Chapter 606

Liguang lay curled up on the floor of the wooden cabin, half-dreaming and half-awake.

The morning sunlight slipped through the crack in the window and fell warmly across her loose silver hair.

Her little mouth was slightly open, her breathing soft and light.

Lately, she had been getting up later and later.

And lazier and lazier, too.

But it wasn’t her fault.

She used to wake up before dawn because she had to brew the tea ahead of time.

The temperature had to be precisely fifty-two degrees. Then she would sit properly on her knees in front of the tea table and wait for Master to open his eyes.

But now, no matter how early she got up, all she could do was stare blankly at the empty wooden cabin.

She couldn’t serve Master, couldn’t bring him tea, couldn’t prepare his meals…

And she certainly couldn’t snuggle up in his arms and squirm playfully.

So what was the point of getting up early?

Therefore…

She might as well sleep a little longer.

Besides, if she got up late, she could still enjoy…

“Rustle…”

A faint sound reached her ears.

Very faint. It sounded as though something were slowly scraping across the wooden floor.

Liguang’s eyelashes trembled, but she didn’t open her eyes right away.

She knew what that sound was.

Master was writing on the floor.

So she kept her eyes closed and buried her face a little deeper into the crook of her arm, while her ears perked up high to listen to the soft scraping, stroke by stroke.

When the sound finally stopped, she slowly opened one eye, pretending she had just woken up—

Sure enough, several crooked lines of writing had appeared on the floor before her:

[You big sleepyhead, get up!]

[It’s almost noon! How can you be this lazy?]

Liguang stared at the words, her eyes curving into a smile.

See?

Getting up late meant she could enjoy Master’s wake-up service!

Only then did she push herself upright. Her silver hair was spread out in a messy halo around her body. She rubbed her eyes, then stretched lazily and widely.

After that, she finally turned toward the direction where she guessed Master was and spoke in a soft voice:

“Good morning, Master…”

As she spoke, she slowly stood up.

The straps of her ivory swimsuit had slipped from her shoulders, hanging loosely around her arms.

The morning light fell across her smooth shoulders and neck, while faint red marks from sleeping remained along her collarbone.

She didn’t bother pulling the straps back up. Instead, she tilted her head and gazed at the empty space before her with a bright smile.

New marks slowly appeared on the floor:

[Pull your swimsuit back up!]

The strokes were deep and hurried, making him look furious.

Hehe!

Liguang’s lips curled upward, and only then did she leisurely pull the straps back onto her shoulders…

Deliberately slowing down as she did so!

She hooked one finger around a strap and gradually lifted it from the crook of her arm to her shoulder. Then it snapped lightly against her skin.

“Master’s so mean~”

She blinked, looking utterly innocent.

“Liguang thinks it’s cooler this way.”

New writing immediately appeared:

[Cooler, my foot! You’re doing that on purpose!]

Liguang let out a little laugh. She was just about to keep teasing him when—

“Growl…”

Her stomach let out an extremely loud rumble.

Liguang blinked, then hurriedly covered her belly as her cheeks flushed bright red.

Slowly, new writing appeared on the floor:

[Such a little glutton~]

“I am not!”

The silver-haired girl immediately glared toward the direction of Master’s writing.

“That’s just a drawback of having a human body! Liguang never used to be like this!”

[Yes, yes, of course…]

Master’s writing appeared very quickly. The two “yeses” were sloppy and hurried, radiating pure perfunctory dismissal.

“Hmph!”

Liguang gave a soft snort and tossed her hair aside, deciding not to argue anymore.

She stood up and padded over to the stove barefoot, her feet going pat-pat-pat against the floor. She rolled up her sleeves…

And started making breakfast for herself—

No, wait. Lunch!

It was actually just grilled fish.

There were no other ingredients to be found in this world besides fish.

Fortunately, this world was never short of fish.

She placed the prepared fish over the fire, then squatted beside the flames with her chin propped in her hands, watching the silvery flesh slowly change color in the heat.

Fat dripped onto the coals with a sizzling sound.

Once the fish was cooked, she picked it up and held it toward the empty space before her.

“Master, you first. Ahh~”

Of course, she couldn’t see Master, nor could she touch him.

But she could imagine the look on his face right now!

He must have been dying to eat it, yet unable to get even a bite. How pitiful!

So she opened her mouth and took a huge bite.

“Mmm, it’s so good! Crispy on the outside and tender inside!”

She chewed while speaking, her words slightly muffled.

“Too bad Master can’t eat it. Liguang will just have to eat a little extra for you!”

Sure enough, writing appeared on the floor:

[You’re teasing me again!!!]

The three exclamation marks had been carved so deeply they seemed to pierce straight through the wooden planks!

“Hehe!”

The silver-haired girl smiled triumphantly, her eyes narrowing with delight.

To make it up to Master, she sang for him after lunch.

“Master, Liguang learned a new song recently!”

She knelt on the deck, cleared her throat, and began to sing.

She sang with great seriousness, convinced that she must sound pretty good!

When she reached the climax, she even closed her eyes and let the sea breeze sweep her silver hair into the air.

After finishing the song, she opened her eyes and looked down expectantly.

[Beautiful!]

[One more!]

Liguang happily bobbed her head from side to side.

So she sang another song.

This time, she let her voice ring out more freely, and her bare feet tapped lightly against the planks in time with the melody.

When she finished, new writing appeared on the floor.

[When did our Liguang become such a big star?]

“Hmph, Liguang is very talented!”

She lifted her chin, her face filled with pride.

After singing, she drew a grid on the deck.

This was the only game she could play together with Master—five-in-a-row!

She drew circles, while Master drew crosses. Whoever connected five first won!

But…

She lost every single time.

“Ugh…”

Squatting beside the board, she rested a finger against her chin and stared at the circles and crosses for a long while. Then, unwilling to give up, she used a seashell to draw another circle.

A moment later, a cross appeared beside it, completing a row of five.

Aww… she lost again.

[Liguang, you’re letting me win again!]

Liguang blinked, then giggled and tossed the seashell aside before stretching lazily.

“As long as Master’s happy!”

Master actually thought he was the one letting her win!

But that was fine. She would never admit that she was really this bad at the game.

Although…

She did seem to be getting more and more foolish lately.

…

By evening, the sea breeze had grown gentle.

Liguang sat at the edge of the wooden raft, fishing, her bare feet dangling outside the platform and swinging back and forth.

The sea had been dyed a warm orange by the setting sun, its surface glittering with rippling light.

She stared absentmindedly at the float bobbing softly on the water.

Suddenly, a line of writing appeared beside her:

[I’m sitting right next to you.]

Liguang turned her head toward the words.

She couldn’t see Master.

So she slowly leaned over, carefully shifting her weight inch by inch toward that spot.

Tilting her head, she acted as though she were truly resting it against Master’s shoulder.

The sea breeze drifted between the two of them.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

She could almost smell Master’s scent.

That warm, comforting scent that made her feel safe.

Even the fish seemed reluctant to disturb her and Master. None of them came to bite the hook.

…This wasn’t getting skunked, okay?

It was just that the fish had such high emotional intelligence that they didn’t want to interrupt them!

Liguang found the perfect excuse in her heart for her air force.

Until, much later, her fishing rod suddenly jerked violently!

“Whoa!”

Liguang jolted, gripped the fishing rod with both hands, and hauled upward with all her strength!

The fishing line hummed under the strain, and the rod bent into an exaggerated arc! Beneath the surface, a silvery shadow was thrashing desperately!

“Master, a big fish! Such a big fish!”

Her face flushed red as she summoned every ounce of her strength. Finally—

“Splash—!”

A huge fish burst out of the water!

“Smack!”

It landed heavily on the deck!

The silver-white fish was nearly half a meter long, and the reflected light from its scales was almost dazzling. Its tail slapped wildly against the wooden boards!

Liguang hurriedly lunged forward and reached for the fish’s tail!

But the moment her fingers touched its body…

Huh?

She froze, her movement abruptly halting.

This fish was so cold.

Unbelievably cold.

And it felt…!

Her pupils suddenly contracted!

In an instant, the ghostly blue code in her left eye began racing wildly!

Everything in her field of vision started turning blue!

This was…!!

The silver-haired girl’s pupils trembled violently!

It was here!

The “access” she had always longed for—this time, it seemed she really was about to…!

Sure enough, the scene before her violently flickered the next second!

A mass of ghostly blue static exploded across her vision!

Ah!

Was she… now…?!

She abruptly turned toward her master!

And then…

The sea breeze stopped.

She saw him. Her master.

He was sitting cross-legged right beside her.

Less than a meter away, he had his head lowered, completely absorbed in carving words into the wooden boards.

He had grown thinner. Faint dark circles showed beneath his eyes, his hair was a complete mess, and his robe was covered in wood shavings.

One hand was braced against the wooden boards, while the other…

Huh?

Liguang froze.

The index finger of his left hand was bent at an…

unnatural angle.

Its color was deathly pale, the fingertip a lifeless gray. Wood shavings were packed beneath the nail, clotted together with dried, dark-red blood.

She also saw that the dark-red color in the line of words he was carving…

was slowly seeping into the wood grain.

…Huh?

The scream that was about to burst from Liguang’s lips…

was choked off completely.

The joy that had not yet had time to surge up her throat froze solid.

The next moment…

The world returned to normal.

The blue static faded away, and the sea breeze rushed in once more.

The sky was still the same sky, and the sea was still the same sea.

Her master was gone.

Only the line of words he had been carving continued to take shape—

[My goodness, this one’s huge!!]

[Liguang, what’s wrong with you…]

The words were not finished yet.

The writing continued to emerge bit by bit, each stroke carved out one after another.

The surface was perfectly clean. There were no traces of blood.

But Liguang was already rooted to the spot.

She was still clutching the fish in her hands.

It continued to thrash, its tail smacking against her calf.

She did not notice at all. She only stared blankly at the line of words that was still being carved…

Her simple little mind could no longer make sense of what had happened.

What had she just seen?

Had she just seen her master using his finger…?

From the corner of her eye, she saw that the wooden walls of the cabin were covered in densely packed, crooked, misshapen writing.

Liguang’s gaze began to tremble, and all the color drained from her lips in an instant!

Her master’s words… had he carved them onto the walls stroke by stroke with his fingers…?

His fingers?

Wasn’t it a seashell?

Wasn’t it a seashell?!

Why had it been his fingers?

Why…?

Her trembling gaze swept blankly across the wall.

The gentle words, the coquettish words, the words meant to comfort her, the words meant to make her laugh—every single one had been carved into the wall.

Every single one…

was stained with her master’s blood?

Huh?

Hadn’t he said he used a seashell?

Huh?

Her fingers began to tremble.

She suddenly raised her hand and touched her cheek!

The warmth of her master “pretending to lean” against her seemed to still linger there…

So the words she saw every day when she woke up, the replies she received every day when she pouted and urged her master to “hurry up”…

Every compliment she received each day while singing, fishing, or playing chess…

Had all of them been ground out onto the wooden boards by her master’s fingers?

The wood shavings and blood beneath his nails…

The broken finger…

The lifeless gray…

Her pupils began to lose focus.

“Ah—！！！！！！”

At last, she screamed!

The shrill cry, so agonized it nearly made her faint, tore across the entire sea!