Maybe because of the holiday, there were very few students still wandering around the academy.
The atmosphere on campus was very comfortable.
The architectural style was like something out of an anime—dreamlike, with curved roofs, carved window frames, and walls covered in climbing ivy scattered along both sides of the street.
Even though this world was cruel, there were still people who wanted to discover beauty.
After all, if you only wallowed in self-pity amidst the suffering, it wouldn’t change anything.
It was better to choose to create something beautiful, and in this world full of supernatural abilities, creation and destruction had become very easy.
Even so, the reason people were given these abilities was ultimately to fight against demon beasts, to defend the peace of the majority through slaughter and bloodshed, and to continue the existence of humanity as a whole.
Therefore, You Xue still felt that the world from her previous life was much better.
Even though humans didn’t possess those dazzling supernatural abilities,
At least, when the sun rose as usual, most people could peacefully spend an ordinary, tranquil day.
On the way, Su Li and Alice seemed to be talking about something, but You Xue was immersed in her thoughts and hadn’t been listening carefully.
Until she heard Alice say with a laugh.
“So you used to live like that.”
Then she asked, somewhat puzzled.
“Do you still feel nostalgic now? Even though you had it so rough?”
Su Li paused, then nodded, his gaze shifting to You Xue’s face.
Seeing Su Li’s eyes on her, You Xue was slightly startled and instinctively looked away.
She pretended to be looking at a tree covered in white flowers by the roadside, a few petals lifted by the wind and spinning in the air.
You Xue had just caught those two sentences.
She thought about it, and when it came to those memories that weren’t hers, honestly speaking, she did feel some nostalgia.
Not nostalgia for the times of suffering, but nostalgia for the connection between the two of them during that slowly passing time.
Walking together on the ridges between the golden wheat sea, standing together in the stream letting the water flow against their skin, sitting together in the yard watching the stars gradually twinkle.
Back then, they must have said a lot of things, but when she recalled it, those words had disappeared, leaving only peaceful images.
Pure, beautiful, as if emitting a light that could purify the soul.
Able to rely on, able to rely on each other, trust each other, never abandon or give up—in short, it was a very strange feeling.
Even though she clearly knew she wasn’t that person, she still unconsciously sank into it.
Carefully, she glanced at Su Li’s face from the corner of her eye, only to feel that his black eyes seemed to emit a certain soft light.
“Although it was tough, that’s in the past now, so I only want to remember the scenes worth nostalgic about.”
Su Li’s tone was light, just a casual conversation.
“You Xue.”
“Hmm?”
You Xue instinctively responded softly to Su Li’s call.
“What do you think?”
Su Li asked, his tone quite straightforward.
He always asked such hard-to-answer questions.
You Xue lowered her head slightly, thought for a moment, and finally spoke her true feelings.
“It’s fine. I liked that village. Even though there are bad memories, there are also many beautiful ones engraved in my mind.”
Even if she didn’t want to always think about them, there were always moments when those emotions soaked through the frames of her memories, rising in her mind scene by scene like an unstoppable tide.
“Yeah, that’s why I often think about the past. Plus, the village has already been destroyed…”
Su Li agreed.
He thought, precisely because the village no longer existed, those painful past experiences could never be lived again, and the happy ones had become scarce, so he was more willing to recall the past.
But being in the present, Su Li of course knew that for the past that could never return, just thinking about it was enough.
For now, he still wanted to focus on the present, strengthen his abilities.
His goal hadn’t changed.
He wanted to live better, not go hungry, and also protect the people he cared about.
But in truth, he wasn’t particularly determined, especially regarding the girl in front of him who now had heterochromatic eyes.
He really didn’t know how to treat her…
Thinking of this, Su Li felt a bit disheartened again.
After hearing these words, Alice vaguely sensed the awkwardness in the atmosphere.
“Forget it, let’s not talk about these topics anymore. Look, up ahead is the shop I was telling you about.”
She pointed forward.
The shop stood at the corner of the street.
The walls were caramel-colored, and wind chimes hung by the window.
The copper pieces gently collided in the afternoon breeze, producing a delicate and clear sound.
The shop was very bright inside, and as soon as you walked in, you could smell a cloyingly sweet aroma.
Alice flared her nostrils and said proudly.
“This is the smell!”
But You Xue felt the scent was a bit too sweet.
Actually, she preferred a fresher kind of sweetness.
Hmm, like the sweetness of an apple…
Then Su Li said helplessly.
“It’s way too sweet. I can’t stand it already.”
You Xue looked at Su Li, thinking that he held the same opinion as her.
These words earned a white look from Alice.
“What do you know? This is what delicious means!”
Her green eyes were full of certainty that he didn’t know what’s good.
“You Xue, what do you think?”
This time it was Alice who asked, as if wanting You Xue to be on her side.
“Maybe it’s just me, but it might be a bit too sweet for me…”
You Xue’s words carried a careful sincerity.
“Fine, but I really like this level of sweetness.”
Alice still insisted on her position.
Then Alice didn’t dwell on it and flipped open the menu to order.
She ordered many desserts that You Xue had never even heard of.
After all, both she and Su Li were pretty much country bumpkins.
“These are all my favorites. Is there anything you want to eat? Order whatever you like; it’s my treat.”
After ordering, Alice handed over the menu.
Su Li thought for a long time but still couldn’t decide, so he asked.
“You Xue, what do you want to eat?”
You Xue tilted her head and answered instinctively.
“Yeah, what to eat?”
Then, realizing it was inappropriate, You Xue quickly added.
“Apple juice… or something like that.”
Hearing this answer, Su Li smiled.
“Since when did you like apples so much? You weren’t like this before.”
You Xue paused and shook her head slightly.
“It’s not like that…”
Actually, his childhood sweetheart also really liked apples.
The first apple she ever ate was found next to the tracks on that mountain.
It must have been thrown off a train.
Half of it was rotten, brown, and mushy.
But the other half was good—red, shiny under the sun.
Back then, they didn’t know if it was edible, but they were too hungry, so they cut off the rotten part and split it in half.
At that moment, she came to love that taste.
But in that village, on that land, they couldn’t grow apples.
Even if she said she liked them, it was useless, and she definitely couldn’t eat them.
During that period of food shortage and constant hunger, saying what you wanted to eat was meaningless, so she never spoke up.
You Xue looked into Su Li’s eyes.
They were still like black glass, carrying a gentle luster in the faint light.
His childhood sweetheart had hidden those words in her heart for so long.
You Xue didn’t want to make a choice for her, and besides, she herself had always liked apples—it wasn’t a habit brought by this body.
So, she said somewhat vaguely.
“I’ve recently come to like them. They taste pretty good.”