Believe her
Over the mountains
And over the waves,
Under the fountains
And under the graves;
Under floods that are deepest,
Which Neptune obey,
Over rocks that are steepest,
Love will find out the way.
-William Shakespeare
Long Jie's gaze swept across the scene as he was looking for someone.
When he didn't find her near the helicopter, he ran back, it was a reflex. No second thoughts, no panicking, no premonition just an action born of muscle memory in response to something like he practiced repeatedly as a child.
Because he knew damm well to guess. He had lost someone once because of supposing and presuming.
If she was not here it meant.....
No. He didn't even want to think about it.
There was no such thing as coincidence in their world but tragedies.
Tragedies always ended in mourning. Be it decades ago or centuries.
Meanwhile, Long Yuan kept shouting after him to stop.
The weather was getting worse, if they stopped even for a moment, there was no guarantee they could return intact.
Long Wei shouted something to Long Jie—to stop it was dangerous or leave her there. But he didn't stop. He could not. His feet were running on their own, his heart palpating.
There were no exact words to describe his feelings. Even fear was not enough.
But fear of what?
'Fear of losing her' answered a voice in his heart.
It was bizarre. It was crazy. He had known her for few days but the place she had in his life was unshaken.
She would be his downfall. The bane of his existence yet his only need.
"If you are toying with me Zhenyi, I won't let you off."
Though in his heart he knew, it was not the matter. For the first time in his life, he prayed that he was wrong.
That the uneasiness in his heart was in vain.
Zhenyi who was nowhere in sight had no idea how desperate Long Jie was. He was looking for her like a mad man for an hour.
He was muttering to himself in order to get rid of cynical thoughts.
She had no problem with saving his life even when she endangered hers for him, but she had one in informing him when she suddenly decided to lurk in unfamiliar mountains.
Which was why he was so mad at her.
But he was anxious. His heart was palpable for no reason.
An intense premonition or something very close to a sixth sense was telling him something was not right.
He wandered and wandered, God knew for how long or at which direction, following her faded footprints he had a hunch it belonged to her.
There she was, the demoness he knew was nowhere in sight but in her place was a young helpless woman, who was looking for something in the wildernesses.
"Zhenyi," Long Jie called out in a low voice as he tried to calm his anger
She managed to said. "Long Jie?"
"It's you," she said weakly, close to whispering.
He was about to reprimand her for wandering alone and almost sucking the soul out of his body, without notifying anyone, but stopped when he took notice of the panorama.
He cursed silently.
She was behaving very strangely as if she was not Zhenyi.
He went forwards and asked, " What are you doing here?"
Long Jie was not sure if she would answer him. She was lost somewhere.
A lost little girl.
Her eyes were powerless, and her hands were searching for something in the scrubs in front of her.
" I'm looking for something."
He frowned.
" But what are you looking for? Let me help you."
"I don't know."
"You don't know? Then what are you looking for?"
"Long Jie. You think I'm lying to you?"
"No Zhenyi-
She went forward and pushed him. "Listen to me, Long Jie." She shook him a bit. "If you think I'm lying to you then leave. I can come back on my own! You don't have to stay here if you're doing it out of gratitude ."
Her voice was shaky. For the first time since they met, she looked vulnerable.
That caused such a strong surge of protectiveness to flood through him, he had to take a moment to steady himself before he spoke. " I never said you are lying Zhenyi but at least tell me what are you looking for. I can't help you if I don't even know what to look for."
"You can't help me Long Jie. No one can. That's my mystery to solve. Every time I think I reached the end, it all comes back to square one. "
"They say I'm crazy or it's an illusion. But I know it's anything but illusions. I am not hallucinating. It's real just like my dreams."
Keeping his voice soft and low, he said again, "If you tell me what it is, I can help you."
"You can't. Didn't you hear no one can't."
"Tell me."
The tone of his voice made her pause. As subtle as she could, she shook her head. It took her a moment to answer. "Never mind," she said, resigned. The fire in her voice seemed to cool with the dropping temperature. "It doesn't m-matter."
"Tell me what's going on, Zhenyi ." His voice came out raspy from the impossibly tough situation he found himself in, or from exposure to the cold air. he wasn't sure which.
"God!" She cried and then started to laugh.
If she was normal, Long Jie was confident she would shot him with those burning eyes.
"You must think I'm insane!"
"Perhaps I am. When…" She took a breath or two to calm the tremor in her voice. "When we were walking down the elevation, I saw something. Then…i thought it was because I was tired. But no I saw it again. I've experienced that before. I mean, I've seen it for the first time I was Eight. As funny it may sound, I ran after it. I still do. But I could never get near it. I told Sam he said it was my brain playing games on me because I was missing my mom but how can you miss someone you don't remember? I told Bà he didn't even say anything. I told my br- No. I - It's insane."
He studied her for a moment. Sometime during her rambling, he learned something about her. She didn't remember her mother. And whatever she was running after was real. Very much real just like her because if he understood Zhenyi, there was one thing -- her stubborn streak for things.
She looked at him her eyes glistening." Do you hear me?"
"I did."
"You believe me?" she asked him in disbelief.
"I do," he replied sincerely.
She moved backward as she saw an intense look in his eyes. Little did she realized how the land below her feet slided and she gave a loud shriek.
"JIE."