It's the fourth day since I went to the East Gate again. I had three days of surgery in a row, and Jin Rusheng let me go and allowed me to take a leave of absence.

These surgeries were quite tricky, and Jin Rusheng only asked me to do them. If it was a general operation, he would have arranged for other doctors to do it.

Hao Junqi also took a leave of absence.

It's late July. It's the hottest time of the year. The sun is extraordinarily strong and scorching.

We drove there.

still parked in front of Yongtai's dilapidated ancient stage, but the mood was completely different.

For example, they will no longer hold hands affectionately. Hao Junqi holds a parasol and will not repeatedly insist that you be under the umbrella. You are also very clever in finding an excuse to shirk, for example, how can a man wear a sun umbrella? It can also be said that I am fine, the man looks strong with dark spots on his skin.

One after the other, one after the other. Even side by side, the spacing between each other can pass through a cow.

This embarrassment is inevitable.

Only time will erode this embarrassment.

If eighteen years of emotional sustenance can change its attributes in a few days, what kind of feelings is it?

Familiar and unfamiliar roads, familiar and unfamiliar rivers, familiar and unfamiliar boardwalks, familiar and unfamiliar trails.

Familiar and unfamiliar voices, familiar and unfamiliar faces, familiar and unfamiliar eyes, familiar and unfamiliar backs.

We walked along the last mountain road to the top of the small hill, and the vast water still amazed us, but we were not in the mood to feel it.

At the same time, we looked at our destination, the Optimus Pillar Cliff.

But we can't see the Optimus Pillar Cliff at all. The Optimus Pillar Cliff is on the northwest side of Tiger Slope, and it is also on the back side of Tiger Slope. And from our side, there is another hill called Moon-shaped Mountain that blocks our view.

The wind blew the sweat off our faces.

We headed northwest along the hills around the reservoir. I walked ahead and tried to open a path for Hao Junqi. Tear off the spider silk wrapped between the branches, break or break the branches that block the path and remind Hao Junqi to pay attention to the dead wood and dead branches across the road.

After bypassing the moon-shaped mountain, the tiger slope appeared in front of us.

Tears welled up in his eyes.

Eighteen years ago, the scene is suddenly in front of my eyes.

It's still the mountain, it's still the trees, it's still the road hidden among the trees, and it's still the two people walking on the road, but it's no longer a twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy or girl, but a middle-aged man and woman who have experienced the vicissitudes of life.

I don't worry about ghosts popping out of the woods anymore. There is nothing weird on the Tiger Slope, it has been verified by us eighteen years ago. The wind is still blowing, the trees are still swaying under the wind, and the sun is still so hot.

What makes us depressed is the Optimus Pillar Cliff.

Standing on the top of the Tiger Slope, the concave and convex stone walls formed by the fission of the Optimus stone pillars are full of vines, and the stone walls are already reborn with miscellaneous trees.

I walked towards the path to the stone cliff.

"Brother—" Hao Junqi called me from behind me.

"Is there something wrong?" I turned back.

"I don't know what's going to happen." Hao Junqi's Li-Ning white T-shirt was already soaked with sweat. Her parasol had been put away in her purse. The sun shone on her without obstruction.

"Aren't we just expecting something strange to happen again? It's okay, Junki. Eighteen years ago, you encouraged me, and today my brother encourages you to give me your hand. I smiled and stretched out my hand to Hao Junqi.

"I'm not afraid of what will happen to me, I'm just worried about my brother. Eighteen years ago, I promised the thin man to climb the Tiger Slope to the Optimus Pillar Cliff. Hao Junqi reached out and took my hand.

"I didn't complain about you eighteen years ago, and I don't even complain about you today. Besides, aren't you for me? ”

I took Hao Junqi's hand and walked forward.

The road to the cliff is much steeper than the road up Tiger Slope, so it is particularly difficult to walk. After a few minutes, I had to let go of Hao Junqi's hand. It is no longer possible to hold hands with each other and move forward. The only thing I can do for Hao Junqi is to carry her bag on my back, because we both have to use it together.

As we did eighteen years ago, as we went ascent, from time to time stones that were loosened by our steps rolled down.

We had to step on each step, dragging the branches of the bushes on both sides of the road to climb up.

The road is getting steeper. Eighteen years together, in fact, there was no road, and those bushes became a road. We let the twigs of the bushes streak across our faces.

Eighteen years together, Hao Junqi fell behind. The bushes blocked her figure.

I stopped and waited. When I saw Hao Junqi, I continued to climb up.

The further up you go, the more sparse the bushes become. According to my impression, when I climbed this section, I was not far from the soles of the uneven stone walls.

Sure enough, in a few minutes I was crawling to the bottom of the bumpy rock wall.

I didn't scream, I didn't feel joy, I was surprised. I was amazed that the vines wrapped around the stone wall were as thick as my arm, and that the miscellaneous trees that grew between the stone walls were half the height of the stone walls.

There are no clubs. It doesn't look like there are any plum blossoms. Of course, this is not the season for plum blossoms.

To my surprise, there was not a single change in the weather.

I remember eighteen years ago, the closer we got to the stone pillar, the darker the sky became. By the time we reached the bottom of the pillar, the sunny day had become cloudy, and it seemed that it was going to rain.

Not today. It's shiny everywhere. The sky was cloudless, and the sun was still scorching on us.

Hao Junqi gasped and came up to me. We were all sweating profusely.

"How can this be?" Hao Junqi didn't believe her eyes either.

"It's not the same anymore." I said, "There's no fear at all. ”

"How can there not be a little weird vibe? Brother, it's not like we're going to come for nothing, right? Hao Junqi seemed very lost.

"I also think it's very strange, according to my imagination when I lie in bed these days, when we go up to the Optimus Pillar Cliff, we will find a huge flower like back then, and the weather will be terrifyingly dark." I say.

"And then my brother is as persistent as he was back then, and he has to climb the stone pillar and pick the flowers for me?"

I met Hao Junqi's gaze, "I think that flower is like a kind of hub, or some kind of key, take it off, the uneven stone wall will close into the Optimus Stone Pillar, and the meat ring on our middle finger will disappear with it." ”

"We thought of a piece." Hao Junqi was not angry that I didn't answer her question, "How did you think it would be so bland?" It seems that it is really going to be in vain. ”

"Quite possibly. It's just that in this way, the flesh ring spirit can't be lifted. "Thinking of that night, Hao Junqi and I couldn't help ourselves, the flesh rings on our middle fingers were shining and attracted to each other, presumably it was the prelude to the dissolution of the supernatural.

Now we can't do that.

"Why don't we take a closer look," Hao Junqi was not completely discouraged, "Do you remember?" When the Optimus Pillar was split into two halves, each half corresponded to our flesh ring with a notch and a bulge, I wonder if this notch and bulge are still there after eighteen years? ”

"Yes. If anything, here's the weirdness. At that time, there was also a flash on the stone wall: 'Forever united, never abandoned'. Or you are the first to find out. ”

"I also pronounce 'never leave' as 'never leave.'" Hao Junqi laughed.

I laughed along. "Then let's take a closer look, maybe there's something to be gained."

"I hope."

I took Hao Junqi's hand and walked towards the gap between the uneven stone walls. There were many thorns at the foot of the stone wall, and in order to prevent the thorns from scratching us or cutting our clothes, I carefully pulled aside the thorns that blocked our way, and I trampled them on the soles of my feet.

Stepping on the soles of your feet is a risky move, as the thorns are likely to slip out of the soles of your shoes and bounce in front of you, scratching your arm even deeper. But there is no way to do it.

The crack was about two meters wide and covered with trees I couldn't name. The trees are generally thin and small, but they are extremely tall, as if they are about to compete with the stone wall, and they are scurrying upwards one by one.

We walked into the cracks. The scorching sunlight was blocked by the branches and leaves, and it was very cool.

We walked about five steps inside, and when we felt like we were in the middle of the crack, we stopped to look for a notch or bulge in the stone wall. Eighteen years ago, the promise of "never leaving the same heart and never leaving" flashed in front of the bulge and notch, respectively.

But the cracks were overgrown with trees and vines on the stone walls, and we couldn't see the notches or protrusions for a while.

Hao Junqi was the first to find it, and she shouted: "Brother, I saw the notch on the stone wall." ”

"Where?"

"You look in the direction of my finger. Slightly upwards. Behind that branch. ”

I leaned over to Hao Junqi and looked in the direction she was pointing. Through the gaps in the branches, I noticed the notch the size of a millstone, hidden behind the vines.

"See?" Hao Junqi asked.

"See."

"The bulge is directly opposite it, and if we turn around and look in a symmetrical direction, we will be able to see it."

"Yes." I say.

We all turned around, and almost simultaneously saw the same bulge hidden under the vines.

"Brother," said Hao Junqi, "when the stone pillar was cracked, when we noticed the notch and protrusion, I imagined that if the concave and convex stone wall were re-closed, the position of the protrusion and the notch would coincide. ”

"I've thought so much." I say.

"We always have the same imagination. It's just a pity that they can't match anymore. "Hao Junqi said quietly." Although it is only two meters away, it seems to be thousands of miles away. ”

"Junqi." I don't know what Hao Junqi is trying to express.

"I really regret that I didn't bring a knife or a saw to cut down or sawn off all the trees in the cracks, and to clear the vines that were wrapped around the stone walls, so that they could see each other clearly and not forget each other."

"They will never forget each other, no matter how dense the trees are, no matter how lush the vines are." I have mixed feelings in my heart, "because they all engrave each other's appearance in their hearts." Therefore, whether the tree is cut down or not, whether the vine is cleared or not, it is all the same. Besides, the trees and vines will grow again after they have been removed. ”

"yes, we can't come up and eradicate them every year. I just want the relationship between them to be simple, not as complicated as the relationship between me and my brother. Hao Junqi looked at me.