Unreconcilable: "Get Out." Part 2

"Why are you arguing with it?" Qi Yu pouted, stroking the bird's head with extra affection. "Its share includes Brother Chu's portion too."

"..."

Song Sifan swallowed his anger. "I won't argue with you... Has Brother Chu returned?"

"Not yet."

"What about Senior Brother Jiang?"

"In the Firefly Study, tinkering with that priceless, world-rare, unique, and unprecedented birthday gift of his." Qi Yu said, "I've never seen him put so much effort into anything for anyone. Won't Brother Chu be moved to tears when he comes back?"

Just as he finished speaking, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in his peripheral vision, passing by in the distance as fast as a gust of cold wind.

Qi Yu froze on the spot, stunned for a long moment, then stammered, "Why do I, why do I feel... like I just... saw Chu Jin?"

Song Sifan frowned. "Are you still half asleep?"

When he looked again, the person had already disappeared. Qi Yu patted his own face and muttered to himself, "Am I really not awake yet?"

New couplets were pasted on the door of the Firefly Study, and two red lanterns hung from the eaves, which Qi Yu had personally climbed a ladder to hang.

It was bitterly cold in the depths of winter, and being in the mountains made the chill even more intense. Shen Mengzhi had found a thicker cloak, huddled inside it, and stood before the table, concentrating on writing the final stroke on the paper.

The writing on the paper gradually faded until there was no trace left.

It was a success.

He let out a sigh of relief and rubbed his sore shoulders. All that was left was to paste the written paper onto the frame of the Everlasting Lamp, and it would be complete. At night, when the candle was lit, the Hanshan Paper would be heated, and the characters would appear, translucent in the candlelight, exquisitely beautiful.

Even though the birthday person wasn't present, he still had to follow the formal procedures to make it feel complete.

Due to his family's influence, Shen Mengzhi had always been particular about and attached great importance to etiquette and proprieties. He thought for a moment, then picked up his brush and added a signature at the end of the paper.

——Shen Mengzhi.

For selfish reasons, he didn't use the name Jiang Zhen. Fortunately, Chu Jin wouldn't see it anyway. He flattened the paper, planning to keep it for himself later, hidden from everyone's sight.

Shen Mengzhi took out a new sheet of lantern paper, spread it flat on the table, and after a moment's thought, lifted his brush to write. Just then, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps in the courtyard, followed by a knock on the door.

He sighed, put down his brush, and walked towards the door. "Qi Yu, what have you left here this time..."

His words came to an abrupt halt.

Shen Mengzhi stood by the doorframe, still in the posture of having opened the door, but his heart suddenly began to race.

He seemed a bit dazed, stunned for a few seconds before a belated wave of pleasant surprise washed over him. "Why are you back so early..."

The person outside the door was travel-worn, as if he had been on the road for a long time. Compared to Shen Mengzhi, his expression was exceptionally flat. "Jiang Zhen."

"Hm?" Shen Mengzhi didn't notice that something was off about his expression. With a faint smile on his lips, he led the other person into the room. "Was the journey tiring? Do you want some tea? I also made some new Pear Blossom Crisp with everyone. Want to try some?"

Chu Jin lowered his gaze to their loosely clasped hands and subconsciously rubbed them.

He smiled, but his eyes were unusually calm. "Anything's fine."

Shen Mengzhi's body stiffened, an indescribable feeling rising from the bottom of his heart. He furrowed his brow slightly. "...Why are you looking at me like that?"

He couldn't quite put his finger on what had changed, yet it felt like everything had. He let go of the hand, his own heartbeat thundering in his ears, and repeated with some uncertainty, "Chu Jin?"

"I'm here," Chu Jin said softly.

This reply eased Shen Mengzhi's mind slightly, but the other's next words made him freeze on the spot.

"Senior Brother, this time next year, will you still need those Serene Nightshine for medicinal primers?"

Shen Mengzhi's breath caught.

His pupils contracted slightly. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "By then... perhaps."

Hearing this, Chu Jin's eyes curved into a very gentle arc, yet his gaze was incredibly cold. "Jiang Zhen, are you going to keep acting?"

Everything finally shed its peaceful facade, becoming savage and uncontrollable.

After a long pause, Shen Mengzhi finally forced two words from between his lips, "...What?"

"There isn't a single medicine under the heavens that requires Serene Nightshine as a primer," Chu Jin said calmly. "You said you needed it for medicine, and I believed you."

"In Flower and Willow Lane, you wanted me to trust you, and I did. For the first time ever, I opened my heart to someone I'd known for only a few months, thinking I had finally found a confidant."

"At the Red Sleeve Pavilion, you said I had won the bet, and I believed you. Like a fool kept in the dark, I was overjoyed, thinking the person I loved loved me back."

"Jiang Zhen," the dark malice welling up inside him almost consumed his sanity. Chu Jin's eyes were as black as ink as he spoke, almost to himself, "From beginning to end, have I been a complete joke in your eyes?"

Shen Mengzhi's mind was in chaos. Under Chu Jin's intense gaze, he took a few steps back, bumping into the table behind him. He swayed, steadying himself unsteadily on the corner of the table.

"No..." He shook his head, his gaze scattered and unfocused. "No, no, I didn't... Why are you... What on earth happened?"

His hand suddenly brushed against the rough corner of a piece of paper. Shen Mengzhi froze, jolted back to his senses, and tried to hide the paper on which he had written his name earlier.

But Chu Jin was faster. In the blink of an eye, he had snatched it from the table. He glanced at it, and the cold smile on his face deepened. "This is Hanshan Paper. The words on it appear with heat. An excellent medium for secret messages, isn't it?"

"Why is your handwriting on the secret letters received by the current Supervisor of Attendants?" Chu Jin looked down at him, hearing boundless malice screaming in his ears, making his nerves ache. "That book filled with three hundred precepts, those letters, those words! Your handwriting, stroke by stroke, I remember it all clearly."

But it never, ever should have appeared in those secret letters.

"Jiang Zhen," he said, a smile on his lips but not a trace of emotion in his eyes, "was it fun to spy on me?"

Spying.

Shen Mengzhi repeated those two words in a low voice.

So it was because of this, so it was because of this.

So in Chu Jin's eyes, his sincere feelings were that worthless, that insignificant, that a single light sentence could brand him a hypocritical, play-acting liar.

It was as if a knife had brutally ripped open a bloody wound, the numb pain nearly suffocating him.

He slowly endured the pain, waiting until his voice no longer trembled before he spoke. "I didn't."

It was too pale, and too powerless.

After a long time, Chu Jin said in a low voice, "Prove it to me."

He held up the paper in his hand, stared into Shen Mengzhi's eyes, and said word by word, "Prove the contents of this paper to me."

For a moment, Shen Mengzhi was on the verge of agreeing to his demand. He hadn't done it, and that was that. He couldn't bear such a stain on his name to his very bones.

Especially, a stain given to him by this person.

But he couldn't do it.

Under Chu Jin's gaze, Shen Mengzhi's breathing grew softer and softer.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally spoke. "I can't."

Chu Jin looked at him and, after a long pause, chuckled twice.

"...Fine."

Before his voice had faded, he suddenly moved the Hanshan Paper in his hand toward the fire. Shen Mengzhi snapped back to his senses and immediately reached out to snatch it, heedless of anything else.

In the struggle, the flame licked his finger. He trembled almost imperceptibly. Chu Jin frowned and subconsciously let go. "You..."

In that one instant, Shen Mengzhi had already snatched the paper back. His expression was still dazed, then it turned dim, deathly still, and as calm as a pool of stagnant water.

In a moment, as if he had finally made a decision, he faced Chu Jin and tore the paper in his hands into pieces, bit by bit. Crystalline and white, like the heavy goose-feather snow swirling outside the window, they fluttered into the fire.

In the silence, Shen Mengzhi kept his eyes lowered, watching it burn to ash until it had completely disappeared.

After a long time, he finally raised his head, his expression faint, and looking at Chu Jin, he softly uttered a single word.

"Get out."

The author has something to say:

A fat chapter of 4190 words, served up hahaha! The first volume is finally finished, I'll start grinding on the extras right away~

This novel's broken mirror progress (1/2), reunion progress (0/2)

# Postscript for the Extras