Yin Zheng stiffened as she looked up into the eyes of the person before her.
Lu Tong stood in front of her, her dark eyes clear and lucid. Those eyes were always calm and indifferent, but when they gazed at her, they sohow always managed to put one at ease, as if all the troubles in the world amounted to nothing in her presence.
Just like the first ti they t.
After a mont, Yin Zheng asked, "Do you still rember the first ti we t?"
Without waiting for Lu Tong to reply, she began speaking softly, "I rember."
She was critically ill, suffering from unbearable pain all over. The brothel madam had people roll her up in a mat and dump her at Luoi Peak’s Mass Burial Mound.
She cried and reached for the madam’s hem, "Foster mother, don’t leave behind, a little dicine, and I will get better—"
Only to be kicked away by the madam.
"Better my ass!" the madam cursed, pointing at her nose, "Does dicine not cost money? Look carefully with your eyes wide open, this is a brothel, not a charity hall. I’ve taken care of you for so long, and you’ve fallen ill so soon, a total loss!"
As she spoke, she covered her mouth and nose as if disgusted by sothing filthy, urging the servant, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and take her away!"
And so, she was carried up the mountain.
Yin Zheng rembered it clearly—it was a cold, rainy night, the mountain path was slippery, and the wind mournful.
All alone, she lay in the Chaos Burial Mound, the continuous rain falling on her face, without the strength even to move, filled with nothing but despair.
Her life had been rough, her existence as insignificant as a dandelion, and her death just as ignoble. The life of a commoner, begging for a shred of dignity in vain.
The night sky between the mountains seed like an imnse gaping maw, greedily swallowing the last breath of life in the human world. In that cold and dreary place, she saw a beam of light.
A faint light that hastened through the rainy night.
She suspected it to be a hallucination before death, but the illusion felt extraordinarily real. Soone with a basket on their back ca to the Chaos Burial Mound, walking and stopping here and there, picking up sothing.
The light approached her, and a hand touched her cheek.
That hand was ice-cold and soft. Without a word, it reached for her neck, yet the movent was so gentle. It then brushed the ssy hair from her face.
Yin Zheng saw a face.
The face of a young woman, pale and beautiful. Underneath the conical hat, a pair of eyes, black as the night of Luoi Peak, shone brightly in the rainy night, furrowing brows as they looked at her.
Yin Zheng opened her mouth but was too weak to say a word.
"Don’t speak."
The woman seed to understand sothing, she put down the basket, and then stood up to grab Yin Zheng’s hand, lifting her onto her back,
"I’ll save you," she said.
I’ll save you.
Three words, like a lantern in the night, like a lifeline, which she clung to desperately, never again daring to let go.
The crickets chirped lowly beneath the window among the flowers, and Yin Zheng zoned out for a while. When she ca back to her senses, there were unshed tears in her eyes, and she smiled, "Back then, I thought I was a goner, never expected to et you."
She loved poetry and painting, had fallen into this filthy and polluted corner of the world, yet after seeing all manner of debased and ugly faces, she t the most genuine and wonderful person in the world.
It was the only stroke of luck in her unfortunate life, perhaps the only rcy she had ever received from heaven.
Lu Tong said, "It’s all in the past."
Yin Zheng fell silent.
It was all in the past, Su Nan was the past, so were the unpleasant mories. She had been at peace on West Street for too long. Looking back, she realized how far Shengjing was from Su Nan.
"Stay on West Street," Lu Tong said, "It’s nice here."
She was a flower without roots, drifting freely. Having finally found a corner of peace here, she couldn’t bear to let go.
"You’ll co back, right?" Yin Zheng asked.
Lu Tong looked out of the window to the plum tree, tall and upright, not yet flowering. She said, "After I leave, take good care of this plum tree for ."
Her gaze swept over the damp soil beneath the tree but did not answer Yin Zheng’s question.
Yin Zheng fell silent for a mont.
"Miss, I actually have a younger sister," she revealed.
She said, "My father sold and my sister into the brothel to cover his gambling debts. My sister and I tried to escape when we were discovered; she didn’t survive, she was beaten to death, and I was left behind."
"Seeing you always reminds of her, I didn’t protect her well."
"I know you are intent on revenge, and to you, there’s nothing more important than revenge in this world, but if I were your sister, seeing you like this, I would only feel heartache."
Yin Zheng exhales, "You should think more for yourself."
Lu Tong replied, "I know."
"And with Lord Pei, if you like him, be with him, if not, then forget it. Don’t trouble yourself."
Lu Tong "mm-hm" in response.
"Miss," Yin Zheng finally looked at her, "I will wait here for you. You must co back."
With the sentints of farewell, Lu Tong remained silent for a while, then nodded, "Okay."
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