Cypress Boat Floating

On this sunny, cloudless day, the sky is exceptionally blue, like a huge sapphire inlaid above our heads. The breeze is blowing gently, bringing a touch of coolness and freshness to this midsummer.

Ye Jianqing and Lu Ci Qiu, who were supposed to be sitting opposite each other in the pavilion drinking tea and chatting, were now filled with a tense atmosphere.

Deliberately dispersing everyone, the two of them sat in the pavilion. Lu Ci Qiu looked at his arm and even twisted it outwards to show Ye Jianqing. In the eyes of outsiders, his arm looked clean and tidy, without any abnormality. However, from the perspective of Ye Jianqing and himself, this arm hid an astonishing secret - there was a flower tattooed on the skin.

The flower only had three petals left, looking mysterious and strange. It seemed that only the two of them could see it, and no one else knew anything about this strange phenomenon.

Lu Ci Qiu opened his confused eyes and looked at Ye Jianqing, his voice full of doubt and confusion: "What does this mean?"

Ye Jianqing frowned, took a deep breath, grabbed Lu Ciqiu's hand, and carefully checked the position of the flower from inside to outside. However, surprisingly, the moment she observed, the flower flashed and disappeared.

"Gone..." A feeling of depression surged in Ye Jianqing's heart, but he couldn't express it in words.

Lu Ci Qiu felt extremely annoyed and helpless. He grabbed his hair anxiously. The originally neatly combed hair became messy under his ravages. He looked at his arms repeatedly and finally confirmed that the petals on his arms were gone.

After a moment's silence, Ye Jianqing finally broke the deadlock and asked, "When did this flower appear?" Her eyes were fixed on Lu Ci Qiu, hoping to find some clues from his answer.

Lu Ci Qiu frowned and tried to recall the scene just now. After some thought, he shook his head blankly and replied: "I don't know, I suddenly saw it when I was taking a shower just now." His tone was full of confusion and uneasiness.

What does this flower represent? Why is it here? No one knows the answer. However, it is obvious that this flower with only three petals is definitely not a good sign.

"But no one else can see it, only the two of us can see it." Lu Ci Qiu frowned.

"This..." Ye Jianqing stared at Lu Ciqiu and said cautiously: "Could this be related to our rebirth?"

Lu Ci Qiu tried to speculate: "There are only three petals left now. Does that mean... we only have three chances to be reborn?"

Ye Jianqing nodded seriously, expressing his agreement: "It is very likely that this is the case!"

A silence fell over them...

After a moment, Ye Jianqing broke the silence: "However, this is not necessarily the truth."

Another long silence...

"No matter what, we still have to consider what to do next!" Ye Jianqing finally spoke again.

"Then what should we do next?" Lu Ci Qiu's face was still gloomy and did not improve because of Ye Jianqing's words.

Ye Jianqing rubbed his frowning brows, feeling an invisible pressure pressing heavily on him, making it hard to breathe: "Tell me what happened after I died last time."

Lu Ci Qiu was silent. He said nothing, but just lowered his head silently. It seemed to be a very bad memory, which made his already pale face even uglier, as if he had suffered a great blow.

"What's wrong?" Ye Jianqing noticed his abnormality, lowered his tone and asked softly.

Lu Ci Qiu shook his head slowly and closed his eyes. He didn't know how to tell Ye Jianqing about that painful experience. How should he tell her how he spent those painful days after she died, confused and like a zombie, without any human touch. He had obviously escaped with Ye Honghai, but in the end, because of his own mistakes, they both died at the hands of the enemy.

He didn't dare let Ye Jianqing know that the person she exchanged her life for had done such a bad thing.

His face was full of pain and despair. Seeing this, Ye Jianqing suddenly felt an inexplicable pain and pain in her heart. She didn't understand why she felt this way, but she could clearly feel the sadness and helplessness deep in Lu Ciqiu's heart.

She walked slowly in front of him, then slowly squatted down, and her soft hands gently fell on his knees. She raised her head, looked up at him, and her eyes showed endless tenderness and care: "It's okay, don't be afraid, we are now safe and sound here. There is no threat from assassins, no shadow of death, and no interference from others, only the two of us. Everything has not happened yet, and we still have a chance to save everything."

There were crystal tears in Lu Ciqiu's eyes, but these tears seemed to be restrained by an invisible force, always staying in his eyes, not daring to fall easily. He looked at Ye Jianqing with despair, attachment and sadness, but hidden in the deepest part was a deep affection that he dared not let Ye Jianqing perceive.

This look was like a sharp dagger, piercing Ye Jianqing's heart and making her feel flustered for no reason. As if she was carrying some unbearable guilt, she didn't dare to look at Lu Ci Qiu again, and silently lowered her eyes, wanting to escape from everything in front of her.

"I am sorry for you." Lu Ci Qiu's tears slid down his cheeks, and his choked voice was filled with endless self-blame and regret.

"We escaped." Lu Ci Qiu took a deep breath, trying to calm his inner waves, but his voice trembled involuntarily, "But we were found later. It was my fault. I failed to protect General Ye, and in the end he..." His voice became lower and lower, as if every word was the pain squeezed out from the depths of his throat.

At this point, Lu Ci Qiu could no longer continue, tears poured out like a broken dam, blurring his vision. He bit his lips tightly to stop himself from crying out loud, but the choking sound was like a sharp sword, piercing his and Ye Jianqing's hearts.

Ye Jianqing looked at him silently, her eyes full of heartache and helplessness. She didn't say anything, but just gently held Lu Ciqiu's hand, conveying a touch of warmth and comfort.

After a long while, when Lu Ci Qiu calmed down a little, Ye Jianqing spoke softly: "You are already great. Under the siege of so many enemies, you were able to escape with General Ye. This is difficult for ordinary people to do. You tried your best and did everything you could. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Lu Ci Qiu raised his head, his eyes flashing with complex emotions. He wanted to refute Ye Jianqing's words, wanted to tell her that all this was possible because of her sacrifice. However, when his eyes touched Ye Jianqing's calm and determined face, all the words were stuck in his throat and could not be spoken.

"It's okay. We still have a chance. We must be nice this time, okay?" Ye Jianqing gently comforted Lu Ci Qiu.

Suddenly, Lu Ci Qiu seemed to remember something, biting his cheek and said viciously: "Zhou Hao, we must kill him first!"

Hearing this name, Ye Jianqing's originally gentle expression instantly turned gloomy, and a hint of ruthlessness was revealed in her eyes: "We must find out who is behind this. We must not let him participate in the escort team this time!"

Lu Ci Qiu wiped the tears from his face. Now that he had a clear goal, he was able to temporarily free himself from his sadness.

"As for this flower, if it really represents the number of times we can be reborn..." Ye Jianqing pondered for a moment and said slowly, "Whether we have one, two or three chances to be reborn, we must cherish each one as if it were the last. Moreover, with each rebirth, the time of our rebirth is constantly being postponed. I don't know what will happen in the end, but we must find a solution to the problem as soon as possible."

"Okay!" Lu Ci Qiu nodded seriously to show his agreement.

"Let the past be the past, we should look forward." Ye Jianqing looked at Lu Ci Qiu and said in a firm tone.

At this moment, everyone has no choice but to be pushed forward by the torrent of time. There is no time to regret or look back.