So sad I could die (Dedicated update for the Purple Bamboo Crown)

—Do you have any idea how much danger you are in here!

"Danger?" A man's faint laughter came from the other end of the line, though Linglan felt a trace of helplessness within it. The Bai Yuchen she knew was not like this. Her brows furrowed involuntarily; the recent vexations had so entangled her thoughts that she could find no peace. Hearing the listless weariness in Yuchen's sigh, she felt a profound sense of loss.

Bai Yuchen only muttered into the receiver: Perhaps you were right!

She was utterly baffled by this nonsensical remark. Which of her past utterances could possibly have been correct?

"What on earth is wrong with you?" Linglan's voice softened at last.

"I am utterly exasperated. Not a single thing has gone right this New Year season." Bai Yuchen felt a vexation he had never experienced in all his decades of life. Bored, he loosened his tie, pushed away the glaring piles of chips, and felt his mind grow chaotic and disordered. He stood up on impulse, seeking only a quiet place. In the gloom, he leaned his body against the wall, lowered his head to light a cigarette with a sense of listlessness, and let out a deep, heavy sigh.

Hiding behind a pillar, Linglan watched his figure rise and depart. She relaxed slightly and urged, "You must leave immediately. Whatever the matter is, we can discuss it when you return. Night City has too many informants; staying here is truly unsafe."

"Is safety or the lack of it of any consequence anymore?" He laughed self-deprecatingly, his dejected expression heavy with sorrow. Linglan could share her troubles with him, but what of himself? Believing himself to be a profligate without a heart or lungs, he had always listened to Linglan's secrets without reservation, as if he had been cast in this role from the very beginning. And likewise, that very night, he had finally driven the old man into a corner to force out that past! He kept muttering in a daze, Linglan, perhaps you were right!

Looking at the guards patrolling the casino in all directions, Linglan could no longer dwell on Bai Yuchen's words and said anxiously, "Hurry back!"

Unexpectedly, Bai Yuchen crushed out his cigarette and remarked, "Don't you believe in fate? I am waiting for a woman!"

"Is it Miss Ye?" Hearing a sound behind her, Linglan instinctively cut off the call. A series of rapid beeps sounded in Bai Yuchen's ear:

Beep, beep, beep, beep—

He could not help but raise his eyes, gazing around the entire casino. He did not know where Linglan was positioned, and with the sudden disconnection, had an emergency occurred? Thinking of this, Bai Yuchen instantly grew alert.

Linglan hung up the phone. As she turned, she saw an elegant woman standing behind her. The woman spoke again, "It really is Miss Ye. I thought I saw you here earlier at noon when Xiao Zhou called me to say you would be coming to collect the performance report."

Linglan nodded politely in response, "I apologize for keeping you waiting!"

The woman smiled. "I just went to the East Gate Exhibition Center and happened to leave my documents over there. Why don't you come with me to retrieve them?"

She nodded in assent and accompanied the woman toward the East Gate Exhibition Hall. Before leaving, Linglan could not resist glancing back at a certain corner on the first floor. Only after seeing that the dim space was completely empty did her heart finally settle, though she recalled Yuchen's final sigh: Don't you believe in fate? I am waiting for a woman!

A woman?!

She frowned, following closely behind the woman. Having been in Heavenly City for so long, the East Gate Exhibition Hall was the only place she truly cherished. Its beauty did not lie in lavish extravagance; rather, it was dreamlike and breathtaking. The woman pushed open the door, and in the darkness, she fumbled to press the wall switch.

Ice-blue light strips instantly illuminated in a continuous chain. The space was partitioned by giant glass panels everywhere, and the brilliant lighting made the surrounding transparent glass exceptionally radiant. She gazed at the swimming fish all around; this place was so fantastical it hardly seemed of this world, and even beneath her feet lay a breathtaking, wondrous sight.

She could not help but marvel at the exhibition hall's grandeur and ingenious, unique design. Pausing involuntarily, she lingered for another look, momentarily sinking into her own thoughts.

"Miss Ye, wait for me here a moment. I'll go inside to fetch them now."

The corners of Linglan's lips parted slightly in a faint, detached smile. "Alright!" This suited her wishes well; the exhibition hall before her felt as though she had stepped into a dreamlike underwater world.

All around, the water shimmered with ripples and starry radiance, casting sparse, shifting light and shadow across her pure face, stirring up gentle, water-like ripples. She saw her own figure faintly reflected in the glass, and even more clearly discerned her half-veiled eyes—clear as water, yet concealing a profound, bottomless desolation.

Linglan smiled bitterly, as if catching a glimpse of another self hidden deep within her heart. The woman looked back at her in bewilderment. Reaching out, she touched the glass; so that was her—day and night, yearning; day and night, waiting for that man. Her heart suffered a sudden, unexpected stab of pain, as if being ruthlessly torn to shreds. What proved even more startling and unexpected was a sudden sound coming from the doorway.

"I've received word that an international technology expo is about to be held in Nanjiang. The organizers have set several special requirements for the exhibition hall this time. I secretly pulled strings to inquire about it and found that the design of the East Gate Exhibition Hall at Heavenly City fits the organizers' requirements perfectly. I want to secure this case as soon as possible." The woman's voice was clear and bright.

"Hard work!"

The man's deep voice struck her like a physical blow.

Before Linglan could even collect her wits, she turned around in utter unpreparedness, gazing in shock at the pair of figures walking toward each other.

It was him!

It actually was him!

Yet, when on earth had he returned?

Linglan looked back in disbelief. He was still impeccably dressed, elegant and refined. The woman standing beside him was none other than Leng Tingyu—actually Leng Tingyu!!! That woman who seemed to have stepped right out of ancient poetry, with skin like ice and bones like jade, her presence bringing a faint fragrance amidst a wind-swept palace. A single glance made one feel as though trapped in the springtime charm of Jiangnan, amid willow-lined banks and the waning moon at dawn. Standing beside him, they looked so perfectly matched as to arouse the envy of all.

Ye Linglan stood frozen like a statue, her entire body seemingly locked in place. Unconsciously, she clenched her fingers tighter and tighter, until her nails pierced deeply into her flesh. In that instant, all her yearning and dreams vanished into thin air, replaced instantly by a cold and cruel reality.

Mo Zhicheng saw her as well. He stopped involuntarily, looking at her coldly without any expression, making no effort to avoid her gaze. That look of utter alienation was as if he were gazing at a total stranger.

Leng Tingyu paused beside him at that moment, following his gaze to look at the woman named Ye Linglan.

Ye Linglan felt as though she was forgetting how to breathe in that moment, her eyes filled with sorrow as she looked at him and the woman by his side.

It was as if thousands of mountains and rivers lay between them as they gazed at each other in silence. The lights were like the glimmer of another lifetime, carving out each other's features amidst the shimmering ripples, yet things had changed and people had departed, leaving only unspoken endings. She could almost see them under the moonlight, sitting embraced on a swing; she could almost hear his deep voice murmuring in her ear.

Yet, listen... she heard the weeping of the skies, while he did not see her face streaming with tears.

At that moment, she was heartbroken to the point of dying!

It was not as though she had never anticipated such an outcome, but when reality finally arrived, she understood what true heartache was.

Through twenty-five years of life, having experienced life, death, parting, and derisive mockery, she had thought herself strong enough. Yet she did not realize that a single glance and a single word from him could reduce her to such utter helplessness.

Suddenly, Mo Zhicheng withdrew his gaze with listless aversion, as if casting away something vile. He walked closer and closer. The surrounding environment was silent, with overlapping water shadows like the endless, boundless ripples of the ocean. In an instant, throughout the entire gloomy-blue exhibition hall, only the hollow echo of his footsteps remained. Her heart hammered with increasing franticness. Standing rigidly in place, she found herself entirely at a loss for what to do.

Yet, he walked right past her, and the entire world came to a standstill.

How should this feeling be described? It was like experiencing a lifetime of farewells in the flash of lightning and flint—more than a person could bear.

She stood alone in the vast exhibition hall, like someone standing in the torrential current of time. Freely swimming fish darted back and forth continuously.

Only she remained, standing alone outside the glass tank, looking upon her own desolation, looking upon this magnificent world.

"Miss Ye, here are the documents!" The woman's voice echoed in her ear over and over again, yet she could hear nothing at all. Pressing her hand against the cold glass beside her, she slowly slid downward until she could no longer hold back. Curling her body into a ball, she cast aside all restraint and wept aloud.

So, he had been a magnificent, grand banquet in her life—splendid and brilliant. She had stumbled into it by accident and thereby lost her way, never realizing that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Paying back her debts with tears until the tears ran dry, and she—was it also because she owed him too much?

"Miss Ye, Miss Ye, what is the matter with you?"