The Witch's Stalking Moment

“How should I put it…”

“Nostalgia?”

“Reminiscence?”

“Or simply… boredom?”

The empty room felt like a suffocating cage, with windows and doors sealed shut, standing silently in the dark, devoid of light or warmth.

Only the sound of the cold wind howling echoed in the darkness.

Xu Xi raised his hand, releasing a force of law that shared the same origin as Krisha’s, though not as vast:

“Purify.”

The biting cold wind instantly subsided.

Moonlight streamed through the window, spilling onto the floor and casting a soft glow.

The old house was clean again.

But it was only surface-level. The decay within the house, as well as the marks left by time, remained clearly etched, untouched by Xu Xi’s magic.

Not because he couldn’t fix it.

But because he felt it was meaningless.

“Next…” Xu Xi glanced around the room, which was too empty to have any furniture to sit on.

Fortunately, there was still his old companion to rely on.

Click—

Xu Xi walked to the corner, took out a folded wheelchair, unfolded it, and sat down with practiced ease.

With a slight push of his arm,

The wheels began to turn.

Amidst the faint creaking sound, Xu Xi’s wheelchair moved forward in circles until it stopped in front of the old house’s window.

“…”

The moonlight illuminated the wheelchair and Xu Xi sitting on it.

The shadows of the chair and the man stretched long,

Forming an ink-like smear on the floor behind them.

In the silent house,

Xu Xi chuckled softly, but soon, the laughter turned into reminiscence and complexity.

“Back then, I always wanted to leave the wheelchair behind and walk on my own two feet again.”

“But now, I find myself reminiscing about those old days.”

Xu Xi sat in the wheelchair,

Just like when he had a lame leg in the past.

He waited quietly by the window, gazing at the neon lights of the street outside, watching the smiling faces of people chatting, and feeling the faint warmth of life.

It was quiet.

It was lonely.

Why had he come here tonight?

Xu Xi thought it might be because of the influence of his teacher and Niu.

Seeing his former teacher and companions moving toward their own bright futures, the sense of temporal dislocation made Xu Xi feel deeply reflective.

“The simulated world, the real world.”

“The accumulation of multiple simulations has also matured my mindset a lot.”

The night deepened.

The cold wind whispered.

Xu Xi pushed open the window, letting the cold wind rush into the room.

He felt the wind brush against his cheeks and neck, using its icy touch to ground himself in the reality of the world.

It wasn’t self-torture.

He simply wanted to see the outside world clearly.

But someone didn’t want Xu Xi to do this.

She emerged from the shadows behind him, her steps silent, her movements precise, and closed the window in Xu Xi’s moment of surprise.

“Mentor, this isn’t good for your health.”

A calm voice echoed in the quiet room.

Like a gently flowing stream, it was steady and pure, yet inexplicably ethereal.

“Hmm, I won’t do it again, Krisha.”

Xu Xi paused.

Hesitating, he looked at the newcomer, at her gray-silver hair blending with the moonlight, and finally couldn’t help but ask:

“Krisha, why are you here?”

“Watching you, listening to you, sensing you. Because you need me, I appear at any moment.”

Krisha’s answer was simple.

She had always been watching over Xu Xi, every moment, every second, never letting her guard down. Whenever Xu Xi needed her, the witch would arrive immediately.

But.

Even after hearing this answer, Xu Xi still had doubts.

“Didn’t I block the spatial fluctuations and my whereabouts?”

Krisha fell silent for a moment, then pointed to the necklace Xu Xi was wearing.

The Crown of the Supreme.

It was a gift from the Supreme Witch.

“You’re using… my power.”

Xu Xi also fell silent.

Well, that was impressive.

He had overlooked that.

He had intended to be alone, to reminisce about the past, but it seemed that wasn’t going to happen now.

“Sit down, Krisha,” Xu Xi raised his hand, gathering moonlight to create a chair with light magic, but the witch refused the offer.

“Mentor, I can just stand…”

Her gray-silver hair hung quietly.

Some of it fell onto Xu Xi’s neck.

The witch stepped behind Xu Xi, gently pushing the wheelchair to help him stabilize it.

Though it was an unnecessary gesture,

She still did it.

Her expression was calm, her movements focused, her posture impeccable. To anyone who saw her, she would appear to be an extremely loyal maid.

“You really don’t have to do this, Krisha.”

“Yes, Mentor.”

She knew, but she didn’t change.

The witch could be surprisingly stubborn at times.

Like now, she absolutely refused to sit, insisting on holding the wheelchair steady for Xu Xi, even though Xu Xi wasn’t injured or disabled—he was only sitting in the old wheelchair out of nostalgia.

Xu Xi could only let her have her way.

“Mentor.”

“Why did you come here?”

The room was quiet.

Krisha pushed the wheelchair, asking Xu Xi in a calm but puzzled tone.

She didn’t understand why Xu Xi had left the courtyard, deliberately returning to this old house, just to sit quietly and watch the moon, observing the lives of ordinary people.

She didn’t understand, not at all.

“There’s no particular reason, Krisha.”

Xu Xi smiled, his gaze turning to the street outside the window, watching the bustling life in the snowy night.

“I came because I wanted to.”

“If I had to give a reason…”

“Perhaps… I’m feeling a bit nostalgic for the old days.”

The old days?

“Do you mean the time before you awakened your abilities, when you were still an ordinary person?”

“Not just that. There’s also the time with Mo Li, the time with you… so much, so much.”

Krisha still didn’t understand.

The witch tilted her head slightly.

She didn’t care about the past, nor did she reminisce about it.

As long as she could see you, as long as she could reunite with you, the dim past would turn into a bright path forward, guiding her onward.

Only you, just you.

The meaning of a shadow is to follow the light.

“Would you… like to visit Allenson City?” The witch wasn’t interested in other things, but she thought Xu Xi might be.

She mentioned that during the process of elevating Earth, the magical world had been divided into many Boundary Ruins, one of which included the former Allenson City.

Xu Xi’s expression shifted from surprise to laughter.

“Hahaha—”

“No need, Krisha.”

“I appreciate your kindness, but Allenson… it’s not the Allenson I once knew.”

The Allenson City of the magical world had once faced divine punishment orchestrated by the gods themselves.

Though it was later rebuilt,

It was no longer the Allenson Xu Xi remembered.

Of course, Xu Xi believed that with Krisha’s abilities, she could recreate the original Allenson, but that wasn’t what he needed.

Reminiscing about the past didn’t mean reliving it.

Xu Xi smiled, his eyes softening. “Anyway, thank you, Krisha.”