The First Sword Ashore, Slaying the One in My Heart

Admittedly, Chu Qingli breaking up with Fang Yi had been within his expectations.

After all, for most people—no, for everyone except Fang Yi, who knew about the Spirit Qi Recovery—

Everyone believed that—

Once Chu Qingli got into Qingbei while Fang Yi entered a vocational college, The two of them were destined to head down separate paths.

What they had shared might indeed have been beautiful.

But just as Chu Qingli had said, it was time to wake up from the dream.

The fairy-tale romance of their student days truly should have come to an end.

"Such a cliché opening. Whenever I used to read Spirit Qi Recovery stories, there was always this kind of getting-dumped beginning. Couldn't they come up with something new?"

He had often seen it before.

The first sword after making it ashore—cut down the one you loved first?

He had never expected it to happen to him.

Fang Yi let out a noncommittal chuckle.

"The times have changed, Miss."

Fang Yi tapped on the screen, typed a single word—okay—and sent it.

Elsewhere.

Lakeside Villa District.

On the balcony, a slender figure was reflected in the floor-to-ceiling glass. Rain continuously washed over her exquisite eyes as she clutched her phone tightly, looking somewhat conflicted.

Her phone vibrated, and a short reply popped up.

"Okay."

She lowered her head to look at it, her gaze trembling as if she could not believe it.

Yet even when she nearly stared a hole through the phone, the other side had still sent only that single word, with no further messages.

Like a pebble tossed into the sea, it caused not the slightest ripple.

Chu Qingli could not help biting her lip with her pearly teeth, leaving a deep mark.

Had he replied so cleanly and decisively because he was pretending, or was he sincere?

Chu Qingli opened the chat again and reread that reply over and over. What irritated her was that, from that one word, she could somehow sense a trace of indifference.

With a slap.

Chu Qingli's expression turned cold. She tossed her phone onto the sofa and headed downstairs without looking back.

The rain drizzled on for a while, only finally easing after soaking the entire city like a drenched capsule.

A high-rise apartment.

After replying to the message, Fang Yi no longer paid any attention to his campus belle ex-girlfriend.

He walked into the living room and turned on the television for the first time in a long while.

The midday news was currently playing.

Fang Yi sat on the sofa and watched intently.

Fishermen in the coastal regions had discovered an enormous abalone, requiring more than ten people to encircle it with their arms. It was suspected to be a product of nuclear wastewater.

On the screen, an expert sat in an office, dressed in a suit and tie, speaking solemnly and eloquently to the camera.

"The situation humanity currently faces is extremely severe, unlike anything ever seen in history. This time, we cannot seek answers from history. We can only rely on our own abilities and adapt to the environment as much as possible..."

Fang Yi frowned slightly at those words.

At first glance, it sounded like nonsense, but the more one thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

Sure enough, the reporter's next segment stated that such giant abalones had also been discovered inland.

The expert's response was, "Residents should also take appropriate protective measures at home."

They neither reassured the public nor denied that the abalones had mutated. Instead, they urged residents to take precautions.

To someone like Fang Yi, who knew the truth, this seemed more like they knew some other cause was at work but could not say it outright due to orders from above.

He guessed this was very likely a warning the state was issuing to ordinary people regarding the Spirit Qi Recovery.

To prepare people accordingly, the state had no choice but to give them a preventive warning in advance.

Fang Yi changed the channel.

The news was still reporting strange phenomena.

An ancient tree at a 5A Class Scenic Area had grown excessively, its roots spreading for ten li and drawing crowds of onlookers.

This time, the report stated that the scenic area had been sealed off for routine repairs and was temporarily closed to the public. It especially emphasized that the construction noise would be disruptive, asking tourists not to visit the scenic area anytime soon.

Fang Yi watched the news and rubbed his chin.

"Repairs? Isn't this really a quarantine?"

In his view, it looked more like a state-imposed isolation measure.

They were sealing off the ancient tree that had drawn crowds, indirectly protecting the tourists' safety.

Fang Yi switched through several more channels.

He found that the news on every channel had the same tone.

Cracks had appeared in the ground, suggesting a possible geological anomaly.

Giant vines hung down from the depths of the sky, their origins unknown.

Railway tracks had been torn apart in multiple locations, causing some casualties.

In short, it all came down to one sentence: strange phenomena had appeared everywhere, so stay safe.

There was an old saying in the Xia Kingdom: The Master did not speak of the strange, the violent, the disorderly, or spirits.

Such frequent reports of unusual phenomena had appeared before, but they had never been broadcast so aggressively, much less flooded every screen to this extent.

The only possibility was that the higher-ups had deliberately released this information for the public to see.

"It seems that all sorts of supernatural phenomena have already begun appearing in the world. It's just that under the country's cover-up, superficial peace is still being maintained," Fang Yi muttered.

This subtle, imperceptible style of reporting was their usual method. It allowed ordinary people to gradually accept the truth without realizing it. In the long run, when the truth could no longer be concealed, the public would still be able to stay calm and trust their country.

It was relatively more troublesome to handle things this way, but the results were far better than the neighboring country's constant zero-dollar shopping sprees and Gatling gun massacres.

Just then, Fang Yi's gaze was deeply drawn to a scrolling news report.

The report read:

Qingbei campus: Ultraviolet intensity has far exceeded normal levels. All newly enrolled students are advised to take proper sun protection measures.

Qingbei?

Fang Yi suddenly remembered his campus belle ex-girlfriend. She seemed to have gotten into Qingbei too, and today was the first day of school. Qingbei was probably quite lively today.

However, the thought only flashed through his mind.

What mattered more was this.

Qingbei's location was clear. It was easy to find whether he took a taxi or the subway, and compared to mutated animals and plants, intense ultraviolet radiation was not especially dangerous. He only needed to take precautions against sunburn.

After considering it carefully for a moment, Fang Yi decided to make a trip to Qingbei.

The next day, at ten in the morning.

A figure stood at the entrance to Qingbei. The blazing sunlight stretched his shadow long, while the fallen leaves on the branches above his head drooped listlessly, as though they would be scorched black the next second.

Holding an umbrella, wearing a hat, and covered in sunscreen, Fang Yi raised his head, wiped away the sweat rolling down his face, and squinted up at the sky.

Fuck, the sunlight poured down as though the sun had singled out this campus for special favor. The ground was so hot it seemed ready to melt, and the golden sunlight resembled burning flames. Everything here glittered so brilliantly that it was impossible to keep one's eyes open, the golden glare stabbing painfully into them.

A security guard stepped out of the guardhouse and cautiously tested the ground temperature. Then he looked at the temperature gun in his hand.

"Seventy-four degrees. Fuck, I'm getting paid 2,000 yuan a month, and you expect me to risk my life here?"