"Thank you, for not abandoning me."

  The corners of your lips curled up, and you softly murmured "uh-huh".

  "I also want to leave Tangmen, but... before I learn the skills and can't remove the poison from your body, I won't leave Tangmen."

  She left out a sentence, leaving out making it clear about the relationship between her parents and the Tang Gate, as well as avenging them, this was her secret, she couldn't speak.

  But the words that came out of her mouth made Mu Junwu stop in his tracks, and the complacency at the corner of his lips was also retracted cleanly.

  "If...". Mu Jun turned his head towards Hua Rou: "Is there no antidote for the poison in my body?"

  "It won't work." Huā Róu said resolutely: "I am a disciple of the Poison House, I will definitely be able to detoxify you."

  "Mu Jun, I'm watching her, and she's getting more intense: 'If.'"

  She looked at Mu Junwu's eyes seriously and solemnly, promising: "I will accompany you, always accompany you, never give up."

  Looking into Hua Rouyan's sincere eyes, he smiled after a few moments, his smile was exceptionally enchanting: "You're so loyal and righteous, it wasn't in vain that I returned."

  Mu Jun finished speaking and turned his head to continue walking forward, but Hua Rou's expression as she looked at his back was exceptionally firm and serious.

  Brother Mo, I can definitely dispel the poison from your body, definitely!

  ……

  "What's on the handkerchief?! You've been staring at it with a silly grin all day!"

  Yu'er hugged two black cloaks and walked up to Hua Rou's side.

  "Nothing." Hua Rou's face turned red as she put the handkerchief back into her sleeve, her eyes scanning to the black cloak: "This is..."

  "Today is the 15th, have to go 'steal greens'."

  "Steal youth?" Hua Rou This is the second time she heard this phrase: "What's that for?"

  Yu'er was taken aback: "Don't you know this?"

  Huā Róu shook her head, and Yù ér hastily explained to Huā Róu.

  Originally, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Lantern Festival, villagers nearby would often sneak into their friends' and relatives' fields to steal some green vegetables, as a way to prove that their friendship was evergreen. However, this custom had undergone some changes in Tangmen.

  First of all is time.

  In the Tangmen, we never pass the New Year's Day and the Lantern Festival. It is said that in the ninth generation of the Tangmen, there was a great crisis. On the first day of the New Year, they encountered a disaster, although they survived, but many were killed or injured, and the Lantern Festival was not celebrated with reunions. Therefore, later generations established a rule to never pass these two festivals again, which is a kind of silent mourning and also a permanent warning.

  Secondly, in the Tangmen area, there was no good land to grow green vegetables, and naturally, there were no greens to steal. However, with both men and women in a sect, it's inevitable that emotions would arise, and this stealing of greens evolved into a festival for declaring love, with its own unique customs.

  Every year on April 15th, after the sun sets behind the mountain, everyone puts a bowl outside their window. In the bowl are several paper balls that have been dyed green with vegetable juice, one of which has the name of the person you have a crush on written inside. At night, someone comes to steal them.

  "What can you do by stealing?"

  "What can you do? Only those who like you will come to steal, and if the note they stole has their own name on it, then the two of them can become a pair!" Yuer said with a nudge to Hua Rou: "Who are you planning to write?"

  "No one writes!" Hua Rou's face turned red with shyness: "I don't have a crush on anyone!"

  "Tsk tsk, what's there to be ashamed of! You're too embarrassed to tell me it's nothing, but if you write it down and let that person in your heart know, then it's settled!"

  "But if that person didn't come to steal, how would they have known?"

  "All those in the Tang Sect who are over 16 years old and unmarried must participate."

  Hua Rou pinched her fingers: "But you just said that only one of them has it? What if he can't steal it..."

  "You want all the paper balls to be marked, huh!" Yuer smiled and glanced at Hua Rou: "Those who come, can only take one at a time. If they pick one without a name, it means they have no fate, and they'll just leave with their tail between their legs."

  "What if it's not yourself on the stolen note?"

  "Throw it back and let the person destined for you see it!"

  "Then if I don't like it, can I just not go?"

  "Why not go? Not to mention those who specialize in going to others' places to make trouble, just for the sake of excitement, they will also take the opportunity to sneak a peek and see if they can find out who is on someone's mind; and there are really people who have a crush on each other but have no intention of reciprocating, even if they hold that piece of paper, they can still exchange something with each other as a keepsake."

  "Huh?" Hua Rou sucked her tongue: "There's still such a thing!"

  "Right, how interesting! In the past few years when I participated, there were still many people who used heart-shaped paper strips to snatch things from others and exchange them for something they wanted. So every year everyone just doesn't celebrate the New Year, but can only have fun on the evening of April 15th."

  Hua Rou nodded slightly, her hand pinching the sleeve pouch, and she fell silent.

  In her sleeve pocket was a handkerchief given by Mu Ye, she felt that as long as Big Brother Mu was there, it didn't matter whether their hearts were connected or not.

  "Where are you planning to sneak into tonight?" Yuer said, shaking open a black cloak and putting it on Huajou: "I guess it's the machine room, right?"

  "Ah? I...I won't participate then." Hua Rou lowered her head.

  "Why?" Jade's eyes rolled: "Could it be that you're already married?"

  "Don't talk nonsense!" Hua Rou's cheeks were red and hot: "I just feel... embarrassed."

  "What's the big deal! We're all wearing black hoods and masks, nobody knows who anyone is! I can still go with you." Yuer said as she pulled out some paper strips stained with green onion water from her pocket and placed them on the table.

  "Don't say you don't want to know, who is the one your crush has a secret affection for?"

  Will Mu Ge fall in love with me?

  Yu'er's words made Hua Rou's heart thump wildly: "Then... what about you?"

  Yu'er was taken aback, then quickly grabbed a green paper strip from the table and said with a red face: "Three years ago, I didn't make it in time. Hopefully, I'll be lucky this year and we can both steal one!"

  ……

  "I asked Mu Shidi, why are you still empty-handed?"

  Tang Yin stared at Mu Jun's desk where a green note was placed, urging him to write quickly: "Hurry up and write it down, or it will be too late."

  I flipped through the pages of the book in my hand: "Not interested."

  "You can't be uninterested! Many people in our group have a crush on you, and tonight they'll definitely line up to steal a glance at you. We must ensure that some of them get their chance."

  "It's just that if you have your own crush, it would be more interesting." Long Sheng, who was waiting on the side to watch the excitement, also actively persuaded: "Besides, Mu Shi-di, you can't always be out of tune, for this kind of sect activity, you should..."

  He hadn't finished speaking, when Mu Junwu had already closed the book and came to the desk to grab a pen and start writing. Tang Yin and Chang Sheng immediately went over to take a look, but Mu Junwu had already crumpled up the paper into a ball and put down the pen: "Where did it go?"

  "In front of the window, in a bowl, how many wordless things are you willing to put, as you please." Tang Yun couldn't see the name written by Mu Junwu and pouted.

  You walked out, and Changsheng followed you out with great enthusiasm, handing over a stack of green notes: "Is it enough? If not, I'll go get more."

  "It's unnecessary." Mu Junwu said as he crumpled up the paper in his hand and threw it into the bowl.

  "You're not putting anything else?" Changsheng was somewhat surprised.

  "It's all the same whether you let go or not." Mu Junwu finished speaking and went back to his room to read, leaving Tang Yin and Chang Sheng standing at the door staring at each other in shock - they had never seen this move before.