"I was already dead,"
He Ao sat beside him, looking up at the sky overhead, and said calmly, "I just came back to life again."
He paused for a moment and said slowly, "My parents gave me life, and you pointed out the direction for my future. Now, everything I owed you is repaid."
Upon hearing this, the Old Gardener fell silent for a rare moment. He sighed hoarsely, "I don't think sending people to kill you was a wrong decision, but I truly didn't want to kill you."
He slightly withdrew his gaze, speaking softly, "You inherited your parents' traits—intelligence, sharpness, and decisiveness. You know, I had no children, and for a long time, I saw you as my own."
He Ao quietly listened to his words, neither responding nor interrupting, remaining silent.
The Old Gardener's voice carried a hint of reminiscence and sentimentality, "Before you defected, I had actually prepared to bring you into the core of the Order Church to take over my position."
"But in these decades,"
