Luzhou Moon - Chapter 89
"You mean that as a well-intentioned reminder?" Yue Ruzheng's eyes were still glistening with tears, but a cold smile appeared on her face.
Lian Junchu forcefully turned her face away, sneering in return: "You've never understood! What am I to you?"
Yue Ruzheng's face turned deathly pale. "Why did you say such a thing?!" she exclaimed.
"Isn't that so?" Lian Junchu suddenly turned her back, tilted her head back, and her voice trembled slightly. "Three years ago, so many things happened. You went back and forth between Luzhou and Nan Yandang, and I was like a fool, knowing nothing! You were right beside me, but I knew nothing! You said you didn't mean to lie to me, but now I only feel more pain than before... In your heart, I'm just so untrustworthy. You'd rather steal than tell me even a little bit of the inside story!"
Upon hearing his words, Yue Ruzheng felt as if her heart was being torn apart. She loosened her grip, and the necklace fell to the ground with a soft thud.
Lian Junchu's back trembled slightly, then she deliberately raised her voice, speaking with an air of nonchalance, "Why keep things from the past? That broken seashell is worthless anyway, why bother carrying it around?!"
After saying this, he turned to the side and raised his foot as if to kick Yingluo on the ground.
Suddenly, Yue Ruzheng burst into a scream, leaping off the bed and shoving at his shoulder. Lian Junchu tried to dodge, but seeing her lose her balance and about to fall, he stopped. Yue Ruzheng's fists slammed heavily into his shoulder, her palms stinging from the sharp thorns hidden in her clothes, but she seemed oblivious, kicking and punching wildly like a madwoman.
Lian Junchu gritted her teeth and used her body to forcefully block her from the edge of the bed.
"Go crazy if you want!" He closed his eyes, his face full of pain.
"What's going on?!" As soon as the door opened, Lian Junqiu rushed in in astonishment. Seeing this, she quickly stepped forward, trying to hold Yue Ruzheng down, but Yue Ruzheng was hysterical, and Lian Junqiu dared not use too much force, so she was unable to do anything about her for a moment.
"Jun Chu, get out of the way!" She grabbed Yue Ruzheng's arm and shouted back at Lian Jun Chu. But Lian Jun Chu remained expressionless, letting Yue Ruzheng lash out.
Faced with these two seemingly insane people, Lian Junqiu, in a fit of rage, grabbed Yue Ruzheng's shoulders and shoved Lian Junchu forcefully, forcing him to take a step back.
Yue Ruzheng had exhausted all her strength struggling. Lian Junqiu, supporting her arm, roared furiously, "Yue Ruzheng, do you have any conscience? Jun Chu dragged you on his knees for so long, his knees are covered in blood, and you still want to hit him?!"
"Stop talking!" Lian Junchu cried out in a sorrowful voice, turning to leave, but the wooden door had already been closed by Lian Junqiu. He could only endure the pain, bend over, and bite the latch to drag it back.
Seeing him like this, Yue Ruzheng felt another pang of pain in her heart, cold sweat poured down her body, and she felt dizzy.
Chapter Sixty: An Endless and Unending Devotion
Lian Junqiu watched as Yue Ruzheng collapsed, her body limp. Quickly, she caught her back, preventing her from hitting the bed frame. She swiftly took a very thin silver needle and inserted it into Yue Ruzheng's Yongquan acupoint, gently massaging it for a while. Seeing that Yue Ruzheng was gradually calming down, she turned to look at Lian Junchu.
The room was not brightly lit. He leaned against the door, his head bowed, as if he had just broken free from that irrational state.
"Do you want her to die here?" Lian Junqiu asked helplessly.
Lian Junchu trembled, then slowly raised her eyes to look at her. Although Yue Ruzheng was no longer moving, her breathing was labored, her eyes were closed, and her face was completely bloodless.
Lian Junchu lowered his head again, silently turned around, opened the door, and walked out alone.
Lian Junqiu bent down to pick up the necklace from the ground, held it in her palm and looked at it for a moment, her brows still furrowed with doubt.
Before they knew it, it was almost noon. Yue Ruzheng had taken her medicine and gradually fell asleep. Lian Junqiu then got up and went out of the house. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Lian Junchu sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall, staring blankly at the gloomy blue sky.
A pang of sadness struck her. She squatted down and said, "Jun Chu, I want to say something to you."
Lian Junchu did not respond, but simply nodded slightly.
Lian Junqiu considered for a moment, then composed herself and said, "After you send Yue Ruzheng away, you shouldn't see her again."
His gaze remained fixed on the horizon, but his eyes seemed even darker.
"I think if you keep getting involved with her like this, you'll both go crazy. You have no idea how worried I was just now..." Lian Junqiu said bitterly, then looked at him, "Junchu, please don't be so stubborn, okay?"
Lian Junchu leaned weakly against the corner of the wall, seemingly oblivious to her words, still staring blankly into the distance. Lian Junqiu sighed silently, noticing his chapped lips, and couldn't help but ask, "Have you not eaten or drunk anything since last night?"
Lian Junchu lowered her eyes, slowly bent her knees, a hint of pain between her brows, and after a long while, she said in a hoarse voice, "Was I wrong, sister?"
"What did you do wrong?" Lian Junqiu knelt beside him, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. "Remember? Three years ago, I told you it was all over... But I never imagined that in these three years, you'd become someone I barely knew... Junchu, why can't you let go of yourself, and let her go too?"
Lian Junchu pursed his lips, his usually straight back feeling weak. Lian Junqiu wanted to offer some words of comfort, but he turned his gaze to the side, resisting with silence.
"In the end, you still wouldn't listen to me..." Lian Junqiu smiled helplessly, her voice filled with desolation.
After a long while, she finally stood up with difficulty and said, "I'll make you something to eat." As she spoke, she went to the well in front of the house to draw water, but when she turned around with the bucket, she saw that Lian Junchu had already entered the house with heavy steps.
Inside the room, Yue Ruzheng was completely different from her earlier frantic self. She was now fast asleep, seemingly having forgotten all her worries.
The necklace was placed beside her pillow, and compared to the light blue, lustrous pearls on the pendant, the small seashell seemed particularly inconspicuous.
Lian Junchu slowly walked forward, enduring the pain in his knees, and knelt down in front of the bed. The floor was cold, but he seemed not to care at all, simply leaning down gently, turning his face to get close to Yingluo.
A slight chill seeped from his cheek into his heart. That year, at their first meeting, she was panicked, like a lost lone goose wandering deep into the mountains. It was then that she took off the necklace she always wore close to her body and gently, with a touch of shyness, placed it in his arms. He braved the heavy rain to send her a message through the night, and he remembered the joyful light in Yue Ruzheng's eyes when he returned. She happily said, "I was so worried about you, so afraid something had happened to you!"
But why has the Yue Ruzheng who loved to cry and laugh disappeared without a trace, just like the passing of time? Now, she seems to live in constant fear and anxiety, unable to find the joy of the past again...
Lian Junchu suppressed his grief and used all his strength to press himself closer to Yingluo, closer to the equally cool seashell. His eyes were still deep and unfathomable, but the heart-wrenching pain pierced his heart in an instant.
The orchids he gave her had long since withered and died. The seashells he gave her were now broken and shattered. These were the most ordinary things, things that no one else would cherish except her, yet now they seemed to have been uprooted and lost their life.
He held his breath, pressed Yingluo down with his shoulder, and bit through the thin string tied to the seashell with trembling hands. After doing all this, he seemed to have exhausted all his energy and lay down deeply beside her pillow.
A lone bird cried mournfully in the sky, slowly drifting into the distance. It was dusk, and the already dim sky grew even more somber, except for the clouds on the western side, which were tinged with a faint orange-red by the setting sun.
As dusk settled, Lian Junqiu slowly emerged from the path. From afar, aside from her unchanging figure, her attire was indistinguishable from that of an ordinary peasant woman. A chilling mountain wind rustled through the pines and cypresses, producing a desolate sound. She glanced back into the distance and quickened her pace toward the thatched hut.
Gently pushing open the door, the dimly lit room was quiet. Lian Junchu leaned against the bed railing with his eyes closed, but even so, a faint melancholy still lingered between his brows. The days of running around and the almost frantic outburst after meeting Yue Ruzheng were enough to leave him mentally and physically exhausted.
Lian Junqiu cautiously approached him, gazing down at his delicate features. The younger brother she remembered always had deep, clear black eyes, like a mountain spring. He rarely spoke, only looking at her with those quiet eyes. Just like that year, when she first saw him at the age of fifteen, his face was as white as paper, his small body wrapped in a blood-stained white cloth. Amidst the chaotic crowd and terrified cries, Lian Junqiu ran after her father, while the boy being held simply stared fixedly at the sky with his deep, dark eyes.
That was her first impression of him: extremely reserved, yet possessing extraordinary patience.
But this extremely quiet child went berserk the first time he spoke to his father after being sent back to the Seven Star Island courtyard.
Where are my hands?