The 38th year of the Heavenly Era.

On the rooftop, Su Rin gazed at the airship rising in the distance.

Colorful cloths hung throughout the streets, like fluttering flags, and the Queen stood on the high platform in the city, holding the church's hymn.

"Under the grace of light and love — may the deity above the sky grant us spring rain, fish harvest, and peaceful winds." The Queen sang the hymn aloud: "Oh Deity, we fly towards you, beseeching your mercy!"

After eight years, this airship, a fusion of the wisdom and hope of the Kingdom, was finally completed.

The crew on the airship, dressed in grand attire, waved excitedly to the people on the ground. The sky broke into a ray of dawn-like brightness, as if Heaven's light was about to arrive.

Su Rin closed his eyes, as if seeing something familiar yet entirely different.

"Little Rin, why are you sitting here again?" Jiang Yin approached with a cup of Te Ni Tea: "Look... the ship is rising higher and is quite close to that Heaven City. For the past eight years, we've witnessed it being built bit by bit. Every plank, every rivet... couldn't be done without our contribution. It is the hope of the entire Kingdom."

Su Rin did not watch; he did not want to see a matter of predetermined outcome.

The prayers and chants of people flowed through the night. Fishermen laid down their nets, tailors stopped their stitching, and nearly everyone was filled with expectation.

"...speaking of." Jiang Yin lowered her head slightly, her bun swaying: "You've been staying at my house for eight years now."

He was truly an odd person.

Over these eight years, he was either wandering the streets or sitting on rooftops listening to the storytelling at teahouses.

Their sitting spot had changed from the third floor to the fifth floor. The fabric shop kept expanding, even Jiang Yin grew from twenty to almost thirty, with some traces of time appearing on her face. But he...

...hadn't changed at all.

Jiang Yin looked at him. His appearance hadn't changed a bit, keeping the stunning allure from their first meeting eight years ago.

Yet she couldn't help but fall into the embrace of time.

Last night, Jiang Yin for the forty-eighth time wanted to confess to him, she stood in her room alone, encouraging herself: "Come on, Jiang Yin, you can do it... eight years already, failing every time to speak up. This time... you must speak your heart, don't hesitate any longer..."

But as she finally made up her mind... she unexpectedly looked up at the mirror.

She recalled the gossip from the neighbors.

[Thirty and still not married, probably can't find someone good in the future.]

[Don't be picky while young, old and you'll be the one picked.]

[How come Boss Jiang isn't married yet? What's the use of that money, without marriage, life surely can't be happy.]

[Already not a little girl... basically nobody likes her anymore.]

...

These words made her angry. Life doesn't necessarily need love to be perfect, marriage is not the ultimate goal of a person, why judge her happiness by this standard?

This was just her own wish... she liked that person, from the moment they met, since the first sentence, since the first eye contact... she liked him. Whether marriage happens or not is no matter, she just wanted to boldly express her feelings.

...That's right, go say it.

Go say it, Jiang Yin.

"...what are you looking at?"

Jiang Yin snapped back to reality, finding Su Rin had opened his eyes, those golden eyes like a pool of shattered light.

Her lips trembled slightly, looking at those eyes, she briefly felt as if seeing the statues in the church, or the candle flame floating beneath stained glass... it was a divine indifference.

In the distance, the airship had reached deep into the clouds. People's hymns flowed into a river. Moonlight passed over their shoulders, over her trembling lips, over her wildly beating heart, flowing into his golden eyes.

And he looked back at her indifferently, as if ready to withdraw from this silent gaze.

...Jiang Yin, Jiang Yin.

She placed her right hand over her heart, feeling that pulse of eight years.

...You can't escape anymore. If you keep fleeing... it will truly be a lifetime.

She roughly guessed why his appearance hadn't changed. Perhaps, he was a legendary sea monster. Or perhaps... he was indeed the deity from above. Her lifespan was nothing compared to him. If she didn't speak now...

At that moment, she felt she was finally making the bravest decision of her life.

Against the canon in her heart, risking the thought of blasphemy, she spoke—

"Su Rin." Her voice trembled intensely: "I lo—"

No matter your identity, no matter who you are... it's all fine. This is my deepest thought at this moment, I want to speak it aloud.

Su Rin's gaze shifted slightly.

"Pop!"

Suddenly, fireworks bloomed in the sky.

"Bang—!!!"

Close from behind came the sound of hundreds of fireworks exploding. The dazzling colors in the sky crowded together, the crackling sounds instantly overshadowed Jiang Yin's voice, leaving only the sight of her moving lips, unable to hear anything.

Under the brilliant light, she stood with her back to the light, her face hidden in shadow, only her hair catching a few strands of glow.

—The airship had returned.

The crew found that Heaven City could not be approached, so it could only return. When midnight struck, Guang Mingli arrived, fireworks filled the entire city.

Until the fireworks faded, Su Rin spoke hesitantly: "What did you just say?"

Jiang Yin's mouth twitched slightly, her gaze dropped to the ground, trembling.

Soon, she looked up, touched the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, and smiled at him—a smile that couldn't be more ordinary: "No, didn't say anything, haha... I didn't say anything..."

"Um... if you could, please continue living here. I really like you..."

Her voice trembled slightly, she wanted to stop speaking, but her tongue pulled the sound along, continuing as if everything were normal:

"...the tea."

Large tears suddenly streamed down her cheeks.

She did not know why she cried.

But as she looked at his unchanging appearance through the years, she suddenly understood, perhaps, this request would never have an answer.

She was thirty this year.

And he still looked twenty.

Surely, when she's forty, fifty, sixty... her hair white, face wrinkled, steps faltering, her body frail with age... he will still look twenty.

So, never mind.

Jiang Yin, run away all your life.

You surely can't let a twenty-year-old guy lay you to rest when you are old and decrepit.

"I just remembered I haven't taken stock in the shop... I'll go first." Jiang Yin jumped off the rope ladder, her hairpin swaying, her makeup smudged into a mess.

Su Rin quietly watched until her fleeing figure was swallowed by the night.

He suddenly discovered a glass bottle left on the eaves.

It was one he saw at a morning market... very much like that bottle of aged rice wine, the neck decorated with daisies. His gaze lingered for quite some time, but he didn't buy it. It was an unreachable past; even if he bought a similar one, it would no longer hold any meaning.

The years distilled and turned into bitter wine, only he savoring it repeatedly.

But he never thought... Jiang Yin had been observing him. After he left, she secretly returned and bought that glass bottle he had glanced at several times.

... Was this what she originally planned to give him tonight?

Su Rin picked up the glass bottle, daisies blooming, emitting a fresh floral scent. She just thought he would like it and wanted to give it to him. She would never... could never understand the significance of this glass bottle; she'd never know why it attracted him.

... It was a gaze from millennia later, a future she could never reach. It was one of the rare true hearts in the endless years of the deity.

Life, a brief moment, a drop in the vast ocean.

A summer insect cannot speak of ice, nor can a frog in the well speak of the sea.

He lowered his eyelids and put away the glass bottle.

Fireworks cascaded with thousands of light threads, falling into his eyes.

...

Heavenly Era Year 45, 781 peach trees appeared in the world.

The Godfather once said he liked peach trees, liked the wine brewed from peach blossoms. Over the years, every place Su Ming'an went, he'd plant a peach tree, as if when the peach trees arrived, the Godfather had visited.

The first peach tree he planted, fifteen years had passed, it had borne fruit through talisman-induced growth. He sealed the peach blossom wine under the tree, ready to be opened if a ship ever returned.

Most of the peach blossom wine he would tilt his wrist and spill under the tree, the clear wine seeming to commemorate a faraway direction.

"Ming'an, who are you commemorating?" Yuanyuan asked.

"The Godfather." Su Ming'an's eyelids drooped, surrounded by intoxicating fragrance. A cross necklace still hung on his chest, always retaining a cold touch.

Yuanyuan's eyes widened for a moment, her mouth agape, slowly asking, "You have a Godfather by your side...?"

"Yes."

"I don't think I've ever seen him."

"You have seen him... you have seen him."

After pouring the wine, Su Ming'an went to Wang Mingming's hometown. He remembered Wang Mingming loved flowers, Han Han loved painting, Jiang Xiaosan loved fluffy toys. They were ordinary people, but he would remember.

He bought many flower seeds and planted them at Wang Mingming's former hometown. Soon, it became a famous flower city, and people didn't know which kind-hearted person had planted so many flowers. People said it must have been the work of the deity, wishing this place to become a beautiful city.

He sent the collected art supplies to Han Han's reincarnated hometown, although years later, painting there would be forbidden. But it had not yet reached that point. People discovered these delivered art supplies, finally giving impoverished artists a chance to showcase their talents. Because of this miraculous event, the city gradually became a gathering place for artists.

He had the Flying Bird deliver plush toys to Jiang Xiaosan. On that day, everyone in Changgang City witnessed a legendary sight—a flight of snow-white birds in formation, delivering plush toys, like a dreamlike painting.

He did many things.

To fulfill the uncompleted wishes of the departed that he once had no time to complete.

He did not forget them.

In Heavenly Era Year 50, they sailed the "Lighthouse," loaded with treasures from various nations, returning to the Kingdom.

The aged Queen, leaning on a scepter, tremulously walked onto the pier. Just as decades ago, welcoming back her young Captain.

The Captain veiled his face, yet not a trace of time's wear marked his exposed skin.

The Queen's golden hair had begun to whiten, wisps of snow-like strands fluttering by her ears. She gazed at the Captain for a long time, as though seeing his eternity.

"... May the deity bless you, and may the ocean's angel bless you." The Queen greeted this captain who had been at sea for over a decade, according to the ritual. Her hand trembled, almost unable to grasp the medal given to him.

A pale hand supported her hand. Through the veil, the Queen seemed to see a pair of eternally unchanged black eyes. She faintly realized, decades had passed, yet the Captain remained so young.

Indeed, she had long realized his unchanging years. But she did not force him to reveal the secret of immortality. For she vaguely guessed... this person of eternal life could not possibly be human, could only be...

The God.

"I have brought back abundant treasures for the Kingdom, as well as the whereabouts of sea monsters. They are currently friendly. If Her Majesty is interested, send a ship to find them." Su Ming'an withdrew his hand.

The Queen removed her crown, responding, her eyes deeply reflecting Su Ming'an's image, but he did not care.

He looked beyond the pier, meeting the residents waiting to welcome him.

...Just as when they bid him farewell, the streets were still crowded with colorful attire, young girls and boys enthusiastically tossing flowers, calling his name, welcoming him back.

Just like back then, as if nothing had changed.

But at this moment, those young girls were no longer the girls of that time, the young boys no longer the boys of that time. Those who once brushed past him had become part of the elder men and women. And those enthusiastic elder men and women... many now slept eternally in this warm land.

The seamstress lady from East Street, who was the most enthusiastic when bidding the Captain farewell, was nowhere to be seen in the crowd at this moment. When the dark boat cut through the river, he saw the tailor shop on the street that was once very bustling, now covered in dust. The lady who always sat in front of the shop to attract customers, he didn't know where she had gone, leaving only a rusty sewing machine.

The lad from West Street, the one who had shouted with the most effort, once wished Su Ming'an a safe journey. Back then, the light was still in his eyes. Now, sitting on the street corner smoking a dry cigarette, his ear being tugged by an old lady, it was him. Shivering, he trembled, pulling out pills from his pocket, pouring them into his mouth in one go, yet he couldn't stop coughing.

The girl from North Street, who shyly threw a glass bottle into Su Ming'an's hand back then, now was a mother of two. Her skin sun-baked, the elf-like spiritual energy lost, she dragged herself with sunlight and heavy fish baskets, carrying a newly weaned child, step by step towards home.

The dark boat sailed forward, still familiar scenes, yet no longer the same generation.

There will always be young faces, but faces will not remain young forever.

Su Ming'an looked at Yuanyuan beside him, her black hair streaked with white.

To prevent Dieying from blocking his final bionic body, his true body, before traversing, was stored in the Holy City. He now used a bionic body made for him by the deity, unable to exert his full power, but ensuring safety, for even accidental death would allow his consciousness to return to the Holy City.

This body does not change in appearance, but internally it still ages. When the century is about to pass, he will need to acquire a new bionic body.

Under the floating ribbons, Yuanyuan sighed.

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