TSMITB Chapter68

The car was completely sealed, with not even a crack in the windows, while the scenery outside blurred into flowing blocks of color, rapidly receding one after another.

Sheng Qixiao spent most of the journey in the car fast asleep.

Whenever he woke up, he would simply lean quietly against Shen Que, looking out the window, though it was unclear whether he was watching the scenery rapidly recede outside or tracing the outline of the person beside him in the reflection on the glass.

Sheng Qixiao moved his somewhat stiff body, and the coat covering him slipped off.

Shen Que noticed immediately, reached out to pull the coat back over him, and inadvertently touched his slightly cool hand.

Shen Que paused his movement and slipped his own hand into Sheng Qixiao’s palm.

During this time, not a word was spoken.

Silence spread throughout the compartment. Sheng Qixiao suddenly turned his head, nudged him with the tip of his nose, and quietly asked, “Are you still mad?”

Shen Que’s face was as cold as before, but ultimately he did not push him away, “Why did you lie to me?”

“I was afraid you would stop liking me quickly.” Sheng Qixiao’s breath brushed against Shen Que’s neck, “I was afraid that when I wasn’t around, you would sink back into your past life and forget about me.”

“So, you joked with your own life? Make yourself look like this…”

“Yes,” Sheng Qixiao admitted frankly, “I just wanted to make you feel sorry for me, and make you remember me forever.”

He wanted to use this appearance, so fragile it seemed he might die at any moment, to make him ache with worry, and to leave an indelible mark in his heart.

Only then could he return with peace of mind.

“So, I’ve made you constantly anxious like this, and insisted on…”

“Yes.” Sheng Qixiao nodded without hesitation.

“……”

Finally, the car stopped near the boundary marker of E’yun Mountain.

Sheng Qixiao had somehow straightened his body, pointing to a relatively flat open space next to the boundary marker, “Do you still remember that place?”

Shen Que looked over following his guidance; it was the place where Sheng Qixiao had said goodbye to him four years ago.

Shen Que nodded, his throat feeling a bit dry, “What exactly happened back then, why were you so eager to send me out?”

“I was trapped and taken away by them, and then, while I was gone, they lured you to the temple and made you fall into the solution cave.”

That was the memory Sheng Qixiao was least willing to recall.

When he found Shen Que dying at the bottom of the solution cave and held his scarred body in his arms, he experienced profound despair for the first time.

That was the elders’ warning to him; anyone who tried to take him away or approach him would come to a bad end.

He couldn’t even protect the only person he cherished.

In that moment, Sheng Qixiao truly realized that to gain freedom and to protect Shen Que, running away or avoiding the issue was useless; he had to possess absolute authority and trample the entire clan underfoot.

But this road was destined to be full of thorns, and he could not let Shen Que take this risk with him.

He rescued Shen Que from the solution cave, used almost the last of his strength to heal him, and brought him to the boundary marker of E’yun Mountain.

Looking at his beloved, who was still frowning in a coma, Sheng Qixiao leaned down and pressed a farewell kiss on his lips.

Then, he personally erased all of Shen Que’s memories of him and of E’yun Mountain. Before help could arrive, he turned around and walked back into the thick fog first.

“So, that time I broke my leg before the Moon Glazing Festival, I confused the events from four years ago with the current situation?”

Sheng Qixiao nodded, “They used the same method as four years ago to warn me that even by then, they still had the ability to hurt you, and I still couldn’t protect you.”

“And then you still had the nerve to say it was my fault for running around…”

“……” Sheng Qixiao knew he was in the wrong and stiffly changed the subject, “Is there anything else you want to ask?”

Shen Que met his gaze, “Why are you willing to tell me now? Before, no matter how much I asked, you wouldn’t tell me, always telling me to wait for later.”

“Now, is the ‘later’ I talked about back then.”

Shen Que turned his gaze back to the front, looking at the moss-covered boundary marker, and slowly said, “But I don’t have anything I want to ask anymore.”

Everything he wanted to know, everything he had struggled with, seemed no longer important at this moment.

What the truth was, or what the past held, could not outweigh the fact that the person in front of him was about to leave.

Gang Zi, who had been playing dead in the front row, raised his hand inappropriately at this moment, “I have one more question, Young Master Shen, how did you recover your memory?”

Sheng Qixiao didn’t speak, his eyelashes slightly lowered. Shen Que also didn’t speak, because he himself didn’t understand either.

Ke Di glanced at Sheng Qixiao, and bravely explained, “Only when you truly fell in love with him did the thing suppressing your memory really start to dissipate, allowing you to slowly remember the past. So… you used to say you liked him, but even I didn’t believe it, yet you thought you could fool him…”

Shen Que: “……”

Sheng Qixiao lifted his eyelids, gave Ke Di a casual glance, and then gently rested his head on Shen Que’s shoulder, “I’m so dizzy.”

Shen Que, Ke Di, Gang Zi: “……”

Ke Di and Gang Zi exchanged a look, and with great tact, got out of the car, leaving them their final space for solitude.

Perhaps because he was back in a familiar environment, Sheng Qixiao seemed to have genuinely recovered somewhat.

Sheng Qixiao rolled down the car window; the cold mountain wind instantly rushed in. He did not speak, just quietly looked at Shen Que, his light-colored eyes like a deep pool reflecting only Shen Que’s image.

Shen Que looked back at him, wanting to say something, such as “I will wait for you,” or “You must come back,” but the words on his tongue were reduced to a single, dry sentence, “Take good care of yourself.”

“You too.” Sheng Qixiao suddenly smiled again, “Don’t go to those messy, strange places all the time, like before.”

“Got it!” Shen Que moved his gaze away, his eyes feeling warm, “You’re naggy.”

The wind swept through Sheng Qixiao’s long hair, carrying a few strands over to Shen Que’s fingers, where they wrapped around them reluctantly, as though unwilling to let go.

“Shen Que.”

Shen Que turned his head.

“Close your eyes. Open them only when I tell you to open them.” Sheng Qixiao’s voice was full of enchantment.

Shen Que stared steadily at him, feeling an inkling in his heart. He didn’t ask any unnecessary questions, but simply closed his eyes obediently.

The next second, a cool and soft kiss gently landed on Shen Que’s lips.

The kiss was light and brief, yet carried endless attachment and reluctance.

“Open your eyes, Shen Que.”

Sheng Qixiao’s voice faintly reached his ear.

Shen Que abruptly opened his eyes, and there was no one in front of him anymore.

Outside the car window, Ke Di, who had been chatting intimately with Gang Zi, was also nowhere to be seen.

Shen Que raised his hand and lightly touched his lips with his fingertip; Sheng Qixiao’s temperature seemed to still linger there.

But the wind in the mountains did not pause for a moment, whistling through the open car window and carrying away the last remaining scent that belonged to Sheng Qixiao.

Shen Que’s body was frozen in place as if turned to ice, and he didn’t move for a long while.

On the seat where Sheng Qixiao had been, a mobile phone lay quietly. The screen was lit, showing the notes interface.

On it were two crooked, almost illegible Chinese characters.

Goodbye.

There seemed to be some smudged handwriting behind it. Shen Que tapped ‘Undo,’ and the erased, blurry notes reappeared.

The three characters written stroke by stroke, straight and proper, were probably “I love you.”

He had probably practiced many times, wanting to write these few characters neatly and beautifully. But at a moment like this, perhaps he had become rusty, or perhaps he hadn’t yet fully learned, and departure had already arrived.

After Sheng Qixiao left, Shen Que’s life seemed to have returned to its original state.

Only, everyone could tell that many things had completely changed.

He no longer lingered in those extravagant, decadent places; the things that once brought him fleeting joy were now all tasteless and dull.

He also had much less expectation for the place called “home.”

His promiscuous father, due to his beautiful ex-girlfriend disappearing without a trace overnight, worried so much that two more wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes overnight.

When Shen Que heard about this, he was remotely discussing the purchase of a few buildings in the Outer Village business district with Ke Di.

Now, Ke Di was no longer restricted in any way and didn’t have to stay in the Inner Village, becoming the “Head Manager” of the Outer Village directly.

Shen Que covered the phone’s receiver and forced a cold smile toward his family waiting at the dining table for him to hang up and start eating, “You’ve been promiscuous all your life, so why, with one foot in the grave, have you started pretending to be deeply affectionate? Can you not find anyone else?”

That one sentence angered his father so much that he smashed a plate and stormed away from the table.

Shen Yi, Old Master Shen, and his father’s four or five illegitimate children, who bore a sixty to seventy percent resemblance to Shen Que, were left staring at one another in silence.

Shen Que was unaffected; he simply dropped the words “You guys eat,” and walked out the door.

Ke Di on the other end of the phone heard the commotion and hesitated to speak, stopped, and then hesitated again, but finally couldn’t hold back and spoke, “I’m not trying to pour cold water on you, but the Blood Vine has been symbiotic with him for too long, and with the bond of the Spirit of Nature, it’s difficult to completely undo… maybe never in a lifetime…”

“En.” Shen Que responded faintly, and then hung up the phone.

He stood in the garden of the old mansion; flowers of various colors swayed in the night wind, shedding their respective fragrances.

He had heard Ke Di’s words too many times.

After Sheng Qixiao returned to E’yun Mountain, Shen Que tried to follow Ke Di inside.

But every time he got halfway, he was gently but firmly wrapped up by the Blood Vines that broke through the soil, and then gently tossed out.

After being blocked like this more than ten times, he also stopped trying to go.

“Maybe he doesn’t want you to go in…” Ke Di scratched his head awkwardly, explaining carefully.

Shen Que no longer had any strong emotions, and his mood was now exceptionally stable, to the point that even when cursing his father, he would still restrain three to five parts of his anger.

In his words, it was ‘accumulating virtue.’

Accumulating virtue for Sheng Qixiao, hoping he could break free from his shackles and gain freedom soon.

“Did you mention it last time? Who is the owner of the guesthouse he and I stayed in, and can you contact them? I want to buy that house.”

Ke Di’s expression was a little strange; he scratched his head and said, “Well… actually, you don’t need to buy it. You can just treat it as your own home whenever you want to stay there.”

Seeing Shen Que’s confusion, he then explained, “That house belongs to him, and it should have always been under your name… back when the outside government required registration, he didn’t have an ID, so we just stole yours…”

“……” Shen Que couldn’t describe the feeling, only sensing a pang of bitterness and softness in his heart.

The Outer Village commercial street was as lively as he remembered.

The flagstone path was worn smooth, lined with dazzling shops. The air was filled with the aroma of food, and the crisp sound of hammering silver echoed in his ears.

Shen Que raised his wrist; a vine-shaped silver bracelet dangled around it. Tiny gemstones were set between the delicate branches and leaves, glittering in the sunlight.

This was Sheng Qixiao’s handiwork.

He had also made one for Sheng Qixiao back then, though it was roughly made and shapeless. Sheng Qixiao wore it constantly after receiving it and never took it off.

There were many tourists on the street wearing ethnic costumes, posing for various outdoor shots under the direction of photographers.

Shen Que involuntarily recalled the image of Sheng Qixiao wearing a qipao.

A smile involuntarily escaped his lips, but as he smiled, his eyes grew warm, and he finally lowered them in dejection.

Sheng Qixiao, when exactly can you come back…

Shen Que rubbed his eyes while carrying the warm bamboo tube sticky rice, turned around, and walked back step by step toward the house on the mountainside that belonged to Sheng Qixiao, and also belonged to him.

Time crossed mountains and ridges, quietly slipping away.

Neon lights in various colors flickered on and off, while the trees lining the road stood bare and silent.

Before he knew it, it was the end of the year.

Every household had hung up red lanterns and put up new spring couplets, creating a joyful, festive atmosphere.

Shen Que refused Shen Yi’s suggestion to go back to the old mansion for the New Year, staying alone in the empty house, waiting for the Spring Festival Gala to begin.

In previous years at this time, he would likely have been living recklessly with a crowd of cronies in some noisy venue.

The peaceful singing and dancing on the TV were giving him a headache; he half-reclined on the sofa and unconsciously fell asleep.

In his sleep, he felt as if he had returned to E’yun Mountain, completely immersed in the thick fog.

In a flash, a familiar, unusual scent drifted over, cold like a crescent moon, yet carrying a faint, subtle warmth.

It was too real.

Shen Que’s heart suddenly leaped, and he opened his eyes almost immediately.

The living room light was off; there was only the faint light emanating from the TV screen.

Within this shifting light and shadow, a familiar figure stood quietly in front of the sofa, blocking most of the brightness from the sole light source.

The person was wearing a dark blue Miao ethnic outfit, with long hair tied behind their head. Shen Que held his breath, looked up, and was instantly met by a pair of sparkling, light-colored eyes.

Those eyes were holding a smile, gazing at him tenderly.

Was it a dream, or yet another hallucination?

Shen Que dared not move, nor even blink.

“Jing-a-ling.”

The crisp sound of silver ornaments chimed. The person reached out, easily lifted the half-asleep, half-awake Shen Que from the sofa, and tightly embraced him.

It was the familiar warmth of his body, the familiar scent, and the familiar rhythm of his heartbeat.

“Shen Que, I’ve come for you.” And a familiar voice, close to Shen Que’s ear, slowly rang out, “Why have you gotten so much thinner? Did you miss me?”

The tip of his nose instantly felt a sharp sting; the longing and worry accumulated over several months burst their banks at this moment.

“En.” Shen Que hugged him tightly in return, burying his face in the now-warm crook of his neck and greedily breathing in his familiar scent. The words that tumbled out were marked by uncontrollable trembling, “I missed you, Sheng Qixiao.”

The chime of midnight sounded at this moment.

Outside the window, countless dazzling fireworks launched simultaneously, painting a grand and brilliant picture across the dark night sky.

In the flickering light and shadow reflected on the French window, were two people tightly embracing with their lips meeting.

The New Year had arrived.

The author has something to say:

All the twists and turns and hardships are, from this point forward, just smoke from yesterday, and what awaits them is only the eternal completeness and happiness of tomorrow.