Chapter 61 - Echo of Fate
"Boss, boss~"
"Coming, coming. Honestly, can't you little girl come another day? Insisting on coming today when it's all drizzly..."
Within Xianfeng City, a clothing shop boss, carrying two small paper bags, walked to the front counter while rubbing his body to warm up.
Luo He stood not far away, holding his umbrella and watching quietly.
"This weather is just damned. Clearly it wasn't that cold just now, but now it's so chilly..."
Luo He cast an apologetic gaze at him.
He opened the paper bags; inside were two simple sets of long shirts and long pants, clothes convenient for travel.
"But you ordered these clothes... what, are you going on a long journey?"
"Mm."
Liu Miao nodded her head.
Boss Hua was leaving. Although the flower shop was still there, Liu Miao was actually also planning to leave.
She felt that if she wanted to make some accomplishments in cultivation, she couldn't stay in Xianfeng City forever.
This place was too small.
After checking that the two sets of clothes were fine, Liu Miao put them away, then took out those few pieces of broken silver from her small pocket and placed them on the counter.
"And that one, that one."
"Aiyo... stop rushing me, I'll go get it for you right now."
The clothing shop boss once again went back and took out a dark red long garment.
Liu Miao liked bright colors, so the color contrast of this garment was very obvious.
But its decorative style appeared very simple and unadorned; at a glance, it instead gave people a feeling of not being too eye-catching but more comfortable.
Moreover, the texture of the fabric also looked much better than the two sets of casual travel clothes she had earlier.
The boss, while bringing it over, clicked his tongue in admiration:
"This garment is truly fine, but it's choosy about its wearer; one without an excellent temperament cannot pull it off."
"This man you've taken a fancy to must truly be a person of fine quality and appearance, otherwise, ah, he wouldn't be able to match these clothes."
"Boss, don't talk nonsense, it's not some man I've taken a fancy to."
Liu Miao glanced in Luo He's direction and hurriedly took the clothes.
"Hmm? I remember there's no one else in your family, little girl... Then for whom are you having such beautiful clothes made?"
"For me, uh... for me..."
Seeing her unable to say it, the experienced clothing shop boss quickly guessed something not far off the mark.
He sighed earnestly and, shaking his head, said:
"Liu Shuishui, ah, you're also someone we neighbors have watched grow up. All things considered, you're like half a family member."
"I know that little girls your age won't listen to anything one says, so I won't try to persuade you of anything, lest you come to dislike me."
"In short, ah, you yourself be a bit more careful, and don't be deceived by some disreputable person."
"......"
A disreputable person.
Luo He blinked his eyes.
It seems he's talking about me.
Unfortunately, he wasn't a disreputable person; he was a genuine ghost.
Seeing this, Liu Miao didn't explain much, immediately taking the clothes and running under Luo He's umbrella.
The boss was still leaning on the counter, sighing deeply at Liu Miao's departing figure.
Hiss... strange, how come it feels like no rain is falling on that little girl's head?
The clothing shop boss rubbed his eyes, turned around, walked back into the shop, and closed the door, just assuming his old eyes were playing tricks on him.
...
"Mr. Luo, look."
Liu Miao held up this garment in front of Luo He.
"Even someone like me knows to change clothes often and wear nice clothes."
"Mm... although the clothes you're wearing now also look very nice, I still feel it's better to change more often."
Since the first day they met, Liu Miao had always seen Luo He wearing this set of cyan-white long clothes.
Only when she went to order clothes for her own long journey did this idea sprout.
So, after preparing the other necessary things, Liu Miao took out what was left and ordered this dark red garment.
Luo He's image and temperament were both very gentle and refined; the clothes he had arranged for himself were also very gentle and refined.
Such a gentle and refined person, if he were to wear this set of slightly aggressive clothes...
Mm...
Liu Miao's mind began to wander.
"...Your sentiment, I am very grateful for."
"But, ah, Liu Shuishui."
"Have you considered how I'm supposed to wear it?"
"...Ah."
Liu Miao came back to her senses, pondered for a moment, and then it dawned on her.
She seemed to have done the same thing as with the sacrificial offerings last time.
She looked at the clothes in her hands, then looked at Luo He, caught in a dilemma.
Finally, she tentatively asked in a small voice:
"I, can I burn them for you..."
"......"
Be calm, be calm.
Luo He looked at Liu Miao, who was asking so cautiously, and only felt that this Heaven was fair.
When it gives you something, it will definitely take something back at the same time.
So Luo He just smiled and patted her head.
Good child, go on and play.
In that one instant, Liu Miao suddenly felt Luo He's gaze was very loving.
"This garment is very nice; you can keep it and wear it yourself."
"Mm..."
Seeing that Liu Miao's spirits still didn't seem to be that high, Luo He thought for a moment and said to her,
"You watch."
Luo He's figure was seen to suddenly become hazy. When it solidified again, the clothes on his body had changed into that dark red garment.
On this misty, rainy day, he held an umbrella and walked in the water vapor.
The red silk interspersed in the black was like a fluttering fire butterfly, weaving and dancing in the rain.
"......"
Liu Miao watched blankly, clutching the clothes in her arms.
After a short while, the two of them had walked to the flower shop entrance again.
The rain grew heavier, pattering down.
Luo He looked at the sky; it was time to go.
He turned his head and found Liu Miao also standing in place, looking at him.
Clearly, she also sensed the atmosphere of parting.
"Your talent is very good. If you cultivate well, you will definitely be able to make some accomplishments."
"However, your disposition is too simple. You must be careful in the future, don't be deceived by people. Finding a reliable sect, a reliable master, will be of great benefit to you."
"To be honest, even now, I'm still not sure if you embarking on the immortal path is a good choice... but perhaps for us, whether it's good or not isn't important."
"Whether you regret it later is what's important."
"May you, after a thousand sails have passed, look back on this day and feel that all of this was without complaint or regret."
"After this, we shall meet again if we are fated."
"By the way, if you go to the Tianchen Sword Sect... absolutely do not mention my name."
...
Fated.
Liu Miao recited these two words in her heart.
She watched Luo He nod at her.
"Goodbye, Liu Shuishui."
"Goodbye, Mr. Luo."
Her voice was very faint and was instantly drowned out in the pouring rain.
But she knew that Luo He had heard it.
Luo He's figure gradually disappeared into the curtain of rain.
"......"
Luo He concealed his figure, retracted his aura, and walked slowly.
Reaching the end of the street, he saw a human figure walking from the city gate in the distance.
The rain was heavy; he couldn't see clearly.
He could only just make out that it was probably a woman, seeming to carry a... sword in her hand?
And it was a broken sword.
If he were to use his soul power to see clearly, he would have to break his current concealed state.
So he decided to put away his curiosity.
The A'Jiao Umbrella, as a soul artifact given by that mysterious woman, had the powerful effect of isolating one's aura. Luo He infused a stream of spiritual energy into the umbrella and walked his own path.
The woman in the rain turned into another alley; the two were separated by a wall. Luo He could faintly hear her footsteps.
But in the end, they still grew further and further apart in the heavy rain.
And on the other side of the wall, she suddenly sensed something in her heart.
She hesitated for a moment, then immediately vaulted over the wall. But in the gradually intensifying downpour, she couldn't feel anything at all.
This time, when she ran to the back mountain, she had gained nothing.
She had not found Su Huanhuan, nor had she found... him.
Gu Jing stood blankly in the rain for a long time, until the surging curtain of rain completely submerged her figure.
But an illusion will not always be an illusion, just as when a gun appears in a book, it is destined to be fired.
Fates that collide will eventually give rise to an echo.