Chapter 232 The Mist She disappeared at the end of the bluestone path.
"Are you reluctant to part with the stone?" Lou Shitou asked innocently.
"I can't bear to part with you, and..." Wushuang gazed wistfully toward the direction of Jian Ge.
"You should leave now," Lou Shitou urged.
"—Lou Shitou," Wushuang said, remembering something, "Could you please bring me some food from the back mountain these next few days?"
"The back mountain?" Lou Shitou scratched his head. "The back mountain is so big, where am I supposed to find you?"
"There is a cave on the north slope of the back mountain. The entrance glows with a blue light at night. If you come at night, you will find it easily."
"I've got the Blue Light Cave on the North Slope." Stone nodded vigorously. "I'll pick some fruit for you. The fruit from my orchard is so sweet."
Wushuang smiled at Lou Shitou, and as she turned away, her heart suddenly clenched, and she felt a vague sense of unease. She didn't want to leave, but she had no choice but to. In the end, she left.
“No wonder…” Guan Ye finally understood. “No wonder Lou Shitou didn’t show up. I told him we were going to rescue Jiang Muyun, and he thought… thought Jiang Muyun had already been rescued. Wushuang… you ran into Shitou, but you ended up… ended up… harming Jiang Muyun…”
Wu Shuang suddenly became agitated, covering her head with both hands and letting out a high-pitched scream, "I didn't want to, I didn't want to, how could I know you went to Lou Shitou, how could I know everything... I don't want her to die, I'm the one who made the mistake, I'm the one who deserves to die, and I'd rather be the one who dies. The dead are gone, but the living have to suffer endless guilt, day after day without end."
"Wushuang..." Lou Cangyu couldn't help but step forward. "It's none of your business. You didn't know what they were planning. It was all an accident. You didn't want it either, Wushuang?"
"Shut up!" Wushuang's voice ripped out as she rebuked Lou Cangyu, who was approaching her. "I'm the one who's wrong. It all started because of me. I deserve to die. I deserve to die."
Wushuang's sudden madness made Lu Xiaojun a little nervous. He looked at Guan Ye for help, his bluish, dry lips slightly parted and closed. Guan Ye gently pressed Lu Xiaojun's shoulder, looked at Wushuang calmly and said, "Let me guess again. The next day, when Jiang Muyun died in the furnace, you also appeared in Xingguo Fang, right?"
Wushuang laughed maniacally, "You've already guessed many things, why do you insist that I say them myself? Guan Ye, why don't you continue for me and see how much you've actually guessed?"
Guan Ye said, "It wasn't my guess, it was... Young Master Pei."
"Young Master..." Upon hearing Pei Chu's name, Wu Shuang abruptly stopped her loud voice. The flush of excitement on her face gradually faded, and she instantly returned to her usual calm demeanor. "Young Master..." Wu Shuang called out to Pei Chu softly, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Jiang Muyun jumped into the Heavenly Furnace in full view of everyone, but Pei Chu said... he saw Jiang Muyun, and Jiang Muyun was not dead."
"I remember!" Feng Shisan interrupted anxiously, "That night we apologized to the young master, and he said Jiang Muyun was still alive. I thought he was delirious from love, but could it be... could it be..."
"What the young master saw... was you." Guan Ye pointed at Wushuang.
"It's me," Wushuang said softly.
The image of Pei Chu from that day was reflected in Wushuang's pupils. In the bluish-white smoke, Pei Chu fell on the bluestone road. He tried his best to disperse the layers of smoke and see the person running towards him.
"—Mu Yun." Pei Chu reached out her hand to the figure. "Is that you?"
Pei Chu's heart was set on Jiang Muyun. Wu Shuang rushed past him, took a few steps, then stopped. Muyun… Wu Shuang murmured. These were her and her sister's names, or rather, only her sister's name. She didn't have a name of her own. Was Pei Chu's love Muyun? Or Muyun? Only Jiang Muyun was by Pei Chu's side, and only Jiang Muyun… What was she then?
At that moment, Wushuang finally understood that the person Pei Chu wanted to live and die with was Jiang Muyun. If Jiang Muyun died in the furnace, then Jiang Muyun would cease to exist in this world.
Wushuang turned her head to take one last look at Pei Chu, and finally disappeared at the end of the bluestone road without hesitation.
"Jiang Muyun, why did you leave me!"
Tears streamed down her face, and she did not utter a sound in response to Pei Chu.
“You have the young master in your heart, but you are unwilling to stay for him…” Guan Ye probed. “You think that the young master deeply loves Jiang Muyun, your sister. You are with him day and night, and all the good things he does for you are because he sees you as Jiang Muyun. Now that Jiang Muyun is dead, you have no value. You see yourself as your sister’s shadow. Now that Jiang Muyun is dead, you should not have a shadow anymore.”
Wu's eyes were hazy, as if she were under a spell. She suddenly looked at Mu You in the hall. For a moment, she seemed to see Pei Chu in the Zetian Hall. His face was as white as jade, his expression was gentle, and he looked at her with a leisurely smile. He said: Mu Yun, you are so beautiful.
Wushuang walked step by step toward the palace. The eagle guards beside Mu You pointed their swords at her, but Wushuang seemed not to see them. Or perhaps even a thousand swords couldn't stop her from walking toward Pei Chu. Or perhaps... she was filled with regret for the past and wanted to die. Die? In the Heavenly Furnace, she was the one who should have died. This life should be returned to her.
"Wushuang..." Lou Cangyu cried out in a broken voice, "No!"
"Wushuang!" Guan Ye shouted, "Young Master has you in his heart!" Wushuang swayed slightly, as if she thought she had misheard, then smiled slightly and went to meet the sword again.
Guan Ye hurriedly added, "It's true. Listen to me. The young master knows you are you. You are not Jiang Muyun's shadow. The young master knows who you are."
Wushuang stopped in her tracks, turned around and glared at Guan Ye. "You're talking nonsense. He doesn't know who I am. He only knows that Jiang Muyun is with him. Now that Jiang Muyun is dead, I no longer exist."
“He knows.” Guan Ye’s eyes were earnest. “After Jiang Muyun died in the furnace, did you go to spy on the young master? You must have gone.”
Wushuang was stunned, and muttered, "How did you know?"
"It was the young master who told me that he saw you."
"Guan Ye, have you seen her?"
"I stared at the Meteor Sword, and I had a feeling that she could see me too."
"She's watching you and me from not far away."
That night, in Pei Chu's Tingzhu Pavilion, Pei Chu glanced out the window and spoke in a sinister tone.
"Will the young master leave with everyone?"
"I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay here and wait for her to come back."
Guan Ye remembered that when the wind blew through the window, Pei Chu reached his hand through the crack and said, "One day she will come back here. Guan Ye, can you bring her back? Guan Ye, she's watching us, can you see her?"
Guan Ye couldn't help but look out the window. She saw Jiang Muyun smiling at her. No, it was Wushuang who was smiling at her.
“It’s you.” Guan Ye said to Wu Shuang, “You couldn’t bear to leave the young master. Before you left, you hid in the shadows and watched him. The young master saw you too. He knew you were not dead. It was you, Wu Shuang, who was not dead.”
Wushuang seemed to understand, yet still seemed lost in confusion. "He clearly saw me, so why didn't he call my name? If he had just called out, I would have returned to his side... My greatest wish in this life is to stay with him until we grow old and die..."
“Because,” Guan Ye slowly exhaled, “he knew all along that you were two people. Jiang Muyun was the one who died in the furnace, and you were the one who couldn’t bear to leave. What could he use to call for you? You didn’t want to be Jiang Muyun’s shadow, and neither did he.”
"—Does the young master know... I'm not her?"
Guan Ye nodded. "Before I left the island, the young master repeatedly told me to bring you back. He also said that he would always wait for you. At first, I thought the young master couldn't accept that Jiang Muyun was dead. But now that I think about it, the young master knew about your existence and Jiang Muyun all along. He knew you weren't dead. You left, not died. He will wait for you on Canglang Island for the rest of his life. Wushuang, don't you understand?"
"I don't understand." Wushuang shook her head fiercely. "Since he knew I existed, knew I was right outside the window, why didn't he let you find me and let me stay on Canglang Island? Canglang Island isn't that big, but it's not that small either. Even if I could never show myself to anyone in this life, as long as I wanted, I could still see the young master from time to time. It's better than being separated by thousands of miles and never being able to see him again in this lifetime. He doesn't know, he doesn't know anything!"
“Young Master knows,” Guan Ye insisted. “Don’t you understand? Young Master doesn’t want you to be imprisoned on the island. He doesn’t want you to live in darkness for the rest of your life, not before, and not in the future. Since you have the opportunity to leave, Young Master would rather endure endless pain himself than let you go. Wushuang, Young Master can’t bear to part with you. He has you in his heart.”
Wu Shuang gave a weak laugh, her face as pale as snow. "You're lying to me. He let me go, so why did he tell you to take me back? Pei Chu is a madman. Jiang Muyun died, and he went mad. He's gone mad..."
“Young Master knows you and Jiang Muyun are different.” Guan Ye seemed to have seen through everything. After all that had happened, all the clues, like scattered pearls, had been strung together. She wanted to speak, and had to speak, the stories hidden deep within Canglang Island, that no one knew. “Jiang Muyun is gentle and composed, and acts with extreme caution. But you are different. Jiang Muyun must have reminded you that you must suppress your temper in Xingguo Ward, and not get involved in anything, so as not to give anyone away. You did just that, and you must have done it very well. Apart from Young Master and me, no one else should have noticed. I, too, thought about it for a long time before I realized something was amiss…”
"When did you realize that, young master?" Wushuang asked in a low voice.
Guan Ye blinked. "I don't know when the young master became suspicious, but he was certain you weren't Jiang Muyun, it must have been... that time..."
"That day, Lou Shitou and I were almost surrounded and beaten up, but Jiang Muyun helped us."
"She helped you?"
Guan Ye remembered clearly that Pei Chu's pale face twitched after she finished speaking.
“Jiang Muyun has been by the young master’s side for many years. She is gentle and aloof, and people in the neighborhood all have awe for her. When she stands up for someone, even the chefs have to give her some face. But most importantly, Jiang Muyun is too busy avoiding trouble to help others. Pei Chu knows her too well. From that time on, he was certain that the person by his side day and night was not one person, but... a pair of twin sisters.”
Inside the Pei family ancestral hall on Canglang Island, candlelight flickered, and Pei Chu and Jiang Muyun were as perfect as a couple.
"If the soldiers on the ship are truly here because of the Blood Crossbow Incident, everyone on the island will be doomed. You're not surnamed Pei, and you'll lose your life for Xingguo Ward..."
"Everyone on Canglang Island has benefited from the Pei family for many years. As long as the island exists, we will live on it. It would be my good fortune to die on the same day, month, and year as the young master."
In the Xingguofang foundry, Guan Ye secretly went to find Lou Shitou. It was also that night that she and Ajiu bumped into Pei Chu and Jiang Muyun, no, Pei Chu and Wushuang.
"—Do you remember what you said to me the day Cui Jin brought the meteorite?"
"Which sentence? It's been so long, I can't remember every single one."
"I remember every word you said. You said that it would be a blessing to die on the same day, month, and year as me."
"Oh." Jiang Muyun suddenly understood, "If everyone dies that day, no one will even bat an eye."
"You won't die, I'll never let anything happen to you. I want to go before you. If we don't want to die on the same day, month, and year, how about we be born on the same day, month, and year?"
Guan Ye thought that the two lovers were sneaking into the foundry at night instead of sleeping, whispering sweet nothings about life and death. Now that she thought about it, Pei Chu must have already foreseen everyone's fate.
That night… Guan Ye’s thoughts drifted uncontrollably to A Jiu on the throne. A Jiu, following her recollections, returned to the point in the story. He remembered Guan Ye cowering beneath him, the faint fragrance emanating from the girl captivating his soul. Guan Ye clung to his hand, and he quickly loosened his grip, knowing his calloused hands must have hurt her. But this girl was too bold; after hearing just a few words, she couldn’t help but fidget. He could only press her down firmly, letting her try to move again!
Everyone present that night wished that night would never end.
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