109 Four Seasons
He did not wake up.
They had agreed to meet once for every hundred demons eliminated, and even knowing Ying Jianhua's whereabouts, Huaizhou would never break the rule. She thought that if she could refrain from breaking the rules, then Doctor Du would surely be too embarrassed to break his oath.
So she began a period of traveling for most of January until the last day when she would go to a certain house to rest.
In spring, they met in Cloud City. Cloud City enjoys a mild climate year-round, as if time has slowed down, forever remaining in the most pleasant season. Surrounded by green mountains and winding rivers, the gentle breeze awakens layers of vibrant flowers, a riot of colors. She could tell that Doctor Du loved these flowers, so she specially arranged for him to own a villa with a garden, allowing him to enjoy them without ever leaving his residence.
But as time went on, she noticed that his gaze would always sweep past the low grass in the garden and land on the hill behind the courtyard wall.
What's on the mountain?
There are many peach blossoms in full bloom.
Before the flowers were finished blooming, she suggested, "How about we go for a spring outing?"
Huai Zhou thought he would agree, but to his surprise, he immediately refused: "Forget it. If you want to go for a spring outing, bring a few friends with you. I won't go."
She shook her head and didn't mention the spring outing again.
Ying Jianhua thought the matter was over, but the next morning he was awakened by a knock on the door.
Huai Zhou came yesterday, but he won't come today. And no one else knows he lives here, so who is knocking on the door?
He took off the jade hairpin he hadn't used in a long time and hid it in his sleeve. He tiptoed to the door and cautiously asked, "Who goes there?"
“It’s me, Huaizhou.”
Upon hearing this, he was first taken aback, then hesitated whether to open or not.
Emotionally, he didn't want her to be out in the chilly spring wind; what if she got sick? Logically, he shouldn't allow her to break the original rules and meet him before completing the target of one hundred.
He hesitated inside the door, and the person outside seemed to sense something and quickly explained, "I've covered my eyes! Dr. Du, this doesn't count as a 'meeting,' does it?"
This is sophistry.
But in the end, Ying Jianhua only sighed and did not let her continue standing in the wind.
Upon opening the door, the first thing you see is a sapling about half a person's height, with leaves that are similar in shape to willow leaves, but wider.
He asked, "This is...?"
"These are peach saplings! I asked the vendor, and they said if we plant them this year, we'll see flowers next year." Huai Zhou poked her head out from behind the sapling, her eyes covered by a white cloth, truly "blinded." But she was completely unaffected, carrying the sapling straight to the garden. Ying Jianhua, still worried, tugged at her arm, urging her to slow down.
The saplings had just been planted and were still bare and green, but she had already begun to imagine what they would be like in the future.
As he looked at the peach tree he had obtained without uttering a single word, a tender, moist feeling welled up in his eyes and brows.
Suddenly, Huaizhou turned his head and asked, "After the flower blooms, will it bear fruit? The fruit of the peach blossom... is it a peach?"
Ying Jianhua nodded slightly, and then saw the expression on her face suddenly vanish.
She shook her head vigorously, trying to clear her mind of the jumbled thoughts.
Strange... why am I associating this with a bunch of monkeys stealing peaches? The flowers haven't even bloomed yet.
In the height of summer, they met at the East China Sea. Despite the intense heat, Huai Zhou firmly believed that summer should be spent by the sea. Ying Jianhua, on the other hand, didn't care where they lived, so she unsurprisingly chose the East China Sea in the end.
It is worth mentioning that in June, Huai Zhou did not wait until the last day or two to come see him, but instead brought a hundred demon cores half a month in advance.
His heart sank slightly.
For the past six months, Huai Zhou had spent an entire month gathering demon cores each time. Why did he do it so much earlier this month? He had been silently monitoring her cultivation level, so he knew clearly that her cultivation hadn't improved much in a short period of time. So, how did she manage to do it? And why did she do it this way?
The answer was soon revealed.
On the evening of June 14th, Huaizhou took him to the East China Sea coast.
Countless pale blue fireflies spread from the sea to the shore. The huge full moon was half in the water and half in the sky. The moonlight floating on the water was broken into thousands of silver stars, like the pure white and beautiful silk of legend.
The sound of oars from a fishing boat came from afar, startling the moon's reflection on the water, but it did not scatter the fireflies on the shore. They sometimes gathered into pale blue clouds, sometimes scattered like starlight, falling on his clothes, his snow-white hair, and finally into his eyes.
Bathed in the hazy light, they remained silent for a moment, letting the fireflies and moonlight flow freely. Huai Zhou turned her head slightly, watching the smile that involuntarily crept onto his face in his daze, and her heart suddenly relaxed.
Thankfully, Doctor Du smiled. It was worth it for her to work from dawn till dusk, spending half a month collecting a hundred demon cores.
He always kept his eyes down and lips pursed, and she wanted to cheer him up.
How much time passed, until the half-moon reflected in the water and the half-moon in the sky gradually merged, the light spreading over the seashells and pebbles, over their long-standing figures. The last firefly rested on Ying Jianhua's hair, and quietly disappeared.
"Let's go, we should go home." After her reminder, he seemed to wake up from a dream, responded softly, and turned to walk towards home.
The sand was too soft and difficult to walk on, and visibility was poor at night. Dr. Du already had difficulty walking, and Huai Zhou was worried that he would fall. She wanted to suggest that he lead her, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. After a while, she had a sudden idea. She quickly stepped forward and walked alongside him, unusually putting on a frightened expression: "Dr. Du... it's too dark, I... I'm scared."
Fear?
Ying Jianhua looked at her suspiciously, her first thought being disbelief.
Who is she? She is Huai Zhou, who dared to spend the night in the Black Bear Demon's cave at the age of seven and was called "King of Hell on Earth" by the monsters. Is she afraid of the dark?
But perhaps the fireflies were too beautiful and the moonlight too gentle, and as if possessed, he reached out to her and believed this lie full of holes.
"If you're scared, just hold my hand."
It was less like holding hands and more like two fingers lightly touching. They were both very restrained, but one didn't understand, and the other was patient and reserved.
They returned home unharmed, and Huaizhou bid him farewell, ending their meeting.
He lay on the couch with his eyes open until dawn, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
Because he suddenly remembered that many, many years ago, when he came into contact with the sword for the second time, Du Zhijin had also lied and asked to hold hands, claiming that he was afraid.
Clearly, he was the one who was afraid all along, but she repeatedly used clumsy excuses to cover for him, just to make him feel at ease accepting her help.
Ying Jianhua felt confused.
Even if their life trajectories are different and all their past memories are erased, would Huai Zhou still make the same choice as Du Zhijin?
He couldn't help but shiver.
If that's true... some things need to be done ahead of schedule.
————
In the crisp autumn season, they met in Wanze City. The weather was clear and crisp everywhere, with little difference between regions. After much deliberation, Huai Zhou decided that Wanze City, with its thriving commerce and abundant food, was the perfect place for Doctor Du to "gain weight for winter."
He had lost even more weight, becoming almost skin and bones, as if a gentle breeze would cause him to fall apart. She noticed his thinning appearance and felt extremely anxious.
She took his medicine without fail, and fed him five or six meals a day, including three meals and various snacks, but instead of gaining weight, he grew thinner and thinner every day. She couldn't figure out the reason, and he was unwilling to see a doctor, so she had no choice but to clumsily study medical books herself.
She studied the medical book with great enthusiasm, while he occasionally offered pointers. The day passed in this way. Huaizhou felt their current life was unpleasant, but Ying Jianhua, on the contrary, felt it was just right.
Outside the window, the sky is high and the clouds are light. The autumn sunlight has lost the intensity of summer and has become clearer and gentler, like jade polished by time, warm and calm.
It made her and him seem a little more distant. But that was fine; it was enough for him to watch her from afar.
In addition, something else happened this autumn. Huai Zhou broke through his cultivation level, survived the fourth tribulation of lightning, and was only one step away from reaching the Void Refinement stage.
This was something Ying Jianhua hadn't anticipated. According to his plan, Huaizhou would face her fourth tribulation at least two years later, when she turned twenty. By then, all the protective items he had prepared for her would be complete, ensuring her successful passage through the tribulation.
But now she arrived two years ahead of schedule. Although she was unharmed, it still set off alarm bells in his mind.
Therefore, Zhang's magical power was exhausted three years ago, and she disappeared into the world without a trace. Now he has no one to talk to, so he is naturally anxious.
Unknown dangers forced him to make a decision—
He had to be faster than the danger.
On the seventh day of winter, it snowed heavily.
The north wind whipped up snowflakes of all sizes, which began as a few scattered drops that landed softly on the tiles, quickly melting into a shallow dampness. Before long, the wind and snow intensified, and thousands of jade butterflies suddenly emerged from the clouds, their wingtips glistening with the cold light. Riding the wind, they slanted and wove a white net that enveloped the heavens and earth.
The boatman paused, looking up at the scene. The snowflakes were sometimes as dense as a sudden rain, sometimes as sparse as bright stars. They felt slightly cool on his hand and melted into water droplets in the blink of an eye. The pavilions and towers in the distance had long lost their sharp edges, leaving only hazy silhouettes floating on the white expanse, like ink spreading on rice paper, gradually being stained into blank spaces by the drifting snow.
Overnight, the water droplets turned to ice. She wondered if Doctor Du had lit a brazier... Thinking this, she quickened her pace toward Yongfu Lane, the medicine bag in her hand swaying from side to side as she was in a good mood.
She searched the capital for renowned doctors and finally found a prescription that seemed promising, which naturally brought her relief. In the blink of an eye, her home for this season came into view—the very same house they had lived in for seven years.
Before entering, Huai Zhou took out a white cloth strip from his sleeve to blindfold himself and skillfully tied a knot behind his head.
We met once seven days ago according to the rules, and since we haven't achieved our goals for the new month, this is the only way we can "meet".
Wanting to surprise Dr. Du, she didn't knock, but climbed over the wall and, waving her medicine bag, shouted, "I'm back—"
However, before she could utter the last word, "I'm back," she was so shocked by what she saw that she couldn't make a sound.
Snow fell from the branches, skimmed past the wind chimes under the eaves, and gently settled on the person's closed eyelashes.
It was so quiet and white that it resembled a piece of jade carving.
The snowflakes gradually melted, turning into a pool of cold water that slid down the edge of my eye, winding into a line of shallow tears.
He did not wake up.
[Author's Note]
With only two or three chapters left until the end, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
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