Shi Xie initially thought it was only him who felt this way, but when he tilted his head, he saw Xiao Jinsheng had already fallen asleep in an instant.
It was clear that staying by his side similarly made her feel at ease and relaxed.
Shi Xie leaned slightly, gazing at Xiao Jinsheng’s serene sleeping face, and unknowingly curved his lips into a soft smile.
He silently mouthed: Good night, my future Female Master.
On Xiao Jinsheng’s side, it was peaceful and harmonious.
anwhile, Bai Yan was speeding on a speedboat across the ocean surface.
Of course, she wasn’t heading into the deep sea but was racing like mad toward the shore.
"Faster! It’s catching up!" Insect Brain anxiously warned.
"Stop nagging! This is already the fastest speed!" Bai Yan gritted her teeth and snapped.
She couldn’t believe her luck was so rotten.
She dove into the sea intending to look for Shi Xie.
She didn’t find Shi Xie, but instead encountered a big fish.
It was an 8 Stars mutated octopus, extending its tentacles in pursuit right behind her.
Bai Yan fled all the way, throwing every piece of explosive she got from the system at the octopus.
The octopus lost four legs and half its head in the explosions, but it only enraged the creature further. It was now relentlessly chasing her, intent on fighting to the death.
To make matters worse, this was an octopus that specialized in disrupting superpowers.
Bai Yan couldn’t even enter Space to hide, as she wasn’t given the opportunity.
The weapons she had in Space were also rendered inaccessible due to the disruption to her superpowers.
"What kind of stupid idea was this!" Bai Yan complained. "I ca out to find Shi Xie but found nothing. I’ve lost all my weapons and ammo, and now I’m being hunted by an octopus!"
"Bla , huh?" Insect Brain was speechless. "You couldn’t find the fish, and you can’t beat the fish."
"If it’s really hopeless, I can send you back now," Insect Brain suggested. "Saves us from bickering here."
"I am NOT going back!" Bai Yan was defiant.
She was already here.
If she had wanted to give up and go back, she would’ve let Insect Brain send her back the mont she encountered the 8 Stars mutated octopus.
But she chose to run first and even used weapons.
Now with her mounting investnt in this pursuit, leaving empty-handed was sothing Bai Yan couldn’t accept.
"Then what are you planning to do?" Insect Brain asked. "The Southern Domain is vast, and the ocean covers even more area than land. I told you from the start when I had Shi Xie’s position to hurry up, but you didn’t make it."
"Now, trying to fish him out of the sea? Not so easy."
"The ocean is for fishing, isn’t it?" Bai Yan retorted.
"If you’re so capable, why don’t you go fish Shi Xie out yourself?" Insect Brain mocked.
Both were furious at this mont.
With a cold snort, they ignored each other.
Bai Yan focused on escaping for her life, while Insect Brain fud in anger.
The half-destroyed mutant octopus had already entered a berserk state.
It wouldn’t rest until it had its revenge on Bai Yan.
Its tentacles shot through the water, quickly brushing against the bottom of the boat. One tentacle flipped the speedboat over, while another swiftly lashed out at the falling Bai Yan.
Bai Yan barely evaded it, only to have one of her ankles caught by another tentacle, dragging her into the water.
·
On the Mist Continent.
In certain deep-sea regions, light ca from glowing mutated plants or minerals.
At least, the Coral Forest where Shi Xie lived was a kaleidoscope of fantastical colors.
Xiao Jinsheng woke up from her dreams. With no Star Map to check and no sun visible underwater,
she had no way to know what ti it was, relying solely on the light from the plants.
Sitting up on her shell bed, she looked around and couldn’t find any trace of Shi Xie.
Panic set in imdiately. She got out of bed and anxiously searched the Coral Forest.
It wasn’t until she saw Shi Xie swimming toward her from the other side of the Coral Forest, holding a bundle of brightly colored flowers, that she felt relief.
"Where did you go? I woke up and didn’t see you anywhere." Xiao Jinsheng asked urgently.
"I just went to prepare so breakfast," Shi Xie replied, lifting the flowers in his hands as proof.
The flowers, blooming in an energy state, were a mix of yellow and pink.
"Before I leave, you’re not allowed to go anywhere without my sight. Understand?" Xiao Jinsheng warned and added, "At most, I’ll only restrict you for 48 hours."
When Shi Xie heard that number again, his grip on the flowers tightened slightly.
After suppressing his emotions for a long ti, his inner doubts finally broke through.
He raised his sharp yet calm gaze to Xiao Jinsheng and asked, "After 48 hours, you’ll leave, right?"
The question, though casual, was spoken naturally and fluidly.
Xiao Jinsheng hesitated for two seconds before nodding in acknowledgnt. "Yes."
"Will you take with you?" Shi Xie pressed on.
"No," Xiao Jinsheng admitted with difficulty.
Even if she returned to her future tiline where she would et the Shi Xie of that era,
she knew.
Once the ti was up and she left this tiline,
it would an she would never et this tiline’s Shi Xie again.
"And... will you ever co back?" Shi Xie looked down, his eyes fixed on the flowers in his hand, his voice dry.
"No." Sighing inwardly, Xiao Jinsheng chose to be blunt.
Hearing this, Shi Xie gave a bitter smile.
His gaze, a blend of grief and confusion, turned to Xiao Jinsheng. "If that’s the case, why did you still make a Contractual Totem with ?"
"Because we’re destined to et again," Xiao Jinsheng explained.
"How long?" Shi Xie asked.
Setting the flowers down, he looked directly at Xiao Jinsheng, restraining the emotions swirling inside him. "48 hours? Will we et again after two days?"
Xiao Jinsheng t his gaze, clearly catching the underlying aning in his tone.
He had said "et again."
Not "reunite."
Clearly, through her hints, behavior, and avoidance of details about traveling back through ti, Shi Xie had understood.
At least in his eyes, all her covert signals about being from the future had been received.
This realization relaxed Xiao Jinsheng’s tone as she replied.
Calculating the tiline,
Shi Xie was currently sixteen years old, and their first eting also happened when he was sixteen.
But her first eting with him had been when Shi Xie was twenty-three years old.
So, their next encounter would take another seven years.
The mont she realized this number, a sense of clarity washed over Xiao Jinsheng.
She thought of the other night she had spent with the twenty-three-year-old Shi Xie.
At the ti, Shi Xie had remarked about his connection to the number seven.
He drew a seven in lots, and his placent in the ranking was seven.
The first Ice Sea Flower he cultivated for seven years had been taken by Li.
The second Ice Sea Flower, cultivated over seven days, had blood as he and Xiao Jinsheng watched together.
At this mont, as Xiao Jinsheng looked at this younger Shi Xie, everything beca clear.
It was a Mobius Ring.
Their two initial etings were part of an inevitable fate in the river of ti.
And the encounter at sixteen was a mory that Shi Xie always carried, waiting until he was twenty-three to see her again.
Xiao Jinsheng’s gaze fell on the energy flowers Shi Xie had brought as food. She asked, "In the ocean, is there a kind of flower called the Ice Sea Flower?"
"Its petals are water-blue."
Listening to her description, Shi Xie shook his head. "I haven’t seen one like that."
"Do you like Ice Sea Flowers?" Shi Xie asked, a smile appearing on his lips. "I know where many seabed flowers grow. If you like them, I’ll find one for you."
"No need for the trouble. I already have seeds," Xiao Jinsheng replied.
As she spoke, she took out a box of seeds that Shi Xie had given her from Space.
A shell box contained the seeds, blue like pearls.
"I think you already know where I co from."
"When the Ice Sea Flower blooms, that will be the mont we et again."
Xiao Jinsheng smiled. "And also the mont of our reunion."
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