I became a cannon fodder villain. If I want to survive, I must take care of my baby first.

Catherine and Echo spend most of their leisure time reading, and they like each other, so they come to the bell tower almost every day.

Zhong Ling Shengyin often criticized these two guys for not being frank, but they both seemed to have no confidence in their own charm, so every time they talked about love, they always acted shy, which made her very anxious.

As Huisheng came from a poor family, he would be too embarrassed to propose to her unless he worked hard to improve his life for ten or eight years.

As for Catherine, she had never heard Huiying's evaluation of herself clearly. In addition, she had never been loved by her parents since she was a child and was always disliked by people around her, so she often had negative thoughts.

Every time this happened, she wanted to escape from reality and prayed to Zhong Ling Sheng Yin to use magic to help her suppress her negative emotions, but was rejected as always: "If emotions cannot be released, they will continue to accumulate. If you do this every time you are in a bad mood, you will collapse sooner or later."

Catherine thought it made sense: "Then can you tell me how Echo sees me?"

"No comment." Zhong Ling Shengyin replied.

She had expected Catherine to ask this, so she refused without a second thought.

This guy never dared to confess his feelings in front of Huiyin, nor did he dare to ask him what he thought of her. Instead, he came to ask her in different ways every day. Zhong Ling Shengyin had seen through these tricks.

"Tsk, so stingy." She spat in dissatisfaction: "I just saw Huisheng hasn't been here recently, so I'm worried about him."

Zhong Ling Sheng Yin waved her hand and said, "Why don't we just go find him?"

"I don't dare." She looked at Zhong Ling Sheng Yin confidently and said, "How about you go?"

Zhong Ling Sheng Yin rolled his eyes and said, "Then I have to be able to get out too."

Having said that, there was no reason for Catherine to worry about Huifeng as she did now. After all, he had not been to the bell tower for half a month and there had been no news during that time.

Catherine kept repeating the echo in her mouth and thinking about the echo in her heart. Zhong Ling Shengyin's ears were almost callused from listening to him, but he didn't come.

"No, I'm going to go find him!" Catherine stood up suddenly as if she had made up her mind.

"Shouldn't you have done this earlier..." Shengyin was about to urge her to hurry up, but she noticed a tall and thin figure walking towards them not far away.

Catherine, who had just stood up, sat down immediately, put on a pretentious and elegant posture, and greeted him naturally: "Hi, Huiying, long time no see, how have you been recently?"

"Not very well." Huisheng smiled bitterly. You can see that his already thin body has become skin and bones. His complexion is very bad, his eyes are red, and there are obvious signs of crying on his face. He looks like he has suffered a serious illness.

"Are you sick? I'm really sorry for not visiting you during this period." Seeing Huisheng's current skinny appearance, Catherine felt extremely distressed.

"I guess so." Huisheng nodded stiffly: "My mother... died of illness."

Just a few words expressed endless sadness.

Catherine and Zhong Ling Shengyin both knew how much Hui Ying loved his mother, that poor but strong woman who did her best to give Hui Ying love and warmth and never let him suffer any grievances.

Even though life was hard, Huixiang still deeply loved his mother who always thought of him, and often tried his best to find work to supplement the family income.

He once seriously mentioned to Catherine and Zhong Ling Shengyin that when they came of age, they must give priority to rescuing their mother and then consider other things.

Catherine had never experienced the pain of losing a loved one, but whenever she thought of either Zhong Ling Shengyin or Huisheng leaving her, her heart ached so much that she couldn't breathe.

She easily offended people even when she spoke normally, and she didn't know how to speak at this time. But even so, Catherine still held Huiying's hand tightly: "I'm sorry, I can't be with you when you need me."

Hui Ying shook his head and tried to force a smile on his dry face: "I am very happy to have your company all the time, but I can't always rely on you. This time I came here to say goodbye to you."

"Goodbye? Are you leaving here? Where to?"

"My mother has done a lot for me, but I haven't had the chance to repay her..."

In response to Catherine's panicked questioning, Echo replied in a weak voice: "She was trapped in a cage all her life. She didn't want me to be like her and lose my freedom in the future. My mother said to me, 'If you are gone in the future, you should leave this sad place.'"

His voice was weak and his tone was flat, without much emotion, but this was just a sign of weakness after crying out loud: "The army guarding the border is recruiting people. I have passed the selection and can set off after everything is ready."

"Border? That kind of place..." Catherine didn't know that the conditions at the border were difficult, and she didn't want Huiying to go so far, but there was no other way.

She was about to say something else when Zhong Ling Shengyin suddenly held her shoulder and asked, "Will you come back in the future?"

“It’s hard to say. Maybe I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life, or maybe I’ll get over it in a few days. I was afraid that I wouldn’t want to leave after seeing you guys. I wanted to leave alone, but I didn’t want to be as ruthless as my scumbag father who abandoned me and my mother. That’s why I took a long time to come here.” Echo said in a sad tone.

He had said before that the communication was equal, but now he could only lower his head, not daring to look into Catherine's eyes.

"Do you need me to prepare something for you? Don't look at me like this. I can't spend all the pocket money my parents gave me. I have saved a lot." Catherine's tears fell unconsciously as she spoke: "Please, let me do something for you, otherwise I will regret it in the future..."

"Yeah." Hui Ying took the initiative to hug Catherine and said softly, "Thank you for your company all the time."

It didn't look like a farewell before leaving, but as if he would never come back after leaving like this.

Of course, there was no way Catherine would say "I'll go with you". Huiying came this time just to tell her that he was leaving, and there was no room for negotiation.

He must have thought about relying on Catherine, trying to stay and begging for her comfort, but that would make them no longer themselves.

After losing yourself, where should you go?

Huixiang must have made this decision after careful consideration. He knew his situation better than anyone else. He was poor and miserable, and could not even guarantee the most basic life, but he still had self-respect.

Many thoughts flashed through Catherine's mind, but none of them could solve this cruel reality.

Even so, she still wanted to do her best to at least help Huiying.

After he left, Catherine fell into depression.

Without being with Echo, you won’t be able to see Zhong Ling Sheng Yin.

She came to the bell tower to read as usual, but she didn't turn the page for several days. She often talked to herself, or suddenly burst into tears when she was clearly in a daze.

Even if Catherine wanted to do something to change the current situation, her mind would just go blank.

She suddenly felt very useless. Her family was not short of money, she had read a lot of books, and she possessed the magic of "Life of All Things" that could explain everything. However, she could only watch the person she loved leave because he could not bear the pain, and she could not think of any solution.

Without Huisheng, she couldn't even communicate with Zhong Ling Shengyin.

It's really useless.

Just when Catherine was about to fall into despair, a clear bell rang, bringing her back to consciousness.

In front of her was a conical pendant glowing green. Catherine picked it up and looked around, but did not see anyone else.

At this moment, a familiar voice sounded in her mind: "Go find him, don't let yourself regret it."

"Catch up with his footsteps, strive to become the unique existence in his heart, transcend the painful vision, heal the sorrow, and hold the future firmly in your hands."