Giving Up the Mission

So fast!

Yizhu felt as though they had left the wind behind. Then the trees blocking the sun vanished, and the whole world suddenly turned bright. Sitting on the Unicorn Horse's back, she felt the breeze brush her face and could not help smiling.

She liked this feeling.

Not far away, Martin stood behind a rock, worried sick. At last, Momo took his hand and reassured him. "Aren't you worrying too much? Yizhu isn't a child. Look how happy she is."

"It's her first time riding a horse, and she doesn't even have a saddle. How could I not worry?" Martin sighed helplessly.

Momo smiled. "Don't you think you're being overprotective? Even if Yizhu is your sister, you don't need to watch over her so closely."

"I know I'm worrying too much. It's because I know what it feels like to have no family, no goal, and no idea why you came into this world." Martin looked at Yizhu on horseback, his voice low.

As a child, he had often run around Tide Village with John, getting into scrapes. But whenever the nights grew still, he wondered why he had come into this world and why he was alone.

He saw his own reflection in Yizhu—not a similarity in temperament, but that same loneliness.

Like a whale separated from its pod, forced to swim on alone with no destination and no one to lean on, living only because it was alive. Nothing more.

Yizhu was not calm because she had seen through worldly affairs, nor because she had weathered life's storms. She had no goal, no longing for tomorrow, and so nothing could stir her.

By then, the Unicorn Horses had had their fill of exercise and were gathering to eat.

The Unicorn Horse brought Yizhu back near Martin and