"Are you repenting for something?" Evan Lan suddenly asked with a half-smile.
"Repenting? What do you mean by that?" Lily Bai asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I heard you've gone to great lengths to try using the Genesis Cauldron to refine a medicine that can erase High-level Mutant Fiend scars?" Evan Lan pressed.
The man in white replied, "Yes. But I haven't succeeded yet."
"Isn't that because you feel guilty towards her?"
The man in white said, "No guilt. It's purely a healer's compassion."
"Really, not even a little?" Lily Bai pressed.
The man in white nodded calmly.
"She’s been hiding away all these years, probably regretting it too. I hope you succeed!" said Evan Lan in ancient garb.
......
There was nothing else after that.
The memory faded out. Lily Bai blinked, frustrated—no closure, no happy ending, just an empty cliffhanger.
Just—poof!—it was over. No answers, no finale.
Lily Bai never saw whether the Sacred Spirit Tree turned back into a human.
Nor did she see what happened to Evan Lan in the end.
It was enough to make her want to throw the Jade Permit out the window!
Lily Bai flopped onto her bed, waving the notebook at Evan Lan's leaves. "Seriously, this is criminal! How dare they end it here?"
No ending.
Lily Bai grumbled, "Guess that's all I get! Ugh, I need sleep—my head's spinning. Maybe tomorrow I'll wake up and it’ll all make sense."
Lily Bai sighed, tossed the notebook into the drawer, and shot Evan Lan a look. "If you ever write a story, promise me you’ll finish it!"
Little Smudge rolled over, tail twitching. "Trust me, it’s a happy ending. She comes back, turns into a tree, turns back again, and Evan Lan is totally her great-grandson."
But that night, in the middle of the night, the baby suddenly started crying.
With a dramatic sigh, Lily Bai switched off the light and patted Evan Lan’s leaves. "Night, Xixi! Don’t go anywhere, okay?"
"Me too!" Little Smudge yawned, curled up beside the baby’s pillow, and promptly began snoring like a kitten.
The baby always sleeps soundly at night and never fusses.
But that night, in the middle of the night, the baby suddenly started crying.
Dizzy from all the spiritual power she’d used, Lily Bai staggered awake, flicked on the light, and checked the baby. "Hey, little guy, what’s wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"
"Daddy! Daddy!" the baby wailed, voice echoing through the night.
Her shout woke everyone up.
They turned the house upside down—inside, outside, under every pillow—but Evan Lan was nowhere to be found.
The potted plant was gone!
"Sandy!" Lily Bai shrieked. "Evan Lan’s gone—someone stole him!"
Little Smudge looked lost, ears drooping. "I can’t sense him. It’s like he vanished into thin air."
"Sandy! Cars! Check the GPS! Any cars on the road?"
Lily Bai grabbed Little Smudge, voice shaking. "You’re the best tracker around! Can you sense Evan? Where is he?"
"Then... what about people? Can you see anyone?"
Sandy shook her head, eyes wide. "No one has left either. It's like the mountain swallowed him whole."
Sandy replied, "From nightfall until now, not a single car has come up."
"I'm not broken!" Sandy huffed, trotting after Lily Bai.
She drove out, all the way to the guard post.
"Did you miss something? Are you glitched?" Lily Bai dashed outside, not waiting for an answer.
"I'm not broken!" Sandy called after her.
The movable roadblocks showed no sign of being shifted.
They said that since Young Master Fane’s convoy went down the mountain yesterday, no other cars have left.
Lily Bai turned around and drove toward the rear mountain.
But after just two or three hours of sleep, how could he be gone?
Lily Bai parked, staring into the night, replaying every moment before bed. She’d touched Evan’s leaves—he was right there. Now, after just a few hours, poof! Gone. Like magic, or a nightmare.
When she went to bed, she’d touched Evan Lan’s leaves.
Who could have slipped past Sandy’s high-tech surveillance and snatched Evan Lan without leaving a single clue?
After spacing out for a long time, Lily Bai decided to go back and check the security footage herself.
After spacing out for a long time, Lily Bai decided to go back and check the security footage herself.