Recap
The light flakes brought the recorder back.
Press the button, unlike the recording pen found on the spaceship, its projection function is not damaged.
So they saw the woman’s figure.
Her body is not tall, her eyebrows are bright, her appearance is beautiful, and she is wearing very simple shirts and jeans.
She is a dusty traveler.
Her voice recounted the past: [I lost the previous recording pen, so let me briefly tell the story again. ]
[Let me think, the beginning of the story should be…]
[The beginning of the story should be that summer. ]
The beginning of the story was summer.
The sea breeze in 2116 was still cool, Shen Xing had just finished a mission, packed her luggage and was about to board the starship. The terminal vibrated. She glanced at it, and it said: Cheng Yi.
He asked: [Are you busy? ]
The friend next to her also saw it, nudged her with her arm, and winked: “Isn’t this very caring?”
Shen Xing said: “Don’t talk nonsense.” Then while her friend lowered her head, she quickly replied.
The first time she met Cheng Yi was during a hunt.
At that time, she followed a dozen people from her family in the wilderness, preparing to deal with the strange beast.
Nearly ten dragon hunting families, including the Shen family, already have a great reputation in the alliance, and people are polite to them wherever they go.
This planet is called Bogasha, people have only lived here for more than ten years, and there is still a large area of land waiting to be developed. So, even though they were still young, someone stuffed them with a lot of supplies and brought them to this desolate wilderness.
Followed by a long hunt.
Unlike those elders, their strength is not yet able to confront the Dragon Clan, so they just came to this planet to deal with the frenzy of night ghosts.
The wasteland here is vast, and the process of searching for night ghosts is extremely long. They set up tents and lit lights, and spent more than half a month like this.
On the morning of the 27th day, they found a pile of rocks in the wilderness.
The rocks were placed in a mess, and it could be seen from the pictures taken by the drone that they formed a very strange pattern.
Shen Xing frowned slightly, and told the elders in the family about the situation. And the companions were exploring in the stone formation at this time, and suddenly said: “There are remnants of spiritual power here…”
Before Shen Xing could raise her head, the ground trembled, and a huge shadow had already fallen on her.
Almost instantly, all the rocks on the ground gathered together. They pieced together the giant beast’s figure, sharp teeth and claws, wings covering the sky, and the stones in its throat glowed with a transparent blue light when it breathed – the high temperature scorched them, and there were boiling and blazing flames inside.
Golden eyes.
A dragon.
Although I don’t know which generation of dragons it is, with the coercion of this kind of spiritual power, it will definitely not be below the second generation.
This is not something they can deal with. The robot in the air detected the threat and started shooting automatically, but the bullets bounced off the dragon without any effect.
Shen Xing is quite talented, and she is the strongest among this group of people. So a bright oil lamp appeared beside Shen Xing, her spiritual power roared out, and she shouted: “Run!”
As long as they could get back to the aircraft, there was a glimmer of hope. And the aircraft wasn’t that far away, there was still a chance. Her heart pounded.
However, even her surging spiritual power was quickly burned away by the blue flames. The stone dragon easily crushed the earth, and no one could survive a single light stomp from it.
Just as it was rampaging, about to crush the aircraft, a beam of light suddenly fell from the sky.
It was another aircraft, arriving at high speed.
Miraculously, people equipped with combat exoskeletons descended from the aircraft, attracting the full attention of the stone dragon.
The battle was extremely difficult. The group was well-trained, with the emblem of a lion wrestling with a dragon on their clothes, clearly elite members of a Dragon Hunting family, veterans of many battles against dragons.
Shen Xing joined the fight, the earth cracking and snaking like a viper under their combined power.
Finally, the injured stone dragon fled in a panic.
Shen Xing, exhausted and weak, collapsed on the ground.
A hand reached out in front of her.
Looking up, she saw a man in an Alliance military uniform staring intently at her: “I’m Cheng Yi. I’m sorry, there was an accident in our hunt that allowed it to escape our control.”
He helped Shen Xing up.
His posture was exceptionally straight, young and handsome.
Of course, Shen Xing had heard of this name—an extremely famous genius with powerful spiritual abilities and many achievements in dragon-slaying. She knew that Cheng Yi was young, but it wasn’t until she met him that she realized he was only about five or six years older than her.
Although she told him it wasn’t necessary, Cheng Yi insisted on escorting their team back to the city. In the end, he gave a final reminder, saying, “Don’t go out for now. Once the dragon problem is dealt with, the family will contact you.”
At first, Shen Xing didn’t pay much attention to it.
But later, Cheng Yi contacted her several times, both directly and indirectly, and her friends started to suspect that something wasn’t quite right.
Now, on this summer day, with the cool breeze, she received another message from Cheng Yi. After secretly replying, her friend said, “Hey, you know what? We’ve actually met him before.”
“Cheng Yi?”
“Yeah, during one of the family training sessions. We went to Tansborg, and he was in charge there.”
The Dragon Slayer family’s training was always dangerous, with older family members supervising the participants from the shadows. But Cheng Yi, being so young, was the only one who had ever been put in charge.
“Oh, really?” Shen Xing said, “I didn’t meet him back then.”
“Well, he definitely seems interested in you,” her friend chirped. “Look at how attentive he is, almost like he’s constantly asking if you’re okay—just missing the line ‘The moonlight is beautiful tonight.’ Didn’t you say before that you thought you got along with him?”
Shen Xing only smiled faintly and didn’t answer.
The summer wind rustled the leaves, and she couldn’t help but smile a little.
From that summer onward, things gradually fell into place. Eventually, the excuse was abandoned, and they spent a lot of time together. Dragons and other exotic beasts continued to wreak havoc across the starry seas, blocking their exploration paths.
Most of the time, their missions were different, but over the course of two or three years, Shen Xing and Cheng Yi had visited many places together. From the howling cold of the polar regions to the lush forests, they had drunk thick tree brew under the ancient trees of the Beast Clan, and had been teased by the quirky dwarves.
It was magnificent, awe-inspiring.
Finally, one day, when grapevines climbed up the wooden fence and the moonlight flowed like water, Shen Xing and Cheng Yi walked through a garden together.
It was rare for them both to have time off, and Shen Xing, excited, shared the details of their last mission, describing how their team had tracked down and fought with the cunning beast.
Cheng Yi listened quietly, occasionally laughing softly.
When she got tired of talking, she asked, “By the way, how was your mission last time?”
“It wasn’t too difficult,” Cheng Yi replied. “It was easier than this one.”
“Do you have a new mission now?”
“Mm.” Cheng Yi stopped walking and looked at her. “It’s a difficult one.”
Shen Xing had never heard him say that before. “What is it? Is it… a First-Generation Dragon?”
“No.” Cheng Yi replied. “It’s… I don’t know what you’ll say.”
Then, with a swift motion, he pulled out a small velvet box. Inside, a diamond ring sparkled.
“Shen Xing, will you marry me?”
Shen Xing was momentarily surprised for a second. Then, she smiled with her eyes narrowed.
“Of course.”
At that time, space technology was advancing rapidly, and countless star systems awaited exploration. The civilization they had developed was venturing into the vastness of the universe, bringing both crises and opportunities.
These were busy and glorious times, with everyone looking forward to the arrival of tomorrow. The march of civilization never stopped.
The Dragon Slayer family became even busier, as long missions could consume months of time.
Though they were often apart, they were both young, their hearts burning with the fire of passion, supporting them through the distance, eagerly awaiting each reunion.
By the spring of 2120, the planets had stabilized temporarily. The newly established contact with the elven civilization had been very friendly, with the exchange of technologies, and everything was moving toward prosperity. Cheng Yi was promoted several ranks, quickly gaining recognition.
During the months when Shen Xing was pregnant, Cheng Yi stayed by her side as much as possible. Even when he had missions, he returned quickly. Fortunately, nothing serious had happened, and he never stayed away for too long.
One evening, as they leaned against each other, Shen Xing drank the milk Cheng Yi had warmed for her and said, “I had a dream last night. I dreamt that he became a brave warrior, a great hero, hunting beasts in the starry seas like us. Everyone would know his name.”
Cheng Yi laughed, “You’re daydreaming now. The word ‘hero’ doesn’t come so easily.”
“I know,” Shen Xing said, “Actually, it’s okay if he’s not a hero. He doesn’t have to hunt or be a warrior. He can do whatever he likes and grow up healthy and happy.”
“Sounds good,” Cheng Yi replied. “That’s probably the most efficient way.”
“Mm.”
Shen Xing looked at Cheng Yi, then asked, “Is something else going on?”
This time, Cheng Yi hesitated for a moment. “The family has mastered a simplified version of alchemy. Originally, they wanted to use its power to locate the throne, but they accidentally discovered that it might have… other uses.”
Shen Xing had always known the family was researching alchemy, but she never expected they could actually master this ability unique to dragons.
“What other uses?”
Cheng Yi continued, “I’m going home in two days. You’ll see for yourself then.”
In two days, Shen Xing followed him to the island. The sea was turbulent, with jagged rocks like canine teeth, and a towering lighthouse stood in the middle of the water.
They climbed the stone steps to the highest point, where a strange circular symbol had been drawn using the dragon’s blood—just looking at it, Shen Xing could feel the flow of spiritual energy inside.
It was all… dragon spiritual energy.
In the center of the symbol was a coffin, with a pale elderly man lying quietly inside—an elder who had passed away five days ago.
At first, Shen Xing wasn’t sure what was about to happen. The atmosphere felt unnerving, and everyone seemed to be waiting for something.
As the others’ spiritual energy floated in the air, intertwining with each other, the massive array gradually began to glow. Then, a semi-transparent, spiritual-like entity began to flow out of the deceased’s body, gradually taking on a humanoid form.
—Even in death, spiritual energy could be fixed.
This discovery was earth-shattering, but several families of the Dragon Slayer Clan reached an unspoken agreement to keep it a secret.
Back home, Shen Xing said, “I just feel… there’s something strange about this.”
“What’s strange about it?” Cheng Yi replied. “Isn’t it a good thing?”
He laughed again. “You don’t understand. You think too much.”
After that, he rarely brought up the subject again.
The next spring, a new life arrived in their family.
Shen Xing had just been discharged from the hospital and was sitting by the window holding the baby. Cheng Yi smiled and said, “Be careful, don’t catch a cold.”
“I’m fine. My body’s strong,” Shen Xing replied, gazing at the baby. She gently called, “Zhaomu, Cheng Zhaomu.”
The baby smiled and reached out as if trying to grab something. Shen Xing leaned down, letting the tiny hand brush her cheek, and smiled brightly.
At two months old, the baby began to develop a fever.
At first, it was just a low-grade fever that would subside on its own after a few hours. But soon, the fever escalated into a high fever that wouldn’t subside for several days.
Both of them were incredibly worried, constantly taking the baby to the hospital, but nothing could be found wrong.
“It’s possible, because the spiritual power is too strong by nature.” The doctor analyzed, “I haven’t seen this kind of case, but many years ago, a child also had a similar situation – to be honest, his situation is still better than yours.”
Shen Xing asked: “What happened later? Was that person cured?”
The doctor did not answer.
So she understood.
When autumn came, the mission became heavy again, and sometimes Cheng Yi had to leave for several weeks before rushing back.
Shen Xing lost a lot of weight, and her originally beautiful face became pale.
Fortunately, things finally seemed to take a turn for the better. For a whole month, the child did not have a fever.
This time is undoubtedly easy.
After confirming that the situation was slightly stable, Shen Xing even had time to go out for an emergency mission for two or three days.
After returning from the mission, she and Cheng Yi kissed.
However, that night, Cheng Yi suddenly mentioned: “It is written in the mission report that you failed to catch that mermaid?”
Cheng Yi frowned: “Did you communicate with them again?”
“I think it’s just a child, and it doesn’t understand anything.” Shen Xing said, “After all, the mermaid has no record of hurting people, right?”
“This is a matter of principle.” Cheng Yi’s tone became serious, “Not to mention that you didn’t report truthfully, the alien beast cannot be forgiven.”
Shen Xing frowned slightly, and comforted: “I don’t want to quarrel with you, but sometimes they seem to have feelings too.”
“…”
Cheng Yi calmed down a little: “For example, the ghost whale, how many of our fleets have been destroyed by it? We didn’t want to communicate with it at first, but it never responded. No matter what kind of communication method, from electromagnetic waves to spiritual power None of it worked.
“Maybe we just don’t understand its language,” Shen Xing said, “Maybe it’s singing to the void.”
“Stop imagining.”
This conversation ended on bad terms.
Actually, this wasn’t their first fight, nor would it be their last.
After that, the illness suddenly became serious again, and the peaceful years were fleeting.
In the process of going to the hospital day after day and staying up late with him again and again, Cheng Yi, who had just hunted and killed the alien beast, was already exhausted and became irritable – as if he had become a stranger.
All this was too different from what they imagined. People with strong spiritual power have a great advantage from birth, even in childhood, they learn things faster than others.
People thought it was a unique talent, a gift from God, but in the end it turned out to be like this.
Shen Xing knew that Cheng Yi was looking forward to a happy family.
But isn’t she?
She could only take her child to see a doctor while appeasing Cheng Yi, pretending that nothing had happened.
The real outburst occurred on a sweltering summer night the following year. Shen Xing, having finally coaxed her child to sleep, stood by the crib, staring at the newly acquired medicine. She didn’t understand the complex scientific names she had been forced to learn.
Cheng Yi, dressed in military uniform, stood at the door and said, “I’m leaving, a long-term mission, I may have to go for four or five months.”
“Okay.”
“…Be careful.” Shen Xing just said briefly in the end.
“I’ll be returning to the island after this,” Cheng Yi continued. “To help with the alchemy research.”
Shen Xing frowned. “Didn’t I tell you to leave that alone? There’s something wrong with it. Those who survived as spirit bodies…their personalities have changed.”
“I don’t understand it?” Shen Xing’s voice raised slightly, “Regardless, I’m still a member of the family. I can distinguish right from wrong. You can’t deny the changes. Is eternal life that important to you? What are you saying? Don’t you want us to harness the power of strange beasts?”
“It’s completely different. There is something wrong with this alchemy project, we should stop.”
“It’s too late. Those heroes who sacrificed for humanity…are you willing to watch them fade away?”
Shen Xing took a deep breath, trying to calm her rising anger.
“I always thought your attitude toward strange beasts was strange,” Cheng Yi accused. “They’re our enemies. What side are you on?”
The baby stirred, then began to cry.
Shen Xing said: “Stop arguing, the child is awake…”
“I have to go. There’s a frenzy on another planet. Possibly a first-generation dragon. Don’t worry about this. Family matters are complicated enough. Didn’t the doctor say it’s impossible…”
Shen Xing cursed: “Get out, get out of here.”
Cheng Yi was directly driven out of the door by Shen Xing.
The iron door slammed shut behind him, he stood in the darkness in a daze for a while, then took out the terminal.
The wallpaper was a photo of the three of them, smiling, perched on a window seat.
After arriving at the defense line of the alien beast frenzy, Cheng Yi contacted Shen Xing and apologized sincerely.
The argument seemed resolved, but it was merely a temporary truce. Their disagreements festered, fueled by anxieties about strange beasts, Shen Xing’s illness, and their clashing values. Neither yielded, their fights escalating. Their patience, once seemingly endless, eroded, replaced by a bitter resentment. Cheng Yi sought refuge in his work, his increasingly frequent absences an escape from the responsibilities that weighed him down. The scent of disinfectant in the hospital always brought a frown to his face.
Cheng Yi, ambitious and driven, had meticulously planned his rise through the military ranks. Now, it seemed his family was an obstacle.
Now it seems that this family is blocking his way forward.
She left with a blank expression, without saying a word, and simply changed the child’s name together.
Across the projection of the terminal, Cheng Yi still wanted to stop her. Shen Xing said coldly: “How long have you not been to the hospital with him? Even if you don’t have time, it’s good to take a look. You don’t deserve me, and you don’t deserve him. We all need some time to calm down, let’s do this first.”
After that, she went to different hospitals on various planets, trying to find ways to relieve her illness.
On the 1st of every month, a substantial sum appeared in Shen Xing’s account, far exceeding the required alimony. It was from Cheng Yi. Shen Xing poured every penny into her increasingly expensive medical treatments.
Later, Cheng Yi sent a long, heartfelt message, filled with apologies and regret.
He said: “The promise will not change, I am willing to give my life to protect you at any time. I am sorry for everything, I hope we will meet again one day, I hope I still have the opportunity to make up for something. After all, I still have a secret I haven’t told you.”
Shen Xing never replied to his message.
Until half a year later, a large-scale explosion occurred in the fleet where Cheng Yi was located during the battle with the space alien beast.
The void swallowed everything, and in the vast sea of stars, even this explosion was silent.
A fierce battle, a common sacrifice.
Cheng Yi’s ID card arrived at Shen Xing’s address, along with a message on her terminal. It was written in his usual awkward style.
It was still Cheng Yi’s somewhat clumsy writing.
He said: [The secret I want to tell you is actually not a big deal: in fact, the first time I saw you was not in the wilderness where the stone dragon appeared, but during family training]
[I was in charge at the time. On the day I went to training, everyone was talking and laughing and boarding the plane. You didn’t see me, but I saw you]
[And from then on, I only saw you]
Shen Xing finished reading the message with an expressionless face, and then, as usual, tidied up the house, prepared the medicine the child would need next time, and bought a ticket to the next planet.
At night, the child fell asleep.
The ID card on the table was shining brightly under the moonlight, and there were burn marks from the explosion.
The journey to the next planet is very long.
There was a small accident in the middle, when the starship passed through the meteorite group, the ghost whale unexpectedly appeared in the distance.
Across light-years, the passengers on the ship were panicking, and some people were already crying.
Shen Xing sat by the window and asked her friend hesitantly: “Did you… hear anything?”
“Didn’t you hear that? It seems to be coming from the universe.”
“No,” the friend patted her comfortingly, “Don’t be too nervous, the ghost whale doesn’t attack the fleet every time.”
But Shen Xing knew that this was definitely not an auditory hallucination caused by nervousness.
She really heard the… singing from the void.
Like a whale singing.
The ghost whale did not attack, and they arrived at their destination smoothly.
This planet has just begun to be developed, and there are no large buildings. On the way to the hotel, Shen Xing saw a person setting up a stall on the side of the road, chanting something.
Looking carefully, it turned out to be a fortune teller.
She never believed in this kind of thing, most people just wanted to have fun.
But when she passed the booth, the man suddenly called out to her: “Madam, please stay.”
“What?”
The man pushed his glasses: “I see traces of fate in your child.”
Shen Xing smiled, opened her wallet and put a few coins in front of him, turned and wanted to leave.
The man became anxious: “Hey, I don’t want your money, I don’t want your money. Let me introduce myself, my name is Lu Shanhao, and I have always been the most accurate fortune teller.”
His eagerness was rare. Shen Xing was patient and said with a smile: “Then tell me.”
Lu Shanhao pushed his glasses, muttered something in his mouth, kept calculating, and then said solemnly: “Your child…”
Even though she knew it was probably a lie, Shen Xing couldn’t help holding her breath.
Lu Shanhao said: “You may not believe it. Your child will be married to the king of alien beasts in the future.”
Shen Xing’s face turned pale with fright, she took back the few coins, and dragged Shen Chaomu away.
___
T/N: I almost cried….
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