I Once Looked Up to You, but I Won't Keep Looking Up to You Forever

What was a true genius?

The former Chen Xing had been the genius everyone spoke of.

The envy of neighbors, the praise of teachers, the care of her parents.

Before she came to the Ember Organization, Chen Xing's life had been like that of a princess in a fairy tale. Everything had been so wonderful, until the Beast Tide arrived.

Her parents vanished, her younger brother cried, and the mutated beasts were brutal.

This series of upheavals instantly sent Chen Xing's life plummeting from heaven into hell.

Yet just as only the weak complained about their circumstances, while the strong always adapted to them—or even changed them—

At the time, Chen Xing had not yet encountered the Ember Organization, much less undergone Star Core Surgery.

But relying on combat talent far beyond that of ordinary people, as well as a fierce instinct for survival—

She still managed to carry Chen Kong, that deadweight who only knew how to cry whenever trouble arose, through the most dangerous three months after the Beast Tide descended.

It was only that, tempered by such a cruel environment, Chen Xing's personality underwent earth-shaking changes.

Her former innocence and gentleness had long since vanished, replaced by maturity far beyond her years and... endless indifference.

It was under such circumstances that Chen Xing unexpectedly encountered Tiandao, who had likewise been "struggling to survive" amid the ruins.

It had been a cold, dark night. After exhausting all her supplies, Chen Xing had settled Chen Kong down and been forced to leave their safe little shelter.

She had gone alone to the nearest supermarket, risking her life to search for those precious, scarce supplies scattered throughout the ruins.

During that process, she had to guard against not only mutated beasts with bizarre abilities and ferocious strength.

She also had to watch out for disaster survivors like herself, who had luckily survived the Beast Tide.

After all, starving survivors could do anything, dared to do anything, and would do anything.

That included turning their knives on helpless half-grown children like her.

Late at night, inside a supermarket after the disaster.

The young Chen Xing bent low as she slowly moved through the toppled, crooked shelves.

Her movements were extremely careful. Before every step, she meticulously inspected the debris beneath her feet, including shattered glass scattered across the floor. She feared making even the faintest sound and drawing the attention of nearby mutated beasts.

But just as Chen Xing finally found a dust-covered can beneath a collapsed shelf, an unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded behind her.

"Hey, are you hungry?"

The sudden voice not only startled Chen Xing, but also sent her heart straight into her throat.

She hurriedly looked toward the voice, gripping the small knife in her right hand as vigilance filled her face.

By the faint moonlight filtering in from outside the supermarket, Chen Xing soon saw the owner of that voice.

In a corner not far away, a silver-haired child about her age sat cross-legged atop the corpse of a large spider, looking at her with curiosity.

This boy was none other than the future Tiandao Siming.

But at the time, Chen Xing did not know Tiandao's name, much less whether his appearance was a blessing or a curse.

So when faced with Tiandao's question, the young Chen Xing not only did not answer, but even put on a fierce expression.

As if she wanted to scare the unfamiliar Tiandao away like that.

Yet Tiandao paid no heed to her feigned ferocity.

He pulled the knife embedded in the giant spider's compound eye free, then leapt down.

"Here."

After landing, Tiandao took a can of fruit from the small bag he carried and handed it to Chen Xing without any guard up at all.

Chen Xing froze at the sight.

She stared blankly at the canned fruit Tiandao held out, unable for a moment to decide whether she should accept it.

But her reaction made Tiandao misunderstand.

"You don't like this?"

Tiandao withdrew the canned fruit and rummaged through his bag again.

A moment later, Tiandao pulled out a plastic-wrapped bag of beef jerky and held it out once more.

"Is this okay?"

Looking at the precious food Tiandao offered, Chen Xing finally snapped out of her daze.

She looked at Tiandao with a complicated expression and asked, "Why are you giving this to me?"

Tiandao's answer caught her by surprise.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just really like your eyes."

"So I thought I'd help you."

He really likes my eyes...

Tiandao's answer sounded somewhat outlandish, but the clever Chen Xing instantly understood what he meant.

He was saying that, unlike the other survivors, she had not cast aside her dignity as a human being just to survive. Even in hardship, she had still clung to the bottom line of being human.

Tiandao's sudden approval and kindness caused the pressure Chen Xing had accumulated for so long, along with the pain she had nowhere to confide.

To collapse her already crumbling psychological defenses in an instant, like floodwaters bursting through a dam.

So much so that, even though Tiandao was a complete stranger she had never met before.

The strong Chen Xing suddenly began to sob soundlessly.

But the moment she cried, Tiandao—already poor at dealing with girls—was immediately left at a complete loss.

Watching Chen Xing bite down on her own arm as tears streamed from her eyes, Tiandao hurriedly pulled out a pack of tissues from his bag and handed it to her.

A moment later, Chen Xing wiped away her tears, lowered her head, and said in a small, flushed voice, "Th-thank you."

Hearing that, Tiandao scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Uh, it's nothing."

After Tiandao said that, the two immediately fell into a brief silence.

Perhaps finding the atmosphere too stifling, Tiandao pointed at the large spider behind him and took the initiative to change the subject. "Um, if you come to a place like this again, make sure to check whether there are any other mutated beasts around."

"Because if there aren't, it probably means this place has already been claimed by some mutated beast or adult. You need to be twice as careful."

"Otherwise, you might end up like today, stepping into someone's trap without even realizing it."

After saying that, Tiandao, who was not good at dealing with girls, immediately slung his Small Backpack over his shoulders and headed out of the supermarket.

After all, Tiandao could not bear that toe-curling awkward atmosphere in the supermarket for even one more second.

But just as Tiandao was about to leave, Chen Xing suddenly called out to him.

"Um, what's your name?"

Tiandao had already reached the doorway. With his back to Chen Xing, he waved a hand. "Tiandao. Tiandao Siming."

With that, Tiandao disappeared into the ruins beneath the night sky and soon vanished from sight.

Watching Tiandao's departing figure, Chen Xing clutched the beef jerky he had given her and silently engraved the four words "Tiandao Siming" deep in her heart.

For some time afterward, Chen Xing returned to that abandoned supermarket many times, hoping to encounter Tiandao again so she could thank him in person and tell him her own name.

But though she tried again and again, she never saw Tiandao another time.

That left Chen Xing sad for a long while.

Because she believed Tiandao might have already died in the jaws of some unknown mutated beast, or at the hands of some vicious adult.

Until she was unexpectedly found by the Ember Organization and brought to the base together with Chen Kong.

Only then did she unexpectedly see the person she had thought she would never see again.

But unlike what Chen Xing had imagined, Tiandao's reaction to her appearance was not the warm enthusiasm she had expected.

Instead, he was extremely distant.

As though, to Tiandao, the two of them were merely strangers who had never met.

Even though he had personally said that he really liked her eyes.

The enormous disparity, along with some complicated emotion Chen Xing herself could not put into words.

Ultimately made her abandon the idea of telling Tiandao about that day.

Because in her pride, she was unwilling to admit that she had merely been an ordinary passerby in Tiandao's life.

Nor was she willing to admit that the person she had wanted to see again had forgotten her long ago.

And from that day onward, Chen Xing began competing with Tiandao like mad.

Though to outsiders, it seemed like nothing more than her refusal to concede defeat.

Only Chen Xing knew that the reason she did this was never because she truly wanted to compete with Tiandao to see who was better.

It was because she wanted Tiandao to understand one thing through this.

That she, Chen Xing, was absolutely not some dispensable stranger in Tiandao's eyes.

After all, Tiandao's eyes might not have held her in the past.

But Tiandao's eyes had to hold her in the future.

Inside the Ember Organization's training room.

Pulled from her memories, Chen Xing looked up at Tiandao standing within the ring and said firmly, "Tiandao, I once looked up to you, but I won't let myself keep looking up to you forever, because... people never look backward."

"Huh?"

Hearing Chen Xing's serious yet baffling words, Tiandao was so startled that even his sunglasses slipped crooked.

No, if we're fighting, then fight. What are you babbling about?

And aren't we sparring? What's with that resentful expression that could so easily be misunderstood? Do you want to add drama too?

Unlike Tiandao, who was too close to the situation to see it clearly.

After hearing this, Caroline first looked at the stern-faced Chen Xing, then turned to look at the confused Tiandao, seemingly faintly understanding something.

Then she abruptly looked at Chen Xing, her gaze suddenly becoming... somewhat dangerous.

As if, in her eyes, Chen Xing was no longer a training companion, but a powerful enemy who had to be taken seriously.

But Chen Xing in the ring knew nothing of any of this.

Because from beginning to end, Tiandao was the only person in her eyes.