Dong Ye once had a girl he cared deeply for. He braved mountains of blades and seas of fire for her, escorting her to the imperial capital before they parted. When he returned, it was during the Double Seventh Festival. He got drunk with Zhou Zixi on the city tower, with Chen Zhou sitting between them, forced to listen to their tales of love and hatred all night.

After several rounds of drinks, both men beside Chen Zhou were quite drunk. Zhou Zixi had already lain down, restrained by Chen Zhou from going to East Yang to find his senior sister.

As Dong Ye’s whispers grew increasingly sorrowful, both men turned to look at him.

Chen Zhou asked: “What is that girl’s name?”

Dong Ye said, “Her surname is Chu.”

Zhou Zixi: “You won’t even say her full name? Afraid we’ll cause her trouble?”

Dong Ye lowered his head and said in a muffled voice: “I’m not saying it to avoid giving you chances to mock me if we meet her in the future.”

Chen Zhou nodded: “That makes sense.”

Dong Ye tilted his head back for another sip of wine: “For the first time, I realized how ugly the phrase ‘one-sided affection’ truly is.”

This girl had accepted everything he gave her and promised him everything, making his heart flutter. Yet she still turned back because another person glanced at her once, and she could unhesitatingly abandon everything to return to that person’s side.

So what was I to her?

*

After that day, Dong Ye stayed in North Dipper, cultivating with his father and cutting off contact with his friends outside.

During the day, he would visit Ming Li’s small courtyard to tend to the flowers and plants. After trimming them, he would go to the Seventh Hall to find discarded vases and pots, bringing them back to redecorate all the flora. Ming Li sat under the eaves watching him bustle back and forth, pointing at a bamboo mat among the flowers saying: “Don’t touch that one, I like to rest there.”

Dong Ye, carrying a large vase of flowers, turned his head to look upon hearing this and said to Ming Li: “You even love sleeping there at night. No wonder Zixi nags you every time he comes.”

Ming Li merely narrowed her eyes.

“Haven’t you wondered why neither Master nor you criticize me, yet Zixi always does?”

Dong Ye placed the flowers on a wooden rack in the courtyard and replied without turning his head: “Everyone in North Dipper’s Seven Halls knows he admires you the most as his senior sister. Besides, you wouldn’t listen even if I said anything.”

“Oh, so it’s admiration,” Ming Li leaned back slightly with her hands on the ground, facing the warm sunlight, and continued, “So you exploit our little junior brother’s admiration, telling him what I like to eat, then tricking him into accompanying you on your adventures of fighting and killing?”

Dong Ye looked over in surprise: “How did you know?”

Ming Li: “Qing Ying told me.”

Hearing this, Dong Ye’s face darkened: “Doesn’t she do the same?”

Ming Li lifted her chin slightly without speaking.

Dong Ye rubbed his nose, bent down to pick up a pot of camellia flowers, and placed it under the eaves. After carefully positioning it, he said: “They’re just trivial matters that don’t matter if mentioned. I know my boundaries.”

Ming Li remained silent.

“Alright,” Dong Ye said sincerely, “I was wrong.”

Ming Li turned to look at the camellia he had just placed beside her and asked: “What have you been doing outside this year?”

The question reminded him of painful memories. Dong Ye sat down beside her and, after pondering for a moment, answered: “I didn’t do much this year, just escorted someone back to the imperial capital.”

Ming Li turned to look at him: “That Miss Chu who made you drink in sorrow late at night?”

Dong Ye, who couldn’t remember what he had said while drunk the previous night: “…”

Ming Li kindly reminded him: “You told Senior Brother last night, who then told Father, who told me.”

Dong Ye inwardly sighed in relief, thankful that only three people knew.

“Zhou Zixi was also there last night, and on your way back, you encountered Aunt Qu and Headmaster Yuheng. Qing Ying gave you sobering incense, and there was also Senior Brother Fu Yuan…”

Dong Ye silently turned his face away.

Doesn’t that mean everyone knows?

Starting today, he would abstain from alcohol.

Ming Li continued leisurely: “What kind of person could make my free-spirited, world-roaming brother fall in love and become so dejected?”

Her words made Dong Ye smile. Whether it was because Ming Li had opened her Heart Meridian or because he had already vented his emotions the night before, sitting beside her now in the lazy sunlight, his heart was calm and peaceful, allowing him to examine his feelings more coolly.

He spoke to Ming Li just as leisurely: “You’ve met her before. When we were young, Father took us to Yan Tower’s tea garden to meet an old acquaintance. Because Father forbade you from using star power, and the path was muddy, you were afraid of dirtying your skirt, so I carried you on my back… She was in the tea garden then, visiting from the imperial capital with her parents.”

Ming Li shook her head: “I don’t remember such a person.”

Dong Ye said, “You only wanted to drink at the time, not move around. She was a regular at the tea garden and knew the area well, so I learned to brew tea from her.”

A childhood connection that, many years later, changed the fate of both in a single moment.

Dong Ye: “Last year, when I met her, she had been sold into an underground slave market…”

Ming Li asked: “What were you doing at an underground slave market?”

Dong Ye looked at her speechlessly for a moment before saying: “I was there to raid the place, of course.”

Ming Li made an “oh” sound.

Dong Ye endured for a moment, but couldn’t help asking: “What did you think I was doing there?”

Ming Li: “Going to an underground slave market is obviously for buying slaves.”

Dong Ye: “…”

Somewhat exasperated, Dong Ye continued: “Initially, I just wanted to destroy some merchant association’s secret slave-selling locations. I never expected to meet her there—after all, her family had some standing in the imperial capital. How could their daughter end up in such a situation… Later, I learned that her family had offended the Empress. Her parents died in the palace, and she got separated from her brother while fleeing, which is why she was captured by people from the underground slave market.”

Ming Li said, “She wanted to return to the imperial capital for revenge?”

“Her physical condition was very poor at that time. A pampered noble daughter who suffered greatly after falling into commoner life, which left her with many ailments. I thought we’d wait until her health improved before continuing the journey…” Dong Ye paused at this point, slightly tugging at the corner of his mouth in self-mockery.

Back then, in her fever-induced delirium, she mumbled another person’s name in her dreams, mistaking him for that person and holding on tight.

Dong Ye didn’t think much of it initially. He only helped her recover, providing money and effort for old times’ sake, leaving the decision to stay or leave entirely up to her afterward.

“Miss Chu had someone she loved deeply.”

Dong Ye’s expression was utterly calm as he said this.

The single phrase “Miss Chu” negated everything between them.

It was he who rescued Miss Chu from the slave market and spared her from a tragic fate.

It was he who cared for Miss Chu day and night until she recovered.

It was he who restored the broken pride of a fallen noble lady.

It was he who rescued Miss Chu’s brother.

It was he who avenged Miss Chu.

It was he who saved Miss Chu multiple times from life-threatening situations.

*

Once, Miss Chu had a tantrum and left on her own, not expecting to be targeted by assassins. Dong Ye rushed to her aid, and both fell off a cliff. Fortunately, there was a cold pond below, so they weren’t injured, just completely soaked.

Because Dong Ye had consumed too much star power repelling the assassins, he couldn’t use spiritual techniques to dry her clothes. He could only light a bonfire for warmth.

Miss Chu’s eyelashes hung with sparkling droplets, whether tears or something else was unclear. As Dong Ye stood up to leave, she suddenly reached out to grab his sleeve, saying softly: “I’m sorry.”

She was trembling.

In that moment, Miss Chu was terrified that Dong Ye would abandon her. She only wanted to grasp this lone lifeline, thinking of nothing else.

“I shouldn’t have lost my temper with you. It was my fault. I’m sorry,” she said in a quivering voice, head bowed, biting her lip.

Dong Ye wasn’t really angry.

Having experienced Ming Li’s terrible temper as a child, his mindset was already even-keeled. Plus, Qing Ying could be quite frightening when angry, so he was used to it.

Since he had promised Miss Chu he would escort her safely back to the imperial capital, he wouldn’t break his word.

“Next time, calm down before making decisions,” was all he said in response.

Miss Chu’s hand tightened on his sleeve.

Dong Ye said, “I’ll go find something to eat.”

Miss Chu said quietly: “Don’t go. I’m scared.”

He looked down at the person beside him. Miss Chu was curled up, appearing tiny and extremely fragile in his eyes.

Dong Ye said nothing, sitting back down instead of leaving.

Silence fell between them, with only the crackling of burning wood audible. Miss Chu seemed to calm down and stopped trembling. The warm glow of the flames reflected on her cheeks, bringing color back to her beautiful face.

Believing she had calmed down sufficiently, Dong Ye was about to stand up again to find food when the person gripping his sleeve softly asked: “Do you… Like me?”

Miss Chu’s profile was illuminated by the firelight, and her eyes, gazing at him, were bright.

Dong Ye had never considered this before.

But upon hearing the question, he realized: So that’s what it was.

Dong Ye didn’t give a clear answer, instead asking: “Who do you like?”

He had always known there was someone in Miss Chu’s heart.

Someone she couldn’t let go of, which was why she had never properly faced her feelings—until they were mercilessly exposed by her, impossible to evade any longer.

In the moment of waiting for Miss Chu’s answer, Dong Ye couldn’t help thinking conventionally: If only it were me.

But Miss Chu remained silent for a long time.

Dong Ye left himself no room for illusions, standing up and saying, “You don’t need to worry that I’ll abandon you. I said I would escort you back to the imperial capital, and I definitely will.”

Miss Chu looked up, her eyes brilliant, reflecting his image as she said: “I will forget him.”

Dong Ye lowered his gaze. At that time, she spoke with absolute sincerity: “I will like you, and I already do like you.”

That’s what Miss Chu had said.

But later, she changed her mind.

*

After listening to her brother’s lengthy narrative, Ming Li sighed and looked at him with loving eyes: “Why were you foolish enough to believe such nonsense?”

Dong Ye stretched his arms and lay back.

Ming Li continued: “Do you like this, Miss Chu, or do you like Miss Chu’s near-obsessive love for that person?”

Dong Ye was stunned by her words, his mind inevitably contemplating Ming Li’s question.

He couldn’t arrive at an answer.

Ming Li sighed: “Never mind, none of it matters now. As Senior Brother said, just stay in North Dipper for a while and spend more time with Senior Brother Liang and the others. He’s quite jealous of your outside friends, saying that once you had them, you forgot your North Dipper friends.”

“I never did,” Dong Ye said, sitting up again.

Everyone knew Dong Ye had suffered heartbreak outside and was listless without much energy. They tacitly avoided mentioning Miss Chu and always took him along when going out.

Miss Chu was gradually forgotten, and Ming Li and the others didn’t pay much attention to this young lady. Others have no right to judge what’s right or wrong in matters of the heart. Dong Ye wasn’t the type to view love as his entire life; when he decided to let go, he turned the page cleanly and looked forward.

Life presents many experiences, and during such times, time silently heals these difficult wounds.

Dong Ye had not left North Dipper for over a year, nor had he contacted friends from the outside world, until one day he received two letters.

Because he used an alias when traveling outside and never told anyone about his background, friends who could send letters to North Dipper could be counted on one hand.

One was easily identified by its owner. Dong Ye didn’t open it but looked at the other one instead, which prompted him to leave North Dipper for the imperial capital.