Sunlight streamed through the glass, bringing with it a brightness that time itself could not diminish, and fell into the ward.
The girl's solitary figure was clearly reflected on the wall; there was no other person in sight, yet it seemed as if she were being embraced by someone else.
The scene looked somewhat eerie, but Xu Shiyue wasn't afraid at all.
Tears clung to the sudden kiss, cool yet warm, wetting her lips. The familiar taste was like a rose suddenly bursting open, instantly filling her throat.
Sunlight transformed into film, frame by frame, passing through Xu Shiyue's eyes.
She could clearly feel the force that held her tightly in his arms, and she could also see Lu Shizhen's face as he embraced her.
The person who hugged and kissed her was Lu Shizhen.
Her Lu Shizhen is back.
Lu Shizhen had seen many scenes of long-awaited reunions and was often overwhelmed by the sheer volume of those images.
But she didn't understand why there was such a surge of emotion, or why she couldn't help herself to it regardless of the occasion.
But she understands now.
When you finally reunite with someone you've been longing for, there's no reason needed. You just can't help but want to hold them tightly, even to the point of embedding them into your body, making them a part of you, never to leave again.
Anything said at this moment would seem exceptionally deliberate.
For the first time, language seemed utterly inadequate; only the most primal actions could express this emotion.
Just like the last time when she walked right into Xu Shiyue's trap and was caught red-handed, Lu Shizhen hugged Xu Shiyue tightly.
A sudden, fierce kiss followed by boundless tenderness.
Their soft touch enveloped each other, and longing and love were swept up and pushed into each other's bodies without any medium.
Xu Shiyue reciprocated with the same intensity, spreading that familiar taste onto Lu Shizhen's tongue, and then, following Lu Shizhen's rhythm, claimed her as her own.
The strong smell of disinfectant was gradually overwhelmed by a faint fragrance. Lu Shizhen kissed Xu Shiyue unsatisfiedly, and inexplicably felt her body changing.
Her soul, which had escaped her body, seemed to be re-attached to flesh and blood. The heartbeat, intertwined with the sound of cicadas, appeared as a double image, and her heart was pressed against her chest, thumping loudly.
The sunlight could no longer penetrate Lu Shizhen's body, and her slender shadow completely obscured Xu Shiyue.
The clasped hands became real, the slender bones pressing against Xu Shiyue's fingers. She slightly opened her eyes and saw the person who had been asleep for so long right in front of her, kissing her tenderly.
Another tear slid down Xu Shiyue's cheek.
A glistening kiss landed on Lu Shizhen's lips.
Lu Shizhen paused slightly upon seeing this, and looked down to see Xu Shiyue cupping her face.
The man's straight eyebrows concealed both joy and sorrow as he softly said to her, "I thought I was dreaming again."
These words made Lu Shizhen feel as if her heart had been twisted.
She leaned down and gently kissed Xu Shiyue's lips again, asking softly, "Will I kiss you in my dreams too?"
Xu Shiyue looked at the person in her line of sight without denying it, and only said, "Teacher Sixteen's kissing skills are still the best."
The midday sun shone brightly on Xu Shiyue's eyes, making her usually cool and calm gaze appear deep and profound.
The simple gaze turned into a deep, affectionate one, and her fingers gently caressed Lu Shizhen's face before she asked, "Does it hurt?"
Lu Shizhen shook her head and said honestly, "I'm just scared."
She turned her head and pointed to the corridor she had just walked through, childishly complaining to Xu Shiyue: "You know what? When I was about to come over, he scared me, making me think that after I went to your world, you would one day choose to abandon me because I'm disabled."
At this point, Lu Shizhen's indignation changed into smugness.
She stood on tiptoe and said proudly, "But now it's all right, I've stood up, and he can't intimidate me anymore!"
The cicadas, hidden in the treetops, chirped tirelessly, and the ward, which had been quiet for many days, finally became noisy again.
The leaping sound struck Xu Shiyue's ears one word at a time, and she suddenly felt that summer was not so noisy after all.
It was precisely this that made her feel alive.
Lu Shizhen was still complaining about that awful corridor when Xu Shiyue hooked her hand and explained gently, "Silly girl, that's not to scare you. It's a test the system gives to everyone who wants to travel from one world to another."
Upon hearing Xu Shiyue's words, Lu Shizhen was immediately taken aback: "A test?"
Then she patted the railing at the foot of the bed, and breathed a sigh of relief: "So it was just a test! I thought it was that brat from before still haunting me!"
As she said this, Lu Shizhen seemed to remember something else. She turned to look at Xu Shiyue, her head slightly raised as if seeking praise: "But I passed the test, wasn't I amazing?"
"Of course, you're the best." Xu Shiyue didn't hold back her praise, running her fingers through Lu Shizhen's long hair and ruffling her head.
However, after saying this, Lu Shizhen did not smile more brightly as before. Instead, her expression became more serious: "But you are not the most powerful person."
Xu Shiyue was stunned when she heard Lu Shizhen's words, and then she felt her wrist being lifted up.
Lu Shizhen wrapped her arm around Xu Shiyue's wrist with ease, leaving just enough space to swing it: "You've lost weight, you've gotten so much thinner."
I noticed this as soon as Lu Shizhen came back, and it was even more noticeable when they kissed.
She looked at Xu Shiyue, who was already quite thin, with heartache. Tears welled up in her eyes, which had been quiet until now: "Didn't you promise to be the strongest dark moonlight? Didn't you promise to never let yourself get hurt in anything you do?"
Perhaps she had been holding it in for too long, because tears streamed down Lu Shizhen's face like a flood, and she was heartbroken: "How long have I been walking? How come you've lost so much weight all of a sudden?"
"It's been two months." Xu Shiyue gently wiped away Lu Shizhen's tears, her voice tender. "Do you know that it's already summer?"
Lu Shizhen was stunned for a moment, somewhat incredulous.
She remembered that she had only stayed in the hospital there for a little over a week, how come so much time had passed since she arrived here...
"Lu Shizhen, do you know what 20250731 means?" Xu Shiyue tucked a strand of hair behind Lu Shizhen's ear and asked softly.
Lu Shizhen vaguely remembered it and said, "Isn't that my number in the system?"
Xu Shiyue pursed her lips slightly and corrected her, "That's the year and date we met, and it's also today's date, the last day of July."
The sunlight outside the window was bright and radiant, coinciding with that day in my memory.
Lu Shizhen had never felt that fate was so wondrous. The hand that she had been holding turned around and suddenly hugged her tightly, as if it were holding a treasure that had been lost and found again.
A slight tremor ran through Xu Shiyue's calm voice as she finally dared to voice her fear: "Lu Shizhen, I'm so scared, scared that you won't come back..."
Lu Shizhen felt the lingering fear in the person in her arms, gently stroked her back, and said, "But didn't you still send me a warning through someone else?"
"That was you, right? You said a bunch of weird things and then told me to eat more apples."
As Lu Shizhen spoke, she smiled and looked at Xu Shiyue.
Xu Shiyue nodded and said to Lu Shizhen, "So I know that you gave up your world and chose my world."
Lu Shizhen felt a pang of disappointment.
The events that had just occurred quickly came together in her mind, including how she had abandoned her wheelchair and how her flesh and blood had reformed during the kiss.
She knew what what happened in the hallway meant, and she had originally intended to keep it a secret.
But the person opposite is Xu Shiyue.
Lu Shizhen nodded honestly, with a hint of helplessness in her voice: "Yeah, it seems so."
Upon hearing Lu Shizhen's admission, Xu Shiyue's eyes, which had finally calmed down, suddenly reddened again.
Xu Shiyue has been very anxious these days.
She watched as Lu Shizhen opened the doorway as she had suggested, but she waited and waited, and still no one came back.
She desperately wanted to find Lu Shizhen, but she couldn't leave this world that now revolved around her. Her departure would cause the world to collapse, and it would also cause the doorway that had been opened to crumble.
The time gate flow rates are not the same in the two worlds.
Xu Shiyue had many dreams, feeling anxious and uncertain.
Even though she is extremely rational in the business world, Xu Shiyue just couldn't calm herself down this time.
She stared at the long corridor, the prolonged silence frightening her. Even if Lu Shizhen triggered the doorway, she didn't want to come back.
After all, that world is where she was born, raised, and truly given her a future.
In the years she was gone, Lu Shizhen lived alone in that world for more than ten years. She had the same honors here as she did there, and even more, and her future was even more promising.
But on the very day they first met, she returned.
They have entered their own world.
She's back.
She chose herself.
"Don't be like this, it's just a small thing. I wouldn't have lived long in that world either, would I?" Lu Shizhen saw Xu Shiyue's eyes redden again, and hurriedly wiped away her tears, trying her best to comfort and console her. "What supports me and keeps me alive is the healthy cells in Lu Shizhen's body in this world. It was the right thing for me to come here."
"Besides, who will hold you back if I'm not around, Black Moonlight Heroine?"
Lu Shizhen's voice was full of gentle comfort, but her eyes held a mischievous smile in her words.
Xu Shiyue burst out laughing when she heard Lu Shizhen address her.
Her slightly upturned eyes couldn't hold back her tears, which streamed down her eyelashes and landed on her lips.
Then it was pressed onto Lu Shizhen's lips.
The hand that was originally on Lu Shizhen's back slowly moved upwards, brushing across her waist and back, and landing on her neck.
The slender figure leaned down on Lu Shizhen, who was half forced and half compelled to lean back, then fell onto the bed.
Cool tears fell on the tip of my tongue, gently enveloping me.
Xu Shiyue always liked to caress her gently, which made Lu Shizhen's nerves tremble, until finally the other party couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to turn her over and pin her down.
The wind swept through the window, casting dappled shadows of treetops into the room. The intense sunlight bathed the entire ward with a sense of tenderness and ambiguity.
Lu Shizhen's hand, which was being held down, climbed up Xu Shiyue's waist. The thin skirt of her dress bloomed like flower petals by the bedside, covered in warmth.
Just then, a tall figure was projected onto the frosted glass of the door.
Without knocking, and without even stopping at the doorway, the figure pushed it open, speaking hurriedly: "Xu Shiyue just now..."
The man's voice carried a unique sense of depth, urgent yet abruptly cut short.
Lu Shizhen stopped moving immediately, not only because she was startled, but also because the voice sounded very familiar to her…
The sunlight was blinding, and the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Lu Shizhen lay on the bed, and slowly turned her head, only to see Lu Shize, dressed in a suit and tie, standing straight in her line of sight, upside down.
With immense difficulty, Lu Shizhen tore open her suddenly parched lips and squeezed out a single word from her throat: "...Brother."
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