Moonfall, Empty Joy (Zhang Leyuan Arc [Part 2])

Zhang Leyuan did not turn around.

She did not need to look to know who it was.

In all of Shrek, only one person would approach her misery so cautiously.

A tall figure stopped at her side, bringing with him another opened jar of fruit wine.

Lin Xun said nothing.

He did not try to comfort her, nor did he spout empty platitudes meant to soothe the heart.

He simply sat down silently on the bluestone beside her and kept her company.

The evening breeze stirred his hair. His violet eyes, gentle and clear beneath the moonlight, rested quietly on the distant waves and the bright moon.

He did not ask about the past or the reasons behind it.

After a moment, he raised his hand and lifted his own wine jar.

Without another word, he lightly raised it toward the jar in her hand and gently clinked it against hers through the air.

A soft clink rang out, crisp and clear.

Once the sound faded, he tipped his head back and, like her, drank silently beneath the moon overhead.

Sitting alone was loneliness; having someone beside you was a silent tenderness.

Moonlight enveloped them both as the waves rolled on and the fragrance of wine lingered in the air.

He simply stayed with her.

If she wanted to get drunk, he would get drunk with her.

If she wanted to honor the departed beneath the moon alone, he would sit with her beneath this solitary moon.

Zhang Leyuan turned her head slightly, using the hazy drunkenness to look at the quiet, gentle profile of the youth beside her.

The high wall in her heart, frozen over long ago, suddenly cracked open with the faintest fissure.

The night stretched on, the moon hanging high.

In the chilly lake breeze, two jars of fruit wine and two figures drank together in silence, year after year beneath the moon.

No words were needed. This was already the best kind of companionship.

The alcohol rose in waves, and the string that had been stretched taut in her mind for six years finally snapped loose.

Zhang Leyuan's whole body went limp. Half of her body unconsciously tilted over, her shoulder lightly resting against Lin Xun's arm. When the lake breeze blew, she instinctively burrowed toward the warmth, falling into the youth's embrace without any guard at all.

Her nose filled with his clean, faint scent, mixed with the subtle sweetness of fruit wine, stirring the last shred of her restraint into pieces.

Lin Xun instinctively raised an arm around her waist. His palm rested against her slender back, clearly feeling the firm muscles honed through years of bitter cultivation, as well as the weary tremors this body could no longer conceal.

When he lowered his head, his gaze met her misty eyes. Moonlight shimmered within them, drunken and lost.

Neither of them deliberately took the initiative.

The atmosphere, woven together with the night, the scent of wine, and feelings accumulated over years, naturally drew them close.

The instant their lips met was feather-light, carrying the sweet, slightly astringent taste of fruit wine, tender beyond belief.

Zhang Leyuan's entire body suddenly stiffened. She wanted to pull away, but the alcohol had drained every bit of strength from her, and her attempt to push him away was so weak it was almost imperceptible.

Six years.

She had restrained herself at every turn, held herself back at every step. Even looking at him one more time required her to repeatedly remind herself that she was unworthy. Yet at this moment, a single kiss seemed to shatter every restraint. Everything she had suppressed poured out through it.

Lin Xun kissed her very gently, slowly soothing her tense body until the girl in his arms gradually relaxed, dazedly allowing him to claim this long-overdue kiss.

When they finally parted after a long while, both of them were breathing a little heavily.

Zhang Leyuan's cheeks burned hot. She leaned drowsily against his chest, her eyelids so heavy she could barely keep them open.

Lin Xun did not linger. He bent down and steadily lifted her into his arms, carrying her along the path toward the courtyard where she lived alone.

The evening wind rustled. The person in his arms occasionally and unconsciously nuzzled against the hollow of his neck, her fragmented breaths brushing over his skin and softening his heart.

After entering the room, he gently laid her on the bed. The sensation of the soft bedding washed over her, and the drunken haze receded slightly, abruptly pulling a thread of clarity back into her muddled mind.

Zhang Leyuan suddenly pushed herself upright and reached out to stop Lin Xun as he drew close, even her fingertips trembling.

"No. We can't do this."

The girl's voice was hoarse, filled with panicked resistance.

She turned her head away, not daring to look into his eyes.

"I can't betray Pavilion Master Mu En's kindness. I can't break the promise I made back then. My whole life was decided long ago. We..."

Halfway through, her throat inexplicably tightened, and she could not continue.

Though her heart desperately longed for this tenderness, her reason kept dragging her backward. The promises of old were like ropes tightening around her, leaving her unable to breathe.

Lin Xun did not lean any closer. He merely bent slightly and gently pressed his forehead against hers. Their warmth blended together, their breaths intertwining.

His violet eyes were inches away, holding a sky full of moonlight.

"Leyuan. Just for one night, alright?"

"Let's be lovers for just one night. Once dawn breaks, everything goes back to the way it was. You'll still be the senior sister who keeps her promises, and I'll still be the well-behaved exchange student. All responsibility, gratitude, and marriage arrangements—none of it counts. Just for tonight, let go of everything, okay?"

She stared blankly into the purple eyes so close before her. The tenderness within them utterly shattered her last line of defense. The tears that had pooled in her eyes finally spilled over, streaming down her cheeks.

After a long standoff, she gently closed her eyes and gave an almost imperceptible nod, answering through a choked sob.

"Okay."

That night, the bright moon descended to earth.

One night was Zhang Leyuan's indulgence, but it was enough for Lin Xun to complete his breakup mission.

After that, just as Zhang Leyuan had said, Lin Xun never disturbed her again. The two of them were like lines that had briefly crossed for two days, only to quickly part afterward.

Clearly, this was everything she had wanted, yet for some reason, Zhang Leyuan's heart still hurt.

Many years later, she heard that Lin Xun had shared relationships like those between lovers with Ma Xiaotao, a junior sister she thought highly of, as well as two members of the new generation of Shrek Seven Monsters in whom she had placed great hopes.

She had even heard that the princess of the Star Luo Empire had crossed paths with him, along with beautiful girls from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

His story remained as brilliant as ever.

Yet there was no trace of her in it anymore.

Many years later, the young man had already become world-famous. Aside from his notorious reputation as a scumbag, he also possessed talent powerful enough to overwhelm an entire era.

Lin Xun not only held sole command over the Soul Planning Hall, but had also become an Ultimate Douluo in his twenties, bearing the title Blazing Sun and comparing himself to the sun.

It was not until Mu En passed away that he personally removed the shackles binding Zhang Leyuan.

At last, she had gotten what she wished for and could pursue her own happiness. But it seemed to have come too late. Lin Xun and she could never return to what they once had.

Lin Xun's final return to Shrek was to bid farewell to old acquaintances. He said that he was leaving—leaving Shrek, leaving the Soul Planning Hall, and traveling the continent alone. No one knew when he would return.

No one knew why he chose to leave at the height of his power, just as no one knew why the sun would suddenly set in the west at noon.

Zhang Leyuan gathered her courage and went to see him.

"Lin Xun."

The young man turned around. When he saw her, he smiled faintly. That smile was still beautiful, still carrying the same curve as the boy beneath the ginkgo tree all those years ago, but there was now a distance in his eyes that she could not reach.

"Sister Leyuan. Long time no see."

Zhang Leyuan suddenly did not know what to say. She had rehearsed countless speeches in her mind along the way, but when it came down to it, she could not utter a single word. Yet she had to speak. If she did not say it this time, perhaps she would never have another chance in this lifetime.

"When... will we see each other again?"

Lin Xun raised a hand and pointed toward the horizon.

The setting sun was slowly sinking beneath the sea, while on the other side, a faint crescent moon had quietly risen into the pale violet sky.

Sun and moon shone together, one in the east and one in the west, facing each other from afar.

"When the sun and moon become one, that will be when we meet again."

Zhang Leyuan stood where she was and watched him turn away.

In the end, she only raised her head to look at the crescent moon gradually brightening in the sky and softly murmured to herself:

"I am the moon. But you are the sun."

Clinging to that thought, she waited year after year, traveling through every corner where they had once spent time together, quietly hoping for the moment when the sun and moon would overlap.

At last, a total solar eclipse that came only once a century arrived.

Daylight abruptly dimmed as the blazing sun was slowly swallowed by a dark shadow. Heaven and earth fell into gloom. It was the day they had promised to meet.

She stood early upon the ginkgo-lined road where they had first met, quietly waiting, her heart full of anticipation.

The eclipse played out in full. The sky went from bright to dark, then gradually returned to normal.

She stared down the road throughout it all, but the entire street remained empty. Lin Xun never appeared.

As the celestial event ended, her hope was utterly crushed.

The long wait had worn away all her spirit. She did not cry aloud. A single tear merely gathered in her eyes and silently fell.

"The eclipse came, but you still didn't come."

She, this moon, had spent all her years chasing the sun, only to be left with an unfulfilled promise in the end.

The sun and moon had always traveled different paths. There could be no meeting again.

The boy from those days had healed all her old wounds, yet had personally left her with a new wound that would never heal in her lifetime.

The world all sighed over the Moon Douluo's cold aloofness, over how she never married and remained devoted to an old acquaintance.

Only she herself knew.

What she guarded was an appointment that had never had an ending from beginning to end.

He had acted too convincingly.

So convincingly that she buried her sincere heart with the rest of her life for the sake of a game's script.

Moonlight fell over Shrek year after year.

Yet no one ever returned.

Nor did any lover.

Only a cold moon remained, trapped in empty longing for life.