On the island, there were special people every day who would ride the ferry several times and prepare food for everyone on the island.
In this isolated island prison, Emperor Ji stayed inside the supply storehouse Si Xia discovered for half a month without taking a single step outside.
No one knew what Ji Xiuran was doing, and only Haitang was responsible for delivering food to Ji Xiuran every day.
These last few days, Ah-Chen visited him, asking for an audience, but Ji Xiuran wouldn’t see anyone.
Ah-Chen had no choice but to leave with a sigh.
…
On this day, the wind was mild, the sun was shining and the sky was clear of clouds. A strong burst of wind blew past, and it provided an indescribable pleasure.
*Creak.* The door to the storehouse was slowly pushed open.
Dressed in a snowy white shirt, Ji Xiuran strode out of the storehouse.
“Xiuran…”
Haitang, who had been guarding it, hastily walked up when she saw Ji Xiuran.
A faint smile hung on Ji Xiuran’s lips. He looked at Haitang and lightly asked, “The weather is nice. How about we go for a walk?”
“Okay.” Haitang nodded and walked next to Ji Xiuran.
Ji Xiuran didn’t speak a word the whole time, and Haitang also didn’t know what to say.
Sometime later, Ji Xiuran pulled out a meticulously wrapped box from his pocket and informed Haitang to please give this box to Worriless Nie in the future.
When it was the afternoon, Haitang turned to Ji Xiuran and suggested, “Xiuran, it’s windy… Let’s go back.”
“Can you please let me walk by myself?” Ji Xiuran asked her with a light chuckle.
Haitang shook her head without the slightest hesitation. With Ji Xiuran’s current condition, it’d be better for him to rest more.
“You should go back first.”
Ji Xiuran snapped his fingers at Haitang.
Following the snap, Haitang subconsciously walked back the way they came, as though she was bewitched.
She realized she had underestimated him. This man’s hypnotism skills…
After Haitang left, Ji Xiuran stood by the sea with his hands behind him, his gentle eyes softly looking at the boundless ocean.
“People believe the ocean is blue, but they don’t know the color of the sea is ever-changing,” Ji Xiuran murmured. “Sometimes dark blue, sometimes azure, sometimes light yellow, sometimes mahogany. Isn’t that true for life as well…”
The man stood with his hands behind him, his clothes rustling from the ocean breeze as he stared into the horizon. His figure seemed to be eternally frozen at that moment.
A long while later, he sat down on the ground as though he was enjoying this last rare moment of contentedness.
An unknown amount of time passed and the ocean waves gently lapped up the spot where the man sat, but he had disappeared.
Looming journey, where to go
Foreign pictures, admire in three
Mysterious mortal hearts, well-being your own
A thousand vicissitudes experienced, regard as nil
Sun setting west, dusk here again
Elegant and graceful, burden no more
Unrestorable time, the grave approaching
Boundless universe, return to nothing…
…
The second Haitang returned to the center of the island, she jolted awake and almost instantly went back the way she came, but she couldn’t find Ji Xiuran’s figure anymore.
“Xiuran…” The woman clenched her fists, turmoil brimming in her eyes. “Ji Xiuran…”
This man amazed her ceaselessly. In her heart, he was unrivaled in the world and untainted by even a speck of dust.
However, he remained in the dark and was unable to leave.
In his last moments, the man looked like he was removed from the racket of the world, never to have any burdens ever again.
Burdens he should’ve had in the past, burdens he shouldn’t have in the present, and burdens he wouldn’t have in the future.
This man always appeared to be a ball of mystery, never walking out from the fog but never walking into the fog.