"Wake up! Wake up!"
"How did you fall asleep here? It's dangerous!"
A familiar yet unfamiliar voice rang by Zheng Qing's ear, anxious and unsettled. He felt a pair of little hands shaking him hard. "Wake up!"
He struggled to lift his eyelids.
The cold air immediately clung to his eyes. Together with the mottled, flickering light, it stung the wizard's eyes slightly. He could not help closing them again and frowning.
"Ah! You're finally awake!" The familiar yet unfamiliar voice rang out again, filled with delight.
Zheng Qing's eyes trembled violently beneath his lids.
He easily found the owner of that voice amid his roiling memories. It was Zhu Si. He desperately wanted to open his eyes at once and confirm his judgment, but in that instant, he became timid again.
What if Zhu Si had really turned into someone with red eyes? What if she did not remember him? What if she still refused to leave this time? What if he had heard wrong?
The moisture welling in his eyes dampened his lashes and eased the raw sting in them.
At last, the wizard slowly opened his eyes.
Before him stretched the canopy of towering trees. Lush branches and leaves intertwined overhead, draped with vines of every color. Pale sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, while the mingled scent of decay and freshness unique to the forest lingered in his nostrils.
A round-faced little girl with tousled brown hair was squatting beside his head, staring at him with large, dark eyes full of curiosity. She held a small mirror in one hand, while a worn picture book rested on her knees.
Several withered Migu Wood leaves, long stripped of their luster, also dangled from her wrist.
Just like the one on his own wrist.
"Who are