Just as her fingertips were about to touch the edge of his veil, he suddenly tilted his head slightly.

Not by much, just enough to avoid her fingers.

Tang Xiaobai paused in her movements, watching him; there was a feeling of wanting to reject while longing, of wanting to speak but hesitating.

Her eyes flickered, and suddenly, she tore off his veil.

The black gauze brushed past his face, revealing it like a beautiful jade, suddenly shining brilliantly.

The veil fell to the ground, and he turned his gaze to look at her indifferently.

His eyes were as dark as ink, with hidden glimmers within.

Tang Xiaobai was stunned for a moment: "Ah Xiao?"

Then she was overjoyed and threw herself onto him.

"Ah Xiao! Ah Xiao! Is it really you? How could it be you?"

He placed one hand on her waist and turned his face to look at her.

Skin cool white, lips crimson, eyes jet black.

Although the facial contours had changed a bit, losing some youthful softness and gaining some sharpness, this face was indeed that of her little brother.

But—

Tang Xiaobai’s gaze fell on the end of his left eye.

At the corner of his eye, there was a light peach-pink tint, like a beauty slightly drunk, charming and alluring.

And below the corner of the eye, there was a tear mole, like a painter’s finishing touch.

One touch of the pen and the city falls, captivating countless.

Tang Xiaobai blushed, withdrawing her hands from his shoulder, hiding them behind her, and awkwardly knelt back a few steps, saying, "Sorry, I mistook you again, you look very much like a brother of mine—"

"I’m older than you!" he said through gritted teeth.

Tang Xiaobai was taken aback: "How do you know my age—" She was stunned, "You—"

Taking another careful look at his face.

The differences in details could be attributed to growing up, but the little brother didn’t have such a beautiful tear mole!

"You... are you really Ah Xiao?" Tang Xiaobai couldn’t believe it.

"Tang! Xiao! Bai!"

Tang Xiaobai shivered.

But...

"Here—" she pointed to the corner of his eye, "how did you get a mole here?"

He pursed his lips and said nothing.

This frost-covered angry expression truly looked so damn familiar...

"Really Ah Xiao?" She crawled a few steps to him, cupped his face in her hands, urgently inspected it, continued to press, "Is it true? Speak properly!"

Although he still looked unhappy on the face, he finally let out a breath: "Yes."

It really was...

Tang Xiaobai suddenly felt as if a dam had burst in her heart, swelling her eyes with moisture instantly.

She suddenly hugged his neck, overwhelmed with mixed emotions of sorrow and joy.

"It really is you... it really is you... why scare me... scared me to death..."

Initially filled with surprise, it finally ended with a sobbing grievance.

Li Mu was about to speak when he suddenly felt a warm wetness in his neck, as if his heart was scalded a bit.

He slowly tightened his embrace around her, softly saying: "It’s my fault..."

...

The branches gently prodded the fire, and the slightly withered flames revived, shining brightly on the faces of the two people.

The girl leaned her head against the young man’s shoulder, her eyes red-rimmed with traces of having cried.

"... Traveled for over a month and still haven’t found... I kept telling myself, almost there, not far off, but never could catch up..."

"Now it’s almost July, having reached the depths of Qinghai, I know it gets more barren further inside... I think every day maybe it’s time to go back..."

As she spoke, Tang Xiaobai felt the stirrings of tears again.

If not spoken aloud now, she wouldn’t have realized how restless she truly was.

Since leaving the Capital City, Tang Xiaobai considered herself an adult.

Even when facing troubles, she often sought solutions rather than dwelling on futile emotions.

Unexpectedly, encountering the little brother, her mentality suddenly crumbled; holding him, she cried for ages and grumbled endlessly.

Why act so spoiled?

Tang Xiaobai sniffed, and suddenly his hand reached over from the side.

With his palm half-curled, there lay three purple wild berries, against his pale palm, they were extraordinarily beautiful.

"How come there’s still this?" Tang Xiaobai reached to take them from his palm.

Only upon doing so, did she notice how large his palm was.

Her hand was curled as she took the berries, looking even smaller, seemingly able to be completely enveloped by his hand.

And indeed, he amusedly closed his five fingers, making a surrounding gesture around her.

Tang Xiaobai "Pft" with a laugh, clutched the berries, seized the opportunity, and escaped from his palm.

Just as she felt she had escaped successfully, her hand was suddenly caught.

She hadn’t even clearly seen his movement, but the hand holding the berries was pinched by him, unable to move an inch.

Tang Xiaobai "tch"ed, saying: "Training in martial arts is really impressive!"

"I could catch you even without training," Li Mu said.

Aye... that voice...

Tang Xiaobai felt a tingling softness in her heart, sat up a bit awkwardly.

Sitting upright, she realized she was not only leaning on the little brother’s shoulder but was being held by one of his arms.

Tang Xiaobai couldn’t help but glance at him.

Really different now.

Not only had his hands grown larger, but his shoulders were much broader too.

Although he looked thin, his arms were muscular and firm, providing a steady, secure support when leaning against him.

His face had matured substantially as well.

As Tang Xiaobai looked up, she couldn’t help but be drawn to the tear mole at the corner of his eye.

"How come there’s an extra mole here?" she said, finally unable to resist touching the corner of his eye.

His eyelashes quivered, a gentle glow in his eyes.

Tang Xiaobai inadvertently met his gaze and suddenly, her face heated up, her heart flustered, she instinctively covered his eyes.

Li Mu didn’t understand why she suddenly did this but liked such intimacy very much, couldn’t help but curve his lips slightly: "It’s always been there, too conspicuous, so I covered it."

Tang Xiaobai understood.

It makes sense.

If it’s a naturally born tear mole, perhaps many knew of this trait, to conceal identity, the only way was to cover it.

Now indeed there was no need to conceal it anymore.

Tang Xiaobai removed her hand, her fingers lightly brushing over the tear mole, sighed: "So beautiful..."

This time it was Li Mu’s turn to blush.

With this blush, the shadow of his soft and obedient past emerged.

Tang Xiaobai felt familiarity, couldn’t help laughing: "Weren’t you at Hedong Yamen Pass? Why did you come here?" Suddenly thought of a possibility, "Could it be to find me?"

Li Mu glanced at her: "Why didn’t you tell me when you went to Liangzhou?"

Tang Xiaobai blinked: "I forgot," she really did forget, back then there were too many things going on, she didn’t manage, "Didn’t I later have Mo Huan send you a letter?"

But the little brother was clearly unsatisfied with this answer, his expression faded a bit: "Remember to tell others, and only forget to tell me?"

That statement...

Tang Xiaobai could only bow her head and gnaw on the berries.

Li Mu didn’t pursue it more, and rummaged through his bag, pulling out a cloth bundle.

As the cloth bundle was opened, there was a mass wrapped in leaves.

While nibbling on the berries, Tang Xiaobai curiously watched him place the bundled mass near the fire as though baking it.

"What’s this?" Tang Xiaobai asked.

"I hunted a wild rabbit at noon, kept two legs," he said, placing stones above the leaf-wrapped rabbit legs, "The berries were picked yesterday, none found today... this cave, I stayed in last night, left some dry grass..."

"I always feared that when I meet you, you’d be cold and hungry..."

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I also want to increase updates, but was already drained last time, let me take it slow...