A luxurious spaceship hovered in a remote interstellar route, its sleek black exterior gleaming like polished obsidian.
Inside the cabin, crystalline wine glasses were filled with golden amber liquid, exuding a faintly intoxicating sweetness.
Velvet carpets stretched evenly across the floor, and an elderly man, impeccably dressed, sipped elegantly from his glass on a fine leather sofa.
His sparse eyebrows furrowed together. “Damn it, too sweet.”
“This is a treasured wine from the Mai Jiu Estate, with only ten bottles in existence,” the man across from him said, also impeccably dressed. He swirled the glass lightly and sniffed its sweetness, his face showing a look of indulgence. “The aroma alone is intoxicating—one might feel drunk before even tasting it.”
He appeared middle-aged, though his temples were streaked with gray. By contrast, the elderly man, despite his aged face, still had a full head of thick, black hair.
Hearing the middle-aged man’s words, the elder scoffed. “This sickly sweet drink dares to call itself wine? Only someone like you, with no proper taste, would enjoy it.”
The middle-aged man smiled without retort. After a moment, he said, seemingly out of nowhere, “Katherine liked it too.”
The elder fell silent.
The middle-aged man seemed lost in thought. “It’s nearly the anniversary of the day Katherine left.”
The elder said nothing.
The man murmured her name softly, his eyes vacant. “So many years of searching, and still not a single clue…”
The elder’s face twitched involuntarily before he forced out a sardonic smile. “Hah. That’s because our benevolent emperor, so magnanimous and grateful, is the kindest of men.”
Touched by some buried sorrow, the two fell silent.
Suddenly, the middle-aged man caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye and turned toward the window.
“What is that?”
—
Explosion. Flames. Billowing smoke.
His vision burned, and searing pain coursed through his entire body. Consciousness plunged into an abyss, tethered only by a faint, ethereal voice, like a fragile thread of a spider’s silk, distant yet insistent.
“Su Lan…”
“Su Lan…”
“Su Lan, survive.”
A deep, raspy voice echoed in his mind, like the resonant toll of an ancient bell, instantly dispelling the haze in his brain.
On a desolate planet, a smoking escape pod was embedded in the cracked earth. Its reinforced exterior was caved in, the hatch blown apart, fragments scattered.
Moments later, a blood-streaked hand emerged, grasping onto the broken edge of the pod’s door.
The jagged fragments of the door sliced into the palm, but the hand remained steady, with white-knuckled determination pulling the body within to crawl out.
Ji Mian dragged himself from the escape pod, collapsing onto the ground.
His blood-soaked clothes clung to him, mingling with cold sweat. Struggling to keep his eyes open, his vision spun, murky and indistinct.
A deafening ringing filled his ears. He could see nothing, hear nothing.
Chu Shiye…
A name burned into his heart like a fresh brand, clear yet unbearably painful.
Chu Shiye… was he safe?
Ji Mian clutched his throat, trying to call out the name, but his voice was hoarse and raw, filled with the metallic taste of blood.
Still, he used every ounce of strength to speak, to confirm that person’s existence—only to break into uncontrollable, violent coughing. The searing pain in his throat felt as if molten iron had been poured down it.
He lay trembling on the ground, unable to rise.
Through the sound of his hacking coughs, Ji Mian’s fingers dug deeply into the soil.
The private spaceship had been attacked, but the assault wasn’t aimed at just one ship—it targeted the entire starport.
Chu Shiye…
Kane, Nato, Xiao Zhang, Selena… the people from E-13 planet…
They had all been caught in the attack.
Ji Mian’s eyes burned with desperation as he coughed up another mouthful of blood.
Scarlet drops bloomed like flowers on the ground, growing more and more numerous.
Ji Mian squeezed his eyes shut, his consciousness teetering on the brink of collapse. Yet he forced himself to remain alert, vivid images flashing through his mind.
The attackers were from the Relief Society.
When the assault began, the private spaceship activated its highest security protocol. Seats transformed into compact escape pods, attempting to ferry the passengers to safety.
But the ship’s defenses were far too weak—even weaker than the vessel Ji Mian had used to leave the capital star. Before the escape pods could fully eject, the spaceship was consumed by the dazzling white light of annihilation.
Ji Mian knew what that light was.
An interstellar weapon—Damocles’ Beam, commonly used by both military forces and space pirates to destroy ships.
The searing beam had disrupted the surrounding space, creating a random warp point that swept him and Chu Shiye into its chaos. In a split second, they were separated, unable to even exchange final words.
All that remained was the final moment before the escape pod sealed—a fleeting glance where Chu Shiye locked eyes with him.
He had said, “Su Lan, survive.”
Ji Mian coughed up another wave of blood, the crimson liquid pooling in the soil like the essence of his heart.
His barely open eyes were bloodshot, flickering faintly with chaotic silver and blue light.
He hadn’t told Chu Shiye… his real name.
He hadn’t fulfilled the promises he had made.
Ji Mian struggled to rise from the ground, only to collapse back into the dirt.
His injuries were too severe, with countless bones broken, and not a single spot on his body was free from bleeding… If it had been an ordinary person without any spiritual power, they would have likely died the moment the escape pod hit the ground.
But at this moment, his condition wasn’t much better than that of an ordinary person.
Perhaps it was due to excessive blood loss, but his body felt incredibly cold. The chill gradually seeped into his bones, freezing his blood, numbing his nerves and limbs.
Ji Mian’s eyelids were heavy, as if weighed down by a thousand-pound burden. His consciousness was sinking, and he longed to just fall asleep… Yet, in the haze of his thoughts, he became aware that if he truly closed his eyes, perhaps he would never open them again.
Stay awake… Stay calm.
Ji Mian gritted his teeth, his trembling fingers digging into the ground as he forced his body to rise.
He hadn’t found Chu Shiye yet. He couldn’t be trapped here.
There was still hope. If he could survive by leaping to a random point, then Chu Shiye could too.
Maybe Chu Shiye had also fallen onto this planet with him, or perhaps onto one of the nearby planets.
He had to find him.
He had to get him back.
Ji Mian crawled up little by little, dragging his heavy body, exhausted, leaning against the escape pod.
Even such a simple motion drained all his strength.
It was unclear whether it was blood or cold sweat that blurred his vision. His damp black hair stuck to his pale, bloodless skin. Ji Mian closed his eyes, silently enduring the pain that felt as though a blunt knife was slicing through him, again and again.
Healing abilities… were useless.
He could only wait for his body to slowly heal and for his spiritual power to gradually recover.
This was not a brief process. At least, for now, he was completely unable to release his spiritual entity.
However, he absolutely could not die here.
He didn’t know how long it had passed, but a breeze blew by, carrying a hint of coolness.
The sun was gradually setting, and it was getting dark.
He couldn’t stay here… At least, he had to find a place with some cover.
Ji Mian gritted his teeth, tasting the blood in his mouth. His trembling arm once again pushed him to his feet.
The damaged escape pod lay in ruins, fragments scattered everywhere.
Ji Mian picked up one of the sharp, narrow shards to use for self-defense, and then grabbed a metal pipe that had fallen from the escape pod, using it as support.
The metal pipe was very long, one end compressed by gravity, barely forming the shape of a crutch.
He leaned on this “crutch,” scanning his surroundings.
His vision was shrouded by a layer of blurry bloodstained light, making everything look gray and unclear.
Ji Mian patiently focused his gaze into the distance. After a few seconds, he finally saw, faintly, a vast forest ahead in the wilderness.
Perhaps the forest was just as dangerous, but… it was still better than this open wilderness with no cover.
Ji Mian took a step forward.
His legs felt as if the flesh had been stripped away, leaving only two thin bones. After just one step, he almost collapsed again.
Fortunately, the crutch supported him.
Ji Mian leaned on the crutch, took a deep breath — immediately, his chest felt like it was being burned by intense flames, almost suffocating him.
He had grown accustomed to it, his emotions remaining steady. He simply held the crutch, standing still, silently enduring.
But this time, he did not sit down.
If he sat… maybe he wouldn’t be able to stand up again.
A few minutes later, Ji Mian used the crutch as support and took another step.
Though it was slow, he still firmly placed his foot on the ground.
He opened his eyes. His dark eyes, like a frozen, cold lake, were steadfast and calm.
And so, Ji Mian began to slowly, slowly move toward the forest.
His vision remained blurry, but he focused all his attention on his surroundings — only by doing this could he momentarily shift his focus away from the pain in his body.
The metal pipe’s compressed edges were sharp, pricking his palm painfully, seemingly cutting through his skin.
Ji Mian didn’t care. After all, it didn’t matter much to him to gain one more wound.
The distance from the fallen wilderness to the forest wasn’t far.
An ordinary person might have made the trip in twenty minutes, but it took Ji Mian a full two hours.
When he finally reached the edge of the forest, the sky had completely darkened. The endless expanse of night was now above, with the faint glimmer of starlight.
Ji Mian knew he couldn’t rest yet.
The temperature at night was cold. He had to find a way to start a fire, or else he might not survive the night.
He didn’t stop, but instead moved deeper into the forest.
The tall trees spread their leaves, and the treetops blocked the night sky. The temperature around him seemed to drop almost instantly.
The chill crept in like an insidious disease, lingering and refusing to leave. Even though Ji Mian kept moving, his body grew colder and colder, his fingers feeling as though they were covered in frost, the tips aching from the cold.
At that moment, he heard something else.
Patter, patter.
It was raining.
One drop, two drops.
At first, the rain was light, the thin droplets falling and being blocked by the leaves of the trees.
But soon, the rain intensified.
The rain poured down like pearls from the heavens, hitting the leaves with a sharp pattering sound. The leaves bent under the pressure, and the wild wind swept through, stirring the torrential downpour.
The branches swayed, the wind howled.
It was a storm.
In just a few seconds, Ji Mian was already drenched. He looked as if he had just been fished out of a river. His clothes were soaked with water, mixed with blood, and they dripped relentlessly.
Yet, his steps never faltered. His gaze remained fixed ahead, unwavering.
The forest was vast, boundless. Amidst the howling storm, Ji Mian caught a sound.
Crack.
It sounded like some heavy object had stepped on the ground, breaking a branch.
Was it a beast drawn by the scent of blood? Or was it…?
The sound came from behind. Ji Mian halted, remaining motionless.
His cold fingers gripped the sharp shard.
Crack.
The sound drew closer, closer still, until…
Ji Mian suddenly spun around, the shard in his hand slashing like a blade.
If it were his usual self, this strike would certainly draw blood.
But unfortunately, it missed this time.
“Ah!”
A cry of surprise. The person stumbled backward to avoid the attack, falling to the ground in pain, their face turning up in shock. Angry words were about to spill from their lips.
“You—”
Suddenly, their words faltered, as if something had clogged their throat. They couldn’t say another word.
When Ji Mian realized the person was human, he had already retracted his strike. That last burst of energy had nearly exhausted all his remaining strength. He leaned against the tree trunk, quietly breathing.
Then, he heard the person tremble and say a single word: “…Ge?”
“Ge!”
Boom!
A thunderclap struck, and for a moment, it was as bright as day. In that instant, Ji Mian saw the person’s face.
…Ji Cheng.
His half-brother, Ji Cheng.
Keep me fueled with caffeine! Support me on Ko-fi! It helps a lot ! Thank you so much ♡(´･ω･)(･ω･`)♡
