Parting

Receiving a call from Su Xiao brought Ronan some relief.

After all, an entire week had passed since that night, and there had been no word from Su Xiao.

As the first friend Ronan had met on this planet, he could not help worrying. Perhaps his actions had been too rash and touched the nobles' sensitive nerves. Who knew what extreme methods those great families might use to protect their interests?

So over the past few days, he had gone online and deliberately browsed the nobles' social networks on the Bo Ning District intranet. He found that what had happened that night had not caused much of a stir. The internet was strangely calm. But after Noah checked, it found traces of many communications having been deleted from the intranet, and those traces came from different addresses.

That was rather thought-provoking.

Clearly, whether it was Yi Lin Manor, the Su Family, or the Li Family, they had all tacitly chosen to suppress the matter. They had probably mobilized every connection at their disposal to stop the spread of Ronan's astonishing deeds on the night at the martial arts hall. Most people in Bo Ning District remained in the dark; only a small number of true nobles knew some of the facts.

Ronan did not know why they had done this, but he was happy to have some peace.

He had Noah scan the Bo Ning District intranet and found that, aside from Wang Xiaoman and Christine immediately following the social media account he had just created, there was no valuable information. Su Xiao in particular seemed to have vanished from the world these past few days.

People avoided discussing the matter and instead focused most of their attention on the approaching school term. By late September, both the many secondary academies on Azure Ring Island and the higher universities from other planets would be starting classes. Education had always been one of the Steel Empire's favorite subjects of discussion.

As for the name Ronan, apart from the earlier reports about the assassination, no one mentioned him at all.

This showed just how powerful Yi Lin Manor and the Su and Li Families truly were in the Emerald Star Region.

What Ronan had not expected was that the voice on the other end of the call sounded utterly exhausted. It was completely different from the Su Xiao he remembered. After a few pleasantries, they finally came to the point.

Su Xiao said softly, "I'm leaving."

Ronan asked calmly, "Where are you going? Why?"

Su Xiao said, "Thank you for defeating Xiang Feihu that night. It gave me the chance to make a free choice. I still have two years of university left, and this is one of the few periods of freedom I have. I've decided to leave Blue Sea and go see the world."

"I want to travel. My family has already handled the paperwork for me."

Ronan was silent for a moment before asking, "Traveling?"

The other end gave a soft hum. "My first stop is Dragon Capital Province in the Seventh Star Region. I heard they have the best place in the entire Empire to view the scenery of the Western Star Region."

The Seventh Star Region. Dragon Capital Province.

A map of the Steel Empire's territory immediately surfaced in Ronan's mind.

Blue Sea Province and Dragon Capital Province, joined by a straight line.

A distance of sixty thousand light-years.

If I whispered your name from here, and time carried the message, it would take sixty thousand years to reach where you were.

The river of stars was so vast, and humanity within it was so small.

At that moment, Ronan's heart was finally stirred.

Yet he remained calm. "Are you running away?"

Silence came from the other end of the call.

The wrist holding the phone trembled as the girl struggled to calm herself. She knew this call would be difficult, so she had rehearsed her words countless times beforehand. Ronan's question had been within her expectations as well.

So she said in a deliberately relaxed tone, "What are you thinking? I finally have some freedom! I definitely have to thank you for that. Besides, I've always loved traveling. Dragon Capital Province is the Empire's famous city of romance. Lots of couples go there for their honeymoons. This trip is definitely going to be fun."

Her words did not match her heart. That was probably it.

Only she knew how long she had knelt in her father's study that night, pleading desperately. Her mother had tried to persuade him from the side, secretly wiping away tears. In the end, obtaining this compromise between both sides had already been the limit of what she could do.

She still remembered the coldness and impatience in her father's eyes when she had nearly broken down and asked whether she was merely a tool for marriage alliances in his eyes. The only reason he had eventually agreed to compromise was that the Li Family's young master had unusually sent a message, asking the Su Family head not to make things difficult for Su Xiao.

She also remembered hiding in her room that night and crying her heart out, clutching her phone. The call she had wanted to make had remained unmade, because she knew this was already the best possible outcome.

Originally, her father believed that after Ronan's affair came to light, it would inevitably affect the relationship between the Su and Li Families. So his proposed solution had been simple and brutal: openly side with Deepwater Fortress, and when Li Nanbei returned to the Emerald Star Region at the end of the year, the two of them would marry.

At least now, she had won herself two years.

But those two years came at the cost of sixty thousand light-years of distance.

For young boys and girls, there could be no harder season to endure.

She truly was running away. She was running from the clash between the Li Family and Yi Lin Manor; she was protecting Ronan and did not want him to suffer more harm. At the same time, she was afraid that she might truly fall in love with Ronan.

In the seventeen years of the Su Family's young lady's life, she had never met such a genuine boy.

Everything he said was so pure. Sometimes he seemed a little foolish, but he was also very interesting. Compared with Li Nanbei, who stood high above everyone like a statue of a god, she preferred Ronan, who would speak out against injustice simply for the sake of the word friend.

But she could not like Ronan.

She was Su Xiao, the only daughter of the Su Family head, the most crucial link in the Su Family's plan for the next hundred years.

Her union with Li Nanbei had been decided the day that genius rose to prominence. It was like fate arranged by God: perhaps delayed, but never changed.

The Su Family was proud. Of all their possible partners, the Li Family had chosen them. They also knew that this was only because proud Li Nanbei had declared long ago that he would marry no one but Su Xiao. Otherwise, they would never have had such an opportunity.

So they treated Su Xiao very well and granted her every request. Only matters of the heart were forbidden.

She could not have a boy she liked. Even speaking with an unfamiliar man would bring severe surveillance. Before Ronan appeared, everything had followed this script.

Now that Ronan had appeared, the Li Family had yet to say anything, but the Su Family was already furious. In their eyes, that brat from Yi Lin Manor was clearly trying to sabotage the cooperation between the Su and Li Families. They could not tolerate Ronan and Su Xiao continuing to associate with each other.

So, Ronan, this really was already the best possible outcome.

The girl murmured silently in her heart.

A long silence followed.

Ronan did not know what to say. He could not hear Su Xiao's inner monologue, nor did he know what kind of pressure the girl had faced over the past few days.

But no matter how dull he was, he clearly realized that Su Xiao was leaving the Emerald Star Region and Blue Sea Province because of him.

After thinking about it, he said regretfully, "I finally made a friend. I think it's a pity."

Su Xiao forced a smile. "You'll be going to Azure Ring Island soon. You'll meet many friends there."

Ronan said naturally, "But I might never meet another friend like you, someone who looks so good even when rolling her eyes."

Su Xiao's heart raced, and even Ronan himself found his words a little strange.

He had merely spoken the truest thought in his heart. He had not expected that once the words left his mouth, they would sound like intimate whispers between lovers.

He had never forgotten the eye-roll that could topple cities from that night on the martial arts hall sofa, so the words had slipped out.

Her face grew hot, and she felt an inexplicable surge of delight. Changing the subject, she said, "I'll write to you."

"Mm."

Ronan answered.

Before they finally hung up, he asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

Su Xiao joked, "If you really want to do something for me, defeat Li Nanbei within two years."

She had meant it as a joke.

But Ronan said with unusual gravity and seriousness:

"Okay." It was as though he were making a promise.

Ronan was not good with words, so he only said that one word.

But deep within him, countless thoughts churned:

—Didn't I ask you that day how strong Li Nanbei was?

You said he was very, very strong.

—But I never got the chance to tell you.

I am also very, very strong.

Farewells in youth always seemed so casual, only because neither side knew of the tremendous waves in the other's heart.

Su Xiao was about to set off for Dragon Capital Province, sixty thousand light-years away. Ronan, too, was about to begin his journey of study on Azure Ring Island.

That September, amid the bitter autumn wind and rain of Bo Ning District, became the season of parting after all.

Before you finish reading this chapter, listen to me. First, don't call me a romance novelist. If you want to criticize me, first go read the book's related information. Coconut has already emphasized that this is not merely a violent story about fighting and killing, nor is it some harem wish-fulfillment novel about picking up girls with overwhelming dominance. There will definitely be emotional scenes, though I will keep them within proper limits. At its core, this is still a fantasy novel. Second, don't accuse me of tormenting the protagonist. If you think this plot counts as tormenting the protagonist, please just leave through the upper-right corner. If you insist on a formula where everything goes smoothly, women are NPCs, and enemies are minor mobs, Qidian has plenty of stories like that. Go find one yourself; we do not sell that here. Personally, I do not think this plot is cruel. If I were a reader, I would instead look forward even more to the confrontation with Li Nanbei, wouldn't I? Third, as always, please vote. I want to write a story with real flesh and blood, but rest assured, it will still be satisfying. I think this chapter turned out quite well. The Bo Ning District arc has come to an end, and the opening is more or less complete. The Azure Ring Island arc will be very exciting, and all sorts of characters are about to appear. That's all.