Qingchen, It’s So Good to Hear Your Voice Before I Die

After escaping from Easestream City, Serena Feng and Felix Fuller traveled north on foot, not seeing a single soul along the way. Finding any means of transport was a distant dream, so the two could only rely on their own legs. After two days of marching, Serena’s feet were covered in blood blisters.

When they reached a small stream, Serena washed briefly, then took off her shoes and methodically lanced each blister, applied medicine, wrapped her feet in clean bandages, put her shoes back on, and continued walking—completely unfazed, as if this was routine.

Seeing Serena like this, Felix—whose own feet were even worse off—felt too embarrassed to ask for a break or to slow down.

He was a grown man, after all; he couldn’t possibly be more delicate than Serena, a so-called frail woman.

Since leaving Easestream City, Serena had been unusually silent, often lost in thought. Felix could more or less guess she was worried about another ambush. Neither dared sleep much at night; they took turns grabbing an hour or so of rest before pushing on.

After traveling day and night, they finally arrived at Taroko Grand Canyon on the morning of the third day. But reaching the canyon didn’t mean they could rest; arriving at Taroko Grand Canyon only marked the beginning of what they had to do.

Serena didn’t rush into the canyon. Instead, she climbed to the highest vantage point to survey the situation in Taroko Grand Canyon.

True, she had a hunting falcon for aerial scouting, but a bird couldn’t talk—it couldn’t tell her what was happening inside the canyon.

Taroko Grand Canyon was a marble gorge, its sheer cliffs towering and imposing, the slopes so steep they were nearly vertical.

The valley’s width was almost uniform top to bottom, with the canyon floor mostly occupied by a riverbed and jagged rocks—majestic and perilous enough to make anyone hesitate. At a glance, even the lowest slope was at least three to five hundred meters down; getting to the bottom would be no easy feat.

Little Gray circled in the air for a long time before landing on Felix’s hand and blinking at him.

"Serena, Little Gray says it didn’t see any people or any road. Are you sure the person you’re looking for is down in the canyon? If someone fell in, odds are they wouldn’t survive." Felix said bluntly.

Serena glared fiercely at Felix. "He won’t die."

With that, she walked toward the lowest slope, determined to descend into the canyon. If there was no road, she’d make one herself. Taroko Grand Canyon had no path—she’d carve one out.

Felix exchanged a glance with Little Gray, then followed Serena. "Serena, are you really going down there? With your skills, you won’t make it."

"I have my own way." Serena swung her backpack to the front and took out the climbing gear she’d packed in advance.

"You really came prepared," Felix said, half speechless and clearly impressed.

Felix wasn’t unfamiliar with the kind of gear Serena pulled out—hers was simply much better made.

"I came here to save someone. Showing up unprepared would only endanger both of us." Serena had no patience for Felix’s pessimism about William Wang Jinling’s chances.

After anchoring the iron claw and triple-checking its stability, Serena fastened every buckle on her pack, tugged the climbing rope, and stood at the canyon’s edge. "Felix, I’m going down. What about you?"

"I’ll stay here and keep watch for you. I’ll have Little Gray help you look for him." Felix called the falcon over and made a few hand signals; Little Gray nodded reluctantly, shot Serena a look, then turned away in obvious dislike.

Felix didn’t want to go down, and Serena didn’t mind. Felix had never promised to help her search. Serena pulled some food and water from her backpack.

"I can’t be sure how long I’ll be down there. I’ll leave you three days’ worth of food and water. If I’m not back in three days, you don’t have to wait for me."

Serena was long used to being disliked by the falcon, so she didn’t care. She tied off her safety rope, signaled Felix that she was going down, and began sliding along the cliff face.

Her harness was bristling with climbing tools, and as she descended, she pulled out various hooks and wedged them into cracks in the rock.

Serena’s descent wasn’t especially advanced—plenty of people in the Nine Provinces Realm used similar methods, and the authorities even had official ‘cloud ladders’ for cliffs, though those were hard to carry. Felix watched for a bit, then lost interest, used his hands as a pillow, and lay back on the rock, gazing at the blue sky and white clouds.

His grandfather used to say that in a Nine Provinces Realm without the Lan clan and the Phoenixfield Clan, the sky would be especially blue and the clouds especially white. But Felix couldn’t see any difference.

Felix curled his lip in boredom and closed his eyes to rest.

The Lan imperial house and the Phoenixfield Clan were both wiped out. None of it had anything to do with him.

......

Serena made her way down to the canyon floor. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided to leave the climbing rope in place.

If Felix were here to kill William, he would have come down with her. After these days together, Felix knew full well how many strange things she carried; with those in play, he wouldn’t make a move lightly.

The canyon floor was narrow and dark, filled with rocks of all sizes and no path to be seen. Serena tried taking a couple of steps, but her foot slipped and she fell hard to the ground.

Luckily, Serena had prepared for this; the fall wasn’t serious. She got up, rubbed her sore tailbone, activated the Smart Med-Pack, pulled out a full set of marching gear, armored herself, and pushed onward.

Following Felix’s orders, Little Gray kept circling overhead, searching for any sign of William Wang Jinling.

"William... Jin... Ling... Ling, Ling, Ling..."

After an hour of walking, Serena realized this method was too foolish, so she started shouting at the top of her lungs, hoping William could hear her. The canyon walls echoed her voice back in multiple replies until her calls filled the whole gorge.

"William Wang Jinling—" Serena kept shouting, from daylight to sunset, then from sunset into night, until her throat was so hoarse she couldn’t speak. Only then did she find a water source to rest and clean her wounds.

Felix spent the whole day on the canyon rim, listening to Serena’s voice echo below. He couldn’t help but envy William Wang Jinling—having someone like Serena, who refused to give up or abandon him, who crossed mountains and rivers to search for him, was a rare blessing.

Another wave of searing pain hit. Serena peeled off the bandages stuck to her wounds, applied fresh medicine, wrapped them again, kneaded her aching legs, and looked up at the sparsely starred sky, a trace of worry flickering in her eyes.

"William, where are you? Can you hear my voice? If I can’t find you here, I’m afraid I’ll fall apart." The longer time passed, the more likely it was that William Wang Jinling had met disaster.

At that very moment, in a cave somewhere in the canyon, William Wang Jinling opened his heavy eyelids, flexed his stiff fingers, and his lips moved slightly.

Qingchen, I think I heard your voice. It’s so good!

His sunken eyes, jutting cheekbones, and bloodless face made it painfully clear how dire his condition was.

William closed his eyes, his face nothing but skin and bone, yet he wore a faint, contented smile...

Now, at last, I can leave in peace!