Yun Wao didn't say anything.
He just stood there like an NPC that glitched mid-cutscene.
His mouth opened, but he didn't move it.
His lips didn't even try.
> "Who…"
It just… came out.
By itself.
Not his voice exactly, but from him.
Like his soul asked the question before his brain could catch up.
He immediately shut his mouth.
Looked around like someone else had said it.
But no. It was just him.
Alone. In the ashes of everyone he ever knew.
---
He didn't scream.
Didn't cry.
Didn't drop to his knees in the rain like some dramatic wuxia guy.
He just blinked.
Turned around.
And left.
No plan. No goodbye. No nothing.
He ran like a broken NPC who didn't know which quest to take anymore.
He used whatever was left in his space ring.
Not for luxury or food. Nah, that arc was dead.
Dude just bought transport. Paid random mortal pilots to fly him across oceans. Then boats. Then walking. A lot of walking.
He didn't care where he went.
He just didn't wanna be near the ashes.
Or the memories. Or the silence.
---
And that's how he ended up here.
Sitting in some unknown continent.
Yeah — he didn't even know where he was anymore.
It wasn't on any map he remembered.
The stars looked different. The trees were weird. The squirrels barked. (seriously.)
He sat in the corner of a dusty mortal village — no name, no gold, no nothing.
His once-shiny robes were now basically just rags.
One kid asked if he was a scarecrow. Another offered him a single boiled pea.
A PEASANT PEA.
And bro just stared at it like it was a divine treasure.
---
And the worst part?
He still hadn't fully reacted.
Three months.
And all he'd done was run.
He hadn't processed it.
Hadn't accepted it.
He was just... floating through the world like a ghost with a heartbeat.
Until—
> "Who…"
It came again.
Same voice. Same feeling.
Not from him. But inside him.
He didn't try to answer it.
Because deep down… he was scared the answer might actually be him.
---
He laid down next to a chicken coop that smelled like regret.
Looked up at the sky. Different stars. No answers.
And finally—just barely—
He let himself think it.
> "They're really gone."
"All of them."
"And I'm just… here."
---
Li Yun Wao.
Once the rising genius of a proud dynasty.
Now?
A barefoot, nameless beggar on a continent even he couldn't name.
The world didn't just forget him.
> It never even noticed he was gone.
---
End of Chapter 3
…