Chapter 602

Liguang had taken a liking to carving.

So she decided that, from now on…

She would spend plenty of time every day decorating this little cabin with her master!

It wasn’t difficult at all. After all, she was incredibly fast at carving!

The sharp edge of a seashell scraped against the wooden planks with a “skritch, skritch,” and a neat, delicate line of writing appeared!

But…

Her master carved so slowly.

Every stroke was crooked and uneven in depth, like little snails crawling slowly across the beach.

It took forever and a day before he could piece together a complete sentence.

She teased her master several times for being so slow, even telling him that since he could clearly see Liguang, he should learn from her!

But in truth, she loved the words her master carved.

They might have been crooked and wobbly, but they carried his scent!

【Grilled fish for dinner tonight!】

She carved the words in the most conspicuous spot on the cabin’s outer wall.

Beside them, she drew a plump little fish with its tail held high, looking terribly pleased with itself!

Then she knelt there, resting her chin in her hands as she waited expectantly.

A moment later, marks slowly began to appear on the floor in front of her.

【Okay】

There was only one character, sitting all by itself, with half of it crooked.

It looked so clumsy!

But when Liguang saw that character, her eyes curved into crescent moons.

Without saying a word, she immediately picked up the seashell and added a line beside it:

【What kind of fish does Master want?】

She gestured with her hands, blinking at the empty space before her.

A few seconds later, fresh marks slowly appeared on the floor. They seemed even slower than before.

【Anything is fine. Everything you make is delicious.】

Liguang looked at the line, propping her cheek on one hand as she smiled brightly.

“Then Liguang will grill a little of every kind! But…”

She put her hands on her hips and giggled.

“Master can’t eat any of it. You can only smell it. Poor Master!”

This time, the marks appeared very quickly!

They were messy with fury!

【I’m gonna smack your little butt!】

Liguang burst out laughing with a “pfft,” then hurriedly covered her mouth.

She picked up the seashell again and continued carving with a “skritch, skritch.”

She was going to carve tonight’s menu, too!

Since her master couldn’t eat, she would carve every dish onto the wall.

When he could eat again in the future, she would make them all one by one!

After she finished carving, she stood up, fetched the bucket of “seaweed extract,” dipped a small brush into it, and carefully began “waxing” each carved letter.

When she brushed over the few characters her master had carved, she was especially meticulous!

Every stroke and every crooked, uneven groove was coated thoroughly.

She didn’t even spare the edges!

“Master’s words have to be preserved properly.”

She muttered to herself, a sweet smile on her face.

“Then, when we look at them again in the future, we’ll know how we made it through all this!”

As she brushed, she noticed something.

The words her master carved were always concentrated in relatively low places.

On the floor, along the corners of the walls, and around the bottom edge of the cabin’s outer walls…

But above that, there were almost no traces left by him.

Liguang blinked, and something stirred gently in her heart.

Master…

What kind of position did he use when carving?

Did he crouch there, supporting himself with one hand while holding the seashell between the fingers of the other, dragging it across the wood stroke by stroke like he was writing?

Or did he sit on the ground, hunched over with his chin almost touching his knees, gripping the seashell and carving with all his strength?

One image after another rose in her mind, and every single one of them looked incredibly clumsy!

The corners of her lips lifted uncontrollably.

She picked up the seashell and carefully carved a simple drawing at a low spot on the outer wall.

It showed a little person crouching on the ground.

The eyes were drawn huge and round—absurdly huge, like two eggs!

Beside it, she carved a line of small characters:

【Master’s expression right now must look exactly like this!】

When she finished, she stepped back two paces and tilted her head as she examined it. Then she nodded in satisfaction.

A moment later, new marks began to appear on the floor.

【My eyes aren’t that big!】

The writing was much larger than before!

Looking at that line, Liguang felt a warmth spread through her heart.

Her eyes began to sting again!

She crouched down and earnestly carved beneath the line:

【Then Master has to admit that you’re smiling right now!】

After waiting for quite a while, the words slowly appeared on the floor:

【Mm. I’m smiling.】

【You smile too. Don’t always cry!】

Liguang stared at the words, and her eyes grew hot again. Her lips trembled into a small pout.

“…Liguang doesn’t!”

She muttered the words.

Then she turned her head away, showing the back of it toward the direction where her master might be.

Pressing her lips together, she blinked hard, forcing the warmth from her eyes!

She didn’t always cry! Only sometimes! Just sometimes, that was all.

It was the fault of this human body for being so useless…

After a while, she couldn’t help sneaking a little smile.

Hehe.

Master probably didn’t see it, right?

No, that was wrong. He must have seen it!

…

…

Fang Qi sat cross-legged beside the wall, watching the silver-haired girl a few meters away.

The sea breeze blew her silver hair into a tangled mess across her face, but she paid it no attention.

She was crouched over the wall, carving something with a steady “skritch, skritch.” The way she stuck out her rear and the little feet swinging back and forth…

Anyone could tell she was in an excellent mood!

Fang Qi smiled too.

Life didn’t seem quite so hard to endure anymore.

Liguang went swimming in the sea again.

Fang Qi sat by the cabin door, watching the surface of the sea from a distance…

A little silver head rose and fell among the waves.

He could even see two pale little feet kicking hard, splashing up sprays of water!

When she grew tired, she climbed ashore, dripping wet, and ran into the cabin with a series of “slap-slap” sounds.

Her silver hair clung all over her body, seawater streaming down her skin. She looked just like a pitiful little kitten that had fallen into the water!

It took her ages to wring the water out of her hair.

Then she ran back outside and began chattering about what they should have for dinner while carving on the wall.

Fang Qi shook his head helplessly.

What did it matter what she made? He could only smell it anyway.

…What a cruel fate!

Oh, well. Let her do as she pleased.

…

At dusk, she cooked inside the little cabin.

Fang Qi stood in the doorway, watching her bustle about in front of the stove.

She had tied an apron around her waist—he had no idea where it had come from—and loosely gathered her silver hair up. The heat rising from the pot made the ends curl slightly.

“Master, this fish is so fresh. It’s sure to smell wonderful when it’s grilled.”

“Liguang will sprinkle in just a little salt. Master likes things on the lighter side.”

“Oh dear, the fire seems a little too high…”

“But it’s all right. Liguang can handle it!”

She chattered at the empty air, occasionally casting an expectant glance at the wall as she waited for him to answer.

How could Fang Qi bear not to reply?

So he ground out two characters on the wall.

【Smells good!】

The silver-haired girl giggled and continued bustling around.

But in the end, he still didn’t get to eat anything.

Liguang even said something like, “Master, you eat first. Ah~”

The corner of his mouth twitched.

Then he propped his chin on one hand and watched her take tiny bites.

Come to think of it, Liguang had always been the one watching him eat before.

What a strange experience.

…It smelled so good!

I’m starving!

I’m so hungry I could bash my head against the wall!

…

That night, Liguang knelt at the doorway, gazing up at the stars filling the sky.

She didn’t know Fang Qi’s exact location and could only guess where he roughly was from the places where he carved his words.

So, every now and then, she would shuffle a little to the side, awkwardly inching closer as she tentatively tested the distance.

And then…

She moved too close—her nose pressed right against Fang Qi’s cheek!

Fang Qi didn’t dodge at all.

Come on, his wife wanted to get closer. Why would he avoid her?

He breathed in the pleasant, sweet scent of strawberries and watched her trembling eyelashes.

…Could she see him?

No.

And yet she still turned her head slightly and sniffed the air before murmuring softly,

“Master seems to be right here.”

Her breath lightly brushed against Fang Qi’s neck as she kept sniffing, like a little puppy!

It tickled!

Fang Qi held his body rigid, not daring to move. Beside his ear, his own heartbeat grew louder and louder!

He knew perfectly well that no matter how much he moved, Liguang would never be able to find him. But…

He still kept himself tense, holding even his breath!

Crazy Girl, you’re wasting your time. You’ll never find me!

Huh?

…Wait, that wasn’t right!

He was supposed to figure out a way to let Liguang find him!

With the way his wife was acting, he had almost thought they were playing Red Light, Green Light…

The silver-haired girl sniffed around his cheek a few more times before giving a soft “Hmm.”

Then she shifted away and turned her gaze back toward the sea.

Fang Qi: “…”

He slowly covered his face.

This Crazy Girl was seriously going to be the death of him.

Not being able to touch her was so frustrating…!

…

Liguang drifted into a hazy sleep, lying sprawled across the wooden deck without a care for her sleeping posture.

Her little mouth even smacked softly as she murmured, “Good night, Master…”

Over the past few days, he had also realized that in this world, she seemed to have a human body—just like Little Liguang, the girl who worked at the steamed-bun shop.

So she needed to sleep and rest.

Fang Qi looked at her sleeping face and wanted to poke her cheek with his finger…

Unfortunately, he couldn’t touch her.

All he could do was purse his lips and listen to her breathing gradually settle. Beside her, he used his fingertip to slowly carve out a message:

[Good night, Liguang.]

After finishing, he lay down beside her as well, resting the back of his head against the wooden boards.

Beside him, her soft breathing rose and fell together with the sound of the waves.

Fang Qi gazed up at the night sky.

“…I can’t touch her. Seriously.”

He really wanted to feel the soft, squishy touch of Liguang’s cheeks again!

And…

Sigh… This was painful.

Still…

Fang Qi narrowed his eyes as he looked at the dazzling stars overhead.

Speaking of which, ever since that day…

That voice had never appeared again.

Hmm…

He pressed his lips together lightly.

He couldn’t explain why, but Fang Qi simply had a feeling…

That thing probably wouldn’t be coming back.

Perhaps he had encountered something like it before losing his memory. In any case, he just felt that…

That thing didn’t seem to be a complete entity at all.

It was merely something that had slipped in along with that authority—a…

Leftover fragment?

A hidden “program”?

A little tool designed to “observe” him?

Whatever it was, it should have disappeared by now.

It seemed that here…

Only he and Liguang remained.

No.

That was how it had always been.

From the day this world was born, it had existed solely for him and Liguang.

It was just that too many other things had infiltrated it in the past.

Now, they were all gone.

…Was that really the truth?

He felt that it was.

If it was, then that was wonderful!

Fang Qi smiled, but as he smiled, he suddenly…

“Tsk.”

Another “tsk.”

…Wonderful, my ass!

He raised an arm and covered his eyes.

Right now, he couldn’t even touch his wife’s hand!

…Sigh!

He rolled over and looked at the obediently sleeping Liguang in front of him.

Under the starlight, the profile of the silver-haired girl looked dreamlike and beautiful.

He stared at her, momentarily dazed.

His wife was really asleep?

Before this, he had always been the one sleeping while she watched him through the night.

He never imagined that the roles would be reversed now!

The corners of Fang Qi’s lips curled up slightly.

Not bad!