A light drizzle began to fall on Bai E Hua Avenue, pattering against the blue-green stone bricks like the faint sound of suonas playing at a wedding.
On Republic Street, an intermittent cold wind blew through. Extinguished lanterns swayed beneath the eaves, like the lingering chill after a memorial service.
Yu Guo bared his teeth and grimaced, covering the top of his head with both hands to protect the few strands of hair standing upright as he muttered complaints.
"Why did this rain come so suddenly? I just got my hair done for the livestream."
A trace of disdain crossed Fang Shenyan's lips. He walked forward without looking aside, his chest rising and falling steadily, his expression calm, without the slightest sign of illness.
Tong Guan and Chang Nian walked side by side. Whenever their gazes met those of the others, they silently nodded in greeting, showing none of their current "resentment" or "entanglement."
Tao Xiaoyi walked several paces behind them. She did not dare get too close, yet her eyes kept darting about, guarding her little cleverness and petty thoughts...
Ji Li seemed to have had a great dream.
In that dream, he returned to Republic Street from several months ago. He stepped upon those familiar streets and listened to the familiar wind and rain. The people around him still looked as they once had, like when they had first met, before they were tormented by tragic Fate.
Yet when he looked back again, it had all become the past.
The stiff collision between his cane and the floor tiles became the third sound amid the "joy" and "mourning" in the air, shattering memories of the past and ushering in a brand-new chill.
Ji Li walked alone along Bai E Hua Avenue, which was also Republic Street. It was