Chapter 313: Us in the Flow of Time

In late autumn, the city of Rain Alley was a expanse of withered, yellowed grass and trees.

Fallen leaves drifted with the wind, making the already cold and deserted streets appear even more desolate.

As the sun set in the west, the shadows of two people were stretched very long.

The pair strolled leisurely, talking and laughing, completely out of place with this bleak scenery.

It was as if they were defying this world.

"Now, you too could advance to the Jiang Jing realm at any moment," Lu Ran said, looking at the girlfriend by his side.

"Mm-hmm." Jiangjiang Ruyi's heart was filled with joy, and she couldn't help but curl her lips upward.

Previously, fearing she might upset Lu Ran, she had felt somewhat awkward, unsure whether or not to share this happy news.

At this moment, she no longer had any worries.

Jiangjiang Ruyi could feel that Lu Ran was sincerely happy for her.

"Crack~"

Black women's knee-high boots stepped onto the withered yellow leaves, emitting a peculiar sound.

She walked along the curb stone dividing the roadway from the sidewalk.

Her hands spread flat in the air, she occasionally stood on tiptoe, striving to walk in a straight line.

The beauty known as Jiang Ruyi had always been a quiet person.

At this moment, these slightly mischievous actions revealed the joy within her heart.

"Tell me about your main direction of focus?" Lu Ran smiled as he looked at his girlfriend, my lord. "Which aspect are you preparing to comprehend?"

"You guess?" Jiangjiang Ruyi suddenly took a large step forward to avoid another withered leaf being crushed to powder beneath her foot.

Lu Ran:???

Acting like a child, still asking me to guess?

"Lu Ran." Jiangjiang Ruyi suddenly turned around and began walking backward.

A faint smile graced her face as she gazed gently at Lu Ran.

"What is it?" Lu Ran, however, looked down at her knee-high boots.

This little game of walking in a straight line had, unbeknownst to him, influenced him as well.

Her sense of balance was excellent; even while stepping backward continuously, she had not missed a single step.

Lu Ran secretly thought it a pity, but when he raised his eyes to look at her face, he discovered Jiangjiang Ruyi had turned around again and was walking forward normally.

Lu Ran: "."

What did that mean?

She called my name out of the blue, and then there was no follow-up?

"I said, you've turned the wrong way. We're going to the school side to eat hotpot mutton; this direction leads to your home," Lu Ran suddenly spoke up.

"Are you very hungry?"

"It's acceptable."

"Then let's take this road to the school; I'm familiar with it." Jiangjiang Ruyi jumped off the curb, crossed the street, and headed toward the desolate area.

This was the route home they often took during their high school days, and also the path leading to the Wu Lie River.

Lu Ran suddenly stopped in his tracks.

His expression was somewhat stunned, standing right in the middle of the road.

Suddenly, for an instant, he understood.

Just now, Jiangjiang Ruyi hadn't been calling his name; she was providing an answer.

An answer regarding what her comprehension for advancing to the Jiang Jing realm actually was.

"Coming?" Jiangjiang Ruyi stood on the opposite side of the road, looking back at Lu Ran.

She felt he looked silly, just like the first time she brought him home to meet her parents.

"What, don't you want to treat me to hotpot mutton anymore?"

Jiangjiang Ruyi turned to face Lu Ran, clasping her hands behind her back, her eyebrows slightly raised.

A dark long trench coat, blue jeans, black knee-high boots, and a dark red knitted scarf.

And that long, raven-black hair swaying gently in the wind.

The once slender and graceful maiden of the past had blossomed into someone so elegant and moving.

The only thing that remained unchanged was that answer, wasn't it?

"Oh." Lu Ran lowered his head and walked quickly toward her.

Could the comprehension that supports one's step-by-step climb on the path of advancement be another person?

Jiangjiang Ruyi regretted her words the moment they left her lips.

After all, Lu Ran was in a critical period of advancement; when he was lost in thought, she shouldn't have urged him.

Jiangjiang Ruyi watched Lu Ran cautiously and said softly, "What were you thinking about just now?"

"Ah." Lu Ran grinned and spoke nonsense off the cuff, "I was thinking that if I stand in the middle of the road a bit longer, I'll surely wait for a driver who doesn't know how to watch where they're going."

"With a loud crash, you wouldn't have to go to the shop to eat mutton anymore..."

Jiangjiang Ruyi, feeling both angry and amused, slapped Lu Ran on the shoulder.

If we don't eat in the shop, are we supposed to just pick it up and eat it right on the street?

Thinking about it, she still felt it wasn't enough to vent her frustration, so she lifted one long leg.

Thinking about it, she still felt it wasn't enough to vent her anger, so she lifted another long leg.

"See, getting impatient again!" Lu Ran decisively quickened his pace by two steps and whispered, "Be a bit more ladylike."

"See, you're getting impatient again!" Lu Ran quickened his pace by two steps and whispered, "Be a little more ladylike."

Jiangjiang Ruyi looked at Lu Ran with dissatisfaction, then followed him in annoyance.

The street leading to the Wu Lie Riverbank was not entirely desolate.

At least before approaching the abandoned residential compound, there were shops, pharmacies, small restaurants, and the like along the roadside.

Over the past two months, Lu Ran had walked nearly every corner of the HX District.

Spending his days comprehending breakthroughs yet feeling frustrated and unfulfilled, he had retraced his steps through this place that gave him life and raised him.

"The Rainy Season Flower Shop has closed," Jiangjiang Ruyi said softly, looking at a dilapidated signboard by the road.

Flowers were not a necessity of life.

But just like music that heals the heart, crosstalk and storytelling that lull people to sleep, or the inspiring "Pride," and so on.

People greatly needed these things to help them through dark and suffering years.

Therefore, this flower shop's business had always been fairly good.

But now—

The wooden fence in front of the shop had been dismantled, the decorative flowers were gone, leaving only a few rusted iron racks and several flowerpots piled in a corner.

"It has been closed for a very, very long time," Lu Ran said softly.

He still remembered the proprietress; she was a gentle woman who liked wearing skirts.

However, Lu Ran did not know her name.

"Look on the bright side," Jiangjiang Ruyi said, looping her arm through Lu Ran's. "Perhaps she moved away from this city."

Indeed, one ought to look on the bright side.

Imagining her dying miserably on the streets, her long skirt stained with blood, seemed far too sorrowful.

"Old Zhang's family hasn't moved, though," Lu Ran said, tilting his head slightly to indicate the small "Wedding Photography" signboard next to the flower shop.

Jiangjiang Ruyi fell silent.

The shop was indeed still open, but it had been taken over by the son, because Old Zhang was gone.

During high school, when the school required various one-inch and two-inch photos, she mostly came here to have them taken.

Now, things remained but people had changed.

On this street filled with memories, some familiar faces could only emerge within recollection.

Lu and Jiang walked silently, observing the storefronts they had passed countless times on their way home.

Old acquaintances are like trees in a courtyard;

With each day the wind blows, they grow sparser.

As they stepped closer to the Wu Lie Riverbank residential compound, the storefronts disappeared.

Lu Ran secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

During this period, he had walked this road many times over.

Through each storefront, he had seen and thought of many, many people.

Those who were still alive, those who had already died, those forever remaining in Rain Alley.

Suddenly, Lu Ran slowed his pace.

Jiangjiang Ruyi, holding Lu Ran's arm, immediately sensed his abnormality and likewise slowed her steps.

Since she had blamed herself once just while crossing the road earlier—

This time, she did not immediately speak to disturb him, but merely glanced quietly at Lu Ran's profile.

She discovered that Lu Ran was staring blankly ahead.

Following his line of sight, Jiangjiang Ruyi turned her gaze and saw only desolation before the Wu Lie Riverbank residential compound.

The street ahead was utterly empty.

Only withered leaves on the ground were blown back and forth by the wind.

There was not even a single human shadow.

Truly none?

In Lu Ran's vision, he saw a pair of illusory human figures.

The illusory youth wore a blue-and-white school uniform, carried a schoolbag over one shoulder, and held a wooden sword in his hand, gesturing toward the setting sun.

The illusory maiden likewise wore a school uniform and carried a schoolbag; her face flushed with shyness as she walked with her head lowered.

"Master Yu Fu, of course," the illusory youth said with a smile, though his eyes were very determined.

"Why?" The illusory maiden looked at the youth, a trace of curiosity in her eyes.

"My father is a devotee of Master Yu Fu; every night of the fifteenth, he goes out to slay evil spirits—he's very powerful!"

The youth raised the wooden sword, shielding it before his eyes.

Using that slender blade to block the light of the setting sun.

"Is that so? Is your uncle a Moon Gazer?" A trace of respect appeared in the maiden's eyes.

"No, he was a soldier," the youth's voice lowered slightly, as if his mood had dipped. "To take care of me, he applied to come to the city to cooperate with the Moon Gazer units in carrying out missions."

"What was your uncle's strength tier?"

"He died; he sacrificed himself," the youth said, lifting his head to gaze at the abandoned buildings not far away.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I didn't know..." A trace of panic flashed across the maiden's face.

"It's fine," the youth said, his pace unbroken, though he suddenly lowered the wooden sword he had been holding before his face.

Lu Ran's heart trembled slightly!

He could not tell whether the youth walking up before him was making eye contact with him or looking at the setting sun behind him.

Both figures continued their pace without stopping, walking toward each other.

He wore a school uniform, held a somewhat tattered wooden sword, and his face was youthful yet determined.

She wore her school uniform, her hair tied back in a fresh ponytail, her eyes filled with a dazed, innocent affection.

The boy and girl walked side by side, a small distance separating them.

He wore a cap and a mask, his posture even more upright, his eyes a pool of tranquil stillness.

She wore a long trench coat, her demeanor graceful and charming, her jet-black hair cascading over her shoulders, her eyes brimming with tenderness.

The young man and woman walked side by side; she held his arm, with no distance between them.

Two pairs of figures stepped steadily forward.

Their forms passed through one another.

"That is why I will join the Yufuyi Sect to complete the unfinished work he left behind!" The boy's words came from behind.

Lu Ran halted his steps and turned to look.

Jiangjiang Ruyi likewise stopped, as if realizing something, and gazed at the empty street behind them.

"I will protect this city in his stead!"

"I will fight my way through night after night of the fifteenth to avenge him."

"One day, I will slaughter every evil spirit in this world!"

These boastful words rang clearly in their ears.

They carried the unique spirit of youth, filled with grand ambitions.

Beneath the fading glow of the setting sun, the phantom figures of the boy and girl walked steadily away into the dusk.

"Whoosh~"

A faint wind stirred up waves.

In the vast clear sky, clouds and mist suddenly began to gather.

Jiangjiang Ruyi widened her eyes slightly, a trace of delight flashing within them.

She loosened her grip and made a move to step aside.

Lu Ran, however, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his embrace.

Jiangjiang Ruyi hesitated for a moment, but ultimately said nothing, gently hugging him back and burying her face against his shoulder.

In Lu Ran's line of sight, the phantom figures of the boy and girl drifted further and further away.

Then, suddenly, for just an instant, the phantom boy turned his head and looked at Lu Ran from afar.

"Thank you," Lu Ran murmured softly, the energy fluctuations surrounding him growing increasingly intense.

The phantom girl likewise turned her head, as if curious about what the boy was looking at.

Or perhaps...

Her dazed eyes pierced through the years and swept across time, seeing the couple embracing by the roadside.

She saw herself, held within his arms.

Asking for some monthly votes.

Thanks to Boss Zhan Ye for the 10,000 reward! Thanks to Qi Qi Heji, 'Bulletproof Vests Must Stop Bullets,' and 'Passerby Coffee' and other bosses for their tips!

You bosses are generous! Thank you for your support!

(`) Heart fingers



(End of Chapter)