I seem to have had a long, long dream. In the dream, there were waterside pavilions and song stages, three mountains and five peaks, silks and bamboos, jade flutes, as well as iron horses and golden spears.

  Time's long river flows slowly before one's eyes, in the rippling water, a delicate and lovely little girl grows up slowly, wearing red clothes and makeup, sitting on a flower sedan chair, looking back once, is a lifetime.

  I knew the image in the water was myself, but I couldn't move forward at all, and could only watch as that magnificent red wedding sedan chair gradually moved further and further away, until it finally disappeared into the thick fog.

  When the layers of fog have dispersed, under the sea buckthorn tree swaying in the wind, someone slowly wears a green shirt, standing quietly, leaving only a clear and cold back for the world. Some look up to him, some admire him, but no one can take another step closer, his life cannot accommodate too many entanglements.

  I watched him from afar, quietly waiting for the thick fog to surge up and take him away, just like every time before.

  But this time, he slowly walked towards me, getting closer and closer, with the long-lost fragrance of medicine, and that familiar breath.

  He slowly stretched out his hand, and his icy fingertips lightly touched my eyebrows, trembling slightly.

  Perhaps it was because this dream was too real, I felt inexplicable sadness, that kind of sorrow and warmth, the heart's wound though faint, but still stubbornly lingering on.

  I don't know if it's because of this, but I subconsciously resisted opening my eyes, not wanting the desolate emptiness that lingered after waking up to surround me again. So, I let the boundless darkness softly and warmly envelop me once more.

  I didn't know how much longer it took, but I finally came to my senses completely, opened my eyes, and all I saw was the hard stone wall around me. Then a woman's icy voice rang out: "You're awake?"

  That voice was not unfamiliar to me, which is why I became even more unbelievable and hesitant. I slowly turned my gaze to look at her, only to see the woman with a plain face and white dress, with beauty in her eyebrows and eyes that rivaled the snow, just like what I remembered.

  I hesitantly opened my mouth and said: "Miss Lianmò?"

  It's as if I'm still dreaming, or maybe I just haven't woken up yet.

  She didn't seem to notice my anxiety, and directly handed me a bowl of scalding hot medicine. I was momentarily powerless, and the bowl nearly slipped from my hands. With great effort, I managed to steady it slightly.

  "She said with a hint of sarcasm: 'I'm drinking it myself, I don't have time to serve you.'"

  As she spoke, she turned around and walked towards the bright area, but after a few steps, she stopped and turned her head back to look at me coldly: "Miss Qing and Yao Doctor Valley really have fate, twice falling off a cliff and yet still meeting you. Instead of stirring up so much trouble, why not just die and be done with it? Staying in this world is only adding to the disaster - I'd like to ask you, is this fun for you?"

  She didn't intend for me to answer that question, and as soon as she finished speaking, she turned around and left. I was taken aback and didn't have time to think much, so I blurted out: "Where is he?"

  Her beautiful lips curled up into a cold arc, without saying anything, she walked straight out.

  I looked around and suddenly realized that I was in a natural cave, with thick tiger skin under my feet and warm fox fur wrapped around me. There were several bonfires burning inside the cave, and I didn't feel even a bit cold.

  I raised my head, drained the medicine in the bowl in one gulp, and then wanted to get up and go out to find out what was going on. However, with this effort, pain suddenly spread throughout my limbs, and I couldn't help but fall back again, unable to muster up any strength.

  A deep sense of powerlessness surged up inside, accompanied by a faint feeling of melancholy and nostalgia.

  Even in a deep sleep, I could feel the warm and cool gaze, but it turned out that it wasn't a dream.

  For three consecutive days, I couldn't get out of bed. The only thing I saw was still the cold and distant face of Lian Luo.

  She no longer speaks a word to me, yet every day she gives me injections to heal my wounds, three times a day, without interruption.

  Apart from injecting, she would only enter the cave to deliver medicine and porridge, still not saying a word, putting it down and leaving, and wouldn't even care if I had the strength to hold the medicine bowl or if I ate anything.

  And every time, even if I'm exhausted, I force myself to prop up my body and drink the medicine and porridge she brings me. I don't struggle futilely or waste my energy asking her questions anymore. I know that now all I can do is build up my strength, and then I'll be able to leave this cave, find out what I want to know, and see who I want to see.

  I slightly closed my eyes, it's been three days, he hasn't shown up even once.

  On the fourth morning, Liao Mu finished injecting me and left without a word. I tried to stand up with the help of the rock wall, then took slow steps towards the outside of the cave.

  Outside the cave, it was a world of silver and white. Suddenly emerging from the dark cave, I felt somewhat unaccustomed to this sudden light for a moment. I closed my eyes in discomfort, then opened them again, and looked carefully ahead. In front of me stood a forest of withered trees, but there wasn't even half a person's shadow. On the snowy ground, only a row of shallow, solitary footprints remained, stretching into the depths of the forest.

  I followed the footprints, walking slowly forward, and entered that withered forest. After not having walked far, I saw in front of me several large stones piled up in a seemingly disorderly manner, but upon closer inspection, it was a simple yet ingenious formation.

  Fortunately, due to the limited conditions at present, Su Xiubing did not set up any strange and difficult formations. Otherwise, even if I could see through them today, I'm afraid I wouldn't have had the energy to walk out of here.

  Carefully memorized the arrangement of those piles of stones several times in his heart, and then looked at the direction of the trend. He slowly entered the formation from the Jingmen entrance, first turning to the Liwei position, advancing five steps, then seeking the Kun position and connecting with the Xun position. After advancing seven steps, he walked along the Zhen position and exited from the Shengmen gate.

  It didn't actually take much effort, but because I couldn't stop for a moment, by the time I emerged from the array, I was already slightly sweating at my temples, and my weakness was so severe that even I myself found it hard to believe.

  As I walked out of the stone array, I paused for a moment, adjusted my breathing, and continued forward. Not far ahead, a deep pool suddenly appeared before me. In this cold and frozen season, the pool water had not yet frozen, still a deep blue, like the fine cyan jade on top of Mount Kunlun.

  A person in a green robe sat quietly by the side of the pool, holding a qin zither, with their back to me, calmly facing this expanse of deep blue water, never turning their head from start to finish.

  A figure in white stood quietly behind him, her beauty as frost, standing still as if I didn't exist, not even sparing a glance, all her gaze silently cast on the cold and serene back of that person, gentle and elegant.

  Seeing him again, even though I had mentally prepared myself, I still feared that our encounter was just a dream.

  Unconsciously stopping in his tracks, at such a close distance, he was hesitant and unable to move forward for a long time.

  And he still didn't turn around, only a faint voice came with the wind: "You fell from the cliff and happened to fall into this pool of water, so you were lucky enough to save your life."

  A faint, self-mocking smile slowly emerged on my lips. I naturally knew, and had always known, that the past was irretrievable, and I had never harbored too many unrealistic expectations.

  I also never allowed myself to think about how it would be if we met again.

  Because I know that all the imagination built up will inevitably collapse and disintegrate when facing him again.

  As if never far away, yet like an unfamiliar road.

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