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Not counting the carnations, they had come empty-handed, but now Bai Yu’s hands were almost too full to hold anything, with many large and small bags, mostly clothes that Zhao Mingyue had bought for her.

“Mingyue, if there’s another chance, don’t buy so many clothes again.”

While waiting for the bus, Bai Yu couldn’t help but speak up.

“Ah?” Zhao Mingyue turned her head. Her hands also full, mostly food.

She didn’t answer Bai Yu right away. Her eyes rolled around, “Hmm… Whether we buy so many things or not depends on how often we go shopping. If we go often, then we don’t need to buy so much.”

People always compromise. For example, if she directly said, “Little Sister Yu, let’s go shopping often from now on,” she definitely wouldn’t agree. But if she said she wouldn’t go shopping and had to buy a lot at once, then she could accept it.

“That’s very dangerous.”

“Even if it’s dangerous, we still need to go out and buy things.”

“…”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Oh, the bus is here.” After saying that, Zhao Mingyue pulled Bai Yu away with a laugh, not even giving her a chance to speak.

No matter what Bai Yu said today, she had to take her out often. Otherwise, these clothes would have been bought in vain.

On the way there, she had been observing Bai Yu. After being “revived” again, Bai Yu was more active than before. Not that she liked to talk more, but her emotional changes were more noticeable. The old Bai Yu felt like stagnant water to her, but now there were at least some ripples.

Although this “revival” was very short-lived and essentially false, as long as it could make her a bit happier and regain some of the feelings from when she was alive, it was completely worth it.

After getting on the bus, since there were many people, Zhao Mingyue and Bai Yu unconsciously leaned very close to each other when talking.

The seats on the bus were already close together, and Zhao Mingyue was carrying so many things. Half of her body was pressed against Bai Yu’s. Her lips were next to Bai Yu’s ear, no more than five centimeters away at most. She spoke with a smile, “Little Sister Yu, what do you think will happen to Lu Liangting after we left?”

“Will those girls force him to make a choice? It’s really like something out of a manhua!”

“Ah, Big Brother Lu, choose me. See how sweet I am!”

“Just like that.”

Zhao Mingyue straightened up slightly, showing a sweet smile, then leaned back and continued in a low voice, “Speaking of which, Lu Liangting is indeed quite outstanding. His family is wealthy, he’s handsome, has good grades, a gentle personality, and he’s not a playboy. It’s normal for those girls to like him.”

Not just in Zhao Mingyue’s eyes, anyone familiar with Lu Liangting would think the same. That guy, aside from occasionally being a bit dim-witted, was almost all virtues.

Even Bai Yu didn’t refute. Just this morning, that kid Lu Liangting had stepped in without hesitation and fought those few punks.

“But I don’t think it will be like what you said.” When Bai Yu spoke, she also slightly turned her head and lowered her voice.

“Those girls will most likely say, ‘Choose me, or I’ll kill you.'”

“Ah, that shouldn’t happen, right? Only you would say such things, Little Sister Yu.” Zhao Mingyue was shocked.

“No, those people there just now, in a sense, are all my old friends. I know them.”

“Your old friends?” Zhao Mingyue gasped. “Why do your friends all like clinging to him?”

“Maybe because of the virtues you mentioned.”

“Hehehe, then Lu Liangting is really miserable.”

The bus was crowded but very quiet. Only the whispers of Zhao Mingyue and Bai Yu could be vaguely heard.

Everyone’s gaze was drawn to these two girls, who indeed formed a strikingly beautiful scene within the bus.

They didn’t give off a vibe of cheap flamboyance, just youthful beauty.

Everyone unanimously thought they were probably sisters or best friends.

As they chatted, Zhao Mingyue and Bai Yu seemed to notice something at the same time, especially the former.

Zhao Mingyue suddenly slowed down in the middle of her sentence. She blinked, realizing something.

Her face was no more than five centimeters away from Bai Yu’s, and she happened to be whispering to Bai Yu’s profile. Perhaps Bai Yu could even feel her breath.

And she… if she just leaned forward a little, she could kiss Bai Yu’s cheek…

Noticing that Zhao Mingyue suddenly stopped talking, Bai Yu instinctively turned her head to look at her.

In that moment, their eyes met.

Their distance was still very, very close, so close that they could feel each other’s warmth.

“I…” Zhao Mingyue’s cheeks heated up, her hands involuntarily clutching at her skirt.

Time seemed to freeze. Perhaps a second had passed, or perhaps a full minute.

She clutched the hem of her skirt tighter. There were words she wanted to say in her heart, but she didn’t know what to say. That impulse stuck in her chest, causing her breathing to quicken and her heartbeat to speed up.

In the end, Zhao Mingyue was the first to avert her gaze.

She turned her head, lowering it, her eyes darting around.

Bai Yu saw her face clearly flush, and heard Zhao Mingyue mutter very softly.

“Damn it, you’re still wearing sunglasses. Too cunning!!”

A simple sentence, but at this moment, it revealed Zhao Mingyue’s most genuine feelings.

Only then did Bai Yu realize something. She raised her hand and touched the ladies’ sunglasses on her face that she had almost forgotten about.

The atmosphere became a bit awkward, not just for them, but even the other passengers in the bus noticed. Someone coughed, their gaze strange. They had just thought these two girls were sisters, but could there really be sisters who would have that kind of situation?

There were also young men who sighed silently and put down the “add friend” page they had already opened.

Such perfect girls, why the internal strife?

He must be overthinking it. Maybe they were just making simple eye contact?

Just as the young man thought this and rekindled his hope, he saw the girl in the blue and white dress make a move.

Seeing that Zhao Mingyue remained silent, Bai Yu thought for a moment, rummaged in a small box she was carrying, took something out, held it in her palm, and placed her hand in front of Zhao Mingyue.

“Ahem, um…”

She had already taken the thing out, but when it was time to really speak, she suddenly didn’t know what to say.

Indeed, having her do this kind of thing was still difficult for her.

“Mingyue.”

“Ah?” Called by her name, Zhao Mingyue looked up, puzzled, glancing at Bai Yu and then at her hand.

“Wh-what is it?”

“I, I have a few candies in my hand. If you guess right, they’re all yours.”

As soon as Bai Yu said this, Zhao Mingyue was shocked. She really couldn’t believe that Bai Yu could say such a thing. In her eyes, Bai Yu had always been very old-fashioned.

And because of this, Zhao Mingyue frowned and started to ponder, staring at Bai Yu’s hand.

Bai Yu had finally opened up a bit, so she had to seize the opportunity. Today, she must guess the candy in her hand.

Analyzing Bai Yu’s every move since they started shopping, hoping to guess the answer from it.

Then, after a while, Zhao Mingyue gave up. She didn’t even know when Bai Yu had gotten the candies.

“Any hints?”

“No.”

“Alright.” Zhao Mingyue frowned even more. Since she couldn’t figure it out, she would use a mystical approach.

“I guess there are two!”

After saying that, she stared at Bai Yu’s hand nervously, only to see Bai Yu turn her hand over and slowly open her palm.

Indeed, there were candies inside, but not the two she had guessed. Instead, there were four.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t disappointed and discouraged. With Bai Yu’s personality, if she said she wouldn’t give it if you guessed wrong, she really wouldn’t give it to you if you guessed wrong. She wouldn’t even bother arguing with you.

However, just as she was feeling down, she heard Bai Yu’s voice.

“Congratulations, you guessed correctly.”

“Gu-guessed correctly??” Zhao Mingyue’s eyes widened.

“Yes.” Bai Yu nodded, placing all four candies in Zhao Mingyue’s hand, then seeing her shocked and puzzled expression,, softly said,

“There are two candies, the other two, I’m giving to you.”

After saying that, Bai Yu didn’t speak anymore, leaving Zhao Mingyue holding the four candies, not knowing what to do.

After a while, she unwrapped one candy and put it in her mouth, carefully storing the rest in her pocket, savoring the sweetness. The smile curling her lips just wouldn’t settle down.

This candy was the tastiest she had ever eaten in her life.

·

·

Zhao Mingyue was still smiling all the way until she got off the bus and returned home.

But there were many different thoughts in her heart.

Perhaps she had never understood Bai Yu, or rather, had never fully understood her.

During that little game earlier, Bai Yu had indeed looked serious and solemn, just like usual. If not for that, she wouldn’t have guessed so seriously.

In the end, she really, really didn’t expect it.

Yes, everyone has another side to them, and Bai Yu is no exception.

She doesn’t like to talk, can kill people, and seems to have killed many people. She has a cold personality and is ruthless. But what she showed today was the exact opposite, wasn’t it?

The difference is, this side of her is almost never revealed, and even if it is, it’s only in front of someone special to her.

After dinner, Bai Yu and Zhao Mingyue sat facing each other.

Bai Yu was still the same as before. She took off her sunglasses, her face showing no emotional changes.

“Mingyue, tell me about your past.”

“My past…” Zhao Mingyue held the rabbit doll in both hands, a bit distracted. “Bai Yu, I’m sorry I lied to you.”

“What I told you during the day, that I didn’t know anything about the village, was a lie. Actually, I know some things. At the time, I thought this was my own business, and it was very dangerous, so I didn’t want you to investigate or understand it, so…”

It was precisely because she knew part of the secret that she knew the danger behind it.

Since she knew the danger, naturally she didn’t want Bai Yu to go.

As a result, after trying to gloss over it, she accidentally exposed it in a muddle.

“You know little about this matter and have only glimpsed a part of it. And because you have experienced it. been hurt by it, you know how terrifying that thing is, so you think this way. It’s very normal.” Bai Yu didn’t mind, she could understand Zhao Mingyue’s thoughts.

In fact, she didn’t expose much at that time. She only said two things: her parents had disappeared because of something in the village, and she had nightmares recently.

And it was her who took the initiative to ask Zhao Mingyue, and only then did Zhao Mingyue say it.

After she said it, she directly saw through her. Her state of mind was unstable at that time, so she blurted it all out.

And Zhao Mingyue’s fear of this thing was understandable. It was an unknown danger to begin with, and she had personally experienced it. After learning some bits and pieces through certain means, it would only make her more afraid.

Being cautious and careful is necessary, but fearing the enemy is completely wrong.

If this thing was really that powerful, how could it not find Zhao Mingyue’s whereabouts for so many years?

“The village I lived in when I was very young was called Pingshan Village. It was very remote, at the foot of Pingshan Mountain, about thirty kilometers away from my parents’ graves. The village I mentioned before, the one I moved to later, was a branch of Pingshan Village.”

“And the things that happened to me didn’t start in the later village, but in Pingshan Village.”

“I don’t know exactly what happened at that time. I only know that when I was very young, probably eight years old, I was chosen by the village chief to be in a certain position among the sacrifices.”

“There were originally two other sacrifices like me. Later, for some reason, those two died. My sister told me that the village elders gathered together, discussed it, and decided to place all three positions on me.”

“My sister said at that time that being a sacrifice was miserable. One would have their eyes gouged out, one would have their tongue cut off, and one would have their ears deafened.”

“She used this to scare me and told me to run away quickly. For a long time after that, I thought it was just a made-up story to persuade me to move away.”

“I didn’t really believe in ghosts and such before. I knew weird things had happened around me, but I had never seen them with my own eyes.”

“Hmm… Now that I think about it, the village I lived in was indeed very strange. Bai Yu, do you know? The people there are immortal.”

“Immortal?” Bai Yu frowned.

“Yes, the villagers there have a way to turn the bodies of the dead into wax corpses. To keep me from going out at night, my sister told me that these wax corpses would come to life at night!”

“I never saw it with my own eyes, but at night, I could often hear footsteps outside, many and heavy.”

“At the time, I didn’t think much of it. Even after I left, I didn’t pay much attention to it.”

“It was only recently, after I had that dream, that I discovered the problem.”

“All those footsteps, all those people gathering together, even if they didn’t want to disturb others at night, there shouldn’t be no sound at all except for footsteps, right?”