The door to the room opened.
Xiaoqi stepped in, breathless, her face etched with deep concern.
She went straight to Zhuzhu, then gently turned her best friend left and right, examining her carefully from head to toe.
— Zhuzhu!
Are you all right?
Tell me… are you hurt?
she asked anxiously, her brows furrowed deeply.
Zhuzhu gave a faint smile, touching her friend’s arm gently.
— Qi… I’m perfectly fine.
There’s no need to worry.
It’s the one lying there who was hurt.
She is the one who saved my life from three assailants last night.
If not for her… I might not be here anymore.
Xiaoqi held her breath, then let out a long sigh of relief, placing a finger to her lips.
— Sshh… Thank heavens you are safe.
But… who exactly is this girl?
Where did she come from?
Why would she risk her own life to save yours?
And why haven’t you tried to contact her family?
Zhuzhu shook her head slowly, her gaze drifting far away toward the figure lying weakly on the bed.
— I don’t know… I feel as though this girl is lost in a place entirely foreign to her, Zhuzhu said softly.
And last night… she stood in the middle of the road, as if she no longer cared about her own life.
She was nearly hit by two speeding motorcycles.
I pulled her away just in time… In that moment, I saw utter despair in her eyes.
As if she had lost the most precious thing in her entire world.
— Something lost?
Xiaoqi frowned.
Do you know her?
Have you met before?
Zhuzhu nodded slowly, then gestured for Xiaoqi to sit beside her on the sofa.
Xiaoqi set down the bag of breakfast she had brought, then looked at Zhuzhu, ready to listen.
Zhuzhu glanced briefly at the girl lying weakly there, then began speaking in a low, steady voice.
— I have met her before… a few days ago.
Right after we finished dinner and parted ways outside the restaurant.
I got into a taxi to go home… and suddenly she appeared in the middle of the road.
The driver almost hit her.
When I got out to check on her… when her eyes met mine… my heart felt so strangely close to hers.
As if I had known her for a very long time.
And then… her lips moved softly, whispering a name — Xixi.
She looked at me intently, as if I were the person she had been longing for more than anything.
As if she were lost and didn’t know the way home… Zhuzhu paused for a moment, then continued, her voice trembling gently.
— When I reached out to help her stand… when my hand touched her shoulder… it felt as though an electric current had surged through me.
And in that same instant… faint images flashed through my mind.
Exactly the same visions that have haunted my dreams for these past seven years… Xiaoqi stared at her, eyes wide with astonishment.
— So… when you touched her shoulder… you saw visions just like the ones in your dreams?
Xiaoqi murmured, as if slowly piecing together a puzzle.
There might truly be something that connects the two of you, Zhu… Zhuzhu fell into thought, frowning in confusion.
— From everything you’ve told me… I’ve been thinking, Zhuzhu.
If she calls you Xixi, and her face keeps appearing in your dreams… could it be that this girl comes from the past?
That you and the girl you keep meeting in your dreams… are bound together by the same fate?
That all along… you were always meant to meet her?
Zhuzhu looked at the girl lying weakly on the hospital bed.
Her form was so fragile, her breathing still faint… slowly, she nodded.
— Perhaps… you may be right… Zhuzhu whispered.
She followed me… saved my life last night.
And everything that happened… feels somehow reversed from what it should be.
This girl… she doesn’t seem to belong to our world at all.
Look at the clothes she wears… they are ancient, beautifully embroidered, as if from the legends of a long-lost dynasty… Zhuzhu fell silent for a moment, her hand reaching into the folds of her clothing to touch something.
Her gaze held nothing but questions.
— And besides that… there is one more thing… she continued slowly, pulling out a small, glittering object from her pocket.
This necklace… it fell from her when I pulled her to safety last night.
This necklace… and that mysterious girl in ancient robes… both feel so foreign, yet somehow so familiar to me… Xiaoqi immediately leaned forward, her eyes widening in disbelief.
— A necklace… what kind of necklace is it?