usatvline Chapter 560 Qin Mu and the Moon Goddess arrived at the inn, and Xu Longxiang watched from downstairs
Chapter 560 Qin Mu and the Moon Goddess arrived at the inn, and Xu Longxiang watched from downstairs
The night was darker.
Xu Longxiang still stood in the shadows at the alley entrance.
His gaze passed through the half-open door of the tavern and landed on two figures in the candlelight.
He saw the slight curve of Chen Ruoyao's head, the rise of the gray-clothed figure's arm when he picked up the wine bowl, and the distance between the two across the table seemed to have shrunk imperceptibly.
Then he saw the moon goddess get up.
The pale white figure rose from the candlelight.
Then the figure in gray cloth stood up, casually placed something on the table, and the two walked towards the tavern entrance, one after the other.
Xu Longxiang's fingers clenched tightly inside his sleeve.
His pupils contracted slightly, as if pricked by something, and then dilated slightly from the contraction.
He saw the two of them walk out of the half-open door side by side. Their moon-white dresses and gray robes overlapped for a moment in the dim yellow light of the oil-paper lamp, and then separated.
Then the two of them walked together to the other end of the street.
They're heading in... towards the inn!?
Xu Longxiang's heart sank for a moment, then jumped back up.
He didn't know whether he should follow them or not.
He stood there, watching the two figures gradually disappear into the moonlight, one in moonlight white, the other in gray cloth, one composed, the other also composed.
Their pace was neither fast nor slow, as if they were taking a stroll.
Xu Longxiang's foot moved.
He hadn't even thought it through before he took the step.
He walked along the shadow at the base of the wall.
He walked past a cloth shop that had already closed, past an old locust tree whose branches swayed slightly in the night breeze, and past a shop whose doors had been boarded up.
He didn't get too close, but kept a sufficient distance so that the two figures remained at the edge of his sight, neither losing sight of them nor getting too close.
Xu Longxiang followed for a while, then suddenly stopped.
He stood in the glow of the lantern that had been lit again, the moonlight and the lamplight intertwining at his feet like two lines that were intertwined yet separated.
What is he doing?
Why did he follow?
He just wanted to confirm the Moon Goddess's safety, to confirm that Zhao San wouldn't do anything to her, and to confirm that she was just acting, just going to complete a carefully arranged scheme for the greater good.
Xu Longxiang kept telling himself these things.
He watched the two figures walk to the entrance of the inn. He saw the figure in gray cloth turn to the side, as if waiting for the figure in moon white to leave first.
Seeing the moon-white figure nod slightly, then step across the threshold.
The figure in gray cloth followed behind her and also crossed the threshold.
The two disappeared into the candlelight inside the door, spreading out silently like a drop of ink falling into water.
Xu Longxiang stood by a willow tree across the street, looking at the inn door that had already been closed.
His feet remained planted in place; he did not move forward.
Xu Longxiang loosened his clenched fist, then clenched it again, then loosened it again.
The moonlight fell on his face, illuminating his face, which he was trying to keep calm, in a way that was both bright and dark.
Xu Longxiang had no idea what he was thinking.
No, he knew, he just didn't want to admit it.
Those indescribable emotions and that secret, burning sensation down his spine rose and fell like the tide.
He told himself that she was doing it for the greater good, and that he cared about her.
But when Xu Longxiang said those words, he could feel how powerless those words were.
Xu Longxiang stood under the willow tree, the night wind blowing through the branches, stirring the hem of his dark python robe.
He took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.
The breath turned into a very faint white mist in the night sky and quickly dissipated.
He lowered his head and looked at the bluestone slab at his feet, illuminated by the moonlight.
He told himself that the Moon Goddess wouldn't let Zhao San get away with it.
She's so smart; since she agreed to see him, she must have known her place.
She wouldn't do anything to betray him.
She did all this for him, for the North, and for their shared cause.
He repeated these words over and over again, as if chanting a spell.
He told himself—she had feelings for him.
What she said in the tavern, her hesitation, her struggle—it was all real.
She was sacrificing for him, making concessions for him, and walking through that door for him.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again.
The night breeze brushed against his face, carrying the chill of late autumn and early winter, but he didn't feel cold. He only felt as if something was expanding his chest, or as if something was pressing down on it.
Just then, a window on the second floor of the inn suddenly lit up.
The candlelight shone through the paper window, casting a warm yellow square patch of light on the window pane.
Xu Longxiang's gaze suddenly shot up, like a taut string that had been snapped open.
His gaze was fixed on the lit window.
Then he saw it.
Two figures, separated by the thin window paper, were reflected in the warm yellow light.
A strip of moonlight, a strip of gray cloth.
Two figures stood side by side, first shoulder to shoulder, then the figure in moon-white turned slightly to the side, as if saying something.
The figure in gray cloth also turned slightly to the side, as if listening or responding.
Then the moon-white figure took a half step back, as if yielding to something.
The figure in gray cloth did not chase after them, but simply stood there.
Two figures stood quietly, half a step apart, separated by a thin layer of window paper, like a silhouette reflected on the paper by candlelight.
Xu Longxiang's breathing suddenly became rapid.
He didn't know where to look, or which figure to fix his gaze on.
All he knew was that he couldn't take his eyes off it...