Boundless – Chapter 80

“Time to get up!”

Wen Qianshu felt a sudden pressure on her chest, nearly forcing the air from her lungs.

She choked and coughed twice, struggling to open her eyes, and saw the little leopard cat squatting on her chest.

Wen Qianshu: “…”

The little leopard cat licked her neck: “Meow.”

Wen Qianhua grabbed its tail, dragged it to the floor, and let it howl in dissatisfaction: “Sis, how long are you going to sleep? Get up!”

Wen Qianshu felt like she couldn’t even open her eyelids. She squinted at the clock: “It’s only four o’clock!”

The little white cat yawned, but was picked up by Wen Qianhua: “Yeah, it’s already four o’clock!”

“Hurry up and get up, the makeup artist is already here!”

Wen Qianshu held her head, which was splitting from lack of sleep: “Why do you have the key to my room?”

Wen Qianhua: “Second Brother guessed you wouldn’t be able to get up yesterday, so he gave it to me specifically.”

“Get up, get up.” Wen Qianhua threw off her blanket. “It’s your wedding day! How can you still be asleep?”

Wen Qianshu: “I’m the one getting married, not you.”

Wen Qianhua: “Hmph, if it weren’t for your wedding, I wouldn’t be willing to get up this early.”

Wen Qianshu: “?”

“So I should thank you?”

Wen Qianhua said smugly: “No need to thank me.”

Holding a cat in one arm, she poured hot water for Wen Qianshu and squeezed toothpaste with the other, muttering: “Look at you, look at you, who’s the older sister here?”

Wen Qianshu got up, struggling even to put on her slippers: “Why do we have to have a wedding ceremony? Can’t we just get a certificate?”

Wen Qianhua: “Don’t be ridiculous. This is your first marriage, of course the family takes it seriously.”

A sudden idea struck her: “How about you divorce sister-in-law first, then get married again? Maybe the family won’t be so tense then.”

Wen Qianshu: “?”

I’ve really never seen a move like that.

Wen Qianshu felt like her head was about to explode. Her upper and lower eyelids were drawn to each other, inseparable, about to embrace. She nodded off sharply, but Wen Qianhua pressed a wet towel to her face and shouted into her ear: “Wake up!”

Wen Qianshu felt as if a bell was ringing in her ear, her head buzzing: “I know, I know, stop shouting.”

Several years had passed since Song Huan’s arrest.

The incident caused a huge sensation at the time. Many experts in the field of mental bodies wanted to study Wen Qianhua, but the Wen family refused.

The Wen family asked a trusted friend to treat Wen Qianhua. Wen Qianshu stayed with her all day, preventing her from performing mental soothing on herself, helping her to slowly accept the sensation of pain.

Wen Qianshu later testified in court. Song Huan stood in the defendant’s dock, her gaze heavy as she looked at her.

But Wen Qianshu just narrowed her eyes and smiled.

Song Huan accepted all verdicts but requested to see Wen Qianshu one last time.

Wen Qianshu agreed.

“I don’t understand,” Song Huan said. “Your mental domain is already like this, why haven’t you collapsed yet.”

Wen Qianshu: “Because I don’t care at all.”

Her pain allowed her to better empathize with others, to know what the bodies she possessed were thinking and what saddened them. Other than that, it didn’t really affect her much.

Perhaps 2333 was right. Compared to Mingyue, she was more like a robot.

Song Huan gritted her teeth: “I don’t believe you. How long can you last like this?”

Wen Qianshu smiled and blinked: “Probably a few hundred years.”

2333 was extremely dejected at the time. It could feel the sensation of being played for a fool by Wen Qianshu in anyone it looked at, and couldn’t help but speak up for Song Huan: “Just stop teasing her.”

Wen Qianshu: “Otherwise? Should I tease you?”

2333: “…”

2333: “Please continue teasing her. Don’t stop. Tease her even more ruthlessly.”

Wen Qianshu had only worn makeup in the first world, and it was mostly just foundation, eyebrows, and lipstick. So she had never realized that putting on makeup could be so terrifying.

The makeup artist was applying foundation under her lower eyelid: “Look up, yes, up.”

Wen Qianshu: “Are you sure this foundation won’t get into my eyes?”

“Don’t talk,” the makeup artist said. “You have dark circles, I need to cover them well, even in the corners. Don’t move, I still need to apply concealer.”

Wen Qianshu: “…”

Wen Qianshu tried to exhale. Just as she was about to move her stiff hands, she was stopped again: “Don’t move your hands either, the nail polish isn’t dry yet.”

Wen Qianshu felt despair.

To make matters worse, Wen Qianhua was laughing hysterically on the side, so Wen Qianshu felt even more despair.

“Be good.” Wen Qianhua, with a cat in each arm, leaned over and nudged the little leopard cat’s nose with her own. “Don’t bother her, or she’ll have to redo her makeup, and wouldn’t that be even worse.”

Wen Qianshu gritted her teeth: “Wen! Qian! Hua!”

But she was immediately put back in her place by the makeup artist: “Don’t move!”

Second Brother Wen pushed the door open and came in, holding a lot of snacks: “Are you hungry? Want something to eat to tide you over?”

Makeup artist: “Don’t eat. Let her put on the wedding dress first. This dress has a narrow waist, it would be bad if she eats too much and can’t fit into it.”

Wen Qianhua: “If she’s not eating, I will. Brother, hurry and feed me, ah.”

The black cat darted in, brushing against Second Brother Wen’s leg, and obediently squatted at Wen Qianshu’s feet, looking up at her.

Second Brother Wen smiled: “Stop teasing her.”

“If you’re bored, you can go out and talk to Dad.”

Wen Qianhua reached for a cookie and shook her head: “That won’t be necessary.”

“Let him and Big Brother torture each other.”

Outside the door, two leopards faced each other, pacing back and forth.

Big Brother Wen: “Dad, calm down.”

Father Wen: “I am calm.”

Before he finished speaking, the spotted leopard darted forward, trying to get into the room, but was blocked by the snow leopard.

Big Brother Wen looked at him.

Father Wen paced: “Sigh, it’s her first time getting married, I wonder if she’s nervous.”

“And your mother, really, couldn’t she have waited another year or two?”

Big Brother Wen: “Is she nervous or are you? You’ve been rambling on for so long that Mom has lost her patience to do your mental soothing and told me to watch you.”

Father Wen: “…”

Father Wen: “Is that any way to talk to your father!”

“No respect for your elders.”

Big Brother Wen was unperturbed: “Oh.”

Wen Qianshu felt like she had been motionless for so long that her neck was going numb. The last time she’d stayed still for this long was when she was lying in ambush in the apocalypse: “Is it not over yet?”

Makeup artist: “Almost, almost. The bride needs to be a little patient.”

Her mother pushed the door open and came in to remind her again: “Remember, according to custom, when the Sentinel comes to pick up the Guide, the Guide has to be carried to the car by her uncle.”

“You absolutely must not run over by yourself, it’s not proper. And then you have to.”

She looked down at the memo on her phone: “Let me think, what else were you supposed to do.”

Her sister-in-law also squeezed in. Her mental body was a little hedgehog, held in her palm, its black eyes darting around as it looked at Wen Qianshu.

Sister-in-law: “I’ve put the bouquet here for you.”

She couldn’t help but lean in for a closer look, admiring, “Qianshu is so beautiful.”

Wen Qianhua’s foot was stepped on, and she cried out in pain: “It’s getting too crowded in here.”

Her mother couldn’t find what she had noted down in her memo and grew anxious: “Then you should go out and greet the guests. Make sure you keep an eye on your uncle, don’t let him wander off. It would be bad if we can’t find him when it’s time to get in the car.”

Wen Qianhua: “?”

Is my uncle a child, or am I?

Wen Qianhua was laughingly pushed out the door by Second Brother Wen. She saw her sister-in-law come out too, who smiled at her and went to talk to Big Brother: “That hairstyle looks so good, why was my face so round when I got married last year?”

Big Brother Wen was a head taller than his wife, so he lowered his head to listen to her speak. As he listened, he started to laugh and reached out to pinch her cheek: “Chubby is so cute.”

Sister-in-law: “…”

Wen Qianhua: “…”

Good grief, she just said her face was round, and you actually called her fat.

The little hedgehog jumped down, puffed up angrily, and clung to the snow leopard’s head, poking it with its soft spines.

The snow leopard’s neck stiffened. It maintained its balance and did its best to block the spotted leopard.

Wen Qianhua: “Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk.”

She felt it was too much to watch, so she went to find her uncle by herself.

No matter how methodical things are in theory, they always tend to descend into chaos in the end.

Mrs. Wen thought her arrangements were proper and orderly, but unfortunately, this group of people understood everything they were told, but messed up everything they did.

“Don’t press your lips together, you’ll eat off the lipstick!”

“Let me touch it up for you. Someone get her a straw to drink some water, she says she’s thirsty.”

“Drink less, you don’t want to be rushing to the bathroom while walking down the aisle, do you?”

“Is everything ready? It’s almost time.”

“Okay, okay, don’t move, there’s still the veil! Put the veil on straight!”

“Where’s the bouquet? Give it to her.”

“Wasn’t it just here? Where did it go?”

“Ah, who put chocolate on top of this, it’s crushing the flowers!”

When Wen Qianshu finally went out, she felt as if her soul had left her body, and she didn’t know where she was.

Then she saw Mu Lian standing at the garden gate, waiting for her.

Mu Lian was also wearing a snow-white wedding dress, its flared skirt like a flower.

Hearing the commotion, she lifted her long lashes and looked over.

Her ink-black hair was coiled up, with two strands falling beside her cheeks, making her hair seem darker and her skin paler. With thin lips and light-colored pupils, her face was like the bright moon. Further down was a slender neck, straight collarbones, with beautiful, smooth lines that rose and fell.

Her gaze passed through the crowd, across the garden, and met Wen Qianshu’s from afar.

Then she smiled softly.

And in that instant, even the morning sunlight paled in comparison.

The gyrfalcon circled in the sky, and the little white cat followed at Wen Qianshu’s feet.

Wen Qianshu’s eyes lit up, and the corners of her mouth had just begun to curve up when she heard her mother cough.

Under the frantic hinting of her mother’s gaze, she silently stopped her outstretched foot, raised her arms to hook around her uncle’s neck, let him bend down, pick her up horizontally, carry her through the garden path, and place her in the car. Then his cufflink got caught on her veil, nearly ripping Wen Qianshu’s head off.

Wen Qianshu hissed in pain. Second Brother Wen quickly ran over and fumbled to untangle the veil.

The makeup artist’s gaze was precisely locked on them, wishing her eyes could shoot lasers and poke two holes in the lot of them.

Once in the car, Wen Qianshu breathed a sigh of relief: “I can’t take it anymore.”

Mu Lian smiled and turned to kiss her.

And so Wen Qianshu couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t even know what she was laughing at, and even felt her laughter was a bit silly, but she couldn’t control it, couldn’t stop.

In this world, a wedding required the Sentinel to bring the Guide to the hall, to swear an oath to the Sentinel-Guide Lock, an oath of loyalty, an oath of eternity.

Mu Lian got out of the car, opened the door for Wen Qianshu, and held out her hand: “Xiao Shu.”

Wen Qianshu placed her hand in her palm and was gently pulled out of the car.

She looked at Mu Lian, and Mu Lian looked back at her.

When the officiant gave the signal, they walked in.

Just like the countless roads they had walked before.

The wind rose, rustling their skirts, blowing through their escape in the apocalypse, when Lou Jiu wrapped her arms around her and leaped from the high-altitude frame; it leaped into the sea, sinking into the deep corridors of Canglan Courtyard, where Yun Cai shouldered her long spear and waved at her, her light-colored pupils glinting with a golden light, as if coated in a layer of sunlight; the sunlight scattered, casting mottled shadows of trees, as they walked side by side on the stone steps in the mountains, and she comforted Mingyue, saying she would keep the notebook for her, and keep the fallen leaves for her.

Fallen leaves, fallen leaves.

The fallen leaves on the ground were lifted by the wind again, blowing past Mingyue’s praying, clasped hands, blowing far into the distance, blowing past the even more distant, pale, and weak smile of Wen Qianshu.

“Buddha, I wish for Wen Qianshu’s happiness.”

“Doctor Jiang, you saw me, you saved me, so please don’t be sad anymore, okay?”

She held her hand.

They walked all the way to the altar.

My moonlight, my clouds, my strong wine, my flower.

You are all the beauty and hope in the mortal world, my eternal love and light.

Wen Qianshu said softly, “Sister, I see you.”

Mu Lian: “I see you too.”

They smiled, exchanging vows only they could understand, leaving the officiant bewildered as they lifted each other’s veils.

Four worlds, the wind trapped the moon.

Four worlds, the moon kept the wind.

Our story, from now on.

Has only a beginning, and no end.

The wind and moon are boundless.

The longing is endless.

【End of Main Text】