Chapter 151

After the Rain in Midsummer

The entire mountain seemed to have been doused with a bucket of cold water, with faint water vapor hovering in the air, warm and humid.

Samson Nan was panting heavily, sweat almost soaking through his short sleeves.

He took a taxi to the foot of the mountain, then ran wildly up to the halfway point.

When he looked up, he realized that the sun was almost setting.

The crowd of people who had come to visit the mountain began to descend.

In a daze, he seemed to see a familiar figure.

"Raina...!"

He was about to call out to her.

But the next second, she disappeared in the bustling crowd.

Did he see wrong?

No time to think about it further.

He ran off again.

Lanhe Mountain.

When was the last time he came here? His memory was a bit blurry.

...

The stone path, still wet from the rain, meandered towards the depths of the forest.

After staring at it for a while, he continued walking forward.

"Fish and love separated, waiting for the cycle."

He remembered the note Raina Nan left when she left.

His heart tightened unconsciously.

Only someone who had been to Lanhe Mountain would understand the meaning of this sentence.

It wasn't a good omen...

He gnawed at his teeth in frustration, regret washing over him.

What if she...

Unable to dwell on it, he shook his head and looked ahead.

The sound of rushing water came from his ears.

It seemed like he had arrived.

Feeling a bit nervous, he looked towards the direction of the sound.

The evening sunlight seeped through the cracks in the trees and sprinkled onto the stone tablet next to the spring.

Quanyu Spring.

This was it.

He looked around and besides the continuous chirping of insects and birds, there was only a monk busy sweeping the path.

Probably someone from the Lanhe Temple on this mountain.

"Hello."

He cleared his throat and walked over.

"Have you seen a girl here?"

He spoke while gesturing with his hand.

"About 17 or 18 years old, about this tall, fair..."

"Sorry, there have been so many people coming and going on this mountain all day, I can't remember who you're talking about."

The monk smiled helplessly and shook his head.

"Please think again! She's not wearing glasses, and her hair is about this long..."

His voice became a bit urgent, and then he paused.

"Oh!"

He frantically took out his phone.

"This is the person!"

He pointed to the photo on his phone's screen.

"Hmm..."

The monk stared at the screen, pondering for a moment, then shook his head.

"I don't seem to have seen her..."

"Is that so?"

He replied weakly.

The disappointment of seeing hope and then having it dashed made his mind go blank in an instant.

The confident him from earlier suddenly hesitated.

Could he have been wrong?

...

"Fish and love separated, waiting for the cycle."

He glanced at the words engraved on the stone tablet next to Quanyu Spring.

"Is it when I disappear?"

He remembered Raina Nan's last words to him.

Raina, where on earth did you go?

He slapped his cheek, trying his best not to think in a negative direction.

No time to hesitate, no time to delay here.

He turned around and prepared to head down the mountain.

...

"Sir, wait!"

At that moment, the monk suddenly spoke up, stopping him in his tracks.

...

He paused and turned around.

"What's the matter?"

"I think I just remembered..."

The monk said, taking out a neatly folded slip of paper from his pocket.

"It was given to me by a girl about a week ago."

Samson Nan froze for a moment, took the paper slip, and unfolded it.

"An ear of wheat for the virgin, to illuminate the night."

It was Raina Nan's handwriting, there was no mistaking it.

"A week ago?"

But she clearly disappeared today...

"What does it mean..."

He hesitated and bit his lip.

"The girl said that if someone came looking for her, I should give this note to him."

The monk scratched his head as he spoke.

"I didn't think of this earlier."

"..."

Samson Nan stared at the words on the note, lost in thought.

The monk looked at his profile for a while before speaking again.

"That girl, she must be very important to you, right?"

"Um..."

He fell silent and muttered to himself.

"The most important person."

"..."

A moment of silence.

"I guess."

The monk chuckled and spoke.

"She probably wants you to find her."

"Really?"

He turned back to the monk, somewhat incredulous.

A week ago, right after the graduation trip, she had been here.

It seemed that she had planned it.

...

"If the girl only wants you to find her, could it be..."

The monk seemed to sense his distress and continued.

"A place that only the two of you know?"

...

"A place only the two of us know..."

Samson Nan snapped out of his reverie.

He looked thoughtfully at the piece of paper in his hand.

"The wheat spike of a virgin will light up the night."

He recited silently, lifting his head to realize that the sun was almost disappearing beyond the horizon.

Nightfall was approaching.

"Light up the night..."

He paused, momentarily stunned.

Brightness ignited in his eyes.

"I know!"

Excitedly, he bowed to the monk.

"..."

The monk smiled with narrowed eyes and nodded gently.

...

Without further hesitation, he ran in the direction down the mountain.

Raina Nan hadn't come here today at all.

Normally, he would want to scold her fiercely in a situation like this.

But this time, all he wanted to do was find her.

For the first time, he felt an uneasy sensation that his sister, whom he was so familiar with, might disappear from his world in the next second.

...

He arrived at the foot of the mountain.

Beep beep beep.

In the interval of waiting for a car, his phone suddenly rang.

He panicked and nearly dropped it.

"Hello?"

"Logan?"

He was somewhat surprised.

"Have you found Yuyu?"

Jocelyn York's voice sounded anxious on the other end of the phone.

"..."

It seemed like his mother had called everyone to ask.

"Not yet."

He sighed and replied.

"Then... then let's split up and look for her! William Wei is here too, it'll be faster if several of us search instead of just you!"

"No need, Logan."

"But..."

Jocelyn York was about to say something, but William Wei's voice interrupted.

"Why bother with Samson Nan? Let's hurry and look! It's almost dark!"

...

"Logan."

Samson Nan spoke in a subdued voice, bringing Jocelyn York back from her panic.

"If she doesn't want to be found, you won't be able to find her, maybe..."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"Maybe only I can find her."

"..."

Jocelyn York fell silent, not speaking for a long time.

...

After a while, she spoke softly again.

"Samson Nan, then..."

"..."

"Good luck."

"Yeah."

There were no more words.

An unspoken understanding, any additional words would be unnecessary.

She hung up the phone.

Holding the phone in her hands.

Standing there, vacant, silent, not saying a word for a long time.

...

Samson Nan sat in the back seat of a taxi.

Looking out the window.

The hustle and bustle and the lights of the city gradually faded as they moved farther away.

The salty sea breeze outside the window brushed his cheeks.

They continued along the coastal road like this for over two hours.

...

"Brother, are you sure you want to get off here?"

The driver parked the car and looked around.

There was nothing in this place, neither a village nor a store.

"Yeah, right here," he said, and got out of the car.

...

He walked, and found the gap on the side of the road ahead.

He walked down the steps along the gap, and arrived at the beach.

Under the night sky, the sea was no longer the bright blue of the day, only endless darkness and the sound of waves.

In the distance, there seemed to be a few fishermen returning on fishing boats, their lights shining like fireflies, dotted the sea.

Not far away, there stood a lighthouse, with beams of light scanning the dim sea surface.

"The wheat ears of the Virgo will illuminate the night..."

He looked at the rarely visited lighthouse and muttered.

It was there that Raina Nan told him the legend of "Spica", the first magnitude star.

She said

That star, representing "the wheat ears of the Virgo", symbolized harvest and was her lucky star.

...

He swallowed hard.

Deciding to climb the lighthouse again.

Perhaps, she was there.

...

After climbing the spiral staircase of the lighthouse for a long time, he finally reached the top.

Nervously, he pushed open the door at the top of the tower.

The sea breeze blew, teasing her hair. She reached out and tucked it behind her ear.

In her pupils, there reflected the faint light of star dust, constantly staring at him without blinking.

"Yuyu!"

He reached out his hand.

But everything in front of him disappeared like a mirage.

"..."

He was stunned.

Clutching his fist, he knelt on the ground at the top of the tower.

Regretfully, he pounded the ground with force.

Every time he thought he had found her, she disappeared like a dream.

An uneasy feeling spread in his mind, impossible to put into words.

...

The stars in the night sky became more and more, gradually filling the entire night sky.

The cold starlight illuminated the darkness.

And it also illuminated the top of the tower.

Samson Nan widened his eyes

Then he noticed that there seemed to be words on the ground.

"Night of the stars, reborn at dawn"

As if he found a lifeline, he carefully looked at these words.

They were left by Raina Nan.

"Reborn..."

He desperately tried to recall.

Suddenly, he looked up.

"Could it be..."