You can't always count on the sun.
Sometimes clouds and mist block the way, sometimes storms rage.
Unable to take her out to play, he had to go do other things.
After setting up a barrier in the room, Wu Li turned and returned to that battlefield.
The messy wilderness before the city gates had long been cleaned up, and the city was gradually regaining its liveliness.
But in the pouring rain, a solitary figure still searched inch by inch.
Under the gloomy sky, it was like a lingering ghost unwilling to fade away.
In Wu Li's hand was a rainbow-colored stone pieced together from countless fragments, missing only one last piece to be complete. But this final shard, he had searched with all his might and still couldn't find.
In the distance, beneath an oil-paper umbrella, Jiang Zhiyu frowned deeply, watching the figure in the rain.
"Master, what exactly is Wu Li trying to do?"
He looked at the drenched youth, kneeling pitifully in the mud. The rain plastered his black hair into wet strands, stuck messily to his cheeks and forehead. Water droplets kept trickling from the ends of his hair, and his ten fingers were embedded deep in the sludge, nails filled with black mud, as if he was trying to turn the entire earth over.
On that face, there was no trace of sorrow.
If anything, it still wore its usual indifferent expression.
Too calm.
So calm it was disturbingly abnormal.
Ever since Chai Xiaomi left, Wu Li hadn't shed a single tear.
It was as if she were still alive.
On ordinary days, when he ran into them or his Master, he'd still habitually throw out some jabs. Sometimes he'd put on a mean smile, still had that same grating tone, still wore that same expression, as if nothing had changed.
But the more this was the case, the tighter Jiang Zhiyu's chest felt.
He suddenly recalled something Chai Xiaomi had once said to him.
Back then, her eyes curved as she spoke, a hint of helplessness in her tone, but even more gentleness:
"Brother Yu, Lili is really opposite to everyone else. Nice words get twisted into barbs before they leave his mouth. He's hurting inside, but keeps a smile on his face. He's just this awkward guy, so please, be a bit more patient with him."
The White Cat's tail drooped as it lay weakly on Jiang Zhiyu's shoulder: "It's all because I, the Master, am too useless; I couldn't break that spirit array. Otherwise, things wouldn't have come to this."
The artifact's formation had been interrupted halfway, killing that girl and the treacherous villain, while Wu Li survived thanks to his immortal body.
The moment he saw Wu Li desperately trying to restore the rainbow gemstone, the cat guessed what he was trying to do.
With a sigh, the White Cat jumped to the ground, turned around, took a few steps, then quietly raised a paw to dab at the damp white fur beneath its eyes.
"Silly boy... both of them, silly kids, walking the same path for each other. Forget it, I can't meddle anymore. Let him follow his heart."
When the cat lowered its paw, a faint glow condensed in its palm.
"All those previous longevity pills were lacking. This one—take it to him."
Jiang Zhiyu caught the pill floating toward him.
He looked up and saw only the trembling back of the White Cat receding, appearing to have aged overnight. Raindrops slammed into its white fur, flattening it into rumpled patches clinging to skin and bones. Each step was an effort.
It looked exactly like Yaoyao.
In the daytime, she threw herself into court affairs, caring for the people, dignified and flawless, impossible to fault. But late one night, when he quietly stood outside her chambers, he could hear the stifled sobs within.
They had all cried over Chai Xiaomi's passing.
But only Wu Li had a smile on his face.
When the pill was handed over, he even said lazily with a laugh, "Senior Brother sure has a lot of free time, braving the rain just for a little sightseeing?"
On a late night no one could see, that smile could no longer hold.
As usual, Wu Li brought basin water with flower petals, wrung out the towel, and carefully cleaned the girl's body, his movements slow and gentle.
He suddenly remembered the longevity pill from Jiang Zhiyu, so he infused it into her body with spiritual energy.
After a moment, her limbs seemed to have grown softer.
He continued wiping.
When he reached her left hand, he was about to pass over it when he suddenly froze.
That tightly clenched fist had loosened of its own accord.
The fingers held open loosely, revealing a faint, glimmering light within her palm.
Weak, yet clear.
Stunned, he held his breath.
Carefully, one by one, he opened her fingers.
There, in her tender palm, lay a fragment of the rainbow gemstone.
Small, almost embedded in the lines of her hand.
"So this is where you hid it."
He suddenly let out a scoff, then a hollow laugh.
He held onto that hand, his spine bending, little by little, until it curved like a drawn bow, his forehead pressed against her cold fingertips, his body huddled completely on the ground.
The tragic redness in his eyes shattered into pieces.
He tried to smile, but the tears betrayed him, speaking of his excruciating longing.
Cold moonlight streamed in, landing on his violently trembling shoulders, tracing his thin silhouette—lonely and desolate.
The boy, burying his face in his knees, went from suppressed sobbing to despairing wailing.
Like a young beast abandoned in the wilderness, with no one left to take him back.
"Hello, Host. Please respond if you hear me."
Chai Xiaomi struggled to open her eyes, finding herself floating in a pure, white void. Countless images flashed like a revolving lantern around her, too fast to catch.
"Who are you?" she asked.
It was still a mechanical voice, but she could tell it wasn't Youtiao's.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Doujiang, temporarily taking over for my colleague. I'm pleased to inform you that your mission to save the plot in this story is complete. The system will teleport you back to your own world in ten minutes."
Chai Xiaomi was taken aback: "But... aren't I already dead?"
Doujiang fell silent for a moment.
He thought about what had happened at headquarters half an hour ago.
At the time, he had just finished striding through some male-focused novella with his own host, the host's combat power skyrocketing, blazing through a few dungeons straight into the top tier. Not difficult, really, when you have the points to burn—those premium skills in the system shop, god-tier bloodlines, supreme cultivation techniques, pick your favorite and buy it, throw in a few points for a K.O. combo, simple stuff.
Back at headquarters, he'd heard from other systems that Youtiao had fallen into a state of collapse after his host's mission failed and she died.
He'd meant to give Youtiao a good razzing, but for the first time, seeing Youtiao crying so bitterly...
Doujiang suddenly lost the nerve to joke: "Hey Tiaozi, isn't failure kind of routine for you? You've sent how many hosts on their way—what's there to cry about?"
Youtiao: "What do you know?! Ughhh! The one who died was me, the system's friend! A friend! Not just some host!"
It was then that an urgent emergency notice rang through headquarters—Youtiao was to resume his post.
This had never happened before at headquarters.
A host who had already died had been brought back to life!
What's more absurd was that the villain was responsible for the revival. The notice said the villain had traded his own life in exchange for the host's.
Doujiang double-checked the information on the headquarters screen, completely dumbfounded, capital letters and bold font level of bewildered.
But then, Youtiao didn’t return to their post. Instead, they begged Doujiang to cover their shift.
Using every last bit of their remaining points, Youtiao went to the system store and exchanged them for a "Character Revival Card," with the target being the villain in the story.
Doujiang watched, still in a state of utter confusion.
Then they heard Youtiao say, with a satisfied sigh: "I promised Xiaomi I’d have a big move ready for her. Now’s the time to use it. In a way, the villain already died once. Resurrecting him now means the plot can’t force-kill him again."
Doujiang was silent for a long time before finally squeezing out: "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Youtiao shot back: "What do you know! In all my long digital life, this is the first time a host has truly treated me like a friend, not just a tool for serving humans. When a friend wants to accomplish something, of course I’m going to help."
......
Chai Xiaomi heard all of this and took a moment to process the flood of information.
She asked: "Didn’t Youtiao say that big move could only be used once in their entire system lifetime?"
Doujiang rolled their eyes and grumbled: "That idiot must have watched The Little Monster of Langlang Mountain too many times. A once-in-a-lifetime ultimate move? Who does he think he is, the Monkey King? The points were pitifully low to begin with, and he still had to play the hero. A system with no points just gets deleted and destroyed."
"Youtiao told me to pass along a message—'The villain’s still alive, don’t worry, Xiaomi! No need to thank me! Catch ya later, bye-bye!'"
