RPAGF Chapter 1023 Go
Chapter 1023 Go
Suddenly, she felt her cheeks burning. The hairs behind her ears stood up uncontrollably, gleaming silver in the sunlight, resembling the petals of a moonflower. "No... not like it." Su Yue hastily turned her face away, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum. She could feel the tips of her ears red as if they were about to bleed, and her heartbeat was like a drum, making her dizzy. Xuan Qing took a step forward and held the flower closer, "Why not? Look at the sheen of these petals, do they resemble the hairs behind your ears?" There was a smile in his voice, and his warm breath brushed against Su Yue's ears, making her shiver. Su Yue took a few steps back, almost tripping over the stone under her feet. She raised her head and met Xuan Qing's smiling eyes, which clearly reflected her panicked figure. She suddenly remembered the whispers she had heard in her sleep late at night, the words "Kunlun" and "exorcism," and what the old turtle had said - disciples of immortal sects and spirits have always been incompatible. "If I say it doesn't look like it, then it doesn't look like it!" Su Yue's voice was filled with tears. She didn't know why she was so excited, but she felt sour and bitter in her heart, as if she had eaten unripe wild fruit. She turned and ran, her skirt sweeping through the moonlight flowers, bringing with it a burst of fragrance and dropping a few petals. Xuan Qing stood there, watching her back as she fled in panic, his hand holding the moonlight flower frozen in mid-air. The smile on his face gradually faded, his brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes were full of confusion. He didn't understand why a joke would cause her to react like this. Su Yue ran back to the hollow of the old locust tree in one breath, and only dared to burst into tears after closing the door. She transformed into her true form as a rabbit, curled up in the cloud velvet, covering her face with her front paws, her shoulders twitching. In three hundred years, she had never been so flustered. Those feelings that she had deliberately suppressed suddenly emerged like bamboo shoots after rain. She knew that she shouldn't be attracted to Xuan Qing. There was a difference between immortals and mortals, between good and evil, three hundred years of time and completely different destinies between them. But feelings are something that can never be controlled by oneself. Just like the moonlight in Lingyun Valley, whether you like it or not, it will always come as scheduled every night. In the evening, Su Yue heard footsteps outside the tree hole. She hurriedly wiped away her tears, changed back to human form, straightened her skirt, and then opened the door. Xuan Qing stood at the door with a bamboo basket in his hand, which contained some wild fruits and grilled fish. "I saw you running away, you must be hungry." Xuan Qing handed her the bamboo basket with an apologetic look in his eyes, "I was abrupt just now, don't be angry." Su Yue took the bamboo basket, her fingertips touched his hand, and her heart palpitated again. She lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes. "I'm not angry." "That's good," Xuan Qing breathed a sigh of relief and sat down beside her. "I picked these wild fruits in the valley to the east. They're very sweet. I'm grilling grouper from the stream. Try it." Su Yue picked up a wild fruit and put it in her mouth. The fruit was indeed sweet, so sweet that it made her want to cry. She stole a glance at Xuan Qing and found him staring at the distant mountains in a trance. The profile of his face looked particularly soft in the setting sun. "Xuan Qing," Su Yue suddenly said, her voice trembling. "When...when are you leaving?" Xuan Qing turned around and glanced at her, his eyes complicated. "When your injuries get better. Kunlun...maybe they're still waiting for me to return and report." He paused, then added, "What? You want to kick me out?" "No!" Su Yue waved her hand hastily, her cheeks flushing again. "I'm just...just asking." Xuan Qing smiled and didn't press any further. They sat side by side at the entrance to the tree hollow, watching the sun slowly sink behind the western hills, the sunset glow paint the sky crimson, and fireflies, lanterns in hand, emerge from the bushes. No one spoke, yet a strange stillness flowed through the air, like a stream flowing over pebbles, gentle and lingering. That night, Su Yue transformed back into a rabbit and slid onto Xuanqing's windowsill. Moonlight filtered through the window lattice, illuminating Xuanqing's face. He slept soundly, his brow slightly furrowed, as if in some unsettling dream. "Kunlun... exorcise the demon..." He began to recite the words again, his voice low and suppressed. Su Yue felt something tug at her heart, the pain stifling her breath. She gently touched Xuanqing's cheek with her front paw, the cool touch softening his frown. "Xuanqing," Su Yue whispered softly, a tone of grievance unnoticed. "You said... demons are always bad?" The only answer was the sound of the wind outside the window and Xuanqing's even breathing. Su Yue squatted on the windowsill for a long time, until the sky was just beginning to turn pale, then she quietly left. When she returned to the tree hole, she twitched her ears at the full moon. The moonlight fell on her furry back, bringing a slight chill. She curled up in the cloud velvet, but could not fall asleep. Her heart felt like it was being pressed down by a stone, heavy. She thought of Xuanqing's smiling eyes, his warm palms, and the moonlight flower he had handed her. She also thought of those dreams about "Kunlun" and "exorcism", the boundary between immortals and mortals, and her identity as a rabbit spirit. The night wind blew through the tree hole, bringing the sound of a gurgling stream in the distance. Su Yue hugged her tail with her front paws and buried her face in it. She didn't know how long this life would last, nor did she know how she would return to her previous life after Xuanqing left. She only knew that the seed of love in her heart had sprouted unnoticed, climbing up the wall of her heart along the vines, and could never be pulled out. The growth of this seed was destined to be shrouded in endless fear and anxiety, just like the moonlight in Lingyun Valley: beautiful yet cold, gentle yet distant. The sky gradually turned pale, and the first rays of morning light shone through the cracks in the trees, falling on Su Yue's fur. She looked up at the sky outside, her eyes lost and helpless. A new day had begun, but her worries, like a mountain shrouded in thick fog, were unclear, unable to see the direction or find the way out. The rain in Lingyun Valley always came unexpectedly. The afternoon was clear, but by evening, leaden clouds, like spilled ink, quickly stained the sky. Su Yue had just put the dried herbs into her bamboo basket when she heard a dull thunder in the distance. Then, a howling wind swept in, picking up fallen leaves from the ground and rustling them against the leaves of the old locust tree. "It's going to rain hard," Su Yue looked up at the sky, feeling a strange unease. She remembered that Xuanqing still lived in the wooden house by the stream. The house was left by a herbalist decades ago. The thatched roof was already worn out and she was afraid that it could not withstand the heavy rain. She was about to walk towards the wooden house, but stopped. Ever since the argument in the moonlight flowers that day, the atmosphere between the two of them became a little subtle. Xuanqing still walked in the valley every day, but no longer talked to her like before; Su Yue still delivered herbs every day, but always lowered her head, not daring to look him in the eye. "It's better not to go."