But then, Chen Yan shivered suddenly and quickly crawled out of the sleeping bag.

There were voices in the hall!

And the sound of metal colliding—not weapons, but a noise that Chen Yan found very familiar.

He followed the sound, which was coming from behind the rows of stone cabinets in the hall.

Mingled with the metal noise were two people whispering.

"So, you promised me you would let me out, won’t you go back on your word again?"

"Kindness mistaken for a donkey’s liver and lungs, I’m saving your life here."

"Sitting here feels worse than dying quickly."

"You’d be lucky if it was a quick death. Do you even know how miserable the last captured fated person died?"

Chen Yan came following the sound and roughly identified the two people talking. One was the mad old man, and the other was a cold woman’s voice.

The old man’s voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction and resentment, complaining about something. While the woman’s voice sounded cold, it actually had a trace of helplessness and comfort.

Chen Yan’s eyelid twitched!

Besides himself and the mad old man, someone else came in!

Chen Yan’s approaching footsteps soon alerted the interlocutors.

The conversation abruptly stopped.

Chen Yan quickened his pace, and after rounding a row of stone cabinets in front, finally saw the two people standing behind the stone cabinets.

The mad old man had his back to him, but from the shape and clothing, Chen Yan recognized him immediately.

The other woman was turned sideways to Chen Yan.

What surprised Chen Yan was what the woman was doing with her hands.

He finally understood where the continuous metal noises came from.

A small stove was set on the empty space behind the stone cabinet.

On the stove rested a round iron pot—the most common kind for stir-frying.

The woman stood in front of the iron pot, holding a spatula, stirring things in the pot.

While stirring, her other hand held a cigarette, occasionally bringing it to her lips for a puff.

She looked medium in stature, slightly slender, with not very long hair, but it was jet black. Also, she appeared to be between thirty to fifty years old—a vague range, because judging by her skin and complexion, she looked around thirty, but her eyes and demeanor suggested much more.

Her features were undoubtedly outstanding, but there was an overwhelming, unapproachable aura in her gaze that made one reluctant to scrutinize her appearance.

Chen Yan emerged from behind the stone cabinet to see the two of them. The woman lifted her eyelids, glanced at Chen Yan, and without any surprise, curled her mouth into a slight smile. The once cold eyes immediately filled with amusement as she nodded at Chen Yan: "Awake?"

Chen Yan was stunned.

The mad old man turned around to look at Chen Yan, about to say something, but the woman cut him off by patting his shoulder with her cigarette-holding hand, "Alright, you can leave now. I have something to discuss with him. Family talk, you don’t need to be an eyesore here."

Chen Yan heard the phrase "family talk" in her words and his body suddenly trembled!

The woman, however, stared at the mad old man with impossible patience in her eyes.

The old man pursed his lips, looked helplessly at the woman, "A promise is a promise, don’t go back on it."

"Got it, scram," the woman rolled her eyes.

The old man quickly left, walking aside, and re-entered through a door.

After watching the mad old man leave, the woman turned around with a beaming smile and affectionately looked at Chen Yan.

Chen Yan stood there, trembling all over!

It seemed like a few seconds passed before he heard his own trembling voice: "Is it... you? Grandmother?"

The woman chuckled, casually extinguished the cigarette, and walked toward Chen Yan.

She stood in front of Chen Yan, squinting her eyes as she assessed him, then nodded: "You’ve grown a bit, gotten taller."

"Is it really you? Is it truly you?" Chen Yan’s eyes warmed.

The woman sighed, then smiled, "Ah, nearly forgot, you probably haven’t seen me like this. Let me change to someone you recognize."

After she said that, her figure lightly swayed and transformed into a short, thin, dressed-in-country-style old woman look.

Seeing the face he had known so well since childhood, Chen Yan finally shuddered, fell to his knees with a thud, and cried out "Ah" all the while holding onto the old woman’s waist, his face awash with tears and snot, staining the waist of the old woman’s clothes.

Squinting her eyes, the old woman looked down at her grandchild who was clinging to her, her gaze was profound, yet tinged with heartache and sympathy.

Finally, after Chen Yan had cried for a good two minutes, the old woman patted his hair and smiled: "Good boy, get up now, I’ve made stir-fried pork with green soybeans, it’s time to take it off the stove."

Chen Yan didn’t let go, his arms even tightened around her waist: "I won’t eat! I don’t want stir-fried pork with green soybeans! I just want to hold you! Grandma! Grandma! You’re so heartless!!"

The old woman let out a wistful sigh.

Chen Yan raised his head, looking at her: "I really thought you were dead! You tricked me so cruelly before you died! You sent me away!! I never got to see you one last time!"