Chapter Eighteen: The Vanished Ye Xingchen

She sat back in her seat, relaxed, watching the game unfold. The score was overwhelmingly in their favor; every point won was met with waves of cheers and shouts. The team from No. 3 High was utterly defeated. This victory reclaimed the honor lost in last year's humiliating defeat at the basketball league.

"Meng Xia, Meng Xia, we won! We won!" Lin Manting, exhilarated, grabbed a flag and rushed down to the court.

The final three points were scored by Ye Xingchen.

His teammates lifted him high into the air, cheering wildly, and he waved toward her as he celebrated.

Ye Xingchen made his way straight to her, swept her up in a jubilant embrace. This was his happiest moment. "Ye Meng Xia, I did it! Are you happy?"

She nodded, happiness filling her—for this moment, at least, she was happy. She still had Ye Xingchen; he had never left her. No matter what happened, he was always there.

"Ye Xingchen?" Suddenly, she felt a weight on her shoulder, thinking he was joking around. She slapped him lightly. "Stop messing around, you're too heavy."

No reply came.

She loosened her hold, about to speak, when she saw his body slump to the ground. She was dragged down with him, half kneeling on the floor, stunned for a few seconds. Ye Xingchen's face was dreadfully pale, drained of all color.

"Ye Xingchen..." In that instant, she was gripped by a terror more profound than any she'd ever felt—not even when she was run over by a car had she known such fear. She knelt on the ground, desperately slapping him.

"Don't fool around... Get up!"

"Stop it..."

A few seconds passed before Ye Meng Xia truly felt afraid.

"Quick, someone come here, someone—!"

"Help, please, help him—!"

"Anyone..."

Her voice echoed through the empty court, unanswered. When she looked around, not a soul was there. Everyone had vanished, leaving only the two of them.

The wide basketball court was suddenly deserted.

What was happening?

Ye Meng Xia collapsed, powerless, to the ground. The warmth from his body grew colder by the minute. She struggled to lift him from the floor.

"Ye Xingchen, I'll take you out, I'll get you out of here..." At this moment, Ye Meng Xia was so terrified her face lost all color. She never imagined, not even slightly, that a moment's misstep could harm him. She couldn't fathom it; perhaps she had never considered what it would be like if something happened to Ye Xingchen.

She couldn't accept it.

Dragging him on her back, she staggered toward the exit.

Her strength was ebbing away; she was nearly spent. Ye Xingchen, what should I do? What should I do? This time, she truly had no answers.

Ye Meng Xia's face was pale as death, her last ounce of consciousness spent.

They both collapsed heavily to the ground.

Dawn

Sunlight streamed in. Ye Meng Xia awoke in a spacious bed, looked around as her senses returned, and rushed out the door. In the living room, Aunt Yu was preparing breakfast, smiling as she called her to eat.

The weight of her fear pressed down so hard she could barely breathe. Trembling, she picked up her phone and dialed the number etched in her memory since childhood.

It rang and rang—‘The number you dialed is unavailable.’

That message crushed her last hope. The web of despair overwhelmed her, and she fainted.

When she awoke again, it was in a hospital. White walls everywhere, suffocating her. She pulled out the IV, climbed out of bed, her mind adrift, unable to hear anything.

She walked out of the hospital, not knowing where she was headed.

She reached the school gates. Inside, people milled about. She wore a hospital gown, drawing strange looks from those around her.

This was No. 7 High. Yes, No. 7 High—they had just won the basketball league. She hurried up to a girl, grasping her hand urgently. "Ye Xingchen..."

"What's wrong with him?"

"Who?" The girl looked puzzled by her appearance but asked anyway; after all, Ye Meng Xia was a top student at No. 7 High and from a wealthy family, so she showed some patience.

"Ye Xingchen."

"Isn't he the school leader at No. 7 High? You all know him, Ye Xingchen." Seeing confusion in the girl's eyes, Ye Meng Xia frantically explained.

"I don't know him." The girl turned to another. "Do you know him?"

"I don't think so. Isn't the school leader Su Yichen?" the other replied kindly. "Maybe you got the name wrong?"

"How could that be? Ye Xingchen! You all liked him so much—he's Ye Xingchen! How can you not remember?" The girls shook their heads, bewildered.

Gradually, Ye Meng Xia's mind cleared. She sat on the stairs, dialing number after number—Yan Mu, her mother, even her aunt.

Every response was the same, confused: "Who is he?"

Impossible, she thought. Ye Xingchen—it was Ye Xingchen... The person who had appeared in her life since childhood, who had always been by her side. How could they not remember?

How could they forget?

"Meng Xia, why are you dressed like this? Are you sick?"

Standing before her was Su Yichen, his face full of anxious concern. He took her hand, ready to take her back to the hospital.

"Don't touch me."

She stood, asking him, "Where's Ye Xingchen?"

"Hmm?" He tilted his head in confusion, thinking she was calling him, and patted her head with a smile. "I'm here."

"No, not you."

"It's Ye Xingchen. Where is he? Tell me where he went."

"Meng Xia, what are you talking about?"

Su Yichen's reply brought tears streaming down her face. She looked around at everything, unable to believe it.

Ye Xingchen had vanished!

He was gone!

"How could this be..."

"Meng Xia, what's wrong? Let me take you home. The senior year mock exams are coming up. Are you too tired?"

Ye Meng Xia stared blankly at him. "Senior year?"

"Yes, it's senior year..."

Ye Meng Xia shook her head, dazed. "It's not senior year, it's junior year. And it's not the mock exam, it's the end-of-month test."

She suddenly pushed Su Yichen aside and rushed to Ye Xingchen's classroom, heading straight for his seat. She opened his backpack, desperate to prove his existence, but the name on it wasn't his.

She dumped all the books out, but none belonged to him.

None of them.

"Hey, who are you? Why are you messing with my stuff?" A boy came over, furious at the mess she had made, about to make a fuss. Yan Mu squinted, quickly ran over, pulled the boy aside, and cheerfully tidied up the books.

He waved, then led Ye Meng Xia away.

He sighed, looking at her uncertainly. "Ye Meng Xia? Why are you here?" Although they rarely interacted, he knew of her as No. 7 High's top student.

Her behavior struck him as odd—the boy clearly didn't know her, and she was still in a hospital gown, which was quite alarming.

He had seen her take on a group of people without breaking a sweat, fierce and formidable. Now, seeing her so weak, he was deeply puzzled.

"Did you come to find me?" He hazarded a guess as she remained silent.

"Yan Mu, who is your best friend?"

Yan Mu was startled—why did she suddenly start crying? "My best friend is, of course, Su Yichen."

Ye Meng Xia's heart sank. She looked up and pressed further. "Anyone else?"

"Well, there's..." He listed his friends.

"No one else?" They were all classmates, relatives, friends—but not him.

Yan Mu shook his head. "No... I don't think so."

He watched Ye Meng Xia walk away, scratching his chin, still confused. Hadn't he listed all his friends? His best friend? Right, he slapped his forehead—there was one more.

But what was his name?