Apocalypse Forecast

Chapter 524 - 451 Traveler_3

"The Heretic King?"

Luo Xian revealed a look of realization upon hearing about the war on the Group Star. "No wonder I saw him in Southeast Asia some days ago. So that was why?"

"Huh?!"

Huai Shi's eyes widened. "You saw him?"

"Yes," Luo Xian nodded, her expression wistful. "He's a very kind old man, completely different from what my father described. He even lent me quite a bit of money."

Huai Shi was speechless. Why is there such a huge difference between people? When he meets me, it's heavy fists, but when he meets a beautiful girl, he lends her money? Isn't this differential treatment a bit too much?

"But... it seems he also uses the Drummer?" Huai Shi sought confirmation. "Is he related to Teacher Luo in any way?"

"If I had to say, he's kind of like an ancestral master," Luo Xian thought for a moment and nodded. "However, fourteen years ago, he was punched into the Abyss by my father—if not for that, my father would probably have reached the Fifth Stage long ago, right?"

Huai Shi was utterly floored. This is insane! A goddamn ancestral master! I never expected Teacher Luo to be such a 'dutiful son'—he beat his own master until he was practically frozen stiff!

"Anyway, you should run far away if you ever encounter him again," Luo Xian advised. "Although the Heretic King isn't one to take out his grievances on children, he has very strict standards for his school. If you don't meet his expectations, he might just clean house, so to speak, and eliminate you."

As she spoke, Luo Xian lowered her head to glance at the faint scar on the back of her hand and recalled the exhilarating battle from a few days ago, her expression turning cheerful.

Alright then... You two, grandfather and granddaughter, seem to get along quite 'harmoniously.'

Huai Shi's eye twitched. He decided not to meddle in these messed-up affairs anymore.

Anyway, it was Osiris who fought the Heretic King back then. What does that have to do with me, Little Peiqi from Huahai Road?

After Huai Shi recounted his perilous journey, their conversation fell silent.

In the stillness, Huai Shi lay on the ground, tossing and turning.

In the end, he couldn't help but turn to look at Luo Xian, who had laid out her sleeping bag beside the fire.

"These past days..."

He hesitated before finally asking, "Have you been traveling all this time?"

"That's right," Luo Xian reached for her backpack, showing him the strange souvenir charms hanging from it. "Look, Dongxia, the Russian Federation, and Southeast Asia. Then I transited from there to America. After touring America, I went to Rome, and finally to Egypt..."

She beamed, as proud as a child showing off her treasures. "Impressive, right?"

Huai Shi remained silent for a moment before asking softly, "Have you been... alone all this time?"

"Yeah," Luo Xian nodded calmly. "Isn't that what traveling is like? You set out alone, leave when you want, stay if you feel like it, go wherever you wish. It's my first time being so far from home, so everything seems fresh. But I always feel like such a country bumpkin... You're not going to laugh at me, are you?"

"Not at all, not at all."

Huai Shi hurriedly shook his head. Seeing her so cheerful as she held up her map and itinerary, he hesitated for a moment before asking in a low voice, "Sister Xian, don't you feel lonely?"

Traveling is a lonely thing.

Even with Raven and Beelzebub for company, Huai Shi still occasionally felt loneliness during these past days.

He would look up at the eternal starry sky, find himself before a boundless, barren land, on a journey with no end in sight, in a world so silent he could hear only his own breathing.

It was as if the entire world had abandoned him, leaving him to move forward alone.

It's only been a few days for me, yet Luo Xian has already traveled so far, for so long, all alone. Does she feel pain and sadness? I just don't know.

Luo Xian, too, seemed taken aback by the question.

Putting down the map, she turned back and looked at Huai Shi with a puzzled gaze.

After a long, long time, she suddenly smiled.

"Of course, Huai Shi," she said. "Of course I feel lonely. But isn't everyone in this world lonely? Even now—when we are so close, can you know what's in my heart?"

Huai Shi was stunned.

Luo Xian looked down at the young man's face, her eyes, like mirrors, reflecting his expression. "So, are you scared, Huai Shi?"

"I..."

Huai Shi instinctively dodged her gaze, but then he heard a soft rustle.

It was the sound of her shifting her knees, moving closer.

Then she reached out, pulled him up from the ground, and held his face, compelling him to look at her, into her eyes, until he could no longer escape.

Only then did a soft, almost indulgent smile appear on her lips.

Just as he had once embraced her, she now embraced him.

"Don't be afraid, Huai Shi," she whispered softly. "Don't be afraid."

"Of this one thing I can be certain—you are definitely not alone."

Luo Xian continued in a gentle whisper, "I believe, no matter where you go, the hopes entrusted to you will accompany you, and that will surely include my own."

Huai Shi stood there, stunned, feeling only the warmth of her embrace and her breath so close.

Even after she released her arms, he still hadn't snapped out of it.

He stared at her, dumbfounded, and couldn't help blushing slightly.

"Ahem," he coughed, unable to meet her gaze. "That... sounds a bit like a confession."

"Hmm?" Luo Xian tilted her head, her smile unwavering. "Your words also sound quite like a polite refusal, you know."

Uh... Huai Shi's mind went completely blank; he didn't even know how to respond.

"It's okay."

Luo Xian gently ruffled his hair and told him, "Just as you never gave up on me before... I will absolutely never give up on you."

She told the young man before her earnestly, "If I truly have in me even the tiniest thing that could be called love, then I will leave it by your side."

Huai Shi stood there, still frozen in place.

But she just smiled, gave his cheek a light pinch, then turned and went back to her sleeping bag.

"Get some good rest, Huai Shi."

She closed her eyes. "Tomorrow, you'll travel again. And I believe that even if you are by yourself, your journey will absolutely not be a lonely one."

"Mm."

Huai Shi lay on the blanket Luo Xian had spread for him, but he didn't feel the slightest bit sleepy. After a long while, he carefully lifted his eyes to look at her beside him.

Luo Xian lay there with her eyes closed, breathing evenly, as if in a deep sleep.

"Um, Sister Xian..."

"Hmm?"

"...Thank you."

"You're welcome." She turned slightly, opening one eye to look at him. "Isn't that what a big sister should do? Sleep now. Good night."

"Mm, good night."

Huai Shi closed his eyes.

This time, he fell into a deep sleep.

「」

When he opened his eyes again, it was already dusk the following day.

The campfire had died out, and Luo Xian, like a figure from a dream, was nowhere to be seen. Only the blanket beneath him seemed to hold the lingering warmth of that dream-like encounter.

Huai Shi slowly got up. He looked around blankly, seeing the dark clouds dissipating under the sunset, revealing the vast, reemerging starry sky.

The roiling, muddy currents had vanished without a trace, replaced once more by dry sand and the endless desert.

His journey was far from over.

A long and arduous pilgrimage still lay ahead of him.

But this time, his heart, surprisingly, felt no unease. Instead, it was full and tranquil.

He rolled up the blanket and packed it away. Once again, he shouldered his saddlebag, and a small charm fell out from the blanket.

It was a souvenir from somewhere, fashioned from a piece of metal, depicting the silhouette of a traveler with a hiking staff, looking as if ready to set out at any moment.

Huai Shi looked at the charm in his hand, couldn't help but smile, and hung it on his saddlebag.

"Well then, let's get going." He whispered a farewell to his departed companion, then turned and walked forward.