Dusk Returns to the Ruined Building

Beneath the solitary pear tree's shadow, amidst the cuckoo's call, dusk falls in the northern Meng!

Shen Yichen saw a crabapple tree in Beimeng Mountain. It was all alone and looked dilapidated. It must have been a hundred years old, but it was still full of spring.

Shen Yichen stood under the crabapple tree, watching the last rays of the setting sun over Beimeng Mountain. He thought of Ouyang Zhiqing, a lonely tree, a lonely shadow, and a lonely beauty.

Yi Xuan quietly watched Shen Yichen, not disturbing him. Shen Yichen's melancholy sorrow seemed to permeate the green grass and wildflowers.

Yi Xuan couldn't understand it because he had no idea what human love was.

As dusk fell on Beimeng Mountain, Yi Xuan saw a tear slide down Shen Yichen's cheek. His heart trembled, and he muttered to himself:

"You've been away from the Ji family for over a decade. What have you been through? You're completely different from how you were back then."

Yixuan walked slowly forward, whispering:

"Thinking of your intentions on the Star Gazing Platform, the world submits, and a husband stands tall. Alas, the tender feelings of love and affection can truly destroy all a man's courage and dreams!"

Shen Yichen realized he had lost his composure and turned away to wipe away his tears.

"Isn't this great? The Ji family is more than enough with you. Let me roam the world freely, make the four seas my home, and let everyone get what they want. It's perfect!"

"Are you sure? Don't regret it later, I'll take it seriously!"

Yi Xuan actually put his hands on Shen Yi Chen's shoulders, turned his head and looked at Shen Yi Chen very seriously. The way he looked was really ambiguous!

Shen Yichen couldn't bear that gaze any longer and hurriedly looked away, his mind in turmoil.

Why are you hiding? I kept my promise and didn't jump into your arms!

"Yixuan, we should keep our distance. That posture of yours is not how a woman should behave!"

"Oh, a man in love can't even tell the difference between men and women anymore?"

Shen Yichen felt flustered, perhaps because he wasn't used to putting his arm around a man's shoulder.

Shen Yichen took a deep breath, calmed his chaotic thoughts, and said softly:

"Let's spend the night under this crabapple tree. It's right next to the main road, so we should be fine!"

"no problem!"

Yixuan walked to the crabapple tree and patted its thick trunk.

Do you still remember the crabapple tree in the Ji family's imperial city?

Shen Yichen was startled when he heard this, and said in surprise:

"You...you've been to that little courtyard?"

Yi Xuan turned to look at Shen Yi Chen, her face full of indignation!

"Shen Yichen, you bastard, have you already forgotten about me?"

Shen Yichen hurriedly waved his hands, explaining:

"I... I can't control my memories! Can't you be reasonable?"

"Hmph, I must find the Divine Physician Ji Qingxian of Yanquan. I will make you forget everything, remember only me, and never forget me, you big bastard!"

Shen Yichen was speechless, but even more helpless!

"You really went to that crabapple blossom courtyard?"

"Never been there!"

Yi Xuan was clearly angry. He leaped up and sat on the treetop, leaning against the trunk with his eyes closed.

Shen Yichen shrugged, shook his head, and flew to find a treetop to lean against. He didn't close his eyes; he was looking at the leaves of the crabapple tree, which seemed to be his haven.

Yi Xuan really didn't say anything more. He was really angry. Despite his lifelong pride, he felt a sense of defeat!

After a long while, Shen Yichen suddenly spoke and asked:

"Yixuan, do you think I really look that annoying right now?"

"Don't talk to me, I'm annoyed. I'm giving you time. Think it over yourself. Which do you want, the Ji family or the martial world? You must give me an answer before I leave Yanquan!"

Yi Xuan turned her body slightly to the side, clearly indicating that she didn't want to pay any attention to Shen Yichen.

Shen Yichen murmured to himself:

"The Ji family? The martial world? The Ji family? The martial world..."

Shen Yichen had never truly asked his own heart. He thought about it for a long time, and finally he seemed to have found an answer, but he forgot it because he fell asleep.

After the waning moon rose above the treetops.

Shen Yichen patted his face with his hand and murmured:

"Zhiqing, stop fooling around, I'm so tired!"

Shen Yichen still felt itchy, so he slapped his face again.

"Zhiqing, stop it, I'm so tired!"

Yixuan roared angrily:

"You, have you no shame? That's your aunt, and you call her so affectionately!"

Shen Yichen was startled and opened his eyes, falling off the tree, but was caught by Yixuan.

Shen Yichen sat back on the treetop and roared again:

"You son of a bitch, are you crazy?!"

Yi Xuan's hands were tightly holding Shen Yi Chen's hands again, and the two of them had clearly been sitting together just now.

"Which of us is sick? Is Zhiqing the Ouyang Zhiqing from the Begonia Courtyard? She, she...you,you have different identities!"

Shen Yichen felt like he was going crazy!

"Big brother, big brother, I'm calling you big brother, please spare me, I'm really tired, it's rare for me to get a good night's sleep!"

"Who's your older brother? You're talking nonsense!"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yichen slapped his forehead; he really had a headache.

"No, it's the middle of the night, why aren't you sleeping? Are you just nitpicking with me?"

"It's precisely because I can't sleep at night that I can't sleep!"

Shen Yichen was taken aback when he heard this. He finally understood that Yixuan was so frightened that she couldn't sleep.

Shen Yichen chuckled, partly out of anger and partly because he genuinely wanted to laugh!

"Yixuan, if you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to fear. Just how many wrong things have you done that you're so afraid of ghosts?"

"You still have the nerve to ask? It's all because of you! That person's face has been flashing through my mind for over a decade!"

After Yi Xuan finished speaking, he turned around and looked behind him, then snuggled into Shen Yi Chen's arms again.

Shen Yichen didn't stop him; he was thinking, muttering to himself:

"Yixuan, is it true that your timidity is related to me?"

"You'll understand when you remember, so you have to stay with me and not sleep. This Beimeng Mountain is really strange; no one has walked this road since nightfall!"

Shen Yichen was slightly taken aback!

"Yi Xuan, are you sure you haven't traveled to the north or south by a single person?"

"Aren't you being ridiculous? I didn't sleep at all. Don't you find it creepy? There wasn't even a bird chirping after nightfall!"

Shen Yichen and Yixuan were unaware that there was an unwritten rule in Beimeng Mountain: no one, not even martial artists, would travel at night.

So, Qin Ming really meant well!

Shen Yichen was also a little flustered; it was indeed too quiet around him.

"Wait a minute, Yixuan, did your Heavenly Aura sense something?"

"Hey, how come your brain works so well one minute and not the next?"

Yi Xuan let go of his hand. He had indeed been afraid before, but once someone came, he was no longer afraid.

After Shen Yichen fell asleep, Yixuan came to his side, but Shen Yichen was unaware of it.

"What are you doing? Tell me, what happened?"

"It's simple. Your rival sent people to kill us. They're searching the area. Luckily, our horses were stolen, or we would have run into them already!"

You mean Song Xingzhou's people?

"Oh my! You and that Qianxin aren't really having an affair, are you? I was just talking about a love rival, and you immediately thought of Song Xingzhou!"

"I……"

Shen Yichen shook his head and asked softly:

"Then what should we do?"

"We should be asking you! Kill or flee, it's up to you!"

"Are you pretending? Do you dare to run away with me?"

"We really don't dare. Let's leave it to fate. If they find us, we'll fight. If they don't, we'll wait until dawn. How about that?"

After Yi Xuan finished speaking, he immediately covered Shen Yichen's mouth and made a shushing gesture. Tian Xianglong had already warned him.

Shen Yichen looked at the hand covering his mouth. In the dappled shadows of the night, his ten fingers were slender, soft, and white as jade.

Shen Yichen swallowed hard. He had held these hands before, but he had never noticed that they looked like a woman's hands.

Shen Yichen recalled the feeling of holding Yixuan in his arms—her waist was slender and her body was light!

Shen Yichen murmured to himself:

"Does he look like a woman, or is he actually a woman? But he's clearly a man!"

Shen Yichen came up with a solution: take a bath with Yixuan, soak in a hot spring, or even jump into a lake together.

Shen Yichen looked up at Yixuan, who seemed a little nervous, and realized he had really made up his mind to do it.

Near the Lonely Begonia, more than a dozen figures quickly appeared.

Shen Yichen and Yixuan were both startled. Clearly, these people knew that the two of them were in the crabapple tree.

Shen Yichen and his companion exchanged a glance, both puzzled. How could the Song family have found them so accurately?