She ignored Wang Ye.
Lu Qing continued, "From that moment on, my heart was completely consumed by fear."
"Later."
"Because of certain events, everyone went their separate ways."
"I didn't know whether I felt fortunate or saddened, but I also formed my own faction."
"I called it Yaochi!"
The moment the words "Yaochi" left her mouth, Wang Ye abruptly rose to his feet. "You're A Yao?!"
"Mhm."
Lu Qing did not deny it. She simply nodded lightly, then removed the mask from her face before Wang Ye.
Beneath the mask.
Was A Yao's face!
It was hard to imagine just how violently Wang Ye's heart was churning at that moment.
"Surprised?"
"Actually, you shouldn't be that surprised."
A Yao smiled bitterly. "After founding Yaochi, I met him—Lu Wu."
"During that brief time, I truly experienced what happiness was."
"Far from war, far from the world."
"Everyone sowed seeds in the fields, and every face bore a smile from the heart."
"Until one day... A Nian came."
"After her failure, she regrouped and came to find me again. But after living in peace for so long, I was truly afraid."
"I was afraid of losing everything."
"I was afraid the villagers of Yaochi would be endangered."
"Even more, I was afraid... that I would never again be able to spend the rest of my life hand in hand with him."
"That was the first time I refused A Nian. I couldn't say whether what I felt was guilt or something else, but A Nian was still the same as before—stubborn and resolute."
"Afterward, I heard that she had indeed failed again."
"I was heartbroken, yet amid that sorrow was a faint, laughable sense of relief. Relief that I hadn't gone with her, or I might have died as well."
"Until... she