"Mr. Ji, the wind is strong by the shore. We should head back."
Only after watching Yu Guo and the others disappear from sight did Female Voice speak respectfully.
Ji Li swept his disheveled hair back and turned toward the Seventh Branch.
He did not look at Female Voice beside him. Stepping lightly across the grass, he said:
"Do you think I can win?"
"Is winning really that important to you?"
Female Voice was stirred by his mood. Rather than answer, she asked him in return.
Far away on the river, the ghost child was still waiting there, as though it had become a statue watching Ji Li leave.
It had not made a move, which meant Ji Li still had not found what his heart truly wanted.
Ji Li had been reflecting on this as well. He knew his mission was to continue the gamble from fifty years ago.
But why would the ghost child not accept that goal?
Was it because of the gamble with Heavenly Sea, which made this ghost afraid to approach?
Or because that goal was not what Ji Li truly desired...
"Mr. Ji, just let nature take its course. Perhaps you will not need to do anything at all. The endgame may naturally come to you."
Ji Li still ignored her, merely muttering under his breath:
"The situation is beginning to shift. I still have one more lead..."
Female Voice stopped and watched Ji Li walk forward alone, an inexplicable pity and heartache surfacing in her eyes.
Inside the Seventh Branch.
The moment Ji Li entered, he saw Jin Xi, Xiao Qian Duyue, and the others gathered outside the conference room, discussing something with grave expressions.
They saw Ji Li return, but merely looked at one another without greeting him.
Female Voice explained