The white light of the Displacement Incident-that was Alice's last memory before she regained consciousness.
Now, a low, crackling warmth filled her ears-the sound of burning wood.
She struggled to lift her heavy eyelids.
The first thing she saw was wavering orange-red firelight, illuminating the rough, uneven stone walls of a cave.
A faint smell of smoke lingered in the air, along with an unfamiliar, slightly fishy scent of earth.
"Ugh..."
Alice tried to move, only to find that every part of her body ached.
She abruptly sat up and looked around.
It was a natural cave, not particularly large, with something crudely blocking part of its entrance.
Even so, a shrill wind poured through the gaps, stirring up dust from the ground.
In the middle of the cave, a campfire burned brightly, driving back some of the cold and darkness of the Demon Continent's night.
"Sylphy? Ciyou?!" she instinctively called out the familiar names, her voice hoarse with thirst.
"Alice...?" A weak voice, thick with tears, came from beside her.
Alice whipped her head around and saw Sylphy curled up nearby, her small body wrapped in a worn animal hide.
Her large eyes brimmed with tears as she stared at Alice in fear and uncertainty.
"Sylphy! Are you all right?" Alice scrambled over and grabbed Sylphy's icy little hand.
"I... I'm so cold... My head hurts..." Sylphy's voice trembled.
"Ciyou... Where's big brother Ciyou? Where... where are we?"
"Ciyou!" Only then did Alice snap out of her daze and look around frantically.
Amid the shadows cast by the flickering firelight, she finally spotted that familiar figure in a corner near the cave wall.
Cui Ciyou lay motionless on a makeshift bed of dry grass.
His body... no, his entire body was wrapped in coarse, dark brown strips of cloth.