Baxi City.
Located in the south of Wei Kingdom, it was a remote town.
Precisely because it was in a remote location, the people of Baxi City were affected much less by this human-demon war.
In the north of the city, there was a private school.
The teacher didn't look at status, if anyone wanted to send their children to study, they only needed one jin of rice and flour per month.
This private school had been operating for a full fifteen years but today was the last class of this private school.
After the scholar bid farewell to his students, he slowly walked home.
Returning home, the scholar cleaned the courtyard by himself, then organized some clothes and put them in a storage bag.
Finally, the scholar took out a long sword that had been kept in the cabinet, put on a bamboo hat, and walked out of the room but just as the scholar closed the door and had just turned around, a woman in a black dress stood at the entrance, smiling as she looked at him.
"Oh, senior brother, long time no see." Shang Jiuli curved her eyes in a smile, just like more than ten years ago."Yes, it has been a long time." Luo Yang nodded and said calmly, "How about it? Would you like to sit in the courtyard?"
"Do you have tea?" Shang Jiuli asked.
"I have wine." Luo Yang patted the wine gourd at his waist.
"Forget it, forget it, I don't drink what senior brother has drunk." Shang Jiuli looked somewhat disgusted.
"Oh, it's fine if you don't drink. I brewed this wine for a long time and am reluctant to share it." Luo Yang seemed to have no intention of giving it to her anyway, just being polite.
Shang Jiuli wasn't angry either. After all, senior brother was like this, and only such a senior brother could make her feel somewhat familiar, "Senior brother, with this outfit, are you going on a long journey?"
"Yes." Luo Yang nodded, "Going to see distant places."
"How far?"
"The Demon Realm."
"..." Shang Jiuli was momentarily speechless but looking at her senior brother's eyes, Shang Jiuli knew he was serious.
Shang Jiuli sighed and asked, "Is senior brother going to find little Xiao Yue, that little rabbit?"
"Sort of, but not really."
Luo Yang raised his head, looking toward the horizon.
"I want to go see that Demon-Suppressing City, I heard there's a stone tablet there. In this entire world now, only that place still bears junior brother's name.
I also want to see what people call the so-called barbarous land, and find out exactly how different that place is from our Ten Thousand Laws Realm."
Shang Jiuli smiled and lowered her head, her long eyelashes trembling, as if reminiscing, "That sounds good."
"I'm leaving." Luo Yang pressed down his bamboo hat and walked forward. When he was shoulder to shoulder with Shang Jiuli, he stopped, "Sometimes when you want to cry, just cry. Constantly forcing a smile is quite tiring."
With those words, Luo Yang took a step forward and walked toward the distance.
Only Shang Jiuli stood in place, as if she had never left, never walked out.
Just as Shang Jiuli clenched her small hands and her eyes became misty, she took a deep breath and sighed somewhat resentfully, "Really, just when I finally wanted to be quiet for a while."
Wiping away the traces of tears from the corners of her eyes, Shang Jiuli turned around and smiled as she looked at the white-dressed woman before her, "Miss Bai, long time no see."
"It has indeed been a long time." Bai Ruxue looked at Shang Jiuli calmly.
"Is Miss Bai here looking for me?"
Shang Jiuli looked at this Demon Empress of the Four Seas. Compared to her previous innocence and somewhat immature personality, she seemed to have truly grown up now.
"That's right, I want to ask senior sister for a favor."
Shang Jiuli was stunned, not expecting Ruxue to actually ask for her help.
"Alright." Shang Jiuli nodded, "But what does Miss Bai need me to help with?"
"A painting. I want to ask senior sister to help me paint a very long painting."
Over the following year, Bai Ruxue took Shang Jiuli to place after place.
After Shang Jiuli lifted her brush and painted the courtyard where Xiao Mo had once lived into the scroll, this painting was completely finished.
"I hope this painting didn't disappoint you, Ruxue."
Shang Jiuli turned around and handed a scroll to Bai Ruxue.
The scroll was a magical artifact. When unrolled, it revealed a painting five li long.
It recorded Xiao Mo's two lives and two worlds.
After continuously painting for a year, Shang Jiuli had consumed considerable mental energy, her face pale.
Bai Ruxue took the scroll and carefully placed it in the spatial bag in her sleeve, "Senior sister has worked hard this year. I owe you a favor."
Shang Jiuli lowered her head, a trace of melancholy flashing in her eyes, "Ruxue, you don't owe me anything. Rather, this world owes Xiao Mo far too much."
"But Ruxue." Shang Jiuli raised her head, her eyes looking directly into the girl's eyes, "Everything you're doing might all be futile..."
Shang Jiuli bit her thin lips lightly, wanting to speak but stopping, but finally decided to say it, "Ruxue, he's already gone. You shouldn't keep circling in place. You should move on."
"If moving on means giving up searching for him, then I never want to move on in this lifetime."
Bai Ruxue looked directly into Shang Jiuli's eyes.
"Comparatively speaking, senior sister, the person who truly should move on might not be me."
Bai Ruxue bowed in courtesy, turned and left, leaving only Shang Jiuli standing alone in front of the courtyard.
Looking at the empty courtyard, in Shang Jiuli's mind, she couldn't help but recall the joyful laughter when the three of them celebrated in the courtyard before junior brother went down the mountain.
It seemed like everything had happened yesterday but now, after junior brother's soul scattered, senior brother went to the Demon Realm, and Ruxue used her lifetime to search for his remnant soul.
Yet she still stood in the same place, motionless.
Walking into the courtyard and sitting on the stone bench, Shang Jiuli raised her head and looked at the sky.
After a long while, Shang Jiuli couldn't help but smile, "I was talking about others.
The one who should move on is me.
Only I... am still in this courtyard.
Trapped in that time."