But now, this method had failed.