“Sing me the song you sang that day. I really liked it,” she said, holding him tightly, her face buried in his warm, broad chest. “Consider it your Christmas gift to me.”
He smiled, tightening his hold on her, and softly began humming that familiar tune.
If we meet,
If I forget the lyrics, will you remember the melody?
If we meet,
I look out in the twilight; will you light the way?
If we meet, I walk towards you,
Does it matter?
"I..."
After a long while, when the song had already drifted far away, he finally spoke, but she silenced him with her hand.
"Some loves, even before they begin, are already destined to end," she said, lifting her face to him. Her eyes were red, and though she had wiped away the tears in secret, she still smiled brightly. "But I still love you."
She stood on her tiptoes and gently kissed his lips.
"This is my first kiss!" She turned and ran, gncing back to make a funny face at him.
Holding the box she had given him, he stood there for a moment, stunned, watching the crazy girl who had come and gone so suddenly.
He sighed with a wry smile. She was right—some loves end before they even begin.
She came to say goodbye, he thought.
Indeed, after this Christmas Eve, everything would come to an end.
He had already prepared himself for it.
The chimes of midnight rang out.
It was Christmas Eve.
Baili Weibu stood before the shrine, gazing absentmindedly at the wooden box glowing with blue light.
Her sister’s words echoed in her mind:
Inside the box was the golden lion skin. If a woman from the Baili family drinks the blood of the one she loves and then wears this lion skin, she would transform into a golden lion, indistinguishable from her lover, even by her closest kin. As long as she takes the fme crystal arrow meant for him, the curse would be broken once and for all.
The golden lion skin represented an irreversible choice—giving up her identity as a member of the Centaur Cn, becoming nothing more than a substitute for the golden lion. Of course, it also meant surrendering her own life.
Ten years ago, Baili Wei Qing had cked the courage to open it. Before her, no one had succeeded.
Baili Weibu took a deep breath, her hand reaching for the wooden box. On her face, a relieved smile appeared on her lips...
The next morning, on the highest rock of the Bilu Forest, stood a golden lion. The sunlight, which had broken through the snowstorm, illuminated its body in a miraculous glow. With its proud head raised, it gazed into the sky, looking toward some distant point.
In the jungle below, a group of men and women armed with bows and arrows raced forward.
"It's him! I saw him ten years ago!" The elder leading the group moved swiftly, his steps sure.
In the lion's eyes, familiar faces began to appear, one after another.
At the very back of the group was her father. His expression was different from the others, cking the excitement. His brows were furrowed deeply, his gaze intense.
Watching them approach, the lion quietly lowered its head, waiting with composure, as if prepared for what was to come.
He hummed a song quietly in his heart.
Elsewhere in the forest, he sat calmly on a snow-covered spruce tree, opening the gift she had given him.
It was the painting he had left behind that day.
However, after the few words he had written, there were now a few delicate lines added—words she had written:
If we meet,
If you forget the lyrics, I will remember the melody.
If we meet,
If you look out in the twilight, I will light the way.*
If we meet, please walk towards me.
If this life doesn't allow it,
Then let it be in the next one.
A nine-colored arrow, shimmering with brilliant hues, sliced through the air, leaving a trail of fiery red behind it, heading straight for the lion on the rock.
If lions could smile, would you believe it?
But on that rock, it was indeed smiling.
(T/N: Like Nazareth words in their song; ′Love is like a fme, it burns you when it's hot…..Love is just a lie, made to make you blue... any heart…not tough or strong enough, to take a lot of pain…Love Hurts....Love Wounds and Marks… ….huhu….wuwuw saddd)
