The rainstorm continued, and the tremors beneath the ground grew increasingly frequent. Waves surged, shaking the entire water surface, and towering waves rose, instantly swallowing the large ripples from moments before.
Sha Yi was momentarily stunned and instinctively prepared to leap into the water, but Mari, standing beside her, swiftly reached out to stop her. Mari then slung the bow and arrows from her shoulder and plunged into the water.
On the opposite side, Xigu shouted anxiously, “Sha Yi, stay on the raft! You can’t swim—don’t you dare jump!” His voice carried a hint of choked-back tears, feigning strength.
Almost reflexively, she turned to look and saw two or three people on the raft diving into the water one after another.
Sha Yi froze for the second time.
They had already reached the boundary of the grassland. The current beneath the raft was no longer a shallow tributary or shoreline flow but the true main channel of the river—vast and unfathomably deep.
The first time she had come here with him, the sheer depth and width of the river had stripped her of any courage to enter the water. In the end, she had only crossed by sheer luck, relying on a bathtub. Now, with the water level surging, even the expansive grasslands were completely submerged, leaving only a dark, desolate expanse of water. The only thing that left a lasting impression on her was the few massive trees along the inner bank where they had once tied hammocks to sleep.
But even those trees were now submerged several meters underwater.
Almost nothing else remained visible on the surface.
Xi Yi… his chances seemed slim.
In that fleeting moment, overwhelming resentment filled her heart. She felt indignant, yet her throat tightened, rendering her unable to utter a sound. With no outlet for her emotions, she once again felt lost and helpless.
If Xi Yi were truly gone… what would she do?
She had pondered this question before, but now that it loomed before her, she was utterly unprepared—completely at a loss.
Standing motionless at the stern of the raft under the relentless downpour, staring at the murky water, Sha Yi felt as though her heart had been pierced by countless needles, the pain unbearable.
Throughout their journey, they had faced countless dangers, many life-threatening, yet he had always overcome them effortlessly. This time, he had only been struck by a bone spear—how could it possibly cost him his life?
That bone spear couldn’t have caused such severe harm, could it? Hadn’t he once used it to stab the giant serpent? The bone spear was hardly a formidable weapon!
Yet on the water’s surface, not even the figures of those who had dived in to search for him had resurfaced.
Tears welled in her eyes, blending with the cold rain. She felt her heart growing colder by the second.
Perhaps she wasn’t as strong as she had believed.
The fragile thread of hope in her heart, already on the verge of snapping, couldn’t even wait for a definitive outcome. Surely, anyone would find this unbearable.
The shrill cries of the eagles still echoed in the air. The massive, sharp-toothed birds continued to swoop low in erratic patterns, their sense of direction thrown off by the storm. Unable to find the right moment to ascend, they remained circling mid-air.
The slender woman standing silently at the raft’s stern suddenly turned and glanced at the golden-black birds gliding overhead. With swift movements, she picked up the bow and arrows from the raft. Rising to her feet, she drew the bowstring in one fluid motion. In an instant, the black wooden arrow, tipped with red feathers, whistled through the air toward its target.
In the blink of an eye, the arrow struck one of the giant eagles. Amid the gasps of the onlookers, the enormous golden-black bird let out a mournful cry before plummeting into the water, its rider still clinging to its back.
With a tremendous splash, the men who had been searching resurfaced, their expressions unmistakably grim, even through the curtain of rain.
Xigu burst into loud, anguished sobs.
The slender woman, standing rigidly, could no longer utter a sound. Her bow and arrows slipped from her hands as she stood there, unresponsive.
The tremors beneath the water continued, and towering waves rose repeatedly, yet she no longer felt any fear.
When the heart turns to ashes, perhaps all emotions become superfluous.
Just as she had once feared water and couldn’t swim, now, facing the dark, churning waves, she felt nothing at all.
She had never realized how deeply her attachment to him ran—how it had seeped into her very bones.
Just as his devotion to her had been unshakable.
But when the thread of hope snapped, when the last glimmer of expectation froze into despair, the sole thought remaining in her heart could only collapse in ruins.
Perhaps from this moment onward, nothing in this world would matter to her anymore.
She could no longer hear anything, nor see clearly. Everything around her seemed illusory—even the act of drawing the bow and shooting the eagle felt like a phantom memory.
Yes, days ago, she had tried. The bowstring had been too taut for her to even pull. How could she possibly have mustered the strength to bring down a giant eagle now?
It was all a lie.
This so-called time travel, this prehistoric era, this Xi Yi—none of it was real.
The rain poured endlessly, her tears unceasing, yet she wanted to laugh.
Despair was just like this.
She didn’t know how long she laughed before the cacophony of noise returned—the rain, the thunder, the tremors beneath the earth, the crashing waves, the cries of the eagles, the endless rush of water, the shouts… It all sounded like some bizarre, incomprehensible language. Yet, strangely, she could understand it, though the words remained indistinct.
Slowly turning her head, she saw the rafts that had been following behind now veering away. On the nearest raft, a woman was shouting frantically at her, while a man at the front was swimming desperately in her direction.
But she felt only confusion.
In that instant, a sound like boiling water reached her ears.
She turned again and saw, on the opposite side of the water, a towering cliff with a waterfall-like cascade.
Suddenly, scenes she had tried to forget flooded back into her mind. Her thoughts were paralyzed, the numbness in her heart receding as pain surged like a tidal wave, threatening to suffocate her.
She had lost Xi Yi.
Was Xigu trying to get her to abandon the raft and join them? Was Mari attempting to pull her to safety?
But… but…
Without Xi Yi, how could she even think of living on?
Tears streamed down her face once more, yet she knew the answer in her heart.
Xi Yi had once said he wanted her to stay with him forever. But the rainy season had brought too many challenges, and he had never received the reassurance he sought from her. This time, she couldn’t abandon him.
Just as he had never abandoned her, no matter what.
In the span of a heartbeat, she made her decision. Without hesitation, she turned away.
Behind her, the cries of men and women grew increasingly frantic, but she no longer cared. Just as she was about to leap, a thick vine suddenly wrapped around her body.
In that moment of stunned confusion, the raft she had been on was swept over the waterfall by the raging current. But she, bound by the vine, was left dangling mid-air, battered by the rushing water.
Though trapped in a dire situation, her position was at least stable for now. The crowd fell silent.
Sha Yi instinctively looked toward the source of the vine.
It came from a massive tree beside the waterfall, where several people were perched. The one holding the vine was someone she knew all too well.
His hair was cropped short, his skin tone somewhere between Xi Yi’s and Jialuo’s. Though she couldn’t see his face clearly, she knew exactly who he was.
He was directing the men to pull her toward the edge of the waterfall.
Staring at that familiar figure from afar, her mind gradually cleared, but fury burned uncontrollably in her chest.
In that moment, she hated him to the core.
Once a comrade in hardship, he had schemed to eliminate Xi Yi.
She regretted not seeing his true nature sooner.
But it was too late now.
In just those brief moments, they had pulled her dangerously close to the tree. Though still caught in the torrential flow at the waterfall’s edge, she could tell he already sensed victory.
Sure enough, the next second, he leaned down from the thick branch and reached out to her, a glimmer of triumph in his narrow eyes.
He had deliberately looped the vine around her upper body, focusing the tension on her arms. Even if the waterfall’s force temporarily immobilized her, once she was just past the worst of it, her lower arms would be free. At the very least, she’d have a chance to react when he reached for her.
She couldn’t help but admire his cunning.
Saina—always the master of calculation.
But he had forgotten one thing: she would never conform to his expectations.
What he wanted was his own desire. If it wasn’t what she wanted, why should she comply?
Once her mind was made up, she would act on impulse—no one could stop her.
Yet the man hanging from the tree remained oblivious to her thoughts. Seeing her motionless, he grew impatient. “Sha Yi, give me your hand! I’ll pull you up!”
Locking eyes with the detestable man who had ignited her rage, Sha Yi slowly curled her lips into a smile. Raising her forearm slightly, she drew the fruit knife from her pocket.
A glint of cold steel flashed, reflecting the water’s surface. The icy metallic gleam made the man gasp in shock. Saina reacted instantly, lunging to snatch the knife from her.
With a soft laugh, she was faster. Pulling her wrist back, she dragged the sharp blade firmly across the thick vine.
The man, unbalanced, swung his arm wildly, but with a crisp snap, his grasp closed on empty air.
His eyes widened in disbelief as she stared back at him, defiance blazing in her gaze. Her lips formed three silent words: “In your dreams.”
His heart lurched, but no words came.
In that split second, she broke free from his grasp. The flash of red—so rare in this world—created a distance between them that seemed insurmountable. Against the white curtain of the waterfall, it was a stark, piercing sight, just like the icy contempt in her final glance.
In that moment of hesitation, he had gone from nearly possessing her to losing her completely.
Her gaze was so cold it filled him with despair—and worse, he saw nothing but mockery in it.
Hadn’t he only been using his wits to fight for what he wanted? Wasn’t that the universal rule?
Had he truly been wrong?
He refused to believe it.
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