When Bright Moon Encounter the Dark Clouds

I could not help but laugh after hearing that. “What did she figure out?”

“I think she must have figured out that the two unlucky buggers jumping through space and time are us. She is pretty smart too, like you.” 

“Your friend really cares about you.” 

“Of course,” Tan Jiao said with a smile. 

“Then why were you upset just now?”

Shocked by what I said, she lowered her face and said, “I just… I think our predicament is pretty sad. Even though we solved the case together with Zhuang Yu and Shen Shiyan, the two of them have no memory of it after we travelled back in time. Zhuang Yu was able to figure it out after I explained things to her again. But what about next time? Will the people around us continue to forget things that we have done?” 

So that was why she looked sad just now. Placing my hand on her shoulder, I comforted her. “This chaos will end. When we finally arrive at the final point, everything will return to normal. Maybe Zhuang Yu will even become jealous of the time travelling experience you have.” 

“Hahaha, that crazy woman would probably be very jealous of my experience.” Then she looked up at me with her sparkling eyes and asked, “Ah Yu, do you feel sad or disappointed? I’ve always felt that you were the one pushing us along this journey of ours.”

I thought about it for a second and answered, “There are some things that I want badly, so I do sometimes become tired and disheartened. I also worry that my efforts will lead to nothing and that everything will become pointless. But I know we only have one path to take, so I will definitely soldier on.” 

“Ah Yu, please don’t feel disheartened. You’re already doing an amazing job. You’ve gone through so much, yet you’re here trying to save the Cheng family. In fact I… I’m not that generous, but I am willing to join you to do these things. I know we didn’t choose the path before us, but we can definitely try to make something out of it.”

My heart felt warm and calm at that moment while silence surrounded us as we stood there under the tree. Occasionally, bits of snow would fall from above. Neither of us spoke. My hand was still on her shoulder, and her beautiful, sparkling eyes were still fixed on me. I did not know if she would shut her eyes like last time and expect something, but I had to ask myself whether I would let this opportunity slip away? To let this wonderful woman slip away from me. 

“Ah Choo!” Tan Jiao let out a hard sneeze before immediately hiding her face in embarrassment. I chuckled and quickly pulled out some tissues for her. Looking somewhere else, she took the tissue. 

“It’s cold outside. Let’s go back inside.” 

After wiping her nose, she said, “No. I’m still in a bad mood, so I want to stay here for a bit more.” 

“Sure. Then I’ll smoke a cigarette.” However, just as I lit up my cigarette, I heard her soft and tender voice saying, “But Ah Yu, I’m cold.” 

Our gazes met. Her eyes were sparkling and looked at me like a soft and weak creature. At that moment, I felt a bit of dryness in my throat. 

This woman was definitely not easy or naive. 

With the cigarette in my mouth, I was about to take off my jacket. But before I could do that, she had placed her hand on my arm and said, “Don’t. You’ll be cold.”

It was as if time had stood still at that moment. Before I could react, she had placed her head on my chest, right between my unzipped jacket. 

Neither of us moved. 

Then after a while, I raised my hand and gently placed them around her waist. 

“Are you still cold?” I asked tenderly. 

With her face lowered, seemingly unwilling to look at me, she said with a soft voice, “No. I feel warm now.” 

……

This was our second day at the Chengs, the night before the fire. 

The day went by normally, and we checked everything that could potentially cause a fire. Nonetheless,we still got ready just in case a fire broke out in the forest. 

In fact, my heart would race and jump because of that woman. But everytime my heart calmed down, I would feel as if something was melting away; it was like some other emotion was growing inside me. 

At night, my sleep was affected once more. This was actually something abnormal, as I had been having less and less nightmares lately. Even though I still felt something missing in my heart, I had become used to it. 

Again, I fell into restraints in my dream. Something was tying me up, layer by layer, bringing me closer to the darkness. The restraints were tight, affecting my breathing. I broke out in cold sweat as I felt the stickiness and sliminess. Something was even close to me. 

……

I snapped my eyes open and was greeted by the blank ceiling once more. The darkness, wetness, and entanglement were nowhere to be found. 

I sat up, took a sip from the cup of water on the table, and saw the opened window. Out on this moonless night, the mountain range looked like dark beasts gathering outside. 

Then, a chilly feeling hit my heart. 

I recalled shutting the windows before going to bed. 

Those dreams were not random. Someone must have sneaked into my room at night and stayed beside me.