TIMO - Chapter 93

Chapter 93

There was something strange about these two people.

They had been in this clearing for so long, and no one else had appeared.

Yet, the moment she turned around, these two were already sitting behind them, having made no sound at all.

And…

She couldn’t see any symbols related to Alphas or Omegas. Logically, they should be Betas, but for some reason, they didn’t quite seem like Betas either.

Fu Zhao discreetly sized up the woman in red before her. Just a moment ago, the woman had pulled her to the other side of the clearing, insisting on discussing whether the firing sequence of the fireworks in the sky was correct.

For some reason, although the woman in red had a brilliant smile and every word she spoke was in an uplifting tone, the deepest part of her eyes seemed to flicker with a hint of loneliness.

It was as if what she said on the surface and what she thought in her heart were two different things.

Very contradictory.

“Hey, let me tell you,” the woman in red said, looking up at the sky. The exploding fireworks cast a hazy shadow on the side of her face. A few strands of loose hair by her ear were lifted by the wind into an elegant arc, catching the night light and giving her hair a rosy hue. Under the lights, she was both radiant and lonely-a very contradictory temperament.

“Remember to use some different fireworks for every festival. The spinning ones and all that, they’re really beautiful.”

“Oh, and take this business card.” The woman in red stuffed a card into Fu Zhao’s shirt pocket without any ceremony, then patted her on the shoulder. She spoke with the familiarity of a friend she’d known for years. “This company’s firework designs are all pretty good. You can contact them later. They usually release new products at the beginning and end of the year. You can check their official website.”

Fu Zhao was taken aback by the woman’s series of overly familiar actions and let out an uncomfortable cough. “Thank you, I’ll consider your suggestion.”

The woman in red paused, her gaze wavering slightly. After a long moment, she seemed to snap back to reality and curved her lips into a smile.

“After all, it’s Nanke Island’s business. The Island Master should decide for herself. I was just… being a bit nosy.”

As she spoke, the woman in red lowered her eyes, her lashes trembling, adding a pitiable and endearing quality to her.

Fu Zhao pressed her lips together, feeling increasingly awkward. After much thought, she braced herself and said, “But since it’s… valuable advice, I will take it into consideration.”

“By the way, I don’t know… how should I address you?”

The woman in red clearly paused. When she looked up, she had skillfully concealed her previous melancholy, and her tone was light as she spoke.

“My surname is Fu.”

“Fu?” Fu Zhao repeated, a smile tugging at her lips. “Same as mine. What a coincidence.”

“Yes, what a coincidence,” the woman in red also smiled, glancing at her sideways. “Just call me Fu Hui.”

“Fu Hui…” Fu Zhao murmured the name, feeling it was familiar, yet she couldn’t recall where she had heard it before.

It was strange.

Two people with the same surname as her had suddenly appeared tonight.

It was a bit too much of a coincidence.

Thinking of this, Fu Zhao’s gaze fell back on Fu Hui, sizing her up discreetly. “A very nice name.”

“Right? I think so too.”

Fu Hui seemed unbothered by her scrutinizing gaze and accepted the compliment with a grin.

She seemed like a good-tempered person.

Having reached this conclusion, Fu Zhao’s mood inexplicably relaxed along with the smiling Fu Hui before her. She glanced over at Shi Nan, who was still sitting at the stone table under the tree with the other woman in black.

They also seemed to be having a pleasant conversation, discussing something.

Shi Nan’s expression looked fine, her eyes shimmering slightly, and the faint curve of her lips showed she was in a good mood.

Although the woman in black was expressionless, she was responding to what Shi Nan was saying.

Did they know each other from before?

Could it be related to the two names on the Kongming Lantern?

A series of questions popped into Fu Zhao’s mind, and her gaze kept shifting between the woman in black and the smiling Fu Hui beside her.

But no matter how she looked, she couldn’t see anything amiss.

Even if Shi Nan knew both of them.

It wasn’t a big deal.

Shi Nan would never harm her.

Besides… although Fu Zhao wasn’t one to judge a book by its cover, for some reason, a faint voice seemed to be reminding her.

These two were probably good people.

Having figured this out, Fu Zhao glanced toward Shi Nan again. Deciding not to disturb Shi Nan’s reunion with an old friend, she struck up a conversation with Fu Hui again, making a casual joke.

“Miss Fu Hui, you seem to be in a very good mood?”

“Of course.” Fu Hui’s tone was light, and she followed Fu Zhao’s gaze toward Shi Nan. “Seeing the Island Master and… the Island Master’s wife getting along so well, we as bystanders feel happy too.”

Island Master’s wife?

Fu Zhao wasn’t used to this title for a moment. She frowned deeply in thought. “I think it’s better not to use ‘Island Master’s wife’ to refer to her. Before that title, Shi Nan is just Shi Nan.”

Her tone must have been quite serious, as Fu Hui was taken aback. It took her a while to recover, her eyes trembling with a gratified light as she smiled and said,

“I understand. Then would it be better if I called you Fu Zhao as well?”

Fu Zhao looked at Fu Hui with a frank gaze and nodded lightly. “Either is fine.”

Hearing her reply, Fu Hui looked over with great interest. “I heard you pursued Shi Nan for a long time before you finally won her over, and you even took a knife for her and nearly died.”

“Fu Zhao, don’t you feel…” She paused for a moment before continuing, “that you’ve given more in this relationship, and that you’re at a disadvantage?”

Fu Zhao’s arms, crossed over her chest, stiffened. She turned her head to look at Fu Hui, who had asked the question, and stared for a long while before her lips moved.

“Why would you think that?”

“That I’ve given more than she has?”

Fu Hui seemed stumped by her question, freezing for a few seconds before her voice softened. “Isn’t that just what I’ve heard?”

“Although I don’t know where you heard it from,” Fu Zhao closed her eyes and took a light breath to calm herself, then gave Fu Hui a deep look, “I can tell you clearly that what you heard is wrong.”

“And your opinion is also wrong,” she added before Fu Hui could respond.

“In a romantic relationship, I’ve never believed that giving more means losing more. It’s not about getting back as much as you give.”

“I’m willing to give, not because I need to receive.”

As she spoke, she looked toward Shi Nan, who was sitting under the tree, and her eyes curved unconsciously. “It’s because I love her. I enjoy the happiness that comes when my love is spoken and acknowledged, so I do it willingly.”

Just as she finished speaking, Shi Nan looked over. When their eyes met, a smile colored Shi Nan’s gaze, and the look she sent over was gentle and affectionate.

Fu Zhao’s lips curved, her smile growing even more tender, and her voice softened. “Besides… in ways others can’t see, she has also given a lot for me.”

Fu Zhao spoke these words with sincerity; they were clearly from the bottom of her heart.

Fu Hui nodded, filled with gratification. She understood that she no longer needed to worry about these two. While relieved, she also felt a sense of wistful loss.

Mutual love, shared feelings. It was a state rarely seen in the world of love.

She no longer needed to worry about anything.

This was for the best. Fu Hui comforted herself this way and followed Fu Zhao’s gaze toward the tree, meeting Lian Xun’s eyes and sharing the emotions within them.

She lowered her eyes for a moment and spoke softly.

“Looks like we won’t need to come back anymore.”

The words were spoken so softly that even Fu Zhao, who was right beside her, didn’t hear them.

But Lian Xun heard. She calmly glanced up at the sky. The wind had grown much stronger than before, as if something was calling to them.

“In any case, thank you for letting me remember these things. I truly am a lucky person.”

A gentle voice by her ear interrupted her thoughts.

Lian Xun’s gaze fell on Shi Nan’s face, and she noticed the gratitude welling up from the bottom of her heart.

Her eyelashes fluttered, and she waved her hand.

“You’re welcome.”

“Compared to her, my rules are much more flexible. It’s fine if you don’t drink it.”

Just before Shi Nan was about to drink the tea infused with flower petals, Lian Xun had said this.

Inside the quiet and peaceful wooden house.

Shi Nan lifted the teacup. Just as her lips neared it, the cup in her hand suddenly vanished. The nonchalant woman before her looked up, ripples moving in her eyes.

“It suddenly occurred to me that, thirty thousand years from now, someone will remember my name and my face. That sounds like a pretty good thing.”

And so, Shi Nan did not drink the tea.

The surroundings changed rapidly. The wooden house in her vision soon became nothing more than the bouquet of peonies on Lian Xun’s chest.

The unopened buds were clustered together, perfectly still.

The memory came to an abrupt end.

Shi Nan returned to her senses. Where her gaze fell, she saw that same bouquet of peonies, but it seemed to have changed from its previous state of closed buds.

The petals were curled slightly outward, as if they were on the verge of blooming.

Shi Nan stared for a moment. Lian Xun seemed to sense something and shifted her body slightly, avoiding Shi Nan’s gaze.

Shi Nan quickly retracted her gaze. Although she didn’t know what the peony bouquet represented to Lian Xun, she felt it was related to Lian Xun’s punishment.

Did the flowers being about to bloom mean the punishment was almost over?

At this thought, her brow smoothed, and she said softly, “The flowers seem like they’re about to bloom?”

A ripple finally appeared in Lian Xun’s calm eyes. Her fingertips tapped lightly on the stone table, her voice filled with complex emotions.

“I know. The flowers are about to bloom.”

This reaction was somewhat inscrutable.

Confusion colored Shi Nan’s eyes. She wanted to ask more, but in the next second, Lian Xun looked over. The breeze gently stirred the hair on her forehead, and her gaze wavered slightly, as if she had guessed what was on Shi Nan’s mind, waiting quietly for her to speak.

“We’re about to leave. Do you have any other questions?”

This sentence made Shi Nan’s relaxed heart tense up again. She could no longer bother with the question about the peonies and quickly asked what was on her mind.

“I just gained another memory…” She bit her lip, her brow furrowed. The thought of that memory made her heart feel heavy again, but she knew the person before her was the only one who could answer her questions, so she poured it all out.

“I was releasing Kongming Lanterns, many, many of them, and I kept writing Fu Zhao’s name on them. It must have happened in one of the Realms of Regret, after I lost Fu Zhao.”

“Will this memory bring about anything bad?”

“Are we… are we still in the Realm of Regret?” As Shi Nan spoke, this possibility occurred to her. She bit her lower lip hard, her tone tinged with urgency.

“No.” Lian Xun shook her head, negating her question and saying something that put her completely at ease. “You have already returned to reality. This is the final result.”

“As for the memory you mentioned…”

Lian Xun paused, her gaze flashing for a moment before returning to its calm state. “It’s not a problem. When the time comes for you to remember, you will remember everything.”

“You just need to know that after the ninth Realm of Regret ended, you originally had no more chances. But…” She raised a finger and pointed upward, her quiet eyes wavering slightly.

“It was you who made that one stand on your side too.”

Shi Nan followed the direction Lian Xun’s finger was pointing and looked up.

It was nearly midnight. The night was deep and still. The night sky hung low, and a bright moon still lingered, casting down brilliant moonlight. A thin layer of clouds seemed to sway gently with the wind.

The night was hazy and beautiful.

She looked for a few more moments, then suddenly felt a cool breeze and a weight on her shoulder.

When she came to her senses.

Fu Zhao was already leaning quietly against her shoulder, her eyelashes trembling lightly, her breathing soft and steady. She seemed to be asleep.

Just asleep.

Confirming this, Shi Nan let out a sigh of relief and snapped out of her daze.

Only to find that both Lian Xun and Fu Hui were gone.

She looked around, but seeing no one, she had to let it go.

But her mind was still turning over what Lian Xun had just said.

She had made that one stand on her side.

Who was that one?

Shi Nan looked up again in the direction Lian Xun had pointed. Several answers came to mind, but she still couldn’t find the most accurate one.

Was it the clouds, the moon…

Or the wind… or something else, that had stood on her side.

And what had she done, what right did she have…

To make even that one stand on their side?

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