Bai Fan couldn’t wait to take out that Ether Crystal as soon as he got home.
The thumb-sized crystal lay in his palm, a murky dark purple with an uneven surface, like the dried-up heart of some ancient creature.
On the way back, he had already washed off the bloodstains.
Now it lay quietly, showing no signs of danger.
Bai Fan turned on a flashlight and shone it at the crystal’s surface.
The moment the light touched the crystal, it vanished.
It wasn’t reflection or refraction.
It was like a drop of water falling into the desert, silently swallowed without leaving a trace.
Light-absorption—this is one of the most important characteristics of an Ether Crystal.
Bai Fan’s eyes immediately lit up.
‘The real deal.’
‘Definitely the real deal.’
He immediately pulled out his phone and searched Bing Web for information about Ether Crystals, hoping to confirm the specific quality of this crystal.
The more he read, the more his smile faded.
This was indeed an Ether Crystal, but its murky, opaque appearance was also a sign of high contamination.
Ether Crystals serve as the core fuel for driving legacy artifacts, as a booster for protective equipment, and as a catalyst for psionic reactions.
They hold extremely important positions in various fields of the Federation’s industry and commerce, and their value is astonishing.
But that’s only if they are pure.
As for the kind he had in his hand, with impurities clearly visible at a glance, forget about using them in high-end equipment—they’d probably explode the moment they entered a reactor.
‘I got happy for nothing.’
Bai Fan propped his chin on his hand and sighed.
‘If only I could purify it.’
The thought had barely emerged before he shut it down.
The Federation certainly possessed purification technology.
But it was an industrial crystallization built by countless top scientists and engineers, one of the most cutting-edge achievements of the Federation’s Ether Industrial Science.
Complex industrial processes, precise double reactions, equipment costs so high they were unimaginable.
Any one of those was something an ordinary person couldn’t even touch.
Bai Fan shook his head.
However, the Federation had extremely strict controls over Ether Crystals, and they were almost never seen circulating on the market.
Even this highly contaminated crystal, if taken to the underground black market, could still fetch a pretty good price.
Thinking about it that way, it wasn’t a bad deal.
It just changed from a huge profit to a big profit.
‘I’m already very lucky. One shouldn’t be too greedy. Otherwise, one misstep and there might be nothing left.’
As he thought this, Bai Fan suddenly seemed to remember something.
‘Speaking of which…’
He stood up and rummaged through the cabinet for a while.
Soon, a piece of White Jade appeared in his palm.
It was a keepsake his parents had left him before they disappeared.
The White Jade lay quietly there, so pure it almost didn’t seem like something from this world.
It was snow-white throughout, but not a cold, dead white—rather a warm, translucent color, like a jade embryo formed by gently compressing fresh early-winter snow.
When light fell on it, it wasn’t blocked, but absorbed.
Soft light flowed slowly through the fine grain of the jade, seeping in from one end and emerging from the other.
Carrying a faint warmth, as if it were breathing.
Over the years, he had checked many sources but had never been able to find the origin of this jade.
But there was one thing he always remembered: before they disappeared, his parents had repeatedly warned him.
No matter what happened, don’t let anyone know that this White Jade was in his possession.
So even later, during the hardest times, he never considered selling it.
Because it was the last thing his parents had left him, and proof that they had existed.
Perhaps one day he could find clues about his parents’ disappearance from it.
Bai Fan looked down at the White Jade in his palm, and suddenly a thought occurred to him.
It was said that when two Ether Crystals were brought close, they would resonate, and the ether inside would sense each other.
Although there was some risk involved, possibly causing ether radiation leakage.
‘But… what if this White Jade was actually some kind of Ether Crystal?’
‘What if it was precisely because its value was so high that my parents warned me so solemnly to keep it safe?’
At this thought, Bai Fan felt tempted.
Ether radiation was indeed dangerous.
It was said that prolonged exposure could even cause human mutation.
‘But just a simple test should be fine as long as I take precautions.’
He put on his protective suit and gloves again.
In one hand, he held the dark purple Ether Crystal.
In the other, he held the White Jade.
Then he slowly brought them closer, the distance narrowing.
Bai Fan instinctively held his breath, his eyes fixed on the gap between them.
His heart beat slowly and powerfully in his chest.
He was ready for any anomaly.
In the next second, they gently touched, and nothing happened.
No explosion, no blinding light, no radiation leak.
No overnight superpower awakening like in the movies.
Nothing at all.
Bai Fan froze for a few seconds, then laughed at himself.
‘I was overthinking it.’
‘But that’s fine, at least nothing unexpected happened.’
‘It seems this White Jade my parents left behind isn’t some amazing pure Ether Crystal.’
‘Probably just an extremely rare piece of jade, and nothing more.’
He suppressed his disappointment, stacked the two items together, and casually put them back in the cabinet.
After a long day, he was truly tired.
He changed clothes, lay down on the bed, and soon fell fast asleep.
The room fell quiet again, with only the gentle rise and fall of even breathing.
But in the cabinet…
That White Jade… glowed.
A soft white light slowly emerged from deep within the jade.
The light flowed along the grain of the jade, and when it touched the contaminated Ether Crystal, it wasn’t absorbed.
Instead, it transformed into countless fine silver-white threads, silently penetrating inside.
The white light slowly traveled within the crystal.
Everywhere it passed, the black-purple color faded bit by bit.
Like ink drops falling into clear water, some long-suppressed filth was being quietly washed away.
In the darkness, that contaminated Ether Crystal was gradually becoming clear.
—
Orange light fell on his eyelids, burning a blurry red patch onto his retina.
Bai Fan slowly opened his eyes.
Outside the window were rolling mountain ranges, the sunset like crimson seawater spreading after low tide, stretching all the way from the horizon.
The light of the setting sun fell on him, warm and cozy, giving him a slightly intoxicating illusion.
He lay there for a while before slowly sitting up.
This was his home.
To be precise, an old container that had been abandoned for years.
It was a temporary shelter left behind long ago by a construction crew, abandoned after the project ended.
After years of wind and rain, the metal had rusted and the edges were a bit warped, but through years of patching up, it could still keep out the wind and rain.
At least when it rained, he wouldn’t be left without a place to sleep.
For Bai Fan now, this was already considered good.
Just then, a familiar barking came from outside the door.
“Woof woof—”
Bai Fan’s eyes lit up, and he quickly leaned out the window.
At the doorway sat a fluffy big yellow dog.
It was sitting there with its tail up, and the moment it saw Bai Fan lean out, its tail started wagging furiously.
‘Da Gan!’
Bai Fan immediately ran to open the door.
The moment the door opened, the big yellow dog pounced on him eagerly.
Bam.
Bai Fan was knocked flat on the ground.
‘You…!’
Before he could finish, Da Gan was already excitedly burying its head into his chest.
Its tail wagged like a propeller.
Bai Fan couldn’t help but laugh.
Da Gan was the name he had given this dog.
Many years ago, it was also a stray dog in the area.
Back then, his parents hadn’t disappeared yet.
Young Bai Fan had once begged his parents to adopt it.
But Da Gan had wolf-dog bloodline and was wild-natured; his parents worried it might hurt him, so they ultimately didn’t agree.
But Bai Fan still often secretly shared his food with it.
Back then, they were separated by an iron gate.
Da Gan was outside.
He was inside.
Every day when he came back from school, he would always see that big yellow dog lying at the gate waiting for him.
‘One couldn’t speak dog, the other couldn’t speak human.’
‘But they seemed to understand everything.’
Later, his parents disappeared, and debt collectors blocked the door.
Life deteriorated day by day.
In the most desperate times, Bai Fan even thought about ending it all.
He locked himself in his room, planning to hang himself.
That very afternoon, Da Gan crashed through the iron gate and rushed in.
That big yellow dog, which usually wagged its tail, lunged at him like crazy, biting through the rope in one snap.
Bai Fan fell to the ground, holding his neck and coughing for a long time.
And Da Gan stayed by his side, licking his face nonstop, refusing to leave even an inch.
If it weren’t for Da Gan, Bai Fan would probably have already gone to meet his grandparents ahead of time.
From then on, he had one more family member.
So no matter how hard life got later, no matter how cornered he was, he never again entertained the thought of ending his life.
‘At least there’s still one guy waiting for me to come home. Even if it’s just for Da Gan, I have to keep on living.’
“Woof!”
Da Gan pounced again, its warm tongue licking his face wildly.
“Hahaha, stop licking!”
“Woof!”
“I said stop licking!”
Bai Fan’s face was ticklish from the licking, and he laughed so hard tears almost came out.
Seeing him laugh, Da Gan seemed even happier, wagging its tail wildly and burrowing its head into his chest.
One person and one dog were playing.
Suddenly.
Grrrr—
A loud stomach growl sounded.
The air was silent for a second.
Bai Fan and Da Gan both froze.
Then the boy scratched his head a little awkwardly.
‘I overslept and almost forgot to eat.’
He stood up and opened the cabinet.
There wasn’t much inside.
A bag of wheat bread nearing its expiration date.
And a pack of dried pork floss bought on sale at the supermarket.
Bai Fan took out a spoon, carefully scooped a spoonful of pork floss onto the bread, then divided it into two portions.
Da Gan stared at the bread with eager eyes, wagging its tail nonstop.
Bai Fan took a bite; a soft sweetness spread in his mouth.
Then came the slightly sour taste of fermented wheat flour.
That was the smell that only appeared near the expiration date.
But for Bai Fan, it was already a rare treat.
In just a few bites, he finished his portion.
Just as he wiped his mouth, he noticed Da Gan staring at him with its tongue out.
“What are you looking at?”
Bai Fan reached up and touched his face, only then realizing there were breadcrumbs at the corner of his mouth.
The next second, Da Gan lunged at him.
“Hey!”
Bai Fan was knocked down again.
“You again? Hahahaha—”
The big yellow dog took the chance to lick the breadcrumbs clean.
Bai Fan laughed so hard he couldn’t straighten his back. He got up and ran.
Da Gan immediately chased after him.
The setting sun gradually sank below the horizon.
On the barren grass, one person and one dog chased and played.
It was as if the entire world was left with only the two of them, and even the darkening twilight became gentle.
After they tired themselves out, they sat side by side at the container door, watching the distant sunset glow together.
“Da Gan.”
Bai Fan said softly.
“In a little while, we’ll leave this place.”
Da Gan’s ears twitched.
“By then, we won’t have to hide or scrape by every day.”
“We’ll be able to eat pork floss bread every day, as much as we want.”
Da Gan nuzzled his shoulder.
Bai Fan smiled and reached out to hug its fluffy neck.
‘I’ll be able to pay off Master Mo’s debt soon. When that happens, I’ll first go check out the university my parents used to attend.’
‘Then find a place facing the sea with spring blossoms, and live peacefully.’
As he thought this, he suddenly felt that the future didn’t seem so far away.
Just then—
Bang bang bang!
A rough pounding on the door suddenly sounded.
An impatient voice came from outside.
“Kid! If you don’t open the door, I’ll smash it!”