Chapter 536 — The Name on the Three-Life Stone

But Yang Ji spoke with a firmness that brooked no refusal, draping the garment over Su Ya's shoulders. "Ha, my health is good—it's no trouble."

Su Ya thought about it, and this time did not refuse, pulling the clothing around herself. "Shall we go look for the Three-Life Stone where we carved our names before? Do you think it's still here?"

"It is, just a short way ahead!" Yang Yu nodded and pointed forward.

"Good. Now, can you tell me about this Yunnan business? What exactly is going on?" Su Ya asked.

"You don't know?" Yang Ce was slightly taken aback. "Didn't Chen Shutang and the others tell you?"

"No, they didn't go into detail. I'd rather hear it from you directly," Su Ya said. "I didn't press them, either. They said you were going to carry out a very long mission?"

"Heh... something like that?" Yang Ce shrugged.

"Is there a different version—one meant for me?" Su Ya asked instead.

Yang Ce was briefly startled and looked at Su Ya in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I know you." Su Ya smiled. "Honestly, none of them know you the way I do."

"What are you getting at?" Yang Ce felt a jolt of alarm.

"Actually, Chen Shutang did tell me about the mission you're going on, and she repeated your exact words to me. But I think your mission isn't merely 'complicated'—it's dangerous. That talk of ten or twenty years is just a cushion, a setup for the possibility that you won't come back. Am I right?" Su Ya suddenly turned to look at Yang Ce.

"How... how did you figure that out?" Yang Ce stared at her, dumbstruck.

"I know your character. You say one thing and mean it, always have. But this time you were evading... though mostly it's my intuition." Su Ya shrugged. "The reason I insisted on coming back this time is that I'd already guessed some of it."

"All right," Yang Jin gave a small laugh. "You guessed right. Your intuition is sharp."

Yang Yongjin wanted to lie to Su Ya's face, but since she had already guessed, Yang Shuoxuan stopped hiding it. "True enough—this mission is very dangerous!"

"How dangerous?" Su Ya asked. "More dangerous than the time you saved me?"

"That time... was that dangerous?" Yang Ce scratched at his scalp with a dry laugh. It had been his first mission; at the time it had seemed dangerous, but looking back now, there had been no danger in it at all...

"So it seems this one must be very dangerous, then?" Su Ya sighed. From Yang Cenbin's expression, what had happened before hardly counted as danger—which meant she could well imagine how dangerous this mission was.

"Yeah, I'm not even confident about it. But don't worry—I'm not going to be stupid enough to charge ahead knowing it's impossible. If it doesn't work, I'll run. If I can't win the fight, can't I at least win the race?" Yang Hengye reassured her.

"I don't want to be a widow someday—remember what you just said!" Su Ya nodded and stressed to Yang Ce.

"Sure, of course I remember!" Yang Yu nodded. "Not just you—I carry the hopes of too many people. I can't let them down!"

"Yes, you and your many women!" Su Ya laughed. "Huh? Is that the Three-Life Stone we saw back then?"

Yang Moyi was rather surprised by Su Ya's reaction—after only a few casual questions, she stopped asking about his mission and steered the conversation elsewhere.

Was it that Su Ya had already come to terms with it and let go, or was she deliberately pretending to be at ease?

Whatever the real reason, Yang Ce was glad to see her bearing—otherwise, if Su Ya had truly tried to hold him back, he really wouldn't have known what to do.

In truth, Su Ya knew that nothing she said could change the fact. His going to Yunnan was already settled; she had no power to change it, and could not. So rather than make futile pleas, she might as well let herself be a little happier.

Su Ya ran quickly to a huge boulder and began searching carefully across its surface.

The stone tablet was covered with countless names, large and small, densely packed. Drawing on memory, Su Ya searched for her own name and Yan's.

But it had been so very long since they carved their names that Su Ya couldn't remember at all where they had been cut.

She had to accept all of him, didn't she? Including his past and everything before.

Yang Shuoxuan followed Su Ya to the stone, but Yang Juehuan had sharp eyes and spotted his and Su Ya's names at once among the countless others. The marks were faint now, but a careful look still made them out clearly.

"Right here!" Yang Ce said, pointing at the names on the stone.

"Ah, it really is here!" Su Ya cried in delight. "Huh? Mengyan's name is here too?"

"Heh... Mengyan and I came here once, and I added her name afterward!" Yang Ce explained.

"Mm, Mengyan's decent enough—she knew her place and didn't scratch out my name, just wrote hers below mine!" Su Ya said with a smile.

"She's not that petty," Yang Jin said with a laugh. Back then, Chen Shutang had indeed seemed a little jealous—hadn't she wanted to scratch out Su Ya's name and write her own?

But in the end she hadn't done it, which showed her generosity.

"Huh? Jiajia and Sister Lin's names are here too?" Su Ya suddenly noticed that beneath Chen Shutang's name were those of Zhou Yanning and Lin Yanhe! The two names were written rather small for lack of space, but a careful look still revealed them.

Yang Ce looked closely—sure enough, Lin Yanhe and Zhou Yanning. He couldn't help but be surprised. When had those two come to carve their names?

Yang Ce suddenly remembered: when Chen Shutang had carved her name into the stone, his and Su Ya's names had already grown faint. Chen Shutang had deliberately traced over Yang Juehuan's name with a stone, but not Su Ya's.

At the time Yang Shuoxuan could only smile bitterly, though he said nothing. Yet now Su Ya's name was perfectly clear!

And then there were the names of Lin Yanhe and Zhou Yanning added later—Chen Shutang must have secretly brought Zhou Yanning and Lin Yanhe here again, adding their two names as well, and deliberately traced over Su Ya's name to darken it!

At that thought, Yang Yongjin felt a quiet gladness. Chen Shutang had once harbored some grudge against Su Ya, but as she and Su Ya spent more and more time together, their relationship had advanced by leaps and bounds. That Chen Shutang could help Su Ya by retracing her name spoke of a generous heart!