Chapter 8 Chapter Seven Farewell to Last Autumn

Outside Yangzhou City, Guazhou Ferry. In rainy weather, twilight is everywhere.The westerly wind is blowing tight and slow, the river is wide and the clouds are low, lone geese fly south, and the vast reeds at the ferry are undulating like white waves. His hand brushed over the reed, pulled out a reed leaf with a stem, broke it, and brought it close to his lips. The boatman in the boat looked at the guest officer who chartered his boat on the ferry—the man who was no longer young was slender, and his long clothes were windy. From noon to evening, he seemed to be waiting for someone, and he was already bored. So he made a reed flute.

However, before the sound of the flute could be heard in the wind, the official road beside the ferry was clattering with hoofbeats, and a rider had already arrived.When they got to the side of the ferry, the woman in plain clothes got off her horse immediately, and before she let go of the rein, she saw the man holding the reed flute on the pier, she couldn't help being startled. "Shen Xun." She called out in a low voice, let go of the rein and walked over quickly. "Xiao Xie!" The man in white couldn't hide his joy when he saw the returning woman, he put down the reed flute and hurried over.

The wet wind blows before the rain on the river, and the feet of the clouds brush low on the water.In the sky full of water and clouds, the two ran towards each other, stopped when they were a few feet apart, and looked at each other with their arms, but for a moment they didn't know what to say. In the past ten years, the two have seen each other less often, and it is normal for them not to see each other for more than three months.However, in the past when we were farewell, we both knew that the other party would spend the next year warming wine in the old place, so we never cared about it, and goodbye was just a smile - but in the past three months, there was no news, and each was under dangerous pressure. Under the circumstances, seeing each other again at this time is like reuniting after parting life and death.

silence.During the silence, there seemed to be a subtle breath flowing between each other. "It's going to rain! Guest officer, everyone is here, why don't you get on the boat yet?" The boatman couldn't bear to wait, and hurriedly urged him in the boat—the wind on the river has indeed picked up, and the wind is scattered There are raindrops falling. "Let's go." Xie Hongying said softly, gave Shen Xun a hand, and lightly jumped onto the bow. The wind was blowing and the clouds were falling on the river, and the dense water mist enveloped the sky and the earth, and the broad river surface was a vast expanse of whiteness.The rain began to fall, rustling, and the wind blew harder. The ferry unmoored and swayed to the opposite bank in the wind and rain.

Sitting down in the cabin, the two looked at each other silently, after a long time, Shen Xun finally spoke: "How are you doing these days?" "Very good." Xie Hongying replied in a low voice, as if she didn't know where to start.For a while, only the sound of pattering rain was heard hitting the awning above their heads. Shen Xun was also silent for a moment, and only said: "Da Guangming Palace will let you back, which is unexpected." "Actually... Although Xiao Jie is a member of the Demon Palace, he is not heinous." Xie Hongying raised her eyes to look at Shen Xun, and there was a faint pity in her eyes, "I have made a lot of efforts these days. I originally wanted to dissolve him The hatred in my heart from ten years ago."

"Can you see the gauntlet I gave him?" Shen Xun asked suddenly, without answering. Xie Hongying's body trembled slightly, obviously this question touched a sore spot, she suddenly raised her head, her eyes were full of unwillingness: "Shen Xun, why? Why are you in such a hurry to break up with him? - If you give me a little more Time to persuade, this battle between you and Xiao Jie might have been avoided!..." "This battle is inevitable." The first time, before she finished speaking, he interrupted her with a deep voice.Shen Xun also raised his head, looking at his life-and-death acquaintance for the past ten years, a fleeting smile suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Xiao Xie, did he tell you who I was ten years ago?"

Xie Hongying was stunned.However, before she could say anything, Shen Xun stopped her again, sighed, and turned to look at the cloudy and rainy river: "If it really comes up, he should call me senior brother." "Shen Xun!" The plain-clothed woman was startled, her fingers suddenly stretched out, she grabbed the man's arm, and clasped it tightly because of shock. However, Shen Xun didn't look at her, tapped the side of the boat lightly with the reed flute, and said in a rambling voice: "Xiao Xie, you may have noticed that I have something to hide from you—but you and I know each other very well, so you never asked me. Now I can tell you: Ten years ago, I came from the Great Bright Palace of the Western Regions——At that time, my name was Shao Ao, and I was the eldest disciple of the head of Tianzun Palace and the former young master of the Great Bright Palace."

"Shen Xun." Xie Hongying looked at him in a daze, and repeated in a low voice, but the fingers holding his arm were already trembling slightly. —That's right...that's right.That's the way it is... the way it should be. ——Ten years ago, that shocking boy who turned out to be born in the sky claimed to be from Moling, but no one had seen him before that. ——On the Zhanbi Building on a rainy night, as soon as Fang Jie made a move, he recognized that it was the martial arts of the Great Bright Palace. ——In the past few years, he has repeatedly pushed back and refused to take over the position of the leader of the Central Plains Jianghu League.

——Even, he has always called it "Da Guangming Palace" directly, and never called it "Magic Palace" as the Jianghu is used to. ——It turns out that everything is like this...it's like this. "It's not the first time that the Demon Palace has returned to the Central Plains—the first time was ten years ago. It's just that it retreated quietly that time, so the martial arts people in the Central Plains didn't even notice it. "I was the first disciple accepted by the Lord Tianzun after fleeing to the Western Regions with hatred. He taught me martial arts for thirteen years. He sent me to the Central Plains when I was a great master. He wanted me to familiarize myself with the martial arts situation first. Waiting for a comeback next year.

"However, he never expected that I would rebel against his orders and ignore his ambitions and tyranny. "I'm a lazy person, Xiao Xie, you should understand this very clearly - it's really too difficult for me to fight for hegemony and unify the Central Plains. I like the culture and scenery of the Central Plains very much. Slowly, after traveling for a year, I actually had the idea of ​​getting closer to the Central Plains—not to mention, when I was nineteen, I met Su Mei in Moling." Speaking of this, a ray of warm and cool smile diffused from the corners of Shen Xun's eyes and eyebrows. He is no longer young, and there are subtle traces in the corners of his eyes when he smiles. However, when talking about ten years ago, his sadness It seemed to permeate through time: "You also know what love is like when you are young - after meeting Xiaomei, I didn't plan to fight for hegemony at all, and I didn't even want to go back to the Western Regions..."

After a pause, the reed flute was still beating again and again, but the wind and waves outside were getting bigger and bigger, shaking the two people in the cabin, and the rain splashed in. Shen Xun sat inside and blew the rain away. He tore off some of the poncho to block the rain for Xie Hongying.Xie Hongying seemed to be stunned when he heard it, but his fingers were still firmly grasping his arm, and he never let go. "During that time, it was really the happiest day in my more than 30 years - fencing swords and riding horses, happy grievances and hatred. I was accompanied by my little sister, listening to the Yugelou, and the red candles dimmed the tent." Between the eyebrows The gloomy man laughed, and his eyes were as bright as those at the moment, "——I met many friends in those two years, such as you and old man Yanlei." However, soon, he lowered his voice: "When I was living in a very free and easy way, I forgot the danger from the snow mountains in the Western Regions—the master knew that I had failed him, and was furious, and ordered me to immediately Go back to the Great Light Palace to conspire with him for a great cause. Of course I don’t want to go back, I was so young and energetic, I immediately disobeyed... the result of the rebellion was to lose Xiaomei’s life.” "Ah?" Xie Hongying couldn't help but exclaimed in a low voice, "So... Xiaomei died like this?" "Master turned his anger on her and killed her - I searched for famous doctors and traveled thousands of mountains to seek panacea for her, but I still couldn't save Xiaomei's life." Shen Xun shook his head slowly, there seemed to be tears in his eyes, but After all, he raised his head, looked at the heavy rain clouds outside, and sighed, "I also thought about avenging her, but the master was kind to me, and it was really difficult for me to kill my master and ancestors——At that time, I had to You have seen what it looks like to buy drunk every day." Xie Hongying lowered her eyes and nodded slightly, but there was still pain in her eyes. "But then, I completely broke with the Great Bright Palace." Shen Xun laughed, but there was a kind of relaxed light between his brows, "Although Master hates me to the bone, but his martial arts are useless, if you want to try again Hegemony, a comeback, or punishing me, a rebel, are all powerless—it will take at least ten years for him to train a good apprentice, so both the Central Plains martial arts and I have been at ease for ten years. "However, this time Fang Jie killed me back to the Central Plains—others don't know, but I know that he must be ordered to kill me! Xiao Xie, this grievance is not only related to the sword fight ten years ago, you may be able to resolve it Fang Jie has a heart demon about his brother's death, but, can you make him disobey his teacher's orders? - So, this battle is imperative! "The sooner the decisive battle, the better, otherwise, every day it drags on, more blood will be shed in the rivers and lakes. Although I am casual and don't want to get involved in the rivers and lakes' grievances, I can't ignore those lives... Besides, I don't want to see old man Yan like this." I'm as haggard as I am. I never fight with people, but if something threatens the person I care about, I will never be soft. "Old man Yan Lei and I have been friends for many years. He has never understood my affairs from the beginning to the end. He is a very good old man——Xie, in the Central Plains Wulin, I have made two friends: one is you , and the other is Uncle Yan. "He has always kept a secret for me and never revealed it to the outside world. He also admitted that he trusted me, and in his old age, he was able to entrust him with the alliance of the rivers and lakes--however, not to mention that I am not naturally suitable for this task. Although I have rebelled Master, but you want me to be the leader of the martial arts in the Central Plains, to crusade against the master and kill the Great Bright Palace—how can I bear this kind of burden?" There was a wry smile in Shen Xun's eyes that could no longer be concealed, and he shook his head slightly, the grievances of the past ten years seemed to have exhausted his energy. "Xiao Xie." He finally turned his head to look at her, smiled slightly, and called her by name, "I have lied to you for ten years, have you ever blamed me? Evil ways and ulterior motives, would you despise me?" "Shen Xun." Her hand was still gripping his arm so deeply, as if she was afraid that he would leave if she let go, "Shen Xun." He repeated his name several times in a low voice. Behind the veil, the woman's eyes were clear and warm, with unspeakable complex emotions, but her voice was calm and decisive: "Don't be obsessed with meaningless sect disputes. Righteousness and evil are only determined by the human heart—whoever doesn’t have some old haters, if you can see through it, then that’s good.” "Xiao Xie." The man in white turned his head to look at the people around him, and whispered like a sigh.Behind the veil, the woman's eyes were as deep as the sea and could not see the bottom - he thought of the lightning-like sword on Zhanbi Tower.Under such circumstances, she who was poisoned completely entrusted her life and death to him, and let him cut off half of her cheek with a sword—how deep is it to know each other and trust her like this? ten years.It has been a full ten years since Moshang drew his sword in anger at the first meeting, and now we are in the same boat at the mouth of the Yangtze River.In the past ten years, they supported each other, experienced many turmoil together, and resisted how much despair, misery, loneliness and honor and disgrace together. Ten years of ice and fire have been frying each other, and ten years of wind and rain have been mixed together.Ten years of wandering and nothing to hate, ten years of joys and sorrows, with whom to tell? "Xiao Xie, thank you very much." Stretching out his hand to hold the wrist of the woman beside him, Shen Xun couldn't help saying something - but as soon as he said it, he knew that this sentence was ridiculous, and both of them couldn't help laughing. The wind and rain outside became more and more severe, and the boat shook violently.The river is wide and the clouds are low, the wind and rain are howling, and the light boat is like a leaf bumping on the vast river and lake.In the cabin, the two deformed people held hands and smiled at each other. When Shen Xun and Xie Hongying came ashore from Yangzhou, they saw people from Jianghu League who came to welcome them. Old leader Yan's white hair fluttered in the wind, his eyes were relieved but hesitant.Behind him, the bright eighteen-year-old granddaughter Ling'er blinked with big eyes, and couldn't hide her joy. When she saw the two people disembarking from the boat, she rushed over and grabbed Xie Hongying's hand, talking and laughing, so happy.Although unruly, Yan Ling'er is a sensible person after all. Since Huashan escaped from death, her gratitude to Xie Hongying has overwhelmed her previous jealousy. "Miss Xie is suffering." "Just come back." People from various factions greeted him one after another, but in their words, they couldn't help revealing their suspicions—being held captive by the devil's palace for several months, but they were able to return unscathed, I really don't know what happened?However, everyone in the world knew how powerful this woman with hairpins was, and they all heard about the ambiguity between her and Shen Xun, so no one dared to question her for a while. "Nephew Shen Xian, come with me, I have something for you to see." After exchanging pleasantries, Old Leader Yan took Shen Xun's hand and walked back with a rather solemn expression.Shen Xun was slightly taken aback, then followed the old man to the Dingjiange. Before entering the inner room, Shen Xun couldn't help but pause in his footsteps, and gasped—there was a cold murderous aura coming from the inner room. "Nephew, come in and have a look." Old leader Yan walked into the room, turned his head to greet him, there was a cold and bright light flickering on his cheeks.Shen Xun and Xie Hongying glanced at each other, and Xie Hongying nodded slightly.The moment Shen Xun pondered, he took up his clothes and stepped over the threshold. As soon as he entered the room, his figure suddenly shook—— I saw dozens of long swords hanging on the four walls of the inner room, and the chilling sword energy came from this. "Ah?" Surprised whispers overflowed from the corner of his mouth, Shen Xun hurriedly looked around, unbelievable, "This is—" "This is the saber we prepared for you. You can see if it is suitable for you." The eyes of the old leader Yan Lei were fixed like stones, and he smiled slightly with his beard. "If you can't agree, I will find a way." With a dragon cry of "Zheng", a long sword on the wall has already jumped into Shen Xun's hands. The man in white looked down carefully, the sword light was so sharp that his beard and hair were shone coldly, and there was an unconcealable shock between his brows: " Seven Stars Longyuan?——Isn’t this the Qingcheng School’s Zhenshan treasure?” Looking back quickly, his eyes flicked to the forest of long swords on the wall: True Strength, Hiding the Sun, Breaking Water...every one of them is a top-quality famous sword!With so many worldly warriors gathered in one room, it's no wonder that even Shen Xun was stopped by that kind of sword energy outside the door. "Where do you get so many good swords?" Shen Xun asked incredulously as he drew out the long swords one after another for a closer look. The old leader Yan just grinned while twisting his beard, and there was a smug look in his eyes: "Hehe, my position as the leader of the martial arts for the past twenty years is not for nothing—Nephew Shen Xian, now all the martial arts in the world know that you are going to fight with the Demon Palace!" The young master's duel. This battle is related to the overall situation of the martial arts, and all factions are willing to offer their treasured soldiers for you to choose, in order to defeat the two swords in the hands of the young master of the Demon Palace." Shen Xun was stunned when he heard this, and couldn't help but smile wryly: "I wrote the letter of war to Fang Jie in my own name—it has nothing to do with the grievances between the Jianghu League and the Da Guangming Palace. Shen Xun is really serious about mobilizing people like this." Sorry." "Now the news of your battle has spread all over the rivers and lakes, and everyone knows it—even if you are only fighting for personal grievances, if Fang Jie dies and the demons have no leader, they will definitely return home!" The old leader looked at the person in front of him, with concern in his eyes, and grabbed the swordsman's arm, "Nephew Shen Xian, don't blame me for meddling in other things, you also know the power of the Hero Sword - the only one who can resist it now The Red Face Sword also fell into the hands of the Demon Palace, so you can't think of a way! You don't want to lose to Fang Jie, do you?" "Uncle Yan, Shen Xun appreciates your kindness." Shen Xun nodded and sighed, put the last long sword back into the scabbard, and shook his head, "Unfortunately, there is no sword here that is strong enough to fight against the hero sword." "What?" Old leader Yan let go of his hand in a slump, looked at the magic soldiers on the four walls, was silent for a moment, and said, "Anyway, it's the fifteenth day of next month—there are still more than ten days left, and I'll send someone to look for it again." .” "No need." Suddenly, a voice sounded outside the door, "Just use this one." Shen Xun and Yan Lei turned their heads suddenly, and saw the plain-clothed woman standing outside the door.Xie Hongying looked at the long swords all over the room, slowly took off the cloth bag from his back, held it horizontally in front of him, and removed the wrapping outside. The cold sword energy came out through the scabbard, imminent. "The Beauty Sword!" Seeing the familiar long sword in her hand, Shen Xun blurted out in surprise, and the look of shock flashed across his eyes. Late autumn in the south of the Yangtze River is rainy, dusk gradually falls, and there is the sound of pattering rain outside the building. Upstairs, the two drank together, but each remained silent.On the table, a long sword was placed horizontally, shining brightly in the twilight. "I heard that Fang Jie has arrived in Lin'an today." The sound of rain knocked on the window. Amidst the sound of rain, the plain-clothed woman raised her head, looked at the sky and said, "Da Guangming Palace has not been doing anything in the martial arts these few days." Now, it seems that Fang Jie came here for the challenge—oh, I don’t know whether I should meet that child or not.” "The two sentences I added at the end of the letter of war, I can't help him not to come." Shen Xun pondered over the wine, and suddenly gave a wry smile, "It is impossible for such a proud child to disregard the reputation of the Fang family. In order to invite the battle, I It hit him where it hurts." Hearing his tone, Xie Hongying was slightly startled, and raised her eyes: "Do you regret it?" The man in white also looked at the rain falling like a curtain from the eaves, and did not hide it: "I said I regretted it, but I regretted it the moment I saw you returning with the beauty sword—Xiao Xie, you are right, Maybe he's really different from his brother." "Liu Yuan's nature is actually not that evil..." It was the first time that Xie Hongying calmly mentioned her lover from ten years ago in front of people. Xie Hongying sighed softly and picked up his wine glass, "He is too proud and too proud." Competitive, it's just a thought-" After drinking the wine, as if the glass of wine was scorching his heart and lungs like a raging fire, Xie Hongying's eyes turned red suddenly: "I often think these days: If I hadn't treated him so fiercely back then, if I would have given a little thought to him, To tolerate him and resolve his inner demons, maybe he and the whole Fang family will not reach that point——Shen Xun, before that, as his lover, I didn’t understand his inner demons; after that, I didn’t give him the slightest bit It's my fault." "Xiao Xie." Stopped their glasses and looked at each other, knowing that what the other party said was true, Shen Xun did not refute, but just sighed, "At that time, we were still young, too young—we didn't have that kind of patience." "So this time I put my mind on Xiao Jie, hoping that he will not make the same mistakes as Liu Yuan." Xie Hongying looked down at the wine glass, smiled, and shook her head, "He should be more sensible than Liu Yuan, I have to give him a chance .” "I was too hasty." Shen Xun sighed, looking at the beauty sword on the table. "You are not wrong, you just want to end this robbery as soon as possible." Suddenly regaining consciousness, the woman in plain clothes heard the self-pity and regret in his tone, and quickly looked back at him, her eyes were worried, " Shen Xun, two days later it will be the time of the sword competition, the whole world knows that it is irreversible - if you waver now, two days later it will be your time of death!" "If I'm defeated, you're still here." Shen Xun looked at Xie Hongying, but smiled slightly, "You hold the beauty sword, you should be able to compete with him—not to mention, Fang Jie won't be in a difficult situation... " "Shut up!" Before she finished speaking, Xie Hongying suddenly jumped up, and the red face sword on the table jumped into the owner's hand with a slap, and instantly drew a flowing rainbow, piercing Shen Xun's eyebrows!There was anger between the usually calm brows of the plain-clothed woman, and the long sword in her hand stabbed at her long-time friend like the wind, and angrily reprimanded—— "In this way, it would be better for me to kill you right now! ——How could you die in Fang Jie's hands? ——If you don't seek life, you seek death first. Are you still the Shen Xun I know?" When the Hongyan sword stabbed, Shen Xun was startled and leaned back, and turned the wine glass in his hand against the stabbed sword point, and the glass shattered instantly.However, during this moment of pause, his figure had floated out, and he retreated again and again in the subsequent round of lightning-like sword shadows.When Xie Hongying finished his last reprimand, he just retreated to the window. Hongyanjian stopped right in front of him, condensed like a mountain.However, there were faint tears in the eyes of the woman holding the sword. "Xiao Xie, why is this so. I'm just joking." Seeing the demure and calm acquaintance like this, Shen Xun's brows also sank, and he sighed slightly, "The matter must be settled between me and Fang Jie—if I escape, I will leave this Putting the problem on you and letting you face Fang Jie directly, wouldn't that put you in a dilemma? I will try my best." "You need to return safely." Although he heard what he said, Xie Hongying was not relentless, and forced him with a sword, "You promise me." Shen Xun was startled, smiled wryly, and pushed her sword point away: "I'm not certain of victory, how can I promise you?" "Nonsense." Xie Hongying flicked his wrist, pointed the deflected long sword at his eyebrows again, and said coldly, "I have fought against you and Fang Jie before, and I know it well: if you use the beauty sword, you will never Losing to him!——not to mention that you were born in the Great Bright Palace, you should have a clear understanding of his swordsmanship and mentality, and you should have taken the lead——I guessed it was definitely not wrong." "Very smart, Xiao Xie." Shen Xun suddenly smiled, looking at the plain-clothed woman in front of him, but there was a bitterness in the smile, "But you forgot, Fang Jie is now practicing the magic of heavenly demons—— Did you see the blue color in his eyes? That's a sign of practicing that kind of magic skill..." Startled for a moment, Xie Hongying asked blankly, "So what?" "That kind of kung fu can instantly arouse people's potential and exert twice as much power as usual." Shen Xun explained lightly. "Really... really does this kind of magic exist?" The tip of the sword trembled.Xie Hongying asked in disbelief, and his face immediately turned white, "Is it the 'Heavenly Demon Splitting Body' in the legend?" "Yes." Shen Xun nodded and added, "This kind of kung fu is very harmful to martial arts practitioners - not only is it easy to go crazy when practicing on weekdays, but also rely on the poison of the snow-capped snake to quench thirst and alleviate the backlash. The so-called The "split body" means that once you use this method to defeat your opponent, you will also be seriously injured - the stronger the opponent, the greater the counterattack power. Master is too impatient this time, and actually taught Fang Jie this method... " There was a "Zheng" sound, as if his wrist suddenly became weak, and the Hongyan sword slumped down in front of him.Xie Hongying staggered back, sat in the chair, looked at him with a pale face, and suddenly smiled weakly: "That is to say, even if he beats you, he probably won't be able to survive? It must be a loss for both sides?" "Yes." The sword that had been pressing was finally withdrawn, Shen Xun flicked the skirt of his clothes, stood up straight, and replied lightly, "So I can't promise you, I will definitely return safely." "Then what should I do?... Then what should I do?" For the first time, seeing Xiao Xie's calm face with such a hopeless and bewildered look, she looked up at him with tears in her eyes, "Let's fight him! ——We no no, no, the master is a way of life and death. If you want to be tied, most of them are about to lose ... Shen Yan, let's go, let's go back to Xiling Going... can't be done... This way, a bloody battle is still inevitable in the martial arts..." "Xiao Xie, Xiao Xie." When she was talking to herself in a daze, Shen Xun bent down and patted her on the shoulder, trying to interrupt her talking several times, "Don't do this, don't do this. Let nature take its course—see What did I bring you?" Under the lamp, the man in white smiled at her, and suddenly took out a box of things from his arms, opened it, and it turned out to be five-color delicate pastries, shaped like plum blossoms with five petals. "Look, this is Chunyangzhai's plum blossom cake - your favorite, and I had a fight with me about it before." Shen Xun smiled and filled the cup in front of her, and picked it up herself He drank the wine glass, and persuaded him attentively, "Come here, have a taste, is the craftsmanship of Chunyangzhai better than ten years ago?" The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier, and it was already faintly struck by thunder. Xie Hongying was sitting by the window, the rain poured in and wet her temples, but she didn't seem to feel it, as if she was thinking about something on her mind, her features were extremely gloomy and complicated, so she just picked up the wine glass and drank it silently, He put it down silently, but didn't go to take the plum cake.He just raised his hand, broke a candle from the candlestick, and kneaded it in the palm of his hand. "Xiao Xie." Seeing her like this, Shen Xun also felt a little uneasy, and called her in a low voice. "Shen Xun," however, before he could say anything, Xie Hongying suddenly raised her head and glanced at him.For some reason, that kind of gaze made his heart skip a beat, and he didn't dare to speak again, but just listened to her continue: "Shen Xun, we have known each other for ten years, maybe we always thought that the future would be long and getting together was easy, so we never said such words—now You know that your life is at stake in the morning dew, so even though this is the most inappropriate time, let’s talk about it first so that it won’t be too late in the future.” There was light in Xie Hongying's eyes, and she rubbed the hot and soft tear in her palm, as if she was rubbing her own heart: "Shen Xun, you are very important to me - I think I should tell you this. I have thought about the days, if I had a so-called 'happiness' time, then I had a small gathering with you, so I thought—” The thunderstorm was rumbling outside, but her words seemed to be more thrilling than the thunder, Shen Xun's hands trembled uncontrollably - at that moment, he was suddenly ashamed of his own shrinking, the same words, in the same boat across the river. He had been lingering in his mind for a while, but he didn't have the courage to speak up, for fear that if he thought about something wrong, even such a close friend would be lost forever——hesitated for a long time, and finally didn't speak, but unexpectedly, she, a woman, spoke first come out. "Xiao Xie." He blurted out and called her name.But as if he was afraid that he would lose his courage if he paused, Xie Hongying just looked at the red tears in his hands and said the last words: "So, I hope that our 'future' and 'happiness' will be more—is that okay? ? There are only a few decades in a person’s life.” "Xiao Xie..." He called her again, but his voice was close to a sigh. "Promise me." She finally raised her head, the candlelight reflected her face, the scar on that half of her face was horrific, and she didn't know whether it was the rain or tears outside, but it flickered in her eyes, "Shen Xun, promise me a longer one." The 'happiness' of my life, believe me, I will live up to it." "Xiao Xie." The man in white stood up, put his hand on hers, clenched it tightly, and whispered. Outside the window was the sound of rain, and they stared at each other under the lamp, but the two of them were no longer teenagers in fresh clothes and angry horses. "Don't worry." Shen Xun finally said a word, smiled slightly, and raised his hand to brush away her loose hair, "I've already made up my mind—by this time next year, we should already be boating on the Five Lakes." The rain was falling densely, and there seemed to be a gust of wind outside, and the iron horses under the eaves were clanking.