Chapter 200

Su Mo felt that the person before her looked as if they were about to cry at any moment.

She couldn't help frowning, wondering, "Did I just bump into him and hurt him?"

Before she could speak, he suddenly grabbed her in a hug.

His choked, hoarse voice came from beside her ear: "Wife Master, I… I've been looking for you for so long!"

The low sobs made Su Mo's chest tighten suddenly.

"I miss you so much, I really miss you… You said you wouldn't abandon me, so why… have you vanished without a trace…"

Su Mo couldn't explain why this sudden feeling of suffocation welled up in her chest, and she completely forgot to push the person before her away.

The crowd surged like boiling water, and amidst the clamor she clearly heard his near-heart-rending sobs, as if the pain repressed to the extreme in his emotions was instantly released.

One after another, she felt as if something deep in her soul was trembling along.

She instinctively reached out to pat his back, trying to soothe his agitated emotions.

Pearls rolled across the ground at her feet, from white to blue, then to pink…

Not far away, Long Yan gazed at this scene in astonishment.

Not far from his left side stood another person, whose eye sockets were also red, gazing at the slender figure in the crowd.

Found.

Finally found.

This time, they no longer need to drift like wandering souls, aimlessly floating in an unfamiliar city, searching everywhere for her trace.

Only after the person before her calmed down a little did Su Mo gently push him away and ask, "Did you mistake me for someone else?"

Ye Yuan looked at her with eyes glistening with moisture, speaking earnestly: "No mistake—I know you're Su Mo, you're my Wife Master. I'm Ye Yuan, your mermaid Ye Yuan."

Su Mo blinked slightly, "Wife Master?"

She had heard this title once before from Yue Ying, though she hadn't given it much thought at the time.

Su Mo looked at the face before her, a flicker of doubt crossing her eyes; she had wanted to ask something, but seeing the tears welling in his eyes, she stopped herself in time.

She picked up the things on the ground, together with the few pink pearls at her feet.

Then she pulled him up and said, "Let's find a place to talk slowly?"

Here people come and go; it's really not a good place to talk.

Ye Yuan took a deep breath to hold back the tears in his eyes, nodded and said, "Mm, I'll listen to you, Wife Master."

The Wife Master doesn't like him crying; he can't cry anymore.

If he made her cry and drove her away again… he couldn't think about it, for thinking made him want to tear up again.

Ye Yuan sniffed, then took the suitcase from Su Mo's hand.

Before Su Mo could move her steps, a staff member approached and said, "Um, those pearls you dropped… do you want them back?"

Before Su Mo could speak, Ye Yuan reached out and took them, saying, "Thanks."

The person nodded, smiled, and walked away.

Su Mo looked at the bag in his hand and thought, "This mermaid is quite thrifty and domestic—maybe I should return the pearls in my hand as well?"

"Here!" Ye Yuan handed over the bag in his hand: "Wife Master, take it to sell for money."

"Uh?!"

Su Mo looked at the bag he offered, feeling guilty, thinking, "Is my greed really that obvious? Has it become common knowledge?"

"No need…"

Before she could finish refusing, the mermaid before her eyes welled up with tears again.

Ye Yuan took a deep breath to hold back the tears in his eyes, grabbed her hand and pressed it into his: "You once said keeping me is expensive… I've been thinking lately, maybe it really is too costly, so the Wife Master dislikes me and doesn't want me anymore…"

Su Mo looked at the pitiful little thing before her, furrowed her brows, and said, "No, not really…"

Although she wasn't entirely sure whether she was the Wife Master he spoke of, who would really dislike such a cute little fish?

The key is his pearls can still be sold for money; keeping him wouldn't cost much, right? Saying those things is surely just teasing him.

"But you just abandoned me…"

"Plop," "plop."

Seeing he was about to drop pearls again, Su Mo quickly reached out to catch them: "Don't cry—let's talk outside."

Those glances around made her feel like some scumbag bullying a pure succubus.

Ye Yuan sniffled, nodded, and followed her outside.

Long Yan quickly stepped forward, looked at Su Mo, and asked, "What's going on? Do you know each other?"

Su Mo shook her head, hadn't even opened her mouth yet, when she saw a figure walking toward her.

"Wife Master."

The newcomer's dark, deep eyes fell on her, with a hint of moisture in the depths.

The joy of long-awaited reunion in the depths of his eyes was exactly the same as Ye Yuan's expression just moments ago.

Ye Yuan whispered, "Wife Master, this is Cang Lan."

"Cang Lan?"

Su Mo murmured the name.

As soon as she spoke, the person before her embraced her tightly: "Mm, I am… Cang Lan."

Su Mo only felt a warm liquid sliding down her neck.

Although it was an unfamiliar embrace, it carried a deadly sense of familiarity.

Long Yan beside them slightly furrowed his brows, feeling that today's outing was ill-fated… one hug after another, really!

Café.

Su Mo looked at the two people sitting opposite, staring at her unblinkingly, and asked, "Have you finished speaking?"

Ye Yuan nodded: "That's basically it."

He had just given a rough overview of the situation over in the Beast World.

Su Mo didn't rush to speak.

Ye Yuan thought she didn't believe him, and he explained solemnly: "I really didn't lie, I promise!"

Su Mo actually felt as if she were listening to a story, but that inexplicable sense of familiarity seemed to be telling her that none of it was a dream.

Perhaps she really had experienced that in a previous life?

Otherwise, there would be no way to explain why, looking at the two people before her, she felt an innate, inexplicable familiarity and trust.

In their story there were Mo Xiao, Fei Yan, Yue Ying, Long Yan, Xuan Qing… Surely it couldn't be that much of a coincidence.

Su Mo hazily thought that life itself might just be an indescribable dreamlike journey; what you think is the end will be rewritten in another time and space in a new way.

Su Mo took Ye Yuan and Cang Lan to arrange accommodations.

When she left, Ye Yuan looked as if he were about to cry again.

Su Mo raised her hand, pointed at him, frowned and warned: "No crying, or you won't get dinner!"

Ye Yuan pressed his lips, his eyes red, looking at her; thankfully, what she said wasn't, "If you cry again I won't want you..."

He was really afraid she wouldn't want him again.

Having said that, she patiently explained: "I won't disappear; I'm just going back to my room to rest a bit."

She needed to sort out her thoughts.

Only after personally seeing Su Mo enter her room did Ye Yuan and Cang Lan return to their own rooms.

"Wife Master doesn't remember us."

Cang Lan frowned: "As long as she's safe, that's enough."

A knocking sounded outside; Cang Lan went to open the door and saw Long Yan standing there.

Long Yan, a bit awkward, said: "Can… we chat a while?"

Cang Lan nodded and stepped aside.

Long Yan was really curious: what was he like before, and what were he and she like…

……

Su Mo pondered in the room for a moment; some things seemed to match what Ye Yuan had said.

He said that after coming from the Forgetting River he had been severely injured, due to the river water corroding him.

That day, when she picked up Yue Ying at the clinic entrance, his body was also severely corroded.

She later actually asked that fox how his injuries came about, but he never gave a direct answer.

If it were connected to what Ye Yuan said, then everything would make sense.

Su Mo dialed Yue Ying's number; the call was answered instantly.

"Mo'er, you're missing me, right? I knew you couldn't do without me~ When are you coming back? Can I pick you up at the airport tomorrow night?"

He's always like that; his deepest longing hides in those frivolous teases.

Su Mo's grip on the phone tightened slightly, her voice suddenly tense: "Yue Ying, do you know the Forgetting River water? Does it burn people painfully?"

The person on the other end suddenly fell silent.

After a moment, Yue Ying chuckled lightly: "From Ying Sis's story? Fake, it's all fake. She's the best at making up stories…"

Su Mo lightly interrupted.

"Your earlier injury, was it from crossing the Forgetting River?" Though she tried hard to control her emotions, her voice couldn't help but choke: "Did you suffer a lot just to see me?"

Yue Ying fell silent for a few seconds, then asked: "Did you see someone?"

"Yeah, I saw Ye Yuan, and also Cang Lan."

"Don't listen to that Little Mermaid's nonsense; he just cries all day, draining the fox's blessings. Next time just let him come cry in front of me, I'll pick up his pearls to sell for money to support my wife!"

Su Mo chuckled lightly, her mood suddenly brightening.

Yue Ying teased her a few more times, then added: "Don't linger outside too long; come home early, or I'll miss you! Actually I'm already starting to miss you uncontrollably, I really, really miss you… How am I supposed to get through these days!"

He didn't want to tell her how he had spent the time when she wasn't around.

Because everything had already become insignificant the moment he saw her.

He also never thought of it as suffering; it was the price he paid for his choice, and having made that choice, he naturally accepted that price.

After Long Yan came out of Ye Yuan and Cang Lan's rooms, he stared at Su Mo's door for a long time, his thoughts unable to settle.

Then he let out a relieved laugh.

Su Mo's outing was just for sightseeing, so the next day the four of them, following the itinerary Long Yan had originally made for her, officially began the first leg of this trip.

Ye Yuan and Cang Lan were also visiting this kind of place for the first time, so they just tagged along to look around.

By the time Long Yan's itinerary ended, it was already half a month later.

The seaside at dusk was very beautiful.

Tonight's wind was also gentle, and the sound of waves lapping the beach was inexplicably pleasant.

Ye Yuan and Cang Lan were nearby preparing dinner ingredients.

Long Yan and Su Mo sat side by side; the evening breeze stirred her hair, lightly brushing his neck.

He froze for a moment, his heartbeat losing control.

In a glow of splendid evening clouds, he turned his head to look at her, his voice soft yet unusually clear: "Su Mo, there's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time."

She turned her head to look at him, her eyes and brows curved.

For a moment, Long Yan couldn't tell whether it was the scenery that was beautiful or the person before him that made him intoxicated.

He gazed into her sparkling eyes, word by word: "I like you."

"I don't want to stop at being friends with you; I want to try developing another possibility."

"I... won't compete with them for anything, and I don't need to stay by your side all the time; only when you need me, or when you think of me, I'll appear immediately, okay..."

By the end, his tone grew even more humble: "I only need a tenth of their time, just a tenth is enough."

Su Mo looked at him with a gentle smile, then lightly rested her head on his shoulder: "Alright."

These years she had long become accustomed to his being by her side, had long become used to this companionship; the tacit understanding between them seemed etched into their very bones.

When the four returned to the hotel, they saw people sitting in the lobby.

Fei Yan smiled and stepped forward, greeted the three first, and then turned his gaze toward Su Mo.

"They asked me to ask you, when do you plan to go back?"

"Soon~"

Su Mo smiled and stepped toward the room.

Fei Yan stepped forward to follow.

In the deep of night, when it was quiet, she nestled against his chest and asked in a low voice: "Is that scar on you also from crossing the Forgetting River?"

"Hmm."

"Why has no one mentioned this before?"

"Because it wasn't necessary; coming to see you was our own decision. We didn't want you to stay by our side out of guilt or self‑blame."

If Ye Yuan weren't so simple and poured everything out in one go, he—or they—would hope she never learns of this.

Su Mo reached out and embraced the person before her; she would pause for him—or them—always because they were worth it.

…

In the latter part of the night, Su Mo seemed to have a dream.

She dreamed that she went to the world described by Ye Yuan.

But that place seemed vastly different from what he had described.

Cooking smoke rose, and the scene that came into view was warm and cozy. Someone was farming the fields, and not far away, the school echoed with the clear reading voices of younglings.

In a daze, Su Mo was bumped by a young Beastman who was carrying a book.

He was a Wolf Beastman, and he repeatedly apologized to Su Mo.

A young female Beastman of similar age followed behind; she frowned and scolded: "Feng Yao, you're already that old, why are you still so reckless? How can you possibly teach those cubs properly like this? When I get back I'll tell mother to forbid you from training!"

"Sister, can you at least give me some face?" he apologized to Su Mo again: "I didn't hurt you by bumping into you, did I?"

Su Mo smiled and said to him, "I'm fine."

She thought for a moment and asked again, "Do you know A Nuan?"

According to what Ye Yuan said, this person seemed to be her good friend.

Wen Yan and the person opposite him were taken aback.

Soon Su Mo was taken by Yun Zhao and Feng Yao to the front of a shop, where a crowd had gathered and a faint scent of powder drifted on the wind.

The middle‑aged woman at the head was busy beyond measure.

Yun Zhao shouted at the top of his lungs, "Mother, someone's looking for you!"

A Nuan didn't even lift her head and asked, "Who?"

"It's me, Su Mo."

Wen Yan saw the porcelain jar in A Nuan's hand suddenly roll from her fingertips, and she looked at the person walking toward them with almost disbelief.

Then she suddenly embraced the person before her, tears pouring down like rain: "You... why did you only just come back to see me... Do you know I've been waiting for you all this time!"

Su Mo, eyes reddened, choked out, "Since you could never wait, why not give up?"

"Can't give up, I'm afraid that one day you'll suddenly return and we won't be able to find familiar people. Besides, I always feel that you will definitely come back."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to know that we are living very well now, better than before." A Nuan, hugging the person before her, cried inconsolably: "I've been living well according to what you said, and they have too; everyone is moving toward a better future. Are you happy?"

Su Mo smiled with relief: "Happy."

——

Nan Cheng.

Su Mo later appeared in the public eye, already several years later.

With long hair neatly tied high, her entire demeanor was poised and efficient; she held a heavy trophy in her hands and delivered her acceptance speech calmly and unhurriedly.

In these years she continued her further studies and participated in several research projects. Even at a young age, she had already reached a level beyond the reach of ordinary people.

On the same day, Xiao Jiu and Fu Ying attended an award ceremony together.

Fu Ying won the Best Screenwriter Award, and Xiao Jiu, thanks to years of effort, successfully earned Best Actor.

The camera cuts, sweeping over the two of their phone screens.

On the screen is Su Mo, holding the trophy.

The woman in the shot is composed, elegant, confident, exuding an enchanting aura from the inside out that captivates the eye.

The camera pans to the front row of the audience.

The seven seated in the very middle, each a dazzling figure in their respective fields, now have their rapt gazes fixed on the person at the center of the stage.

Ye Yuan's eyes were red, and tears welled up as he watched the person on stage.

Later, when Su Mo was watching the video together with Xiao Jiu and the others, Fu Ying couldn't help but tease: "Your Little Mermaid's crying trait is unchangeable~"

Su Mo smiled and said, "If it can't be changed, then it can't be changed."

Everything is fine as long as it's from the heart.

?? Let's end here.

? Thank you for accompanying me on this journey.

? The world is vast; I hope at the next crossroads you can still encounter stories you love.

? May we each: not be trapped by emotion, not be deluded by love.

? In this life, be steadfast and brave in loving yourself!