On his way to take up his post at the outer court library, Lin Mo felt that the entire day had been utterly cursed. Couldn't he meet even one normal person?
Heavenly Dao: OK, I'll arrange that for Little Mo right away!
Lin Mo had just reached the entrance to the outer court library when a clear, calm voice suddenly reached his ears:
"Have we... met somewhere before?"
Lin Mo's first reaction was speechlessness. How ancient was that pickup line?
Wait, why did that voice sound a little familiar?
Could it be...
Lin Mo whipped around. The instant his gaze met those silver eyes etched deep in his memory, a BGM track steeped in a sense of destiny abruptly began to play:
I'm-certain~
I told you I loved you centuries ago~
Only you forgot~ and I didn't remember either~
This time, Lin Mo neither expressed surprise nor snarked at the BGM that had suddenly appeared. He simply stared at the person before him. Everything around them seemed to fall silent all at once, leaving only the two of them gazing at each other.
She wore moon-white inner court robes, her black hair cascading down to her waist.
Her brows and eyes were refined, her nose elegant and straight, her lips pale.
Zhang Lexuan.
The inner court's eldest senior sister, and also the future vice dean of the Martial Soul Department, a member of the Sea God Pavilion, and the Sea God Pavilion's reserve successor in line after the next generation.
Zhang Lexuan looked at him, the emotions in her eyes unreadable.
Early that morning, her teacher, Mu En, had summoned her and told her to visit the outer court library that afternoon to meet her future junior brother. Somewhere in the unseen, a voice had also urged her to go, or she would surely regret it.
She had rushed through all her inner court duties in a single morning and arrived at the outer court library without even eating lunch.
As though guided by some mysterious impulse, she had waited from noon until now.
Yet just now, when Lin Mo's figure suddenly entered her field of vision, Zhang Lexuan felt that her entire afternoon of waiting had been worth it.
She clearly didn't know him.
Why... did her eyes sting a little?
Lin Mo let out a long breath and, just as in his previous life, took the initiative to extend his hand:
"Hello, senior sister. My name is Lin Mo."
Looking at the only person who had ever moved his heart in his previous life, Lin Mo's feelings were undoubtedly complicated.
To him, Zhang Lexuan was the only normal person in Shrek Academy, and the only one who could break free of a love-addled brain. She was capable, had sound values, and was beyond reproach in how she treated people and handled things.
When they first met, he had been twenty-three, and Zhang Lexuan thirty-five.
That year, Huo Yuhao had assassinated Xu Yuwan alone and signed a ten-year truce with Juzi, who held power. The continent had finally welcomed a brief peace.
Lin Mo had nearly lost his life in that assassination.
Xu Yuwan was dead, and his protection was gone. All he could do was run.
To cling to life, he had hidden right beneath their noses, slipping straight into Star Luo City. With what little money he had saved, he changed his appearance and took over a small teahouse in the most out-of-the-way alley in the outer city.
The teahouse was small, old, and remote. It barely received a handful of customers all day.
Lin Mo, however, welcomed the leisure. When no one came, he would sprawl in the little courtyard, basking in the sun and playing with the neighborhood's stray cats.
Until that day, when Zhang Lexuan walked in.
Sunlight spilled in behind her, brightening his shabby teahouse a little. He looked up, momentarily dazed-someone like her had no business coming to a place like this.
Yet she sat down anyway and ordered a pot of tea.
Later, he learned that her friends had practically chased her out to clear her head.
Perhaps because his little shop really was quiet, and the tea was palatable, Zhang Lexuan began coming more and more often.
After a few visits, they quickly grew familiar and became friends.
He listened as she spoke candidly about her romantic history, marveling that he had finally met a normal person. Gradually, the string in his heart that had been taut for so many years loosened little by little.
After that, everything followed naturally.
Just like many young couples in that ambiguous stage before making their relationship official.
They would blush when their eyes met and become flustered at an accidental touch.
That was when the thought first took root.
He wanted to leave the Holy Spirit Church.
Fake his death and erase every trace. Then stay in Star Luo City, tend this little shop, and spend the rest of his life safely and happily with her by his side.
It took him a long time, but he finally made up his mind.
In the end, all that remained was to say those words, yet he never managed to speak them.
Because Zhang Lexuan left first.
He simply assumed she had gone out on business again and would soon return.
But before Zhang Lexuan returned, a summons arrived from the Holy Spirit Church. He was forcibly recalled to the Sun Moon Empire.
Only after returning to the Sun Moon Empire did he learn that, shortly after news spread of Huo Yuhao entering seclusion, Juzi had torn up the agreement, raised her armies once more, and launched a massive invasion.
Their next meeting was on the battlefield.
Banners blotted out the sun, and corpses littered the land.
Across countless ranks of soldiers, he caught a distant glimpse of that figure-moon-white robes and silver eyes like frost, standing at the very front of the allied forces of Shrek and Star Luo. His heart grew cold, little by little.
So she belonged to Shrek.
So they were enemies.
That glimpse became the last time he ever saw her. Afterward, he died at Huo Yuhao's hands.
In the end, the thread of fate between them was too thin, enough for one encounter, but not enough to keep them together to the end, just like his name.
Lin Mo, Lin Mo-meeting as strangers on the road, parting upon the path.
Because of that unspoken confession, he had ultimately remained only a certain someone in Zhang Lexuan's life.
"Lin Mo?"
Zhang Lexuan's voice called Lin Mo back from his memories.
"Yes, senior sister. My name is Lin Mo," he said.
Zhang Lexuan froze. Wasn't that the future junior brother her teacher had told her about? Could it really... be such a coincidence?
She suppressed that inexplicable flutter in her heart, quickly composed herself, and nodded gently at Lin Mo. "Come with me, then. I'll show you around so you can get familiar with the place."
Lin Mo did not refuse. He obediently followed at her side and listened.
She explained everything from how many book rooms the outer court library had and how many volumes it held, to the borrowing rules and how to register the records, then how to extinguish the lights floor by floor, conduct inspections, and lock all the doors and windows before closing.
Zhang Lexuan explained in detail, her voice unhurried.
Lin Mo listened like that, nodding in acknowledgment now and then, yet his gaze kept drifting toward her beyond his control.
Fate really did love playing jokes.
After making the rounds, the two returned to the library entrance.
It was time to part.
Yet neither spoke first.
Dusk had already crept over them, stretching their shadows long across the ground. The evening breeze lifted a few strands of her black hair and sent a faint chill through his collar.
After a long silence, Lin Mo finally moved first.
He tugged at the corners of his mouth, striving to produce a reasonably natural smile:
"Thank you, senior sister."
After a pause, he added-
"Then... goodbye."
With that, he did not look at her again. He turned resolutely and headed toward the new students' dormitory building.
Behind him, Zhang Lexuan did not leave.
She stood where she was, watching his retreating figure grow smaller and smaller, and somehow felt as though a piece of her heart had suddenly fallen away.
Lin Mo's steps were steady. He did not look back.
Yet she felt as though that single "goodbye" had taken every ounce of strength he possessed.
Zhang Lexuan stood in a daze for a long time. Lowering her eyes, she murmured so softly that even she could barely hear herself:
"We... must have met somewhere before."
"We will meet again."
(PS: Those favored by the Mystic Bird are also favored by the Heavenly Dao. After Lin Mo's rebirth, the Heavenly Dao preserved the romantic bond between them, even though Zhang Lexuan had no memories.
So the "goodbye" in the title has two meanings:
In the previous life, never seeing each other again.
In this life, meeting each other again.
A little reminder: as the plot progresses, we'll get to Zhang Lexuan's reaction after Lin Mo died in his previous life~)