Qin Moyu opened her mouth, only to find that she had lost her voice.
'He is not Gu Jia.'
This realization sent a chill down Qin Moyu's spine. The smile in his memory was exactly the same as the smile on Gu Jia's face now, but upon closer inspection, he realized that apart from the curve of the other person's lips, he couldn't even see his face clearly.
It felt as if an invisible hand was gripping her heart, and with each contraction of her breath, she groaned in unbearable pain. Qin Moyu could no longer endure it and stumbled out.
After he left, Gu Jia's smile faded. He looked at the door that Qin Moyu had pushed open and murmured to himself as he lay back down, "It should be okay to help secretly, right?"
There seemed to be a silent hum in the darkness. "Gu Jia" chuckled softly and closed his eyes.
When Xuanqing was about to come and see his son, he saw Gu Jia, who had been in a coma for many days, sitting on the bed with a look of confusion in his eyes.
Before Gu Jia could ask his father where they were, Xuan Qing quickly went to the bedside to check on his body. To his surprise, he found that not only had Gu Jia's injuries been completely healed, but the Red Lotus Karmic Fire that had been flowing in his meridians had also disappeared.
As Xuanqing muttered something strange to himself, Gu Jia stared blankly at the doorway, a question flashing through his mind.
—Has anyone been here?
…………
Since nightfall, Shen Mo had been feeling uneasy. This feeling did not disappear with the passage of time, but instead became stronger, to the point that he was restless.
He thought about the things he had recently arranged, one by one, and there were no mistakes.
If nothing happened at the ceremony... could it be...?
Shen Mo's heart tightened. He couldn't care less about the things he still had to deal with; he just couldn't wait to see Qin Moyu.
At first, he thought Qin Moyu was with Xuanjing Zhenren or Gu Jia, but when he scanned the area with his divine sense, he found no one. He immediately expanded the search area with his divine sense and finally found Qin Moyu by a lake.
That lake was built by a former emperor of the Southern Kingdom to please his concubine who loved boating. However, due to some events, their relationship broke down, and the lake became a taboo subject that could not be mentioned. Over time, it fell into disrepair.
Qin Moyu stood by the lake, calmly as if admiring the scenery.
But in front of him, the abandoned lake was overgrown with tangled aquatic plants, and green algae floated on the surface. Forget about enjoying the scenery, most people would find it torture to stay in such a place for even a second longer.
Although Qin Moyu appeared to be acting normally, Shen Mo could clearly hear that his breathing was heavier than usual when he approached quietly.
All the emotions—endurance, pain, and negativity—made Qin Moyu's first reaction not to go find Xuanjing Zhenren and Shen Mo, but to find a secluded place to calm down.
It's fine.
Qin Moyu told himself that he had persevered for so long, and he was no longer alone in his previous life, so he could get through this.
He thought he was still an impenetrable fortress, but in reality, he was completely defeated just by Shen Mo gently hugging him from behind.
"It's alright now..."
Shen Mo didn't know what Qin Moyu had encountered again. He simply hugged Qin Moyu tightly in his arms, who was trembling involuntarily, and said with great heartache, "I'm here for you."
Qin Moyu could no longer hold back and turned around to hug Shen Mo tightly.
In the days immediately following the dean's passing, he would wake up countless times from his sleep, frantically searching for something, but he never knew what he was looking for.
He only understands now.
All he was looking for was a hug.
During those loneliest days, if someone had given him a hug, would everything have been different?
Fortunately, heaven took pity on us.
Qin Moyu, who was gradually losing her luster in the gray days, was caught safely when she fell into another world.
Then tell him.
—It's alright, I'm here.
87. Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Ceremony – “Having seen the Emperor, why not kneel…”
Those negative emotions came and went quickly. Having experienced so much in this world and met so many people, Qin Moyu's mindset was much better than in her previous life.
However, the sudden outburst of these long-suppressed emotions left Qin Moyu at a loss. If Shen Mo hadn't found him in time, he probably wouldn't have been able to recover from this chaotic state for quite some time.
Once Qin Moyu had calmed down a bit, he got out of Shen Mo's embrace, but his hand was still reluctantly holding onto Shen Mo.
Shen Mo didn't ask Qin Moyu what had happened; he simply silently wiped away the tears from the corners of Qin Moyu's eyes.
It was as if the self inside her body had been split into two personalities: one was angrily trying to find out why Qin Moyu had become like this; the other was calmly thinking about how to make Qin Moyu happy.
It would be too vague to offer any words of comfort now, and no one spoke. After a long while, Qin Moyu finally broke the silence.
“I’ve been thinking about something since I was young.” Qin Moyu shook their clasped hands and pulled Shen Mo to sit on the grass by the lake.
Shen Mo didn't mind the dirt on the grass, and dressed in his fine clothes, he sat down as Qin Moyu moved.
He asked at the opportune moment, "What are you thinking about?"
"Why do people suffer so much?" Qin Moyu pursed her lips and smiled sheepishly, as if she found it ridiculous that her past self had been so preoccupied with such things.
"Has Mo Yu figured it out yet?" Shen Mo didn't mock his youthful sorrows, but looked at Qin Mo Yu seriously.
"No." Qin Moyu shook her head, turning to look at the turbulent lake surface. "When I was little, I couldn't understand why someone as good as the dean had such a hard life. Now that I'm grown up, I can't understand why I still feel bitter even after finally making money..."
"It turned out later that..."