Dai City really makes one thing clear: arriving early is nothing compared to arriving at just the right time. It’s like waiting for a traffic light—huffing and puffing to get to the crosswalk early, only to end up waiting through the whole red anyway. But if you stroll up at the last second, you still get to start walking with everyone else.
"Arrive early? Useless!"
That’s what everyone was thinking.
But as the new moon drew near, everyone was like runners watching the referee raise the starting gun. They crouched low, feet braced, just waiting for the bang to dash out.
On the last night before the new moon, Jack Young gazed at the sky. The so-called 'new moon' is when the moon stands between the sun and the earth—so you don’t see the round moon, just a big shadow. The desert night sky here is crystal clear, almost like Antarctica. Every star is sharp and bright, the Milky Way stretches overhead, and Jack looks up in awe.
"The moon here is way bigger than back home." Jack Young framed the sky with his fingers like a camera, whispering, "Back home, the moon’s like a coin. Here, it’s more like a ping-pong ball."
Rachel Luo stood beside Jack, nodding at his words. "Yeah, the moon’s always roundest at home, but the one here is really mesmerizing. Give it half a month—it’ll be huge and bright."
"If your Prajna Skill gets even better, you won’t need any equipment to see the craters up there. All those spots and shadows, clear as day." Jack squinted one eye, mimicking a zoom lens with his fingers. "It’s like the moon here is so close, I get the feeling that if my martial arts were strong enough, I could just leap up there one day."
"Mm, I’m sure you could!" Rachel Luo glanced at Jack and edged a little closer, her cheeks a bit pink. "Hey, do you think there’s a Chang’e living up there?"
"No idea. Judging by the moon’s reflection, there’s probably no atmosphere—so it’s not fit for life, probably no one up there. But hey, this world’s full of surprises, so who knows?" Starlight poured down, enveloping Jack Young. He chatted easily, but to Luo Yuxi, it seemed like he was about to melt into the ancient silence of the starry sky.
Rachel Luo felt her heart flutter, then picked up the thread of a conversation that had been interrupted before. "If we never get back... I think we..."
—In the shadow behind a building, a cloaked figure suddenly poked out his head, staring intently, his eyes glowing eerily—
"We’ll get back, we definitely will. I’ve got a feeling—it won’t be long. We’ve picked up skills in this world, and when we’re back, we’ll really show what we can do. Even if storms come, we’ll have the strength to protect ourselves. Don’t worry, hard work makes up for shortcomings. You’re tough by nature, you’ll achieve something great, and I’ll never hold back on you." Jack dropped his hands, a warm smile on his lips. "That whole ‘teaching your student till your master starves’ nonsense? Not my style. I’d love to see more talented folks working together."
Rachel Luo trembled slightly, then dropped her gaze and mumbled, "Yes... Master..."
—The cloaked figure ducked back, lowering his guard.
Jack looked at her, surprised and puzzled. He’d just complimented her, so why did his disciple look a little down? Sigh, women are a mystery—he’d never get it. Oh well, time to lighten the mood. "Hey, if there really is a fairy on the moon, what do you think she’d be like?"
Rachel Luo wasn’t a little girl, so she quickly pulled herself together. "What do you think?"
—The cloaked figure appeared, staring—
"I think she’d look like..." Jack thought for a moment, faces flashed in his mind, and he murmured, "Probably like Princess Embroidered Jade, right? For some reason, whenever I see the moon, I think of her."
—The cloaked figure ducked away again, chest heaving, breath a little uneven.