Chapter 188: You Are a Fool

On the way, Yang Yi had intended to remain mysterious, but her eagerness to share ultimately led her to reveal the secret under Chris's persistent questioning—she was going to take him to her secret base.

This was the first time she had brought someone there; although she knew it was merely an ordinary cliffside, a desolate thicket of wild trees, she still enthusiastically introduced its charm to him.

Chris smiled as he watched her, like someone observing a child eager to show off a toy to their friends.

As they drew near, the coastline slowly emerged over the vast sea; not far away lay a small town, which should be Haibei City, where she had once worked and lived...

Chris suddenly wanted to visit that small town, to walk through the houses, streets, and alleys she had inhabited and worked in, and to tread the beaches she had stepped on—to walk and to look.

"Look, this is the place!"

They landed on a cliff; Chris raised his eyes to see the sea ahead, surrounded by vitex and osmanthus trees. September and October are the osmanthus season, and vast clusters of tiny yellow flowers crowded the cliff's edge, their intense fragrance mingling with the salty sea breeze to strike the face, while oleander bushes bloomed with brilliant red flowers, flamboyant and bold.

Chris walked to the cliff's edge; below lay a chasm of ten thousand feet.

Was it here? In the storm, she had nearly been swept off the cliff, clutching a tree and enduring that endless night.

Perhaps his silence had lasted too long; Yang Yi said shyly, "Actually, it's just a thicket of wild trees, not as wonderful as I said..."

"No, I like it very much here." Chris took her hand, "Just thinking that this place holds so many of your memories makes every flower, every leaf, and every inch of soil here seem familiar and lovely!"

Yang Yi's lips curved slightly at these sweet words, her tone betraying an unmistakable excitement. "Really? I also feel that every blade of grass and every tree here is familiar! Come see the small table and the lounge chair I made with my own hands!"

Like a little girl, she led Chris, eagerly introducing each item to him one by one.

"I personally dragged these osmanthus and oleander bushes up to the cliff; the soil here is barren, filled with rocks beneath, so it's truly no small feat that they have grown like this today! Look, this small table has even grown into a shrub! And this lounge chair, I wove it myself from vines..."

Suddenly, she fell silent.

Chris's heart skipped a beat; he focused his gaze.

Yang Yi stared blankly down at the lounge chair—there lay an empty mineral water bottle beneath it.

Chris immediately realized someone had intruded upon her secret base and left behind this piece of trash.

She remained silent for a long time; the face that had been full of enthusiasm suddenly flashed with anger, which then turned into a wave of bewilderment.

That expression reminded Chris of a nature documentary he had once seen: in a tsunami, a young bird's nest was blown off the cliff by the wind, and the bird circled helplessly overhead, crying out in sorrow.

"Are you all right?" Chris finally could not help but ask.

Yang Yi came to her senses. "Let me continue introducing things to you..." She forced a smile. "Whenever the osmanthus blooms, I pick the flowers to make tea..."

As she spoke, her gaze unconsciously shifted again to the mineral water bottle beneath the lounge chair, as if it were a time bomb.

Her eyes were as black as ink, giving one the illusion of falling into an endless abyss; at other times, he felt her gaze was too melancholy, even somewhat fragile—God, if anyone heard him say this, they would surely think he was mad; who would consider Yang Yi, the most powerful Awakened in the world, the God of Humanity, fragile?!

Chris bent down, picked up the mineral water bottle, and hid it behind his back. "Let's throw it away, shall we?"

Yang Yi did not respond to this.

Suddenly, she beamed: "Let's go back! There is nothing worth seeing here; apart from the sea and some common wild trees and shrubs, this place is utterly ordinary."

Chris was just about to object when they already soared into the air, instantly flying away from that cliff.

The mineral water bottle slipped from his hand and fell into the sea.

On the way back, Yang Yi's expression had already returned to its usual calmness.

They flew through the clouds; beneath them churned an endless sea of clouds, magnificent beyond measure, yet Chris had no mood to admire this splendid scenery.

Many times before, Yang Yi had described her secret base to him; in her tone, it was almost a secret garden, or an alternate world Alice had accidentally entered, or Peter Pan's kingdom; he even remembered her excited appearance on the way here.

But now, her expression was desolate, her gaze faint yet profound and bottomless.

He thought she would probably never come to this secret base, which she once loved so much that she couldn't help but show it off, again—simply because of a mineral water bottle.

She had entrusted too many wishes and unspeakable emotions to this place; she regarded it as her exclusive territory, just as a king regards his kingdom, and those plants were like her loyal subjects.

And now, her kingdom had been invaded; her subjects had already joyfully welcomed a new king, just as they had once welcomed her.

She was about to abandon her former kingdom and her subjects.

Chris vaguely saw a blurred future, which seemed to be the fate people occasionally sigh over—the secret base that held her hopes, and Chris Norton, who carried her infatuation.

Suddenly, Chris's heart was left hanging in mid-air, with no anchor.

He stared into Yang Yi's eyes and asked softly, "You won't leave me, will you?"

"Why do you ask suddenly?"

They stopped in the sky; amidst the swirling mists, Yang Yi turned her face toward him, yet the mist was too thick; he tried hard to discern her expression within the flowing fog, but could only see a vague, indistinct outline.

"I have a bad feeling," Chris said; perhaps because the surrounding mist obscured everything, as if only the two of them existed in the world, he showed weakness in a rare moment, "Perhaps I am just overthinking."

"You are indeed overthinking," Yang Yi said affirmatively. She wrapped her arms around his waist, buried her head in his embrace, and stroked his back with tender affection, as if soothing an uneasy little boy. "Right now, my entire heart is filled with your image."

Right now.

Chris seized upon this word.

Perhaps, in some unexamined corner of her mind, she was also uncertain whether there was a future between the two of them, or whether she would love him forever.

But who can determine future events? Perhaps tomorrow I too will fall in love with someone else; after all, there are so many beauties in Hollywood... Chris thought with a hint of revenge, yet at the same time another voice within him said: No, you will never fall in love with another woman again—at least not like this, so...

He held her tightly; she was so soft, so slender and frail; with just a slight effort of his arms, he could draw her entirely into his embrace, as if her safety depended entirely on his will—but he knew this was all an illusion.

Clearly, she appeared so fragile; from the outside to the inside, she was soft beyond belief, fragile as a glass cup, capable of shattering instantly with a gentle push.

Yet she was also so hard; she had armored herself with layers of steel; he tried hard to touch her soft core, but she never opened her armor.

"My beloved, perhaps to others you are the God of Humanity, but in my eyes, you are a fool," Chris suddenly said.

Yang Yi did not understand, but she also seemed to sense his unease; so she kissed his lips and admitted helplessly, "Alright, I am a fool."