Act 10: Yearning

Act 10 [Yearning · Longing]

Preface:

Those who cannot be content with the present must keep moving forward!

— Bing Xin

[Part 1 · Keep Moving Forward]

"Put me down."

The female officer had lost both legs, and a Blood Hawk monster had eaten away her belly. Only an immortal pill kept her clinging to life—

—She knew she wouldn't live much longer, and she had no desire to form any bond with Fuyanni. She had survived until now on sheer willpower and a heart full of fervor. Perhaps when her last breath slowly faded, she would return to the embrace of Earth Mother.

Fuyanni didn't answer. He kept walking forward along the river's frozen veins, carrying the female soldier on his back.

"Fuyanni," the female officer murmured.

Fuyanni answered at once. "That's right! That's my name!"

"Where are you taking me?"

"To find a way to survive!" Fuyanni called back loudly. "Maybe we'll make it out alive!"

"Earth Mother turned over in her sleep. I escaped from Lai Bei, and all the brothers and sisters in my clan went mad. It seems I'm the only one who's still sane—I don't know whether that's a blessing or a curse."

"Then we're both the same now! Orphans with no one to care about us!" Fuyanni grew more and more animated as he spoke. He had to stay fired up, had to keep the flame in his heart burning. High spirits could quicken his heartbeat and keep his wet clothes from stealing too much of his body heat.

He was shivering all over, and he didn't have much food left in his belly. Supporting the female officer's body from the waist down with both hands, he let the fishman girl lean against his back and picked his way through the mud. He