On the outskirts of Chang'an, eight kilometers from Thunder God Port, lay the Thunderclap Coast.
A luxurious German-made bus powered by iceburst stone carried everyone toward a cemetery. It was winter, and thick snow blanketed both sides of the road. Fine snowflakes kept drifting down, while the distant ocean was a clear, brilliant blue.
Ever since iceburst stone had replaced oil as the world's universal energy source, environmental pollution had been reduced to a minimum. Heavily polluting factories had all been replaced, and the ocean remained as blue as ever. Even the snow beside the road could be eaten to quench thirst, and many animals were doing just that.
Yet the mood on the bus was unusually subdued, a stark contrast to the festivities of the previous night. Beside Chen Nian, Lilith idly read the novel in her hands, yawning now and then.
He glanced toward Yasuo and Philia. Yasuo was fast asleep, with a few drops of drool at the corner of his mouth, occasionally breaking into a silly grin.
Philia rested her head on her hand and gazed out the window, her long hair loose over her shoulders. Her lips remained pressed together, betraying neither joy nor sorrow. Chen Nian looked down at the poetry collection in his hands and finally remembered that he had yet to give her his gift.
Philia at twenty.
"Hm? You still haven't given her your gift?" Lilith leaned closer.
"Ah, right. I forgot," Chen Nian said with a nod. In truth, he had spent all of last night studying the collection, but had discovered nothing more. The author seemed to have been his father's lover, but how could his father have had a lover other than his mother?
"Come to think of it, I still don't know what you bought." Philia leaned