A Painful Confrontation in the Bamboo Grove

“None?”

“How could Zhang Xiaocha be nowhere to be found? Even Mu Xi and Shangguan Zhi haven’t managed to locate her.” Luo Bingning stood blankly beneath the willow tree in front of Lanzhi Residence, Mu Xi’s abode. Her cloud-like hair swayed with the willow branches in the breeze, and her shimmering eyes were filled with profound bewilderment.

‘Could it be that the Zhang Xiaocha in the stone cave wasn’t a substitute at all?’ Her delicate face abruptly paled. ‘Doesn’t that mean I struck the wrong person?’

Upon this realization, Luo Bingning immediately soared back towards the stone cave.

“Is that… Mu Xi?” A complex expression clouded her face. If Mu Xi was with Master, perhaps Zhang Xiaocha was there too?

Her figure descended swiftly.

In front of Wenhui Residence, the bamboo grove rustled softly.

Mu Xi, clad in a pale yellow dress, stared blankly at Luo Bingning, who stood not far away.

In that instant, everything that had transpired in the stone cave swirled before her eyes like a nightmare. Tears streamed down her face. “Why?”

Mu Xi covered her mouth with one hand, sobbing uncontrollably.

Luo Bingning felt a profound disorientation. For a moment, she couldn’t discern what Mu Xi was asking.

Was she asking about the events in the stone cave?

Or was it about the Jade Maiden Sect’s own indifference? She cast her gaze downwards, her heart heavy. Perhaps, she mused,

It was both.

“Bingning, you… you just abandoned me that day?” Mu Xi forced down the tumultuous emotions within her, managing a tragic smile as her pearly teeth bit fiercely into her lower lip.

‘What am I saying?’

‘Bingning doesn’t know I saw everything in the stone cave.’

In front of the purple bamboo grove, Luo Bingning and Mu Xi stood facing each other. A gentle breeze swept through, causing their skirts to flutter around them.

“I…”

Luo Bingning lifted her head, meeting Mu Xi’s mournful gaze. Her throat felt parched, and the image of Mu Xi’s wretched state in the stone cave that day incessantly flashed through her mind. The explanations she had prepared were swallowed deep within her.

‘It’s better to wait a little longer,’

‘Once some time has passed, I’ll tell Mu Xi about my relationship with Zhang Xiaocha, to completely sever her lingering hopes.’

“Can’t we go back to how things were? Even if there’s another Zhang Xiaocha, I wouldn’t care! Truly, Bingning, I genuinely wouldn’t! As long as I have you…”

“Mm… just having you here would be enough…” Mu Xi’s eyes were clouded with tears. Her fingertips trembled as she reached out, humbly clutching the hem of Luo Bingning’s skirt, her voice choked with sobs.

Seeing Mu Xi’s cautious demeanor, Luo Bingning’s heart clenched painfully. She instinctively raised her hand, intending to grasp the pale hand clinging to her skirt, but then it abruptly froze in mid-air.

‘Ultimately, I can’t return to how things once were with Mu Xi. Even if I could comfort her once, twice, thrice,’

‘Could I keep comforting her indefinitely?’

‘If I did, Mu Xi would only find it even harder to move past the past.’

Her shimmering eyes welled up with an unstoppable mist. Her throat constricted with difficulty, and her arm fell naturally, only to suddenly feel a pair of soft, boneless hands enveloping her own palm.

“Bingning, do you remember? Before, when we played and chased each other in this purple bamboo grove?” Mu Xi whimpered. “Yes! You’d pretend to be the wife, and I’d be your beloved, and we’d playfully tease each other here in the bamboo forest.”

Her face was streaked with tears, and the hands clutching Luo Bingning’s palm trembled uncontrollably. Her breathing was rapid and erratic. “I’d chase you from behind, calling you ‘my lady,’ and I’d say, ‘Bingning, run slower, wait for me,’ and you’d say—”

“Mu Xi!”

Luo Bingning’s clear voice, tinged with a tremor, echoed in Mu Xi’s ears. Mu Xi looked up blankly, meeting a pair of tear-filled, hazy eyes. At that moment, her heart throbbed with an unbearable ache.

“But that’s all in the past now, isn’t it, Mu Xi!” Luo Bingning knelt down, her chest overwhelmed by a surging tide of grief, her voice hoarse.

She raised a hand, gently tucking the tear-soaked strands of Mu Xi’s hair behind her ear, while simultaneously wiping away the streaks of tears from her face.

“No!”

“I won’t listen! I won’t listen! What if they are just memories? They were real, tangible events that happened! Weren’t they, Bingning?” Mu Xi shrieked, pressing her hands tightly over her ears, her shoulders shaking violently.

“We even got punished by Master for playing too much! Do you remember, Bingning?” Her voice was filled with pleading.

Her temples were soaked with tears, clinging tightly to the sides of her face. Mu Xi’s hair was disheveled, and large tears flowed down her cheeks, creating damp patches on her skirt.

“I remember! I remember everything! But we can’t keep living in memories, Mu Xi!” Luo Bingning knelt down, her chest overwhelmed by a surging tide of grief, her voice hoarse.

She raised a hand, gently tucking the tear-soaked strands of Mu Xi’s hair behind her ear, while simultaneously wiping away the streaks of tears from her face.

“No!”

“I won’t listen! I won’t listen! What if they are just memories? They were real, tangible events that happened! Weren’t they, Bingning?” Mu Xi shrieked, pressing her hands tightly over her ears, her shoulders shaking violently.

“We even got punished by Master for playing too much! Do you remember, Bingning?” Her voice was filled with pleading.

Her temples were soaked with tears, clinging tightly to the sides of her face. Mu Xi’s hair was disheveled, and large tears flowed down her cheeks, creating damp patches on her skirt.

“I remember! I remember everything! But we can’t keep living in memories, Mu Xi!” Luo Bingning knelt down, her chest overwhelmed by a surging tide of grief, her voice hoarse.

She raised a hand, gently tucking the tear-soaked strands of Mu Xi’s hair behind her ear, while simultaneously wiping away the streaks of tears from her face.

“I’m sorry, Bingning, I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Mu Xi suddenly looked up, extending a trembling fingertip to gently wipe away the tear stains from Luo Bingning’s face. Her voice, like a broken mechanism, repeated, “It’s all my fault! It’s all my fault! It’s all my fault…”

Luo Bingning, her face drawn and pale, shook her head. “No! It’s not your fault, it’s mine… I’m the one who wronged you!”

The next instant,

Mu Xi suddenly lunged into Luo Bingning’s embrace, speaking in a daze, “Bingning…” She felt Luo Bingning’s body stiffen.

A profound sorrow overwhelmed Mu Xi’s heart, nearly causing her to faint. She choked out, “Bingning, are you… are you truly so averse to me?”

With that, the hands clutching Luo Bingning tightened even more.

“I…”

Luo Bingning’s hands, which had instinctively pushed against Mu Xi, abruptly froze. She turned her head away. “Mu Xi… I… I’m sorry…”

Luo Bingning’s eyes were half-closed, tears tracing paths down her cheeks and falling onto the back of her hand.

‘What I’ve always feared isn’t contact with you, but that you, Mu Xi, through that contact, would find it even harder to escape from your memories!’

‘Because,’

‘That is a road with no end…’

Just then, a soft, tearful cry, accompanied by sharp slapping sounds, resonated from the void.

“Waaah, waaah, waaah…”

“Master, please don’t hit my bottom anymore, Zhang Xiaocha’s bottom… It hurts so much, waaah, waaah, waaah… Zhang Xiaocha will never again mention co-conceiving with you, Master!”

Slap, slap, slap—

“Truly, I won’t dare to again!” The crying intensified dramatically.

In that instant, Luo Bingning, who had been about to break free from Mu Xi’s embrace, suddenly froze. Zhang Xiaocha?!

It was Zhang Xiaocha’s voice! Her pearly teeth bit hard into her lower lip. ‘Sure enough, my guess was correct. The “Zhang Xiaocha” in the stone cave was a substitute!’

‘But co-conceiving with Master? What does that even mean? Didn’t Master long ago abandon the idea of taking Zhang Xiaocha as a child bride?’

‘Or could it be,’

‘That Zhang Xiaocha herself wants to co-conceive with Master…’

At this thought, Luo Bingning’s pupils abruptly constricted.