Chapter 96: Humanity Will Surely Defeat the Black Tide!

Ah?

San Yue Qi was startled for a moment, then, unwillingly, kept asking, "So… do you know what our parents do? What kind of people are they?"

It is the most instinctive imagination about "home".

Chang Ye Yue shook her head again, her movement graceful yet carrying a disappointing affirmation: "I don't know either."

Ah—!

San Yue Qi couldn't help letting out a small, dejected whimper, feeling the clue she had just grasped snap off.

She looked at Chang Ye Yue a bit sulky, with a hint of grievance and confusion, "Then what do you know?"

You can't just know a name and the "sister" identity, can you?

Chang Ye Yue watched San Yue Qi's eager‑for‑knowledge yet powerless expression, and the mysterious smile at the corner of her lips deepened slightly.

She extended her index finger, gently touching San Yue Qi's lips, making a "shush" gesture.

"Don't be so impatient, my dear little sister~"

Her voice was lazy yet carried a strange soothing power, as if preparing to tell a long bedtime story, "Listen to me… slowly."

She adjusted her sitting posture, her crimson eyes gazing at the endless starry sky outside the carriage, her gaze drifting toward a distant beyond, and her tone gradually took on an epic, solemn and ethereal narration:

"First, our hometown… is a place called 'Weng Fa Luo Si'. It is a … ancient and Abundant land, where we were born, grew up, and spent years that may not have been long, yet are rooted deep in our souls."

Her description was vague, yet it gave San Yue Qi a huge space for imagination.

(Weng Fa Luo Si… sounds like a mighty, beautiful place!)

However, Chang Ye Yue's voice then deepened, as if shrouded by a shadow: "But peace is not eternal. Weng Fa Luo Si… is cloaked under the shadow of the Black Tide. It is a periodic disaster that brings Destruction and death. It is like an endless winter; each sweep means the decline of civilization and the loss of countless lives…"

Her tone carried a genuine heaviness, making San Yue Qi's heart tighten as well, unable to hold her breath, her azure eyes filled with worry for the homeland and her compatriots' fate.

Chang Ye Yue did not detail the horror of the Black Tide; her words shifted, bearing a meaning that, though weathered by time, remained steadfast:

"…Yet, faced with such Despair, our ancestors and compatriots never gave up. Generation after generation went forward, some built high walls, some sought wisdom, some burned themselves, just to kindle a faint glimmer in the darkness, securing a breath of hope for those after them… It was a long, tragic yet shining battle of survival, illuminated by an unyielding will."

Her narration painted vague yet stirring scenes, as if countless figures could be seen struggling, resisting, and sacrificing amid the disaster.

Finally, Chang Ye Yue's voice returned to a plain tone, even bearing a calm that comes after ages of hardship; she slowly uttered the words that seemed etched deep in the tribe's Memory:

"I remember… at a certain darkest moment, there was a heroic leader named Kaiwen. He faced the raging Black Tide, faced all who harbored hope and Despair, and shouted the final oath—

'Humanity will surely defeat the Black Tide!'

Though the tone of the sentence was plain, the resolute will that spanned countless disasters and sacrifices struck San Yue Qi's heart like a hammer.

"Wuh…"

San Yue Qi, upon hearing this, instantly filled her azure eyes with tears, which fell down like broken pearls, "splatter" down.

Though this story was only a fragment, it sketched in her heart a tragic yet hopeful heroic epic!

The beauty of the homeland, the terror of the Black Tide, the hero's oath…

All of this made her heart surge, deeply moved.

(Although… I don't know why, the final oath "Humanity will surely defeat the Black Tide" sounds somehow familiar, as if I've heard a similar rallying cry somewhere… is it a hallucination?)

"So… is our old home like this?" San Yue Qi asked with a sobbing tone, both moved and curious.

Chang Ye Yue nodded affirmatively, gently wiping San Yue Qi's tears: "Yes. And this… is merely the prologue of the story. In Weng Fa Luo Si, during those years battling the Black Tide, there are countless moving legends, countless stories of courage, sacrifice, and hope…"

"I want to hear! I must hear!"

San Yue Qi nodded vigorously, as if fearing her sister might change her mind, her hands instinctively clutching Chang Ye Yue's sleeve, as if grasping the rope that linked the past.

At that moment, Chang Ye Yue glanced at the carriage clock, a perfectly timed regret flashing on her face.

She lightly patted San Yue Qi's back of the hand: "Today… it's already late. This story is long, it will take many nights to finish. Tomorrow then… if nothing unexpected happens, at this time tomorrow, you come back here, and I'll continue telling you. My dear little sister~"

"Eh? Why can't you stay?"

San Yue Qi asked puzzledly, hoping her sister could stay on the train forever.

Chang Ye Yue smiled helplessly: "I'm currently… working for a big figure. I have no choice~ This time I finally managed to get leave; I heard about you and came especially to see you."

Her tone carried a hint of self‑mockery, and a faint bitterness of being forced by life.

San Yue Qi, upon hearing, felt a surge of great emotion in her heart.

(So my sister's life is that hard! She even took special leave just to see me!)

Chang Ye Yue opened her arms, gently embracing San Yue Qi again.

This hug lacked a bit of hesitation and added more sisterly warmth.

She whispered into San Yue Qi's ear, her voice bearing a gentle allure:

"Then… be obedient and listen to your sister, okay?"

"Mm! Okay, sister!"

San Yue Qi hugged Chang Ye Yue back firmly, her voice resolute.

At this moment, she almost completely believed this sudden sister, and the magnificent story she told about Weng Fa Luo Si, about the Black Tide, and about their shared origins.

(So easy to deceive)

Finally, Chang Ye Yue slightly loosened her, her crimson eyes looking seriously at San Yue Qi, her tone becoming a bit more serious:

"There are a few more things you must remember. First, about sister and our conversation tonight, you must not tell anyone. Second, about our future meetings, you must also keep them secret from others."

"Huh? Not even Sister Jizi, Dan Heng, Uncle Yang Shu?"

San Yue Qi hesitated a bit, feeling it was somewhat wrong to hide such important matters from companions.

"Especially them."

Chang Ye Yue's tone was unconditionally firm, "This is a secret only between us sisters, okay? Promise your sister."

Seeing Chang Ye Yue's earnest and mysterious gaze, San Yue Qi wrestled internally, but the longing for "family" prevailed, and she nodded: "…Okay, I promise you, sister."

"So obedient~"

Chang Ye Yue smiled with satisfaction, gently hugging San Yue Qi again, "Then… see you tomorrow."

The words fell, and amid the lingering, reluctant gazes of early San Yue, Chang Ye Yue's figure, like mist merging into the night, silently vanished without a trace.

In the air, only that faint fragrance remained.

The carriage, which moments ago was filled with "sisterly warmth" and a shocking story, instantly became empty and quiet.

San Yue Qi felt a strong wave of loneliness rise within, as if everything just now had been an overly vivid beautiful dream.

She instinctively turned her gaze toward the sofa where A Xing had been, seeking some comfort, or at least to share her complicated feelings at that moment with A Xing.

However—

The sofa was empty.

The bucket of unfinished Bubble Noodles was gone, and A Xing was nowhere to be found.

"A Xing? … did you go back to sleep?"

San Yue Qi scratched her head, her pink hair strands tangled messier as she ruffled them, her face full of bewilderment and a hint of melancholy.