47 Conversation in Candle Ligh (1/2)

It was dark within the guest house, most of the candles had been blown out and the guest presumably has retreated to rest.

Since there was no one upon the first floor, he made his way to the second floor, to be greeted by a maze of closed doors.

He came upon a room that had open doors on the second floor. The occupant inside was faintly lit by a single candle that was on the table. The wax had, for the most part, melted to resemble that of coagulated blood.

The woman was dressed in pale white robes, her face was covered by a veil that made it hard to see her true countenance. With her fingers stroking the long, yet worn instrument, plucking evenly to create a heavenly sound, in which the rivers flowed downwards and the mountains sprouted from tall clouds.

Her eyes were completely focused on playing the instrument, as though there was nothing in the world that could be able to enter her eyes. Ruan Wang was within a heavenly trance within no time.

His mind was as clean and pure as a wall of ice, as he saw a young woman sitting beside him, also plucking the strings and making such a heavenly tune. The woman was dressed in light blue robes and her eyes were completely focused on the instrument that rested within her lap. Upon her lips, were a shallow smile as she plucked the instrument without a care in the world. Looking upon her, who would care what was happening in the outside world?

The fingers plucking the strings came to a rest, and heavenly music stopped, the woman looked up from the instrument, and Ruan Wang snapped out of his daze.

He looked into those eyes that were not obscured by the veil, they were as familiar as ever before, and now he somewhat understood. If this was nothing but a dream, then he did not want to wake up ever again.

On the contrary to what he expected, she did not scream in horror to the stranger who had suddenly appeared in a private room at the guest house, as any woman would, upon seeing a strange man enter.

Perhaps a thought born out of imagination, but he could feel the lips behind the veil curve into the shape of an unmistakable smile. But she did not speak at all, merely staring at him.

His gaze was that of a person who had fallen upon a sorcerer's love spell, unable to see anything clearly. His thin lips slightly opened at a loss of what to say.

”Yu Lin…” Finally, those words came out, but they were spoken so carefully, as though at a moment's notice, the name would somehow break apart and shatter into a million piece, never to be able to return to its former glory. Such a name was nothing but a long lost memory, covered in dust after not being spoken for years. Maybe the world had even forgotten of such a name, or the speaker had tried his hardest to recall how those words formed within his lips.

The woman's eyebrows creased as soon as she heard those words come from his lips. Perhaps she was disgusted as to why such a name would come from his lips. Perchance it was a feeling of surprise that he had actually remembered after so long.