"Please rest assured, I have only one simple request: please do not tell Teacher of my death, not ever."
"Teacher once said that if a hundred years passed without her contacting me, I should forget her."
"I am about to die, which can be considered a way of following Teacher's instructions to forget her."
"As for the birthday gift Senior bestowed upon me, I'm afraid I do not have the fortune to enjoy it."
"I have lived a fulfilling life and have no desire for eternal youth. My only regret... is that I ultimately failed to persuade Teacher to stop that Forbidden Research."
"Teacher let me complete my apprenticeship probably not out of anger, but because I am truly dull-witted and could no longer grasp any more of the knowledge she imparted."
"The years of the Long-lived Species stretch on for a very long time. Perhaps in not many years, Teacher will have completely forgotten me."
"It has been an honor to know Senior during my long life."
"Thank you for your constant favor."
"I'll stop here. Sen... Sister Qintu, goodbye."
The video message ended there.
Yu Qintu's lips parted slightly as she stared blankly at the spot where the image had vanished, not moving for a long while.
"When... did he pass away?"
"Based on the Remembrance, the conclusion is: Qi Zhimu passed away nine days after receiving your birthday gift," the Mechanical Puppet replied.
Yu Qintu felt a complex mix of emotions churning in her heart.
Stripping away the part of herself that belonged to a genius and deeply examining her inner heart, she confirmed certain facts.
Perhaps she did like the Little Fellow a bit... it was just the implicit arrogance of a genius that had caused her to attribute this feeling to appreciation rather than liking.
Realizing it now was already too late.
Looking at the item in the automaton's hand, Yu Qintu carefully pinched a piece of pastry and put it into her mouth.
In an instant—
The regrets experienced over countless years converged into a surging river, crashing violently into her heart.
Finally, the image froze on this day, the day she learned of Qi Zhimu's death and said her final goodbye, prying open the emotion called sorrow.
"You only changed your address to call me'Sister' when you were dying... Had I known, I should have made you bake pastries for me for a lifetime..."
"You little brat..."
Yu Qintu solemnly took the remaining pastries. As for the birthday gift that was sent out but 'returned'... she gave a low sigh.
"Did the Little Fellow leave a grave for himself?"
"Please follow me." The automaton turned to lead the way toward the back mountain.
Arriving before the old plum tree, Yu Qintu looked down at the lonely stone tablet, and her heart suddenly tightened.
[Tomb of Qi Zhimu]
There were only four words; no life story, no origins.
There was also no signature of the person who erected the monument.
The plum blossoms were in full bloom, crimson filling the branches, a faint fragrance floating in the air.
But no matter how beautiful the scenery was, it could not enter Yu Qintu's eyes at this moment.
She reached out and brushed her hand over the rough surface of the tablet.
The touch was bone-chillingly cold, even colder than this winter day.
She could almost imagine Qi Zhimu facing death alone. Given his personality, until the very end, the person he kept in his heart was likely still Ruan Mei... After death, there was no one to bury him, no friends or relatives present.
That was why he had created an automaton to handle his remains.
Leaving only this solitary stone tablet to remember a name that no longer lingered in the mortal world.
Only the whistling of the cold wind remained in the plum grove.
Yu Qintu stood before the tombstone. Though she had ten thousand things she wanted to say, they were all stuck in her throat.
It turned out a person could disappear so quietly.
The faint sound of treading on snow came from behind her.
Yu Qintu turned her head to look.
It was a somewhat thin Orange Cat, looking vaguely familiar.
It dragged its body step by step, slowly arriving beside Qi Zhimu's tablet.
The Orange Cat used its front paws to slowly dig away the snow and fallen flowers until the frozen black earth beneath was revealed.
Its movements were very slow, but there was not the slightest pause.
The hole was dug, neither too big nor too small, just enough to fit itself.
The Orange Cat lowered its head to sniff the patch of earth it had just cleared, then turned and curled up inside.
It gently rested its chin on its crossed front paws, wrapped its Tail around its side, and quietly looked at the name on the stone tablet.
Yu Qintu could see its abdomen rising and falling weakly with its breath, very lightly, very slowly.
After about half a minute, those clouded eyes gradually lost focus and closed completely.
The wind rose again, and a few plum blossoms petals fell on the Orange Cat's back and head.
It did not shake them off, just lay there quietly prostrate.
Yu Qintu understood that the Orange Cat had reached the end of its long trek.
For twenty years, it had never left, staying in the place where its master once lived.
Until its lifespan reached its limit, it came to its master's burial ground to wait for death from old age.
"..."
Yu Qintu couldn't say a single word, her eyes turning red.
How many years had it been?
She could no longer remember how many years it had been since her eyes had welled up for someone like this.
An irrepressible regret rushed into her mind with an unstoppable momentum.
If only she had set out ten days later twenty years ago... As long as she wanted, there were countless ways to extend Qi Zhimu's life.
Thinking of everything in the past, Yu Qintu tilted her head back and took a deep breath to calm her thoughts.
She opened the seal of the emerald green potion in her hand and poured the Longevity Liquid, which countless people scrambled for, in front of Qi Zhimu's tablet.
"You little brat, there's no such thing as taking back a gift that's been given. You have to accept it even if you don't want to..."
She hadn't even accompanied Qi Zhimu as long as a cat had.
Her weight in Qi Zhimu's heart was far from reaching the level where the latter would be willing to stay in the mortal world for her.
"He is of a Short-Lived Species, unlike you. If you bury your head in research for another few dozen or a hundred years, he will have died of old age."
"Aruan, the thinking of the Short-Lived Species is different from that of the Long-lived Species."
The words she had once said to Ruan Mei echoed in her ears word for word, and a hint of self-mockery appeared at the corners of Yu Qintu's lips.
All the boomerangs had finally struck her own body.
Hadn't she also left for decades for her own affairs, only to find out that Qi Zhimu had died of old age without her knowing?
Hadn't she also habitually used the thinking of the Long-lived Species to presumptuously make choices for Qi Zhimu, believing he would linger in the world?
The only lesson humans learn from history is that they never learn from history.
Even Member #56 of the Genius Society chose not to extend his life and entered eternal sleep after a natural death, let alone Qi Zhimu, who always considered himself a mortal?
In fact, Yu Qintu also understood that one should not force someone who no longer lingers in the mortal world to stay.
But where in the world were there 'ifs'?
It was just that for a moment, she couldn't accept the fact and wanted to find an excuse that could explain, vent, and cover up the regret filling her heart.
That was all.
After an unknown amount of time, the cold wind gradually died down.
The warm sun peeked out from the clouds, and the warm sunlight fell on Yu Qintu's shoulders and also on Qi Zhimu's tombstone.
Yu Qintu still stood quietly in place, not moving for a long time, until nightfall before she went down the mountain.
The Bamboo House remained the same, the furnishings as they were before, as if nothing had changed.
Except, there were no longer any traces of that person living there.