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The forest breathed in the quiet darkness.

Moonlight filtered through the dense canopy, painting patches of silver on the ground.

The faint rustling of leaves and the distant call of an owl were the only sounds disturbing the silence, yet an unsettling energy seemed to linger in the cool night air.

In a small clearing, three tents lay scattered, shadows of their occupants dimly visible through the fabric.

A faint orange glow still lingered from a smoldering campfire, casting the scene in an eerie half-light.

Outside the tents, one man lay on his back on the cool ground, his hands behind his head, eyes locked on the expansive sky above.

Sharp-featured with dark, perceptive eyes, Liang Xun was a man whose calm expression often masked layers of intensity.

Yet tonight, his gaze was tinged with a trace of restlessness, a tension he couldn’t shake.

Out here, beyond the familiar walls of his office and the city lights, the world felt vast.

The quiet pressed in on him, grounding him in a rare calm he’d grown unaccustomed to, but there was something off—a strange pull in the air he couldn’t explain.

He watched the stars for a long while, letting their distant light guide his thoughts.

Just as he felt himself drifting into a peaceful daze, a sudden flash tore across the sky—a bright, blinding streak that didn’t belong to any star.

A bolt of lightning ripped through the darkness, so sudden and violent it stole the breath from his lungs.

For a single instant, the forest, the trees, and the entire world were bathed in blinding white, the brilliance so fierce it etched shadows of leaves and branches onto his vision.

And then it was gone, replaced by a rumbling thunder that crashed through the heavens like the wrathful roar of an ancient god.

Liang Xun shot upright, eyes scanning the sky, half-expecting to see storm clouds rolling in.

But the sky remained clear, an endless expanse of stars staring down with mocking tranquility.

“What in the…” he murmured, his voice barely more than a whisper.

The words seemed to dissolve into the heavy silence that had returned, pressing in thicker and more foreboding than before.

His pulse raced as he glanced around, scanning the darkened forest.

Something was out there—something that didn’t belong, as though the lightning had split open a barrier between worlds.

That faint pull he’d felt earlier returned, stronger now, like an invisible hand guiding him deeper into the shadows.

For a moment, he glanced back at the tents where his friends slept soundly, oblivious to the disturbance.

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The voice of reason urged him to stay, to cling to the familiar calm of the campsite.

But a stronger curiosity gnawed at him, overcoming any sense of caution.

There was something in that darkness waiting for him, something he couldn’t ignore.

Silently, he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small flashlight.

Its beam cut a thin, pale path through the shadows as he stepped beyond the clearing, each footfall slow and measured.

With every step, the forest seemed to close in around him, swallowing him in its depths.

Here, the silence grew even heavier, amplifying every sound—the crunch of his boots on dead leaves, the distant creak of branches, the rhythmic thud of his own heartbeat pulsing in his ears.

Even the air felt different, thick with an otherworldly energy that prickled against his skin.

After a while, he realized he’d ventured far enough to turn back. His rational mind urged him to leave this strange curiosity alone, to return to the warmth and familiarity of the campfire.

And yet, he kept moving forward, driven by a feeling he couldn’t explain.

And then he saw it—a faint, pale light flickering through the trees.

Liang Xun froze, breath catching in his chest. The light was delicate, ethereal, like the gleam of a lone star that had fallen to earth. It pulsed with a strange rhythm, drawing him closer with every flicker.

Compelled by the haunting beauty of it, he took a step forward, and then another, his footsteps slow and cautious.

The closer he got, the more defined the light became, until finally, he could make out the shape it illuminated.

When he reached the source of the glow, his breath caught in his throat.

There, lying on the forest floor, was a girl—or something close to it.

Her form was slender and graceful, draped in a dress that seemed to shimmer with an otherworldly light, as though spun from the moonlight itself or snow.

The fabric glistened with a faint, silvery sheen, as if woven from threads of starlight.

But it was her face that rooted him in place, freezing him with equal parts awe and fear.

A bunny face?

She lay still, her long, delicate ears drooping slightly as though in sleep.

Her face was gentle, covered in light downy fur, her closed eyes framed by long, dark lashes that rested softly against her cheeks.

Her entire form was tranquil, her expression serene, as though she were cradled in some unearthly dream.

Liang Xun took a shaky step back, his heart hammering in his chest.

Every instinct screamed at him to turn away, to leave her to whatever fate had placed her here and pretend he’d never seen her.

Yet he couldn’t move, couldn’t tear his gaze from the strange, ethereal beauty of her.

She was too strange, too otherworldly, like a creature torn from the pages of a forgotten myth. There was a fragile beauty to her, a sense of purity so profound it struck him to his core.

Before he realized what he was doing, he found himself reaching out, bending down to get a closer look.

His hand hovered above her wrist, fingers trembling as he finally dared to touch her, feeling for any sign of life.

The instant his fingers brushed her skin, a shock jolted through him.

She was cold—colder than ice, as though her body belonged to a world untouched by warmth.

Yet beneath that chill, he felt it—a faint, steady beat, the unmistakable rhythm of a pulse.

Relief, wonder, and a hint of fear tangled in his chest, leaving him breathless. She was alive. Whatever she was, wherever she’d come from, she was still clinging to life.

His hand lingered on her wrist for a moment longer before he pulled it away, his gaze locked on her serene face. She was real, yet she didn’t belong to any reality he knew. Everything about her defied explanation, defied logic, but he felt a strange compulsion to protect her, to keep her safe.

The rational part of his mind warned him to walk away, to pretend this surreal encounter had never happened.

But something deeper—a primal, unexplainable instinct—kept him rooted to the spot, refusing to let him leave.

Without fully understanding why, he reached down and gathered her into his arms. Her body was so light, so ethereal that he half-expected her to slip through his grasp like mist.

The cold radiating from her seeped into him, but he held her close, cradling her with a gentleness he didn’t know he possessed.

As he turned back toward the campsite, a strange determination settled over him, the weight of his actions sinking in.

This girl, whoever—or whatever—she was, had somehow drawn him from his world into hers, binding him to her fate.

---

The walk back was long, each step weighted with disbelief.

Back at the clearing, he moved quietly, avoiding the tents where his friends still slept soundly.

His footsteps soft and steady as he head straight to his car, parked nearby in the shadows.

Carefully, he opened the back door, laying her gently across the seat.

He adjusted her until she lay comfortably, her serene face illuminated by the faint glow of the car’s interior light.

For a long moment, he simply stood there, watching her. Her face was peaceful, undisturbed by whatever strange circumstances had brought her into his life.

She looked like she was simply sleeping, her expression one of pure tranquility.

With a quiet sigh, he removed his coat and draped it over her, hoping it might shield her from the chill that seemed to cling to her, an ever-present aura of cold.

He couldn’t explain the tenderness he felt, the urge to protect her from whatever dangers lay in this unfamiliar world.

As he finally slid into the driver’s seat, he cast one last glance over his shoulder.

Her presence, her beauty, and the silent mystery that surrounded her defied all logic, yet he couldn’t bring himself to question his actions.

She lay there, strange and beautiful, as if held in a dream.

Starting the car, he pulled away from the clearing, the hum of the engine breaking the silence of the forest.

Occasionally, he glanced into the rearview mirror, half-expecting her to vanish like an apparition before his eyes.

With every mile that passed, questions swirled in his mind.

Who was she? Where had she come from? And why had she been lying alone in the forest? Each question was a sharp ache of curiosity, but none of them held any answer.

And yet, with every glance back, he felt something settle within him—a sense of purpose, an unspoken resolve.

He knew, beyond reason or understanding, that this girl had changed something within him.

She had pulled him into a journey he could not abandon, binding their fates together in ways he couldn’t yet comprehend.

Whatever mysteries lay ahead, whatever dangers waited in the dark, he knew one thing with certainty: life, as he knew it, would never be the same again. Never. Again.