The setting sun generously scattered golden light upon all living consciousness in the world. He stood alone at the edge of the cliff; the sea breeze lifted the hem of his clothes, the azure silk lingering like waves. He slowly raised his left hand before him, unclenched his five fingers, and a single tear—a tear-like crystal—countless tiny edges and facets clustered together, flickering with the glow floating far away on the sea level, melting that scorching yet icy flame into an icy yet scorching teardrop. He slightly knitted his brows, gazing at her tear with a dazed expression. Unknowingly, his own tears blurred the entire world.

In the year she turned sixteen, for the grand coming-of-age ceremony, the villagers built a bridge for all the sixteen-year-old children, a colossal bridge, a bridge connecting the sea cliff and the sunset glow. No one could recall, when the bridge was finally completed, how many residents from city-states came to congratulate, how many noble kings came to gaze with reverence, or how many majestic popes came to offer blessings. But now, no one was old enough to remember how the villagers accomplished this feat; they could only remember that when the sixteen-year-old maidens, wearing gorgeous dresses, adorning bracelets inlaid with 101 pearls from clam shells at the bottom of the deep sea—this was the accumulation of the villagers over past decades—wearing silk hats with white feathers inserted askew, walked barefoot onto the bridge deck, walking further and further away… further and further away… in the end, only she returned carrying the sunset glow in a bottle, while the other girls vanished forever into that eternal sunset glow.
She soon faced the deliberate hostility of the villagers; she was deemed a murderous executioner, a selfish being worthy of everyone’s spurning, an inhumane traitor. People could casually spit filthy saliva onto her pure white cheeks without worrying about any potential condemnation; she was treated by the boys as a tool to vent their desires. Whenever night fell, animals would gather in the jungle, nibbling away at her heart. She tried to resist, but it only invited more painful experiences.
Finally, that terrible day arrived with the all-night rainstorm that crushed the door. Before the morning glow appeared, her mother was taken away by a dozen of the most savage strongmen organized by the village. Her mother struggled, refusing to leave, and forcibly tore through the hard threshold with her fragile fingernails, leaving ten clear and terrifying trails of blood, extending from the attic to the doorway, from the gravel-paved path to the green land dotted with colorful little flowers, from the concrete ground all the way to that most unknowable secret place—to become a prostitute—for even though she lost her ten fingers, she still possessed a mouth and genitals… Her father was killed in his sleep—brutal bandits chopped off his head with a blunt axe—her father’s dripping head was hung in front of her door, that face which once gave her countless laughter still maintaining the smile melting in his dream… Her father’s remaining body was stolen from the funeral home under the watchful eyes of the crowd; no one would step forward to stop that guilty corpse. The chance for cremation, which she had traded her body countless times to earn, vanished.
Her father’s grave was empty, just like the chamber of her little heart.
“I shall die soon too, I suppose…” Clad in rags, she knelt blankly before the grave. Her messy long hair and crimson pupils would evoke a desire to protect in anyone at first glance—yet her desolate gaze radiated infinite fear. The surrounding green ocean was so deep, it seemed to be plotting to kill her as well.
“What should I do? Father? Father…” She pounded the stone tablet desperately, again and again, with fists covered in dust and blood stains. Hollow echoes…
A brown ant climbed up the stone tablet, chasing the golden setting sun. She stood up abruptly and turned around—infinite golden light invaded her eyes, then gradually shrank into a yellow sphere. The surrounding purplish-red sunset glow was ethereal and unfathomable.
“I should go back…” Murmuring strange words, she walked absently toward the west—as if she had lost her soul. Tripped by creeping vines, she stood up and continued forward… Swallowed by river waters, she stood up and continued forward… Blocked by high mountains, she went around them and continued forward…
“I cannot lose my sun…”
The eternal bridge existed quietly there, connecting the sea cliff and the magnificent sunset glow in the distance. He gazed at her receding figure, silently, silently.
The ocean waves ceased their panting.

(To be continued)