After saying goodbye to Xinhai, the boy in the lead took the children and ran along the beach in the direction they had come from.
Zigzagoon followed at his feet, neither too fast nor too slow. From time to time, it looked back, and there seemed to be a trace of reluctance in its round little eyes.
The children had not run far when the little girl suddenly stopped, turned around, and shouted at Xinhai, "Big brother! My name is Sayuri! Remember my name!"
"Got it." Xinhai smiled and waved.
Only then did the little girl turn around in satisfaction, catch up with her companions, and run toward the scattered houses in the distance.
The children gradually vanished around the bend in the beach, leaving only a messy trail of large and small footprints in the sand to prove they had been there.
Xinhai watched them leave before slowly straightening up.
"Eevee..." Eevee jumped onto his shoulder. Her large brown eyes gazed in the direction the children had disappeared, and she let out a soft cry. "Eevee..." (They're gone...)
"Can't bear to part with them?" Xinhai turned his head to look at her.
"Eevee." Eevee nodded, then shook her head, her fluffy tail gently swaying behind her. "Eevee, Eevee." (A little. But we still have to continue our journey.)
Xinhai smiled and rubbed her little head, his fingers passing through her soft, fluffy brown fur.
"Yeah, we still have to travel tomorrow."
Night gradually blanketed the entire island.
The campfire burned on the beach, its orange-red flames illuminating the campsite and stretching the partners' shadows long.
After dinner, Xinhai did not rush back into the tent. Instead, he lay beside the campfire, quietly watching the distant sea, which had been dyed silver-white by the moonlight.
Eevee lay on his stomach,