“Is this the path you chose?”

The middle-aged man holding his chest with both hands, wearing a navy blue kimono and a scar on his face sighed.

In a dim and cramped tavern.

Apart from the tavern owner, there was only one white-haired old woman sitting at the long table.

The sighs echoing in the tavern were filled with regrets and regrets, as if it was a pity that my old friend never returned until the last moment came.

The dark blue door curtains isolated the heavy rain outside the store.

A row of small lanterns hanging on the upper edge of the store door exudes a hazy warm yellow halo in a rainy night.

"I have long lost my choice, I just take one step at a time."

The old woman at the long table lowered her eyebrows and murmured softly.

She was the ancestor of Saito family who personally welcomed Ji Changan that day, Saito Youlan.

Compared to that day, her appearance looked even older, with gray hair, and she showed fatigue after just a few words.

The unconcealed evening air seemed to announce that the old woman was approaching.

Standing behind the long table, the boss, who was older than the old woman, had a look of middle-aged appearance, looked silently at the dim halo outside the store, with a slightly melancholy look.

According to the generation, the old woman in front of her is actually two generations lower than him.

Among the "old immortals" who are still alive in Yingzhou, only he and her are left.

When the old woman left, the boss could no longer find a second friend who could be called an "old friend" in the entire Yingzhou.

"But you, you just let the Hidden Clan participate in this rebellion?"

The old woman's wrinkled hands rubbed the exquisite wooden box placed on the table, and asked the man in confusion, who was both a teacher and a friend in front of her.

I still remember that when I first met Qingyun hundreds of years ago, he was like this, and now he is still the same, but his youth has passed and he is old. It's really...

It's jealous.

The boss hugged his hands in front of his chest and said lightly: "My agreement with Sakurako is to protect the Yuyuan family while not interfering in the internal struggles of the Yuan family."

The old woman shook her head and said, "But you chose the former among the Yin clan and the current royal family. You have a clear attitude and favored each other for a hundred years. If not, how could the Yin clan replace the Saito family's position in the underground power? You themselves secretly became the emperor of the Yingzhou underworld."

"Others don't know, can't I know yet? Didn't you run that casino?"

"Old guy, what are you thinking?"

Facing the old friend's eyes stared at him, the boss laughed and said:

"It's no wonder that I am. Compared with the two, the Hidden Clan was much more cute than the royal family. If it weren't for Sakurako's instructions before her death, I would have punched them one by one and sent them to see Sakurako."

Saito Yuran said silently: "What about this generation?"

The boss said slowly, "I am quite satisfied with that child Chunqiu. As for the current descendants, I have given them too much freedom over the years, which has allowed them to develop ambitions they shouldn't have. I feel that my wings are hard and I don't even listen to my words."

"I originally planned to take away some disobedient children with my own hands, but when the child Chunqiu came to see me a few days ago, I met some of his small requests."

This old man who is still at the top of the Yingzhou faction said indifferently:

"To be honest, I don't care who will sit in Yingzhou's throne. If the Yuan family is pulled down, then I don't need to stick to my agreement with Sakurako. Maybe at that time, I will choose to leave the East Realm and go abroad for a while."

Saito Yuran sighed, as if she had guessed some old friends' thoughts long ago.

She lowered her head, looked at the wooden box in her hand in a daze, and gently stroked the wood texture on the box surface.

I was stunned for a long time.

The reason why I was able to convince myself was not only to witness the Saito family stepping towards the abyss, but also to join the rebellion personally. Apart from the fate that the Saito family could not give up after their grandfather's generation, and to the fact that they were unable to reverse everything, the most important thing was the things in their hands.

Gift from the gods?

There are very few rare things in this world that can extend your life. They are simply unavailable in the four realms in this world. Only those who hear them occasionally outside the country, let alone things that can help the living creatures above the level of [not falling]...

The things in her hand are worthy of the name of God.

"Do you regret it?"

The boss asked suddenly, his hands changing from holding his chest to crossing his waist, with a serious expression.

Saito Yulan was stunned for a moment, then nodded and sighed:

"I really regret it. If I could do it again, Saito Yuran would not hesitate anymore. She would not hesitate to stop the tragic fate passed down from her grandfather's generation to her own generation."

She had the opportunity to erase this fate that belonged to the Saito family.

The price is your own life.

But when she took the last step that year, she still hesitated for various reasons.

The boss shook his head and said, "I didn't ask you this, I asked you, he came to you a few years ago, and you chose to hide at home and avoid him. Do you ever regret it now?"

She was immediately struck by lightning.

She was already a gray-haired and dull old woman, but when she thought of that man, her turbid eyes still shone brightly.

When Gu Qingyun returned to the East, his first stop was not the Demon City, but Tokyo City.

But in the end I didn't see the person I wanted to see.

Saito Yulan got up from the stool, moving slowly and hunched.

She was really no longer able to do it, and she was on the verge of limits. The battle with Musashi Kojiro exhausted her last chance.

It was clearly a creature who had briefly touched [Don't Fall], but now even getting up seemed to be a burden to her.

She stretched out her trembling hand and picked up the wooden box, hugged it tightly in her arms, and said angrily to the old man in front of her who was disrespectful to her:

"So, you always say how deep the relationship between you and Princess Sakurako back then and how good you were to her, but in my opinion, you don't understand the woman's heart at all."

"Which woman would hope that her beloved will see her declining face that is no longer young?"

"He, it's too late."

"And I'm used to retreating."

"We were originally caused by my desperate tangle, but in the end, we were still... we were destined to be together."

The nagging words have come to an end.

The gate of the tavern was gently pulled open by an old woman.

She picked up the umbrella placed at the door and waved her hand behind without looking back.

After completing the rash farewell, Saito Yuran walked into the heavy rain with an umbrella, and her staggering figure gradually disappeared into the rain curtain.

The boss watched his old friend leave silently.

He knew clearly that this was the last time they met.

If there is another next time, I think it will be in front of the grave.

After living for a long time, I always send my old friends away in person.

Even though the old man had long been accustomed to the experience of "suffering to death" his old friend, he still felt a little sad and sad in his heart.

He picked up a rag and wiped the long table, but he was still recalling a scene a few years ago in his mind.

Saito Yulan, who had never seen that person, naturally didn't know anything.

That year the man who rushed back to the East from abroad.

After a night, he changed from a powerful middle-aged man to an elderly man.

The boss put down the rag and sighed.

His eyes stared blankly at the raindrops under the warm yellow halo outside the door.

In fact, Saito Youlan helped that generation of senior executives of the East Realm deceive Qingyun and joined forces with the North Realm to kill the first apostle of the previous generation. Apart from the pressure from some people, Qingyun completely gave up on her and forgot each other from then on.

Afterwards, Qingyun left directly, and obviously had a knot in his heart.

But hundreds of years later, the first stop for that guy to return to the East was Tokyo...

What a two awkward guys.

A slender figure suddenly appeared at the unclosed door.

The boss's eyes narrowed and he said in surprise:

"Rika... are you back?!"

The woman, who was wet with rain all over her body, stood at the door, looked deep into the rain, and asked softly:

"Uncle, was that one of them just now Ms. Saito?"

Rika Inoue remembers that the old woman often visited the restaurant late at night alone, ordering two pork belly tomato rolls every time.

"Well... she is here to say goodbye to me." The boss quickly reacted and looked along her gaze.

"bid farewell?"

"Ah, after all, I'm at this age, and no one knows when I can't wake up one morning."

Rika Inoue was silent for a while and asked softly: "Boss, has Ms. Saito found her sweetheart?"

The boss once told some stories about Ms. Saito.

The boss expressed regret and said, "I'm sorry, there was hope, but in the end... it was just passing by."

"That's how..."

Standing at the door like a chicken, he had not moved his sight for a long time. Even though the figure deep in the rain had disappeared, Rika Inoue murmured in a daze, her tone full of sadness.

It turns out that some stories really have no ending.
Chapter completed!