Chapter 86 A Final Reunion "Brother Huaijin, it's been a long time."...
With three rooms and a courtyard, this residence is not very spacious, but it is clean and tidy. There is no dust in the house, and even the utensils are placed in an orderly manner without any mess, which shows that the owner who lives here often cleans and tidies up.
In the courtyard, right next to the kitchen, a vegetable patch two or three feet wide had been set up in the east corner. There were a dozen or so lush green scallions and two sweet potato seedlings planted in it. Bai Hemian picked two scallions and went into the kitchen to cook.
Xue Rongyue carefully examined each room, even going into the woodshed where firewood was piled up. She then walked around the narrow courtyard before finally settling her gaze on the vegetable patch.
"I planted some vegetables, corn and potatoes before, but unfortunately none of them survived. Only these few scallions and sweet potatoes were somewhat cooperative."
The candles in the kitchen were extinguished, and Bai Hemian brought out several dishes that had just been cooked: "At the end of last year, I raised a few chickens and ducks, but the snow was so heavy during the New Year that it collapsed the shed. When I got up the next day, they were either frozen to death or crushed to death."
He placed the steaming hot food on a small table in the yard and said gently, "Otherwise, I can fry you an egg for dinner tonight."
Xue Rongyue sat down, pouted upon hearing this, and said critically, "Just frying an egg? I thought you'd at least stew a chicken for me."
Bai Hemian laughed: "The purpose of raising chickens and ducks is to lay eggs. If you just stew and eat them, why bother raising them?"
Xue Rongyue was not going to listen to this. She pouted and reluctantly snorted.
Seeing this, Bai Hemian immediately changed the subject, saying, "But we have to do what my sister says. I'll go buy a chicken first thing tomorrow morning, kill it, and stew it for you."
Xue Rongyue then stopped pouting: "That's more like it."
"Quickly try my cooking skills. I've put a lot of effort into this dish these past few years while I was away," Bai Hemian urged, placing a piece of sweet fermented rice with cherry meat into Xue Rongyue's bowl.
Upon hearing this, Xue Rongyue lost her appetite.
She lowered her eyes, trying not to reveal the emotions in them, took a bite of the thick, brightly colored soup, and replied, "Delicious. Brother's cooking skills are even better than those of the chefs at Yuchunlou."
Although Xue Rongyue tried her best to hide it, how could Bai Hemian not see through the sadness flowing beneath her calm expression? He opened his mouth, wanting to comfort her, but a mix of emotions welled up in his heart, and he didn't know what to say.
After a moment of silence, he suppressed the surging emotions in his heart and said, "Although I lost my status as a member of the Xue family in the past few years and no longer had the glamorous life of being waited on hand and foot, my life has not been miserable. On the contrary, I have been quite comfortable. In the past few years, I have also traveled to many mountains and rivers."
Xue Rongyue nodded, her voice hoarse: "The guards I sent to gather information said that you were rescued by a hunter who often travels in the mountains, and you stayed at the hunter's house to recuperate for more than half a year before leaving..."
After a slight pause, Xue Rongyue asked in confusion, "Why didn't my brother return to Chang'an? Why didn't he acknowledge me directly? What exactly happened these past few years? And why did you join the Guard Bureau?"
“I know you have many doubts, but some things are too absurd to say. I have no choice but to do so, and I can’t figure it out.” Bai Hemian sighed slowly. “When I woke up at the bottom of the cliff, I hit my head and even lost my memories of the past. Fortunately, I slowly remembered them after being treated by a doctor. The token on my waist was still there, which could identify my identity.”
"I wrote a letter asking the hunter to help me find someone to deliver it to the Chang'an government office, but for some reason, there was never any follow-up. In the past six months, I wrote dozens of letters, but they all disappeared without a trace. Until one of the messengers I was assigned returned, I asked him, but he looked puzzled and said that he did not understand what I was saying and had never agreed to deliver the letter for me."
Xue Rongyue's brow twitched, and her heart slowly sank.
"After that, not only the messenger, but even the hunter who saved me started acting strangely. He would often forget about helping me find someone to deliver the message, and I had to specifically mention it before he would suddenly realize it, and then..."
Bai Hemian took a deep breath: "After that, such situations became more and more frequent and lasted for longer and longer periods of time, until one day, he even... forgot that I existed."
"Brother Wang, you're back?"
Hearing footsteps outside the courtyard, Xue Huaijin looked up and saw that it was Brother Wang, the hunter, carrying two foxes he had hunted.
Looking at the two bloodied foxes, he was somewhat surprised. Didn't Brother Wang say he was going to town to buy some things? Why did he go hunting again? He didn't see him take any hunting tools when he left.
At the time, he didn't think much of it, assuming that Brother Wang had gone to town to buy things and then gone up the mountain again. Although his injuries hadn't fully healed, he could already get out of bed and walk unsteadily with support, so he went out to greet him. But who knew—
"Who are you? Why are you in my house?!"
When Brother Wang saw him, his expression changed drastically, his eyes widened, and he rushed forward, pinning him against the wall and interrogating him.
No matter how he explained, Brother Wang remained unconvinced and scoffed at his explanation: "Where did this madman come from? Do you think I'm an idiot? If I really saved you, why wouldn't I remember!"
He couldn't answer, and his heart trembled as he recalled the unusual events of the past few days.
Then, Brother Wang threw him out.
This is a remote village at the foot of the mountain, with a dozen or so scattered households. The people are simple and honest, and they interact closely with each other. When he was carried back by Brother Wang in his dying state, many villagers saw him and often came to visit him. In his spare time, he would teach the village children to read and write, so he was not unfamiliar with them.
But after he was thrown out by Brother Wang, as he walked through the village, the villagers looked at him with both wariness and unfamiliarity, as if he were a stranger who had broken into the village.
An indescribable panic gripped him. He couldn't remember how many times he fell and got up. He fled the mountain village as if he were running away. He didn't know how long he had been walking. He had no money or food on him, and all the things he could pawn had been pawned.
Finally, after countless days and nights, he was about to arrive in Chang'an, but just as the city gates were within reach, he got lost.
"Lost?!" Xue Rongyue exclaimed incredulously.
“Yes, I’m lost.” Bai Hemian sighed. “I’ve been wandering around in the dense forest about ten miles from the city gate. I don’t know how many times I’ve walked this road, but no matter how far I go or how long I run, I can never get through it.”
These words were indeed unbelievable, but after a brief moment of shock, Xue Rongyue suddenly understood a few things—
At that time, the original plot had not changed. If the elder brother suddenly appeared in Chang'an, the original plot would inevitably have an irreparable loophole. Therefore, in order for the plot to continue smoothly, the original author had no choice but to forcibly trap the elder brother.
Xue Rongyue then asked, "And then? How did you eventually get into Chang'an, brother?"
Things must have taken a turn for the better, otherwise my brother would still be trapped in that dense forest and unable to escape.
Bai Hemian said, "I met Qin Jin in the forest."
Xue Rongyue's breath hitched, and she froze.
"During the days I wandered in the forest, I discovered a withered corpse. The body was already decomposed, and a token lay beside it, inscribed with the three characters 'Bai Hemian of the Guard Division.' At the time, I didn't have any other thoughts about it; I was just saddened by the sight of the corpse, so I buried it."
Bai Hemian said, "Who knew that just after burying the body, Qin Jin suddenly appeared. He came to hunt, met me, saw the token in my hand, and said that he had finally found it."
Xue Rongyue's eyes trembled, her brows furrowed, and she repeated, word by word, "Finally found it?"
"I thought he recognized me, but then I realized I was wrong. He mistook me for Bai Hemian from the Guard Division."
At this point, Bai Hemian's breathing trembled: "Although I don't know how much time has passed since I fell off the cliff, even if it's been a long time, how much could my appearance have changed? Why wouldn't Qin Jin recognize me? But it's so strange that, accompanied by Qin Jin, I finally made it out of the dense forest and back to Chang'an, and everyone—"
"Whether they were old friends who knew Bai Hemian or old friends who knew Xue Huaijin, they all called me Bai Hemian."
"And so, I truly became Bai Hemian."
Bai Hemian took a deep breath, suppressing the tremor in his expression: "I want to go find you, to return to the Xue residence, but no matter what method I use, no matter which road I take, I can't seem to step onto the long street where the Xue residence is located. It's as if..."
Bai Heming downed the fruit wine in one gulp, then clutched his head tightly with both hands, veins bulging on his forehead: "It's as if there's an invisible force forcing me to stay away from you, to remain just Bai Heming, just like how I was wandering around in the dense forest back then."
"I know this is absurd. I even suspect that I injured my brain when I fell off the cliff, but... but that's the truth."
"I know you might not believe me, but—"
Before Bai Hemian could finish speaking, Xue Rongyue nodded: "I believe you."
Bai Hemian was suddenly stunned and looked up: "You...you believe me?"
Xue Rongyue nodded again, emphatically: "I believe you."
Her earlier guess was true.
Because she was worried that the plot hole of her brother, which deviated significantly from the original story, would cause the plot to collapse, her brother could not appear as Xue Huaijin until she found the lost golden bead in the Taoist temple on Qingheng Mountain.
Because of this, the original work had to modify the plot of the elder brother's death several years ago, thus forcibly changing the memories of the others, changing the elder brother's ending from "returning to Chang'an and dying from severe injuries" to "falling off a cliff".
Seeing her brother's pained expression, Xue Rongyue felt a lump in her throat. She opened her mouth, but the sudden warning from the system in her mind prevented her from explaining the existence of the original work and the system to her brother.
Finally, she turned her face away and changed the subject, saying, "...This meat is actually a bit salty."
"Huh?" Bai Hemian was stunned.
He hadn't expected Xue Rongyue to suddenly say something like that, and after a moment of bewilderment, he suspiciously picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth: "Where's it salty?"
Xue Rongyue's eyes were red, but she stubbornly insisted, "It's just too salty."
"You're talking nonsense!"
"Your cooking skills are terrible!"
The two held their own opinions, and as they talked, they fell silent when they saw each other's red eyes. Bai Hemian picked up the jar of fruit wine and filled the two wine cups: "Now that we have reunited, let's not talk about the past."
Xue Rongyue picked up her wine cup, her voice choked with emotion, and replied, "Alright."
The meal lasted until the night watchman's drum sounded. Curfew had already been imposed outside, and it was inconvenient to return to the mansion at this time. Bai Hemian changed the bedding in the inner room to new ones so that Xue Rongyue could rest, while he himself laid out a straw mat under the eaves and outside the window.
Lying on the bed, Xue Rongyue turned her head to look out the window and asked, "Brother, are you cold?"
Bai Hemian laughed and said, "It's summer, how could it be cold? On the contrary, is it hot or not in the room? You're afraid of the heat, and I don't know if you can sleep well without ice."
Xue Rongyue said, "Yes, I'm feeling a bit sleepy because of the alcohol."
Bai Hemian said, "That's good. Go to sleep now. I'll make you some chicken soup when you wake up tomorrow."
Xue Rongyue nodded obediently and closed her eyes.
A moment later, she opened her eyes again and mumbled, "I'm afraid to sleep."
The white crane outside the window was clearly not asleep either. Hearing this, it jokingly asked, "How old are you? Still afraid to sleep alone?"
Xue Rongyue snorted, "I'm afraid that when I open my eyes, you won't be there anymore."
Suddenly, it became quiet outside the window. Bai Hemian sat up and, after a moment, threw in a rope: "Tie it up."
Xue Rongyue stared blankly at the rope.
When she was young, she went hunting with her brother and was frightened by a tiger. For several nights, she needed servants to stay with her in the house. When her father found out, he scolded her for being spoiled and forbade the servants from coming in to keep her company. At that time, her mother was sick and could not come to keep her company, so she secretly called her brother.
Due to the strict separation of men and women, her brother could only stand guard outside the window. The two of them were tied together with a rope. Whenever she was afraid and tugged on the rope, her brother would stand up. Seeing this, she would feel at ease and fall into a deep sleep.
Bai Hemian asked, "Is it tied up?"
Xue Rongyue raised her hand to wipe her face and replied softly, "Right away."
Xue Rongyue got out of bed, picked up the rope, tied it around her wrist, and gently tugged it. Then she heard her brother say in a gentle voice, "Alright, go to sleep."
“You used to be able to stand up.”
Xue Rongyue muttered in dissatisfaction, then closed her eyes.
She thought it was destined to be a sleepless night, but to her surprise, with the cicadas chirping near and far outside, Xue Rongyue closed her eyes and found herself at peace, quickly falling asleep.
The night watchman's drumbeats gradually faded into the distance, and the lantern hanging under the eaves went out at some point. The moonlight, as silvery as silver, streamed down from the blue bricks and gray tiles, making the old tree in the courtyard shine. Occasionally, a night breeze would blow gently, and the green leaves would rustle softly, making the place seem even more tranquil than during the day.
A soft, rustling sound suddenly rang out from the corner of the wall, and a figure silently descended into the courtyard.
Bai Hemian immediately opened his eyes, his gaze clear. He stood up and glanced at the window, then followed the figure that blended into the night into the woodshed.
With a "sizzle," the candle was lit, and the bright flame illuminated the imposing figure.
Qin Jin turned around: "Brother Huaijin, it's been a long time."
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Author's Note: Actually, the setting of being transported into a game would be more suitable. You can think of it as a bug in the game. A bug occurred during the game's operation (the elder brother did not die at the point where he should have died). In order to continue running, the game first controlled the bug (preventing him from returning to Chang'an and restoring Xue Huaijin's identity). In the end, there was no other way but to fix the bug (modifying the plot about the elder brother's death and modifying the memories of other NPCs).
This setup is somewhat complex, all because it involves important plot points later on, so I had to write it [incomplete].
I won't make it this complicated next time. [crying emoji]
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