Muruo only focused on drinking and didn’t answer her words.

After each remained silent for a while.

Tang Si said, “My father has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. Don’t take what he said during the day to heart—he didn’t mean it, really. In our Houliao, he’s a great hero. Everyone respects him.”

“…”

“Also, I can’t take back what I said during the day. If you can’t persuade my father before tomorrow morning, he’ll take me back to Houliao.”

“Bang!” Muruo slammed the wine jug heavily on the table.

Hmm?

Tang Si froze for a moment, looking at him in confusion.

He then lifted those listless eyes to meet her gaze and spoke four words.

“Her name was Kong Yu.”

Kong Yu?

Who was that?

Tang Si was puzzled but didn’t interrupt him. She just listened quietly.

The lamplight fell on the man’s face across from her, polishing his cold, hard facial contours into sharp angles while also revealing a faint melancholy.

Muruo propped one hand on the table, leaning his body slightly, looking up at the fuzzy moon in the sky at that moment. With a voice tinged with heaviness, he said, “She liked to look at the moon—the moon after heavy rain. She said that was the cleanest, the purest. So every night after it rained, she would habitually sit on the bridge, her bare feet swinging back and forth in the air. I often laughed at her foolishness, laughed at how she could have such a hobby. But each time she would just laugh it off. She was like that as a child, and she was still like that when she grew up. She never seemed to care about others’ opinions. It was precisely this kind of woman who made me want to protect her from childhood. I even secretly vowed that I would never abandon her for the rest of my life. But I never had the courage to tell her my feelings. And when I finally mustered up the courage, she would never know.”

Tang Si opened her mouth and asked cautiously, “Then… where is she?”

“Dead!” Two light words drifted faintly from his mouth.

Ah!

Tang Si froze, finally understanding what the knot that had long lingered in Muruo’s heart was. She had never seen Muruo show such an expression full of guilt when talking about someone.

She asked, “You’ve never been able to forget her?”

“Yes.”

“Then what about me? What am I?” Her tone choked with emotion.

Muruo answered, “You’re very much like her!”

“Like?” This word stabbed fiercely into Tang Si’s chest. The pain instantly sobered her up. She slowly stood, looking at the man before her in disbelief. “So… the reason you had me return to the capital with you was because I’m very much like her? The reason you had me stay by your side was also because I’m very much like her? And the reason you’re pushing me away now is still because I’m very much like her? Is that it?”

Her questioning voice grew louder and louder!

Muruo, dizzy from drink, lifted his eyelids to look at the furious woman before him. He squinted, swaying as he stood up, stumbling several steps and nearly falling to the ground. He answered honestly, “That’s right. Everything is because you’re very much alike. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have agreed to bring you to the capital, and I wouldn’t have been so confused that I almost fooled even myself. I’ve wronged you.”

“…”

“Actually, your father was right. Any man you randomly pull from your Houliao would be better than me. Look at me—all day soaking in wine jars, neither human nor ghost. Could you really tolerate marrying someone who has another woman in his heart?” He spread his arms wide, his sleeves sweeping out.

A perfect cross shape!

Tang Si stepped back, her eyes brimming with tears, her nose immediately turning red.

Muruo said, “Go back with your father.”

He finally said these words.

Tang Si laughed bitterly, her voice mixed with sobs. “I understand, I understand…”

She repeated this over and over, then—

She turned and ran away.

Watching that figure, Muruo’s heart seized with sharp pain. His arms spread wide at his sides slowly dropped, hanging powerlessly by his sides. His brows furrowed tightly toward the center, the guilt on his face deepening. A force seemed to surge from his body like a beast devouring prey. He suddenly raised his hand and swept it forcefully across the stone table, overturning the two wine jars on top.

“Crash and clatter” rang out in succession.

Smashed to smithereens.

“Ah!”

He roared out, collapsing to the ground in breakdown, a myriad of emotions in his heart intertwining like tangled threads.

His mind was completely blank.

…

After Tang Si ran away, she returned to her room, closed the door, and cried continuously, crying her heart out. She cried like this for the entire night.

Her eyes were swollen like two large abscesses.

The next day, she packed her things with a haggard face and agreed to return to Houliao with her father.

Tang Father was greatly shocked!

But he asked nothing and said nothing. Taking his people and her, he hurriedly left Yuhua Pavilion, bought a carriage, and departed from the capital.

At this time, Muruo was still lying drunkenly on the floor in his room.

Until someone opened the door and a gust of cold wind rolled in, causing his body to shudder. He opened his listless eyes, but was momentarily blinded by the sudden light, his pupils contracting slightly. He couldn’t see clearly who had entered.

Jingrong stepped inside, looking down at the puddle of mud on the ground, and said, “The person is already dead.”

Reminding him!

The word “dead” poured into his ears. After a long time, Muruo finally moved, struggling to sit up and lean against the cabinet behind him. He smiled and casually picked up a fallen wine bottle, shaking it.

There was still wine!

So he began drinking again.

Seeing him like this, Jingrong didn’t scold him but instead sat down beside him, took the wine jug from his hand, and drank a mouthful.

Jingrong said, “I know that no matter how much time passes, you’ll never forget. But the person is already dead. And dead means dead—they won’t come back to life. So what if she lives in your heart? Can you continue like this forever? If she knew from the underworld, how could she feel at ease?” He paused. “Actually, I should have talked to you about this matter long ago, but I held back, not wanting to pierce through that thin layer of paper. I only wanted you to wake up and understand on your own. But facts prove I was wrong. I completely underestimated her weight in your heart.”

“Stop talking!”

“That’s right, Miss Tang is very much like her, but ask yourself—is it really because of the resemblance that you brought her back to the capital? That you let her stay by your side?”

“…”

Jingrong sighed, stood up, and continued, “Back then, you already missed your chance once. Don’t miss it a second time. While there’s still time, go chase after her.”

Muruo remained silent.

Jingrong said no more and turned to leave.

However—

Just as he stepped through the doorway, Muruo behind him suddenly stood up, rushed out with rapid steps, passed by him, and ran toward the main gate.

In the air, a cold wind remained.

Muruo shouted loudly, “Prepare a horse!”

He went to chase after her after all!

Watching that wind-swept figure, Jingrong smiled.