A piece of Japanese incense

Zhiyihe's arms were numb. She didn't know where the boat was heading, how many pursuers were behind her, or what the painting next to her looked like.

"Row, miss! Row hard! Don't stop! Just row! Don't worry about anything else!"

It was the sound of painting. Zhi Yihe felt relieved and continued to mobilize all his strength to paddle mechanically.

After an unknown amount of time, the noise gradually died down, the sound of arrows became sparse, and only the gurgling sound of waves hitting the hull could be heard.

Zhi Yihe paddled a few more times, but felt no resistance and the boat seemed to slow down.

"Boom!"

A dull thud echoed beside her. It was the sound of something heavy falling, hitting the narrow planks and shaking the boat.

"Painting?" Zhi Yihe asked.

no respond.

"Painting? You, what's wrong with you?"

……

"Paint!" Zhi Yihe raised her voice, her voice filled with panic. She reached out with the oar, but there was nothing. So she reached out and groped in the darkness in front of her. Her fingertips first touched the cold, water-stained planks of the boat, and then she felt a warm, sticky liquid.

Her heart sank as she groped upwards along the sticky surface until she touched the rough fabric that was the painted garment. She eagerly continued her search and came upon the painted body, lying prone.

She frantically groped her painted shoulders and back, and then her fingertips felt something strange.

A hard, wood-grained rod.

One. Two. Three…

Unable to believe it, she groped harder to confirm. The cold arrow shafts were deeply embedded in Tuhua's back, and there were so many of them that her back felt cold.

She finally "knew" what had happened - Tu Hua had used her life to exchange for his own possibility of survival. Tu Hua had used his body as her shield.

"Believe me! Even if Tuhua dies, he will never betray you! If I have to die, Tuhua will die before you..."

The words that were painted turned into countless needles, piercing her heart repeatedly.

"I'm sorry—I hurt you—!" Zhi Yihe uncontrollably spat out a mouthful of blood, his vision blacking out as he lost consciousness. His body collapsed onto Tu Hua's, and the boat drifted silently in the silent pool of blood.

The faint light stimulated Zhi Yihe's eyelids, but she still could not see anything.

The air was filled with a faint smell of medicine. She touched dry and fluffy bedding, and the deck beneath her was not damp.

Where's the painting? Where's the boat? Where's the person chasing me? Where is this?!

Zhi Yihe held his breath. There was no sound of water, no sound of wind, just silence.

Who brought her here? Friend or foe? And where's the graffiti, the graffiti corpse?!

She reached towards her chest and took out the dagger from her bosom. It was empty! Her fingertips touched the soft texture of fabric.

Her clothes had been changed!

A sense of crisis forced her to calm down. She sat up, holding onto the bed, and groped along the edge until she came across a small, cold, hard object. It seemed to be a decoration at the head of the bed... smooth and slightly curved.

Without time to think about what it was, Zhi Yihe grabbed it in his hand. It felt slightly heavy, but the edge was hard enough to at least be used as a hard object to hit someone.

She held her breath, reached forward with her other hand, and slowly moved her foot off the bed. The soles of her feet touched the slightly rough but flat ground, which seemed to be a wooden board.

Like a blind person, she tiptoed forward, moving forward very slowly and cautiously, step by step. Her right hand held the hard object across her body, ready to strike at any moment.

Finally, she found the latch and fortunately, the door was not locked from the outside.

Zhi Yihe lifted his bare feet and tentatively stepped forward over the threshold. The ground under his feet was no longer made of wooden planks.

Her feet landed firmly on some soft, finely grained surface.

This feeling... is it sand?

Compared to the moist beach in Wangchao City, the air here is too dry, and the fine sand can flow between your toes.

Can’t stop here!

Zhi Yihe forced himself to take a step. The sand beneath his feet made a slight rustling sound. The sand layer didn't seem thick. After a few steps, the edge of his foot seemed to touch something harder—was it stone? Or bare ground?

She felt her way, using her toes to tentatively explore further ahead. It was still sand, but it seemed deeper and softer. Like a snail, she slowly carved her own path through unknown territory.

She listened attentively, trying to catch any unusual sound, even the sound of wind, insects, or human voices, but there was nothing...

She took a few more steps forward and her toe kicked against something hard, small and half-buried in the sand. She squatted down and touched something with an angular shape, like a stone? She breathed a sigh of relief, but she didn't let her guard down.

My fingertips slid across the sand, passing by a few dry fragments that might be fallen leaves, and then touched a few clumps of short, hard plants with dense thorns. Was it some kind of drought-resistant thorn?

She plucked a small leaf, brought it to her nose, and sniffed it. Although her sense of smell was extremely weak, she still detected a very faint, dry, bitter scent similar to that of some kind of wormwood.

She stood up and decided to change direction. She turned around and headed towards what felt like the side of the cabin, taking another step. This time, after only a few steps, her ankle scraped against something, a vertical, rough wooden structure, like... a fence?

Yu Nian stood outside the low, rough, sandy courtyard wall. The dry wind blew fine dust across the dusty corners of his clothes, but he was completely unaware. All his senses, all his consciousness, were locked on the figure groping aimlessly in the courtyard.

Three years.

More than a thousand days and nights of torment and longing now turned into a distance that was close yet heavy, pressing heavily on his chest, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

He greedily traced her outline with his eyes. She had lost a lot of weight, with a sharp jaw. Her whole body looked empty under her clothes. Her eyes, which were once as bright as stars, were now hollow.

He'd been "dead" for three years. What had she been through? Would she blame him? How had she survived those three years? Tu Hua's death, the poison in her body...

Countless questions lodged in his throat, weighing him down, preventing him from moving forward. What should he say?

"Ah He, it's me, I'm not dead"?

Or "Sorry, I'm late"?

Thousands of words surged in his chest, but he couldn't find a suitable outlet. He was afraid to see any strange, alienated, or resentful expression on her face. He would rather just watch her from afar, making sure she was still alive and breathing, even if she couldn't see him.

A small stone was unconsciously rolled under my feet, making an extremely subtle "click" sound.

The figure in the yard froze, stopped all movements, and suddenly turned in his direction.

Yu Nian's heart suddenly skipped a beat!

"Who? Who's there?!" Zhi Yihe raised the hand holding the "weapon" firmly and pointed it in the direction where his voice came from.

All hesitation and timidity were instantly washed away when he saw her hostile and fearful attitude.

A huge wave of heartache and self-blame washed over him. How could he let her continue to be so frightened? Yu Nian could no longer stand still. Suppressing the sobs in his throat and the bitterness in his eyes, he lifted his feet, and slowly but firmly stepped into the courtyard, step by step.

“Ahe——”

"Stop!" Zhi Yihe shouted sharply, "If you take another step, I..." She racked her brains, trying to come up with the most vicious words to embolden herself.

"I will, I will fight you!"

Every time Yu Nian took a step forward, Zhi Yihe took a step back. Yu Nian's heart was deeply hurt by her reaction, but he knew that any explanation at this moment would be pale and powerless and would only deepen her fear. He had to get close to her and let her truly "feel" his presence.

"Don't come over here again! Who are you? Are you a friend or an enemy?" Zhi Yihe raised his hand higher in a bluffing manner.

"Ah He." Yu Nian called again: "Can't you recognize my voice?"

Zhi Yihe paused, all hesitation and fear were replaced by instinctive desire!

"Do you know what the blooming kapok flowers mean? It means we can eat kapok lentils and pork bones, kapok, poria and duck soup, which are delicious and can dispel dampness!"

“Delicious and refreshing!”

The two of them said the last few words in unison.