Chapter 277 Epilogue - New World Arc (Seventy-Four)

Shortly after that—

That deep feeling made up her mind to put an end to everything that had come to this.

With her departure as a starting point, she embarked on a brand new life belonging to the young. Before officially bidding farewell, Shen Yun spent some more time perfecting the preparations.

...

This is everything I want to tell you, the whole story of how we met, and some unspoken words from my heart.

I once pushed away the person I loved because of my ridiculous pride.

Then, driven by despicable thoughts, I attempted to drag another innocent person into this cause and effect. I was punished for it.

Now, it's time to say goodbye.

Yes, goodbye forever.

In the very end, I hope you can find happiness, in whatever way, and with whomever you are…

That concludes the letter's content.

Typically, the signature section includes the writer's name and the date the letter was written.

Yu Qingzhou also saw Shen Yun's signature, along with a date that followed.

Strangely, at a distance, near the bottom of the letter, there was a densely packed string of numbers that looked like the date.

The intervals between them are not uniform, the numbers are not regular, and the ink smudges clearly indicate that they were not written in the same period.

Unlike the rest of the letter, the dates are written in smaller, more compact font, suggesting they were written by someone else.

The more Yu Qingzhou read, the more her brows furrowed, and the fingers stroking the pages tightened involuntarily.

—It's all too familiar.

Both the direction of the brushstrokes and the way he wrote in a continuous style were exactly the same as his own writing habits!

What... exactly is going on?!

Yu Qingzhou was shocked and almost dropped the item because he suddenly thought of a possibility.

If, if the contents of the letter are all true—

In other words, there truly exists a person in the coffin who looks exactly like the lover lost by Shen Yun, who wrote this letter—a humanoid being that cannot be viewed through the lens of ordinary humans.

So, in a letter with a clearly identified recipient, who is most likely to leave those ambiguous dates at the end of the letter?

Yu Qingzhou... loquat...

The deceased junior... the resurrected person in the coffin...

Yu Qingzhou's breathing gradually became rapid.

Will it be as he imagines?

But if that's really the case, then what about everything he has—his memories, his life?

"Oh right...right..."

He almost forgot that there was another important thing, a key clue to verify that conjecture.

Thinking of this, Yu Qingzhou, like a drowning person suddenly grasping at a straw, reached out and pressed his hand to his chest.

Thump...thump thump...thump thump thump...

Feeling the rapid yet powerful throbbing below, Yu Qingzhou finally felt relieved, as if she had escaped a disaster.

"Ha, ha, it's here...isn't it right here..."

Yu Qingzhou laughed out loud for no apparent reason, and unconsciously muttered to herself.

Perhaps he was surprised by his own wild thoughts. It seems that people really do laugh when they're utterly speechless.

So it's probably just a coincidence.

Perhaps it was just a coincidence that led me to be chosen and ended up here.

Yu Qingzhou really couldn't figure out what the person behind the scenes wanted to do. However, no matter what their intentions were, all she could do now was take it one step at a time.

Yu Qingzhou glanced at the end of the letter one last time, then carefully folded the letter back into its original shape and put it back into the envelope.

Yu Qingzhou had no intention of adding a line after that string of dates.

Objectively speaking, there is no suitable writing work at hand at the moment, and I am not even sure what day it is.

Subjectively, Yu Qingzhou did not want to get involved.

Although in reality the true recipient was clearly someone else, as stated at the beginning of the letter, he made his own decision.

As Yu Qingzhou was thinking this, he stuffed the letter back into the envelope, but his fingertips touched something hard. He hadn't noticed that there was something else in the envelope.

He carefully tilted the envelope outwards, and as it tilted, a sliver of emerald green slipped into his palm.

The slightly cool touch and the smooth texture revealed it to be a translucent jade pendant.

Yu Qingzhou took out what was engraved on the surface of the jade pendant.

The complex strokes are closer to some kind of ancient, mysterious totem than modern common writing.

But Yu Qingzhou still recognized it; as if by some strange twist of fate, a name suddenly popped into her mind.

"Li...Xiao...Li Xiao?"

Two ordinary syllables, when combined, seemed to possess an incredible magic, drawing the young man into the gap between reality and dreams in an instant—

For a moment, I stood there stunned, losing all ability to think.

He seemed to remember something, but at the same time he forgot it all, just like countless times in the past when he woke up from a dream.

In a daze, she suddenly heard light footsteps nearby, accompanied by hushed conversations. Yu Qingzhou thought she heard her own name.

He looked in the direction of the sound and immediately saw a young face he had never seen before.

The person who came in remained in the position of raising their wrist to check something, then stopped a few steps away, their expression showing undisguised astonishment.

The moment their eyes met, the surprise in the boy's eyes suddenly turned into pure confusion.

Yu Qingzhou then heard the other party ask.

"Have we... met somewhere before?"