Yolanda Fang blinked her eyes, looking at Evan Lin standing before her. Under the fading sunset, gentle orange light spilled down, bathing her figure.
At this moment, on Thousand-Saints Mountain, a breeze swept by, bringing a faint chill.
Evan Lin nodded. "If I have time."
Hearing this, Yolanda raised an eyebrow and reached out to tug Evan's ear. Halfway there, seeing him stand still, she pouted and withdrew her hand, grumbling, "Come on, Evan, I'm leaving soon, you know! Can't you say something nice for once? And time—time's like a girl's chest: squeeze it and you'll always find a little extra!"
"And that's exactly why girls don't like you. Always acting like nothing matters—keep that up and you'll die single, you know?"
Yolanda put her hands on her hips, looking every bit the teacher as she lectured Evan: "And another thing, you need to be more careful. Sure, you've got a badass old Chinese doctor for a master, but that's not going to help if you get into trouble right here. If you ever mess with someone really powerful, you're toast. I don't want to hear you got yourself into something stupid, got it?"
Evan just stood there, listening quietly as Yolanda rambled on and on. She talked for a long, long time, and Evan simply listened in silence, never interrupting.
After a while, Yolanda started to get tired. She paused, turned to glance one last time at the sunset behind her. Most of Brightsea City was slowly sinking into the orange glow, and time seemed to grow still, flowing gently like water.
"Let's go, it's getting late."
After a long moment, Yolanda finally lowered her head and started bouncing down the mountain, her eyes fixed on her toes as she hopped along.
"Don't want to go all the way to the top?"
Evan looked at Yolanda. Right now, they were only halfway up Thousand-Saints Mountain, still a ways from the summit.
Evan had always meant to go up and check out the mountain, but he’d never actually made it to the top.
Seeing Yolanda about to turn back, he finally spoke up and asked.
"No need. Halfway up is good enough for me. I don't care about whatever monks or nuns are up at the top," Yolanda muttered, her head lowered, voice tightly controlled to hide her feelings—and her eyes already a little red.
Evan sighed, looking at Yolanda in front of him. He could sense the melancholy hanging over her usually lively self. After a slight hesitation, he said, "If you really don't want to go to Oceanport City, then just stay here."
"Stay here?" Yolanda blinked at Evan's words, a little stunned. "I can't stay. My parents definitely won't let me."
"If you really want to stay, no one can take you away."
Evan’s words were quiet but extra serious. Yolanda rubbed her eyes, looked up, and across a few steps, gazed at Evan standing there. She sniffled, "My dad’s really tough."
"Doesn't matter who it is."
Evan spoke just four words.
Yolanda froze for a second, then burst out laughing. "Oh come on, why does this feel like some tragic farewell? But I really can't stay. My dad's like that—if he sent my mom to pick me up, then there's no way I'm staying."
"Besides, I don't want to cause you any trouble."
Yolanda waved her hand. "Come on, let's go. It's getting late."
With that, Yolanda spun around and bounced her way down the mountain trail.
Evan followed a short distance behind, heading down. Yolanda didn’t say another word, and Evan felt calm, but watching her retreating figure, he couldn’t help feeling a little dazed.
In his memory, there had once been another woman, her lonely figure moving along the mountain path. But that day, she wasn’t heading down—she was climbing up, step by step, up all 9,999 stone stairs, until her silhouette blurred and vanished.
That woman was the Palace Master of the Glazed Glass Palace—Lily Zhao.
Evan’s thoughts quieted. He walked down the mountain, passed through Brightsea Garden Court, and reached the edge of the neighborhood.
Yolanda walked ahead in silence, and Evan accompanied her through the streets of Brightsea City. They moved through the crowds, watching the busy traffic, and Yolanda—usually so lively—grew quieter and quieter.
Yolanda kept turning her head, gazing at those streets that couldn’t be more familiar. Her eyes sparkled, as if she wanted to imprint every detail into her memory.
She bought a few skewers of grilled meat from a street vendor, handed Evan two, and when they finished, they stopped outside a residential complex.
"Alright, it's getting late. I need to go home, and you should head back too." Yolanda stood at the gate, grinning at Evan.
Her smile carried a touch of bravado. "Thanks for walking with me so long. It's been ages since I really looked at this city. Who knows when I'll be back again."
"Evan, work hard, okay? And hey—don't you dare bully Lillian. If I find out, I'll come back and wreck you!"
After saying this, Yolanda waved her little pink fist at Evan. Then, after a moment’s thought, she dug a red lucky string out of her pocket and handed it to him.
"What’s this?"
Evan looked at the knotted red lucky string in his hand, puzzled.
"It wards off evil. I got it from a temple ages ago, but since I'm so tough, nothing ever bothers me anyway—so I'm giving it to you. Pretty generous, huh?"
Yolanda grinned. "Well, I'm off!"
"Mm." Evan nodded.
Yolanda turned and walked into the complex. At the gate, she turned back and waved hard at Evan, shouting, "Goodbye!"
Her voice melted into the wind as dusk fell and the city lights began to flicker on.
The lucky string in Evan’s hand was still faintly warm.
Only after Yolanda had disappeared into the complex, her voice and figure gone, did Evan slowly turn around. His gaze was calm as he looked over at a Cadillac that had been following behind for several blocks.
In the driver’s seat of the Cadillac, Xuan Ling sat in a black Dior suit, her left hand propping up her head. Her gaze was cool as she looked through the window at the boy in front of her—curious, and with a hint of undisguised pity.
She started the car, pulled up next to Evan, opened the passenger door, turned to him, and said coolly, "Get in. I want to talk to you."