Summer gave way to winter, and June 1st arrived.
Dark clouds blanketed the empty Rain Alley Small City, and the unceasing drizzle brought a touch of coolness to the sweltering summer day.
Within Rain Alley Home Community, on a bench beside the lawn.
A youth sat quietly, his gaze somewhat unfocused as he looked toward the aging residential building in the distance.
Raindrops scattered over him, yet they could not rouse him from his contemplation.
Not until a surge of energy emerged, and a crystal-clear, dazzling tear appeared beside the bench, blossoming with beautiful starlight.
"Big Bro~"
From within the teardrop-shaped ice-blue mass of energy emerged a tall, graceful figure.
Her long hair draped over her shoulders, and she stood slender and elegant.
Yet the girl was sweet and lovely by nature. Whenever she faced Lu Ran, she wore an adorable smiling face that did not suit a goddess's bearing.
Yuanxi had not shed her human nature. Out of habit, she raised a hand over her head and looked at the youth sitting silently in the rain. Her expression turned strange, and she blurted out:
"Putting on a gloomy act?"
Lu Ran: "."
"Heehee~" Qiao Yuanxi covered her mouth and chuckled. Looking at her brother in his ordinary clothes, she somehow found it rather strange.
Lu Ran wore a white short-sleeved shirt and shorts. Such simple home attire reminded Qiao Yuanxi of a phrase—blades and spears returned to the armory, horses released upon the southern hills.
Yet worldly things were easy to cast off, while people could never return to how they had once been.
Compared to this day seven years ago—the day Lu Ran had first become a believer—he had changed far too much.
The youth's immature appearance had long become a thing of the past. Even the words