TSMITB Chapter58

There was no time to look back at the room where he had briefly stayed for one day with Sheng Qixiao. With Gang Zi carrying Shen Que, and Ah Chao carrying the wheelchair, they quickly took him downstairs.

As he pushed the door open, a fresh morning breeze swept toward him. The village was still shrouded in a damp, tranquil atmosphere, yet the bustling area at the foot of the mountain had already sprung to life.

He was truly leaving now.

Shen Que’s heart suddenly felt empty as if being pierced by the wind.

What expression would Sheng Qixiao have when he returned and found him gone? Would he be angry? Or would he be sad?

“Do you have paper and a pen? I…”

Before he could finish speaking, Gang Zi had already deftly slipped on the sunglasses, mask, and a wig he had gotten from who-knows-where, disguising him completely from head to toe. “Even if you write it, he won’t be able to read it anyway. Why would you write a farewell letter to an illiterate person?”

“……” Shen Que was silent for a moment, thinking he had a point. Sheng Qixiao could barely recognize a few Chinese characters. The papers he had carefully kept, which contained words of Shen Que secretly cursing him, might soon be discarded by him. Finally, Shen Que’s Adam’s apple bobbed once, and he compromised, “Then let’s go.”

“Alright, let’s go now! The car can’t come in, so we have to walk through the village to get outside.” This was exactly what Gang Zi was waiting for.

The few of them quickly merged into the bustling crowd.

Shen Que was jostled back and forth while listening to a sad love song hummed by some tone-deaf tourist nearby, feeling a bit irritable. He frowned, his voice coming out muffled through the mask, “Can’t we take a detour? Do we have to go through a place with so many people?”

“My ancestor, this has been a popular tourist spot in recent years. Which road isn’t packed with people?” Gang Zi looked somewhat helpless with a bitter expression on his face, but he didn’t slow down at all, continuing to clear a path through the crowd for him.

Shen Que didn’t say anything more. There weren’t fewer people yesterday than today, yet he hadn’t felt it was that unbearable. It was more about novelty and relaxation, and he even felt at ease watching Sheng Qixiao clear the crowd for him.

What’s wrong today?

The wheelchair rolled over a loose flagstone, emitting a slight creaking sound. The wheel got stuck for a moment, and Shen Que turned his head, seemingly sensing something.

With a single glance through the din, his eyes immediately found Sheng Qixiao.

It was as though fate had meticulously arranged the scene, Sheng Qixiao happened to be walking out of the photo studio they had visited yesterday.

The morning light seemed to favor him especially, falling lightly yet steadily upon him, plating the exquisite and intricate silver ornaments all over his body with a layer of flowing golden light.

That very face which had captivated Shen Que at first sight now carried such a gentle expression that not even the slightest hint of fierceness remained, resembling the most harmless spirit of the mountains and nearly causing Shen Que to forget what he was truly like.

It was just that he had left in a hurry today, and Shen Que was a little unclear whether he was actually wearing this exact outfit when he left the room.

In the crook of his arm, he held a black-covered photo album. He was bending down, talking to the breakfast stall owner about something, and the silver ornaments on him constantly jingled softly with his movement.

Compared to the lavish jewelry all over his body, the roughly made bracelet on his wrist looked somewhat out of place, yet it was impossible to ignore.

The boss smiled and handed him several bamboo tube sticky rice portions that had been packed and placed aside earlier.

A second before Sheng Qixiao was about to straighten up, Shen Que suddenly turned his head, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

His eyes felt a little warm.

Yesterday, they had arrived too late, and by then, the bamboo tube rice had already sold out.

Shen Que deliberately made things difficult for Sheng Qixiao, saying he absolutely had to eat it.

Sheng Qixiao hadn’t said anything at the time. It turned out he had already arranged it with the boss at some point.

Behind Shen Que, Sheng Qixiao slowly rose to his feet, tilting his head slightly as he gazed in the direction Shen Que had disappeared. The crowd was surging, and even Sheng Qixiao could not distinguish which piece of clothing belonged to Shen Que.

“He left just like this? Without even a goodbye.” Sheng Qixiao lowered his eyes and murmured under his breath. His long lashes concealed the turmoil of emotions in his eyes, while his usually composed expression still betrayed a trace of displeasure.

He gave him the chance to escape, even personally paved the road for him. But when Shen Que truly ran toward freedom without looking back, an unspeakable fire still surged in his heart.

Sheng Qixiao carried the still-warm bamboo tube sticky rice portions and was quickly submerged by the crowd.

The few of them quickly arrived outside the village, where many vehicles were neatly parked along both sides of the road.

A black SUV had been waiting for a long time. Seeing them emerge, the car door immediately opened, and Old Qiu quickly stepped up to greet them.

He looked at Shen Que, his eyes filled with complex emotions that Shen Que couldn’t understand. After pondering it for a long while, he was just about to speak when Gang Zi suddenly shoved him aside.

“Move aside! What are you dawdling for at a time like this?” Gang Zi’s tone was unprecedentedly sharp, and his actions could even be described as rough.

Shen Que’s eyebrow twitched. He instinctively felt the atmosphere was wrong. Since when did Gang Zi dare to be so impolite to Old Qiu?

He had just opened his mouth when he was unhesitatingly shoved into the car.

The car door closed with a “bang,” the engine immediately let out a roar, and the car sped away.

The noise was quickly left behind. The outline of the village rapidly shrank in the rearview mirror, and after a few turns, it completely disappeared behind the mountains.

Everything went extremely smoothly, so smoothly that it was somewhat abnormal.

From the moment Sheng Qixiao actively suggested bringing him to the outer village, all developments seemed to be pushed forward by someone.

It was extremely quiet inside the car; even Gang Zi, who was usually talkative, was silent.

Shen Que’s heart was filled with unease and suspicion. The last time things went this smoothly, it was a hoax single-handedly orchestrated by Sheng Qixiao behind the scenes.

What about this time?

Just as he was thinking this, the wheel struck something unknown. The car suddenly jolted violently, rocking from side to side several times, and after rolling forward for a short distance, the engine finally stalled.

During the bump, something rolled out from who knows where and stopped at Shen Que’s feet.

Shen Que looked down. It was an exquisite mahogany box, carved with familiar patterns on its body.

Almost instantly, Shen Que’s face darkened.

The other people in the car got out with solemn expressions; no one noticed his abnormality.

Shen Que rubbed the space between his eyebrows; an intense unease tightened his breathing.

After pondering for a moment, he finally couldn’t resist the inner compulsion. He bent down to pick up the box. His heart accelerated with the movement, and the metal clasp opened with a light flick of his finger.

The slightly arched lid of the box was lifted. A vine-shaped silver bracelet, inlaid with several brightly colored gems lay quietly inside.

That was the one Sheng Qixiao had personally crafted yesterday at the handmade silver jewelry shop.

He had clearly watched him hand it to the shop owner; how could it be here?

Shen Que had some bad guesses in his heart, but he couldn’t believe them and didn’t dare to show it at all.

He picked up the bracelet as if possessed. His body acted before his consciousness, and with a hard push, he slipped the bracelet onto his wrist.

A chilling touch came through, jolting him awake. He immediately wanted to take it off, but he couldn’t remove it no matter what.

Sheng Qixiao, what trick are you up to again?

“Damn it, another flat tire!” Gang Zi’s cursing came from outside the car.

Old Qiu tapped the car window and said in a deep voice, “Young Master Shen, don’t get out of the car.”

Shen Que nodded distractedly. He remembered that the car also got a flat tire like this when they entered the mountain, and he was almost bewitched by some illusion in the woods.

This was all a trap. Sheng Qixiao had been seducing him from the very beginning.

Shen Que gritted his teeth and continued to struggle with the bracelet.

Just then, a translucent, fluorescent butterfly silently flew in from the half-open car window.

It lightly landed on the silver bracelet for two seconds, then flapped its wings and flew towards the window.

Shen Que’s gaze was drawn by it, and he looked in that direction.

At the edge of the dense woods some distance away, a tall, upright young man dressed in dark Miao attire stood silently, his calm gaze fixed steadily on him.

It was Sheng Qixiao.

Shen Que’s heart miraculously settled back into place at this very moment. All suspicion and unease completely vanished at this time.

As expected, Sheng Qixiao knew everything. This was right; this was the real Sheng Qixiao.

Everything about him, from beginning to end, was within his control.

There was neither a trace of panic at having his plan exposed nor any fear of being caught while attempting to escape. Shen Que slowly lowered the car window and met that steady gaze head-on.

When everything was on the verge of being settled, he didn’t pretend to be casual and ask what had made him decide that he was willing to let him go. Was it because of last night’s kiss, or had he decided long ago?

He simply stood at a distance that was neither too close nor too far, as though facing a lover from whom he had been separated for years. The corners of his lips lifted into a stiff, heavy smile, and with a calmness he had never shown before, he carefully read the emotions hidden in Sheng Qixiao’s eyes.

Even though the time they had been apart was less than an hour.

He just suddenly remembered their parting kiss.

Sheng Qixiao had already walked away, but for some reason, he suddenly turned back. Without giving him a chance to react, he cupped his face in his hands and pressed his soft lips against his. The kiss was forceful yet lingering, leaving him almost breathless and sending his heart into a long, profound tremor.

“Shen Que, we will never be separated.” Sheng Qixiao had said this while rubbing his nose against him at the time.

At that moment, Sheng Qixiao could not bring himself to take even another half-step forward, so he simply stood there. His lips moved slightly, yet there was no anger, no attempt to push him away, and not even a single sound escaped him.

But Shen Que clearly understands those four characters: “Have a safe journey.”

Time and space twisted and deformed at this instant. Memories poured back like a tide, and Shen Que felt as if he was brought back to the night he first stepped into the small building.

Sheng Qixiao stood on the steps with intense darkness behind him. He reached out to him and said, “Welcome home.”

Welcome home. Have a safe journey.

It turned out that in Sheng Qixiao’s world, coming home and traveling far away were actually the same meaning.

Shen Que lowered his head to avoid eye contact, and hid the glistening moisture at the corners of his eyes.

The car resumed its journey amidst bumps, leaving Sheng Qixiao far behind.

The sun only illuminated half of the dense forest; the warm light fell on Shen Que’s shoulder, while the figure left behind in the rearview mirror still stood in the shadow that might not be lit up until some unknown time.

The wind continuously poured in from the open car window, blowing open Shen Que’s collar.

He subconsciously reached to touch his neck, but only felt emptiness. The pendant Sheng Qixiao gave him was gone, he didn’t know where it had gone.

As if he suddenly remembered something, he lifted his trouser leg. The silver chain and bell that he had tried everything to rip off before were also gone.

All that remained between him and Sheng Qixiao was the silver vine on his wrist.

Some vague, fragmented images suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Two intertwined figures, drawing impossibly close in the darkness, their bodies rising and falling together on the bed.

His legs were lifted. That person pressed down again, following the momentum. The bells on his ankles continuously shook and softly jingled with their owner’s trembling, playing a humid, sinking movement of music.

Just before he exhausted his strength and fell unconscious with the person above him seemed to stop moving and undid the silver chain for him.

“I’ll wait for you to come back.” This sentence was excluded by his drowsy consciousness; he did not hear it.

Shen Que fiercely clenched his own wrist as if trying to embed the ice-cold silver bracelet into his flesh and blood.

The scenery outside the window rapidly receded.

He had escaped, yet it felt as if he had been locked up in another way.

The roar of the car engine disappeared into the mountain forest.

Sheng Qixiao’s hand, hanging at his side, slowly clenched into a fist. “I’ll wait for you to come back,” he whispered softly into the empty, dense forest, making a promise that was certain to be fulfilled.

The wind stirred once more, sending the leaves rustling softly, as though they were answering his quiet whisper.

The author has something to say:

The long-distance relationship has begun~