The bright moon can see my true heart 1

This is an open space.

The moon was hidden behind the clouds, the night was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Huaiwen couldn't see anything, and she didn't know where she was.

"boom--"

The light came on as Xuan Ye lit up several trees around him, making them shimmer silver and look like they were covered with fireflies in the night.

A gentle night breeze rustled the leaves, and Huaiwen felt a profound stillness, the only sound the beating of her own heart. She didn't know why Xuan Ye had brought her here.

The other party had already answered her questions. His eyes were obscured in the darkness, but his voice was deep and resonant: "Huaiwen."

"how?"

"I've chosen a sword for you. Try it on."

Huaiwen was surprised. She looked at Xuan Ye and saw him slowly raise his hand, conjuring a sword and holding it in his hand. Huaiwen then watched as Xuan Ye gently stroked the sword, then raised his head and stared at her for a long while.

Huaiwen stiffened suddenly when Xuan Ye stared at her. She turned slightly to the side and said, "Stop glaring at me. Didn't you say you'd chosen a sword for me?"

The falling leaves made a crisp sound. Xuan Ye walked step by step towards Huai Wen. He held out the sword and handed it to Huai Wen, speaking in a deep, trembling voice, softly and steadily: "Try it."

Xuan Ye was truly different tonight. Huai Wen took the sword from his hand with some worry and caution, fearing that the sword might knock him away.

When Huaiwen held the sword in her hand, it didn't send her flying as she had expected. She first stole glances at Xuan Ye's reaction, but he didn't react at all. Or perhaps it was because of the darkness of night that she couldn't see clearly.

Then, Huaiwen sighed, picked up the sword, and fiddled with it for a moment. The sword was very light, and it was effortless to wield.

The moon has risen.

Under the moonlight, Huaiwen was wielding this sword. From the moment she grasped the sword, she was captivated, as if drawn by an innate memory, unable to resist dancing with it. Each step she took created a lotus flower-like effect, her body radiating silver light, and the sword gradually began to glow as well.

Bright, golden, silver, multicolored...

"Huaiwen..."

The calls made under the tranquil moonlight were especially moving. Huaiwen stopped, her clear and bright eyes looking at Xuan Ye, tilting her head, and giving a soft reply.

"I……"

Huaiwen didn't hear clearly, so she sheathed her sword and leaned closer to Xuan Ye, trying to hear him more clearly.

Xuan Ye's voice began to grow hoarse, and the expression in his eyes was different from when he first arrived. As he watched Huai Wen slowly approach him, tears involuntarily streamed down his face, a bittersweet feeling of loss and regain.

Before tears streamed down his face, he rushed to Huaiwen and hugged him tightly.

With a slightly trembling voice, he tried his best to speak clearly: "It's so good that you're here."

The sounds became exceptionally clear in that instant. Huaiwen listened to Xuan Ye's heartbeat, breathing, sobs, and the rustling of leaves in the wind. She felt Xuan Ye's body heat continuously flowing into her.

Huaiwen's heart pounded. She didn't know why Xuan Ye was crying. She didn't know why Xuan Ye had said those words.

But she guessed it was probably because of longing.

I miss the past, I miss the people I've met.

At that moment, she felt the warmth of Xuan Ye's body and heard his sobs. He was very sad, and for some reason, all she wanted to do was comfort him.

Under the moonlight, two bodies embraced tightly, feeling each other's presence. The silver trees illuminated by Xuan Ye grew even more intense. Gradually, countless flower buds sprouted on the trees, blooming in the night.

Time slipped away amidst the whispers of the wind and the leaves, and the two had been embracing silently for a long time. Xuan Ye's tears soaked Huai Wen's right shoulder; the longing was too intense, and he feared it was all just a dream of the night. But the warmth and comfort emanating from his chest shattered the dream, telling him that it was all real.

"Lord City Lord——"

In the stillness of the night, Huaiwen heard a clear, crisp response. She tilted her head back and called Xuan Ye's name again. This time, he lowered his head to meet her gaze, his eyes filled with tenderness.

In an instant, Huaiwen's face flushed crimson, and she consciously tried to break free from Xuan Ye's embrace. Clearly, Xuan Ye sensed her struggle and initially dared not relax his grip even slightly.

Then I heard Huaiwen say, "I'm so hot."

Xuan Ye then released the person in his arms.

After leaving Xuan Ye's embrace, Huai Wen slowly stood up and stepped back. The night breeze cooled the blush on Huai Wen's face and the heat in her heart. Huai Wen glanced at the sword in her hand, then looked up, using the moonlight to see Xuan Ye's face clearly—the traces of tears were particularly obvious.

“You.” Huaiwen paused, then said after careful consideration, “I am not Ruan Shiyun.”

Xuan Ye smiled. The person he loved had always been very intelligent. From the moment Onikiri told Huaiwen about Ruan Shiyun, Xuan Ye should have known. Huaiwen would definitely think that his friendship with her was because of Ruan Shiyun.

Although that's how it started, everything is clear now.

This time, it was Xuan Ye's turn to walk step by step towards Huai Wen, firm and confident. Xuan Ye's eyes were filled with tenderness and love, his lips slightly raised, his voice crisp and clear: "Huai Wen, you are you, you will always be you. Ruan Shiyun or Huai Wen, they are all your names, and you are, in essence, yourself."

Huaiwen frowned, a surge of emotion welling up within her. She didn't quite understand where this emotion came from. However, she also sensed that this emotion didn't make her feel uncomfortable or disappointed.

Previously, when she heard Onikiri and Genye mention Ruan Shiyun, she believed that she was Ruan Shiyun's descendant, which also convinced her that she was Ruan Shiyun's descendant. But now Genye has changed his tune, saying that she is herself, yet has two names.

How could this not concern people?

Footsteps approached, and Huaiwen looked up at Zou Xuanye, who was walking towards her. She asked softly, "Are you sure?"

“I’m sure.” Xuan Ye looked at Huai Wen and answered gently, then pointed to the sword in Huai Wen’s hand, “Huai Wen, you know that many weapons recognize their masters. This one in your hand is one too.”

At this point, Huaiwen already understood, but she still asked, "Then how can you be 100% sure that this sword hasn't changed hands?"

Upon hearing this, Xuan Ye felt a pang of pain as he recalled the experience: "Because I tried it, and it tormented me quite a bit."

"You?" Huaiwen's eyes lit up; she was very puzzled.

Xuan Ye smiled gently and replied, "Because it is your sword. If you were gone, its new master could only be me."

Huaiwen fell into deep thought for a long time, trying to connect everything. This information slowly pieced together in her mind, though incomplete. But it was enough for the moment.

The two stood there, without making any unnecessary movements.

Only after Huaiwen accepted everything before her did she tell Xuan Ye that it was getting late and she needed to go back to rest.

Huaiwen finished speaking and started walking forward. Xuan Ye immediately followed, grabbing his arm. Huaiwen turned around, and their eyes met. Xuan Ye spoke only after recognizing him: "Huaiwen… put away your sword. And…"

Xuan Ye stopped speaking there. Seeing that he seemed hesitant, Huai Wen finally couldn't help but urge him, "Anything else?"

“And…” Xuan Ye’s words were on the tip of his tongue when he glanced at Huai Wen’s youthful face. He sighed helplessly, swallowed what he wanted to say, changed his mindset, and said gently, “I will always be by your side.”

But Huaiwen thought that they were meant to be together forever, weren't they? She didn't say it aloud. Suddenly, a breeze blew by, and she smelled a unique scent on Xuan Ye—a cherry blossom fragrance she had never smelled before.

That night, Huaiwen slept surprisingly well.

As the morning light streamed through the window, Jiang Liyan knocked on her door early, urgently calling her to go to the street to do business. Huaiwen straightened her clothes and went out of the room, only to see Xuan Ye from across the hall also coming out.

She slowed her hurried steps, her eyes meeting Xuan Ye's, feeling somewhat at a loss. But since they couldn't avoid each other, she had no choice but to go first. Jiang Liyan, however, chased after her, calling out to Xuan Ye behind her, urging him to hurry up and settle the score.

Throughout the entire day, Xuan Ye and Huai Wen exchanged no more than ten sentences.

After packing up his stall, Xuan Ye made an excuse to send Jiang Liyan away, asking him to call Shi Yuluo and Cang Lun to the best restaurant in Xicuo Town to celebrate with drinks.

When only the two of them remained, Xuan Ye stood there, swallowing hard. "Huaiwen, why are you avoiding me?"

Huaiwen carefully put away the jade plate and shook his head in denial.

"Since you're not avoiding me, why don't you look me in the eye?"

Huaiwen stood still, then suddenly widened his dark eyes and stared directly at Xuan Ye: "I'm just looking at you."

Xuan Ye didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Since confirming last night that Huai Wen was the person he cherished, he hadn't taken any further action and had already exercised great restraint. But while the other person seemed to accept him on the surface, in reality, he was pushing the distance between them further. This was not what he wanted.

"Would you like to hear your story?" Xuan Ye asked.

This piqued Huaiwen's curiosity. She bit her lip, unsure whether to listen. If she, the one named Ruan Shiyun, had ever had a deep emotional connection with Xuan Ye, then she, at this moment, had not.

At most, they were companions on the journey, obtained through magic, not out of her own free will.

But she was genuinely curious, which was quite contradictory.

Seeing her struggle and understanding her true intentions, Xuan Ye spoke up: "You like cultivating immortality, and influenced by the Taoist cultivators, you take it as your responsibility to exist and bring blessings to the world. However, in the past, you said—'May the world be peaceful and the descendants continue.'"

“You’re smart and interesting,” Xuan Ye smiled. “And of course, you’re not short of money.”

Huaiwen muttered to herself that she was poor because transvestites were different in the past than they are now. As for being smart and interesting, she felt that she wasn't bad at all now.

Thinking about it, Huaiwen asked, "Then how did she die?"

Xuan Ye immediately retorted, his tone becoming more forceful: "It wasn't her, it was you. You're not dead."

Huaiwen waved his hand, paced around the table, and after considering his words carefully, asked cautiously, "Then why haven't you found her for so long...?"

Seeing that Xuan Ye's expression was off, Huai Wen immediately changed his tune: "Uh... what about me?"

Xuan Ye turned his head away, a wave of shame and self-reproach washing over him: "It's my fault. I only found you now, and even when you were right in front of me, I didn't recognize you—"

As he spoke, tears welled up in Xuan Ye's eyes, and he covered his face with his hands: "There is no trace of you, no scent of you, no spirit of you. Even though they said you were dead, there is no body, not even a ghost... Huaiwen, I'm sorry."

"Can you—forgive me?"

Even though it was Huaiwen who was asking the question, she couldn't bear to see Xuanye blame her. She walked up to Xuanye with shame and comforted him, "Why do you need to ask for forgiveness? Didn't you also search for me... for three hundred years?"

"But you said that you and your master stayed in the transvestite center for many years, and I never found out..."

“Because when I go up the mountain, I always hide, so you can’t find me.” Huaiwen reached out and gently placed his hand on Xuan Ye’s face. “Because I no longer have the familiar scent you’re used to. Because I am who I am now, without the past or your memories, naturally you can’t find anything.”

Their hands met and sensed each other. Xuan Ye slowly turned around and grasped Huai Wen's hands. His eyes were still glistening with tears, and his face was still marked with tear stains.

In that instant, Huaiwen's heart felt as if it were being pulled by a thin thread, which, with the slightest touch, would produce a melodious, lingering, and captivating sound that touched the very core of his being, stirring up waves of emotion.

How can one not be moved by someone in this world who would travel across the three realms for three hundred years for you?