Frost congealed upon the earth, and mist flowed through the bamboo grove. It was a morning as ordinary as any other in late autumn.
Yet, the Chuanliu Courtyard was exceptionally quiet today—so quiet that even the sound of the wind seemed to have vanished, leaving everything to stretch out in a fragmented, lingering silence.
The dozens of figures waiting outside the apothecary remained motionless. Their Young Master had been inside that small building for a full hour. Aside from him, only Master Teng Hu and that Miss Qin were inside. No one knew exactly what was happening within those walls, yet everyone seemed to guess what was about to occur.
In this courtyard, only one matter of great importance could command such gravity from the Young Master.
Sunlight crawled inch by inch across the courtyard carpeted with withered leaves. Just as it was about to touch the threshold—worn down by countless footsteps—a sound finally emerged from the apothecary.
The tightly shut doors opened, and the moisture accumulated overnight dispersed. The person pushing the wooden wheelchair emerged, eventually stopping before the stone table in the center of the yard. His expression appeared no different than usual.
“I have two pieces of news to share with you all. The first is that we have made some new progress. Although it has yet to be finalized, this is perhaps the closest we have come to success in all these years.”
The chilly morning air seemed to ignite at that moment. As their premonitions were confirmed, everyone broke into a collective, spontaneous joy. Some wept with relief; others offered quiet prayers.
“All our efforts haven't been in vain!”
“I knew Master Teng Hu staying up for days meant he had glimpsed the dawn.”
“Miss Qin has only been in the courtyard for a few days, yet she achieved this. Her contribution is truly immense.”
“Do you feel that she has swooped in at the last moment to steal the fruits of victory?” Young Master Yan interjected at the opportune moment.
Someone immediately took up the thread. “How could we? She and Master Teng Hu have complemented each other perfectly. It can only be said that the time, the place, and the people have all aligned. Heaven has taken pity on us and is finally bringing this to an end.”
“It is because the Young Master is a person of great fortune! Having survived such a catastrophe, there will surely be blessings to follow. The Chuanliu Courtyard will surely endure for a long, long time...”
Voices of celebration rose and fell. In this place where information was currency and everyone was taught to hold their tongues and guard secrets, this moment was overflowing with emotion. Even the most silent "Shadow" could not help but echo a soft "Good." Young Master Yan listened quietly to those complex echoes; it was the most moving melody of the mortal world, a priceless reward he had gathered at the very end of his journey through this life.
He almost couldn't bear to speak and end it all, but finally, someone asked.
“Young Master hasn't said yet—what is the other piece of news?”
Everyone looked over with expectant eyes. Amidst those gazes, Young Master Yan spoke slowly.
“The other news is that our medicinal catalyst is limited. This is our final chance to try.” He could not see the expressions on their faces, but he could feel the atmosphere turn cold in an instant. “As you can see, my body is no longer suited for such an attempt. The person who will test the medicine shall be decided by Miss Qin personally. Having heard your heartfelt words just now, I am deeply gratified. You recognize her ability, and I, too, believe that no one else is qualified to make this decision for the Chuanliu Courtyard.”
The courtyard, which had been near boiling just moments ago, fell into a deathly silence. After a long while, Auntie Xiong spoke up haltingly.
“Young Master... does the Young Master no longer want us?”
Young Master Yan shook his head gently.
“I simply cannot accompany you for much longer.”
Another brief silence followed, yet everyone understood something within that pause. But understanding did not mean acceptance.
In the next moment, Auntie Xiong led the way in kneeling, her voice earnest. “We beg the Young Master to take the medicine!”
Seeing this, the others also knelt and urged him. “We beg the Young Master to take the medicine!”
The voices of bitter pleading echoed inside and outside the apothecary, soon fading into the depths of the bamboo grove, turning into the mournful remnants of late autumn.
“You have worked with me for many years; you should know what kind of person I am,” the man in the wheelchair spoke softly, his voice becoming gentler than ever before. “Though you honor me with the title of 'Young Master,' I know myself to be a cold-hearted man. I truly cannot live up to such an elegant and noble title.”
The courtyard erupted in an uproar again.
“The Young Master has traveled far and wide to save the people of the world. How could you not be worthy? If you are not worthy, then no one in this world is!”
Young Master Yan smiled, as if he had heard something childish, and he never intended to take those words to heart.
“I saved the people only because they suffered due to my mistakes. With a mortal body, I arrogantly thought I could reverse everything and correct the errors committed back then. But one must know that everything has a price. Over these years, under the guise of doing justice, we have used every means possible. How could we dare say our hands have never been stained by a single drop of innocent blood?”
The crowd fell silent once more. Young Master Yan continued.
“In my early years, my cultivation was aggressive, and my internal organs suffered severe damage. The seeds of disaster were planted long ago. Coupled with the countless medicines I have tested over the years to solve the secret formula, were it not for my internal strength sustaining me, I would have withered away long ago. My lifespan is at its end. The moment the secret formula is solved will be the time of my death. Rather than wasting it, it is better to leave the medicine for someone more useful.”
The people kneeling on the ground looked up at the man they had followed for half their lives, only to realize that even after years together, they had never truly seen what lay in his heart.
The man in the wooden wheelchair slowly removed the cloth strip that had always covered his eyes. His shrunken eyelids trembled for a moment before slowly opening, revealing a pair of hollow, grayish-white pupils.
The rising sunlight fell upon his face, illuminating the eyes of a dying man with stark clarity. The signs of a mortal frame eroded by disease were fully exposed in that moment, leaving no room for self-deception.
“It has been my honor to know you all. From this moment on, there is no more Young Master Yan in this world. Let everything return to the way it was at the beginning.”
After saying his final words, he pushed the wooden wheelchair toward the exit of the courtyard. Tang Yue, who had been standing silently in the corner, moved to step forward upon hearing this, but was softly stopped.
“My spirits are quite good today; I wish to wander a bit on my own. You should rest as well.”
The sound of the wooden wheelchair crushing fallen leaves gradually faded. The figures standing frozen in the courtyard were like bamboo shadows shaking in the wind, turning into forms of trepidation, until the apothecary door opened once more.
The complexions of both Qin Jiuye and Teng Hu were somewhat pale and grim. Tang Wu, catching sight of them, immediately lunged forward.
“What the Young Master said just now was only to test us, right? Why would he die? Haven't you already found a way to suppress that secret formula...”
He could not continue his interrogation, for Li Qiao and Jiang Xin'er, who had been waiting in the yard, stepped in front of Qin Jiuye.
“The Young Master said it himself. Could we have possibly forced him into this decision?”
“But...”
But why?
The pain and confusion of the Chuanliu Courtyard members were written plainly on their faces, and Qin Jiuye saw it all at a glance.
Having toiled through the night and just endured a long conversation, she was exhausted to the extreme. Nevertheless, she gently pulled Li Qiao aside and patiently explained.
“The reason the secret formula can change a person's physical state is that it burrows into the blood, meridians, and bones, transforming the flesh to stimulate energy that does not belong to the human body. If the so-called disease is to be completely uprooted, then all the benefits the secret formula once brought will also cease to exist. I might be able to cure the ailment of the secret formula, but there are many other incurable diseases in this world...”
In other words, those destined to die would still die.
Even if she truly could completely extract the secret formula, the best result would only be to return the sufferer's body to its original state; it could not repair everything. No physician dares to claim they can cure all the suffering under heaven. The world treats the Sages, Immortals, and Ghosts of Medicine as living deities who save the distressed, but the truth is that conquering a single malignant disease often requires not just days, months, or even years, but much longer spans of time.
In such spans of time, most mortals can only meet their end amidst regrets.
“So... so you're saying all this just to tell us we can only watch... watch the Young Master die?!”
“But your Young Master was going to die anyway. Everyone dies; that is the end we are all walking toward.”
Teng Hu’s voice rang out coldly. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his lips were somewhat purple from dryness. When he spoke, it was as if the God of Death himself was talking, making others fear to say more.
However, for Tang Wu at this moment, emotion had already turned his eyes red and clouded his mind.
“You have clearly found a solution! Why won't you try it for the Young Master? If you haven't even tried, how do you know it won't work? He could have lived longer; this shouldn't be his end! It shouldn't be...”
“This is the Young Master's choice.” Tang Yue’s voice suddenly rang out, a sense of unmaskable pain bleeding through his exhaustion. “If you truly respect him, you should respect his choice.”
The others in the courtyard looked over, as if trying to grasp a final straw in this swaying moment of hesitation.
“But... the Young Master's choice was made out of helplessness.”
“Master Tang has been with the Young Master for many years. Can you really bear to see him leave like this?”
“There cannot be anyone in this world more steadfast and powerful than him, let alone anyone more suited to lead the Chuanliu Courtyard...”
“Let him go, alright?” Tang Yue spoke again, his voice raspy with a sob. “How can you demand he remain in this hell just because of your own helplessness and confusion? He is only an ordinary man. Rather than dragging that diseased body through the struggles of this world, exhausting his last drop of lifeblood in this treacherous martial world, isn't it better to find release sooner? He has held on for so long; let him have a good rest.”
It was unknown how much time passed before those shocked, uncomprehending, and unwilling voices finally weakened, replaced by a long silence.
They had spent many years coming together, only to part with the person who had accompanied them the longest in a single day.
***
To the east of the bamboo grove, at the end of the path.
The wooden wheelchair wobbled, heading in the direction held in memory.
The sun had already risen high, but the person in the wheelchair did not cover his eyes again.
It turned out that at some point, these eyes no longer feared the light. Because they could no longer perceive much brightness, the world dissolved into a mist, and he was to pass through this fog toward the place he had yearned for countless times.
He was so familiar with that courtyard that he could easily find the gate even without sight.
But he was also somewhat at a loss, hesitating at the entrance.
After bringing the person here, he had never even dared to walk up to him and say a few words, mostly just watching from afar. One day, Tang Wu couldn't help but ask him about it, and he had sighed bitterly after a long silence.
“I have no face to see him. I have no face to see him, Ah Wu.”
There were not many people or things in this world that could make him feel guilt.
After all, he had once been a man of decisive slaughter who looked down upon these ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains. But as his days reached their end, he would always remember the past. During these years of treading on thin ice and walking on the edge of a blade, he had experienced countless moments of escaping death and turning defeat into victory. Yet it was only after finishing those words before the apothecary just now that he felt a true sense of relief. It was like the hottest season of late summer cicadas in his childhood, finishing the schoolwork left by the tutor on the very last day. The thought of no longer being hit on the palms or listening to the tutor’s nagging brought an unspeakable lightness.
Back at the academy, his schoolwork was always among the best. He thought he had always known how to play the role of a good student, only to find in the end that he was actually the worst one.
The children in the schoolroom had long since dispersed. In the empty courtyard, only one person sat beneath a tree, holding a brush and grinding ink. He seemed to want to paint something, but his paralyzed hand and groggy head would not allow it. After sketching only a few strokes, his head drooped as he dozed off. In the next moment, his body tilted, and the brush fell, only to be caught steadily by a withered, sallow hand and placed back on the desk.
Du Laogou woke with a start from his dream. Upon seeing the face before him, he couldn't help but be startled.
“You... why are you here again? I said, I don't know anything! It's fine that you embezzled my money for pickled vegetables, but what more do you want? What more...”
Thinking of everything he had experienced in the bamboo grove that day, his emotions grew more agitated. By the end, he was becoming incoherent, looking wretched and pathetic.
Even without the cloth strip covering his eyes, the old man still did not recognize him.
He recognized the pharmacy shopkeeper he had known for only a few months, but he did not recognize the student who had once saved his life.
Young Master Yan struggled for a long time before finally forcing out those two words.
“Teacher...”
Du Laogou’s body stiffened, but he quickly retreated. The desk was overturned by him, and he shrank back behind it.
“You... you have the wrong person. I don't know you...” He shook his head frantically, as if he couldn't hear a word. His trembling hands clutched his disheveled hair to hide his face, his broken voice wheezing. “I'm not your teacher! I'm not your teacher! You have the wrong person! Wrong person...”
“Is Teacher disappointed in this disciple? Is that why you are unwilling to acknowledge me? It is all my fault. I know my mistakes. Can Teacher... can you look at me just one more time?”
Young Master Yan’s voice was choked with emotion, almost like a plea, but the man with the disheveled hair gave no response at all. He only huddled in the shadows, trying to hide himself completely.
Yet he was already in a cage; where could he retreat to? After struggling futilely for a moment, he stopped despondently, holding his head and pulling his hair, becoming crazed once again.
“What do you want? What do you really want?! I told you, I don't know anything! If you're so capable, then kill me! Kill me...”
Many years had passed, and he no longer remembered why those people had interrogated him, nor did he remember the secret he had refused to reveal even in death. But he would still deny it subconsciously.
He no longer remembered who the person before him was, yet he still remembered to protect his student.
Young Master Yan trembled all over, his head slumping dejectedly. From deep in his throat came a bitter laugh that was almost a sigh.
“Teacher once cast a divination for me. You said I bore the radiance of the great star Fomalhaut, that I could bring light to the long night, that I was the heaven-ordained savior. I have failed your expectations. After all these years of drifting in the sea of bitterness, I still haven't completed what I should have done. Fortunately, I have waited for another person—someone who can walk further than I. This is good news I wanted to share with Teacher. If you also feel happy, then consider it a small reward for me after all these years.”
As he spoke, he slowly raised his hand and removed the jade hairpin from his hair. His withered long hair fell over his shoulders and was quickly blown into disarray by the wind.
“During our very first lesson, Teacher personally taught me how to pin my hair. You told me that no matter where I was, I must keep my clothes and hat clean, and my posture straight. If Teacher is unwilling to acknowledge me, then let this disciple bind your hair one last time.”
The warm jade hairpin was of an ancient style, carrying the last bit of warmth from its owner’s broken body.
But the crazed man with the disheveled hair remained hunched over, holding his hands up in front of him. Every time Yan tried, the other would tear it away. As this repeated, several strands of hair became tangled in the hairpin—a mix of black and white, withered and dry.
He finally gave up. The hand clutching the jade hairpin trembled with effort. Then, he dragged his body down and bowed deeply upon the ground covered in fallen leaves.
“A-Yan must go first. After today’s parting, it will be hard to meet again. Please take care, Teacher. This life is long, like a boat in a sea of bitterness; only now have I reached the end. To see Teacher one last time before leaving, I am satisfied and have nothing more to ask. If there is a next life, let it be my turn to protect Teacher, alright? Brewing tea under the falling stars, boiling wine as the moon rises, asking nothing of the martial world or the imperial court, seeking only to spend a life in peace and stability.”
The person under the tree kept his head down the entire time, his disheveled hair hiding his expression.
The autumn wind swirled the fallen leaves, filling in the traces of anyone’s presence. The courtyard remained with only that solitary figure, as if no one had ever come.
***
On the other side of the bamboo grove, outside the apothecary’s back garden.
Qin Jiuye stared at her toes, walking step by step into the depths of the bamboo grove.
She didn't know where she was going, nor did she know why she was wandering here.
The joy of obtaining the answer and the trepidation of verifying it intertwined in her heart. An unprecedented pressure, like a great mountain, collapsed upon her, and her palms instantly broke into a sweat.
One chance. What were the odds of a single strike hitting the mark? If it failed, let alone when they could find new Ye Fuzi, even if they did, would it succeed? If it did succeed, would the cured person truly return to their original state? Or would they merely become another victim of the Ye Fuzi’s toxicity...
One small courtyard after another passed her by, as if waiting for her to speak and choose, yet also as if rebuking her hypocrisy.
Only a few days ago, she was still spurning Young Master Yan’s actions, and now she was about to follow in his footsteps, becoming the newest, most cruel "executioner" in this courtyard.
The sound of bamboo leaves rubbing together was unsettling. She seemed to see the skeletons of the dead struggling and squirming resentfully underground, their thin finger bones breaking through the soil like bamboo shoots, surrounding her with the scent of decay and death.
“There is no path ahead.”
Li Qiao’s voice sounded from behind, but Qin Jiuye did not stop. She only turned a corner and continued forward, looking as if she had lost her soul.
“I thought this bamboo grove was endless.”
The sound of bamboo leaves being stepped on was drowned out by the wind. His footsteps were very light, like a cat’s, and in an instant, he was closer.
“Is Sister troubled by the decision?”
“The toxicity of the Ye Fuzi has no definitive conclusion yet, and there is no certain answer as to whether it conflicts with the other catalysts. Even if everything is perfect and seamless, who knows what this process of uprooting the disease will be like...”
She habitually repeated the problems she had been mulling over in the apothecary. The youth only nodded gently.
“I heard what you said in the apothecary. Didn't you swap the Zhidan into the formula?”
“Using Zhidan to protect the heart and meridians is only theoretically feasible; no one has actually tried it. If any link goes wrong...” She found it hard to continue, but her expression still tried to maintain a semblance of rationality. “Perhaps the timing isn't ripe yet. Those who achieve great things cannot be too hasty. Some things need more thought, more thought...”
“You haven't closed your eyes for two days and nights. How can you not be hasty?”
The person behind her grabbed the corner of her clothes. She was forced to stop and stood there blankly.
“Perhaps... I can try it myself...”
Before she could finish, she was pulled into an embrace from behind.
“No.”
“Why not? If others can try, why can't I?”
Her voice sounded hollow, as if she were questioning him or truly confused.
“Because Sister owes them nothing.” His voice came from her back, almost echoing within her body. “But I am different. Ding Miao and Young Master Yan were right. To stay alive, I indeed used any means necessary and did many terrible things. If Heaven uses this as a reason to take something back from me, then I must repay this debt.”
A strange sensation crawled out from the cracks in her heart. Qin Jiuye finally turned around. The moment she saw his eyes, she seemed to realize something. After a long while, she asked softly.
“And so?”
The youth was silent for a moment before speaking with determination.
“So, Sister need not find it difficult to speak of testing the medicine. Since I will have this tribulation sooner or later, I would rather have everything end in Sister’s hands.”
End? End what? His life?
As if to confirm the terrifying voice in her mind, he grabbed her hand in the next moment and pressed it tightly against his chest. The heat in his eyes burned like two fires within that light brown gaze.
“My life was given by Sister. As long as you need it, you can take everything I have.”
The youth’s heart beat vigorously against her palm, as warm as the sun about to break through the dawn.
But at this moment, Qin Jiuye only felt cold all over. All the internal conflicts along the way, combined with her previously suppressed emotions, burst forth in her mind. She violently threw off his hand and backed away.
He had held on tightly, but she was determined to break free, and a red mark instantly appeared on the back of her hand. Yet she could feel none of it at this moment. Before her eyes were only the bits and pieces of their reunion after entering the Chuanliu Courtyard: his endurance when pretending to be Xiao Sa, the scratch marks on that wall, and the way he looked when huddling with her...
He seemed to have become more obedient, more charming, and more pitiable than ever before, but it wasn't because he felt guilty about the past, nor was it because it was his nature. It was because he intended to treat this time with her as the final scenery before the end of his life.
The Li Qiao of the past only sought to live; the youth before her now was bent on seeking death.
Understanding all this, Qin Jiuye couldn't help but tremble. She couldn't tell if it was from sadness or anger; she only felt her vision blurring.
“So... so you had this idea all along. Even after reuniting with me, you never thought of changing. But have you thought about my feelings? Have you thought about what would happen to me?”
She would be hurt, but she was resilient. Even if she suffered setbacks and blows, she could stand up again and again.
Without him, she would live just fine.
He fell into that familiar silence again, but the gaze he directed at her was already beginning to shatter.
The more that gaze tugged at her heart, the more she loathed it at this moment. He humbly wanted to take a step toward her, but she sneered and backed away.
“Since you've thought it through so clearly, you should have just left for good back then. Why show up in front of me? Is it because you have no acquaintances in this courtyard, so you want me, this pharmacy shopkeeper, to collect your corpse? How many months have you worked for me? I gave you the Zhidan, and in the end, I have to pay for your coffin too?”
Her words began to grow increasingly harsh and unpleasant. Her body involuntarily retreated, as if only by doing so could she distance herself from the source of her agitation and pain.
However, after a few steps, she could no longer retreat an inch.
It turned out that the bamboo grove did indeed have an end.
It turned out she already had no way back.
After a long time, the youth finally stepped forward slowly. He hesitantly put his arm around the woman’s waist, leaning close to her face almost humbly, lightly kissing the corner of her tightly pressed lips, and tremblingly pulling her into his embrace.
“Because I can't bear to leave you. Because I can't bear to leave you, Sister...”
The youth’s body pressed tightly against hers, his bones poking her painfully. Under the torment of the malignant disease, this frame that should have been young and full of vitality was covered in scars. Death had left its mark upon it, grinning and hiding in the darkness, ready at any moment to claim it as its own and devour it.
“If I die, will you be sad for me? Will you still remember me?”
His voice passed through their overlapping bodies and sank into her heart once more, but it only filled Qin Jiuye with a mix of grief and rage.
She wanted to harden her heart and push this embrace away, but in the end, she only said loudly.
“If you die, I’ll be sad for two or three days at most. I’m the type who loves the new and loathes the old, always fickle. Besides, I’m busy earning silver every day; where would I find the time to think of you? When I meet someone more handsome and more capable than you in the future, I’ll bring him to the Guoran Residence and forget you completely. Do you understand?!”
She spoke the most cruel and cold words, yet tears fell uncontrollably.
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and those beautiful eyes slowly closed, as if shutting the only exit to the gate of life.
“That’s fine. As long as Sister isn't sad, as long as Sister isn't troubled, anything is fine with me...”
“But you won't die.”
The woman’s voice suddenly rang out. In the next moment, he felt someone cup his cheeks, forcing him to raise his head.
There were tear stains on her face, but compared to the youth’s expression, her gaze was too resolute. Those wet traces were merely a bit of rain falling on a stubborn rock; once the morning sun rose, they would eventually dissipate.
“Death is the easiest thing. Don't think your sins can be wiped clean with death. Only by living can you atone, only by living can you change, only by living can you prove that I didn't save the wrong person back then. You will return to Jiugao, return to Dingweng Village, return to the Guoran Residence, and continue being your second shopkeeper. You will diagnose, treat, and prepare medicine for people. For every person you’ve killed, you must save one.”
She spoke those words firmly, as if stating things that would definitely happen. There were no absolutes in this world, but hearing it from her mouth, he couldn't help but believe it.
“But... what if I can't stay by your side forever? What if we can't be together until the end?”
The Qingwu Blade fell to the ground, buried along with his shattered soul by the falling bamboo leaves.
“I asked Sister if you would like me forever. Sister said forever is too far away and told me not to mention it easily.” The youth sobbed softly, laying bare the vulnerability in his heart. “But Sister... to me, forever isn't far...”
He could no longer continue. Scalding tears fell, vanishing amidst the white frost and cold dew.
Before meeting her, he had never even thought about what the word "forever" meant.
As long as he could get through today, he wouldn't even think about what the sun would look like when it rose tomorrow.
How many people who had taken Qingfeng Powder ever had a good end? Moreover, he might not even wait for the day the Qingfeng Powder completely destroyed his body; after all, those who betrayed the Manor could never have a peaceful end. A blade through the heart, a corpse in the wilderness, no place for burial, flesh pecked by jackals and vultures, bones buried by wild grass...
These were his future. These were his "forever."
Yet she had appeared. In that small, crowded, dilapidated courtyard, and in every sunrise and sunset by her side, his future had been changed silently and imperceptibly.
He began to yearn for the word "forever," thinking from today to tomorrow, from early spring to late autumn, from one decade to another, until the end of life.
But he was never worthy of these things.
“Having taken Qingfeng Powder for over three years leaves irreversible damage. Over five years, and losing half one's lifespan is common. I left the Manor to work and received the powder at twelve; it has been over ten years now. Even if I can escape this current tribulation...”
Even if he could escape this tribulation, he was destined to be short-lived. What right did a short-lived person have to mention forever?
“So that was your worry?”
Qin Jiuye’s voice suddenly became much calmer. The moment she saw through his unease and hesitation, the gloom that had been looming over her heart suddenly dispersed.
The autumn wind still blew through the bamboo grove, but she felt as if she could already feel the warmth of the sunlight falling upon her.
“Even if your forever isn't far, how do you know my forever will definitely be long?”
She raised her hand and gently wiped away the last bit of moisture from his face, as if she had finally thought of a way to untie the knot in his heart, and as if she had found an answer of her own in this method.
“When I was following my Master in the mountain ravines, gathering herbs and learning the craft, eating coarse grains and wild vegetables every day, I thought that one day when I became famous, I would definitely bring my disciples and grand-disciples to show off in front of Master, to let her know I wasn't just a laborer who only knew how to massage her legs and pour tea. When I took the little silver I had to buy those two broken houses in Dingweng Village, wanting to establish the name of the Guoran Residence, I thought that one day I would bring Auntie Yang over, and we would never have to worry about the next meal in that godforsaken place of Suiqing. When I was doing business day and night at the Guoran Residence, scrimp and saving to buy a courtyard, I thought that sooner or later I would let Grandpa live in a big house in the city, and our family would stay together forever, living a comfortable and leisurely life. But...”
But the "forever" she had imagined had never come true.
When death froze everything in place, she realized that a person's life isn't actually very long.
But until the very end, they still loved her.
In a forever that had an expiration date, every moment they spent together was real.
Qin Jiuye closed her eyes, and the image of the last time she saw Qin Sanyou before his death surfaced in her mind.
Raindrops fell from the roof tiles, forming a sheet that separated life and death. Qin Sanyou had hesitated to leave, finally turning back to place the handful of loose silver he had been clutching for a long time into her palm. Then, he solemnly closed her hand and said softly...
“We don't need such a long forever; enough is plenty.” Qin Jiuye closed Li Qiao’s palm, then gently patted that hand. “Don't be too greedy. Just live life day by day. A little more than your forever is enough for us.”
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 北落大星 | Fomalhaut | Literally "North Fall Great Star." In Chinese astrology, it is associated with a solitary guardian. |
| 晴风散 | Qingfeng Powder | A drug/poison used by the Manor to control its members. |
| 枳丹 | Zhidan | A medicinal pill used to protect the heart and meridians. |
| 青芜刀 | Qingwu Blade | Li Qiao's weapon. |
| 果然居 | Guoran Residence | Qin Jiuye's pharmacy/home. |
| 丁翁村 | Dingweng Village | The village where Jiuye's pharmacy was located. |
| 隋清 | Suiqing | A location mentioned as a harsh environment. |
| 秦三友 | Qin Sanyou | Qin Jiuye's grandfather. |
