Chapter 72 Reunion

It was raining.

Bonanus gazed absentmindedly out the window at the falling rain.

Fine streams of rain wove themselves along the eaves, producing a dull tapping sound as they splintered into droplets, scattering into small splashes and seeping into the blue bricks and red walls. This was the first rain of the New Spring.

At that moment, dusk had settled—the sun's rain, or rather the sunset rain—with its murky drops mixing with the somber light, making it impossible to clearly see the scene outside.

Bonanus loved rain—the sensation of the cool water slowly permeating her skin—but that was partly due to her race; she was a Hydro Yaksha.

General Chizapus.

Yet today, she no longer found the rain so pleasing.

The incense would get wet…

And the paper money wouldn't burn.

No, that wasn't it.

She hadn't planned to go.

Why should she care?

Let the incense get wet; if the paper money fails to ignite, so be it. What did it have to do with her?

Cradling her snow-white cheek with one hand, Bonanus's pale cyan eyes paused for a moment. They were as calm as the rain outside—each droplet falling in a steady, soft patter, cool and faint.

In the past, everyone said that Bonanus and Xiao were the "expressionless" among the Yaksha—never laughing or crying, devoid of any visible emotion, like quiet rag dolls.

This morning, however, Indarias had come looking for her again.

That noisy idiot insisted yet again on going to offer incense for that person… Always as stubborn as ever, coming every time for over two thousand years, though Bonanus had refused every single time.

Death is death.

If that person is dead, then so be it.

Once dead, one cannot be revived; mourning loses its meaning. To Bonanus, such memorials were merely a psychological comfort for the living—both hypocritical and useless.

She would never regret having killed him, nor would she seek any "comfort" for doing so.

Still… by now Indarias should have returned, shouldn't she?

Bonanus furrowed her brows ever so slightly as she watched the gentle rain outside, thinking to herself:

"This year, I'm definitely not going again."

———

"Hello."

A young boy said, his deep blue eyes appraising the young lady before him.

Another visitor.

She didn't seem entirely human—she had a pair of elegantly shaped horns, long azure hair trailing down to her waist, skin as white as snow with hints of warmth, and eyes like a clear blue pool that gave off an immaculate, piercing coolness.

She wore a long blue dress that left her pure, translucent shoulders bare.

A human?

…This human youth—

Why would he be here?

Bonanus couldn't understand. The boy before her was no more than fifteen, standing in the desolate wilds of Wuwang Hill—especially on this bleak slope, eerie and foreboding, where stray lost souls were said to roam, a place even grown-ups dared not pass by. And here, in the midst of rain, this human boy was soaking wet, his thin clothes clinging to his body as if he'd been standing there for ages.

"Are you lost?"

Bonanus's cool voice, like a mountain spring, inquired.

"I'm waiting for someone to drink with. It's just that that person hasn't arrived yet," replied Seino Yaku, as he lifted the jug of ale hanging at his waist. "Look, there's still half a jug left."

"Minors aren't allowed to drink," Bonanus admonished with a shake of her head.

"And you? What brings you here?" Yaku asked.

What do I come here for…

That very question made Bonanus's brow furrow ever so slightly. What was she doing now? She didn't even know. She had clearly decided not to come. Yet, listening to the firecrackers bursting in Liyue Harbor, seeing families reunited, and watching that bleak, cold dusk rain… somehow, she had returned.

At least, she was glad that Indarias had come in the morning—so they hadn't met by accident.

"I'm just bored, wandering around," Bonanus said softly.

"…I just heard someone say something similar," Yaku remarked with a smile and chuckled.

Ha ha… really… it's almost too hard to keep a straight face.

He mused to himself: In my past lives, how many people did I end up provoking? They hated me so much that they'd come to the grave in secret.

Bonanus found the boy's smile rather odd—as if he were watching something amusing. His lips curved into a smile, yet his eyes revealed something else… she couldn't quite put her finger on it. It reminded her of the expressions of the opera audience at the Yun-Han Opera Troupe, which looked just the same as this boy's.

…The look of someone watching an opera?

She wasn't exactly angry at a mortal—just curious.

After one last glance at the drenched, "soaked-to-the-bone" boy, she spoke calmly, "If the person you're waiting for still doesn't show up, then go back. Do not linger here."

That was all she said.

After those final words, Bonanus and Yaku passed each other and walked toward a barren grave.

She did not approach it; she merely glanced at it from afar. A glance was enough—look once and then leave.

Sure enough, Indarias had been here before: remnants of paper money still lay scattered before the grave, not entirely washed away by the rain, and the small cluster of white flowers still remained—the very items Indarias brought each year to the grave were now etched in Bonanus's memory.

First, paper money and incense; then, a small bouquet of white flowers.

The inscription on the tomb had become blurred and wild grass grew unchecked. With the rain, the grave was muddy and damp… that person lay here, his eyes forever closed. Even after more than two thousand years, Bonanus still remembered the way he smiled, yet now he no longer smiled.

The dead are like a light snuffed out.

It wasn't so much about mourning him—it was more a quiet melancholy.

Today was the first day of the New Year—the day when everyone gathers as a family. But because you died, no one would ever gather again.

"Bastard," she muttered.

Yaku scratched his head in a touch of sorrow.

Everyone calls me a bastard…

Bonanus hadn't brought any paper money or incense, nor had she carried any flowers. She simply glanced at the grave, and then the girl turned to leave.

"Leaving already…?"

The boy still lingered. Blinking his deep blue eyes as if suddenly reminded of something, he reached into his backpack and pulled out an incense stick.

"I happen to have one left over from a grave visit. Want to take it to offer a stick for that person? Don't worry—I'm an honest merchant, fair to everyone, and I charge very little…"

This guy could win a Nobel Prize in Economics; he makes money even in the Underworld—and on himself, no less.

"So you've been guarding the grave as a middleman…" Bonanus said with a helpless sigh directed at the erratic youth. "But you've got the wrong grave."

"The one over there, infamous and detested for ages, will never have anyone come to offer incense for him, young man. You won't make any money."

And there she was, being scolded once again.

"Then why did you come?" Yaku asked bluntly.

"I already said I'm just wandering around."

Bonanus replied calmly, her pale cyan eyes revealing no extra emotion: "The dead are merely dead. No one will miss him."

The dead are simply dead; once extinguished, life is over.

The cold dusk rain poured onto that desolate, withered grave, lending an air of bleak desolation, while the leaves of the phoenix trees in the forest whispered softly.

Yaku watched her silently. For some reason, hearing her words caused him a slight pain.

Perhaps I really am detestable…

"Boy, if you're waiting for someone, with rain this heavy, the person you're waiting for won't come. And if you're trying to do business, you'd better pick a more popular graveyard."

Bonanus always spoke bluntly, never one for subtlety. After those final words, she paused and then turned to leave.

"But—" The boy's voice came from behind,

"But perhaps the person you're waiting for is you. Because even in this heavy rain, you still came to see him. Let's raise a toast for him together… that is my aim. I heard that he loved his drink. Let's have a cup in his honor."

"This is our appointment."

So irritating.

Bonanus felt a twinge of annoyance. Yaku's words always seemed to prick the most hidden corners of her heart—a small, unforgettable pain amid the indifferent span between life and death.

She tried not to think, to not dwell on it, but the memories wouldn't let her go. Indarias once remarked that she had a faceless expression—never smiling nor crying, like ice. But even ice has a temperature.

Yet, this was something that shouldn't be done.

He was a sinner. One shouldn't remember a sinner. It was all wrong.

Indarias, immature and foolish as she was, couldn't be the second exception.

"You're not in your right mind." Bonanus slowly exhaled, her icy eyes turning back to Yaku, a cold aura emanating that pushed him away. "I said, I am…"

Silence.

"Eh?" Bonanus paused, blinking as if seeing something strange. Her thin lips parted in puzzled inquiry,

"…Xiao?"

It was indeed Xiao.

She hadn't mistaken.

Xiao, with a look of resigned defiance, had been led out of the forest's shadows by Indarias. They had seen everything that had happened moments ago with perfect clarity.

Xiao silently stared at Bonanus, and Bonanus, in turn, silently regarded Xiao. The two exchanged a wordless look, engulfed in silence.

A long, lingering silence.

"You're here too," Xiao finally said calmly after a pause. "Bonanus."

"Eh…? You too?"

For a moment, Miss Bonanus was completely at a loss—why was Xiao here? How had he ended up in this place? And why, why did Indarias hide in the woods? Didn't she leave after burning the incense?

"There's one more thing I forgot to mention," Yaku said with a wry laugh. "My shop is quite popular—people do come by, you know."

Confusion reigned.

What…?

What do you mean?

Miss Bonanus was momentarily struck dumb—the cold detachment she had maintained froze. Had that very incident… revealed everything to her?

"You! Bonanus!"

Young Indarias pointed a finger at Bonanus's nose and sharply accused, "When you came looking for me this morning, didn't you say so coldly, 'The dead need not be mourned; I do not care'? Then why are you here?"

She glared at Bonanus, her eyes glittering.

Bonanus wanted to explain, but she was naturally inarticulate; no words would suffice. And Indarias, having gained the upper hand, pressed on:

"Clearly you miss Big Brother, don't you!"

Indarias was a straightforward girl; her words were like a spear, striking directly and precisely.

"No… that's not true…" Bonanus averted her gaze to avoid those burning eyes, denying softly, "Not at all."

"Of course you do!"

"…No. I was just taking a walk…"

"That excuse has already been used by Xiao!" Indarias interjected, as if channeling the wisdom of Athena herself, "Don't be stubborn!"

"Eh…?" Bonanus was stunned, her gaze incredulously shifting to Xiao.

Instinctively, Xiao also averted his eyes, not daring to meet Bonanus's.

Bonanus bit her lip, maintaining her composed expression as she turned away; her dark blue eyes remained as cold as ice, though her fingernails were clutched tightly on her sleeve.

"You do come every year. You say you refuse, but you always come."

"Stop talking nonsense," Bonanus whispered, though her ears flushed slightly—like the soft glow that tinged the edges of white clouds.

"Stop… talking nonsense."

Yaku stood between them, alternating his glance from one to the other while Xiao nonchalantly lingered at the edge. The two feisty girls bickered back and forth.

The rain continued, yet it no longer felt bitterly cold—perhaps softened by the sunset—falling on them, tickling and warm.

For some inexplicable reason, Yaku watched this scene from afar, observing the three of them and feeling a spark of happiness.

Happiness.

For what is life if not for moments of joy?

He gradually understood the meaning behind those old promises. Even if he no longer remembered the past, fulfilling those promises always filled him with delight.

So Yaku clapped his hands happily, "Alright, alright, stop fussing. Let's wait a bit longer—maybe someone else will come!"

The sun had completely set.

The twilight light gathered at the far end of the mountains, and the sunset rain slowly ceased. The night, washed clean by the rain, was clear and fresh—revealing a beautiful array of starlight.

Stars hung over the fields.

It was already night.

Menogias.

General Kapisas.

Menogias stared at the group in the woods with surprise—or perhaps with a hint of awkwardness.

"What is all this…?"

Xiao still maintained that expressionless face, as if entirely detached, while Bonanus turned away, her ears still slightly flushed. But the most expressive of all was Miss Indarias. With her hands on her hips and head held high, she wore an expression of "I finally caught you," radiating a joy as bountiful as a harvest.

"Menogias, so you used to come only in the dead of night!"

She glared at him fiercely. Though her tone was angry, Indarias was smiling—a smile so beautiful that it had been a long time since she had laughed so purely. There was nothing extraneous in that smile, only pure joy—the way she loved to smile before Bosacius departed.

Young Indarias then pointed her finger and calculated earnestly, "I came in the morning, Xiao at noon, Bonanus at dusk, and you at midnight… No wonder I've never seen you all at once!"

Menogias coughed, intending to explain that he was merely passing by out of curiosity. A well-read scholar of culture, he was far more eloquent than Xiao or Bonanus, capable of fabricating a host of reasonable excuses…

His lips parted to speak, but before any words could come out, he froze.

Xiao and Bonanus also fell silent.

Glistening—were those…

Tears…?

They did not know.

"Wonderful… so everyone is here after all."

"Wonderful."

"So no one has really left… wonderful."

"Truly… I'm so happy."

"I'm such an idiot, I never realized it all along."

Indarias continued to smile happily, though her laughter was slightly choked. She lowered her eyes, her rosy eyes shimmering with glistening light that seemed to flow as her shoulders trembled gently, with tear tracks streaking her cheek.

"In… Indarias?" Bonanus said softly as she instinctively patted Indarias's back.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine—I'm just laughing. I'm simply happy." Indarias wiped away her tears with her sleeve, then lifted her head with a radiant smile. "So it turns out…"

"So it turns out…"

She choked up, whispering, "It turns out that no one has forgotten Big Brother… so it is… just like that."

So, no one had forgotten Big Brother.

Xiao, Bonanus, and Menogias all fell silent.

"I'm really… so happy. This New Year is the best New Year I've ever had," Indarias declared.

"…Why?" Menogias asked, bewildered.

Indarias took Bonanus's hand and gazed at both Xiao and Bonanus,

"Nearly two thousand four hundred years have passed… two thousand four hundred New Years, and yet only this one was spent together. I have waited two thousand four hundred years… This was our promise."

"Indarias is happy—truly very happy…" she choked softly.

"Alright, alright, no more crying."

Bonanus comforted Indarias gently, "We must be happy. We're here, and we're not going anywhere."

"Right, right, we're not going anywhere!"

Menogias, a bit flustered, elbowed Xiao and signaled, "You, say something too."

"Boring… no…"

Xiao paused in an endless silence and finally said:

—"Happy New Year, Indarias."

Happy New Year.

Yaku quietly watched them all, taking in the scene.

It turned out that even immortals could shed tears.

Yaku thought his earlier words had been fitting—the human touch is the true flavor of the New Year. When family gathers, that is what makes the New Year, even if there are no fireworks, no celebrations, no dumplings. Here they stood before a cold, desolate graveyard—a stark contrast to the usual festive New Year…

And yet, it felt warm.

Strangely, it felt very much like the New Year.

Seeing them reunited filled Seino Yaku with joy.

He felt the warmth too—though it was not meant for him, even if he were alone, even if he had forgotten everything.

Some people are just like that; when they see others happy, a little bit of joy fills their own hearts.

"Alright," he smiled and clapped his hands, "New Year must be celebrated!"

"Even though there isn't much here…"

Yaku pulled out his jug of ale. "But I've still got a jug of wine."

The young boy smiled gently, starlight reflected in his deep blue eyes—a brilliant galaxy overhead—

"Let's drink together. To the New Year."

Indarias finally composed herself, raised her head, smiled at Yaku, and nodded earnestly, "Yes. Let's drink together."

"Thank you, Yaku," she said sincerely.

"There's nothing to thank me for…" Yaku scratched his head. "Let's drink."

—"Seino Yaku, staying around here at midnight—who are you going to drink with?"

A cool voice suddenly sounded from behind.

"Your hair is wet again. Baka… I told you not to get caught in the rain…"

A chattering voice.

Yaku paused for a moment and then burst into silent laughter.

It turned out he wasn't alone after all.