Li Xian had thought he would fall asleep quickly, but once he lay down in bed, he realized he was not handling things as well as he had imagined.
During the day, he had been busy enough that he had no time to examine his feelings. But once night fell, a thousand tangled thoughts flooded his mind at once, making it hard to sleep.
The first thing Li Xian thought of was the extra line in the ship's log:
"You have been given a chance to start over, but at what cost?"
Ji Xie had closed the log before he could study that line carefully. Yet now, as he recalled it, the handwriting was branded into his mind with startling clarity. He could even remember the shape of every stroke.
The cost...
What would it be?
Li Xian had to admit that he had failed to make the most of this "chance to start over."
Although he seemed to have made quite a few preparations, he had not actually reached the heart of the Instance, so the ship would most likely still sink tonight.
If the whirlpool that could turn back the shipwreck didn't appear...
Li Xian could not stop himself from considering that possibility. After all, no one could guarantee that the whirlpool's appearance had not been a fluke.
He imagined that scene, wondering whether he would drown first or be caught and killed by the dark figures...
For a moment, the fear of death gripped his heart. The image of Bearded Man's corpse surfaced in his mind, and Li Xian gave a slight shudder.
He silently curled up and tugged the covers higher, trying to regain some sense of security. But being wrapped in the blanket did not reassure him in the slightest. Instead, it only made the