At the thought, Qian Renxue could not help biting her lip.
"But why..."
She lowered her eyes, her voice growing quieter.
"Why has she been so cold to me for as long as I can remember?"
The atmosphere in the pavilion seemed to change at that moment.
An Yi looked at her but did not answer immediately.
A moment later, he spoke slowly.
"This is a family matter. I'm just an outsider. You shouldn't be asking me about it, and it shouldn't be for me to say."
"All right, it's getting late. Go back and get some rest."
Qian Renxue pressed her lips together, then finally turned and left.
The courtyard fell quiet again.
The night breeze brushed the treetops, and moonlight fell across the stone table.
An Yi picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea. Then he looked toward a patch of shadow deep in the courtyard.
"Since you're here, why keep hiding?"
There was no answer from the shadows.
Several breaths later, a tall figure in purple slowly stepped out.
Her long purple dress swayed gently in the wind, and she stood as straight as ever.
But the radiant smile of years past had long since faded from the face An Yi had once known so well.
Bibi Dong.
An Yi looked at her, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"I've been back for half a month, and you haven't come to see me once."
"I thought you'd already forgotten me."
Bibi Dong stopped and looked at An Yi, a complicated look in her eyes.
After a long while, she slowly spoke.
"I just didn't expect you to still be alive."
The smile gradually faded from An Yi's face.
"Yes. I didn't expect it either."
They stood a few paces apart, gazing at each other.
After a long time, An Yi rose and walked toward her.
"So, should I call you older sister now?"
He stopped in front of Bibi Dong, his gaze resting on her face.
"Or... teacher?"
Bibi Dong avoided his gaze and turned away.
"I never taught you much. Don't call me teacher."
An Yi looked at her back and suddenly laughed.
"Is that so?"
The next moment, he stepped forward, wrapped his arms around her from behind, and took both her hands in his.
Bibi Dong's body went rigid.
Then a frigid killing intent erupted from her!
Her long purple dress stirred without wind. The surrounding flowers and grass flattened in an instant, and the teacups on the stone table gave a faint, trembling ring under its pressure.
A cold light flashed in Bibi Dong's eyes.
"Let go!"
As the words left her mouth, an illusory bright moon appeared above An Yi's head.
The moon rose slowly, overlapping the brilliant moon in the night sky.
In an instant, cold silver radiance poured down.
Silver light enveloped the courtyard, pressing down the surging killing intent around them bit by bit.
The presence that had nearly spun out of control finally subsided.
Bibi Dong's body was no longer tense, but her expression grew even more complicated than before.
"Let me go."
This time, her voice was much quieter.
An Yi did not let go. He only lowered his head and said softly, "During all those years on Sea God Island, there was one thing I thought about every day."
"Whether you would come back for me."
Bibi Dong's fingers trembled slightly.
An Yi seemed not to notice and continued:
"After all, you were the one who took me there."
"I was only six then. I didn't understand anything, and I just followed you onto the boat in a daze."
At that, he suddenly laughed.
"And look how that turned out. I got on the boat, all right, and nearly lost my life."
Bibi Dong closed her eyes without speaking.
An Yi tightened his grip on her hands a little.
"Three years after three years."
"Three years after three years."
"Three years after three years."
His voice gradually grew quieter.
"Twelve years. I waited twelve years."
The courtyard was silent.
Bibi Dong's shoulders trembled slightly. She seemed to want to say something, but the words would not come.
In the end, she could only close her eyes and say in a hoarse voice:
"I..."
"I didn't know you were still alive."
An Yi did not interrupt her.
Bibi Dong's breathing was uneven.
"Back then, I watched you get swallowed by the waves with my own eyes."
"Under those circumstances, even a Soul Saint might not have survived, much less a child like you..."
Her voice grew quieter and quieter.
"I thought..."
"I thought you had already..."
In the end, she could not say the rest.
An Yi was silent for a while.
Then he sighed softly.
"But I'm back now."
"You didn't come looking for me, so I came looking for you."
Bibi Dong opened her eyes.
An Yi released one of her hands and slowly walked around to face her.
Their eyes met.
"I thought you'd be happy to see me come back alive."
"At the very least, I thought you'd smile and scold me a little, like you used to, and ask how I'd been all these years."
An Yi's lips twitched.
"But what happened? I've been back in Spirit City for half a month, and you haven't even shown your face."
"If I hadn't noticed someone hiding in the shadows tonight, I might not even have known you'd come."
He looked at Bibi Dong, and his voice finally carried a trace of disappointment he could hardly hide.
"What? Has it been twelve years since we last met, and you've already forgotten me?"
Bibi Dong was silent for a moment. At last, she pulled her hand free and turned her head away.
"You know it's been twelve years."
"Things remain, but people have changed."
"Besides, we knew each other for less than a month back then."
She paused, her voice gradually growing calm again.
"Isn't it only natural that I forgot you?"
The smile on An Yi's face froze for an instant. He looked at Bibi Dong and suddenly asked, "Do you really think that month was short?"
Bibi Dong did not answer.
An Yi went on, "To you, perhaps it really was nothing. You were Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden, with a noble status and outstanding talent. You never lacked people around you."
"But for me back then, it was different."
"That month was the happiest time I had in those years."
"Before I met you, I spent every day thinking about how to fill my stomach. For a few shells, I had to match wits and courage with others. To beg for a bite to eat, I had to watch their expressions."
"Sometimes, when I finally managed to pick up something valuable, someone would snatch it away before I even had time to be happy."
"Every day when I opened my eyes, all I thought about was how to survive that day."
An Yi lowered his head and smiled.
"But after I met you, everything changed."
"I no longer had to fight others over a few shells or humble myself just to fill my stomach. For the first time, someone was willing to listen to me. For the first time, someone cared whether I was doing well."
"And for the first time, I felt like tomorrow might be worth looking forward to."
He raised his head and looked at Bibi Dong.
"So I thought those days could last forever."
Bibi Dong's fingers curled slightly. She seemed to want to say something, but in the end, she only avoided his gaze.
"It's all in the past."
An Yi said nothing.
The next moment, he reached out again and caught Bibi Dong's wrist.
Bibi Dong instinctively tried to pull free, but he slowly drew her in front of him.
Holding her hand, An Yi raised it bit by bit and pressed it against his cheek.
"I cultivated day and night on Sea God Island all these years so that one day I could come back and find you."
"I thought many times about what we would say when I returned to Spirit City and saw you again."
"I even wondered whether you'd still remember me, whether you'd listen to me talk about all sorts of nonsense like you used to."
An Yi looked into her eyes.
"But now you're telling me it's all in the past?"
Bibi Dong's heart trembled. Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar face before her, she found herself at a loss for how to respond.
Twelve years was enough to change many things.
The little fellow who had needed her care back then had now grown into a man capable of standing on his own.
And she was no longer the Holy Maiden who would smile over the smallest things.
The things she had once cherished had long since been crushed bit by bit by time and reality. Now, when she thought of them, they felt as distant as a story about someone else.
Bibi Dong slowly withdrew her hand. "An Yi, we can't go back."
An Yi stared at her and suddenly asked, "What about the future, then?"
Bibi Dong's breath caught. She opened her mouth, only to find that she could not answer at all.
The man before her was still waiting for her-for an explanation, for a promise, or perhaps just for her to give him a smile as she once had.
But she could give him none of those things.
After a long while, Bibi Dong closed her eyes and forcibly suppressed the stabbing pain in her heart.
"There is no future."
As the words left her mouth, she turned sharply away.
The purple figure swept across the courtyard and vanished into the night in the blink of an eye.
An Yi stood where he was and did not pursue her. He merely watched the direction Bibi Dong had gone, remaining motionless for a long time.
At last, he slowly withdrew his hand and looked up at the night sky.
The bright moon hung high overhead.
Deep within that full moon, the illusory form of a great dragon flickered in and out of view. Its immense body lay coiled within the lunar disk, as though it were devouring the entire night sky.
An Yi looked at the phantom and let out a soft breath.
For the time being, Bibi Dong's matter could only be left at that.
As for the future... he would take it one step at a time.