An endless expanse of rolling yellow sand stretched out in all directions. In the distance, the sun-baked dunes shimmered with waves of heat that looked almost like rising smoke. The wind in the desert was fierce, and every so often, a gust would whip up sand, stinging the eyes and blurring her vision.
Fengguang felt completely lost inside. She still couldn’t understand it—why, after escaping the ghost town, she had ended up in a barren desert where not a single blade of grass grew. She looked up at the man beside her, only to freeze. He was gone. Just moments ago, he had been right there. Now there wasn’t a trace of him.
Panicked, she spun around. Nothing but sand, stretching as far as the eye could see. Her heart tightened. “Si Jia! Where are you?!”
She shouted his name, but her voice was quickly swallowed by the howling wind and swirling dust. No reply. Only the wind.
She walked in a circle, searching the area, but there was still no sign of him. The relentless sun had already made her dizzy and dazed. She wasn’t used to this kind of hardship, and the long trek through such a harsh environment had left her aching all over. Still, she kept calling his name over and over, until her voice ran dry and her strength gave out. Finally, she dropped into a crouch, fear creeping in now that she was all alone in this desolate place.
Her small frame looked painfully fragile against the vastness of the sand. But her despair didn’t last long. She wiped the dust off her face with a rough motion and stood up again.
Si Jia couldn’t have just vanished without a reason. She guessed—maybe she hadn’t escaped the ghost town at all. Maybe this desert wasn’t real. Maybe… it was all just an illusion. Maybe they had deliberately separated her and Si Jia so they could take them down one by one. Maybe the plan was to let her fall into hopelessness, so they could seize her body and take over her soul.
Fengguang started recalling every horror story she’d ever heard, and the more she thought about it, the more convinced she became. But those… no, those ghosts had underestimated her. She wasn’t someone who gave up easily, especially not when it came to Si Jia.
Si Jia…
She hadn’t even made him fall in love with her yet!
That thought lit a fire in her. With no sense of direction, she trudged forward into the desert. Her feet must’ve been covered in blisters by now, but every few steps, she shouted his name again. She seemed to forget her exhaustion, though her body could only push so far before it started to drag down her willpower.
Dry-mouthed and parched, she was eventually forced to stop and rest. A voice seemed to whisper in her mind, telling her she had come far enough, she was tired enough—why not just close her eyes for a moment? She almost gave in, her eyelids fluttering shut… but just a second later, she slapped herself awake.
“Si Jia, I will find you…”
She murmured it to herself like a mantra. In the past, a place like this would’ve made her wonder how she’d even survive. But now, she realized that when a person has a purpose, the impossible can become possible.
The elegant, expensive clothes she wore were now stained and weathered by sand and wind. Her once-perfect face was dusty and windblown, no longer looking like a pampered princess but more like an ordinary village girl.
Still, she believed this was all a trick—an illusion created by ghosts to crush her spirit. So even if she was utterly exhausted, she refused to let her mind slip into despair. Her only driving force now, the only thing keeping her moving through this unforgiving desert, was one thought:
She had to find Si Jia.
Lucien On ABRWF Chapter 34.1