Yu Qingtu and Black Swan returned to the bamboo house and entered Rrakavasha's research room. After a brief inspection, she discovered that all the equipment data had already been formatted, wiped clean as if he never existed.
Her fingertips hovered over the control panel for a moment, but in the end, she chose not to restore anything. Some things were meant to stay gone.
Entering the inner folded space and seeing all the items inside made her chest tighten painfully.
Rrakavasha, on the verge of dying of old age, must have been lying alone on the cremation platform, quietly waiting for life to reach its end with the same patience he'd shown throughout his life.
Perhaps... only that orange cat had accompanied him to the very end, seeing him off when no one else could.
Leaving the folded space, Yu Qingtu unconsciously wandered into the wine cellar, drawn by old habits.
Seeing dozens of wine jars neatly arranged in the corner, she frowned slightly and stepped forward, opening the seal of one jar and taking a cautious sniff.
The fragrance of wine drifted out lightly, carrying the distinctive scent of plum blossoms that she knew so well.
One-year vintage... absolutely a one-year vintage!
Rrakavasha's plum blossom brews ranged from one to six years, and she had tasted every kind over the centuries. Each had its own unique flavor, leaving a deep impression on even her refined palate.
But he had been gone for twenty years. Where could this one-year plum blossom brew have come from?
Unless...
Yu Qingtu recalled Rrakavasha's puppet creation and remembered something it had once said.
Powered by Rrakavasha's memories...
So it was following the instructions left by its master, brewing wine year after year in his stead, continuing a ritual long after death had claimed its purpose.
And in the end... sending it to Ruan Mei?
Everything suddenly made sense, clicking into place like pieces of a puzzle she'd been trying to ignore.
An intense jealousy flared up in her heart. She clenched her teeth unconsciously, knuckles whitening.
"You little bastard, even in death you're still thinking about her. And what has she ever done for you-"
Halfway through the sentence, Yu Qingtu swallowed the words about to slip between her teeth and let out a weary sigh.
A fool. A hopeless fool who didn't know when to let go.
She turned and left the bamboo house, heading toward Ruan Mei's residence with purposeful strides.
The entire estate was spotless, not a speck of dust to be seen. Even beneath the trees in the courtyard, there was not a single fallen leaf covered by snow, everything swept clean as though expecting a guest who would never arrive.
Yu Qingtu's brow twitched involuntarily.
So this was what it meant to be powered by Rrakavasha's memories...
As all the clues linked together, an urge arose to smash Rrakavasha's puppet with a single punch, to destroy this monument to devotion that only made her angrier.
But soon, she calmed down again, reason reasserting itself.
Destroying the puppet would change nothing. The past would remain unchanged.
Rrakavsha would not want her to do that either. After all, Ruan Mei was the teacher he respected most, the one he'd served faithfully until his dying breath.
And also the one most important to him in his heart, perhaps even beyond his own awareness, the person he loved most deeply without ever recognizing it as love.
"I really want to see whether you can still remain calm, after hearing about all this, Aruan..."
If her friend truly had no feelings, then so be it. Nothing would change.
But if she did have feelings, even the smallest bit hidden beneath her cold exterior, then Rrakavasha's death and everything he left behind would be enough to drive her mad, to make her taste the bitterness she herself had caused.
"You've been watching for so long. Isn't it time to come out?" Yu Qingtu turned her head sharply, her gaze fixed on the shadow beside the corridor pillar.
"Miss, I mean no harm..."
A figure in a deep purple gown slowly emerged, lifting her skirt slightly with both hands and bowing gracefully with practiced elegance.
"My name is Black Swan, I am Memokeeper of the Garden of Recollection."
"What is he to you?" Yu Qingtu didn't care about her origins or credentials.
"Twenty-five years ago, I was the family member of one of Mr. Rrakavasha's patients, and also his friend."
"Twenty years ago, I was the one who accompanied Mr. Rrakavasha to the very end, the one who loved him deeply."
"Now, I am the one who carries most of his memories, who has sworn to remember him forever and protect him."
Black Swan answered calmly, neither servile nor arrogant, meeting the genius's gaze without flinching.
Only then did Yu Qingtu narrow her eyes slightly and examine her seriously, reassessing this stranger who'd witnessed what she'd missed.
"Ms. Yu Qingtu, I believe that to Mr. Rrakavasha, you were the second most important person in his heart. Therefore, there is no need for you to harbor... hostility toward me."
"If you want to say jealousy, just say it outright. No need to beat around the bush, Memokeeper."
"My apologies." Black Swan didn't deny it, her honesty disarming.
"Tell me, what were his last few days like... before he left this world?"
"Please see for yourself."
Black Swan lightly tapped her forehead. A glow lit up at her fingertips, quickly forming a memory bubble that drifted toward Yu Qingtu like a soap bubble carrying precious cargo.
Toward this genius before her, she actually didn't have much to say.
If she hadn't seen Yu Qingtu's genuine feelings for Rrakavasha, she wouldn't have taken the initiative to approach her at all.
Yu Qingtu accepted the memory bubble and absorbed its contents without hesitation, confident in her own abilities.
With her power, she wasn't worried about Black Swan playing any tricks, deception was beyond even a Memokeeper's skill against her.
When the scenes from the memory bubble unfolded before her eyes, Yu Qingtu immediately fell into a daze, silent for a long time as the final moments played out.
After quite a while, she finally calmed her emotions, her expression complicated with layers of feeling she couldn't quite untangle.
"No matter what, thank you for accompanying him through the final moments of his life, Miss Black Swan."
Learning that Rrakavasha had left peacefully, not alone in waiting for death, finally brought her some comfort, a small mercy in an ocean of regret.
It was also an acknowledgment of Black Swan's feelings for Rrakavasha, and of her right to preserve those memories against the erosion of time.
Black Swan gently shook her head and, in a soft tone that belied its impact, dropped a bombshell.
"In Mr. Rrakavasha's memories, there are some special past events concerning him and Ms. Ruan Mei."
"As a senior whom Mr. Rrakavasha respected, and also Ms. Ruan Mei's close friend, you may have the right to know. If you are not interested, I will not force it."
"Oh?"
Yu Qingtu's gaze sharpened instantly. Special past events between Rrakavasha and Ruan Mei?
Could it be that matter from back then, the one that had always felt off to her, the puzzle piece that never quite fit...
"Give me all of his memories, no, forget it. I only want the full cause and effect of that particular past."
Yu Qingtu had initially wanted all of Rrakavasha's memories, the complete picture. But on second thought, what right did she have to them?
Being called the second most important person in his life was merely taking advantage of having known him for a long time, proximity, not true intimacy.
If one really compared, she was far from equal to Black Swan before her.
What Black Swan had done for Rrakavasha in the final days of his life, the companionship she had given him, Yu Qingtu had seen it all through the memory bubble in vivid detail.
If those memories had been fabricated, there was no way they could have deceived her practiced eye.
Black Swan produced another temporary memory bubble, but didn't immediately hand it over, hesitating, weighing consequences.
"Ms. Yu Qingtu, the pain brought by this memory ran through Mr. Rrakavasha's entire life..."
"I originally intended to bury it forever. The reason I am willing to tell you is very simple."
Black Swan's tone gained an unquestionable firmness as she added seriously, her eyes burning with a protective fire,
"In my heart, Mr. Rrakavasha is perfect. In that past, he was never the one at fault."
"You're standing up for him?" Yu Qingtu was somewhat surprised by the fierce loyalty.
"That's right."
With that, Black Swan handed over the memory bubble like passing the judgement.
Yu Qingtu silently nodded and prepared herself mentally, steeling her emotions.
Even so, upon learning the full truth of that past, she was still shocked beyond measure, the reality far worse than anything she'd imagined.
"Aruan, you will definitely regret this."
Yu Qingtu murmured softly, letting the memory bubble in her hand dissipate into nothingness, its truth now seared into her mind.
When she looked at Black Swan again, there was now a trace of genuine goodwill in her eyes, respect earned through dedication.
If not for her, this past might have been completely buried with Rrakavasha's departure, sunk forever into the river of time, never to be touched again by anyone who could make it right.
"I know what you want me to do, but unfortunately, I can't." Yu Qingtu sighed, the weight of friendship stopping her.
"I understand. I simply do not wish for the Mr. Rrakavasha in Ms. Yu Qingtu's heart to be stained with marks he does not deserve."
Black Swan bowed politely, her figure gradually fading, merging into the light like morning mist.
"Then, farewell."
Yu Qingtu returned to the bamboo house, gazing at the empty rooms and letting out a long, desolate sigh that echoed in the silence.
From today onward, she would live here, taking up residence in this shrine to devotion.
Until the day she personally witnessed someone's regret.
From today onward, Yu Qingtu never again visited Ruan Mei.
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Yu reallyy is loyal. Gotta appreciate that :)