Chapter 35 Part 2

But Lu Qingxue had noticed—and she had also sensed that Yun Chun was thinking about something else. As for exactly what, Lu Qingxue couldn’t be sure.

She smiled and called out, “Little Darling.”

“Hm?”

Yun Chun looked up at the sound and saw Lu Qingxue in a cyan long dress, her figure swaying like willow branches under the moonlight, casually shifting with a hazy glow. Beneath the silvery light, Lu Qingxue’s hand, hanging at her side, lifted slightly toward Yun Chun. “Come here. Let me hold you.”

It was the same line as always: no kiss, just a hug.

She wanted to draw energy from Yun Chun, this little sun of hers—enough joyful energy to lift her spirits.

Yun Chun paused in place for two seconds at Lu Qingxue’s request, then stepped forward.

The distance she had put between them by stepping back was closed again as she moved in close.

Standing before Lu Qingxue, Yun Chun opened her arms as well.

Slowly, their arms crossed at the sides, coming into contact with each other’s bodies.

Another embrace completed.

“Sister Qingxue…” Yun Chun murmured softly.

“Hm?”

“Your tone just now sounded a bit like how you call Merry.”

Lu Qingxue paused for a moment, then smiled and asked in return, “And you still came over?”

Lu Qingxue’s laughter was like raindrops pattering on a lake’s surface, soft and steady; or like the sun rising, a single golden ray piercing the peak of a snowcapped mountain, where the snow kissed the sunlight; or like a butterfly’s wings fluttering…

No image of beauty could fully capture Lu Qingxue’s voice. But her voice could lead one through mountains and rivers, to witness every breathtaking vista in the world.

Yun Chun rested her chin on Lu Qingxue’s shoulder, immersing herself in that landscape, and replied candidly, “Because you said you wanted to hold me, and I just happened to want to hold you too.”

So she had come.

Yun Chun wandered through the mountains and waters, finally stopping before a lake. She lifted her gaze to her reflection in the water and whispered softly, “A hug makes it stop hurting.”

She had originally wanted to ask Lu Qingxue: When I didn’t call out your name right away, did it hurt you?

But the words reached her lips, and Yun Chun couldn’t bring herself to say them.

She wasn’t sure of her place in Lu Qingxue’s heart at that moment, wasn’t sure if asking would stir up negative emotions.

Even so, Yun Chun still wanted to hug her.

Because it hurt her—a lot.

That regret gnawing at her heart snagged on the thorns wrapped around it, pricking her with every beat.

And those thorns were named death.

A flicker passed through Lu Qingxue’s eyes, and the smile at her lips deepened. One hand stroked the back of Yun Chun’s head while the other gently patted her back twice. “Mm,” she murmured softly. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

~~~

Yun Chun and Lu Qingxue’s embrace hadn’t ended when the door was suddenly pushed open.

Fortunately, just a second before it opened, Lu Qingxue had whispered in Yun Chun’s ear, “Someone’s coming.”

Yun Chun’s hands dropped accordingly, but Qin Xing still caught a hint of something off. Yun Chun was standing rigidly by the chair, and the brightly lit room had somehow turned pitch black.

Qin Xing frowned. “Why’d you draw the curtains?”

She didn’t know. After spending some time with Lu Qingxue, Yun Chun had realized that Lu Qingxue wasn’t actually afraid of light—she just preferred to stay in the dark whenever possible. Maybe light didn’t harm her, but being in it affected her somehow?

Yun Chun glanced at the curtains, then walked toward Qin Xing. “Actually, I’m a vampire. I can’t stand the light.”

Qin Xing was speechless for a moment. “…You’re nuts.”

Qin Xing’s lips quirked up, and she said to Yun Chun, “Perfect timing. Let’s have the master take a look and see if she can cure whatever’s wrong with you.”

Yun Chun blinked. “What master?”

Qin Xing handed her the phone she’d left in the office. “Someone called you. The contact’s saved as Master Xu.”

Then Qin Xing watched as Yun Chun’s eyes lit up, and she hurriedly took the phone.

Qin Xing added, “I didn’t pick up. She hung up herself.”

Yun Chun unlocked it and checked the missed calls. Sure enough, it was from Xu Lanmeng.

A spark of anticipation flared in her chest.

Could it be… news about her mom?!

Qin Xing stood nearby, baffled by Yun Chun’s sudden excitement. She stared at her for a second and asked, “You okay?”

Yun Chun was already dialing Xu Lanmeng back. She glanced up at Qin Xing absentmindedly. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Qin Xing replied, “I saw you earlier—when you found out Lu Qingxue was behind SNOW, you looked like you’d lost your soul. What, pulling the curtains brought it back?”

Yun Chun listened to Qin Xing while the call rang, but it was busy. Remembering the crowd at Xu Lanmeng’s house last time, she figured the woman was probably tied up.

She set the phone down and looked at Qin Xing. “Sister Xing, I’ve noticed you’ve been extra sharp-tongued these past couple days.” She smiled. “Being the boss is tough, huh?”

Qin Xing fell silent.

She had just thought of a possibility:

SNOW belonged to Lu Qingxue, and now Mo Yue was involved with SNOW. So everything SNOW did was at Mo Yue’s direction. Inviting Yun Chun to Fashion Week—was it… related to Lu Qingxue somehow?

But Lu Qingxue was dead. What connection could she still have to Yun Chun? So it had to be Mo Yue. What was Mo Yue after? Promoting Yun Chun? Or fulfilling some wish Lu Qingxue had left behind?

“It’s tough,” Qin Xing admitted. Especially when it involved Mo Yue. She leaned against the doorframe with one hand, blocking Yun Chun’s path, and asked, “Does your… Big Boss know about that ghost marriage with Lu Qingxue?”

“Of course. She’s a friend of Sister Qingxue’s. She said she found out while paying respects after going back.”

Qin Xing pressed, “And has she said anything to you about it?”

Yun Chun didn’t understand why Qin Xing was asking, but she answered anyway. “Nope.”

Mo Yue really hadn’t said much—just chatted about Merry. A few days ago, she’d even mentioned that Merry had stopped throwing tantrums and refusing food. Yun Chun knew it had to be because Lu Qingxue had visited the little beast.

Beyond talking about the dog, Mo Yue hadn’t brought up anything else.

Qin Xing pursed her lips and went quiet for a few seconds after hearing that.

She was a bit shorter than Yun Chun. As Yun Chun tilted her head to look at her, she saw the gravity on Qin Xing’s face and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

“Your Big Boss has shares in SNOW. I think she’s involved in inviting you to Fashion Week.”

“So what if she is?”

Yun Chun felt nothing about it. The Mo family was massive, and since Mo Yue was friends with Lu Qingxue, having a stake in SNOW made sense. As for asking her to Fashion Week, maybe it was out of friendship with Sister Qingxue—a little charity?

Qin Xing’s pupils flickered. Right— so what if Mo Yue was involved? Mo Yue’s focus was on Yun Chun, not her. Was she being too paranoid? But with Mo Yue, she couldn’t afford not to be.

Qin Xing stayed silent a bit longer this time.

Yun Chun could tell Qin Xing had something on her mind and didn’t interrupt. Instead, she quietly reached up to grab Qin Xing’s arm from the doorframe so they could head out, but Qin Xing broke the silence. “Have you dealt with that marriage certificate from you and Lu Qingxue yet?”

Yun Chun blanked for a second at the sudden question, then answered honestly. “No.”

“Why not?” Qin Xing’s brows furrowed instinctively. “How long has it been?”

“It doesn’t really affect me, I just… wasn’t in a hurry.” For the latter half of her sentence, Yun Chun felt an inexplicable twinge of guilt. That was exactly what she had told Qin Xing back then.

Qin Xing drew slowly closer to Yun Chun, narrowing her lower eyelids. “Yun Chun, you haven’t been possessed by a ghost, have you?”

Yun Chun felt an indescribable tension at Qin Xing’s approach. Perhaps it was because Lu Qingxue hadn’t left the conference room and was simply sitting there, watching the two of them.

“No. Why would you say that?”

“Wasn’t it you who rushed off so desperately to demand those things back then? How come you ignore it all once you have them? If it’s not a ghost possession, does that mean you like Lu Qingxue? Do you think this ghost marriage is pretty good? Do you want to spend the rest of your life faithfully guarding a piece of paper?”

Yun Chun: “?”

She hadn’t thought anything like that.

She simply couldn’t bear to lose Lu Qingxue as a friend. She wanted… to spend just a little more time with her.

Yun Chun subtly glanced at Lu Qingxue, who was seated beside the conference table. The other woman sat there quietly, her willow-leaf eyes curved in a hook, the outer corners tilting slightly upward. She exuded a lazy poise, a nonchalant overlook of the world’s myriad things.

Afraid that Qin Xing would notice something amiss, Yun Chun only dared that one glance before quickly averting her eyes. She explained to Qin Xing, “No, Sister Xing, you’ve got the wrong idea. Whether that marriage is dissolved or not makes no difference to me, so I didn’t bother with it. Why… why bring it up all of a sudden?”

Even though Yun Chun tried her best to conceal it, Qin Xing could still tell that something was off with the woman before her. Even without any effects, this wouldn’t have been Yun Chun’s reaction. And besides…

“You say it has no effect, so it doesn’t? What if your luck has changed without you even realizing it?”

Yun Chun held up her phone. “Master Xu, the one who called, is the expert handling this exact matter. She said everything’s fine.”

Qin Xing glanced at the phone.

Afraid Qin Xing would launch into another lecture, Yun Chun ducked low and slipped under her arm, darting out the conference room door. “She called me, so it must be results from that thing I asked her about before. Sister Xing, I won’t chat more—I need to head to her place.”

Yun Chun had just turned away when Qin Xing’s voice rang out from behind her. “Hold on.”

She turned back, and Qin Xing said, “I’ll go with you.”

Yun Chun blinked in confusion. “What for?”

Qin Xing eyed her. “I don’t buy what you’re saying. I’ll ask that master myself if marrying a dead person will affect you. What if you’re haunted by her ghost—what then? Yun Chun, you’re not a child anymore. Even if the master says it’s fine, you can’t just leave it alone, right? I get that you call Lu Qingxue a friend and hate to lose her, but a ghost marriage isn’t about loyalty to a friend. You…”

Qin Xing’s words caught in her throat because Yun Chun had slung an arm around her shoulders again, saying, “Sister Xing, that’s so touching.”

Yun Chun knew Qin Xing was only concerned for her.

But she couldn’t tell Qin Xing about Lu Qingxue.

This time, Qin Xing didn’t snap at her to get lost. She merely shot Yun Chun a sidelong glance, suppressing her inner anxiety, and said coolly, “Gonna pledge your body to me again? Perfect timing, then. Let’s go dissolve that marriage of yours first.”

A chill swept through the air.

Qin Xing glanced at the conference room curtains fluttering in the breeze, paying it no mind.

Yun Chun looked in the same direction as well—but not at the window. Her gaze fell on Lu Qingxue, seated in her chair.

The other woman’s eyes curved into crescents, brimming with a smile.

But that smile… no matter how Yun Chun looked at it, it seemed profoundly eerie.