The footsteps approaching from behind Lili were slow and curious, the kind that belonged to a woman who wanted to see something she didn't understand.
But who was he to care?
Like he gave a fuck.
Yep—that was him.
Xiao Wu moved closer. As she passed slightly to Lili's side, she noticed the hair first. It was long—far longer than she expected—and even from the side, its color was clear.
Purple.
A color she hated so much.
Yet… to Xiao Wu, this purple felt different. It wasn't the arrogant, suffocating kind she despised. This shade carried something else—unknown, mysterious, and unsettling.
Slowly, Xiao Wu finally saw her side profile.
Just that alone made a chill crawl down her spine.
Her skin was pale—unnaturally so. Her eyes… purple.
What shook Xiao Wu to her core was the resemblance.
She looked like that woman.
The woman who killed her mother.
But somehow… she didn't.
Xiao Wu couldn't believe it. She knew what that woman looked like. She had run from her. She had seen others sacrifice themselves just to buy Xiao Wu time to escape.
Her mother had died for her.
Xiao Wu swallowed hard and took another hesitant step forward, wanting—needing—to see her face fully.
Then she saw it.
She saw it.
She… she really looked like her.
B–but not entirely.
It was like a dying version of that woman. Her dark purple eyes were cold, empty, as if nothing existed inside them. The structure of her face was the same. Even her lips looked as though they had endured endless cold.
Xiao Wu's legs gave out.
She fell to the ground, her body shaking in disbelief. Her knees refused to support her. Her hands dug tightly into the grass as her eyes remained glued to that pale face.
She didn't understand what was happening.
She had only come to look at the river.
B–but this…
This was something completely unexpected.
Before her sat a dead-like young person—someone who resembled that woman far too much.
Xiao Wu's breathing grew heavy. Her heartbeat accelerated wildly as fear and buried trauma clawed at her from the inside. She couldn't scream. She couldn't call for help.
She just stared.
Standing here—seeing this face—should've made her feel like it was all a dream. An unreal revelation.
Yet it felt terrifyingly real.
Despite Xiao Wu standing right in front of him, Lili didn't react. He didn't even bother to acknowledge her presence.
He didn't care.
And why should he?
He had already been kicked into this world, had already seen a talking bunny. Why would another human standing in front of him be surprising? To Lili, she was just another person—nothing more, nothing less.
He noticed Xiao Wu glance at him.
Their eyes met.
Lili took her in for a moment. Not going to lie—she looked the same as in Songhua, just more realistic. Her curves were real, her clothes hugged her body naturally, and her hair swayed freely.
Not like the donghua, where hair looked glued together and moved stiffly like a piece of fucking wood.
This was different.
It flowed.
And that was it.
That was Lili's reaction to the bunny.
Nothing more.
But for Xiao Wu, it was completely different.
It felt wrong.
They looked similar, yet felt nothing alike—and that contradiction deeply disturbed her. That was what bothered her the most.
And those eyes…
Those eyes glanced at her for only one or two seconds before completely denying her existence. Empty. Detached. Mysterious.
As if she had never been there at all.
Xiao Wu was still dazed and terrified, her mind blank yet screaming at the same time. She didn't know what was going to happen next.
She needed to run.
Run away from here.
B–but her legs gave out.
Her thoughts spiraled like a roller coaster. If I die here today… who will avenge my mother? What about my brother? What will happen to him?
Run.
Run.
Bitch, run.
But her body betrayed her completely.
Then—
She heard footsteps approaching from the side.
Her fear spiked instantly.
Was I exposed?
Was this a setup?
Was I lured here just to be killed?
She knew how important she was. She knew what greed could do to people. Her vision blurred as tears welled up, despair creeping into her chest as she hovered on the edge of giving up on her life altogether.
The footsteps grew louder, the rustling of grass clearer.
She didn't turn her head.
She couldn't.
Her eyes were still glued to the person sitting by the river, still staring at the sun as if nothing else in the world existed.
Then a voice broke the silence.
"Xiao Wu, you're here. I've been looking for you."
[ Of course you have, you fucking simp.]