I have stayed in this summer flower for the longest time in my entire history!

That day, after the summer flowers filled the forest, Xie Zhuo took me back to his tent. He placed me in a vase, seemingly wanting to keep that day’s good fortune by his side.

Every day when Xie Zhuo went out, he began carrying the vase with him as he wandered around.

Perhaps he liked the summer flower, liked the luck from that day, or perhaps he wanted others around him to see him through this flower.

Look at him, he too is now a fortunate child.

Unfortunately, no one told him that flowers need water in the vase.

It was somewhat amusing, somewhat tragic…

I exerted all my strength to absorb the essence of heaven and earth, trying to prolong “my life” and help Xie Zhuo hold onto this good fortune, but I still withered at a visible rate.

Little Xie Zhuo seemed to understand that I was withering. Having been here for so long and accompanying little Xie Zhuo for many days, I saw anxiety on his face for the first time.

When he carried the vase with me outside, he saw the flowers that other tribe members had picked that day, all still vibrant and energetic.

He wanted to go ask them, but no one was willing to speak with him. Usually, before he could even approach, everyone around would have already left.

I thought Xie Zhuo had no solution.

That night, little Xie Zhuo kept staring at me. He didn’t sleep, staying awake until the next day when tribe members came to offer their soul power to him. As soon as they arrived, he immediately asked, “The flower is withering, what should I do?”

Everyone who entered the tent was stunned. But they all seemed accustomed to silence and avoidance, no one answered Xie Zhuo. They just silently came forward to offer their soul power, then turned and left.

Seeing this, little Xie Zhuo held back, then tried again, “The flower is withering, what should I do?”

Silence, still silence.

But little Xie Zhuo seemed determined. He asked the same question to each person who approached him.

“The flower is withering, what should I do?”

One after another, everyone remained silent before him.

The Snow Wolf Tribe offered him soul power because they feared the Evil God, and the Evil God only needed his vessel, not his happiness. At this moment, the Snow Wolf Tribe people expressed their accumulated malice through their actions, silent and cold.

This malice, I felt it, and Xie Zhuo surely did too.

Thus, his voice grew softer and softer. In his disappointment, he gradually despaired. Each question had changed in meaning, as if “What should I do when the flower withers?” had become “Do you all hate me?”

Each silence was a firm slap.

“Yes…”

“We all hate you.”

I heard these voices, and Xie Zhuo… probably did too…

“Put water…”

Two words broke the silence.

Little Xie Zhuo suddenly raised his head.

Before him, Xie Ling was offering her soul power. She didn’t look at Xie Zhuo, as if those two words weren’t spoken by her.

The soul power floated into little Xie Zhuo’s body, emitting a faint glow. The light reflected in his black pupils, as if painting them with lacquer.

Just two words, without any excess tone, expression, or movement. Xie Ling offered her soul power and left immediately.

Little Xie Zhuo’s gaze followed her silhouette for a long time.

After today’s offerings ended, little Xie Zhuo put water in my vase.

With water, I seemed to be able to hold on a bit longer.

Seeing that I appeared somewhat revived, little Xie Zhuo was very happy, but I think his happiness wasn’t just about this.

After that day, Xie Zhuo started growing a tail.

The ears on his head also transformed into two fluffy ones on top of his head.

Having stayed in the Northern Wilderness for so long, I knew this meant the Snow Wolf Tribe bloodline was beginning to manifest, and he had entered his true growth period.

Many Snow Wolf Tribe children might not reach this stage even after tens or hundreds of years. After achieving cultivation, the wolf’s ears and tail would disappear again, returning to simplicity.

The daily soul power offerings from the Snow Wolf Tribe to Xie Zhuo made his body always different from ordinary people, which is why he could enter the growth period in just a few years.

But I think what made him want to grow overnight was probably that his mind had started to awaken.

The single response from Xie Ling seemed to give him true expectation, curiosity, and yearning for this world.

That one person who “could” see him answered his question, without emotion or hatred.

For little Xie Zhuo, this was already very precious.

Because of this, he wanted to get closer to Xie Ling.

His “desire” grew stronger.

So Xie Zhuo still carried me out every day, and would “coincidentally” meet Xie Ling earlier and more cleverly as she returned from collecting soul power.

He silently followed behind Xie Ling, but he had learned to stop at the final boundary without making her speak.

One day, as he watched Xie Ling before she entered her tent, his lips moved, and he finally called out, “Mother…”

Xie Ling’s silhouette paused briefly. She didn’t turn around, nor did she rebuke him. She just silently entered her tent.

That day, Xie Zhuo stood outside the tent for longer than usual.

After leaving, he went to the ice lake and repeatedly murmured, “Mother, Mother…”

He would tell me, “Flower, she is my mother.”

I didn’t know how to respond to Xie Zhuo, so I just let my petals dance in the wind.

The next day, Xie Zhuo went to find Xie Ling again. This time, when he saw her, he softly called her Mother.

Xie Ling ignored him, as if she hadn’t heard.

On the third day, Xie Zhuo followed behind her and said, “Mother, the flower is still withering even in water.”

Xie Ling glanced at him with annoyance and said, “Get lost!”

On the fourth day, Xie Zhuo still went and said more words.

The fifth day…

My last petal fell. Even with water, I was still a rootless flower.

My spirit floated out from the completely withered summer flower. I looked at Xie Zhuo holding the vase. He lowered his head, thinking about something. After a long time, he still carried the vase out of the tent, and I floated out with him.

As usual, he wandered around looking for Xie Ling.

But today, Xie Ling has never returned.

So Xie Zhuo walked to the tent where Xie Ling returned every day. He looked at the tent, as if guessing whether he had come out late and Xie Ling had already gone back.

He pondered for a long time, as if making some sort of determination. Holding the vase, swaying his fluffy big tail, he walked toward the tent.

With my spirit form, I could only watch him from the side.

Xie Zhuo lifted the door curtain. The tent was simply furnished with a table, chairs, a charcoal stove, a kettle, and a bed. On the bed lay a boy just reaching adolescence—Zhu Lian.

He coughed twice and peeked out from under the covers.

“Mother…” He only called these two words, then stopped.

He saw Xie Zhuo.

Of course, Xie Zhuo saw him too.

The two children had similar facial features. They silently faced each other.

Xie Zhuo noticed the books beside Zhu Lian and the low stool beside the bed that seemed to have been sat on recently.

Zhu Lian’s gaze moved from Xie Zhuo’s ears to his tail.

I guess at this moment, one was thinking about companionship, one about power, each with their own envy and unattainable desires.

Zhu Lian’s hands clenched at his side. He knew who stood before him: “Xie Zhuo…”

And Xie Zhuo also seemed to realize who the person before him was. He saw the brush and ink on the table beside the bed and asked Zhu Lian, “How is my name written? Did Mother teach you?”

Zhu Lian raised his hand and threw the book from the bedside at Xie Zhuo’s face.

The book came flying, but Xie Zhuo just stood there holding the vase, not blocking it. The spine of the book hit Xie Zhuo right in the eye. I don’t know how much it hurt, but I saw Xie Zhuo raise one hand to cover his right eye.

“Get out!” Zhu Lian shouted in anger.

At that moment, urgent footsteps came from outside. Xie Ling almost burst in!

Seeing the situation in the tent, her face immediately turned dark. She grabbed Xie Zhuo’s arm, the very one he was using to cover his eye. The curved angle of his arm made it convenient for Xie Ling to pull him.

Xie Ling directly dragged Xie Zhuo out and threw him aside.

The big tail helped Xie Zhuo find his balance. He didn’t fall, but had some difficulty keeping one eye closed as he looked at Xie Ling.

Xie Ling seemed to be in a towering rage. She looked at Xie Zhuo as if completely infuriated, but strangely, she didn’t say a single word to him. Instead, she turned and headed toward the ice lake.

The surrounding Snow Wolf Tribe people heard the commotion, and some gathered around. Tribe members discussed, “A’Yu seems to be heading toward the direction where the Chieftain is in seclusion…”

“The Evil God’s spirit is in the Chieftain’s body. Will A’Yu be safe going like this?”

“A’Yu knows her limits. This Xie Zhuo really shouldn’t be allowed to wander around.”

“What if he hurt Zhu Lian…”

The surrounding words swirled like a vortex, carrying malice and surging forth.

I only wish I had a pair of hands to cover Xie Zhuo’s ears.

But Xie Zhuo didn’t seem greatly affected. He just rubbed his eye, and once recovered, he followed in the direction Xie Ling had left, despite all the harsh words.

I chased after them too, faster than Xie Zhuo this time. I found Xie Ling first.

As other Snow Wolf Tribe members had said, in the darkest corner of the forest by the ice lake, she was shouting at a black shrine-like wooden cabin, “Imprison Xie Zhuo! Lock him up!”

From the black cabin, there was no response.

In her rage, Xie Ling stepped forward to enter the cabin, but the moment she set foot forward, she was repelled by an invisible force.

Xie Ling fell to the ground. A deep male voice came from the cabin: “Your mission is to offer to the Evil God’s vessel. Or, today you will become food for the Evil God.”

Either offer to Xie Zhuo, or become nourishment for the Evil God today.

Xie Ling said nothing more. Her nails dug into the ground until they turned back, leaving bloodstains on the snow-white ground.

She stood up, no longer as furious as when she arrived, but as if she had buried a sea of hatred in her heart.

She turned and left.

I watched her back and the ice-snow forest around. For a moment, the dream vision I had seen before mysteriously overlapped with this moment.

It seemed as if that scene I had watched in my dream was about to replay.

From a distance by the ice lake, little Xie Zhuo came running.

But Xie Ling walked past him as if she hadn’t seen him, like the wind.

“Mother.” Xie Zhuo followed Xie Ling’s footsteps. “I won’t go there anymore.” Xie Zhuo told Xie Ling, “I won’t go there anymore.”

He knew he had done something wrong. Perhaps he didn’t know why, but he apologized, and when he apologized, he was just like any other child.

The difference was, he couldn’t get forgiveness.

Xie Ling walked with her back to him, walking very fast, without responding.

Xie Zhuo followed all the way, looking up at Xie Ling’s face, asking in the silence: “I just want to know, which character is in my name?”

He wanted to know himself.

He wanted to know why he existed.

“Zhuo? Zhuo? Zhuo? They… won’t tell me…”

Xie Ling’s sleeves fluttered in the air.

Xie Zhuo reached out, as if wanting to touch her sleeve.

“Slap!”

His hand was harshly knocked away.

This sound was much louder than what I heard in my dream.

It seemed to strike Xie Zhuo’s still-developing face.

In Xie Zhuo’s eyes, disgust and hatred were undisguised on Xie Ling’s face.

“Get lost! You are the child of filth! Don’t come near me! You only bring misfortune!”

Xie Zhuo stood frozen until Xie Ling walked away and disappeared.

The light that had been ignited in his eyes when he received that response now dimly extinguished.

Looking at Xie Zhuo like this, I felt heartbroken and afraid.

I feared he would think that with the summer flowers’ petals all fallen, his good fortune had ended too.