Looking at the slender figure on the rock, which seemed to be carried away by the wind and fly into the sky, Yan Jingxing's mind was in a trance for a moment.
He still remembered that on the road about to arrive at Baiyue Town, he heard beautiful and ethereal singing while he was drowsy in the car. After waking up, he immediately stuck his head out of the window and saw the singer quietly singing. Sitting on similar rocks, it looks like a mermaid resting on the surface of the sea.
That was the first time he saw Jichun Zao.
He started his new life in this seaside town. Since then, less than a month has actually passed, but the experiences he spent during this period were rich and colorful to him, as if he was trying to smear and cover the boring and pale past.
Of course he knows that Chun Zao is not some dreamy mermaid, she is a real and amiable girl who has her own little temper and gets into trouble with her friends...
Even so, the impression he had when he first met her was so vivid that it was firmly imprinted in his mind, and he was awakened again by a similar scene at this moment.
"What are you thinking about?"
The girl next to him noticed that he was distracted and couldn't help but frown.
"……nothing."
Yan Jingxing came to his senses and pointed to that location with a smile.
"Did you see it? Chun Zao is right there, and she is shouting to us."
"Well, it seems that I didn't do anything stupid. I just came out to relax." Xie Yuzhi stopped and stopped moving forward. "Go and pull her back."
"...Why, you won't leave?"
"I'll forget it, she probably wants to see you more. I can send you two back to school after that, that's fine."
The class captain crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking a little impatient.
Yan Jingxing thought for a while and felt that she might have misunderstood.
"Come with me, Xie Yuzhi." He persuaded with a smile, "I guess Chun Zao must have something else to say to you."
Xie Yuzhi looked into his eyes steadily. After a while, she turned her head and sighed softly.
"Oh, there is really no way. 'Do what you do to the end'..."
She whispered softly as if persuading herself, then put down her hand and followed the boy towards the rocks on the coast.
…
The ground beneath our feet gradually becomes soft, as if it has been soaked by the waves day and night. The weeds become sparse, and the color of the soil takes on a deep black color.
They walked along the guardrail, and as soon as they stepped out, they saw a cliff. Below were turbid waves floating with white foam and steep and sharp rocks.
Ji Chunzao, who was sitting on the rock, saw them approaching, and a big, happy smile broke out on his face.
She climbed down from the top of the rock, but her hands suddenly became weak and she fell down.
The two people below were startled. Fortunately, they were very close at this time. Yan Jingxing rushed forward and took the little girl into his arms.
Although the stone is not high, if it falls, it is inevitable that you will be injured. It would be bad if his face was scratched by a pebble.
Holding Ji Chunzao's limp body, he breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help complaining loudly:
"You are too careless! Can't you take a look at what's going on underneath? What if I'm not here?"
"Hehehe, I wouldn't have been able to wait until I saw you..."
Ji Chunzao's hands hugged his neck tightly, his face was very close, and the moist and shiny hair fell on his neck. The moment it lightly brushed against his skin, it also touched his heartstrings.
She smiled stupidly and said feebly in his ear:
"Sorry, I accidentally ran out of strength...my hands are a little soft now..."
"Are you okay?"
When the little girl spoke, because she was so close, the breath coming out of her lips could be clearly felt on her skin, which made Yan Jingxing's ears itch. He calmed down and quickly asked about the situation.
"I'm fine... Jing Xing, didn't you hear me just now?"
Ji Chunzao paused for a moment, looking straight at himself with eyes that were filled with joy. The girl's pupils were as bright as the sea under the sun.
"I succeeded!"
Success...? Yan Jingxing was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted.
"You mean, about summoning 'aliens'?" He lowered his voice.
"Yeah!" Ji Chunzao nodded vigorously, "It's not an ordinary alien, it's like a whale... a super huge alien creature. This time, ordinary people will definitely be able to see it!"
She sighed contentedly and exhaustedly.
"It's so good. I tried for a whole day and a half, but I didn't know how many times I failed..."
"Wait, a day and a half?" Yan Jingxing couldn't help but interrupted in surprise, "Have you been here for the past two days? Didn't you sleep or eat at all?"
"I still ate my food. I brought a lunch box and mineral water from home."
Ji Chunzao weakly pointed in a direction, showing him a gravel-covered schoolbag leaning on the edge of a rock.
"Does that mean you really didn't sleep?"
Yan Jingxing looked carefully at the little girl's pale face, and sure enough he saw faint traces of dark circles under her eyes.
"You..."
I was very excited to see her just now, but after a while, the girl's eyelids started to fight up and down, and she looked like she was about to fall asleep.
"You're not going to sleep here, are you?" He looked around, "You said you 'succeeded', but I haven't seen it yet."
"..."
Ji Chunzao didn't answer. She suddenly lowered her head, buried her face in his chest, and at the same time took the initiative to hold him up.
——This is the second hug in a week.
Last time it was because of unconcealable sadness, but today it is because of uncontrollable joy.
It is also excusable that he is driven by strong inner emotions.
"Forehead……"
Yan Jingxing naturally wanted to hug her shoulders, just like last time - but he soon realized that something was not right.
Because there were more than just the two of them present.
He couldn't help but turn his head and look around him, and found that the captain and his classmates were watching not far away, looking bored. Even if they saw the two of them hugging each other, they didn't react much.
Although for junior high school students, this was an outrageous move that was too intimate... Yan Jingxing felt his ears burning, and when he came to his senses, he quickly helped Ji Chunzao stand up.
"What, have you two finished talking?" Xie Yuzhi asked calmly, "Can you go back with us now?"
As she spoke, she looked at the junction of the sea and the sky, immersed in gray.
"It's going to rain heavily."
"...Yuzhi."
Ji Chunzao ignored her, as if he didn't hear her words at all, and stretched out his hand to grab Xie Yuzhi's arm.
The corners of her mouth slowly opened up little by little, and the smile that bloomed became more and more excited.
"You came to me, thank you. Just in time, I can let you see the 'evidence' now."
Xie Yuzhi was stunned for a moment and thought for a while before recalling what he said that day.
"You're talking about this again." The captain, the classmate, was a little helpless and angry, "You really don't know how to learn lessons."
"Don't worry about the past. This time is different. Just wait and see."
"...When will you be able to see the reality clearly? If you want to fight something, you must have actual power, even as a child."
Her tone became lowered, and Yan Jingxing felt his heart twisting, realizing that if they didn't stop the two of them, they would quarrel again, and they would end up unhappy.
"The last time." He interrupted, "Chun Zao has something she wants to show you. This is the last time. After that, she won't pester you again."
Yan Jingxing looked at Ji Chunzao again.
"Is this okay?"
The long-haired girl smiled.
"certainly."
She stood up slowly and pointed to the rocks nearby.
"Go up there and see it more clearly. Next, I will let you see it to your heart's content. Don't let your jaw drop in shock."
His tone was unbelievably confident. But the next second, she bowed her head in embarrassment and asked for help:
"Um... Jing Xing, I don't have any strength now, can you help me push up?"
At this time, how can I say no?
Yan Jingxing climbed up the rocks, helped Chun Zao up, and finally stretched out his hand towards Xie Yuzhi below.
"Do you need help?"
"Need not."
Xie Yuzhi ignored his hand and climbed up by grabbing the protrusions on the rock. As she climbed, she continued to mutter:
"I really have a brain problem, and I am fooling around with you...I regret it now. Maybe I should just leave you two here."
Yan Jingxing smiled and didn't care.
Although the two of them didn't get along for a long time, he had gradually become accustomed to the character of his classmate, the captain.
…
After all three people came up, Ji Chunzao closed his eyes.
Xie Yuzhi folded his arms and watched coldly, while Yan Jingxing sat down cross-legged and waited quietly.
The wind became stronger, whistling past the young people on the rocks, carrying the water vapor from the sponges, and a deep chill slipped into the shirts along the sleeves and collar.
"The weather has changed."
he murmured.
He heard the girl next to him taking a deep breath. Once, again, and again, my chest rose and fell slightly.
Ji Chunzao's expression was more serious than ever before, facing the sea and standing in the wind. The spirit seems to be completely immersed in another world, reaching out towards the empty place in the distance.
Her long hair and skirt were fluttering together, and sweat dripped down her forehead.
The girl didn't speak or make any other movements, she was purely concentrating on communicating.
Can it really succeed?
Yan Jingxing felt worried about her.
Of course he believed what Chun Zao said, but it was hard to deny the possibility that the girl would slip up at a critical moment. As for the captain, he felt that Chun Zao would not be given another chance.
…
Xie Yuzhi said to herself in her heart: This is really the last time.
There are indeed parts that I can't let go of, but they are no longer important.
She cares about Ji Chunzao's life and wants to help him, but this girl is always immersed in the shadow of past sadness and obsessed with delusions. She, who calls herself a "realist", cannot accept this unwillingness I changed my attitude towards life, so I decided to give up.
One cannot save others - not to mention that the relationship between the two of them was not that good in the first place.
Just a considered personal choice, nothing more.
Xie Yuzhi was thinking about leaving later.
Should he wait for her to declare her failure, or should he take her away before she can refute her? Looking at the weather, it's going to rain soon, and it's likely to be a heavy rainstorm. This person can't be so stubborn.
...No, it’s hard to say.
Fortunately, there is this boy named Yan Jingxing here. Although he does not know why he believes in Ji Chunzao's story, he is finally someone who can communicate normally and should be able to help him persuade——
"Huh?"
At this time, Xie Yuzhi heard the boy next to him making a surprised sound, as if he had seen something unbelievable.
"how--"
Before she could ask the question, the words stopped on her lips.
At this moment, Xie Yuzhi also noticed something strange coming.
Why did the surroundings suddenly...become so quiet?
The clouds in the sky stopped flowing.
The sound of wind and waves disappeared together.
Even the dim skylight came to a standstill.
She felt uneasy, an inexplicable chill ran down her spine, and she felt as if she was in a different world.
Xie Yuzhi couldn't help but start to look around, and then she heard Ji Chunzao's cry:
"-Look up! It's in the sky!"
Xie Yuzhi raised her head subconsciously.
As far as the eye can see, in the distance, dark clouds hang low, and the shadow of the huge thing is revealed.
what is that?
She opened her mouth wide and couldn't help but rub her eyes with her hands.
However, nothing has changed.
The thrilling and terrifying spectacle has not changed. What has changed is her. Her fourteen years of understanding of all realities in this world has been overturned at this moment:
Under the clouds, several huge tentacles are hanging down like tornadoes, slowly squirming...
