The morning light, like a golden veil, gently draped over the broken eaves of the shrine. The aftereffects of the star core seal had dissipated. The music box lay silently on the low table, its lid slightly closed, and the groove where the pendant was embedded still glowed with a faint silver light. Song Wanqing stood at the place where the light gate dissipated, her fingertips still retaining the warmth of the star core, as if the heartbeat of that star was still gently resonating in her blood.
Lu Jinnian walked up to her side, raised his hand and gently touched her slightly cool cheek: "It's over." "
Song Wanqing shook her head, her gaze falling on the newly engraved small characters on the stone tablet - "The painter holds the brush, the keeper plays the zither, the starry river endures forever." She said softly, "No, it's just the beginning." Mother's handwriting said, "The star core is about to awaken," but she didn't say... What is the cost?
Lu Jinnian was taken aback.
Just then, the pendant on her wrist suddenly vibrated slightly, and a very thin note slipped out from the gap of the silver badge - it was a hidden compartment she had never discovered before. The note was tinged with an old yellow color, and the edges were slightly curled by the passage of time. On it were the familiar handwriting of my mother:
"Xiao Qing:
When you see this letter, it says that the star core has been resealed. But please remember, the power of star painting is never free. Each seal must be offered with "memory" as a sacrifice. **
The night I sealed the star core, I erased all traces of your father in the Star River City - his name, his music, his presence. And as the price, I will also forget you for ten years. **
The star core will devour the deepest bonds to balance the imbalance of the stars. **
If you complete the seal together with the young man from the Lu family, his memories might be taken away by the star core. **
Don't hate Star Core, and don't hate me either. **
This is the destiny of protection. **
"Always love your mother.
Song Wanqing's hands trembled violently and she almost dropped the letter paper. She suddenly turned around and looked at Lu Jinnian: "You..." Do you still remember your father?
Lu Jinnian was taken aback for a moment, then frowned: "My father?" I have never seen him. Grandpa said that he had already... before I was born "Missing." "
Song Wanqing's heart sank to the bottom.
She finally understood that when her mother sealed the star core back then, it was "Lu Jinnian's father" who was swallowed by the star core. His existence was erased from the world, and not even his name was left. As a price to pay, the mother also lost the memories of the ten years she spent with Song Wanqing - those were the most vague ten years of Song Wanqing's childhood.
Now, she and Lu Jinnian have re-sealed the star core, and the balance of the star core has been triggered once again.
Who will be the next to be erased? **
"Not right." Song Wanqing suddenly thought of something and pulled out her sketchbook. She turned the pages frantically and finally stopped on the sketch of the clock tower - the shadow "star" character at 3:17 was now slightly warm, and the first stroke of the "star" character was beginning to fade, as if it had been wiped away by an invisible hand.
"The star map is disappearing..." She murmured, "The star core is erasing the memories related to the seal."
Lu Jinnian moved closer and looked at the painting. His eyes suddenly became blank for a moment: "This painting..." Was it drawn by me?"
Song Wanqing's heart tightened: "No, it was me who drew it." Have you forgotten? Last night on the top of the clock tower, I almost got my drawing paper blown away by the wind. It was you...
She paused.
A trace of confusion flashed in Lu Jinnian's eyes, but then he regained his clarity: "Really?" How come I don't remember?
He began to forget.
Song Wanqing held the drawing book tightly, her nails almost embedded in the pages. She can't let all this repeat itself. Mother exchanged forgetfulness for ten years of peace, but she mustn't let Lu Jinnian become an old shadow that could be erased.
She turned and rushed towards the inner room of the shrine, rummaging through the traces left by her mother. Under the music box, she found a rusty copper tube with small characters engraved on it: "Star Illustrator's Notes - Volume Three".
She trembled as she opened it.
Inside the copper tube was a roll of extremely fine silver foil. When unfolded, it revealed the mother's handwriting.
If the star core is resealed and the guardian's memory wavers, the "unawakened sound" can be used to bring it back - play the sealed melody three times in reverse and apply the blood of the star painting to the keys of the zither, which can break the law of memory consumption of the star core. **
Song Wanqing looked up at Lu Jinnian and asked, "Do you still remember the sheet music of 'Whispers of Spring'?" Play it backwards three times. Hurry up!"
Although Lu Jinnian was puzzled, he did as he was told without hesitation. He sat cross-legged, gently touching the air, his fingertips flowing as if playing the zither. The melody flows in the opposite direction, and the notes are like a starry river flowing backward. Song Wanqing cuts her fingertip and drops blood into the void - the blood beads float and transform into glowing notes, landing on the "keys".
In an instant, Lu Jinnian's whole body trembled.
Countless scenes flashed in his eyes - the first encounter on the top of the bell tower, the star map on the rooftop, the music of the zither in the shrine... The figure of Song Wanqing holding a pen to seal in front of the star core reappeared one by one.
"I remember now..." He whispered, his voice trembling as if he had survived a disaster, "Xiao Qing, I remember now."
Song Wanqing slumped to the ground, her tears finally bursting forth.
In the morning light, the cherry blossoms gradually stopped falling.
And the hands of the clock tower in the distance quietly pointed to - ** 3:17 **.
It seems that time, too, is finally willing to pause for a moment for them.
Just then, in Song Wanqing's sketchbook, an old photo that was stuck in the deepest part slipped away quietly.
In the photo, young Lin Wan is standing side by side with a strange man. The man is holding a violin in his hand and smiling gently.
On the back of the photo, there is a line of small characters:
"To the Star Guardian: If you read this letter, please live well for me." " **
-- That's my mother's handwriting.
And the man's face was exactly the same as Lu Jinnian's.