I heard that I became the villain Bai Yueguang after I died

Shen Mingchao's throat tightened:

"Back then, you were injured by Xie Chenzhou and suffered from a chronic illness. You managed to hold on for all these years. Was it just because you were worried about her?"

Wen Bu Yu said:

"I'm worried about you, too."

He patted Shen Mingchao on the shoulder:

"Thank you for your hard work over the years, Junior Brother Shen."

Shen Mingchao turned his face away and said nothing.

Wen Bu Yu said:

"Fortunately, Junior Sister Sang has had the chance to come back to life. With her around, even if I die, A-Yao and you should... not be sad for too long."

Shen Mingchao didn't say anything, but closed his eyes tightly. A barely noticeable gleam of water on his eyelashes reflected the moonlight.

Slightly cold.

Wen Buyu drank the remaining wine:

"Actually, I don't have much feeling about Junior Sister Sang coming back this time."

"It was as if she had never died, but had just traveled around as she had hoped."

Shen Mingchao paused and whispered:

"The first year after her death, I was often so sad that I couldn't sleep."

"It's been ten years since she died, and I still feel so sad when I think of her occasionally."

"By the hundredth year after her death, I could say her name calmly."

"And now, three hundred years later, she appears before me without any warning, and I—"

At this point, he paused, his eyes wandering into space, without much focus:

"Rather than being happy, I feel more confused."

Wen Buyu was silent for a long while, not knowing what he was thinking, and seemed a little dazed.

Shen Mingchao murmured:

"She doesn't remember anything. She doesn't remember watching the moon together, or setting off fireworks together..."

"And without these memories, is she really still the same Sang Nian?"

Wen Bu Yu's tone was firm:

"of course."

"So what if she has no memories? She is still her."

As he spoke, he poured himself a second glass of wine, pushed away Shen Mingchao's hand that was trying to stop him, lowered his head and took a small sip.

"But it's good to forget about it. I haven't seen her smile so carefree for a long time."

"——Just like when I first saw her in Qingzhou."

Brilliant and bright, like the summer sun.

It makes people want to get closer.

Shen Mingchao clenched his hands hidden in his sleeves into fists.

Yes, the original Sang Nian was like this.

But later, from some point on, the melancholy in her eyes seemed to never fade away.

“Don’t blame Junior Brother Xie anymore.” Wen Buyu said, “If possible, he would rather be the one to die.”

Shen Mingchao kept a stern face and said nothing.

"Her body had reached its limit when she last saw us."

Wen Buyu spoke very slowly, and every word reached his ears clearly:

"Even without Junior Brother Xie, she wouldn't be able to hold on."

Shen Mingchao's pupils trembled.

Wen Bu Yu said slowly:

"I only found out later that she had fallen seriously ill in Qingzhou. The mayor of Qingzhou City searched for famous doctors all over the world for her, but in the end... there was nothing he could do to save her."

Shen Mingchao could hardly hold the wine glass. He stared at Wen Buyu in a daze, with the cold wine dripping all over his hands.

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice echoed in my ears again.

"I just got sick and look a little haggard."

"You should learn the Dust Purification Technique."

"What if I'm gone?"

"They say the disease has been cured, are you annoying?"

……

The moon is bright and clear, and the dew-flowers are swaying gently.

It’s like an old friend coming back from thousands of miles away to see my shadow.

The young man put down his wine glass, slowly covered his face, and suddenly choked.

It turned out that every word she said at that time was a farewell.

But he was completely unaware of this and was still foolishly happy about meeting her again.

At that time, looking at him like this, what kind of mood was she in when she said those words to him?

Probably, very sad.

Shallow marks of water flowed out from between the young man's fingers, as if he was sighing and laughing.

“…I have no idea.”

Wen Buyu also fell silent, just drank silently without saying anything else.

Moonlight shines on the water lilies in the river at night.

The young woman squatted by the stream in a daze, the gourd ladle she was using to scoop water swaying as it slipped away with the water.

When Sang Nian saw this, he quickly used a vine to retrieve it.

Chu Yao woke up as if from a dream and turned around suddenly.

Seeing that the person coming was Sang Nian, her tense shoulders relaxed a little.

Just some.

Sang Nian threw the gourd ladle into the wooden barrel beside her, without saying a word, lifted up her skirt and squatted beside her to play with the water.

After a while, Chu Yao said:

"What is your purpose in coming to us?"

Sang Nian: "No purpose."

Chu Yao didn't believe it and looked at her with vigilance.

Sang Nian was helpless and counted on his fingers:

"Do you have anything that I covet? Is it this leaky house that can't even fit four stools together? Or is it your wallet that has even the last half of a spirit stone missing?"

Chu Yao didn't say anything.

Sang Nian patted his chest:

"Whether you believe it or not, I am Sang Nian, absolutely genuine, 24k pure."

Chu Yao ignored the last sentence that she didn't understand and said in a serious tone:

"There is no resurrection from the dead."

Sang Nian raised his eyebrows:

"Others are indeed not capable of this, but I am an exception. I am a person with an extraordinary opportunity, ah no, a demon."

Chu Yao didn't know whether she was trying to convince her or herself:

"impossible."

Seeing this, Sang Nian changed his tone and said seriously:

"I understand. You're afraid of being disappointed again, right?"

Chu Yao stood up and was about to leave without even taking the bucket.

Sang Nian pulled her down to squat again.

She deliberately flicked a few drops of water on her face, and her smile faded a little:

"Chu Yao, I have forgotten a lot of things. This world is very strange to me."

"When I first woke up, I was actually very scared."

“I’m afraid that I will be abandoned by everyone.”

Chu Yao's eyelids trembled.

Sang Nian sat down on the raised bluestone by the water, hugged his knees, and said in a daze for a moment:

"It was not until I went to Xiaoyao Sect and met Shen Mingchao that I realized that I still had a group of friends in this world."

“I’m not a nuisance, nor am I a discard.”

"I am...very happy."

Having said that, she slowly reached out her hand, tightly grasped Chu Yao's hand through her sleeve, and looked into her eyes without blinking:

"Ayao, I want to ask you, after three hundred years, are you still willing to be friends with me? If you don't, I will apologize for my disrespect and leave immediately."

"..."

After a long silence, the hand gently held her fingertips, and the plain-clothed woman's eyes were red:

"You have always been my friend."

Sang Nian screamed and hugged her.

Chu Yao smiled for the first time since they met.

The next moment, she didn't know what she was thinking about. She buried her face in Sang Nian's neck, no longer suppressing herself, sobbing like a child in grievance:

"Sang Nian, it's so great to see you again. You don't know how much I missed you and A Yin in the past three hundred years. But you died, and A Yin is gone too."

"Xie Chenzhou has been possessed by a demon, Shen Hetun has to look after Xiaoyao Sect, and among the six of us, only my eldest brother and I are left to travel the world."

"It seemed like, overnight, everyone was separated."

"I'm so sad. We used to--"

"We are best friends."