Atkin

Chapter 466: Starry Night, Mourning with Shadow, Long Talk between Star and Shadow, Ending at Dawn
The night fell on Zhaoxing Pavilion. Ajing and Cheng Mu stood quietly on the corridor inside the pavilion. Ajing's eyes showed a trace of sadness and loss. She knew that Xiang Zhu might have already embarked on the road of sacrifice for Fenghua City. Cheng Mu stood aside, his posture was upright but he could not hide his loneliness. As a projection of Xiang Zhu, although he was not the original body, he could truly feel the unforgettable pain, as if a string deep in his soul was tightly pulled.

Ah Jing raised his head slightly and looked at the night sky. The stars flickered in the darkness, as if silently telling something. "Cheng Mu, is he really gone?" Ah Jing asked softly, with a hint of sob in his voice.

Cheng Mu nodded slightly, his eyes deep and distant: "Well, this is his choice. For the future of Fenghua City, he has to do so." His voice was low and firm, as if he was persuading Ajing, and also as if he was comforting himself.

The two were silent for a moment, with only the breeze blowing gently, blowing the corners of their clothes. Ajing's thoughts drifted back to the past when he was with Xiang Zhu. Those warm smiles and wise words now turned into pain in his heart. "I just feel that all this happened too suddenly, and my heart is empty." Ajing murmured to himself.

Cheng Mu patted Ajing's shoulder gently and comforted her: "I understand how you feel. He is very important to us. But he must hope that we can be strong. Fenghua City still needs us."

Ah Jing took a deep breath and tried to calm his emotions: "You are right, but it is hard to accept it for the time being."

After a while, Ajing and Cheng Mu walked out of the room and walked slowly along Fuyu Road. The road at night was shining coldly under the moonlight. The silk trees on both sides looked a little lonely in the night, and the golden leaves occasionally fell, as if sighing.

Cheng Mu turned to look at A Jing with concern in his eyes: "Don't be too sad, go back and rest early. Tomorrow is another new day, and we have to keep moving forward."

Ah Jing stopped, looked at Cheng Mu, and nodded slightly: "Yes, I know. It's just that tonight, I want to say my final goodbye to him."

The two walked in silence for a while, and Ah Jing's mood gradually calmed down. She knew that life had to go on, and the future of Fenghua City was still waiting for them. Although Xiang Zhu had left temporarily, the faith and the power of protection would remain in their hearts forever.

"Then I'll go back, and you should go to bed early." Ajing said softly.

"Okay, come to me anytime if you have any problem." Cheng Mu replied.

Ah Jing turned around and walked towards her residence, her figure gradually disappearing into the night. Cheng Mu looked at her back, then raised his head to look at the night sky, silently saying in his heart: "Xiang Zhu, we will carry your hope with us."

After Ajing's figure disappeared into the night, Cheng Mu stood alone for a long time before slowly turning around and walking towards his own study in Zhaoxing Pavilion. The moonlight shone through the carved window lattices and sprinkled on the floor of the study, casting patches of mottled light and shadows, as if it was also whispering the tranquility and sorrow of the night.

Cheng Mu sat quietly at the desk, looking ahead with a somewhat empty look in his eyes, his mind still immersed in the thoughts of Xiang Zhu. After an unknown amount of time, there was a gentle knock on the door, followed by Lu Zhao's voice: "Sir, Ye Xing is here." Cheng Mu came back to his senses and replied softly: "I see." A moment later, Ye Xing pushed the door open, his face also had a bit of fatigue and sadness, but the moment he saw Cheng Mu, he still tried to squeeze out a smile. The two did not need to say much, they understood each other's state of mind. Ye Xing walked to the table, sat down, and silently placed a few dishes and two pots of wine.

"Come, have a drink for him." Ye Xing picked up the wine pot, first filled Cheng Mu's glass, and then poured himself one. Cheng Mu picked up the wine glass and stared at the clear wine. Under the moonlight, the wine seemed to be stained with a layer of light sadness. "Yes, toast to him." After that, the two drank it all.

After three rounds of drinking, the sadness became stronger. Ye Xing's eyes were slightly red, and he whispered: "Brother left like this, and I always feel that a piece of my heart is missing. Every place in Fenghua City seems to still have his shadow, but I can no longer see him." Cheng Mu sighed softly and responded: "He took it all, but we can only see him off here."

However, the sad atmosphere did not last too long, perhaps because the two were different projections of the same soul, and they were connected in mind. In this heavy mood, they actually developed a unique tacit understanding and humor. Ye Xing smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "You said that in this world, there are two people who can sit together to mourn their own bodies. I guess we are the only ones." Cheng Mu couldn't help laughing when he heard this: "That's right, ours is also a strange thing. Just like the stars, they mourned for themselves in the mirror, but they didn't know that they had a companion beside them."

The two smiled at each other, and the laughter echoed in the quiet study, dispelling some of the haze. In this smile, there is the longing for Xiang Zhu, the helplessness of fate, and the special comfort between each other. On this night, they cherished the common source in their own way, and also found a trace of warmth and strength in this bitterness, and continued to protect Fenghua City that Xiang Zhu cared about.

Cheng Mu and Ye Xing sat opposite each other in the study. The night outside the window was as dark as ink. The candlelight in the room flickered, reflecting the slightly haggard but extremely sincere faces of the two. The wine cup was passed back and forth between their hands, and the words flowed out continuously like a gurgling stream.

They talked about Xiang Zhu's words in the past years. Those details that were once ignored have now become precious memories. Sometimes they were impressed by Xiang Zhu's foresight, and sometimes they sighed at the fickleness of fate. When talking about sad things, they raised their heads and drank the wine in the cup. The spicy taste slid down their throats, just like the bitterness in their hearts; when talking about happiness, they couldn't help but laugh, and the laughter spread far in the quiet night, startling the birds perched on the branches outside the window.

The night gradually faded away during their conversation, the sky turned pale, and the morning light sprinkled in through the cracks in the window lattice, giving everything in the house a light golden edge. Cheng Mu rubbed his sore eyes, looked at Ye Xing, and said with a smile: "You'd better not go out today. I'm afraid you need a day's rest to recover from our chat. You can't easily reverse your biological clock, otherwise you will feel uncomfortable for several days." After saying that, he laughed softly, with a hint of fatigue and relaxation in his laughter.

Ye Xing also laughed and joked, "That's right. A long talk like this is more rare than staying up all night during the New Year. However, it is such a special moment that allows us to speak freely without any scruples." The eyes of both of them revealed a kind of cherishment for this friendship. In this complex and ever-changing world, it is a rare comfort to have such a person who is in tune with your soul and can talk all night long.

Suddenly, Cheng Mu seemed to remember something, and his expression became a little worried. He frowned slightly and said, "We have to keep this a secret from Ajing. If she knew that we stayed up all night like this because of Xiang Zhu, she would probably laugh at us to death." Ye Xing nodded repeatedly and responded with a smile, "Yes, yes, yes, we can't let her know, otherwise we will lose face."

The two smiled at each other, their smiles reflecting their imagination of Ajing's reaction and their recognition of their mutual understanding. In this faint smile, they seemed to have temporarily forgotten the grief of losing Xiangzhu, and put down the heavy responsibilities on their shoulders, enjoying only this moment of tranquility and warmth.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Outside the window, the sun has risen completely, and a new day has begun. Cheng Mu and Ye Xing know that they will continue to move forward in the long river of Fenghua City with Xiang Zhu's expectations, guarding those precious people and things, and will never retreat even if the road ahead is full of thorns.

After Ajing's figure disappeared into the night, Cheng Mu stood alone for a long time before slowly turning around and walking towards his own study in Zhaoxing Pavilion. The moonlight shone through the carved window lattices and sprinkled on the floor of the study, casting patches of mottled light and shadows, as if it was also whispering the tranquility and sorrow of the night.