Chapter 125 Location "Auntie, who is that person?"...

The silver bells jingled as they ran, not far ahead.

Jiang Yuhuo followed the sound and walked over. As Xiao Jing had asked, she bound her eyes with silk and withdrew her spiritual power. On the way back after releasing the river lanterns, a group of children were playing hide-and-seek on the riverbank. Xiao Jing was itching to join them but didn't want to, so she dragged Jiang Yuhuo away.

“My aunt deliberately scared me during the day, and I haven’t forgiven you yet. If you catch me, I will forgive you.”

Jiang Yuhuo could easily see through her thoughts. He closed his eyes, squatted down, and let her tie the newly bought hairband over his eyes, agreeing to her request.

Although we're not really family, I still can't help but want her to be happy.

Jiang Yuhuo nearly caught her several times, but Yinling always slyly slipped away at the next moment, leaving behind a triumphant laugh. Her little niece wouldn't let her use magic, but she herself enjoyed it immensely. During their days in Kunlun Mountain, Jiang Yuhuo and Wen Yizhan occasionally taught her some spells, and she learned each one very quickly.

This time, Jiang Yuhuo fell silent again upon hearing the bell. She guessed that Xiao Jing was stopped ahead, waiting for her to pass, and that she would use magic to escape just before being caught. Jiang Yuhuo saw through her trick, but unwilling to spoil her fun, she still walked in that direction, waiting for her laughter, which was louder than the silver bell.

Jiang Yuhuo couldn't see, but she could hear the voices of people on the road and smell their scents. As she walked, she accurately avoided everyone.

Until she bumped into a cool body.

The man stood there in the middle of the road, not moving away as she walked towards him, without making a sound, and she didn't notice anything.

Jiang Yuhuo tore off the ribbon and met a pair of familiar blue eyes.

"...Gayue."

The person opposite seemed not to hear her cries. A cold hand carefully touched her face, and soft fingertips rested on her eyebrows and eyes.

She blinked, and then saw him smile, and at the same time, she saw the overwhelming sorrow in his eyes.

"You're alive...it's true..."

He chuckled and murmured to himself, his gaze, gradually becoming moist, fixed on her, as if only in this way could he confirm her presence.

Jiang Yuhuo stood there, stunned, unable to utter a word for a moment.

How could such a pair of heartless eyes be glistening with tears? She thought she must be mistaken.

The next moment, the cool fragrance of Udumbara wafted over.

She was pulled into a cool embrace, her body completely enveloped in his wide white robe. His arms held her back and waist tightly with an irresistible force, so tight that she felt suffocated.

He used too much force.

But Jiang Yuhuo could also sense his weakness; his body was trembling, slightly, almost imperceptibly. Yet they were pressed so close together that she could feel the slightest movement of his body, even the beating of his heart.

The rapid beating made it hard for listeners to breathe.

"Gayue, let go."

She was met with an even tighter hug and a broken, incoherent apology.

"sorry……"

"sorry……"

...

Hearing him repeatedly apologize, Jiang Yuhuo felt bewildered. What was he apologizing for? His senior brother's eyes, her former body, or the lives of the people of Liyue Village?

After saying sorry, what's next? Do you want her to forgive you?

But what does all this have to do with him? He rashly gave the Earth Flame Vine as a thank-you gift to his master and senior brother, and then rashly hugged her and apologized to her. What exactly does he want?

Something cold slipped silently down her neck, one by one, and rolled into her collar.

The icy touch made Jiang Yuhuo's heart skip a beat. She could no longer remain calm and, as if burned, pushed him away with all her might.

But then, she felt another cold sensation on her wrist. She looked down and saw a small silver snake staring at her pitifully with its black eyes.

“Lord Zongzi, I thought we had nothing to do with each other anymore.” She turned her head away, unwilling to look at him any longer. “Why bother with this act?”

They stood in the middle of the road, and the commotion had already attracted the attention of many people. Jiang Yuhuo saw Xiao Jing, who was staring wide-eyed, not far away. She gestured to Xiao Jing, indicating that she should wait for her where she was.

Back with the merfolk who were constantly being stared at by passersby, Jiang Yuhuo sighed silently. "Master Zongzi, may I speak with you in private?"

There were some things she felt she should clarify to avoid misunderstandings.

The person she pushed away seemed to become a puppet, obediently following behind her silently until their figures were hidden in the willow grove by the river, at which point he slowly spoke, "I wasn't putting on an act."

Jiang Yuhuo paused in his steps. The riverbank was covered with pebbles, which were already wet from the water. He was quite far from the riverbank teeming with tourists.

"I just wanted to get a good look at you, I thought..."

"You thought I was dead, didn't you?"

"Heh." Jiang Yuhuo chuckled lightly, "But what does my life or death have to do with you? You are the eldest son of Tianque, the prince of the merfolk. If it weren't for my senior brother coming to you for help, we would never have crossed paths again."

Jia Yue slowly walked behind her, raising his hand to hug her again, but the person in front of him seemed to sense his intention and took a small half step forward. If she took another step forward, she would walk into the water.

So he lowered his raised hand back to his side. "I was wrong to you before. You can hate me, kill me, whatever you want. I just forgot... a lot of things."

“I don’t hate you, and I don’t want to kill you. I just don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore.” Jiang Yuhu took a breath. “Let’s just let it go. We were just strangers who met by chance. After a brief encounter, we should go back to our own paths. We shouldn’t have any other expectations. Too many expectations are not good for anyone.”

He took a step forward, trying to take her hand as he used to. In the past, he would squeeze his knuckles between her fingers, and when their ten fingers were intertwined and tightly clasped, the marks on their hands would shine, showing that they were closely connected.

But that person no longer had the contract marks on their hands, and even their body was no longer the same.

"I will never hurt you again... I swear, I will protect you for the rest of my life."

But she simply took a large step back to the side, widening the distance between them. Hearing his words, her smile even carried a hint of disdain. "Why say such things?"

So familiar, yet so ironic!

The sneer at the corner of her mouth froze the merman in his tracks as he tried to approach; she looked at him as if he were a complete stranger.

Jia Yue's voice trembled slightly, "You don't recognize me at all?"

Yes, not a single thing from the past remained in her memory. He had already seen it all in the water mirror, hadn't he? How could he expect her to treat him the way she treated Xiao Hai?

“I recognize you very well, Lord Zongzi.”

Jia Yue smiled bitterly, repeatedly addressing him as "Master Zongzi," as if they had no other connection besides their shared identity as members of the immortal sect.

"Do you hate me now?" He took a step forward, relentlessly closing in. "That's fine, after all, I was the one who wronged you first. From now on, let me make it up to you, okay?"

Jiang Yuhuo shook her head as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world. "I will kill the person I hate with my own hands, even if I have to chase them to the ends of the earth. I've said it before, I don't hate you. I just want things to be clean and clear between us, without any further entanglement."

"Well, Lord Zongzi, have I made myself clear enough?"

She couldn't hold the blindfold headband firmly, and a gust of river wind almost blew it away from her hand. She instinctively tightened her grip, but someone was faster than her; the other end of the headband was firmly grasped in the merman's hand.

“You see, we’ll always be together,” he said with a smile, clutching his hairband, his heart aching.

Even without the contract, they would still be linked together, just as they would still be attracted to each other even though they had lost their memories.

"Don't say things like that anymore. We have no relationship." Jiang Yuhuo pulled the hairband back hard, but it wouldn't budge. If she used any more force, the hairband that Xiao Jing had just bought would probably be torn. "If I have caused you any misunderstandings before, I apologize."

In the end, Jia Yue let go.

He thought she had simply forgotten; her memory contained no trace of their time in Liyue Village, and she had forgotten their vows. But it wasn't her fault. No matter how hurtful her words were, he didn't care, as long as she was alive.

He still had so many questions to ask her: about her current appearance, about his memories of her past, about what happened to her in the great formation. All these questions should have been answered with one question: How have you been all these years?

But he didn't dare to ask.

Didn't he see clearly how she was doing? He clearly watched her struggle in pain, even using her suffering to gain benefits from another person.

Of course she wanted to distance herself from such a despicable person; it's no wonder she was blamed.

Her being alive is more important than anything else, even if it means harboring hatred towards him; that's enough.

Knowing that she was like this, Jia Yue dared not reveal her feelings again, and tried her best to regain her usual composure and self-control. "What happened before was my fault. But no matter what, I'm glad you're still alive."

Seeing that he was more normal, Jiang Yuhuo also calmed down. After thinking for a while, she finally asked the question that had been bothering her for a long time.

"Is your injury from last time healed?"

With her sharp nails digging into her palm, Jia Yue desperately tried to control her trembling mind and said coldly, "It's nothing, just a minor injury."

Jiang Yuhuo nodded, "There's no need for that in the future. I don't want to owe you anything." She unfastened the sword at her side and tossed it back to Jia Yue, "This sword is too precious. I'm always worried about it getting damaged when I hold it. If Lord Zongzi doesn't need it, it should be given to someone who can afford to wield it."

The sword was spotless, without a single scratch. The fact that she cherished it so much could only mean that she had made up her mind from the very beginning to return it to him.

She wouldn't even take the sword from him, not wanting to owe him anything... The way she turned cold was truly heartbreaking.

Jia Yue closed his eyes, and he saw the person from his memory. She had carefully comforted him and awkwardly praised him when he was angry. She had said, "Don't be angry, Xiao Hai is the cutest and most beautiful fish in the world..."

"good."

"I killed the person inside the Spirit-Sealing Array. If Tianque ever seeks revenge for him, he may come to me."

The person in his memory gently embraced him under the moonlight and whispered in his ear, "Xiao Hai, I'll miss you like this."

"good."

"Oh, right, he also asked me to pass on a message to you." Jiang Yuhuo paused for a moment. "He said, 'Don't follow in his footsteps.'"

The person in his memory gently brushed away the wet hair clinging to his face and told him, "...It's okay. Xiao Hai, as long as you're still here, we can start over. As long as I still remember you, that's enough."

"……good."

She left after saying those words, as if she had finally completed a difficult task and no longer needed to pay attention to it.

She walked out of the rocky beach, through the woods, onto the embankment, and toward the person who was waiting for her.

A young man dressed in black smiled and handed her a sugar figurine. A little girl who looked a lot like her held her hand and swayed back and forth.

They shared food, they laughed and joked, they were like the closest people to each other in the world, there was no room left for anyone else.

There was no longer a place for him beside her.

"Auntie, who is that person?"

"unimportant."