Chapter 5707: Extra - Duan Yue: To Whom Can I Tell My Worries?
"You just vanished without a trace, not a single word." Duan Yue's sword was swift and merciless, each strike aimed at his body.
The latter remained silent, merely drawing his sword to parry, not retaliating even after dozens of exchanges.
"Do you know someone has been constantly thinking of you, worried about you, always concerned?"
Mo Lian pressed his lips together, parrying a sword stroke that flew towards him. His form shifted, his dark robes gliding through the night sky, and he soared onto the eaves.
Duan Yue gracefully pursued him to the high wall, leaping to follow in swift pursuit.
Two figures, one black, one white, slender as bamboo, cut through the faint moonlight. They landed on treetops, then leaped before pavilions, leaving only two faint afterimages.
The clang of crossing swords mingled with the rustling wind, and two sudden flashes of white light landed outside the wall, felling countless trees.
The sword contest lasted a full half hour.
As the moon deepened, even the faint chirping of cicadas and insects gradually died down, coming to a complete stop.
The two lay silently on the rooftop. For a long while, neither spoke.
From this vantage point, they could see a single curved moon, half-hanging in the branches.
The long window was slightly open, and the faint moonlight illuminated the little poker-faced girl's face. She was covered with a thin quilt, sleeping soundly.
She had no idea that these two had just torn up the roof fighting fiercely.
"She hasn't been eating or sleeping well lately." Duan Yue raised his hand above his head and easily caught a wine flask that Mo Lian tossed to him.
"We made such a ruckus, and she didn't even wake up. That just shows you how tired she's been lately."
"Thank you," Mo Lian said in a low voice.
Duan Yue slanted a look at him, then took a drink from the flask. "Do I look like someone who needs a 'thank you' from you?"
"These days, I owe it to you for supporting her and taking care of her by Qiao Qiao's side."
"To you." Mo Lian raised the wine flask towards him.
Duan Yue squinted at him again, letting him hold it up for a while before reluctantly clinking his flask against Mo Lian's.
"Between us, there's no need for thanks."
"Indeed." Mo Lian nodded faintly. "Many things are best kept in the heart."
Duan Yue covered his forehead with one hand, gazing through his fingers at the faint moonlight resting on the branches. "Mo Lian, I'm sorry."
Sometimes, a terrifying thought would inexplicably arise in his mind.
For example: Wouldn't it be great if Mo Lian couldn't come back?
And: Perhaps Mo Lian truly died in the Abyss of Sacrifice Sea?
No one was said to have ever climbed out of the legendary Abyss of Sacrifice Sea, right?
Perhaps time could dilute all memories.
As long as he had enough patience, stayed by Qiao Qiao's side, cried with her, laughed with her, accompanied her to gaze at mountains and the sea, and watched stars and the moon with her, perhaps, perhaps there truly would come a day when she wouldn't remember that person anymore.
She would see how hard he had tried to get closer.
A thousand words, a myriad of thoughts.
In the end, they all coalesced into that one phrase: ["You fierce girl, who would like you? Only that fool Mo Lian would be so infatuated with you."]
A lie!
I like you too...
I also want to pluck the stars and the moon for you, to grasp the universe itself...
"Mo Lian." Duan Yue spread his five fingers to cover his peach blossom eyes, his voice soft and faint. "Sometimes I wonder if being one step too late means being a lifetime too late."
"Time waits for no one."
[Don't move!]
[What's your name?]
[Du-Duan Yue. I, I'm a good person.]
[Doesn't look like it.]
The bright moonlight reflected in the slightly moist corners of his eyes.
(The End)