Though Ye Ye's injuries had been healed by the Healing Net, he still hadn't woken up. Baili Gelin stared blankly at his pale face. During this sudden reunion, she hadn't even had the chance to look at him carefully and properly like this until now.
Why wasn't her sister with him? Had he abandoned her sister alone? And he wasn't even looking for her?
As she gazed at Ye Ye's face, her thoughts drifted back to that snowy morning many years ago when she'd found a boy half-buried in snow in an alley. When she reached out to help him up, he'd bitten her hand hard, making her cry out in pain. Then he'd shoved her violently against the wall, splitting her forehead. Her cries had alerted her sister, who came over and punched Ye Ye hard—that punch sobered him up and made him see only her sister from then on.
The three of them had always been together, always together—they were family. But her sister had been taken away by Ye Ye. The person who mattered most in her heart was no longer her. The two of them had left her behind, lonely and isolated. She laughed and chased after them every day, but no matter how hard she tried, she could never catch up.
Sometimes when she stood between them, she still felt so far away from both. She had her sister, and now Ye Ye too—she should have never been lonely again. But as time passed, even when she talked, laughed, and lived with them, she felt like she didn't belong in this family anymore.
Her sister had originally been hers alone, but Ye Ye had taken her away.
She had been the one to find Ye Ye first, but he never saw her—her sister had taken him away instead.
Now, she was no longer that confused little girl who forced smiles, nor could she tell anymore whether her feelings for Ye Ye ran too deep or if she was just afraid of loneliness. It was as if her whole life had stopped on that snowy day. Even now, she was still that frightened, clueless child who had burst into tears.
She would never grow up. In her sister and Ye Ye's world, there would never be a place for her. She would always be that lonely little girl, wailing helplessly in the snow.
Baili Gelin suddenly stood up, as if stung, and stumbled back several steps before leaping off the Centipede demon without a word and heading toward the shore.
"Junior Sister Bai Li."
Lu Li stepped forward, only to see her eyes reddened, her face alternating between flushed and pale. Startled, he watched as she brushed past him like a shadow. Instinctively, he grabbed her arm and said softly, "Junior Sister Bai Li, just now—"
Out of nowhere, she suddenly asked, "Do you like me?"
Lu Li was baffled. "What did you say?"
"Let me go, or hold me. Choose one."
Lu Li quickly released her hand and watched silently as she walked to the shore and stopped on the sand. He wanted to follow, but something seemed to hold him back.
Baili Gelin stood by the sea for a long time, motionless as a statue. Then, abruptly, she moved. Lu Li saw the hem of her light-red robe flutter—and the next moment, she was swept away by the waves. His heart lurched—what was she doing?!
Lu Li rushed to the shore and stared blankly at the calm, rolling sea. Why had she suddenly jumped in? To catch fish? To play in the water? Cultivators had the Water Aversion Spell to protect them—there was no risk of drowning. But he had an ominous feeling. What had she meant by those words earlier? And that expression—was she trying to kill herself?!He waited on the shore for a long time, but the sea had long since washed away all traces of footprints, and there was still no sign of her emerging. His anger grew steadily—this Baili Gelin was utterly incomprehensible! He had never met such a chaotic, willful, and detestable woman!
Unable to bear it any longer, Lu Li leaped into the sea, summoning the Water Aversion Spell and a crab demon. Before he had swum far, he saw Baili Gelin with the Water Aversion Spell enveloping her head, using a knife to pry open shells clinging to the rocks on the seabed. Spotting him charging toward her atop the crab demon, she widened her eyes in surprise, silently questioning him with her gaze.
In that instant, Lu Li felt unbearably awkward. What had he been thinking? Why would he worry about such a frivolous and unrestrained woman? That she would drown herself? How absurd! Shame, anger, and embarrassment flooded him all at once, leaving him so flustered he didn’t know what to do. He could only pretend nothing had happened, steering the crab demon away without a word.
But the next moment, Baili Gelin darted toward him like a fish, swift and nimble, grabbing his arm. Lu Li shook her off fiercely. Right now, he didn’t want to hear or say anything—he just needed to calm down. His mind was a mess.
"Senior Brother Lu, look at that!"
Baili Gelin tugged at him urgently, pointing behind them.
Lu Li steadied himself. Seeing her expression was genuine, he turned and saw, deep in the opposite seabed, a lush and verdant sight—almost like a small sunken island. Strangely, the trees on it hadn’t rotted in the seawater but instead thrived luxuriantly.
"Isn’t that island weird? Should we check it out?" Baili Gelin’s face lit up with excitement, her earlier despondent ghost-like demeanor now seeming like an illusion.
Lu Li shot her a cold glance, pulled his arm free, and wordlessly guided the crab demon back to the surface. After this trial, he swore never to have anything to do with this woman again.
"Hey, Senior Brother Lu?"
Baili Gelin, arms full of freshly pried shells, chased after him. As she surfaced, she saw Li Fei and the others standing on the shore, along with Ye Ye—who had been unconscious—now awake and sitting by the water, waiting for them.
"Ye Ye!" Baili Gelin instinctively called out, rushing to crouch beside him. After scrutinizing him, she suddenly frowned and huffed, "You idiot, finally awake!"
Ye Ye flicked her forehead hard. "What kind of attitude is that? You’re always fooling around—what were you doing diving for shells?"
Baili Gelin grinned. "To eat, of course! One fish isn’t enough to fill my teeth. Look at you, still so pale. And here you were bragging about how strong you were—getting beaten up like this, nearly dying."
"They attacked suddenly—I couldn’t react in time. Tong Zhou just told me everything. You guys already have six Demon Vermilion Fruits?"
"What do you mean ‘you guys’? We’re all in the same group! By the way, where did you lose my sister?"
A shadow of disappointment crossed Ye Ye’s eyes as he murmured, "I never ran into her. Searched for a long time but couldn’t find her."Lu Li noticed the intimate words and gestures between the two of them. At this moment, Baili Gelin's entire focus was on the man named Ye Ye—an intensity of attention he had never seen from her before. So her heart belonged to someone, and it was him? So those seemingly flirtatious and fickle eyes of hers could also gaze at someone with such single-minded earnestness.
He suddenly recalled her earlier words, "Let me go, or hold me," and found it laughable. What did she take others for? Approaching with such frivolous abandon, yet never truly placing anyone in her heart. If her heart already belonged to another, why not remain devoted? A simmering anger rose within him, making it impossible to stay a moment longer. He silently retreated.
Ye Ye waking up naturally called for a celebration with good food. Ji Tongzhou picked up the seashells, which had become as hard as steel due to the Demon Qi infection. While they could be forcibly shattered using the Supreme Harmony Art, the meat inside would undoubtedly turn to mush. With great bravado, he arranged the shells neatly, preparing to use the Li Fire Art directly. "I think we can just roast them over the fire!"
Lei Xiuyuan kicked him in the back. "If you don’t know how to cook, don’t interfere."
Ji Tongzhou rolled to his feet and retaliated with a kick of his own, and the two began brawling again. Li Fei sat on the beach, munching on fruit as she watched them fight. Suddenly, something fell from Ji Tongzhou’s sleeve and landed softly in the sand. Picking it up, she was overjoyed to see the long-lost Purple Jade Cricket. "Huh? You’ve been carrying this cricket with you all this time?"
Ji Tongzhou dodged Lei Xiuyuan’s punch and stepped back, patting his sleeve to find it empty. He had no idea how it had fallen out.
"Oh, I ended up liking it too," he admitted, somewhat sheepishly.
At first, he hadn’t found it particularly special, but Jiang Li Fei’s fondness for it had rubbed off on him, making the cricket seem uniquely amusing. Over the past five years, carrying it had become a habit. This childish mentality was embarrassing, and he reached out to take it back. But seeing how delighted she still was after all these years, cradling it in her hands and admiring it endlessly, he couldn’t help but ask, "If you liked it so much, why didn’t you accept it when I offered it to you back then?"
Li Fei smiled and placed the cricket back in his palm. "A noble person does not take what others cherish. Besides, this is too valuable. I don’t have anything of equal worth to give in return, so I couldn’t accept it."
Ji Tongzhou snorted. "My belongings are mine to give as I please. Who asked you for anything in return?"
Huh. After five years, his response hadn’t changed a single word.
"You’re a noble prince," Li Fei said, smiling at him. "Everything you casually give away is worth a fortune. That’s exactly why you shouldn’t hand things out so freely—it feels like you’re using wealth to pressure others, and that’s uncomfortable."
Seeing his stunned expression, she realized he had never considered this before and immediately regretted her bluntness. Ji Tongzhou was straightforward by nature, his emotions clear as day. He had no patience for such convoluted reasoning and likely disdained it. Her frankness had only made things awkward.
Li Fei decided to reach out and try snatching the cricket back. "Lend it to me for a couple more days. I’ll return it later."
Ji Tongzhou hid his hand. "Who said I’d lend it to you?"
"Hey, what happened to the generous prince? What’s the harm in letting me borrow it for a bit?"
"Now I don’t feel like lending it to you."Li Fei reached out to grab his arm, but unexpectedly, Lei Xiuyuan suddenly hooked an arm around her neck and pulled her back a few steps. She stumbled and bumped into him, hearing his cool voice above her head: "Do you still think you're ten years old?"
Li Fei was a little annoyed and about to struggle when he suddenly released her, giving her an innocent smile. "Since you're so free, why not help me wash the shells?"
Ji Tongzhou was displeased to see him abruptly snatch her away—he hadn't even finished speaking! Moreover, as the saying goes: men and women should not touch when giving or receiving. The two of them pulling and tugging in broad daylight—what kind of behavior was that! Come to think of it, they had already been pulling and tugging like this back at the Academy.
"Jiang Li Fei!"
He suddenly called her name and lightly tossed the Purple Jade Cricket toward her. Li Fei fumbled to catch it in a panic—thankfully, the delicate little thing wasn't broken. She let out a sigh of relief.
Ji Tongzhou smirked smugly. "I'll lend it to you to play with. Remember to return it!"
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