Chapter 64: Meeting

"Xiao Rou!" a harsh shout came from behind — the master's voice: "When facing a patient, what are you spacing out about? Have I been teaching you in vain these past few days?"

I started, finally breaking out of my wild imagination, and hurriedly stepped aside, softly calling: "Master."

The master frowned at me, then stepped forward to treat the woman on the bed. I let out a deep breath, only to discover my palms were soaked with sweat, my nails digging into my flesh.

In the room, aside from the master rummaging through the medicine box and telling me to pass things, only everyone's breathing could be heard.

After a while, a commotion suddenly came from outside the door; Xiao Yun's flustered voice reached my ears: "Young Madam, Miss Shui is unconscious, and… and please… don't disturb her…"

"Impudent! How dare a little maid be rude to our princess!" After the angry shout came the sound of Xiao Yun being shoved and crying out in pain.

That arrogant female voice sounded somewhat familiar? I stared in shock toward the doorway, and that glance almost made me cry out again.

Two maidservants, one dressed in red and the other in green, carefully supported their mistress — a strikingly beautiful woman with exquisite features and a graceful figure — as she walked into the room.

The woman's pair of eyes, rippling like autumn water and bewitching like peach blossoms, held a mix of pity, hatred, contempt, and vengeful jealousy as she gazed at the unconscious girl on the bed.

That familiar countenance and bearing were unmistakable, yet it wasn't the Seventh Princess of Yin Kingdom, Yin Tianxue, whom I had met once in Linhu Village — who then was she?

"Old I pay my respects to the Young Madam." The master's voice suddenly sounded beside me.

Yin Tianxue's complex gaze softened; she bowed her head humbly and said: "Mister Ye, please don't stand on ceremony. I wonder… how is Sister Lian Yue's condition?"

The master sighed, then said: "Today I merely suppressed it temporarily, but after all, it only treats the symptoms, not the root!"

A flicker of joy in Yin Tianxue's eyes vanished, and she said: "From now on, I'll have to trouble you constantly, Master..."

"Master! Master!" came Yuan Yi's loud calls from outside, instantly cutting off Yin Tianxue's polite remarks and making the master's brows furrow slightly.

Yuan Yi burst into the room, his face lit with inexplicable excitement, seeing Yin Tianxue forget all ceremonial greetings, he shouted to everyone inside: "Young Master… the Young Master has arrived! Mister Mo, please have everyone go… go to the main hall to wait!"

My chest clenched sharply, in a daze the pain reached its peak — what flashed in my mind, what ached in my heart? My trembling hand slowly rose to my breast…

Tears were a little salty, a little sweet.

Your chest kissed my cheek.

Looking back at the snow I had stepped on.

Slowly melting into a plain.

And I am just as you never regretted for a second.

"Ah—" Yin Tianxue let out a startled cry; her lovely face flashed with a complex mix of joy, bashfulness, and desolation. She turned and, supported by the maidservants, hurried out of the room.

"... Xiao Rou, Xiao Rou!"

"Ah! Yes, Master." I started, coming to my senses, and already saw the master's slightly displeased expression.

All I saw was him sighing, then helplessly saying: "Come with me to the main hall, Master."

I answered absentmindedly, followed the master out the door, and headed toward the main hall.

Xiao Yin in the pocket at my side twitched, apparently waking. I hurriedly stroked it through the cloth and whispered: "Xiao Yin, it seems we're about to meet someone important — later you must absolutely stay silent, understand?"

"What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and come in!"

I started, then hurriedly followed the master into the hall that had once been used to receive Li Hu and me.

The hall was already filled with people, yet there was no chaos; everyone wore respectful, composed expressions, waiting silently.

I followed the master to the rear of the crowd, stood with head lowered, and looked up to see the carved sandalwood chair I had once sat in still empty there; I felt only the impermanence of worldly affairs.

Suddenly I heard someone outside shout loudly: "The Young Master has arrived——"

Love so soft, so sticky.

Regardless of fate's arrangement of who must part.

The coastline makes one linger ever more.

Always beautiful in its winding way.

We are too stubborn.

Even heaven can't bear to oppose us any longer.

Footsteps sounded from far to near outside the hall; I, like everyone inside, lifted my head and tensely gazed at the distant passage that seemed to stretch to the edge of the sky…

A tall, aloof figure, tangled yet soaring long hair, lips lightly pressed, and… a silver-gray mask, ice-blue pupils — all of it appeared before my eyes like a dream, striking my chest over and over without warning. Until a sour feeling welled up in my heart, threatening to burst from my heated, moist eye sockets…

I staggered backward and fell, as if someone had caught me, and as if someone were whispering a rebuke in my ear, yet I could not respond at all.

Unable…… to respond. For my eyes and my heart could no longer drift from those blue eyes, not even the slightest bit.

The Young Master is Qi Ran!

Qi Ran is the Young Master!

One year, a whole year of separation — who could have imagined that seeing him again would happen under such circumstances, in such a role?

My heart suddenly ached uncontrollably, tightening, throbbing, trembling, surging with those dust‑sealed memories like mist‑wreathed smoke, just as tears gathered into beads and traced slow paths down my cheeks.

I suddenly recalled the words I had once spoken to that person: "A shooting star is beautiful for a moment; what is missed… is a lifetime."

Tears finally could not be held back, gushing forth with the heartache.

A deep‑gazed look, beloved for ten thousand years.

Through countless reincarnations, love clings, never dying.

Spanning the years into a red carpet.

Bearing witness to our limits.

Aching, a phrase treasured for ten thousand years.

Oaths ought to stretch farther than eternity.

Were it not for the seas turning to fields…

…how could true love surface?

My spine was suddenly pinched hard; in a daze I heard the master lower his voice and bark: "... Xiao Rou! If you keep acting like this, even I, as your master, won't be able to protect you."

My heart jolted sharply; the pain in my back snapped me awake. I drew several deep breaths, wiped the tears from my face with my sleeve, straightened my body, but dared not let my gaze fall upon that peerless youth again.

I closed my eyes, hid all my feelings, then opened them again. My gaze unintentionally flicked to the man in snow‑white robes beside Qi Ran; my body jerked, I nearly lost composure again, I hurriedly lowered my head and furrowed my brows, not daring to breathe heavily, for fear of meeting his eyes, deep as a pool.

Bai Shengyi, one of the four prime ministers of Bingling, absolutely—absolutely—must not be recognized by him.

"Sit down," Qi Ran's voice, as pleasant as celestial music yet utterly cold, faintly echoed through the great hall, and the crowd, hearing it, each stepped forward a few paces and sat down at the designated spots.

Master gave me, looking lost and despondent, a glance, shook his head and said, "You go back first; I'll report to Prime Minister Bai tomorrow about taking you as a disciple."

"Yes!" I hurriedly replied, knowing that if he were to report to Bai Shengyi, I would have to leave overnight.

Only my reason told me to go, my trembling reminded me to stay away from the people of Bingling, yet my heart refused to leave, refusing to part from those blue eyes I missed day and night, and their owner…

I turned and slipped unnoticed toward the back door of the hall, about to slip away unseen, when a sharp, excited cry suddenly erupted from my side pocket, shocking everyone who had been quietly listening in the hall…

A sudden shock seized me, and I blurted out, "Xiao Yin—"

A flash of white light flashed before my eyes; Xiao Yin had already burst from my pocket, moving at an unprecedented speed, darting through the crowd, and then a leap—

…plunged into Qi Ran's arms.

Even Qi Ran was startled by this sudden turn. His thin lips tightened slightly; he lowered his head and watched Xiao Yin nuzzle him affectionately for a while, then uttered two hesitant words, "Xiao… Li?"

Xiao Yin let out two "chi‑chi—" sounds, clearly delighted, continuously licking the back of his hand.

Qi Ran gently lifted it, a soft light flickering in his ice‑blue pupils, and asked, "Where's Master? Why aren't you with him?"

Xiao Yin tilted its head and cried twice, its tone revealing deep longing and grievance.

While Qi Ran conversed with Xiao Yin, half the hall remained stunned, staring blankly at the bewildering scene. It wasn't until he asked that question that Xiao Yin joyfully barked and rushed to my side, and I snapped back from my shock.

Qi Ran slowly rose and walked to me, his blue eyes landing on me without a hint of warmth, as if his emotions had been drained, his pupils empty.

He said, "You were the one who brought it out?"

Facing me, his tone remained flat, speaking as if to a stranger, "You were the one who brought it out?"

I lifted my head to look at him, my gaze meeting those blue eyes I had cherished in countless dreams, as if we were staring across a century…

Then, I was shocked.

For that crescent‑shaped mask that seemed part of his body, for the chilling, death‑like stillness radiating from him, and especially for those beautiful eyes that reflected the world's colors yet appeared empty.

I know he didn't recognize me, and I…

In my mind flashed the mottled scars on the sleeping girl's face, and in my ears rang Master's respectful call, "Young Mistress…"

And I, having recognized him, could no longer face him.

"Yes," I swallowed the tears that threatened to burst forth, clumsily uttering a word that barely formed a sound.

A blinding white flash erupted before me, and a figure pressed close to my left side. Bai Shengyi wore his usual wicked charm, looking at me with a half‑smile that seemed to pierce me, the gaze stabbing sharply.

I withdrew my gaze from Qi Ran, looked at him, my lips twitched but no words came, only a strained swallow of saliva, and I turned to leave.

Bai Shengyi flickered forward, blocking my path, his smile widening, "We… have we met before?"

"Prime Minister Bai," Master stepped forward a few paces, shielding me behind him, his tone neither humble nor arrogant, "This is my newly accepted disciple, Xiao Ruo."

"Oh? Is that so?" Bai Shengyi asked Master with his mouth, but his gaze fixed entirely on me, "Xiao… Ruo?"

Suddenly, he leaned close to my ear and, with a strange smile, said, "It's Lan Ying Ruo, right?"

My whole body jolted, my face turning deathly pale. I lowered my head, fearing to meet Qi Ran's gaze.

"Ran," Bai Shengyi's tone suddenly turned oddly cheerful, "I've been refining the Heart‑Eating Technique lately and still need a test subject. I have my eye on this girl; how about I take her away?"

"What?!" I shouted, jerking my head up to glare at him, momentarily forgetting fear. This pervert actually wants me to be his test subject for the Heart‑Eating Technique?

"Prime Minister Bai, how can this be?" Master, still reeling from shock, took a while before his face hardened in protest.

Bai Shengyi stared at me as if oblivious, smiling coquettishly at Master, "Just a disciple; if lost, can I take another! Ran, you agree, right?"

Qi Ran gave Bai Shengyi a cold glance, the divine light in his blue eyes icy, about to speak, when a flicker rippled in his eyes and his mouth curled slightly, uttering, "Whatever you like!"

My whole body jolted, as if his words had ripped my heart, pain choking my breath.

That person was Qi Ran. The Qi Ran who once would have given his life to protect me now says—"Whatever you like!"

Bai Shengyi's earlier cheer faded, a feral cold grin appearing as he stepped forward, about to seize my arm…

Just as I prepared to dodge, a sudden flash of light erupted, a fierce killing aura whistling toward the advancing Bai Shengyi.

Bai Shengyi's smile grew colder as he leisurely took a step. Yet at the instant he shifted, the killing aura surged, turning as if premeditated, striking toward Qi Ran, who had been silently standing before me.

It turned out the attack on Bai Shengyi was a feint; the true follow‑up was the strike on Qi Ran.

My eyes could only see that cold‑glinting longsword, indistinguishable from a common soldier's, surging with overwhelming killing aura as it lunged at Qi Ran, while he remained, seemingly unaware, standing motionless.

Then my mind went blank, my body felt not my own, my soul drifting in the air, watching it—suddenly moving…

A sharp pain shot through my palm, scarlet blood dripping from my pale hand onto the ground, shattering, and pulling my hazy consciousness back into my body.

In that moment, I truly wanted to slap myself hard. Was that instinct? What kind of instinct was it?

Now Qi Ran, with no blood‑poison inside him, how could he fail to block this strike? Surrounded by countless protectors, what meaning does my block have?

Yet for that fraction, that second, my mind was blank; in a daze I only saw Qi Ran repeatedly blocking before me, spitting blood. Thus, instinct acted before consciousness.

But such instinct, now, leaves me at a loss.

I lifted my head, an iron mask and a pair of eyes brimming with astonishment and myriad emotions suddenly reflected in my sight.

My whole body shivered, and I could no longer grip the longsword; a sound of slicing through the air rang out, and in an instant I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder as the sword silently plunged into it.

"Master!" Wu Ye trembled all over, abruptly withdrawing his longsword, blood spattering, his eyes behind the iron mask filled with shock, pain, and frustration. Several people swarmed, restraining Wu Ye firmly; he offered no resistance.

I curled the corner of my mouth into a bitter smile, whispering softly, "Wu Ye…"

Wu Ye suddenly lowered his head, the hand hanging at his side trembling uncontrollably.

"Xiao Ruo!" Master's shout, and Xiao Yin's frantic cries, I seemed not to hear at all.

Wu Ye abruptly lifted his head, his eyes fixed on me for a long while, then silently mouthed, "... the one rooted deep in the heart..."

I only felt all my strength suddenly sucked clean, a stumble.

I need not lift my head to know Qi Ran's gaze is on me. Yet when I truly looked up, it was still the cold, placid stare that made my heart ache beyond words.

Then I closed my eyes, opened them again, finally able to gaze at him quietly, equally placid, equally icy…

Qi Ran suddenly, with a hint of panic, averted his gaze—yes, truly panicked. He then forcefully drew his longsword, and when his blue eyes fell back on me, they were as cold as the blade's glint, icy…

"Master?" He spoke coldly, with a hint of mockery, as if not even addressing me: "Watch the same act too often and it grows tiresome."

After saying that, his sword, infused with the icy coldness and resolve in his words, thrust straight at me, who lay limp on the ground.

"Young master, don't!"

"Master!"

Little Silver leapt into my arms, panicked, staring at the sword and its wielder.

I widened my eyes in shock—Qiran... is he going to kill me?

After all the life-and-death trials I've endured this year, I never imagined I'd die not at another's hand, but at Qiran's.

I struggled desperately to dodge, to stay alive. I could accept dying in this strange world, but not at Qiran's hand—not just because I don't want him to regret it later, but because I absolutely refuse to die by his hand.

But I couldn't move; Qiran's powerful mental power held me fast, preventing any advance or retreat. I could only watch helplessly as his sword lunged toward my chest, fierce and imminent.

"Clang—bang!" The tremendous clash of weapons seemed to come from nowhere, echoing instantly across the vast, silent hall.

Everyone felt a flicker of black light before their eyes, a barely perceptible killing intent that seeped, thread by thread, into their hearts.

Bai Shengyi's lips curled into a faint, eerily beautiful smile, while his cold, pool-like eyes held a freezing killing intent that seemed to devour all.

Clad in black, with black hair and dark eyes, Bu Sha stood before me, gripping his long blade silently; I saw his hand at his side clenched so tightly the knuckles whitened, as if about to break.

"Indeed, it's you." Qiran sheathed his sword lightly, then turned and said, "All of you, withdraw."

Bai Shengyi's alluring, smiling gaze fell on me, then shifted to Bu Sha; he lifted his crimson lips slightly and whispered, "Yes!" before turning and striding out of the hall first.

No one questioned or dared to defy, not even the master; in an instant, the hall was empty except for a handsome young man in smoky-purple attire, who bowed to Qiran and said, "Young master, how should we deal with this person?"

Qiran didn't even glance at the restrained Wuye, coldly ordering, "First, lock him up in the prison."

I jerked in shock, tugging at my shoulder wound, feeling a sharp pain in body and heart. Just as I was about to speak to stop it, Bu Sha's clear, cold voice rang out: "Qiran, I want to take her away."

My whole body trembled, but it was only a moment's hesitation—Wuye had already been led away by that handsome man.

Qiran gave me a look, but his gaze didn't truly settle on me before he turned away, his clear, pleasant yet icy voice—making me shiver—softly saying, "Do as you wish."

Tears welled up, a sour bitterness stuck at the tip of my nose, impossible to release.

Bu Sha raised his right hand, his black blade imbued with immense lethal aura, and slammed it down, instantly cleaving the solid granite floor of the hall.

As if he knew I had no way to vent my anguish, he seemed to help me release it. I turned my head slightly, and tears finally poured out.

Qiran watched him silently; beneath his crescent-shaped mask, his blue eyes were calm and unrippled, his thin lips pressed firmly together.

"Qiran." Bu Sha withdrew his blood-drenched hand, finally loosening his long-clenched right fist, and said coldly, "If you keep clinging to the past, shutting your eyes and heart, you'll surely regret it someday."

Qiran regarded him with a composed expression for a moment, then turned and departed along the same passage, saying softly, "Remember to return to the Pear Orchard in a month."

On that passage that seemed to stretch to the edge of the sky, Qiran walked step by step, his pace gradually slowing until he inexplicably halted, turned around, and gazed upon the vast hall now occupied only by the two of us.

He watched Bu Sha bend down, cradling the girl as if she were his most precious treasure, lifting her gently; her face was buried in his chest, unseen, but he saw the hand clutching Bu Sha's right arm.

That hand, stark against his black sleeve, was unusually pale and slender, gripping Bu Sha's clothing tightly, still trembling uncontrollably.

"Thud—thud!" He pressed his left hand hard against his chest; beneath his mask, his brows knit tightly, his blue eyes widening with shock and disbelief.

My chest ached—truly, painfully.

He had believed that after witnessing that person's death with his own eyes, his heart had ceased beating—and would never recover...

But at this moment, he could actually feel his heart beating—truly beating—again...

Bu Sha gently lifted me, careful to avoid my wound, while Little Silver climbed onto my shoulder, licking the bleeding wound tenderly and occasionally emitting a mournful, heartfelt cry.

I buried my tear-streaked face deep in Bu Sha's chest, letting him carry me out of the hall, away from this endless sorrow and longing.

But as we neared the hall's exit, my chest felt as if struck, a heavy, oppressive pain. I jerked my head up, gazing down the long, narrow corridor...

I could not simply leave without taking one last look at him—my departure would be decisive!

Qiran hadn't left either; he stood at the far end of the passage, like a hermit apart from the world, silently and solitary watching us.

Warm winter sunlight streamed through the entryway windows, speckling his body with light that highlighted the cross pendant glinting on his chest—as if it were both fused with him and set him apart amidst the bustling world.

Gazing at that intimately familiar cross, I felt a warm moisture in my heart, yet the bitterness and pain only intensified.

Bu Sha turned and stepped onto the threshold, while I merely shifted my angle, drinking in one final look at the boy etched into my heart.

Suddenly, strong sunlight refracted through the cross into my eyes—blinding and dazzling—piercing deep into my soul.

In my mind, a flash of intensely familiar, dazzling light streaked past. In my ears, it seemed that mournful, lingering melody—one I could never recall upon waking—began to echo again.

That was the song I heard at the threshold of the time-space passage.

I sprang up as if possessed, staring at the empty space before the hall's exterior, yet seeing nothing.

At last I remembered what that flash of light was when I fell off the cliff before.

I never imagined it would be the very key that opened the time-space gateway when I first crossed over from the modern world.

That beam, when my consciousness was hazy, emanated from my chest and eventually flooded the entire valley with brilliant light.

That beam, amid endless falling, suddenly burst from the cross and ultimately reversed the powerful light of time and space.

I suddenly felt fate was playing a colossal joke on me—one so vast that unless it utterly destroyed me, it would never cease.

No wonder, when I fell off the cliff last time, I heard the song but did not return.

Simply because the key to crossing time and space, bitterly ironic, had been given by me to Qiran.

I buried my face again in Bu Sha's elbow, ignoring his surprised gaze, and burst into laughter—laughing until my wound split, laughing until hot tears filled my eyes.

After all the twists and turns, ups and downs, I now see Qiran married; I now bear a lifetime of debt and sin; and though that cross drifts ever farther from me, I suddenly realize the key to home has always been beside me.

Who can tell me? At this moment, aside from laughing until I cry, what else can I do?

What, ultimately, can I still do?

(End of chapter)