Since her resignation, Silverbell had spent every day in a daze, seeing no hope for the future. When she opened her front door today, she saw someone she never expected would visit her.
"Long time no see, Bell." Bukoni gave a small smile, the wrinkles on his face making him look both tolerant and weathered.
"You... why are you here..."
"Because I still love you, I suppose," Bukoni sighed. "You might not know this, but even though you ultimately chose to leave me, my feelings for you never changed. I heard you resigned, so I came to see you."
Seeing Bukoni now, Silverbell felt a surge of grievance. she wanted to throw herself into his arms and have a good cry. But she knew she had no path of retreat now; showing weakness would only make her look more pathetic. So, she restrained herself and said with a polite, distant tone, "You still love me? I don't think you love me. You love Luweiya."
Bukoni froze for a moment. "I love Luweiya? What kind of joke is that?"
"If a man truly loves a woman, he will give her marriage."
"By my God Bukoni!" Bukoni clutched his head, appearing to have a minor breakdown. "You’ve started talking nonsense, haven't you? When Balu told me to find a match within the Ocean Tribe quickly, weren't you the first person I thought of? I always wanted to marry you; it was you who dragged your feet! Besides, you were the one who persuaded me to marry Luweiya, weren't you? You said Su Shiye was bound to be the final winner, that this was an opportunity to curry favor with him, and that you had a child—if that history were discovered, it would be bad for my reputation. I said I didn't care, that I had a daughter too, so it was fair, and the public would actually have less resistance to two people with children joining together. But you still said you weren't worthy, that my wife should be pure and flawless, and you insisted I marry Luweiya. Have you forgotten?"
Silverbell was speechless. Indeed, those were the words she had once said to Bukoni.
Bukoni gave a bitter smile. "As it turns out, my judgment was more accurate than yours. After I announced my engagement to Luweiya, the public thought it was a disgusting match—a transaction between power and pure youth. If I had married you, there wouldn't have been such a backlash."
"But you’ve already married Miss Bubble. Was it even possible for you to marry me again?"
"Of course it was possible. It just needed time."
"How much time?"
Bukoni frowned and thought for a while. "At least three to five years, once the heat of this matter died down."
"Haha, three to five years... in three to five years, is that enough time for you to cycle through a few more wives?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"If you are truly sincere, marry me now, immediately." Silverbell stared straight at him, her voice cold. "Can you do it?"
"Why don't you pressure Ye Jia like this?"
Hearing the name "Ye Jia" now felt like a knife twisting in Silverbell's heart. She desperately wanted to cry—not just because Ye Jia had never loved her, but more because of her own stupidity. However, in front of Bukoni, she had to wear another mask, pretending she didn't like Ye Jia at all. "Why would I pressure Ye Jia? What does the matter between us have to do with a third party?"
But Bukoni was clearly no fool. He gave a mirthless smile and said, "You want to marry me now just to spite Ye Jia, don't you?"
"Spite him? Hahaha, who is he to me? Why would I want to spite him? Have I slept with him? Your narrow-minded speculation is truly hilarious!"
"You haven't slept with him, I believe that. You just wanted to sleep with him and failed."
Silverbell felt extremely guilty and couldn't help raising her voice. "Are you a maggot in my stomach? What evidence do you have to slander me like this!"
"Don't forget who I am. I know everything that happened with you two at school. Besides, Ye Jia is my grand-nephew." At this point, Bukoni held two letters between his index and middle fingers and tossed them in front of her. "These are the love letters you wrote to him, right? They're quite explicit. Just as explicit as the love letters you used to write to me."
Looking at those two letters, Silverbell involuntarily clasped her hands together, trembling so hard her teeth began to chatter. She recognized the patterns on those two envelopes—Silverfish and Aurora, her favorites. She didn't dare open the letters, nor did she dare look up at Bukoni; she just stared at the envelopes like a wooden carving.
Bukoni remained poised, pushing the two letters slightly closer to her but no longer urging her to open them. "I only came today to tell you that I, too, have given up."
Silverbell pleaded, wanting to take it back.
Bukoni pushed her hand away. "Luweiya is merely simple to the point of stupidity. But you—you have always been clever, knowing exactly what you want. Because you know what you want, you study what men want, using what they desire as bait to dangle before us, yet never giving it to us. You know when to advance and when to retreat, when to pick things up and when to let them go—that is your brilliance. By now, you should know better than anyone that the thread connecting you to me has snapped. Perhaps soon, every thread in Loya will snap. So, go back to being your clever self and let go."
This was the first time Bukoni had ever spoken such harsh words to Silverbell. In the past, he had always been gentle; no matter how she lost her temper, he could always say the words that made her feel most secure and treated her well through his actions. Thus, she had felt that as long as she wanted to turn back, he would always be there. Now, she was afraid. She swam forward a bit and gently pulled his hand. "Brother Ni, you've misunderstood me, I didn't mean that..."
"Don't call me 'Brother.' I'm old enough to be your grandfather." Bukoni gave a boyish smile. "How about calling me 'Old Man Ni' instead?"
She didn't find the comment funny, but she forced a dry laugh, trying to please him. "Think of our daughter; she still loves you very much. Have you forgotten how cute she is?"
"When I loved you, she was my daughter. When I don't love you, she is just a hybrid you had with an ex-boyfriend." Bukoni patted her head. "If we truly had a daughter together, she would only be a dead end for the lineage."
Silverbell's eyes widened in shock, but she still shook her head vigorously.
"Let go, Silverbell. It's time to start over." He patted the back of her hand and, just like Ye Jia, gently pushed her hand away and left without looking back.
***
On the day before her third dose, as a way of saying goodbye, Fan Li treated Xinghai, Dangdang, the Shuangsi couple, and the Youcan couple to a meal. Her excuse was that she had earned some money from her part-time job and wanted everyone to get together. Her friends were all chatting happily. But the happier they were, the more melancholy she felt. Only Xinghai understood why she was like this, but all he could do was hold her hand under the table the entire time.
After returning home, she placed the vengeful note she had written to Su Yi on the table and took out the two bottles of potion she had prepared long ago: the red bottle was the Reverse Soul Exchange Potion, and the black bottle was the Reverse Spacetime Soul Exchange Potion.
She opened the red bottle first and drank it without hesitation.
Aside from a mouth full of astringency and a stinging pain on her tongue—as if she had eaten two pounds of salted pineapple—nothing happened. This was within her expectations. She had just wanted to take a gamble.
Opening the black bottle, a mist-like liquid flowed out, and she happened to inhale it all into her lungs. It made her cough several times. She quickly closed the cap and then sat by the window, staring blankly at the scenery outside.
The receding tide brought a hint of brine into her nostrils, and the halos of the streetlights swayed in the water. Vessels came and went, piercing the sound of the water; the "thrum-thrum" of propellers mixed with the evening chatter of residents outside the community flooded into her sharpened hearing. Because of the five senses of the Predator Tribe, everything happening here was so real; yet because everything was so different, it also felt like a scene from a dream.
Just like that, more than two hours passed, and she did not open the black potion again.
It felt different from the first time she went to sea, the first dose, and the second dose. At this moment, she was still full of curiosity about this world and still had regrets, but more than that, she felt a sense of reluctance and helplessness.
In the darkness, she took out her communicator and tried to contact Xinghai.
Blue electrical sparks leaped in the water, and before long, the familiar voice rang out: "Hello, Lili."
His voice was originally clear and crisp, but he always deliberately made it gentle for her. No matter when it was, his emotions were always stable when he spoke, making her feel at ease. Since being with him, she felt proud and satisfied every day. She wanted the whole world to know: *Look, this is the boy I love.*
But it was different now. As soon as she heard his voice, she could barely hold back her tears. She struggled to suppress her surging emotions until he called "Lili" once more. Then, she said in a light tone, "I missed you, so I gave you a call."
"I'm coming over now."
"No, don't," she said urgently. "It's too late, I don't want to trouble you."
"It's no trouble. Seeing you will never be a trouble. I wanted to stay at your place to keep you company earlier, but you were so insistent on being alone that I had to leave. You're about to take 'Styx Heart No. 3'; you shouldn't be alone."
She originally wanted to deny it again, but she had been so busy lately that her body was exhausted to the limit. Combined with the pressure of choosing between the potion and leaving, she really couldn't hold on anymore. She said softly, "Xinghai, have you ever felt powerless against everything?"
"Of course."
"Then how do you cope?"
"Try to be grateful and be satisfied with what you have. We can't decide the outcome of many things, so as long as we do our best, it's enough. For example, right now, if you're unhappy, think about the things that make you happy."
"Things that make me happy..." Fan Li pondered for a moment. "You."
"A girl as brave and beautiful as you—even the God of Death wouldn't have the heart to take you away," Xinghai said softly. "And even if tomorrow brings the worst result, don't give up on today. For my sake, be happy, okay?"
"Okay." Fan Li nodded vigorously. "For your sake, I will be happy."
"Mhm. You have to think: no matter what terrible things happen, there is always a boy who cherishes you, supports you, and stays by your side. No matter what you become, he will always love you. And right now, he is rushing toward you. You need to know that he will always be there. Does thinking that way make you feel much better?"
His tone was consistently soft and optimistic, yet Fan Li was silently weeping.
In truth, if she died, that would be the end of it. But she couldn't imagine how much pain Xinghai would be in if she left this place or turned into a pile of bones tomorrow. It should have been her comforting him, yet he was acting so strong, making her feel guilty and heartbroken.
After chatting for a while longer, Fan Li looked into the distance and pretended to ask casually, "If I had the chance to choose a Reverse Soul Exchange, or risk one last promotion, what would you want me to choose?"
She thought he would say "I want you to live," but to her surprise, he said, "I don't have any wishes."
"What do you mean..."
"I want you to do what you want to do, without worrying about what I think." At this point, her bedroom door was knocked on simultaneously. "Open the door."
She had been lost in thought and hadn't noticed his arrival. Fan Li quickly ended the call, swam to the door, and opened it. "Did Dangdang let you in? I was still waiting for you at the window, I didn't expect..."
She didn't finish her sentence because she looked up into Xinghai's eyes. She froze for two seconds, her vision blurring, and then went straight forward to hug his neck tightly, so tightly she was trembling all over.
Xinghai lowered his head and also held her tightly in his arms.
"As long as you are happy, no matter what choice you make, I am happy," he said softly. "Before I met you, I was always drifting. Because of Negative Memory Consumption Syndrome, there were always large blanks in my life. After you appeared, those blanks were painted in color. Even if you leave me, the colors you left behind won't disappear. I will live on well, carrying the memories of being with you."
"Then... if I die, will you forget me?"
"No. I might forget the pain of your death, but I won't forget the happiness of now." He smiled and smoothed a strand of her hair that was sticking up in the water. "So, don't be sad. I'll take you down for some late-night snacks, okay?"
Hearing "late-night snacks," Fan Li's ear fins twitched. She looked up, her eyes much brighter. "Okay!"
Her change was so fast it caught him off guard. He laughed out loud, took her hand, and they swam out together.
That night, Fan Li did not open the spacetime potion again. She decided to keep the potion until the very last moment. As long as she remained in this world for one more second, she wanted to spend that second with Xinghai.
Later, when Xinghai brought her back, she lay at the head of the bed, holding his hand. Even though she was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open, she was unwilling to close them, constantly pulling Xinghai into conversation.
"Lili, go to sleep." Xinghai sat on the floor, his chin resting beside her, gently playing with her bangs. "You have to take the medicine tomorrow. Rest early today so your resistance will be stronger. Sleep..."
"No." She shook her head willfully, leaning against his forehead. "Tell me, if one day I become unlike myself, will you still love me?"
"As long as it's you, I'll love you."
"What if our feelings change?"
"Then we'll break up, and I'll pursue you all over again."
"Idiot." Even as she said it, Fan Li's weary eyes overflowed with tears. "I couldn't bear to be apart from you."
"Lili, you should sleep..."
"No!"
This meaningless dialogue repeated an unknown number of times before Fan Li unconsciously drifted off to sleep. Because she was so tired, she had a dreamless night.
When the sun woke her, Xinghai was still slumped by the bed, his short hair brushing against her arm, sleeping deeply. However, his hand was still tightly clutching hers, as if afraid she would run away or get hurt.
She had been too careless, actually letting him sleep on the floor! Just as she was about to nudge him, Fan Li felt reluctant to disturb him, so she lay there quietly watching his sleeping face. His long, sword-like brows were relaxed, his breathing steady and deep. His skin looked especially fair and translucent in the water, as beautiful as a painting.
This was the boy she liked. She felt so proud.
Why weren't they from the same world?
Fan Li reached out to brush his hair, wishing so much that every morning for every day, every year, and every decade to come, she could see him sleeping beside her like this...
She quickly blinked away her tears, dispersing them into the seawater, then nudged Xinghai and called in a tiny voice, "Xinghai, it's dawn..."
After Xinghai got up, he took her to the Black Crocodile Union. At the door of the administration room, Fan Li gripped the black Spacetime Exchange Potion in her pocket and looked at Xinghai.
"You can do it." Xinghai looked very calm, but she knew he was actually ten times more afraid than the last time.
She nodded, kissed him one last time, and turned to go inside.
Inside the room, the door closed again. The doctor and nurses were already waiting. Fan Li looked at the operating table, then looked down at the black medicine bottle in her hand and opened the cap.
*Drink it, and let that villain Su Yi come back to face her end!*
*Drink it! There are no side effects anyway, and you can go home immediately!*
But she just couldn't make up her mind. She knew clearly that the reason she couldn't decide was right behind her.
Xinghai had lost his parents since he was a child; he had no complete past, no home. For years, he had been drifting alone with fragmented memories. Although he rarely expressed his feelings, she knew that longing for their future small home was his greatest motivation for working hard now. If she returned to the future, Xinghai would be left all alone again.
*No—*
*Fan Li, are you crazy? Xinghai is so outstanding; even without you, there will be other girls to love him in your place. What are you thinking! Remember, you are Fan Li, not Fan Li! You want to become human again. How can you hesitate now because of romantic feelings? Drink it!! Drink it quickly!!*
Her hand felt as if it were bound by an invisible force. She took several deep breaths and couldn't help but look back one more time to confirm her heart—if Xinghai was no longer at the door, she would drink it. If he was... if he was, she still had to drink it!
However, when she turned her head, she found that Xinghai was not only still behind her, but he was also watching her tenderly with a slight smile. His eyes had turned red at some point, like a rabbit's. Tears filled his water-blue eyes, but because of the forced smile, they refused to fall, only swirling in his sockets.
"I love you," he mouthed to her.
Fan Li didn't move, but her heart was completely shattered.
This boy she loved loved her with the same intensity.
She couldn't make him sad.
She capped the medicine bottle, put it back in her pocket, turned around, and bravely strode forward, taking the initiative to lie down.
Xinghai wanted her to be happy, so she wanted him to continue being happy as well. Therefore, even with a 31% probability of death, she was no longer afraid. She was willing to accompany him through this life before returning to land.
This dose caused the greatest shock and damage to the body; many people even died of pain after waking from anesthesia. When the anesthetic entered her veins and flowed into her blood, she took a breath and slowly lost consciousness amidst her chaotic thoughts...
*Dad, I'm sorry.*
*In this world, there is a very, very good boy who has entered my life...*
*I want to stay here, study with him, grow up with him, become his bride, and build a happy family with him.*
*Two thousand years from now, if he and I are both still alive, I will bring him to see you.*
*You, who loved Mom so much, should be able to understand my feelings...*
In her final moments of consciousness, Fan Li found that she was no longer thinking about Xinghai; her heart was filled only with guilt toward her father.
...
"How could this be the result? It's impossible."
"What is going on with this girl's body... it was already abnormal last time, but today I truly don't understand. Do another genetic test."
"Okay. Could it be because she's oviparous?"
"If it were because her oviparous constitution was too weak, the second time should have failed."
When she heard the medical staff's conversation again, Fan Li moved her head, realizing that the anesthesia had worn off. A piercingly bright light shone on her face; she frowned and turned her face away. The blood vessels under the back of her hand were in excruciating pain, likely a lingering side effect of the needle and the "Styx Heart No. 3." She moved her head, her first reaction being joy—*It worked? I survived?!* But as she processed what they were saying, she had a bad premonition.
"What... happened..." she said weakly.
"Don't move yet, lie down for a bit longer. Just listen to me," the doctor moved the light away and said seriously. "The promotion failed."
Fan Li was momentarily stunned. *So am I in heaven now?* She instinctively lifted her hand to see if she had turned into a half-skeleton. Although everything in her vision was blurry, she was certain her limbs were still there.
"Will I... die?"
"That's the strange part. Normally, after a failure, your muscle tissue would be immediately consumed. But when 'Styx Heart No. 3' was injected into your body, it was like injecting seawater—there were absolutely no positive or negative effects. I've helped over twenty thousand Ocean Tribe members promote, but this is the first time I've encountered this situation. Moreover, you've retained the Predator characteristics from the first and second stages. According to my preliminary judgment, it might be because your constitution is special, different from the vast majority of the Ocean Tribe."
"Special constitution? What's the reason?"
"That, I don't know. Either it's because your genes are unique—after all, we still haven't identified your specific group—or it's because your body has absorbed a large amount of magic potions and developed an antibody to 'Styx Heart No. 3.' But that theory doesn't hold much water, since the first two drugs worked on you."
"Then... since the promotion failed, will I suffer from severe genetic disorder after a while?" Fan Li remembered the sales manager once telling her that no matter which stage the medication was stopped at, there was a high probability of such problems within six months.
"It's possible," the doctor said with a grave expression. "This is also what we're most worried about, because No. 3 causes 240% more damage to the body than No. 1 and No. 2 combined. If you take another bottle, the failure rate might be one hundred percent. So, we suggest you go home and rest, recuperate, and observe the situation. If you feel unwell, come for a check-up immediately."
Upon receiving this result, Xinghai was far more worried than Fan Li, acting as if he were taking his wife for a prenatal check-up. From the moment she came out of the administration room, he followed her every step of the way, supporting her as if she had a broken leg, while simultaneously asking the doctor all sorts of questions: how to rest better, how to recuperate the body, and how to handle emergencies...
He also bought a large pile of medicines that might not have any effect at all—even the doctor hadn't recommended spending the money. After taking Fan Li home, he took them out one by one and instructed her to take them. Fearing she would forget, he even specifically packed each day's dose into small bags, preparing a week's worth and placing them by her bedside. When she said he was making too much of a fuss, he scolded her back fiercely, leaving her caught between laughter and tears.
Finally, he forced her to lie flat on the bed, held her hand, and told her to rest. His strong palm made her realize that everything was real. In this instant, she felt a sense of relief, yet also a sense of deflation.
When he wasn't looking, she placed the black Reverse Soul Exchange Potion in the deepest part of the drawer, pressing it down on top of the note she had written to Su Yi.
All the struggling with high-strung nerves during this period had been for nothing.
But she didn't have time to feel tired. Because the promotion exams were coming soon. The tension among all the first-year Arcane students had reached a new height: in the classrooms and the library, some students would suddenly cover their mouths and rush out in the middle of studying, but before they could swim far, vomit would spill out, making all the classmates present pinch their noses, close their gills, open windows, or flee even faster than the sick student. Once, just as the professor announced the end of class, a student stood up and fainted completely, floating belly-up like a dead fish. Twice when going to the cafeteria for a meal, Fan Li was splashed with food from behind—it was a classmate from her department who was reading while carrying a tray and bumped into her back.
However, Fan Li didn't feel the slightest sense of crisis. Because she had worked so hard recently, she had put all her effort into potions and Arcane studies to research the spacetime potion. As a result, even though she had relaxed lately, the parts the professor emphasized as key points felt like elementary school difficulty to her. The formula decompositions that had caused Feisi and Lansi to almost break up, she could calculate in her head. When some girls brought problems to ask Xinghai for solutions, and Xinghai was still frowning in thought, she already had the answer, though she didn't say it out loud...
But she didn't let herself idle either. Because regarding Saint Yegana, there was a universally recognized law: "A paradise for the Sea God Tribe, a hell for the Ocean Tribe."
Saint Yegana University was the same. Entering the second-stage Arcane study phase, they would begin to touch upon the practical parts. This part couldn't be made up for with hard work; the Arcane energy that the Sea God Tribe could condense with a wave of their hand required the Predator Tribe to work very hard to achieve, while the Ocean Tribe could only give up on the credits for this portion.
While everyone else was still working hard to cram for the promotion exams, Fan Li had already begun previewing more advanced Arcane arts. Then, while practicing Arcane energy convergence training at home, she discovered something: after converting light energy into condensation energy ten times in a row, she no longer felt weakness in her limbs or mental exhaustion.
So, she opened the window and tried using a more advanced Arcane spell, "Absolute Ice Array." Outside the window, five "crack" sounds rang out in the seawater as five ice swords unfolded like blooming flowers. She increased her output, and another series of dense "crack" sounds rang out as the ice swords continued to expand outward, becoming fifteen. Previously, five swords would have left her half-dead with exhaustion, but now, her mental power felt like an endless flow of seawater, constantly outputting and converting into released energy. She strengthened her mental power again—*crack, crack, crack, crack, crack...*
Finally, above the algae garden outside the window, a massive flower of ice swords floated like a palace, occupying an area of over five hundred square meters. Looking at her "masterpiece," she was ecstatic and astonished.
*What is going on? My Arcane limit has had a qualitative leap.*
Fan Li looked at her palm, feeling somewhat uneasy due to this unknown power.
*Could it be that the third 'Styx Heart' was actually successful, just suppressed on the surface?*
However, looking in the mirror, her ear fins were still there, still following her commands. She also still only loved Xinghai, had no desire to mate with many men, and had no aggressive emotions. She didn't feel like she had turned into a Predator.
***4.3 Theater***
Ye Jia: "In this chapter, the author actually agonized for a long time over whether to let Lili drink the potion she researched. In the end, she chose not to."
Fan Li: "Xinghai is worth it. I want to stay, become better, become stronger, dominate everything, and give Xinghai happiness. ><"
Ye Jia: "The 'Great Female Lead' genre truly doesn't lie to you... in this kind of story, the male lead will probably be tormented quite miserably, right? = ="
Su Shiye: "..."
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
布可逆 | Bukoni | Silverbell's former lover and Ye Jia's relative.
巴路 | Balu | A character mentioned by Bukoni who pressured him regarding marriage.
泡泡小姐 | Miss Bubble | Bukoni's ex-wife.
逆向灵魂交换魔药 | Reverse Soul Exchange Potion | A potion intended to swap souls back to their original bodies.
逆向时空灵魂交换魔药 | Reverse Spacetime Soul Exchange Potion | A potion intended to swap souls back across time and space.
冥河之心3号 | Styx Heart No. 3 | The third and most dangerous stage of the genetic promotion drug.
绝对凝冰阵 | Absolute Ice Array | A high-level Arcane spell involving the creation of ice structures.
