Quinn reached into the river, but his hand could not touch the woman's face.
Why are you still here? Do you still wish to protect me...?
Quinn Shepherd’s tears fell. No matter how he tried, he could not grasp the woman in the water. He stopped, and the woman in the water also stopped, but it was as if they were separated by worlds, unable to touch each other.
"Are you my family?"
"What happened?"
"Why did you bring me out—bring me to Oldridge Village?"
"Did you stay here just to see me?"
...
All his questions—the woman in the water could no longer answer. She could only gaze at him quietly, her eyes seeming to hold both tenderness and relief.
Feng Xiuyun drove the tower ship over with her magic, intending to strike at the corpse in the water. But when she saw Quinn kneeling on the river’s surface, she hesitated and did not attack.
The woman's corpse in the water gazed at the boy from Oldridge Village. Fourteen years ago, she drifted here; the current slowed, and instead of being swept away, she sank to the riverbed.
A powerful obsession kept her in the water, waiting quietly. When Quinn passed by on the tower ship, the familiar Jade Pendant awakened her lingering will, causing her to float beneath the surface and gaze at the boy through his reflection.
See, I’ve grown up. I survived...
Quinn gazed at the woman in the water, tears in his eyes but smiling. He whispered, "You can rest easy now. I will seek out my origins, find my homeland, uncover your past, and remember your name forever..."
The woman in the water seemed to smile faintly, then slowly sank into the depths, gradually vanishing.
Quinn knelt on the river’s surface, dazed. After a long time, he finally stood up, feeling that he had truly grown—not a confused boy anymore.
He returned to the tower ship as the mist slowly dispersed from the river.
With the woman beneath the river gone, the mist also faded, and the river cleared. In the distance, a colossal fortress stood, spanning the Yong River—constructed from countless warships joined together, forming a massive encampment housing thousands of soldiers and horses!
Iron chains locked the river, leaving only a central waterway. Through this channel, one could pass Mizu Pass and enter the territory of the Everpeace Empire.
"Young master, this is Mizu Pass."