You were calm… even as the world fell apart.
You held me once. Quietly. I never forgot.
---
It had been two years since the mall collapsed.
Two years since Ming Yue last saw Fan Zhi — the boy who had wrapped his arms around her, shielding her from chaos with the warmth of a calm heart.
She hadn't known his name back then.
Not until she searched for him in the rubble.
Not until the nights grew long and her memories refused to fade.
Back then, she was just a powerless girl—scared, trapped, and cold.
But he had spoken no words.
He hadn't tried to fight the collapse.
He simply held her — calmly, warmly — until rescue came.
That moment had stayed with her… not because it was dramatic, but because it was real.
No one had comforted her like that before.
And then, just like that…
> He disappeared.
---
It wasn't until a year later that her powers awakened.
And with them, so did her memories — sharpened and burning.
She began to ask questions.
She began to investigate.
And she began to chase his shadow.
---
At first, no one remembered him.
As if he had never existed.
No school records. No incident reports.
Only a blurry photo — one she had risked expulsion to recover from an old database.
> He wasn't forgotten. He was erased.
The more she searched, the more she realized:
Fan Zhi wasn't just missing — he had vanished from the world itself.
---
But she wouldn't stop.
Even as her cultivation path began…
Even as she rose in rank and challenged masters twice her age…
She kept his name close to her heart.
> Not because she was in love.
But because he was the only one who ever made her feel… safe.
---
Every time she fought, she remembered his calm.
Every time she bled, she remembered his silence.
And every time the world called her a prod
igy, she whispered:
> "You were extraordinary… long before I ever was."
---