"No."
The voice was crisp and clear, without any hesitation or emotional fluctuation, completely denying all connections and existence of the past.
The moment he finished speaking, he didn't hesitate any longer, as if the pause and conversation just now were just a minor interruption in the process.
He withdrew his gaze very naturally and turned around without any hesitation.
The hem of his dark blue school uniform drew a cold arc in the air as he turned neatly, like a sharp blade that cut off all the past and possibilities.
He took a step forward and walked towards the other end of the bridge, towards the old city streets that were bleached white by the sun.
His steps remained steady, his back straight and lonely.
The sunlight fell on him, but seemed to be absorbed by the layer of deep blue cold, leaving only a cold silhouette that was getting farther and farther away and unable to blend into the noisy summer.
The edges of the silver-rimmed glasses flashed a cold light that kept people at a distance under the strong light.
He didn't look back.
Not once.
Ning Xiwan froze in place, the cold "no" hitting her heart like a sledgehammer.
Expectations were shattered in an instant, leaving behind only a heart full of astonishment, embarrassment and a huge sense of loss of being completely denied.
She looked at the back of the person who left resolutely, and a strong sense of grievance and inexplicable anger surged up, but she had nowhere to vent.
Duan Shuce's body shook violently, his face turned pale as paper, and cold sweat instantly slid down his forehead.
The eyes behind the lenses stared at the figure that disappeared around the corner of the street under the bridge, with pain, disbelief and an emptiness close to despair surging in his eyes.
The Supervisor's power was almost out of control and backfired under the violent impact just now. The phantom pain in his ribs was as severe as a real fracture!
He suddenly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, all that was left was bottomless fatigue and a dead silence.
"No..." He repeated silently, and every word was like a cold knife cutting through his heart.
All the struggles, all the fragments of painful memories, were completely thrown into the abyss of nothingness by these two words.
Bai Zhiye stared blankly at the direction where Ye Qingliu disappeared, her vision blurred.
A drop of scalding tear finally broke free, slid silently across her pale cheek, and fell on the scorching stone slabs of the bridge, evaporating instantly without leaving a trace.
At the wrist, the empty skin felt a sharp pain, as if something had been forcibly cut out.
She raised her hand blankly, and her fingertips gently brushed across there, leaving only smooth skin and the warmth of summer.
A huge sadness and emptiness engulfed her, making it almost impossible for her to breathe. Why... did her heart hurt so much?
Hua Jinyue cried out "Wow", not because she was sad, but because she was completely overwhelmed by the huge fear.
She threw herself into Ning Xiwan's arms, her small body shaking like a fallen leaf in the wind.
"Sister Xiwan...that man...is so scary...his eyes...are black...all black...he wants to eat people..." She cried incoherently, her voice full of fear.
Ning Xiwan subconsciously hugged Hua Jinyue, but her eyes were still staring blankly at the empty street corner under the bridge.
The figure of the young man, as delicate as an ice sculpture and as cold as the eternal abyss, along with the decisive "no", have been deeply imprinted in her mind.
A strong, inexplicable intuition told her that this was not a simple "not seen before" thing.
It was a deeper, soul-level denial and erasure. This cold and strange realization sent a piercing chill rising from the soles of her feet under the scorching summer sun.
Duan Shuce took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the fishy sweetness in his throat and the violent shock in his soul.
He pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, and the lenses reflected a cold light, completely covering up all the storms in his eyes.
Duan Shuce turned around, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper: "Let's go and have a cold drink."
His tone was calm, as if what had just happened had never happened.
Only he himself knew that somewhere deep in his soul, it had completely frozen and shattered, turning into a dead ice field.
Bai Zhiye silently wiped the tears from her face, picked up the book, lowered her head, and followed Duan Shuce.
Her steps were a little shaky, and her back looked slender and fragile, as if all the life had been drained away.
Ning Xiwan hugged Hua Jinyue, who was still sobbing, and took a last look at the empty bridge.
The sun is still scorching, the cicadas are still chirping, and the stone slabs of Qinglan Bridge are still scorching hot.
The boy in the dark blue school uniform, as cold and delicate as a flower on the mountaintop, seemed to be just a fleeting illusion in this noisy summer, a mirage evaporated by the sun.
No trace.
No memory.
Only the cold crack left when they passed each other, engraved deep into the soul, silently tells of a completely erased and unknown ending.
The four of them, each with their own unspeakable fear, confusion, pain and emptiness, walked down the Qinglan Bridge in silence, merged into the noisy and ordinary crowd in the old city, and walked towards the cup of smoothie that could temporarily numb their senses.
The midsummer sun poured down mercilessly, stretching their shadows very long, but it could not dispel the eternal chill that lingered in their hearts and came from the depths of their souls.
That name - Ye Qingliu - was like a ghost that had never existed. It cast a cold and heavy shadow in the moment of passing by, and then disappeared without looking back in this noisy and lonely summer that he had reset with his own hands.
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