'Brother Yuan… You're so close to me, yet you feel so far away…' Lady Chu continued to stare at Yuan's figure from a distance for many moments.
The guard wondered when she was going to approach Yuan, but he noticed her expression and decided to simply wait for her to do something.
The old man stared at Lady Chu with a profound gaze, as this is his first time seeing her acting this timid and nervous, looking like a lost little girl.
"Young Lady."
The old man suddenly called out to her, and he asked, "Shall we go home?"
"No!"
Lady Chu subconsciously responded.
She then took a deep breath to calm herself down, but a single breath wasn't enough, so she took a few more deep breaths.
Once she was ready, Lady Chu took her first step forward and slowly approached Yuan.
The people there quickly noticed Lady Chu's presence due to her formidable aura that caused them to subconsciously turn and look at her, almost like their senses felt something threatening coming from her direction.
When the grand elders saw Lady Chu, their eyes immediately widened with shock, but it was not because they recognized her. In fact, they didn't know her.
"S-Spirit Master!" Senior Wang muttered in a low voice that was filled with disbelief.
Indeed, Lady Chu was emitting the aura of a Spirit Master just like them, albeit a little weaker.
However, despite that, it was incredibly shocking to them since Lady Chu only looked to be around 18 years old.
"Who is that?" One of the grand elders asked as Lady Chu slowly approached them.
"No idea, but to be a Spirit Master at such a young age… I thought it was only possible for someone like Daoist Yuan…"
With everybody there suddenly turning to look in the same direction, Yuan subconsciously turned his head and did the same.
Once Lady Chu entered his divine sense's range, Yuan was finally able to see the beautiful young lady that stunned everyone there.
'Who is that? She looks so familiar for some reason…'
Yuan didn't recognize Lady Chu at first, but he felt a sense of nostalgia when he saw her sparkling hazel eyes.
However, he was still unable to recall where he'd seen her before.
Lady Chu walked until she stood a few meters away from Yuan, and she proceeded to stand there in silence.
"How may we help you?" Senior Wang asked when Lady Chu didn't say anything for a while.
Of course, Lady Chu didn't respond to her, as the only thing in her eyes and mind right now was the masked man that was only standing a couple of meters away from her.
"Brother Yuan… I have finally fulfilled our promise..." Lady Chu suddenly muttered in a low voice.
Yuan's body shivered for some reason when this unknown lady called him 'Brother Yuan', and his sense of nostalgia grew more intense.
"Do you remember me, Brother Yuan?" Lady Chu asked him in a slightly louder voice.
Yuan stared at Lady Chu intensively for many moments before shaking his head, "I am sorry, but I don't recognize you. Have we met before?"
Lady Chu closed her eyes and released a deep sigh.
She then opened her eyes that flickered with resolve, and she spoke in a calm voice, "Well, I won't blame you for not recognizing me since it has been over a decade since our last meeting, and we were only children back then."
"Over a decade ago?" Yuan raised his eyebrows.
Suddenly, the image of a little girl with brown hair and hazel eyes appeared in his mind, and she somewhat resembled this beautiful young lady.
Yuan's body trembled when he suddenly had an idea of this young lady's identity, but before he could open his mouth to speak, Lady Chu retrieved a silver harmonica from her pocket and blew into it, creating a beautiful sound that was filled with harmony.
Seeing the silver harmonica in Lady Chu's grasp and hearing this song, Yuan was absolutely certain about her identity.
"Y-Y-You are… Lulu?" Yuan spoke in a dumbfounded voice.
A blissful smile appeared on Lady Chu's beautiful face, and she responded in a clear voice, "It's not Lulu. It's Liuxiang. How many times have I told you to stop calling me by that nickname now?"
Of course, Yuan remembered that her name was Liuxiang, but he was used to calling her Lulu since he wasn't able to pronounce the name 'Liuxiang' properly back then, so he gave her a much simpler name to call, and that nickname was Lulu.
"W-What are you doing here?" Yuan randomly asked her, as he wasn't able to think properly due to her sudden appearance.
"What do you think, you idiot? I came here to find you since you didn't come looking for me! Just like we had promised! Or did you forget about that?" Lady Chu said.
Memories began flashing inside Yuan's head after hearing her words.
Outside this remote building that had the sign 'Jade Orphanage' on the doors, he stood before Lady Chu when she was still a little kid.
"Don't leave me behind, Brother Yuan!"
"Don't be sad, Lulu. Although I have to leave now, we will definitely see each other again in the future. If I cannot look for you for some reason, then you should come to look for me. Here's my harmonica. You can keep it until our next meeting." Yuan handed her a silver harmonica that was too big for his small hands.
"It's a promise!"
"Un."
After hugging her, Yuan left the orphanage with a beautiful woman that was Meifeng, who had come to take him away from the orphanage after the Yu Family adopted him into their family, and that was the last they saw each other.
"I remember… I'm sorry that I couldn't find you… No, I didn't even try to..." Yuan apologized to her in a sighing voice after recalling some of his memories that he hid deep within his consciousness after entering the Yu Family.
"You don't have to apologize since I am well aware of your situation. It was simply impossible for you to do anything. Anyways, why don't we continue this conversation somewhere more private?" Lady Chu said.
"Okay." Yuan quickly nodded.