Fang Qi stumbled forward.
The silver hair and the little star inside the shell lay quietly in the sunlight.
"This is the place."
The old man's voice came from beside him, pulling him out of his daze.
Fang Qi looked up.
Before his eyes... was the same stretch of beach he had already searched yesterday.
Several huge reefs were scattered along the shore.
He had been here yesterday.
He had called her name here yesterday.
Yesterday, he...
Had found nothing.
"Old Wang said he dug it right out of that crevice."
The old man pointed to the largest reef not far away:
"It was hidden deep inside, out of reach by hand. He had to poke at it with a branch for a long time to get it out."
Fang Qi looked in the direction he pointed.
The reef was huge, its surface washed smooth by the seawater.
There was a narrow crevice on its side. It was pitch black, and it was impossible to tell how deep it went.
Yesterday... he seemed to have glanced at it too.
But at that time, his mind was entirely consumed by the thought of whether she would be curled up in some corner, and he never thought to look into such a tiny rock crevice.
Fang Qi tightened his grip on the shell in his hand. The edge of the shell pressed into his palm, hurting a little.
It made his mind a bit clearer.
So...
She really was on this coast.
But why did she...
Hide the little star?
Why...?
"...Liguang—!"
He suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.
His voice was so hoarse it didn't sound like his own, half-swallowed by the sound of the crashing waves.
There was no response.
Only the muffled sound of waves hitting the reefs and the whimpering of the sea breeze blowing past his ears.
Fang Qi took a deep breath and then began to...
Frantically search the rocky beach!
He bent down, his eyes fixed on every rock crevice, the bottom of every reef, every corner that could possibly hide a person!
Stumbling, he searched reef by reef!
"Liguang—!"
"Where are you—!"
"I'm here to find you—!"
The sound of the waves swallowed his cries time and time again.
No one responded.
Still, no one responded.
Fang Qi's vision began to blur.
He raised his arm to wipe his face and continued searching.
Then...
His movements suddenly stopped.
At the bottom of a reef, on the edge of a very narrow crevice, there was a small piece of...
Something white?
Fang Qi's heart skipped a beat.
He almost threw himself over, his knee striking the reef, the pain making him gasp.
But he couldn't care less.
He reached out and pinched the small piece of white material from the edge of the crevice.
A very small piece of... fabric.
Off-white, with slightly frayed edges, as if it had been torn off by something.
He recognized this color, and he recognized this texture.
This was... the hem of her swimsuit dress.
She had torn it off to wipe his sweat, and she had torn it off to bandage his hand.
Now... another small piece appeared here.
She had... sat here!
But... where was she?
Where was she?!?!
He jerked his head up, looking at the empty beach around him.
There was nothing but reefs and sand, nothing but waves and sea breeze.
No one.
No silver-haired girl.
Nothing at all.
"...Why, Liguang, why..."
He muttered, his voice so hoarse it was barely audible.
"Why did you... hide the little star?"
"And where... did you go?"
The waves crashed against the reefs, splash, splash, over and over again.
Like a silent answer.
"Young man!"
The old man's voice suddenly came from behind.
Fang Qi turned his head sharply.
The old man was standing by the largest reef, bent over, looking into that crevice.
"Come look at this!"
Fang Qi staggered to his feet and stumbled over.
"What did you find?!"
He rushed to the edge of the reef and looked into the narrow crevice following the direction the old man pointed.
The light was very dim, making it hard to see clearly.
But vaguely, he could see some marks on the stone wall deep inside the crevice.
Very shallow, very fine, like...
Carved by something.
Fang Qi lay down and desperately poked his head into the crevice!
But there wasn't enough light, he couldn't see clearly.
He blinked hard!
Yet his vision remained terribly blurry!
Damn it... damn it...!
He raised his hand, wiped his face fiercely with his sleeve, and focused his eyes again.
Those marks were too shallow, and carved too small...
With his current eyes, stinging from sweat and blurred by tears...
He simply couldn't see clearly!
"What is carved on it..."
He muttered, his voice trembling.
"I can't see clearly... I can't see...!"
The old man stood silently beside him for a few seconds.
Then, his hoarse voice with a heavy accent slowly sounded:
"I just took a look, there are two lines of words."
Fang Qi jerked his head around and stared fixedly at the old man.
The old man didn't look at him.
He just lowered his head, staring at the crevice, no emotion visible in his cloudy old eyes.
Then he spoke.
"The first line is..."
He paused and said:
"Master is a liar."
Fang Qi froze.
Master... is a liar?
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
The old man continued, his voice very calm.
"The second line..."
"But Liguang still loves you."
The sea breeze stopped.
The sound of the waves also seemed to fade away.
Fang Qi just lay there on the reef, motionless.
Master is a liar.
But Liguang still loves you.
Two lines of words, very small, very shallow, carved on the stone wall deep inside the crevice.
To use a laser blade, in such a cramped space... to carve it out bit by bit.
To curl up her body, poke her head into that pitch-black crack...
Using her only remaining amber left eye, facing the stone wall, stroke by stroke.
How much time did it take?
How much effort did it cost?
How much power did she have left then?
Fang Qi's knees went weak.
With a thud, his knees struck the reef.
The seawater surged up, washing over his knees, over his thighs.
Piercingly cold.
He just stared at that pitch-black crevice, staring at those words he couldn't see clearly but which were already carved into his mind.
His mind was in utter chaos!
Master is a liar?
Did she think... she was abandoned?
Did she think that Master despised her for losing her eye, losing her abilities, and running out of power...
So... threw her away?
Just like... throwing away a broken toy.
Fang Qi's lips began to tremble.
"...No."
He muttered, his voice so hoarse it was barely audible.
"That's not right... That's impossible..."
How could she possibly think that?!
He had clearly told her that he wouldn't despise her!!
He had clearly told her that he would fix her eye!!
He had clearly... he had clearly held her, said it to her face, and even kissed her!!
She had smiled then, smiled so happily, so contentedly!!
She should have... she should have waited for him to come find her...!
How could she possibly feel...!!
Fang Qi's breath suddenly hitched.
He suddenly realized something.
Because she had been so gentle on the raft, so gentle that he even felt...
She was just an ordinary girl falling in love.
This made him forget one... most crucial issue.
She...
Had always been that sickly, crazy woman!
She was incredibly sensitive to his every attitude and action!
So incredibly sensitive!!
So incredibly fragile!!
Ever since they boarded the raft, she had been... constantly worrying about losing him!
She had been trying so, so hard... to get close to him, to please him!!
The anxiety in her heart... probably never lessened even a fraction because of his words!!
She had always... been waiting to see what he would do...!
But...
He disappointed her.
He "abandoned" her.
What would she do...?
Fang Qi's lips trembled.
Then... he snapped his head up!
He stared fixedly at the boundless, azure, and silent ocean before him.
He was trembling all over.
This little star that she cherished the most, the one she couldn't bear to take off even when sleeping...
Why... was it here?
Wrapped in silver hair, encased in a shell, and hidden in the deepest crevice of the rocks...
It was as if...
She was afraid it would be destroyed by something, so she protected it.
But... what could destroy it... crush it?
...It was the seawater.
The ocean!
Fang Qi's pupils shrank instantly!
He stared dead at the surface of the sea!
The sunlight made the water sparkle.
But he... only felt cold. Cold to the bone.
She had lost her crimson eye, lost her abilities, and had only a tiny bit of battery left.
She thought... her master didn't want her anymore.
Under those circumstances, on this unfamiliar shore...
Where could she go? What could she do?
She wasn't like him.
She didn't have the ability to rewind time; she had no chance to start over.
She only had... this ocean before her.
In Fang Qi's mind... an image uncontrollably surfaced once again.
The silver-haired girl stood by the sea, the waves washing over her ankles, over her calves.
That remaining amber left eye...
Was looking at the endless ocean before her.
She turned her head and took one last look at the shore.
Looked at... the rock crevice hiding the shell.
Then she turned back and took a step forward.
The seawater reached her waist.
Another step.
It washed over her chest.
One more step.
Her long silver hair floated on the surface of the sea, like a handful of scattered moonlight.
And then—
She sank completely.
No struggle, no shouting.
She just... sank down.
And then...
The waves took her away.
She was swept into the deep sea.
But she wasn't broken; she was just out of power.
So...
He didn't trigger a rewind.
But... he could never get her back.
Fang Qi's lips were trembling.
"...No."
His voice was shaking.
"Impossible... absolutely impossible..."
That crazy woman...
That crazy woman who would turn him into a puppet and imprison him for life...
She...
How could she do such a thing?!
She was so crazy!
So sick!!
So paranoid!!!
If she thought he had abandoned her...
She should have found him and tried everything to take revenge on him!!
She should have... should have broken his limbs and dragged him into Nowhere to Run!
She should have... should have...!
Fang Qi's thoughts...
Suddenly stopped.
His eyes began to glaze over.
Ah, right...
She... couldn't do any of those things anymore.
So, in the end, she only...
Carefully hid the precious little star and carved those final two lines of words.
And then...
Fang Qi stared at the azure blue before him that seemed to have swallowed everything.
"...Liguang."
He muttered, his voice so soft that even he couldn't hear it.
"Are you... down there?"
The waves crashed against the reef.
Splash.
Splash.
No one answered him.
ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
