Six hundred years

Six hundred years

I) Preface

If there were no stars in the sky, she would be like a meteor shower that breaks your heart, making up for the darkness and colorlessness of the sky, easily leading you into a dream, and easily taking your dream into an endless sea of longing.

If the sea were devoid of water, it would be like the wind, thunder, and lightning that haunt your dreams, bringing a helpless hope that leaves you yearning for more. After the frenzied, confused, and chaotic excitement, only a few drops of comforting rain occasionally fall, offering a brief and poignant moment of nourishment before hastily departing, leaving no trace.

This is the deep wound that Elu inflicted on me.

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(II) Midnight Horror

Do you believe in reincarnation? I was six years old when I first met Ailu. Perched on a servant's shoulder, I gazed at the West Lake, the lingering snow on the Broken Bridge a poignant memory. Ailu and her pancake stall shivered in the cold wind, her trembling eyes looking at me with undisguised envy, my fur coat and hat offering warmth. A sense of superiority, an innate sense of superiority, made me reach out, pointing at her: "I want to buy her, not her pancakes!" Then I brandished my short whip, making a whooshing sound in the air, watching her shiver even more fiercely with immense pride…※※※※※※※※※※ The next time I saw Ailu, I was six hundred years old. But everyone said I was the youngest and most promising oddball in China's IT industry. This sense of superiority had never left me for six hundred years. With my ever-reliable mind, I continued to create miracles, living the life I wanted. Only when I was alone in a bar would I willingly sink into the silence of searching for a blank memory. Ignoring all the surrounding noise, only in this high-decibel environment can I find that blind spot, eagerly confronting that emptiness. Deeply, wistfully, like a seabed parched for millennia, its spine exposed, staring at the blazing sun, devoid of rain. I yearn, yearn to find the blanks in my memory, but whenever I sink into a hazy, confused state, a pair of lights, bright as stars, flashing like lightning, will streak across my face, followed by various sensations—sometimes like a gentle breeze, sometimes like an electric shock, sometimes a deep sadness, sometimes an inner fear. I don't know what gives me such strange feelings, but I like this indescribable feeling, especially that fear I've never experienced before. For me, in my moment of triumph, it's a novel and entirely new experience.

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That night, I returned to the disco called "Hot Dance." This was the only place I'd visited since arriving in this famous city. Not for any other reason than its cramped space, dim lighting, and loud music, which offered a moment of peace to my mind. A chance to escape IT, to escape everything that didn't belong to me. Here, for the first time, without even succumbing to it, I felt a powerful fear, a burning fear, as if it would consume and devour everything within me. This feeling felt like a thousand-year-old longing, constantly drawing me to this disco, just as a strong feeling had carried me from country A to country C, searching and finally settling in this city.

The feeling tonight is particularly intense, as if two sharp swords have pierced my back. The wine glass in my hand clinks and clatters, its song growing louder and louder, and I can barely control the wine flowing into my mouth. I know, she's here!

"Sir, may I have a cigarette?"

I dared not turn around, afraid that my current ecstasy would shatter the century-long wait I had endured. I tried my best to control my impulse, and with feigned composure, I took out a cigarette from my bag and handed it to him.

The cigarette was taken away. Then that voice rang out again: "Cool guy, have we met before?"

"I don't remember."

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [4]: "Only those who have seen me can hear my voice but dare not face me..." A soft sob came from behind. "No one will understand this heart-wrenching loneliness, this intense and inexplicable longing. No one will understand, not even you, alas!"

With a heavy sigh, she vanished from my sight. I turned around to find a throng of people, laser beams dancing wildly. I desperately pushed my way through the crowd, driven by a strong instinct, and ran towards the exit. Who was it? Who was it? Who was that woman who shared the same fate as me? I steadied myself and ran towards a black figure hurrying away. In my haste, I grabbed her arm and cried, "Wait, Miss!"

She turned around and asked in a heartbreakingly trembling voice, "Sir, what's wrong?"

She looked up with helpless eyes, and I felt as if I had been struck by lightning.

I hastily released her hand. What a face it was! Flat, completely blank. I mean, apart from those strangely large eyes that gleamed eerily in the night, there was really nothing else on her face. Startled by the sudden sight, I screamed and fell to the ground. She reached out her slender, flawless hand to me, taking steps closer: "Sir, what's wrong?" Her graceful figure, along with her long hair flowing in the wind, trembled slightly in the moonlight. I sat on the ground, involuntarily backing away with my hands. She sighed sadly, covered her face with her hands, and instantly, large tears slid from between her fingers—truly large tears—falling onto the cold ground, splashing up in tiny sprays. A bewitching woman, bewitching moonlight, bewitching tears, and bewitching shadows all pressed towards me. I couldn't bear it any longer. I let out a piercing scream and rushed out, towards the busy road. A voice seemed to echo in my ears: Run, run! Only the traffic can wash away your sins, only the traffic, only the traffic. I stood frozen in the middle of the road, watching the cars rushing past me, a powerful urge rising within me: rush forward, rush forward, and you'll be safe.

Suddenly, all the cars vanished, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the road. Everything around me gradually darkened until I could see nothing at all. A pair of bright green eyes suddenly rose into the air, staring directly at me, repeatedly murmuring: "Good and evil are rewarded accordingly, everything has a cause, good and evil are rewarded accordingly, everything has a cause, good and evil are rewarded accordingly, everything has a cause..." I clutched my head, screaming incessantly, trying to alleviate my fear with my hoarse cries. I don't know how it all happened, I can't remember what occurred; I only felt dizzy, a complete breakdown crushing me. I collapsed... and silence returned.

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(III) A sudden and alarming change

When I woke up, I saw the Slender West Lake from six hundred years ago. It was summer, and I was a young boy.

The water of West Lake is cool and refreshing. The people around me are like the water of West Lake, and the water lilies of West Lake are delicate yet not cloying, fresh and lovely.

"Young master, have some lotus seeds. I just peeled them." A slender, jade-like wrist brushed against my cheek.

I smiled and stretched out my head, wanting to bite the lotus seed gently held by that fair wrist. The beautiful woman beside me giggled and moved the lotus seed away from me.

I was so excited by the provocation that I grabbed the beauty in my arms and said, "Ailiao, if you keep being so naughty, I'll have to force my way into your Ailiao Residence tonight!"

“Young Master, you wouldn’t do that. If it were really like that, you wouldn’t have waited these fourteen years. Back then, you bought me from the Broken Bridge of West Lake and gave me Ai Liao Residence, naming me Ai Liao’er. For fourteen years, you have always treated me with great courtesy. Ai Liao’er knows that you are a man of great benevolence and righteousness, and would not act like a petty person from the marketplace.”

I sneered inwardly. This woman was indeed as intelligent and refined as a delicate orchid. I had owned her for fourteen years—not a short time—since I understood matters of the heart, yet I had never been able to touch her. She always cleverly avoided me with her charming smile. I watched the silent fishing float on the lake, waiting, waiting for a fish to take the bait. I knew that the woman beside me, with eyes as clear as the West Lake, was secretly watching me, just as I was secretly watching her.

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"Young master, you're back? Madam is waiting for your reply." The old servant, Wuyun, stood bowing at the main gate. "I know."

I dismounted and flicked my whip, which rang out crisply in the air before flying toward my old servant, Wuyun. He simply waved it away, and the whip was already in his hand. I gritted my teeth in resentment. That old bastard! I'll deal with him sooner or later. He thinks he's done great service, remaining unmarried his entire life to protect the Yuan family's fortune. I even learned my martial arts techniques from him, and I always have a sleazy appearance. But ever since I was old enough to understand, I've always been wary of him. His great achievements overshadowing his master have always been an unavoidable factor in historical tragedies.

I entered my mother's room, where she was puffing away on a hookah. I was disgusted by it all. This woman named Luo Yuanyuan was not my biological mother. When I was seven, my mother had already left with a wandering monk; this woman's father was merely a second wife. At forty, she thought she was still charming. Seeing me enter, she dismissed the maid and clung to me like a leech: "Shiwu, you've been coming to my place less and less lately." She exhaled a puff of smoke from behind my shoulder. I hated her like this, yet she thought she was at her most alluring at that moment. I hated that my understanding of the world began with this woman. The nightmare of my fift

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