‘SEE YOU MORNING’ 151 A Fleeting Eternity

This is an old-fashioned Ferris wheel fitted with vintage gravity gondolas. Supported by steel pipes and taut steel cables, it stands far from the bustling downtown area. Time here seems softer and quieter, so tranquil that it feels as if the clock has turned back, leading people back to days gone by.

The sun dipped toward the horizon, and there were only a few tourists left on the ride. Li Haojun and Malaya stepped into one gondola. To keep the balance, he sat across from her. The dying sun, about to sink behind the western hills, cast its glow upon her cheeks. In that moment, Li Haojun had a strange feeling. The heavy glow of the setting sun seemed to traverse time and space, freezing this instant across the past, the present and the future.

“What’s on your mind?” Malaya asked curiously, noticing that Li Haojun had spaced out and stared at her absentmindedly.

“Oh,” Li Haojun snapped back to his senses.

“The sunset is beautiful.”

“Yes, it is,” Malaya replied simply.

The Ferris wheel creaked and turned slowly. The gondola carrying Li Haojun and Malaya rose gradually. Looking out the window, the rising cabin seemed to chase the sinking sun. Amid its ups and downs, it held onto this fleeting eternity bathed in the afterglow of dusk.

“What I mean is, moments like this are wonderful with you by my side,” Li Haojun finally voiced his thoughts to Malaya.

“And your sister too.”

Malaya smiled.

“And Emily, right?”

“Yeah. Thank you for walking into my life.”

The Ferris wheel kept rotating slowly, nearing its highest point. Li Haojun gazed at the wheel’s framework outside the window, where a last streak of crimson light still lingered at the very top.

He wondered if his bond with them would be just like this sunset — brilliant and lovely, yet gone in the blink of an eye. Almost unconsciously, he reached out and held Malaya’s hands.

The gondola descended and melted into the night. The glass windows refracted the twinkling city lights below, creating an otherworldly scene. Holding Malaya’s hands, Li Haojun studied her face in the dim night.

“Shall we walk back to the inn?”

“Haha, what’s gotten into you?” Malaya laughed.

“Why so sentimental all of a sudden?”

Li Haojun let out a bitter smile.

“I just don’t want time to pass so quickly.”

A cool wind blowing from the desert swept through the long streets in the night. Street lamps in the old town cast pale yellow light over the road. Far ahead, countless lights dotted the skyline, and he wondered if that distant glow was the place he had always yearned for.

“Sorry, I got carried away and forgot to think about something. Is it safe for us to walk around here? I was too emotional just now.” Li Haojun regained his usual composure.

“It’s safe here. Anyone with criminal intent will be stopped immediately.”

“I see. Has it come that far? How does it work?”

“Monitoring devices are installed in public areas to deter people with violent criminal tendencies. Such people are rarely seen in this district. You might find them on the city outskirts, but they are mostly intercepted through various means.”

“No wonder there was that truck accident the other day. I always suspected someone was behind it.”

“That could be true. It’s our day off, let’s talk about something else.”

“Alright.” Though he answered her, Li Haojun was still lost in thought. He questioned whether his rational self or his overly emotional self was the abnormal one. He wondered which side should take charge of him, or if he was simply torn between sensibility and reason, like a man divided against himself. He had never been like this before. He could not recall much of his distant past, yet he had never been so restless before the two sisters came into his life. Now that Malaya was back, he felt utterly at a loss. Was it true that the more you cherished something, the more you feared losing it?

After a long silence, Li Haojun asked the question weighing on his heart. “You and your sister have relied on each other for survival. But every life comes to an end someday. Do you fear losing her?”

“She is my sister in this lifetime. When this life draws to a close, what is there left to fear or grieve over regarding what happened here?”

The night wind grew chillier. Li Haojun tucked their clasped hands into his pocket. He met Malaya’s gaze, as she waited for his opinion after speaking her mind.

“If souls exist and we retain consciousness after death, we will miss the ones we shared our life with and long to stay together.”

“What if that’s not possible?”

“I would be heartbroken.”

“And after the sorrow fades?”

Li Haojun fell silent, gazing at Malaya’s face, which had long shed childish innocence.

“Then you gradually let go and return to a peaceful life. Yet restlessness creeps in, and you set out to search once more. Joy and sorrow come and go, and you swing between hope and anxiety. Isn’t life just such a cycle?”

“I suppose so. But there will always be people we care deeply about.”

“You could always become a monk and leave the mortal world behind.”

Li Haojun smiled bitterly and spoke in a slightly aggrieved tone. “Hmph, with all of you around, I could never cut my ties with the mortal world.”

“Haha. Do you really think you could do it even without us?”

“Haha.” Li Haojun laughed too. He knew deep down he could never take that path. To his surprise, this young girl seemed to understand him just as well as he understood himself. He wondered where exactly they stood within this endless cycle of life.

They finally returned to the inn. The two-hour walk had drained Li Haojun completely. He suspected his tendons had been strained during the fight that morning. Truly, love always comes with a price. Thankfully, tomorrow was another day off, and he could rest properly.

Malaya still seemed full of energy, pacing back and forth across the room. As usual, she placed detection devices near the doors and windows.

“Ethan, I’ve finished all the preparations. I’m going to meditate for a while. You can take a shower now; no one will compete with you for the bathroom.”

“Sure.” Li Haojun rose to his feet. Malaya sat down on the bed opposite him and closed her eyes to focus her mind.

Li Haojun turned up the water temperature, hoping to wash away the tiredness of the day and soothe his aching muscles. He could not help wondering why she had formed the habit of meditating.

A pale crescent moon and sparse stars hung over the desert night sky. Looking closely, one could spot aircraft rising from above Las Vegas and heading straight for outer space.

Inside a starship orbiting Earth, an interstellar video coordination meeting was underway, focusing on regulating alien forces conducting human genetic modification across the North American continent. Some extraterrestrial races possessed abilities that transcended time and space, and they grew concerned about the long-term consequences of these experiments. Verbal communication was useless when dealing with them; only pure consciousness could bridge the gap between different beings.

Down on the ground, wrapped in quiet night, Li Haojun stepped out of the bathroom and back into the room. Malaya was still deep in meditation. He had thought of waking her to take a shower, but the thought passed quickly, for he did not wish to disturb her. Still feeling uneasy, he stood before her and watched closely. He saw her chest rise and fall steadily, and reached out to check, confirming that she was breathing normally through her nostrils.