After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

When the car returned to the cemetery, Anning was no longer there.

Lu Xiyan got out of the car and ran towards Li Chunfang and An Yu's graves. He looked around but didn't see An Ning.

The white chrysanthemums in front of the stone tablet at my feet swayed their petals in the breeze, everything looked as if I had just left.

And what about Anning? Where did she go?

She promised to wait for him to come back and pick her up, where did he go?

Lu Xiyan's eyes narrowed slightly. She was able to leave the cemetery so quickly because he had just left and she left right after him.

Where was she going? Why didn't she tell him?

Lu Xiyan quickly dialed the number, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

The phone rang for a long time but no one answered.

Dial again.

Still no one answered.

He went back to the car and asked the child inside who had just stopped crying.

"Kid, what did your mom say to you?"

Xiao Anxian had already wiped away her tears, and was still sobbing slightly, blinking her wet eyes. "My mom said she wants me to go home with you, and that I can see my dad every day from now on."

Lu Xiyan's expression hardened, and his heart sank. "Anything else?"

"And..." the little one thought for a moment, "Mom said that Dad will be able to sleep and eat with me every day from now on, and he'll also play with me. She also said that I should listen to Dad from now on."

These last words sent a shiver down Lu Xiyan's spine.

He knows Anning too well.

This was unlike her usual explanation.

He always felt it meant something else.

Did your mother tell you that she would be coming with us?

When he asked that question, his voice betrayed his barely concealed tension and anxiety.

Seeing the little guy shake his head, he subconsciously gripped the phone in his hand tightly until his knuckles turned white.

Lu Xiyan didn't have time to think too much; his heart was pounding. He made another call, his voice icy as he ordered, "Find someone!"

He instructed the driver to take An Xuan home and then made a phone call to his family.

Zhao Li answered the phone.

He asked Anning if she had gone home, and Zhao Li said no.

Lu Xiyan hung up the phone and stood in the empty and desolate cemetery, feeling a chill run through his body.

......

The seawater surged and crashed against the shore, splashing water several meters high.

An Ning stood by the sea, the sea breeze blowing her black skirt up and her tied-up black hair scattered in the air.

Waves of seawater washed over my ankles, and the air was filled with the salty scent of the sea.

The sunlight shone on her, but she felt no warmth at all.

After a life of constant wandering, she was already feeling somewhat exhausted.

She didn't know where to go or where to stop.

It seemed that her fate never allowed her to stop and rest for a moment, and she was truly exhausted.

The phone was held loosely in my hand, constantly ringing and sending message notifications.

She seemed not to hear him, no matter how many times he called out.

She gazed indifferently at the distant sea, feeling her phone vibrate incessantly, the vibrations making her hand numb. Only then did she blink slightly, as if just realizing what was happening.

She glanced down and saw that the caller ID displayed only one letter—A.

She is the one who comes first.

An Ning's long eyelashes trembled slightly; it was his phone call.

Four years ago, she did the same thing, refusing to answer Lu Xiyan's calls, which made him angry.

She couldn't ignore his calls; he would get angry.

When someone is angry, it's hard to appease them.

She picked up her phone blankly, her fingers trembling uncontrollably.

She didn't want to tremble, but she couldn't control her body.

Her hands were shaking so badly that she had to hold the phone with both hands to answer the call.

"Anning! Anning, where are you!"

As soon as the call was answered, Lu Xiyan's angry questioning came through.

See, he's so hard to coax when he's angry.

An Ning's throat was dry and parched. "...Xi Yan, don't be angry..."

Lu Xiyan's anxious voice reached his ears, "Where are you? Tell me where you are?"

"It's too dark, I can't see..." An Ning stammered, gazing into the distance as she walked forward step by step. "Why isn't there even moonlight today?"

On the other end of the phone, Lu Xiyan's back was stiff. He looked up at the glaring sunlight, sweat sliding down his brow bone and landing on the tip of his nose.

The receiver carried the sound of whistling wind and crashing waves.

Lu Xiyan's heart clenched instantly!

The ocean!

"Ningning! It's okay if you can't see, just stay there and don't move, don't move..."

Lu Xiyan gently coaxed him, then quickly turned the steering wheel and made a U-turn.

"Ningning, listen to me, don't move!" Lu Xiyan gripped the steering wheel with one hand, dodging traffic and accelerating to the maximum speed.

Sweat streamed down his smooth cheek as he gripped his phone tightly, as if he were subtly holding onto An Ning's hand.

His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of his chest, but his voice remained steady and gentle. "Ningning, even if it's dark and there's no moon, there will still be stars. And even if there are no stars, there will still be lights."

"It's okay, I can see it."

"Your world will never be dark, because with me here, it will never become dark."

On the phone, An Ning murmured repeatedly, "...Xi Yan, it's dark, so dark that there's no road left."

Hearing the sound of footsteps pushing against the seawater, Lu Xiyan gripped the steering wheel tightly and floored the accelerator. "An Ning! If you go any further, there really won't be a road left!"

An Ning held her phone listlessly, walking forward as if she had lost her soul, stepping into the icy seawater one step at a time.

The seawater was up to her knees and very cold.

But nothing could cool the temperature in her heart.

The seawater gradually rose above her waist, and the immense buoyancy made her unsteady on her feet. She stumbled, and her phone fell into the water.

Lu Xiyan's voice swirled through the receiver, but An Ning didn't hear it.

My phone got swallowed by seawater and went black.

Just like her world, it was pitch black.

"Lu Xiyan..."

She murmured, "Whether we meet again in the next life really depends on luck..."

She parted her lips slightly, letting the icy seawater engulf her.