Don't mess with that Miao boy, he's sickly and perverted.

Noticing the slight movement of the hem of her clothes, Wu Li suddenly opened her eyes.

Only then did I realize that it was Chai Xiaomi secretly wiping away tears.

His heart clenched, as if he had been gently pricked by some soft thorn, and he immediately pulled the person into his arms.

His movements were swift and decisive, giving her no time to react. He then raised his forearm and offered his sleeve to her.

Chai Xiaomi didn't stand on ceremony, wiped her face haphazardly on his sleeve, and looked up at him with her wet eyes: "Sister Yao is gone."

Upon hearing this, Wu Li's eyebrows twitched slightly, seemingly not too surprised.

He had already figured it out. Song Yueyao hadn't given Jiang Zhiyu any response from beginning to end. That deliberate distance and ambiguous politeness were clearly preparations for a separation someday. She definitely had other things to do, and she only wanted to do them by herself.

Moreover, the old man's appearance was solely for the purpose of bringing Jiang Zhiyu back to Lingyu Prefecture. The two were destined to part ways sooner or later, a fate that no one could change.

Wu Li lowered his eyes, glanced at the figure crouching on the ground not far away, his shoulders shaking, and his lips curled slightly as he muttered in annoyance, "This idiot only knows how to cry, doesn't he know how to chase after him?"

Chai Xiaomi sniffed and said in a muffled voice, "What's the point of chasing after her? Sister Yao is deliberately making harsh statements, leaving no room for maneuver, which means she's determined to leave."

"Tie them up." Wu Li raised his chin matter-of-factly, gesturing for her to look at the knotted clothes on the two of them. "Like this, tied together, they can't move even if they want to."

Chai Xiaomi: "..."

She didn't even notice when he tied the knot.

Chai Xiaomi: "Just untie it."

"Then I'll use a silver chain to tie it." Wu Li curled the corners of her mouth, her tone carrying a hint of casual smugness. "There's not much else in this Miao village, but there's plenty of silver ornaments. If I want to make a silver chain, it'll be a piece of cake."

As he spoke, his arms wrapped around her waist like snakes, pulling her closer to him until they were pressed tightly together.

His thin lips approached her nose, his cold breath pressing down on her. "You mustn't follow her example. Song Yueyao's stubbornness is just asking for trouble. Be good, and if you want to do anything, just tell me, and I'll do it for you."

"So, take me with you wherever you go, understand?"

"If I just left like she did..."

He paused, his gaze falling on the undried tear tracks in her eyes, his eyes darkening. "Mimi, I will definitely tie you up in a dark, sunless room. Even if you beg me crying, I won't let you go."

Chai Xiaomi blinked her eyes, which were still filled with tears, but upon hearing these words, she forced back her tears.

She tilted her head to look at him, as if he were some rare creature: "Wow, Lili, you're amazing!"

Wu Li raised an eyebrow.

"Tie me up, lock me in a dark room," she gave a thumbs-up, praising me sincerely, "and then I'll cry every day, grow thinner and thinner, and eventually die of depression. Then you'll get a beautiful corpse, right? Aren't you happy?"

Wu Li: "..."

"Then you can hold my dead body and say," Chai Xiaomi mimicked his tone, "Mimi, why were you naughty? If you had been obedient, this wouldn't have happened~"

Wu Li's eye twitched.

She got more and more excited as she talked.

"Then you regret it deeply, and you cry over my corpse every day, going crazy and wanting to resurrect me."

For this kind of damp and perverse thing, magic should be used to defeat magic.

Follow his path, and leave him with nowhere to go.

"..."

The other party was indeed speechless.

Wu Li was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled.

He lowered his head, forehead to forehead, his voice low and tinged with a helpless smile: "What's going on in your little head all day?"

Chai Xiaomi said matter-of-factly, "I was thinking about how you ruined my life."

"I can't bear to part with it." He squeezed her fingers, his tone casual yet earnest.

"So, are you still going to tie me up or not?"

"tie."

Chai Xiaomi: "..."

*

Jiang Zhiyu cried by the lake all night.

Chai Xiaomi and Wu Li also sat on the tree trunk all night.

It wasn't that she was afraid he might do something rash and jump into the lake. Chai Xiaomi had asked Wu Li, who said that the lake was very shallow and that no one would drown if they jumped in; at most, they would just get their clothes wet and then climb back up on their own.

Chai Xiaomi just felt that he shouldn't be left alone.

As a friend, silent companionship is also a form of companionship, even if the other person is unaware of it.

After having hotpot at Hongxiao's house and giving her a lecture, Chai Xiaomi finally understood a principle: words of comfort to others often cannot comfort oneself.

Since it's useless, it's better not to say anything at all.

Even if she stood in front of Jiang Zhiyu and talked herself hoarse, pouring out all the sweet words in her mouth, it wouldn't be as effective as Song Yueyao turning around.

Some wounds are beyond the help of others.

Most of the time, people can only heal their grief on their own.

Fortunately, she knew that the ending for these two people was good.

Their relationship is bittersweet, a mix of sweetness and heartbreak, making you laugh and cry at the same time.

Who told her to like this kind of thing? Otherwise, she wouldn't have chosen this particular book out of so many others.

The next morning.

As dawn broke and a thin mist shrouded the lake, Chai Xiaomi, exhausted, leaned against Wu Li's shoulder and dozed off when she was suddenly awakened by a high-pitched voice.

"Oh dear, you little rascal, why are your eyes so swollen?"

A white cat appeared out of nowhere and was circling Jiang Zhiyu, its exaggerated tone so over-the-top it could be squeezed out of three pounds of water.

"Could it be that Yao girl abandoned you and left on her own?" It paused, then sighed, putting its little paws behind its back with an air of knowing what was going on. "Alas, all good things must come to an end. It's all good that way. The lord and the queen have always thought of you, and it's time for you to go back with your master."

This statement, which seemed to imply something was amiss, made it hard for Chai Xiaomi not to suspect that it had been faking sleep last night, and that even the deafening snoring might have been intentional.

Perhaps it itself didn't know how to face the separation of the two of them.

After all, it looks exactly like the stick used to separate lovers.

But Chai Xiaomi also knew that the white cat had its own helplessness.

Jingmingtai was originally established with the support of the royal family of Lingyu Prefecture, and the ancestors of Jingmingtai and the ancestors of the royal family were close friends. This connection was passed down from generation to generation, and naturally, Ji Bai's generation also bore a certain mission of support.

Moreover, the white cat had a very close personal relationship with Jiang Runchuan, acting as his subject, teacher, brother, and friend. Since it was entrusted by its lord to bring the young master back, allowing Jiang Zhiyu to wander outside for so long was already a concession.

Sometimes, one's stance is harder to sway than one's heart.

Jiang Zhiyu was unusually silent. He seemed to have listened to what the white cat was rambling on about, but he also seemed not to have listened. He just let it go.

The white cat sighed, turned its head, and found that Xiaomi and Wu Li were standing behind it at some point.

Its eyes lit up, and it took small, quick steps to approach, tilting its head up to look at Wu Li, its words tinged with a cautious probing: "You brat, would you be willing to come back to Lingyu Prefecture with your master?"

It paused, then didn't continue.

Wu Li naturally understood the implication: it meant, "Would you like to see your father?"