On the early morning, there were only two people on the Guyang Street, and they were separated by just a zebra crossing. Yin Wushu naturally saw Xie Bai as soon as he looked up. He hesitated for a moment, his expression showing a slight surprise.

"Xiao Bai?" Yin Wushu called out.

Xie Bai narrowed his eyes. Since he had already been spotted, it would seem too deliberate to turn and walk away. So he stood still and waited for Yin Wushu to approach before responding with a nonchalant "Hmm."

Yin Wushu looked up at the Tai Xuan Dao gate behind Xie Bai and asked, "Are you looking for me?"

Xie Bai remained expressionless for a second before saying, "...No, I'm looking for Lou Xianyue. the Yin Door opened at the wrong place."

Yin Wushu: "..."

The expression that flashed across his face in that instant was very complex, seeming a bit shallowly melancholic, yet also as if he wanted to laugh. Finally, he forced a smile and said, "As clueless about directions as ever."

Xie Bai didn't respond to his remark and instead glanced at the street ahead.

The changes here were too significant, completely different from when he had left. Previously, when he stood in front of the courtyard, he could see the narrow and winding river in the distance. The ordinary families on both sides had already risen early, removing the wooden boards from their doors one by one. They set up stalls and chatted, starting their lively day in the misty morning fog, full of bustling activities.

Now, when he looked over, the river was long gone, and those ordinary households had turned to dust over the past century. Yin Wushu's Tai Xuan Dao had changed from a courtyard to a small building, and the hazy peach blossoms were nowhere to be seen...

"That Lou Xianyue Inn..." Xie Bai squinted and pointed to the corner at the end of the road.

"Yeah, you can tell it's her just from the name." Yin Wushu nodded.

"Then I'll go over there." Xie Bai tilted his head down slightly as a form of acknowledgment before taking large strides toward the inn.

"Why are you looking for Lou Xianyue?" Yin Wushu, who was standing behind him, asked without moving from his spot, then couldn't help but catch up, "For divination?"

Xie Bai responded with a simple "Hmm" as an answer, but after a couple of quick steps, he stopped abruptly and frowned. "Why are you following me?" he asked.

Yin Wushu had no intention of answering at all, merely giving a perfunctory "Hmm."

Xie Bai: "..."

His style was so familiar to Xie Bai, reminiscent of a long time ago. Whenever Xie Bai asked Yin Wushu a question he didn't want to answer or didn't know how to respond to, Yin Wushu would always just "Hmm" in response, leaving you unsure of how to continue. If you pressed further, he would follow up with an "Oh?"

In short, extremely evasive.

When Xie Bai was younger, Yin Wushu often left him speechless with his actions. As he grew older, he learned to just let him be, after all, back then, no matter what Yin Wushu did, Xie Bai always saw it as good. Naturally, there was no room for anger.

The Lou Xianyue Inn continued the tradition of the previous tavern, not opening its doors early in the morning, but there would always be a mynah bird hanging outside Lou Xianyue's room window.

"Hey!" The mynah bird, which had been alive for over a hundred years and was almost human-shaped, greeted Yin Wushu and Xie Bai as soon as it saw them.

It tilted its head and turned its shiny eyes toward Xie Bai, speaking in its slightly hoarse voice, "Long time no see."

"Hmm," Xie Bai nodded to it.

Seeing a mynah bird receiving better treatment than himself, Yin Wushu cleared his throat and turned his head silently, hiding his expression.

"Sister Lou—Sister Lou—" The mynah bird flapped its wings, clattering against Lou Xianyue's window, and in its hoarse voice, it called out.

Xie Bai: "..."

Yin Wushu almost burst out laughing. "What's with this name? Didn't you used to call her Sister Lou?"

"She refuses to accept aging; she said if I call her sister again, she'll pluck all my feathers." The mynah bird replied plaintively.

After a few calls with no response from inside the room, the window suddenly opened with a loud bang, and a spirited woman poked her head out. She had probably just gotten out of bed, still wearing a camisole pyjama, her fair arms exposed to the cold morning air without a hint of discomfort. She grabbed the mynah bird in one swift motion.

The mynah bird was reluctantly pulled into the house: "..."

Both Xie Bai and Yin Wushu raised their eyebrows and turned away, a synchronized gesture that clearly indicated their close bond and high level of mutual understanding.

Yin Wushu sighed and said, "Since you're awake, hurry up and change your clothes and come down. I need to talk to you about something."

"Wait." Lou Xianyue threw back a remark before slamming the window shut with a bang, probably to reprimand the mynah bird.

"The door has been called, Lou Xianyue has seen us, why are you still standing here?" Xie Bai glanced at the gradually bustling street and couldn't help asking, "Do you plan to watch her do divination for me the whole time?"

Yin Wushu, being the scoundrel he was, began to dodge the question.: "Oh?"

Xie Bai sighed inwardly. This tactic wasn't as effective as it used to be. Perhaps it was because he, who used to never get angry, could now keep a straight face in front of him.

After two seconds of silence, Yin Wushu spoke again, "Your complexion is very bad, let me take a look."

Xie Bai pursed his lips.

He couldn't resist Yin Wushu's way of speaking. There was a hint of helplessness and sadness in his tone, because Yin Wushu had always been indifferent to everything, so it was extremely rare for him to show such emotions. Perhaps it was because of this that every time he spoke like this, Xie Bai would feel a pang in his heart and inexplicably become a little sad too.

But...

Although this Guyang street had changed beyond recognition, and had long lost its original appearance, Xie Bai couldn't shake off the shadow of the past when he stood here. The last time he was on this street was a hundred years ago, after Yin Wushu had kicked him out of the house...

Those days were rare with snow, the sky was gray, and the ground was pale with cold. He stood outside Yin Wushu's gate for nine days and nights, but he had no memory of the rare heavy snow. All he remembered was the cold.

It was incredibly cold, cold to the bone.

*

In these few encounters with Yin Wushu, perhaps because there were others present, or perhaps because of the stubbornness deep inside him, Xie Bai didn't want to bring up the past at all.

But this time, he couldn't help it. He turned back to Yin Wushu and said, "Back then, when I was standing outside the gate, my complexion was even worse. Did you ever think of opening the door to check on me? Now, what's the point?"

 

Translator : DarNan