Chapter 78: Things Have Changed

  The wind blows through the leaves, and the rustling sound is endless. The summer flowers are gorgeous, but they can't compare to the elegance of that woman who slowly walks into the forest, not even a thousandth of it. Memories of the past, like a dream, quietly pass by my brain, slipping away without a sound, blown away by the wind, I don't know where. Xuan Zhen sits on the rock, as if his hands and feet have merged with the white stone, a leaf silently falls from his lightly clenched fingers.

  Time is like flowing water, never turning back. He had never felt such sadness so clearly. The girl who picked flowers and smiled, the girl who sat on a rock swinging her feet wrapped in green shoes, the girl who blushed and threw her purse into her own arms, the girl who called him "Shen Gege" with a soft and tender voice, had all run far away with that passing time.

  Never look back again.

  "Madam!" The fishing village girl, Mu Xuan, who was standing on the side, had no idea about the thoughts of the big brother behind her. With a heart full of joy, she ran towards the figure walking slowly along the small path in the grass, treading on the green moss on the mud.

  A woman in a plain white dress was listening to her maid's conversation with a faint smile on her face. When she heard the shout, she and the young girl beside her looked up together. The elegant and refined young girl had also followed her master that day, and at a glance, she recognized the little maid who had been rescued from the water by herself, and smiled: "Xiao Muxuan, how did you end up playing by the lake again today? Aren't you afraid of being dragged into the water by the water ghost again?"

  The woman he was supporting couldn't help but let out a light laugh and scolded, "Where did you hear such nonsense? When has there ever been a water ghost in this West Lake?"

  This scolding was not severe, and the delicate young girl not only didn't take it to heart but instead smiled with a hint of arrogance: "This is what Seasonal Concubine personally told us. She also said that when you were young, you took a boat across Lake Tong and almost got pulled away by a water ghost. But you had great fortune and a strong fate, so the water ghost couldn't do anything to you and could only send you back to the lakeshore. Doesn't this fulfill the old saying: 'Great difficulties will not kill one; there must be good fortune afterwards'?"

  This maid originally meant to coax the lady into a good mood, but who knew that after hearing her words, the woman's heart was filled with thoughts, and her face, which had still held some smile, was now shrouded in gloom. Even her footsteps came to a halt, and she stood silently for a moment before softly sighing: "…what kind of good fortune is that?"

  The delicate girl looked puzzled, but seeing the lady's expression, she didn't dare ask more questions. Just then, Xiao Mu ran up to them and she quickly changed the subject, smiling and saying: "Xiao Mu, you're just in time today! Last time I sent you those pastries, weren't you delighted? This time I brought a whole basket on the carriage, we'll have some later!" She paused and smiled again, "These were made by Seasonal Concubine herself, her skills are renowned throughout Quanxian County... no, all of Shouyang City's first family!"

  Mei Xuan's face lit up with a smile as she said "Thank you, Ying Jie!"

  The lovely girl hastily waved her hand and whispered to the person beside her: "Why thank me? You should be thanking the lady instead."

  Mu Xuan was extremely quick-witted and immediately turned his head to look at the woman he had secretly admired for a long time. However, before he could even utter a word of thanks, he was taken aback. In her dazed gaze, the lady who looked like an immortal fairy revealed an expression that he had never seen before - a mix of surprise and delight, yet with a hint of melancholy hidden beneath. This complex array of emotions swirled in her clear autumn-water-like beautiful eyes, transforming into an exceptionally bright light, as if it had fallen into the waters of a thousand moons, rippling out into beautiful waves.

  But the place where his gaze fell was not Mu Xuan, but rather passed over her small body and landed somewhere further away.

  Mei Xuan looked up blankly, suddenly a flash of inspiration in her mind, and she came to her senses: Ah! The lady was not looking at someone else, but that big brother...

  Facing the woman's complex and inexplicable gaze, Xuan Zhen slowly stood up, the red hem of his robe spread out on the stone slid down with a rustling sound, shaking off the grass stems and scattered flowers that had been blown onto him by the wind. The clear breeze picked them up again and gently sent them towards the rippling lake surface behind him.

  "It's you..." He heard the woman muttering to herself, her soft tone carried gently to his ears by the wind. Her wavy eyes also seemed to be lightly stroking his cheeks, but in his heart, apart from a thread of nostalgia, there was more melancholy.

  He was also staring at the person with an unwavering gaze, but a faint smile appeared on his face, and he said softly: "Ah Ci, it's summer again, if I make a flower house for you, will... will you make another lotus bag for me?" After a moment, he spoke in a gentle voice, "Forget it, Ah Ci's needlework is not something I dare to compliment. Those two wild ducks I've known for so many years, only now do I realize... Ah, they're actually a pair of mandarin ducks..."

  As he slowly opened his mouth, the light in the eyes of the woman dressed as a wife grew brighter and brighter. By the time she finished listening to the last sentence, she couldn't help but laugh out loud, but under that smile, tears welled up in an instant. She murmured with a sobbing tone: "It's really you... Brother Shen..."

  Xuan Zhen looked at her as she slowly approached, a thread of nostalgia and a thread of melancholy gradually thickening into a pool of ink in his eyes. His mouth still spoke softly: "Ah Ci, that day you said that if Shen Gege was a demon, you wouldn't be afraid. This sentence... is it still true now?"

  That woman didn't hesitate, lightly laughing: "Of course it's true, even if Brother Shen is a demon, I'm not afraid." At this moment, the smile finally faintly revealed the shadow of that lively little girl from 19 years ago. The jade-like face still had tears on it, like a lotus flower crying dew, moving people's hearts. Falling into Xuan Zhen's eyes, it was even more beautiful than all things, and everything around seemed to have dimmed. In the world, there was only this smiling face with tears, only this familiar yet unfamiliar figure that occupied his eyes, and also occupied his heart.

  "Shen Bailian was so fortunate to have Ah Ci as...as..." The unfinished sentence was left unspoken, but when he saw the woman's hair bun and her luxurious attire, it turned into a faint sigh, "such a good friend, good younger sister."

  The woman's face, originally full of joy, was taken aback for a moment, and then became melancholic again. Her bright eyes seemed to dim slightly. She lowered her eyelashes and remained silent for a while before saying softly: "Yes, Ah Cai is also very happy to have such a... good older brother like Shen Gege."

  In the silence, Xuan Zhen raised his eyes to look around, but found that the slender maid and the fishing girl who called herself Mu Xuan had both gone unnoticed. It turned out that the girl was extremely clever and saw that her mistress and this stranger seemed to be old acquaintances, so she took advantage of the excuse of eating pastries to take Mu Xuan onto the carriage early on. At this time, there were only two people left in the forest.

  Sunlight like shattered jade falls through the leaves, sprinkling the clothes of the two people under the tree. In the distance, a few early cicadas can be heard singing their long, drawn-out songs, making the sparse forest seem even more serene and secluded. Xuán Zhèn's gaze follows a beam of golden light as it slowly falls onto the person in front of him. The woman's slender figure is shrouded in a layer of light, making her look like a jade statue, but this beautiful woman has already married another man. What he missed out on was not just nineteen years of time.

  "Years ago..." The woman suddenly spoke up, breaking the tranquility of the forest. "At that time, Ah Ci also met a man here, Shen Gege... Why didn't you acknowledge Ah Ci back then?"

  Looking at the woman's raised eyes full of doubt and worry, Xuan Zhen only felt a bitter feeling in his heart. At that time, he was just a Taoist disciple who had been cultivating on Mount Kunlun for over ten years, and he never thought that he would have such an intricate and indelible relationship with a common woman. The man at that time... was Xuan Zhen, but not Shen Bai Leng!

  But the woman seemed to have understood another meaning from Xuan Zhen's silence, and smiled sadly: "Could it be that Brother Shen is blaming Ah Ci... for marrying someone else?"

  Xuan Zhen's body shook slightly as he shook his head and said: "How could I blame you, it was just fate - Fate did not allow us..."

  "That year, some Taoist priests came to our house and said that you were a monster, brother. Father believed them and wouldn't let me go out to see you again." The woman said with a sigh, "But in my heart, I didn't think so. Even if you are a monster, the Shen Gege who made grass dolls for me and gave me beautiful beads is still the same... But when I was finally able to go out again, your figure had disappeared from this lake shore... I waited for a long time, thinking of many things, but never had the chance to tell you. Now that you're here, I... I forgot what I wanted to say back then. Shen Gege, do you think I'm ridiculous?"

  Xuan Zhen looked at her, trying to smile and comfort her, but found that his throat had long been blocked by a bitter lump, and the words were stuck in his throat, unable to be spoken.

  The girl continued to speak softly: "Later, later Ah Ci grew up, and Father and Mother forbade me from going out again. Later... Father wanted me to marry, but those matchmakers all let me reject them and return home. The people in the city gradually had many unpleasant things to say, which reached Father's ears, and he became even more furious. I didn't care, only thinking that if I could drag it out for a year, it would be a year... maybe I could wait until... the person in my heart returned. At that time, I would naturally have a good place to settle down... But my settlement finally came, yet it wasn't the person in my heart..." A few crystal tears fell, dropping onto her clothes, shining in the sunlight, and instantly seeping into the fabric, leaving behind only a few wet spots.

  Xuan Zhen stared blankly at the few dark marks, but in his heart, it seemed as if a few drops of coldness had also fallen, sorrowful ripples spreading out in circles.

  "He's a good man, he married me and treated me with all his heart, but I...I was really unfair to him. I clearly married him, but my heart still lingered on someone else, yet he never got angry with me because of it...At that time, I was still very foolish, thinking that getting married would change nothing, as long as I waited here, one day I would get what I wanted, even if we couldn't be together, just a glance would be enough...The old master knew I liked to come here and didn't stop me, he even had someone prepare a carriage and instructed the maid to accompany me well..."Her soft voice still echoed in my ears, but those downcast eyes never looked up again. "I've been married to him for many years, his kindness is as boundless as the water of Xi Hu, but I have nothing to give back to him, not even a child...But the old master has never taken a concubine, and just the other day, we finally had a daughter, although she's not born to me, it's still...it's also the old master's intention, I'm very grateful."

  "Azhu..." Xuan Zhen's heart had a faint premonition, but he couldn't help calling out softly.

  The woman smiled again, this time with a hint of determination and relief: "Nineteen years have passed, Ah Cai has finally waited for Brother Shen. Heaven has not been unfair to me either. But this time is the last time I will see Brother Shen. I have made up my mind that since Master treats me so deeply, I will not betray him in the future. Moreover, we now have our own daughter, from now on, Ah Cai only wants to be a virtuous wife and good mother. Those thoughts of being a concubine are no longer dared to be thought of, nor will they be thought of again."

  "Ah Chi..."

  The girl looked up at him one last time, a deep gaze, as if to deeply engrave the figure of the man in front of her into her mind, but she finally withdrew her gaze and said softly: "Shen Gege, Ah Ci... is leaving." As she spoke, she slowly turned around.

  The gentle breeze blew by, lifting the hem of that woman's skirt, but unable to hold back her footsteps. That woman named Ruan Ci was thus walking step by step, never looking back, out of his life.

  Xuan Zhen stood still in front of that big stone, staring blankly until the figure disappeared behind the carriage.

  After a long time, a green light rose from the sparse forest and flew over the lake surface, heading straight for Mount Huang. Only the gentle breeze and the faint calls of birds remained in the forest, but those two figures were never seen again, neither 19 years ago nor 19 years later.