Wen Xue frowned deeply. "Gu Jin, I’m serious. You can’t just rush off. That country is heavily guarded. And you’ve got the Alchemist Competition coming up. If you’re caught—"
Gu Jin raised her hand, cutting him off.
"She risked her life because of me," she said quietly. "She wouldn’t have been in this mess if she hadn’t tried to help uncover the truth. I can’t sit around and wait."
Wen Xue opened his mouth, clearly about to argue, but then Gu Jin said calmly:
"Then at least tell me where Long Yifan is."
He looked away for a moment, as if collecting his thoughts. Then he let out a long breath.
"Long Yifan... is in a better condition now. But not good."
Gu Jin’s eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by ’not good’? Where is he?"
Wen Xue hesitated. His fingers fidgeted with the edge of his sleeve, a rare sign of unease. Then he gave her a helpless look.
"He fell into a spatial rift."
Gu Jin blinked. "A rift?"
"Yes. He was standing in a garden, maybe... and was interacting with a white lizard when the spatial rift appeared and it sucked him in before he could run away."
Gu Jin’s face tensed. "Where did he end up?"
There was a long silence. Wen Xue seemed to weigh his words before finally mumbling something under his breath.
Gu Jin raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"
Wen Xue sighed and finally said, "He ended up in a world where... men don’t exist."
Gu Jin stared at him. "What?"
"It’s true," Wen Xue said, quickly raising his hands as if defending himself.
"The entire realm is made up of only women. No males have ever been born there."
Gu Jin blinked again, as if she wasn’t sure she heard him right.
"You’re saying Long Yifan, a man, is trapped in a world where men don’t exist?"
Wen Xue nodded slowly. "Exactly."
She gave him a flat look. "That sounds made up."
"It’s not," Wen Xue said quickly.
"I’ve heard about that dimension before... well, read about it. It’s called Valoria. It was inaccessible from our world centuries ago because its laws of nature developed differently."
Gu Jin folded her arms. "How is a world like that even possible?"
Wen Xue looked almost eager to explain now, like a student sharing a strange discovery.
"The realm of Valoria operates on different magical biology. Their species evolved to reproduce through spiritual energy blending and magical genetic shaping, not the traditional male-female method.
Essentially, they developed without ever needing a male gene. Their society, culture, and even their magic reflect that."
Gu Jin stared at him. "So you’re telling me... Long Yifan is the only man in a world full of women who’ve never even seen a man before?"
Wen Xue’s ears turned a bit red. "Yes. And as you can guess... It’s complicated for him. Really complicated."
Gu Jin’s face went blank for a moment. Then she looked at Wen Xue with something between disbelief and mild horror.
Wen Xue cleared his throat. "Physically, yes. He’s being... ’studied’ for now. Not harmed. Just... observed. Like a rare creature."
Gu Jin closed her eyes for a second, clearly trying not to picture it.
Wen Xue nodded. "Yes. Yes, it is."
She took a slow breath. "Can we bring him back?"
"Only if a spatial rift opens." Wen Xue said in a sheepish tone.
Her eyes lowered, her hands slowly curling into fists at her sides. Two of the most important people in her life—both in danger. Both waiting. Both are depending on her.
Jin Mu, her cousin, who had nearly died just for uncovering the truth about her.
And Long Yifan... who was now trapped in a bizarre world where he didn’t even belong.
A strange heaviness settled over her chest. For a moment, she couldn’t breathe.
She stood there, unmoving, as the silence stretched between them.
Finally, she whispered, "I’ll go to Jin Mu first."
Wen Xue looked up sharply.
"You’re leaving?" he asked.
Gu Jin nodded. "I’m going to book a flight to that country. I’ll find her and bring her back myself."
Wen Xue frowned, a flicker of dissatisfaction flashing in his eyes. "What about Long Yifan? He... he risked everything for you. He loves you, Gu Jin. And now you’re just—"
"I know," Gu Jin said softly, cutting him off.
She turned her eyes toward him, calm and clear.
"He loves me. But I don’t love him."
He stared at her, stunned, as if she had just turned into someone else.
"...What?" he whispered.
She didn’t repeat herself. Just looked away, her face unreadable.
Wen Xue rolled his eyes.
’Sure. She doesn’t love him. She wasn’t the one who was acting as if her soul was sucked out of her body when she got to know that Long Yifan was missing.’
Gu Jin turned to leave.
Her steps were quiet, firm, almost mechanical.
But just as she reached the door, she stopped.
"Is there any way..." she asked without looking back, "to trigger a spatial rift?"
Wen Xue blinked, caught off guard.
He fell silent, thinking deeply. Then, slowly, he nodded.
"There is one way," he said. "But it’s risky. There’s a location known for unstable spatial rifts. They appear every two months or so. It’s not exact, but..."
Gu Jin turned to face him, her gaze steady. "Where?"
Wen Xue sighed. "It’s in the same country you’re visiting. The state is called Aeryndale. It’s near the northern cliffs. There’s a ruin there—ancient, abandoned, and covered in wild mana. The rift may appear there... in about one month and fifteen days."
Gu Jin nodded. "I’ll go. I’ll find Jin Mu... and then I’ll go to that place."
Wen Xue looked at her quietly. "If you want any more predictions, just contact me. I’ll help however I can."
"Thank you," she said simply.
And with that, she left the private room.
As Gu Jin stepped into her home, the soft creak of the door echoed in the empty space.
The quiet should have brought her comfort, but it didn’t. It only made the weight on her shoulders feel heavier.
She tossed her bag onto the chair and moved toward the window, her eyes scanning the distant horizon. The sky was beginning to darken, streaks of orange fading into deep purple.
She took a long breath, then let it out slowly.
Her cultivation... it hadn’t progressed in weeks. No matter how much she meditated or practiced, she kept hitting the same wall.
"I need better resources," she muttered to herself.
With the Alchemy Competition just five months away, Gu Jin knew she couldn’t afford to stay stuck.
But now, on top of that, she had to find Jin Mu, too.
She rubbed her temples, a tired sigh escaping her lips.
"This is too much," she whispered.
Still, she pulled herself together. She opened her laptop, booked a flight to the country where Jin Mu was last seen, and packed a small travel bag.
However before leaving she decided to meet all the Gu family for once.
.......................................
A soft breeze drifted in through the half-open window of a small, run-down apartment in a foreign land. The curtains swayed gently, sunlight slanting across the wooden floor.
In a quiet corner of the room, Jin Mu sat cross-legged on a thin mat. Her body was still, her breathing slow, as she tried to cultivate. Threads of energy danced around her, faint and flickering like dying embers.
But there was no progress.
She opened her eyes slowly. They were dull, shadowed with exhaustion and something deeper—hopelessness.
The door creaked open.
Pei Ke, her boyfriend, stepped inside. His eyes swept across the room before landing on her.
"You’re still at it?" he asked gently, closing the door behind him.
Jin Mu gave a weak nod, not bothering to speak.
Pei Rong walked over and crouched in front of her, his brows furrowed in concern. "Mu’er... we have to figure out how to contact someone. If we don’t get help, we might never get out of this country."
Jin Mu looked up at him. Her voice was quiet, dry. "And who do we contact?"
Pei Rong hesitated. "Your family, maybe?"
Jin Mu laughed bitterly—no humor in the sound. "The Jin family disowned me. I’m a disgrace to them."
She looked away, her hands gripping her sleeves tightly.
"And your family?" she asked after a moment.
Pei Rong sighed, sitting down beside her. "My mother’s recovering from surgery. I don’t know if she is awake or not."
Jin Mu turned her head, her expression softening with guilt. "I’m sorry."
Pei Rong reached out, gently brushing a strand of hair from her face.
"Don’t be. We’re in this together."
She smiled faintly, though it didn’t reach her eyes.
"I just... I didn’t expect things to turn out ."
"I know," he said quietly. "But we’ll figure something out. We have to."