Recap
“This appears to be another attack against the Zhanshu Chamber of Commerce,” the newscaster reported, his voice rising with excitement. “Mercenaries are clashing with the Star Police. The situation is tense. Negotiators are en route…”
Shen Chaomu watched as the drone footage showed the standoff, gunshots echoing, stray bullets scarring the ancient stone. Both sides were entrenched, but in the middle of the chaos…
“What is that?” the newscaster exclaimed. “Why is there someone eating noodles?”
Amidst the smoke and debris, a young man squatted by the roadside, calmly consuming a bowl of instant noodles.
A silly dragon.
A happy silly dragon.
Shen Chaomu’s expression darkened.
The earth was a vast expanse of ochre, the wind whipping sand and dust into swirling vortices. In the distance, the skeletal remains of a colossal structure stood in stark contrast to the desolate landscape.
A group of people, sweat dripping from their brows, finished loading the mining robots onto their transport. Powerful desert vehicles and smaller cargo trucks stood ready, their harnesses secured to powerful landbirds, creatures capable of outpacing even the fastest machines. The ancient tree emblem adorned their convoy.
The Zhanshu Chamber of Commerce was transporting ore, treasures, and unearthed machinery from the Western Hemisphere back to the East. This area, recently discovered, held the wreckage of a crashed dwarf airship, exposed by a sandstorm. They had unearthed a trove of valuable gears and metals, promising a hefty profit if the Alliance was interested.
“Are we heading back now?” a weary voice asked.
The bearded leader consulted his terminal. “We can eat and rest first,” he announced. “No sandstorms predicted.”
Exhausted, they settled down to their meal of compressed rations, gulping water thirstily. Some retreated to the meager shade offered by the open vehicle doors, others simply slumped onto the sand.
As dusk approached, the oppressive heat began to dissipate. The unpredictable climate discouraged lingering. Within minutes, they had packed their belongings and prepared to load the cargo onto the waiting aircraft.
“Those mercenaries have been restless lately,” a companion remarked. “I heard Lao Meng’s team was almost robbed. Luckily, they had good bodyguards.”
“They’re taking advantage of the wildfire,” the bearded man grumbled. “Those bastards are all the same.”
“True.” His companion sighed. “But this wildfire is strange. They still haven’t found the cause.”
They continued their trek. Fifteen minutes later, the massive aircraft, its barrier preventing it from sinking into the sand, came into view. They loaded the cargo.
“Two more days, and we’ll be done with the excavation,” the bearded man said.
“About time,” his companion replied, wiping his brow. “My family was talking about evacuating to another planet. No monster riots yet, but this wildfire seems unstoppable.”
The bearded man scanned the horizon, his gaze lost in the deepening twilight. The dunes and plains were barely visible in the fading light.
A sudden alarm blared from the radar system.
He tensed, assuming it was another mercenary attack. But the screen flashed a warning: strange beast.
Red lights flickered in the distance, growing more numerous, their malevolent glow painting the dunes in an eerie light.
“Get on the aircraft!” his companion yelled. “Everyone, get on board! The frenzy is coming!”
…
Long Shiyu obediently returned to the inn.
“I should buy a child leash and tie you to me,” Shen Chaomu grumbled.
“I didn’t wander off,” Long Shiyu protested. “Qin Shi took me from the coffee shop.”
“Qin Shi?” Shen Chaomu’s voice sharpened. “What did he want?”
“He talked nonsense. I wasn’t really listening. But I ate a lot of his food.”
“I believe that,” Shen Chaomu said dryly.
“They suspect me.”
“It was inevitable. They’re not stupid, and Qiu Ruowen is cunning. It’s a miracle we’ve kept this hidden for so long. Neither of us is very good at subterfuge.”
“What happens if they find out? Won’t it affect your candidacy for chief?”
“We’ll deal with it. It’s out of my control.”
Long Shiyu wrapped his tail around Shen Chaomu’s ankle, seeking reassurance.
“It’s not your fault,” Shen Chaomu said, then added, “But wandering off is. Qin Shi wouldn’t have taken you to that place just to feed you instant noodles.”
“I was hungry,” Long Shiyu mumbled. “The Chamber of Commerce was having a feast. It smelled delicious.”
Shen Chaomu sighed. “Forget it. We have the Light Snow Rose. We’ll go to Romeo’s soon. But don’t interact with Qin Shi again.”
“Are you on bad terms?”
“It’s an old story.”
Half an hour later, they were on the aircraft, heading for the dilapidated tower. It was late, but Romeo had said they could visit anytime. Shen Chaomu was eager to have Long Shiyu’s injury examined.
As they approached the tower, a sense of unease settled over them.
Shen Chaomu pulled Long Shiyu behind him, cautiously approaching. Dozens of mantis corpses lay scattered around the base, their wounds gruesome. Black Sickle was nowhere to be found.
“He was here,” Long Shiyu whispered.
“Where’s Romeo?” Shen Chaomu looked up at the empty tower, its golden hair gone.
Long Shiyu flew up to find the room in disarray, furniture overturned, magical components destroyed.
Back on the ground, Shen Chaomu sent an alert to the association. A faint trace of Black Sickle’s spiritual energy lingered in the air. They followed the trail into the dark forest.
Shen Chaomu’s oil lamp illuminated the tangled undergrowth. Black Sickle’s frantic escape was evident in the haphazard trail.
“We’re close,” Shen Chaomu said after twenty minutes.
Long Shiyu remained silent, his apprehension growing. They didn’t know what awaited them.
They finally reached a narrow path, emerging into a small clearing where several black mantises huddled. Black Sickle, sickle raised, was about to strike when he recognized them and lowered his weapon with a sigh of relief. Behind him stood Romeo, still clad in his silk pajamas.
They were a sorry sight. Several mantises were injured, Black Sickle’s leg was broken, and Romeo’s face was scratched and covered in dirt. His long golden hair, however, was gone.
“It was a wig,” Romeo admitted sheepishly.
Shen Chaomu escorted them back to the aircraft.
“The man in the suit appeared out of nowhere,” Romeo explained, recounting the attack. “The mantises watering the lettuce were the first to fall. Their sacrifice allowed Black Sickle and me to escape. We barely managed to hide in the forest.”
The mantises’ wounds were healing rapidly. In a few days, they would be able to generate cumulonimbus clouds and return to the sky.
“I remember…” Romeo said suddenly, clutching his bandaged arm and sipping the hot tea Long Shiyu had provided. “I’ve seen that man before.”
“When?” Shen Chaomu asked.
“Years ago, maybe three years after I settled in Tabu.” Romeo concentrated. “No one usually visits me. I don’t know how he found me. He asked if I was skilled in magic.”
“‘It depends on what you need,’ I told him.”
“‘Do you have experience healing spiritual power?’ he asked.”
“I thought he was just a patient. I used the crystal ball to examine him…but his spiritual power was the most chaotic and terrifying I had ever encountered.” Romeo closed his eyes. “I heard screams, like tortured beasts. It was horrifying.” He paused. “Well, I’m exaggerating. The wig didn’t stand on end.”
“You healed his spiritual power?” Shen Chaomu asked.
“No, I only managed to soothe it slightly. As you know, advanced magic requires rare ingredients. Not everyone can stumble upon a Light Snow Rose in bloom.” He sighed. “He needed a rare material. He wrote it down and said he would return… I never expected…”
Silence fell over the aircraft.
“Our wounds will heal,” Black Sickle hissed, spreading his wings. “The remaining warriors of our settlement will make him pay.”
Shen Chaomu frowned. “He wasn’t that powerful when I encountered him.”
The mantises were formidable fighters, and Romeo, though not a combat mage, possessed significant power. They shouldn’t have been so easily defeated.
“His strength fluctuates,” Long Shiyu said. “Every time I encountered him, he was different. Sometimes weak, sometimes powerful.”
“He must have stolen the settlement’s twinning ability,” Black Sickle hissed. “We saw the white twinning marks on him in Bei En. He learned our ability, but only partially. As long as he can keep splitting, his power will fluctuate.”
“Our twinning creates two independent individuals,” he continued. “But he’s human. His spiritual power can’t be fully divided, only split and stored in separate bodies.”
“His total power remains the same; only the distribution changes.”
“So, as long as he’s in a weakened state, he can move freely,” Shen Chaomu mused. “And killing him is pointless.”
“I did see those marks in his spiritual power,” Romeo said, realization dawning. “Those growing parts are replenishing his missing fragments. And that power comes from some unknown strange beast. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
As Shen Chaomu was about to speak, his terminal buzzed with an urgent message. A monster frenzy had erupted in the Western Hemisphere. A caravan had barely escaped.
“You don’t have much time,” Romeo said, his brow furrowed. “I’ll finish the spell quickly.”
He retrieved his reserve of magical components from the tower’s hidden room. Even with Shen Di’s destruction, he had enough.
An hour later, Long Shiyu sat before the crystal ball, Shen Chaomu beside him. He hesitated, then gently placed his hand over Long Shiyu’s. Cloud-like light flickered around them, the air still. The Light Snow Rose petals glowed faintly.
This time, there was no backlash. Romeo remained seated. The ingredients dissolved into dust, and the magic subsided.
“It’s done,” Romeo announced, wiping his brow. “Rest for a few weeks, and the injury should heal.”
“Thank you,” Long Shiyu said.
“You’re welcome.” Romeo waved a dismissive hand. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find a new wig.”
They agreed that Romeo would seek protection from the Star Police and relocate. Black Sickle and the remaining mantises would accompany Shen Chaomu to the Western Hemisphere. Their wounds would heal in a few days, allowing them to return to the sky, safe from Shen Di’s attacks.
“Don’t wander off,” Shen Chaomu warned Long Shiyu as they flew toward the Western Hemisphere.
“Okay,” Long Shiyu replied, nodding earnestly.
“You’ve said that before,” Shen Chaomu said, unconvinced. “But seriously, these next few days are crucial for your recovery.” He ruffled Long Shiyu’s hair. “Be good, and I’ll tell you more bedtime stories. Maybe even another one about a princess and a dragon.”
Long Shiyu beamed.
“It will be good to have this resolved,” Shen Chaomu said.
“I’ll give you all the treasures in the world when I’m healed,” Long Shiyu declared.
Shen Chaomu chuckled. “Just don’t run off, and I’ll be happy.”
Hours later, they arrived in the Western Hemisphere, a landscape of rolling sand dunes and arid plains stretching before them. Even near the coast, vegetation was scarce.
The Hunter Association branch was a massive, dilapidated sphere, half-buried in sand.
“We apprehended a group of mercenaries just before you arrived,” the liaison officer reported. “Their vehicle was full of blood bags.”
“Have you analyzed the blood?” Shen Chaomu asked.
“Not yet, but soon.” The officer hesitated. “We found something unusual, though. I’m not sure if you’ve encountered this before, Mr. Shen.” He produced a sealed container. Inside, a test tube held a small amount of shimmering liquid.
Light rain.
Shen Chaomu’s expression turned grim. “I might have,” he said. “Can I take this?”
The officer, though hesitant to break protocol, recognized the urgency in Shen Chaomu’s tone. “Fine,” he agreed. “But please return it.”
The mantises, their human disguises no longer reliable, remained on Shen Chaomu’s private aircraft. Long Shiyu followed him to the branch’s quarters.
The room was simply furnished, a stark contrast to the luxurious accommodations of the Eastern Hemisphere. A single flower sat in a vase on the bedside table, and a thick rug covered the floor.
The association’s dispatch orders hadn’t arrived yet. Commanders monitored the situation, waiting for the monster frenzy to reveal its location.
Shen Chaomu sat on the bed, staring at the vial of light rain. He still had the first container tucked away in his luggage. He hadn’t been able to part with it, as if waiting for something.
“Shouldn’t you rest?” Long Shiyu asked, concerned. “You haven’t slept properly in days.”
Shen Chaomu had been kept awake by the princess-and-dragon bedtime story, then preoccupied with acquiring the Light Snow Rose and dealing with Romeo’s situation.
“I will,” he replied, retrieving the other container from his luggage.
Two containers sat side-by-side, their contents a mesmerizing swirl of colors, a scene out of a dream. Yet, Shen Chaomu saw nothing when he gazed into their depths. He set them on the bedside table, lay down, and closed his eyes.
Long Shiyu nestled beside him, diligently constructing his blanket nest.
Drowsiness crept over them. In the dim light, the light rain within the vials shimmered, their colors intensifying, intertwining, a vibrant dance of red and blue, green and gold, purple and white.
Shen Chaomu’s eyes snapped open. He sat up, his gaze drawn to the glowing vials. Long Shiyu had said this small amount of light rain wouldn’t be enough to reveal forgotten memories.
But now, with the two containers together, the starlight danced, their combined power unlocking the past.
Within the swirling colors, a face appeared. His own, yet subtly different.
His consciousness plunged into darkness, then emerged into a world of vibrant sunlight and endless green fields dotted with colorful wildflowers. He stood in a small room, a half-packed bag at his feet, a white shirt in his hand. The room was decorated to his taste, the furniture comfortable and familiar. Suits and combat uniforms hung neatly in the closet, and two pairs of boots stood at attention beside it.
The television displayed a news report, the style unfamiliar. The newscaster spoke of developments in the Canli galaxy.
But the Canli galaxy had been fully developed long ago.
His gaze fell on the desk. The electronic calendar read 2144, 3:20 PM.
He had just woken from an afternoon nap.
Confusion clouded his mind. He continued packing.
A friend’s voice called from outside. He even remembered the name, the impatience in the tone familiar.
“Almost done,” he called back. “Two minutes.”
The voice grumbled about his slowness.
Shen Chaomu zipped his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He couldn’t tell which was the dream. Was this Tabu, and had he dreamt of another life during his nap? Or was this reality, and had he dreamt of Tabu?
He climbed out the window.
The wind carried the scent of grass and wildflowers—
The breeze of nine hundred years ago.
___
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