The two of them said goodbye to Youyou.
Youyou stood where she was without moving. Her gaze followed those two retreating figures, one tall and one short, one cold and one warm, as they walked farther and farther beneath the gray sky, always side by side.
The corners of her lips lifted into the faintest, gentlest curve, like a flower quietly blooming where no one could see.
"You two must stay together forever."
Her voice was soft, so soft that a gust of wind could almost scatter it. Yet the wind seemed to understand her words, lifting her voice and carrying it toward those two retreating figures.
She liked people with pure hearts, like that boy and girl from ten thousand years ago, those two Lovesick Heartbreak Reds.
Back then, they too had stood side by side, but their ending seemed to have left much to be desired.
She had witnessed too many partings, too many regrets, too many words left unspoken until it was too late. So when she saw Wu Changkong and Long Bing, something in her heart that had slept for so long suddenly softened again.
And so she offered them her most sincere blessing.
That blessing held all the tenderness she had gathered over ten thousand years.
"We will! Thank you, Youyou!"
Long Bing cupped her hands around her mouth like a little megaphone. Her clear voice, bright with a young woman's distinctive liveliness, echoed across the wilderness. Her eyes curved into crescents, an irrepressible smile filled every corner of her face, and even her hair danced lightly in the wind.
Wu Changkong kept his hands in his pockets and turned slightly, looking back along with Long Bing. His movement was casual, almost careless, yet Long Bing's reflection shone in his eyes, clear and unmistakable. He