Untouchable Lovers - Chapter 267
Chapter 267: Chapter 244: Years Since We Parted Chapter 267: Chapter 244: Years Since We Parted Luoyang, named for its location north of the Luoshui River.
The carriage left the city and traveled for a while before the gentle currents ahead came into view, with the water, reflecting the sunlight, casting clear glimmers of light and mirroring the verdant weeping willows on the riverbank, imbuing the entire river with the essence of spring.
Chu Yu stared fixedly at the river for a while before she said, “Guan Canghai, Amman, accompany me for a walk. It gets stuffy sitting in the carriage all the time.”
The three of them stopped the carriage and left it in the care of the attendants, then walked slowly along the riverside. Chu Yu was in the lead with Guan Canghai following, and Amman alternated between walking fast and slow, back and forth, without any regularity.
After walking for a distance, Chu Yu remembered Guan Canghai’s unusual silence today. Since getting on the carriage, apart from instructing the coachman on the speed, he had hardly spoken.
Chu Yu felt curious, but at this moment, she was too listless and weary to inquire.
Small whirlpools occasionally broke the river’s placid surface, while in the distance, a boat moved languidly. The spring was bright and beautiful, and even the air seemed soothing and gentle.
Lost in her thoughts, Chu Yu walked without knowing for how long, until the knot in her heart began to loosen. She exhaled and looked calmly at the river surface. At that moment, Chu Yu stood on the edge of a high mound by the riverbank; one more step forward would cause her to fall into the river. However, the view from here was vast, and her mood became a lot more open.
Below, a luxurious pleasure boat sailed by; from a distance of over ten meters, its opulence was evident, probably belonging to a wealthy family out enjoying the spring. Chu Yu glanced at it casually and then looked away.
On the bright side, even though Huan Yuan had left, it wasn’t necessarily the case that they would never meet again. Besides, Huan Yuan had his own opinions; could she really control him forever? As for the hardships of travel, she believed in Huan Yuan’s ability to take care of himself.
No need to worry, no need to be concerned.
Chu Yu told herself.
Feeling better, she turned to call to the others but noticed Guan Canghai was no longer behind her. Just a few meters away, Amman stared in shock at the ground beneath her feet, his eyes wide, his mouth open as if to shout something.
Following his gaze, Chu Yu looked down and saw the ground around the two-foot radius where she stood visibly crack, and the sound of gravel falling echoed below her. It appeared that the edge of the mound was not very solid; it had barely supported her weight until she stood there, triggering small fissures.
Chu Yu wanted to escape immediately but upon barely moving her foot, which had not even fully lifted, more gravel sounded from below, frightening her into hesitation.
In this moment, time and thoughts seemed to freeze. Chu Yu saw Amman rush closer in panic, while Guan Canghai, quite a distance behind, seemed to realize something was amiss and ran towards her swiftly.
Amman was closer and reached Chu Yu first, stretching out his hand to pull her. However, recalling his incredible strength and fearing he might hurt her, he hesitated. In this moment of indecision, the ground beneath them shifted. What was initially a small collapse beneath Chu Yu drastically spread as Amman’s weight exerted additional force nearby. The two lost their balance, hands brushing frantically against each other in the air before swiftly parting.
Amid the collapsing soil and rocks, both started to fall.
Chu Yu felt weightless for an instant, her eyes fixed on where she was falling. By then, Guan Canghai had reached her, swiftly extending his hand to grab something–it was Amman’s arm.
Guan Canghai hesitated for a moment, as if to let go, but ultimately pulled back, and in that delay, missed the opportunity to save Chu Yu. By the time he pulled Amman back onto the mound, Chu Yu had already fallen a considerable distance.
The mound was not tall; dropping into the river below wouldn’t be fatal.
Chu Yu’s mind went blank, her only thought being: she didn’t really know how to swim.
The reason Guan Canghai reached Amman first was that when Chu Yu and Amman had been standing together, Chu Yu had been on the outer side, with Amman on the inner. As they fell, Amman ended up blocking her, preventing Guan Canghai from reaching her in time.
With a flick of his hand, Guan Canghai brushed the bothersome young man to one side and reached for the blindfold around his eyes, his body poised to jump down after her. But the next second, his hand slowly lowered, and the force in his legs eased up.
The wind whooshed past Chu Yu’s ears, but her heart was not too much in a panic. Having caught a glimpse of Guan Canghai’s figure earlier, she had eased up, thinking that even if she unfortunately fell into the water, Guan Canghai would surely save her before she drowned … As she thought this, Chu Yu fell into the warmth of an embrace from behind.
A hand reached out from beneath her arm, tightly holding her waist, her back pressed against the chest of another person, and then she saw that person stretch out a leg and forcefully push against the large rock that was also falling, using the reaction force to guide their descent into a slanting glide, landing directly into the painting boat that Chu Yu had just seen.
At the same time, Guan Canghai turned and walked down the mound, heading towards a lower and flatter ground closer to the river’s edge.
The moment the two touched the boat, that hand instantly released her, the boat shook slightly, and Chu Yu almost stumbled and fell. Accompanied by a cheerful “Be careful,” a pair of hands firmly steadied her shoulders, but this time waiting until she was properly balanced before letting go.
On closer inspection, every carving and decoration on the painting boat was meticulously exquisite and beautiful; gathered together without ever seeming too complicated or cluttered, only revealing endless layers of beauty. But at this time, Chu Yu had no interest in admiring these details, as all her thoughts were on the person behind her.
The moment she heard his voice, Chu Yu’s heart began thumping wildly. Once she finally found her footing, she slowly turned to look back, and the handsome, elegant features that entered her eyes were just as they had been in her memory, so effortlessly relaxed, like the unrestrained water and wind.
Nothing could chain his steps, and no one could disturb his happiness.
The distance between them was nearly intimate, but around him, any hints of intimacy could turn into mild winds and bright moonlight, into clouds and flowing water.
Last time he had left without saying goodbye, leaving a note saying there was no need for farewells, and now that they met again, it seemed that he had truly fulfilled his words: he wandered wherever he pleased between heaven and earth.
Wang Yizhi looked down with a smile, his folding fan closed in hand–it was still the very one Chu Yu had given him. He smiled slightly as if the two had merely encountered each other on the street, “We haven’t met for years, Brother Zichu has been well, I trust.”
How could she possibly have been well?
Chu Yu looked at him somewhat dazedly. Since he left, some had departed, some had betrayed, some had died, and some had undergone earth-shattering changes. She lost her identity, traveled from the Southern Dynasty to the Northern Dynasty, experienced a showdown in the snow, and after that, people who had shared hardships with her one by one left her.
It had been just over a year, but she felt as though it had been over a decade. With so many upheavals and so much nostalgia, how could everything be clearly expressed in an instant?
But, but in front of this man, it seemed as if all of that didn’t matter anymore. The year of separation seemed to vanish in his presence, and those deep marks of memories in her heart, under the gentle wave and breeze of his eyes, seemed to be smoothed away at a visibly fast pace.
The overturning encounters she had experienced seemed to fade into insignificance, as if they would be blown away by the wind at any moment, leaving no trace behind.
It was as if they had only parted ways yesterday and now they had reunited, casually greeting each other: “Are you okay?”
She was still Zichu, and he was still Yizhi.
No matter how time turned or places changed or their identities transformed, this had never changed.
A powerful surge rose in her heart, battering her insides, and her eyes brimmed with tears. With laughter mingling in her voice, almost choking, she said, “Brother Yizhi, you have been well.”
=================================================
Phew, I said I would bring Brother Yizhi out, and after waiting so long, it’s finally time for his entrance … Now to use a phrase:
Yizhi has arrived, will Rong Zhi be far behind?
It’s the end of the month, sweat, everyone who hasn’t cast their monthly ticket, please casually throw it my way~~~
