I Will Find You

"Heh... hehehe..."

A chilling laugh echoed from a bedroom in the dead of night. Xie Yuyan stared at the bed she had once treasured, now reduced to someone else's plaything. Her desolate eyes seemed on the verge of shedding tears of blood.

Her crimson bangs obscured her forehead as the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees. At that moment, Xie Yuyan pulled a dagger from her pocket and began stabbing the blanket repeatedly—

"Hahaha... hahahaha..."

"Why... why can she have it but not me? Why?! Why?!"

White cotton stuffing scattered everywhere as the blade tore through the fabric, but Xie Yuyan didn’t stop. She kept slashing and piercing the unfamiliar blanket with relentless fury.

"Why... Ye Feng... why you..."

......

"Drip... drip..."

Water droplets fell from Ye Feng’s hair as he stood before the fogged-up mirror, lost in thought.

Before him was the system’s interface.

He remembered hearing the system’s alarm earlier while carrying food back to his room, but at the time, he hadn’t bothered to check. Now, with a moment of quiet, he finally had the chance to investigate what had gone wrong.

"No special missions... no emergency tasks... So why did the alarm go off for no reason? It happened before too, but then it stopped."

After skimming through, Ye Feng found no clues. But as he flipped through the records, he suddenly noticed a drastic change in Xie Yuyan’s progress bar.

"How did Xie Yuyan’s progress suddenly jump to 99%? Does this mean my mission is almost complete?"

A surge of excitement ran through him. After so long with no breakthroughs, today had brought unexpected progress. The progress bars for the others had also shifted—

Li Mucheng was at 50%, Su Yuxin at 30%, while Shen Mengli lagged far behind at less than 10%.

"That doesn’t make sense. I’ve spent so much time with Mengli—why is her progress so low? Meanwhile, Xie Yuyan, whom I haven’t seen in ages, is almost maxed out. I thought this was based on time spent together, but apparently not..."

"I wonder if Xie Yuyan is even still in Shu City... She left without a word and hasn’t contacted me since. If I ever see her again, I’ll make sure she learns her lesson."

"Huh?"

As Ye Feng idly browsed the exploration tab, he noticed the first entry had a faint trace of progress. After scrutinizing the system’s cryptic hint, his brows furrowed in confusion.

[Shadow Figure]

[Exploration: 1%]

[Evasion Count: 0]

[Reward: Increase exploration to unlock more rewards, or raise evasion count for additional benefits.]

......

"What the...? What is this? 'Shadow Figure'... 'Evasion Count'?"

Ye Feng was utterly baffled by these terms that seemed unrelated to anything he knew. His mind struggled to process the flood of unfamiliar information.

"Is the system telling me to track down this 'Shadow Figure'? But what does 'evasion' have to do with it?"

A cold draft seeped through the door, snapping him out of his thoughts. For now, he’d set this mystery aside until he got home.

After drying off, Ye Feng stepped out of the bathroom. Noticing Shen Mengli’s blanket shifting slightly, he quietly returned to his own bed. Lying down, his mind wandered through memories—from his past to the present, the moments he’d shared with Shen Mengli.

Truthfully, he had no idea when she’d developed these feelings for him.

He’d already tried talking her out of it twice, but she refused to give up. It wasn’t like he could control her thoughts or force her to stop. That just wasn’t realistic.

At least her foot was healing bit by bit. Once she fully recovered, it would likely be time for them to part ways. Just like how he’d bought Xie Yuyan a house—his way of making amends...

After all, their situations were partly his fault. Once he felt he’d compensated enough, maybe his guilt would finally fade.

"Shadow Figure"... It sounded dangerous. But why explore it? Was the system guiding him toward something? Well, he’d take it one step at a time. Maybe answers would come soon. At least the system was finally showing signs of life.

Ye Feng turned his attention to the window. From the sound outside, the heavy rain had weakened. By morning, it might stop completely, making it easier for him and Shen Mengli to return home.

As he closed his eyes, an image of Xie Yuyan flashed in his mind.

When would that woman come back? He’d already prepared gifts and a house for her—she’d be thrilled, right? Then again, she was always so unpredictable. When she returned, he’d make sure she remembered never to disappear like that again.

......

"Hah... hah... hah..."

Meanwhile, in another bedroom far away, Xie Yuyan clutched one of Ye Feng’s personal garments, inhaling deeply as if it could soothe her seething rage.

"Ye Feng... Are you running away because you’re scared of me? Well, I’d love to meet the woman you’ve allowed into your bed. She must be special, huh? Don’t worry—no matter where you hide, I’ll find you... And then, let’s see just how far you can run~"

With that, she plunged her dagger into Shen Mengli’s blanket. A rustling sound followed as she slipped beneath Ye Feng’s covers......

Finally... home... So why did she feel nothing but emptiness?

Xie Yuyan lay still, her delicate brows furrowed in silent agony.

"I’ll find you... I will..."