Chapter 88 Extra: Fireworks
Xie Xingzheng, would you like to help me fulfill my wish?
Without the dazzling fireworks, the night sky appeared exceptionally quiet and profound.
Looking up, there is a sky dotted with scattered stars; looking down, there is the human world with its myriad lights shining down from the mountain.
Those starlight points, like the faint light scattered by the gods on earth, shine with their own light, some bright and some dim, just like ordinary mortals, living their ordinary and mundane lives.
Tang Yu had imagined their reunion countless times in her heart.
Perhaps, it will be a tender and lingering kiss;
Perhaps, it was because she rushed into his arms without a second thought;
Or perhaps, it's a mixture of long-lost bitterness and belated sorrow.
But she never imagined it would be such a peaceful scene.
Tang Yu glanced at the unhealed scar on his forehead, her eyes flickered slightly, but she ultimately said nothing.
But the tears that fell without warning betrayed their feelings, leaving them both stunned.
"It's not a big wound."
Xie Xingzheng gently stepped forward and wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
With the night breeze blowing, he pulled Tang Yu into his arms, his hot breath brushing against her ear, and whispered, "I searched every place in Sichuan that sells fireworks, but it still wasn't enough. By the time I got to you, they were all gone."
Fireworks are fleeting, and now not a single spark remains.
He was more worried than anyone else that Tang Yu would be even slightly disappointed when she saw him again.
It wasn't brilliant enough, passionate enough, or thrilling enough.
It wasn't enough to tell her how much he missed her.
Tang Yu simply hugged him, nuzzled him in her arms, and laughed, "Then you can just make me one later."
The two sat side by side on the swing near the cliff.
The wooden frame rustled softly in the wind, swaying gently and slowly, as if deliberately prolonging this moment.
This scene is similar to that night many years ago, yet completely different.
Without Xie Xingzheng, whose eyes could not even see the faintest light, there was now Tang Yu, who had lost all her martial arts skills.
Back then, they each carried invisible shackles of fate, but now they can truly say "let go".
The view from the mountain is excellent.
By the faint starlight, the outline of a small village several miles away could be vaguely seen, with scattered lights, yet it was peaceful and serene.
Tang Yu turned to look at Xie Xingzheng, a smile in her eyes, her tone slightly teasing: "Why have you been hiding the sparklers I gave you for so long?"
She recognized the Tang family's specially made sparkler at a glance; it was something you couldn't buy anywhere else. It was the very sparkler she had given them on Yunling Mountain.
"Why didn't you want me to come and see you at that time? Could it be..."
She paused, raised an eyebrow, and feigned a tearful, aggrieved look: "General Xie, you've been fighting in the southern frontier all these years, haven't you thought of me at all?"
Xie Xingzheng was clearly taken aback and subconsciously denied it.
"No..."
The night was deep, but you could still see the slight blush on the tips of his ears.
He paused, then lowered his voice: "I just... wanted to watch the fireworks with you this time."
It's as if only in this way can we make up for everything we missed when we were blind.
He wasn't good at sweet talk or coaxing people, so he had to tell the truth.
“I went to the battlefield when I was ten, became famous in Nan Yue at fourteen, and returned to the capital to take over the Imperial Guard at seventeen. Before I met you, my heart was only for the Xie family, the people, and righteousness, which sustained me to fight on. But this time, my heart is for you.”
"I'm afraid I won't be able to keep my promise to come back, afraid I'll never see you again, and afraid I'll die on the battlefield... becoming a lost soul, unable to find my way back to you."
At that moment, he suddenly realized that no one is unafraid of death.
Upon hearing these words, Tang Yu chuckled, her shoulders trembling slightly, yet a faint sadness rose in her heart.
Tang Yu wouldn't really make things difficult for him, so she turned around and threw herself into his arms.
Warm lips pressed against the bare skin of his neck, and a light kiss landed on the slightly throbbing veins.
"Now that you're back, let's live well together," Tang Yu said softly, her words accompanied by a series of gentle kisses.
The bluish veins are warm and fragile.
With just a gentle bite, blood will gush out.
Xie Xingzheng only froze for a moment at the beginning, but quickly relaxed.
He let her kiss fall on his most vulnerable spot.
With its scorching heat, it spread from the skin to every part of the body, and then into the depths of the bone marrow.
Reason was yielding, but the body was screaming, wanting to kiss her and meld her into one's very bones.
Suddenly, a tear fell.
It slid down his neck and into his chest, as if dripping straight into his heart.
In that instant, he completely panicked.
A general who had killed countless enemies on the battlefield, risked his life many times, and achieved fame at a young age, was at a loss for what to do at this moment.
Tang Yu looked up at him and suddenly laughed.
How could anyone be unafraid of death?
But how could anyone be afraid that if they died, others would be sad?
She suppressed her smile and casually asked, "Was this attack on the Southern Frontier dangerous? Did you... encounter any more Gu?"
Xie Xingzheng remained silent for a moment.
He nodded first, then hesitated and shook his head.
"The people of the Southern Frontier are skilled in using Gu poison, which I am indeed not good at dealing with. But do you still remember Xiao Qimeng, who can control Gu poison?"
“Of course.” Tang Yu nodded. “She can be considered half of ‘Moon Dream’.”
Xie Xingzheng nodded and continued, "Back then, the Celestial Master predicted that Yue Qimeng could not die in order to ensure the stability of the Great Xia. This indirectly saved her life, and she was only imprisoned in Zhongjing by the Emperor."
"In this war in the southern border region, when our forces reached Anyun, we encountered a Gu formation, and our army was unable to break through it for several months. It was Xiao Qimeng who volunteered to use her Gu-expelling skills to help the army break through the formation."
"It can be considered... a great achievement, fulfilling the Heavenly Master's divination."
Upon hearing this, Tang Yu couldn't help but sigh, "This Celestial Master of Great Xia really knows how to predict one's destiny."
Xie Xingzheng glanced at her sideways, a slight smile on his face: "So you've started to believe in fate too?"
"I only believed him because he was as handsome as a fairy," Tang Yu replied with a smile and a confident tone.
"..."
Although Xie Xingzheng admitted that the Celestial Master was indeed handsome and possessed an otherworldly divine quality.
However, when Tang Yu praised another man to his face, he couldn't help but feel a slight, barely perceptible sense of loss.
But the next moment, Tang Yu suddenly leaned in and kissed him on the lips, "However, you are more handsome."
Xie Xingzheng was speechless for a moment, but his cheeks slowly warmed up in the night.
Tang Yu looked at his expression, which clearly showed disbelief yet also seemed to have been coaxed, and suppressed a laugh as she said softly, "However, I will believe him, not because of that."
"Why is that?" Xie Xingzheng asked, puzzled.
She paused, then her tone became serious.
"Do you know? Yueying was stabbed through the chest that time. The injury was so severe that she shouldn't have survived to go to the Blood Pool and merge with Qimeng."
"And then?" Xie Xingzheng's heart tightened, and he asked in a low voice.
"At the brink of life and death, I was immersed in a very long dream. Before I woke up, I vaguely saw a purple butterfly."
Tang Yu slowly said, "Later I remembered that when I first entered the palace, I had bumped into that silver-haired celestial master. At that time, he gave me a purple paper butterfly."
Xie Xingzheng was taken aback.
"The Purple Spirit Butterfly?" he explained. "Legend has it that this item can bring good luck, ward off disasters, and is extremely rare and valuable."
“Yes, I knew no paper butterfly could fly.” Tang Yu nodded, gazing at the distant night sky.
"Perhaps... it was this little butterfly that saved me, who knows?"
Xie Xingzheng's breath hitched, his thin lips pressed tightly together, and he couldn't help but hug her even tighter, "It's good that you're alive."
Tang Yu smiled and said, "It's a real pity that I wasn't able to thank him back then."
Suddenly, she saw a bright light streak across the night sky above her.
It vanished in an instant; it was unclear whether it was a shooting star or the lingering remnants of fireworks.
Tang Yu was taken aback, then subconsciously closed her eyes, and quickly reminded him, "Make a wish quickly."
Xie Xingzheng didn't understand why, but subconsciously closed his eyes as well.
A gentle night breeze caressed the quiet starlight, and the swing gently swayed the two of them.
A moment later, Xie Xingzheng opened his eyes and asked in a low voice, "What did you wish for?"
Tang Yu leaned close to his ear, her breath warm, her words ambiguous: "Of course, it's about you."
Just as Xie Xingzheng was slightly distracted by those words, she tilted her head back and kissed him without warning.
It's very light.
But he was not allowed to back away.
Legend has it that wishes made when a shooting star streaks across the sky are especially effective, and the first shooting star is even more so.
However, for Tang Yu, it didn't really matter whether it was a shooting star or which one it was.
There's no need to look up and wait. Because she always believed that the best and most effective wishes never depend on fate.
She can achieve it herself.
Tang Yu gently pressed her forehead against his and asked in a low voice, "Xie Xingzheng, would you like me to fulfill my wish?"
"What is your wish?" His voice was slightly hoarse.
She smiled and said, "If you say it out loud, it won't work."
Before she could finish speaking, her lips fell again.
Accompanying this was Xie Xingzheng's tight arms, their intertwined breaths, and a deepening kiss.
And the gradually cooling fireworks, and the star-studded night.
Tang Yu's wish is actually very simple.
She hoped that Xie Xingzheng could live carefree with her just once.
There is no destiny, no conspiracy, and nothing to bear.
There were only the two of them.
On Yunling Mountain, gazing at the same starry sky, we live shamelessly.
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