Had I Never Seen the Sun

Jingxing stood there stunned for two seconds before following her. "Can we really do it?"

"Why not?"

"I'm not a Pathstrider, and I don't know much about what you can do, but can singing alone really stop a civil war caused by selfish desires?"

Robin looked back. The wind blew the loose strands of hair over her forehead into disarray. She raised a hand to smooth them down, but they wouldn't stay, so she had to let them fall in front of her eyes, concealing the confidence in them.

"As long as we prepare a venue and broadcast my singing, I can use the power of Harmony to make everyone who hears it lay down their weapons."

"That's amazing... It sounds like hypnosis." Jingxing muttered to himself, Was that what Yaoguang meant when she told me to be careful?

He had a vague feeling that something wasn't quite right.

With her hands behind her back, Robin turned around with a smile. "There are a lot of Pathstriders in the galaxy, but they're so rare that an entire planet might not have even one."

"That's true... My homeworld was blessed with the guidance of the Aeon of Trailblaze, but aside from you, Miss Robin, Lady Zhenzhu is the only Pathstrider I've ever met," Jingxing agreed.

If he could set foot on a Path too, would he be able to help Robin more?

The thought flashed through Jingxing's mind.

But the prerequisites for setting foot on a Path were far too subjective, and Jingxing himself had no idea how to go about it.

After leaving the town, the two continued along the road.

The afternoon sun grew scorching, leaving them almost nowhere to find shade. The earthen slopes on either side trapped the wind on the narrow road, and the sand and grit it whipped up struck their calves, stinging faintly even through their pants.

After another few hours, an asphalt road appeared ahead, its surface so worn by windblown sand and weeds that its color was impossible to make out. A sign stood tilted beside the road, most of its lettering scoured away by the sand. Jingxing stopped to check the map. "A few more kilometers and we'll reach the second town."

Robin walked up beside him. "Let's rest when we get there. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to spend tonight out in the open."

She pointed at the sky. "The clouds are already getting thicker."

Jingxing looked up. A layer of gray clouds hung low over the distant ridge. "Then let's hurry."

After they had walked a little farther, Robin hurried to catch up with Jingxing. "Here."

He turned around and saw Robin holding out a water bottle to him. "You drink it. I'm fine."

Until they found a reliable way to replenish their water supply, they needed to conserve it.

"It's all right. I have plenty of water in my sachet." Robin firmly pressed the bottle into Jingxing's hand. "If I remember right, you haven't had any water since this morning, have you?"

Unable to refuse Robin, Jingxing took the bottle and drank a couple of mouthfuls. The water had grown lukewarm in the sun.

After he handed the bottle back, Robin turned around and took a sip herself, her movements entirely natural.

It feels like we've grown a lot closer, Jingxing thought.

At six in the evening, they spotted the second town.

It was even quieter than the one they had visited that morning. There were no refugees, no garrison, not even any stray animals. The town's name could still be made out on a half-collapsed stone marker at its entrance.

Jingxing stopped. "Shall we go in?"

Robin walked up to the marker and closed her eyes. A subtle ripple spread out from around her.

Jingxing knew she was using the power of Harmony—she had done the same thing earlier when determining whether he was lying.

A few seconds later, she opened her eyes. "There are no cries of anguish here. It should be empty too."

Jingxing frowned. "Cries of anguish...?"

"War leaves people's voices behind—pain, groans, the last sounds of the dying. They linger in a place for a long time, like echoes." Robin's voice grew quiet. "But there's nothing here. It's so clean that those echoes have completely faded away."

"Then it looks like we can spend the night here without worry."

"Yes," Robin repeated. "It's a good thing we can spend the night in peace."

Even so, the two didn't head straight into the town center. Instead, they first made a circuit of the outskirts. Jingxing soon noticed that this town was better preserved than the one they had visited that morning. Most of the houses were still standing, there were few signs of fighting in the streets, and there was no smell of smoke or gunpowder.

"It looks like there was no fighting here." Jingxing tore down a notice whose writing was still legible. "The people here were evacuated before the war reached them."

"Driven from their homes..." Robin lowered her eyes. "I hope they can return here someday."

After all, she herself could no longer return to the land where she had been born.

The two continued deeper into town and eventually found a place to stay in an abandoned public library.

The building had only two floors. Most of the windows were broken, bookshelves lay toppled across the floor, and books were piled in the corners. But the roof was reasonably intact. Jingxing checked the first floor, confirmed there were no obvious signs of animals, then went upstairs to look around.

"This place will do."

Robin took out her sachet. With a faint spatial ripple, a tent, sleeping bags, and daily necessities landed on the floor one after another. Jingxing watched her efficiently sort their things. "Does that space pouch really need Path energy to keep it working all the time?"

"Mm-hm."

"Doesn't that tire you out?"

"No." Robin spread out a sleeping bag. "I just treat it as training."

Jingxing sat down beside her. "This might be a stupid question, but can Pathstriders sense Path energy all the time?"

"Of course. Once you set foot on a Path, you can feel yourself immersed in a very comfortable energy, and with a mere gesture, you can use it to do whatever you want." Robin spoke without reservation. "Compared to before I set foot on a Path, I feel more complete as a person."

"Complete..." Jingxing lowered his head.

Thanks to Idrila, being able to reincarnate from Blue Star into this world was already an extraordinary stroke of luck, but it would be even better if he could become a Pathstrider.

Dinner was simple: two compressed biscuits, a can of food, and some hot water. After they finished eating, rain did indeed begin to fall outside. Raindrops struck the damaged window frames and ran down the walls.

The library was quiet. The two sat at the entrance to the tent, watching the curtain of rain gradually obscure the town. Jingxing used a pencil to draw the street outside the window in his sketchbook, while Robin hugged her knees and quietly listened to the raindrops falling on the ground.

After a long while, she suddenly spoke. "Mr. Jingxing, have you heard 'Had I Never Seen the Sun'?"

Jingxing's pencil paused. "The song from your first album?"

"Mm-hm."

"I have. When I was studying stage design at school, I even analyzed the design of your debut performance."

Robin gazed at the curtain of rain and softly hummed a few notes.

She said quietly, "Had I never seen the sun, I could have endured the darkness. But the sun has already shone into my eyes, and I can no longer pretend it doesn't exist."

"Since I have this ability, and since I already know that this place is suffering, I must come and save it—I believe the god of Elation would surely approve of what I'm doing too."

Jingxing had a vague feeling that Robin was convincing herself to keep going, or perhaps to face some risk she should not have had to face.

The rain grew heavier. After another long silence, Robin suddenly spoke. "You know, I actually lived on a battlefield when I was little too."