Chapter 48: Sister

The old tree’s branches were sturdy, its canopy a verdant green.

Golden light spilled from the clear, boundless sky, casting dappled shadows upon the grassy ground.

Two young girls sat in the shade, leaning against the tree trunk, nestled close together.

The fragile heads of newly sprouted grass poked through the earth of early spring, covering the soft, dark soil in a vibrant, lively green.

The slightly younger girl cupped her own delicate face, her eyes fixed upon the older sister beside her.

Her sister’s beautiful, raven-black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, landing on the exquisite fairy tale book that lay upon her lap.

Slender fingers tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, revealing a snow-white neck, and a side profile of otherworldly beauty entered the little girl’s eyes.

Her sister held the book, pointing a finger at the page, and her pleasant, melodious voice read the neat characters aloud, word by word, sentence by sentence.

“Sister, what’s a Biyi Bird?”

After she read those three words, the little girl softly asked her question.

“A type of bird with only one wing and one eye.”

“They can only fly when two of them join together.”

“Then if this kind of bird loses its partner, doesn’t that mean it can never fly again?”

“Perhaps.”

A refreshing, gentle breeze blew from afar, rustling the green leaves that hung from the old tree’s branches.

A V-formation of returning wild geese flapped their wings as they flew over their heads.

The scene of the two of them leaning on each other beneath the tree was serene and beautiful.

A forbidden seed was planted in the little girl’s naive heart; a love that should not exist was buried in the unknowing soil of her soul.

She innocently believed that she and her sister were a pair of Biyi Birds; though the time they spent nestled together was short, they could soar with beating wings the moment they touched.

But what the little girl didn’t know was that the darkness was being held back behind her sister, which was why she could enjoy this tranquil peace.

And her sister’s loneliness was not something she could alleviate.

The spark that could melt the solid ice in her sister’s heart was not her.

It wasn’t until later, when she saw her sister’s retreating figure walking away alone, that the little girl understood.

She was the only one with a crippled wing.

The day the dream shattered was the height of summer, and the fiery sun scorched every inch of her skin.

A heart-wrenching, bone-gouging pain made every part of her heart bleed, and every cell wailed in blood and tears.

Her cries made her voice hoarse and her eyes red and swollen, but her soul-tearing pleas only left countless tear stains on her face.

At the time, the girl didn’t know why her sister could leave her so resolutely, and now, she still didn’t know why her sister adored this utterly ordinary boy so much.

The sweltering heat of the summer night finally startled Yun Rou from her dream.

In the dead silence, a lonely sorrow from the entire world embraced her.

Some are born to be embraced by happiness, others are born to be surrounded by the long night.

And for someone who has felt the light, how can they possibly struggle on after falling into darkness?

Yun Rou slipped on her cold slippers, walked to another door, and the latch slid back with a soft click.

What came into view was the scene of her sister sleeping soundly, holding the boy tightly in her arms.

Her sister’s eyes were closed, a faint, peaceful smile playing on her lips.

A smile like that felt incredibly real to Yun Rou; so real it was as if all the smiles she had shown her before had been fake.

The door was closed again.

Yun Rou leaned against the wall, her entire body going limp.

Her legs gradually lost their strength, unable to support her weight, until the very last ounce of energy was gone.

Finally, she sank helplessly onto the cold floor.

Tears welled from the corners of her eyes.

She bent her legs, buried her face in her knees, and curled up into a ball in the corner.

Teardrops fell onto her legs, dampening the fabric.

The wound that had yet to heal was cruelly torn open again, revealing the mangled flesh and blood within.

The image of her sister’s determined departure from so many years ago was still fresh in her mind, and now, seeing her again, she was holding her own beloved in her arms.

That warm embrace no longer belonged to her; there was someone else inside it now.

Yun Rou suddenly understood why her sister had looked so lonely that day, yet could still leave with such resolve.

She naturally hoped her sister would find the happiness she desired, but she also missed the past, when her sister was by her side, more than anything.

After struggling for an unknown amount of time between the beauty of her memories and the pain of reality, Yun Rou finally stood up, trembling.

She wiped away the tears that had yet to fall from the corners of her eyes, returned to her room, and alone in the darkness, drifted back into dreamland.

Inside Lu You’s room, a pair of light purple eyes opened.

They glanced at the tightly shut door, then closed once more.

On that stunningly beautiful face, the curve of her lips had vanished.

The starry sky was, as always, as beautiful as a dream, silent and still, unchanged for thousands of years, as if it had escaped the grasp of time.

But in truth, stars, just like people, were subject to change.

It was just that the stars changed over the long river of time, while people changed over the course of their own short lives.

A hand slapped down on my desk.

The slight sound and vibration startled me from my light sleep.

I looked up at the face before me, one that was almost identical to Sister Yuan’s, and was filled with bewilderment.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

“Come with me.”

Senior Yun Rou’s voice was frigid, her expression blank, projecting an aura that warned strangers to keep their distance.

It was currently the long break between classes.

A school-beauty-level senior from the third year had come to the first-year classrooms to find me, causing no small stir among my classmates.

Whispers were constantly coming from all around.

[She’s so pretty. She must be that new transfer senior, right?]

[She really does look like Teacher Mo. Even their icy aura is exactly the same.]

[That guy is named Lu You, isn’t he? Who is he to her? They’re not a couple, are they?]

…

Yun Rou paid no heed to the discussions around her, staring straight at me, her indifferent expression unchanging.

“Senior, is there something I can help you with?”

I looked at her, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, blocking out the noise from all directions, feeling completely baffled.

“Let’s find somewhere quieter to talk.”

“Follow me.”

“…Alright.”

I followed in her footsteps out of the classroom, climbed up the stairs of the academic building, and arrived at the door to the rooftop.

The dilapidated iron door was covered in rust spots.

Its lock had long since corroded and died.

Yun Rou kicked it open with one foot.

The air on the rooftop was fresh and sweet.

Moss covered the corners, and the morning sun wasn’t too intense, feeling warm upon the skin.

Yun Rou walked forward with slow steps until her body touched the chain-link fence at the edge of the rooftop, its paint peeling.

She didn’t turn around.

She raised a hand and grabbed the fence.

The paint flaked off to reveal the rusted wire within, dyeing a few of her fingers a faint yellow.

A warm breeze drifted over, causing her waterfall of black hair to dance in the wind.

The young woman stood in silence for a long time, as if she had forgotten I had followed her here.

“Miss Yun Rou?”

Hearing my soft inquiry, Yun Rou turned around.

Her originally placid expression gradually faded.

The flowing water dried up, the spring flowers withered and died.

In an instant, the beautiful, dreamlike elf transformed into a wailing, resentful wraith from hell, her eyes filled with devastation.

They were the same light purple eyes, but I had never seen such a sorrowful look in Sister Yuan’s.

It was as if ten thousand emotions were tangled within them.

Unwillingness, confusion, pain, bewilderment, jealousy…

I didn’t know how to describe such a gaze, nor could I see what I looked like reflected within it.

An icy inquiry, carried from a thousand snow-capped mountains, seeped into my ears.

“Lu You, do you… love my sister?”

“Love her as a life partner.”

Looking at her face, which was twisted into an unrecognizable expression, I answered.

“Mhm, I love her.”