True Ending: The Northwest Wind
Consciousness slowly rose from the chaotic darkness, like a drowning person finally breaking through the surface of the water. Lu Yunchu opened his eyes, and what came into view was not the underworld, but the swaying roof of a carriage, and a smiling, familiar face.
Clear snow.
"Awake?" Qingxue's voice carried a hint of relief. "I thought you were going to sleep forever!"
Lu Yunchu was stunned, and she couldn't help but mutter to herself.
“You’re not dead.” Qingxue interrupted her, her tone calm. “Back then, when you were wiping out Cangya, you spared my life and Wuming’s, allowing us to fake our deaths and escape. I remember that kindness, and Su Xike remembers it too. That cup of poisoned wine was fake. She got you, the two princesses, your aunt and mother, and all of us who were ‘in the way,’ and sent us to this old site of Cangya for imprisonment. She said she wanted us to see a new world.”
The carriage entered the old Cangya land, no longer the forbidden martial arts area it once was, but more like a vast, secluded garden. They settled here, lacking nothing in terms of food, clothing, or daily necessities, and were neither mistreated nor cared for. Their mother arrived, their younger sister arrived, Chu Ling and Chu Qin arrived, and their aunt also arrived.
Later, many men were also brought in.
Everyone was working in heavy shackles. A man cursed loudly and used foul language. He was quickly taken away and disappeared without a trace.
Lu Yunchu found herself with no desire to go out; she was tired and weary. Being idle like this, without having to scheme or carry burdens, seemed quite nice. Aside from completing her assigned tasks, she spent all her remaining time quietly folding paper stars.
Many years passed, and the outside world underwent a complete transformation. Finally, one day, the legendary New World of Great Harmony was truly established. A carriage arrived at Cangya and took Lu Yunchu away, saying that someone wanted to see her.
Numbly, she boarded the carriage. Along the way, she saw many women busy in the fields, workshops, and schools, their faces bearing relaxed and genuine smiles she had never seen before. The scene vaguely resembled fragments of her dreams, but ones she dared not even dream of.
The carriage finally stopped in an open field. In the distance, a figure staggered towards them, seemingly holding a bundle of something that shone brightly in the night.
As the man approached, his posture was no longer upright, his temples were streaked with frost, and his face was etched with the lines of time.
But she still recognized him.
Twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye, yet time seems to have never gone by.
He looked at her, grinned, and his smile still held the awkwardness of yesteryear. He held up the tiny wisps of starlight in his hand—it was star grass.
Just then, enthusiastic applause suddenly rang out behind me.
Lu Yunchu turned around abruptly and saw a campfire burning on the wasteland. The firelight illuminated familiar smiling faces: her sister, mother, aunt, Chu Ling, Chu Qin, Zai Yu, Jiang Liu, Xiao Fei, Bai Wusheng, Bai Wushou, Qian Yuan, Mu Yu, Xuan Xuan, A Xiao, A Zhi, Qi An, Wuming, Qing Xue… They were all there! Not one missing!
Xuanji and Su Xike walked towards her hand in hand, their eyes filled with tears and smiles, and said in unison, "Happy 40th birthday, Sister Achu!"
Everyone cheered and gathered around, holding hands and dancing joyfully around the campfire. Lu Yunchu was awkwardly pulled by Chu Chengchao into the circle, both of them blushing and laughing like children.
Suddenly, a tall, cheerful "woman" joked, "How wonderful! This must be the most beautiful feeling in the world!"
Lu Yunchu looked in the direction of the voice, and the eyebrows and the expression were clearly those of Chu Cheng'an! But he was dressed as a woman, and his eyes were clear and open.
“You…” She didn’t know how to begin.
"My name is Bluebird. I was once trapped in the wrong body, but now I can finally be myself again!" It smiled, its tone firm.
Forty years old is the age of no longer being confused. For a woman, she has shed her immaturity and anxiety and is moving towards maturity, wisdom, and composure in her prime.
Consort Xiao stepped forward and gently stroked Lu Yun Chu's hair, just like many years ago, and whispered, "My A Chu has grown up. After experiencing so much and coming so far, do you still remember what your original aspiration was?"
Original intention?
Lu Yunchu looked around, at the sincere smiling faces around the campfire, at Chu Chengchao holding her hand tightly beside her, and at the free and happy figures of women building a new world under the distant starry sky. She nodded.
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