After the spiritual energy was restored: Goddess girlfriends came knocking.

The wind by the stream has stopped.

Ao Tianxin stood under the willow tree, watching Lin Chu's retreating figure without saying a word.

She knew that nothing she said would make a difference at this point.

After a while, Lin Chu stood up. His eyes were still a little red, but his expression had returned to calm.

"Miss Ao," Lin Chu's voice was steady, "there's something I'd like to ask you."

Ao Tianxin nodded, signaling him to continue.

"Given her personality, if she had known that her seclusion would last this long—" Lin Chu paused for a moment,

"She won't go obediently." He recalled that a few days ago, Cang Yao was so sleepy that she could barely stand, yet she still insisted on washing the dishes in the kitchen and secretly chewed dried chili peppers to stay awake.

If she knew that this seclusion might last for decades, and that she might not even be around when she came out—Lin Chu knew without even thinking what choice she would make.

Ao Tianxin looked into his eyes, as if she had expected him to say this.

She reached into her sleeve and took out a small white jade bottle.

The bottle is only the size of a thumb, pure white, and gleams with a warm light in the morning light.

"The Breakthrough Pill." Her voice was calm. "After taking it, she will enter a deep dormant state. I will then come to take her back to the Dragon Court and place her in the forbidden chamber for seclusion."

She held the white jade bottle in her palm and handed it to Lin Chu.

Lin Chu looked down at the small bottle.

Ao Tianxin withdrew her hand, her voice softening slightly: "The choice is yours. When to give it to her and how to give it to her are up to you."

Her gaze lingered on Lin Chu's face for a moment, then she sighed.

Then he turned around, his figure gradually fading in the wind, finally disappearing among the swaying branches of the willow tree.

The streamside fell silent again.

Lin Chu stood still, holding the white jade bottle in her palm.

He remembered the mission of the Book of Myriad Realms.

The mission began the moment that red carp was caught by the stream.

Whether from the perspective of the mission or from the perspective of his own heart, he had no reason to hesitate.

I should be happy.

She is one step closer to achieving her goal of leaping over the dragon gate.

Isn't this what he's always aimed for?

Looking up at the familiar yet unfamiliar sky, Lin Chu remembered for the first time who she was.

He is Lin Chu, from Blue Star, who transmigrated into the Book of Myriad Realms to complete a mission.

He had almost forgotten about it.

During those six years in Qinghe Village, with Cang Yao revolving around him every day, and in the daily routine of washing clothes, cooking, going to the market, and reading, he almost truly believed that he was just an ordinary scholar, and almost believed that he could live out his entire life in this world.

The harsh reality pulled him back to reality, and Lin Chu looked down at the white jade bottle in his palm.

Regardless of whether I can wait for her to come back, regardless of whether I will still be there when she comes back.

Lin Chu's gaze seemed even more determined.

He put the white jade bottle into his bosom, straightened his clothes, and turned to walk back.

When I pushed open the courtyard gate, smoke was rising from the kitchen.

Cang Yao was already up, standing in front of the stove cooking porridge. She was stirring slowly with a spoon in one hand, while supporting herself on the edge of the stove with the other, her body leaning slightly forward. Hearing footsteps, she turned around.

"Where have you been? I haven't seen you since early this morning." Her voice was still a little hoarse from just waking up, and her eyes were a little red, but she seemed to be in good spirits.

She looked Lin Chu up and down. "Why are you wearing so little outside? It's so cold."

Lin Chu walked to the stove and naturally took the spoon from her hand: "I went for a walk by the stream."

"You went to the stream again." Cang Yao didn't let go of the spoon; the two of them each held one end. "Did you go fishing alone again?"

"I didn't fish."

"You're lying." Cang Yao tilted her head to look at him, her peach blossom eyes narrowing. "Look at your expression, you can tell you have something on your mind."

Lin Chu didn't reply, but gently patted her head.

I took the spoon from her hand, ladled out two bowls of porridge, and placed them on the table.

Xiao Xiao was already sitting on the stool waiting, chopsticks in her hand. When she saw the porridge arrive, she quickly moved forward.

"My sister cooked this porridge today." Xiao Xiao took a sip, savored it, and said, "Wait, isn't it supposed to be Lin Chu who cooked it?"

"Your sister cooked this." Lin Chu sat down and took a bite. "It's pretty good."

Cang Yao sat down opposite him, picked up her bowl, and glanced at him again.

Just as she was about to ask, Lin Chu spoke first.

"How about we go for a walk together after dinner?"

Cang Yao paused for a moment, then nodded: "Okay."

Xiao Xiao raised her head from the bowl, looked at Lin Chu, then at Cang Yao, opened her mouth as if she wanted to join in, but then seemed to remember something, closed her mouth, and lowered her head to continue drinking her porridge.

After finishing their meal, Cang Yao followed Lin Chu out the door.

Cang Yao shrank her neck and tightened her collar.

Lin Chu walked ahead, and she followed behind, their footsteps making soft sounds on the frozen dirt road.

"Lin Chu, where are we going?"

"Just taking a walk."

He led her through the big locust tree at the village entrance, and before they knew it, they were at the stream again.

When Lin Chu reached the stream, she stopped.

He turned around, looked at Cang Yao, and remained silent for a while.

"This morning, I met your teacher, Ao Tianxin, here."

Cang Yao's expression paused for a moment.

She looked at Lin Chu's face, as if trying to figure out what he was going to say next.

Lin Chu didn't keep her waiting for long.

"Miss Ao told me about you." His voice was calm, as if he were telling her something he should have told her long ago: "Your true form, your cultivation level, your identity."

Cang Yao's expression changed slightly.

It wasn't a drastic change, but rather a subtle sense of panic.

Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

"Actually, I knew from the beginning." Lin Chu looked into her eyes, the corners of her mouth curving slightly. "On the first day, you suddenly appeared by the stream, wearing a red dress, your hair wet, and told me you were just passing by."

Cang Yao's eyes widened.

"What girl walks by with wet hair and not a speck of mud on her shoes? And the fish you grilled—you're a 'girl from the mountains,' how come all you can do is cook fish and nothing else?" Lin Chu's voice carried a hint of amusement, very faintly, "I'm not stupid."

Cang Yao's face turned from white to red.

She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

"You—you knew from the very beginning? And yet—you still pretended not to know!" Her voice rose, tinged with embarrassment and anger.

She raised her hand and punched Lin Chu in the chest.

"Lin Chu, you big liar! You clearly know who I am—yet you still asked me where I live! You even asked who's in my family! And you wanted me to teach you—no, you wanted me to teach you to read!"

Lin Chu stood there and let her hit her, without dodging.

Cang Yao's voice suddenly paused, her hand freezing in mid-air. "Weren't you afraid of me back then?"

Lin Chu reached out and grasped her hand, which was suspended in mid-air.

Her hands were cold, and her fingertips were trembling slightly.

"What are you afraid of?" Lin Chu's voice was very soft. "When you first grilled fish for me, I thought, this little fish is quite good at taking care of people. Later, you made clothes for me, ground ink for me, and made dumplings for me during the New Year. I thought, I probably can't let go of this little fish."

Cang Yao lowered her head, her voice muffled and thick with nasal tone, "Why didn't you say so earlier? I kept it a secret, afraid you'd dislike me if you found out."

"If I disliked you, I would have stewed you long ago. Do you remember the first day I fished you up, I said—I almost stewed you?"

Cang Yao burst out laughing, tears still clinging to her face.

She wiped her face hard with the back of her hand and then punched him lightly: "You're so mean! You knew from the beginning, but you pretended not to know. Did you find it fun to see me make a fool of myself?"

Lin Chu did not answer.

He held her hand and walked forward, while she followed behind, still nagging him—"You liar," "You big bad guy," "I'm never cooking for you again"—but her hand gripped his tightly in return.

When you walk to the crooked willow tree, which grows on a slightly higher spot on the bank of the stream, you'll find that its trunk is so thick that it takes two people to hug it.

The bark was rough and cracked, with many words carved on it—probably the crooked names of children from the village, which had faded with the years.

Lin Chu stood in front of the tree for a while, then took out a small knife from her sleeve.

Cang Yao stood beside him, watching him walk to the tree and raise his hand to carve words on the trunk.

The knife tip sliced ​​through the bark, carving slowly, stroke by stroke.

The sawdust fell little by little, accumulating into a small clump of pale yellow dust at the base of the tree. She tilted her head and watched for a while, then curiously leaned closer.

"What are you carving?"

Lin Chu did not answer; he had carved four lines of text.

The handwriting wasn't very neat, but every stroke was deeply engraved.

Cang Yao stood beside him, looking up at the four lines of text.

She has been studying for several years, from the Thousand Character Classic to the Book of Poetry, from struggling to recognize characters to being able to understand difficult classical Chinese texts.

She understood the four lines of poetry at a glance.

She looked at the words, her lips slightly parted.

Suddenly an old friend passed by.

Looking back, winter has arrived in the mountains and rivers.

If we get soaked in the snow together one day...

We can say that we'll grow old together in this life.

A breeze blew across the stream, lifting a wisp of hair from Cang Yao's temple.

Cang Yao stared at the four lines of text, her eyes reflecting the dark color of the tree trunk and the light color of the carvings, sparkling brightly.

She reached out and gently touched the character "白" with her fingers.

"If we are together again in the snow someday—" she murmured softly, as if afraid of mispronouncing it, "we will grow old together in this life."

She turned her head and looked at Lin Chu, her peach blossom eyes gazing at her with a dreamy look and tears welling up in them, but the corners of her mouth were turned up in a smile.

It's a bit of a shame that it didn't snow today for some reason.

Cang Yao looked up at the sky, then at the boy in front of her who had carved the words, and suddenly felt that the luckiest thing in her life was that day when she bit his hook by the stream.

Lin Chu reached out and tucked her wind-blown hair behind her ear.

"Let's go," Lin Chu said.

"Um."

The two walked back hand in hand.

Cang Yao looked back at the tree again.

The four lines of poetry were quietly etched on the rough bark, the old marks beside them blurred by the passage of time, but these were just the beginning.