He doesn't remember me.

It was already evening when I got back to my lodgings.

Bu Jiu pushed open the palace door, and the candles inside lit up one by one on their own.

"So tired..." Ji Wang slumped into the nearest chair as soon as he entered, looking like he had no bones left. Before he could finish speaking, Bu Jiu gently kicked the chair leg: "Sit properly."

Ji Wang immediately straightened up, placed his hands properly on his knees, and even straightened his back, looking just like the most disciplined and good disciple.

But his eyes were still blinking restlessly, and a smile was playing on his lips.

Seeing his feignedly obedient demeanor, Bu Jiu sighed helplessly and sat down in the chair opposite him: "What are your plans next?"

Ji Wang's eyes lit up, clearly having already made his plans: "Of course I'll continue to learn from you!" He leaned closer, his tone excited, "Once I've mastered it, I'll establish my own sect and carry forward our talismanic arts."

Bu Jiu raised an eyebrow at him: "Found a sect?"

"That's right!" Ji Wang said excitedly. "When I become the sect leader, I'll ask you to be the Grand Elder. We'll take in a hundred or eighty disciples and build a Taoist temple ten times more magnificent than Xuanming Temple!"

As he spoke, he secretly glanced at Bu Jiu's expression and softened his voice: "At that time... you won't have to guard this valley with Senior Huai Qing anymore."

Bu Jiu gazed at Ji Wang's profile illuminated by the lamplight, his eyes now brimming with anticipation for the future.

Or rather, a future in which he exists.

"With your pathetic skills?" Bu Jiu turned and walked into the house after hearing this. "You want to start your own sect?"

Ji Wang immediately caught up, retorting defiantly, "I may be a little behind now, but you'll teach me! Once I've learned it all..."

"So what if you've learned it?" Bu Jiu stopped in front of the door and looked back at him.

Ji Wang straightened up: "I'll take care of you then! I guarantee you'll live a life of luxury and won't have to worry about these fighting and killing anymore."

Bu Jiu shook his head slightly: "But I don't like eating those things. And apart from this time, I haven't been involved in any fighting or killing for a long time."

Ji Wang became even more curious and quickly asked, "So what do you usually do?"

The candlelight in the corridor flickered slightly in Bu Jiu's eyes. He looked at Ji Wang in silence for a moment, then said softly, "...wait for someone."

Before Ji Wang could react to the deeper meaning of those words, Bu Jiu had already turned around and pushed open the door to the inner room.

"Who are you waiting for?" Ji Wang followed him into the house.

Bu Jiu did not answer, but walked to the window and gently brushed his fingertips across the petals that had drifted in from the windowsill.

There was a white jade wine vessel that had been empty for a long time, and now it finally reflected the image of the visitor.

Ji Wangjian remained silent, a strange pang of jealousy rising in his heart. He couldn't help but mutter, "You've waited so long and he still hasn't come... why wait like this?"

Bu Jiu turned around. Looking at Ji Wang's sullen face, he suddenly remembered that short life twenty-five years ago—that person had said something similar, with the same heartache and confusion.

"You actually waited so long..."

"Not long." Bu Jiu shook his head slightly, seemingly responding to something else.

A slight smile played on his lips: "It hasn't been long for me."

We've waited like this for over a hundred years, so why would we care about such a short time?

Ji Wang suppressed the bitter feeling and asked casually, "But you are the Ghost King, is there anyone in this world you can't find?"

Bu Jiu picked up the wine cup, rolled up his sleeves, and wiped away non-existent dust: "The person I've been looking for has always been here."

"Then why..."

“He doesn’t remember me.” Bu Jiu looked at Ji Wang’s confused eyes and said, word by word, “I also hope… he has forgotten me.”

These words were spoken calmly, but Ji Wang felt as if something had struck his heart hard. He looked at Bu Jiu standing by the window, the moonlight gently enveloping him, making him appear lonely.

The inexplicable jealousy I felt just now has now turned into an indescribable heartache.

“What a coincidence.” Ji Wang softened his voice. “My memories before I was bought by my master are also completely blank.”

He stepped forward, stepping into the halo of light surrounding Bu Jiu: "But I feel that, for better or for worse, it's all part of 'me.' What if... what if I forgot someone important, or an important promise, making someone wait so many years..."

He paused, then extended his hand to Bu Jiu, who was stunned by his words: "I know this place well. You help me regain my memories, and I'll help you find that person, how about it?"

Bu Jiu did not respond, but simply placed the wine cup in Ji Wang's outstretched hand, then walked to the table, bent down and gently touched the candle.

With a "whoosh," all the candlesticks in the room lit up one after another.

“I promise you.” Bu Jiu lifted his robe and sat down on the ground. “But you have to learn how to protect yourself first.”

He picked up a book from the side, seemingly flipped to a page casually, and placed it on the table.

"Wait!" Ji Wang stared at the dense array of runes in the distance, feeling a chill run down his spine. "What time is it? And I just barely escaped death..."

Bu Jiu raised his eyes: "Now is the perfect time to practice, since there are no other distractions." He lightly tapped the talisman with his fingertip, "Look carefully, this is the basic structure of the 'Protective Technique'."

Ji Wang let out a wail, but resignedly sat down next to him. The candlelight cast their shadows on the wall, one sitting upright, the other leaning crookedly.

“Take a closer look here.” Bu Jiu’s fingertip traced a bend in the rune. “If it’s drawn incorrectly…” He deliberately cut off the rest of his sentence.

"What will happen?" Ji Wang asked nervously as he leaned closer.

Bu Jiu smiled slightly: "It will explode."

Ji Wang was initially learning how to make the potentially explosive talisman properly, but he soon became restless.

His fingers unconsciously groped around him, the hem of his clothes? He rolled it up. The carpet? He picked at it.

He stopped groping around when his fingertips suddenly sank into an unusually soft and warm tuft of fur. He realized it was Bujiu's fox tail.

At first, I just played with it casually, gently combing the smooth fur with my fingers, occasionally wrapping a small strand around my fingers, and then slowly letting go.

Bu Jiu paused slightly as he turned the pages of a book, then lowered his eyes and remained silent.

But Ji Wang became increasingly audacious. He found the tail to be of excellent quality, and his fingertips unconsciously increased the pressure. Thinking that Bu Jiu had not stopped him, he pinched upwards along the tip of the tail.

"..." Bu Jiu's breathing gradually became erratic. His knuckles, which were gripping the book, turned white, his ears burned, and his heartbeat became somewhat disordered.

The tail trembled uncontrollably, wanting to dodge yet also craving the touch, and remained there, neither moving forward nor backward.

The sound of turning pages in the room stopped, until a very soft inhale was heard.

Ji Wang looked up blankly and saw Bu Jiu clutching the book tightly, his earlobes, visible through his dark hair, tinged with crimson.

Perhaps sensing Ji Wang's gaze, Bu Jiu glared at him angrily. Her eyes were moist, the corners red, filled with shame, anger, and helplessness.

Before Ji Wang could react, his fingers unconsciously pinched the tail in his palm again.

Bu Jiu let out a whimper. The next instant, the warm touch in Ji Wang's palm vanished abruptly. The fluffy tail disappeared into thin air before his eyes, leaving only a faint fragrance.

“…Ignorant of the seriousness of the matter.” Bu Jiu remained seated in the same place, without even changing his posture. He continued to flip through the book in his hand as if nothing had happened, except that the edges of the pages had been pinched into fine creases.

Ji Wang looked at his empty palms, then at the other person's forced composure, and suddenly chuckled.

"I won't hold it against you..." He deliberately leaned closer, "...your tail..."

"Focus on drawing the talisman." Bu Jiu interrupted him, but the slight tilt of his head and the reddening of his ears made the smile in Ji Wang's eyes deepen.

Hearing the voice from beside him, Bu Jiu felt the heat he had just suppressed surge up again, mixed with the embarrassment and annoyance of being seen through: "What are you laughing at!"

He stood up, snatched the talisman from Ji Wang's hand, shoved the thick book next to him into his arms, grabbed Ji Wang by the back of his collar, and pushed him toward the door without a word: "If you're so capable, go learn it yourself!"

"Huh? I haven't..." Ji Wang hadn't finished speaking when Bu Jiu decisively "invited" him out of the house.

Then, with a loud bang, the wooden door slammed shut in front of him, and he could even hear the lock clicking shut.

Ji Wang stood outside the tightly closed door, holding a thick stack of books. Just as he was about to raise his hand to knock again, he heard Bu Jiu's angry voice from inside: "If you make any more noise, I'll throw you to the back mountain to feed the wolves!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the warm yellow candlelight shining through the crack in the door went out. Only Ji Wang remained standing on the veranda, staring blankly at the door and the books in his arms.

Ji Wang touched his nose, not feeling frustrated at all. Instead, he hugged his book, humming a little tune as he walked back to his residence.

Inside the room, Bu Jiu leaned against the closed door and slowly exhaled in the darkness.

He listened to the footsteps fading away outside the door, raised his hand to touch the tips of his ears, which were still burning hot, and closed his eyes in annoyance.

Ji Wang originally intended to go back to his room and sleep until dawn, but when he passed by the library, his steps unconsciously slowed down.

He recalled Xuan Shi's scream of "three hundred years," and the averted look in Bu Jiu's eyes when discussing the past. Perhaps... there might be some clues here?

With that thought in mind, he turned and headed towards the library.

The room was filled with bookshelves, their classic texts neatly arranged. Ji Wang lit an oil lamp, his fingertips tracing the dusty titles as he carefully searched for them.

Most of the books in sight were covered in dust, until he spotted a book with slightly curled edges that was spotless, and he reached out and took it.

Turning the pages, he realized it wasn't an ancient book at all, but more like a diary. The ink, varying in shade, recorded fragments of daily life:

"In the spring of the year 412 in the calendar, I saw a little fox and a snake fighting when I went down the mountain today. It was interesting, so I took them both back with me."

Ji Wang raised an eyebrow and continued scrolling down: "That little fox won't leave even after it's healed, and it always likes to rub its ink on me. Oh well, it's just a matter of having another pair of chopsticks."

"When I tried to teach it to read, it used its tail to curl the pen and scribble randomly, so I had to read it to it." There was also half a paw print stuck to the end of this passage.

The next line, written in illegible handwriting, reads: "They're fighting again. The little snake is tightly coiled around the little fox, which is lying on its back unable to turn over. It's funny. I watched for a while, and it seems like both sides are angry."

Ji Wang couldn't help but laugh out loud, his fingertips tracing the line of text as he continued reading: "The little fox has transformed today, but its ears still can't be hidden."

He said his name was Bujiu.

Ji Wang's hand trembled. He quickly flipped to the next page, and the handwriting gradually became steady: "Bu Jiu has learned his first talisman today, and he drew it better than I did."

Just as he was about to read the next line, a hand reached out from the side and gently pressed down on the page.

Huaiqing appeared behind him without his noticing, and he casually put the book back on the shelf: "Xiaobao, you can't read this one."

Ji Wang stared blankly at his empty palm, a strange emptiness welling up inside him. He opened his mouth to ask more questions, but Huai Qing gently tapped his forehead.

“Some past events…” Huaiqing seemed to see his doubts, “It’s better to wait for the person involved to tell you in person.”

Ji Wang nodded. He had already trespassed into the library, so he couldn't ask any more questions. He could only awkwardly touch his nose and change the subject: "Senior Huaiqing, why are you still outside at this hour? I didn't see you when I went to look for Bujiu."

Huaiqing knew he was changing the subject, but he still picked up where he left off: "I usually stay at night and hide during the day, so you naturally see me less often."

"Who would describe themselves as nocturnal—" Ji Wang hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly realized, "Senior Huaiqing, the snake in the diary…"

Huaiqing did not deny it: "It was me."

He leaned casually against the bookshelf: "Back then, I had only recently developed spiritual intelligence, and I was mischievous. I always loved to tease that little fox." He chuckled softly, his eyes filled with nostalgia, "Every time we fought fiercely, it was you... that Taoist priest, who separated us."

Ji Wang caught the unfinished sentence he was about to say and asked softly, "What kind of person is that Taoist priest?"

Huaiqing remained silent for a moment, as if pondering, before slowly speaking: "He is a very good person."

His voice carried a rare seriousness: "He clearly cultivates Taoism, but he never puts on airs with us. He wears a faded Taoist robe and carries a sword at his waist... He is most skilled at drawing talismans, but he always says that talismanic arts are natural."

He suddenly chuckled: "Just like you now, you can always find your own way outside the rules."

Ji unconsciously touched the talisman he carried with him. By the time he came to his senses, Huaiqing had already turned and walked towards the door.

"It's late, time to rest." He paused at the door, looked back, and said, "Some destinies will eventually come to light."