A milky-white mist was gushing out of the fish-skin pouch, like a clear spring - the moisture extremely refreshing, cooling the touch.
Blowing away the mist, a few thumb-sized pale blue stones could be dimly seen resting at the bottom of the pouch, shimmering like jade.
Colin exclaimed, "'Sea Tears', the tears of the deep sea, living up to its reputation indeed!"
These were the truly valuable gems, incomparable to the common chaos crystals - precious materials for high-end equipment, worth an unknown amount of points, beyond the academy's treasure catalog.
Looking at the ring and headdress, their quality was also extraordinary, the materials rare deep-sea specialties. However, their structures and principles were somewhat different from human-crafted equipment, needing to be brought back for the master forgers to examine before determining their true worth.
Charlie pondered, "Since we all contributed, how about this - I'll confirm the values first, then distribute them according to each person's contributions. Any objections?"
Eileen vigorously shook her head, "No way! I was the dead weight, I absolutely don't want any. You've already given me a gem."
Qingxue smiled, "Me neither, I have no use for them, my family has plenty."
Qingyan also chimed in, "Charlie, you keep them. This is the fruit of your efforts, and honestly, we don't have such urgent needs for points."
The Gusta brothers exchanged a glance, "Yeah, we didn't contribute much either, you almost sacrificed your life for this. If you feel guilty, why don't you teach us the Astral Meditation? I heard from Qingyan that you learned a master's five lessons' worth in just one class, easily surpassing all the apprentices, impressing even the masters."
Qingxue's face lit up with pride, "I told you! The academy must have misjudged, big brother Charlie is the best!"
Charlie was surprised, "Is that okay? Won't Master Noel pursue me for leaking important materials?"
Qingyan smiled wryly, "No, the core rules of the Arcane Circle are free trade - as long as the transaction follows the rules, it will be protected by law, even the Grand Mages can't interfere."
Charlie thought about it, and it made sense. Since the academy was willing to put the introductory Astral Meditation up for trade, they clearly weren't worried about it being leaked.
In truth, Charlie didn't know that the Astral Meditation he had grasped was quite different from what the other apprentices had learned - finding the stars was just the endpoint of the introductory lessons, while chasing and analyzing the stars' orbital patterns was the ultimate goal of the "advanced lessons". Due to the knowledge system from his past life, Charlie's Astral Meditation had reached the level of the advanced lessons, even more efficiently.
"Alright, I'll teach you all when we get back." Charlie readily agreed, thus completing the distribution of the spoils.
Time and again being coldly ignored by Charlie, Qingxue could no longer hold it in. She walked straight up to him, their faces just fifteen centimeters apart, able to clearly see the barely visible fine lines on her flawless skin.
"This is the first time you've looked me in the eye today." Qingxue spoke solemnly, a touch of sadness in her voice, "I want to talk to you, alone."
Seeing this, the others discreetly retreated deeper into the reeds, leaving the two an intimate space.
Ah, some things really couldn't be avoided. Charlie's emotional experiences in his past life had been virtually blank, devoting his brief life entirely to academic research. While in this life, although he had rich experience with women, he couldn't really be said to have any real emotional experiences.
Faced with the current situation, he didn't know what to do, how to minimize the harm. Even the chip he relied on couldn't provide any advice regarding emotions.
So Charlie could only use indifference to disguise himself.
"What's there to talk about? I don't think there's anything worth discussing!"
The corners of Qingxue's mouth slightly drooped, biting her lip as a few tears trickled down her fair cheeks, "I don't know what I did to offend you. When we parted ways last time, we were still joking and laughing, good friends.
I really miss the times on the ship, when I saw the sea for the first time. Although we went through many storms, we were all so happy together. But you bore so much on your own, allowing us to escape the storms unscathed. I'm so grateful to you, and I admire you so much.
When this activity started, I was glad to participate, because I had the chance to see you again. And that's how it was, today I was also happy, because we were all reunited once more.
But somewhere along the way, something went wrong.
Now, I feel so insignificant, like a speck of dust floating in the air, completely invisible. No matter how lowly I make myself, I'm never seen by you.
I want to ask: what did I do wrong? I can correct it, you should at least let me know the mistake, right?"
Qingxue wiped her tears with the back of her hand, a bit of snot even coming out.
Charlie remained silent, at a loss for words.
Qingxue continued, "My aunt once told me, a girl should never settle for a meager love, or it will be the beginning of a tragic life."
Charlie coldly stated, "Isn't it a bit too early and naive to be talking about love?"
"Heh! Naive, is it?" Qingxue gave a bleak laugh, "But you still haven't answered my question! What did I do wrong? Just because I'm naive?"
Charlie sighed, "You didn't do anything wrong. We're just people from different worlds, rabbits in the East Mountain and fish in the Western Sea, destined to never be on the same plane."
"So what? Can't we be friends at least? Why must you stratify friendship into different levels?"
In his heart, Charlie lamented. He didn't want to be the villain, especially facing this pure-hearted girl. But it seemed he had no choice - he had to keep the promise, better a clean break than a lingering pain.
Charlie said coldly, "I'm sorry, I will make distinctions. This is my principle for living. A person may have no dreams, but must have self-awareness. I never even consider the impossible.
Qingxue, you have a boundlessly bright future, don't linger your gaze in this corner, don't waste your time on me. Go find your own happiness!"
This rejection should be quite clear and unambiguous!
Seeing Qingxue's icy, resolute gaze, Charlie suddenly felt a twinge of pain. He had ruthlessly crushed a young girl's heart - how cruel.
Charlie silently thought, "Little miss, endure it, and you'll grow up."
Qingxue was devastated, covering her face as she crouched down, her shoulders trembling as she sobbed uncontrollably.
Charlie sighed inwardly, may as well be the villain to the end. He turned and walked away. After a few steps, he ran into the sorrowful-looking Qingyan.
She hesitantly spoke, "Honestly, Charlie, you were way too harsh today!"
Even Qingyan was displaying rare seriousness.
"There were a thousand ways to express the same thing, but you chose the cruelest one! I feel like I don't even know you anymore!"
Charlie's expression remained impassive as he firmly walked away.
The Gusta brothers approached, concerned, "Brother, why so serious? It's just a small matter! Don't take it so hard, it feels awkward to us!"
Charlie sighed, "You don't understand."
David rolled his eyes, "What could be so complicated? It's just love and romance, it's not like I haven't been through that."
Colin sneered, "If you count pining as experience, then your love life is indeed rich!"
Countered by his older brother, David's face went from pale to flushed, about to argue back, but was pulled aside by Colin.
After some time, Qingyan finally managed to calm Qingxue down. She had stopped crying, but looked like she had lost half her soul, her expression blank, eyes devoid of light.
"What do we do tonight? We can't go back to the beach, and I know some things about Peter - he's gathered a group of gold-insignia apprentices around him, their talent and strength are quite impressive, not a small number either, and their equipment is good. Our little squad may not be a match for them."
Qingyan raised a very practical concern, even though it was still some time before nightfall.
Having Charlie monopolize the spoils, while the whole team had to bear the risks, was indeed not quite fair. If they hadn't had this falling out with Qingxue, and everyone was still friendly, it would have been easier to handle.
But now, this incident had caused Charlie to feel awkward and remorseful.
Charlie pondered, "In general, wherever plants grow densely, various creatures are active, especially venomous ones at night. So this reed bed isn't suitable for overnight."
"Then what do we do?" The Gusta brothers asked their habitual question.
"Let's go check the edge of the forest, as long as we find a spot one to two meters off the ground, we can avoid over 80% of the biological threats."
"But don't we need to worry about magical beasts? My mentor warned me not to go near the forest areas!"
Charlie nodded, "That's why we need a night watch. I'll take the second half, which of you can sacrifice and take the first half?"
Colin chimed in, "Then it's settled, I'm full of energy, I'll do the first watch."
"Alright, let's head out then! Finding a suitable spot before dark is also very important, it'll determine the quality of our sleep tonight."
And so the group headed deeper into the reeds.
This reed bed was bisected by a winding river, the water flowing down from the mountain peak on the island - it was fresh water, runoff from the rain the forest had absorbed. But not being familiar with the water quality, they didn't dare drink it directly, luckily their personal food and water supplies were still adequate.
Aside from the river, the reed bed was dotted with large and small mud pits of varying depths, permanently waterlogged. The mud was very soft, a potential danger - what seemed like normal ground could suddenly have a foot sink in, unable to extricate oneself, and these mud pits were often the nests of local creatures.
Charlie led the group upstream along the river's edge, the path a jumble of uneven, moss-covered stones, wet and slippery. While they didn't have to worry about sinking into mud, it was still very difficult to walk.
Qingxue had already fallen twice on the rocks, her long, pale legs showing a few bruises, one spot even bleeding slightly. Normally she would have cried out, but today she remained silent.