Thank you to [Laofen Cuteness Pinch], [Su Who Likes White Swans], and [Yuzuriha is Number One in the World] for the God-level Certifications!
I worked from after my shift until now without even eating dinner, I really can't go on anymore. I'm short one chapter, I'll owe it for now and find ti to make it up in the coming days... On the mountaintop where the long-ruined Qingxin Residence stood, a desolate figure sat alone.
Jingliu held the broken sword covered in cracks, her eyes empty and lifeless, sitting motionless like a withered tree.
Several days had passed, with only the sa two syllables occasionally escaping her lips.
"Master... Master..."
She had completely lost her master.
Truly, truly, forever and ever, she could never find him again.
All that her master had left her was a broken sword and a silver moon jade pendant.
No... not just that.
There was also that gentle gaze he gave her before parting.
But why did it have to be right at the mont of eternal farewell?
Why... why why why why!!!
Jingliu had long forgotten to breathe. No matter how her body protested or ached, it was not one trillionth of the pain of losing Qi Zhimu.
Master, you were cruel to your disciple so many tis, so why did you choose to offer that sliver of tenderness at the very end?
Do you know that tenderness offered right before an eternal farewell hurts a thousand, a hundred tis more than being pierced by ten thousand arrows?
After years of bitter, fruitless searching, the mont she finally saw him, an unbridgeable chasm, eternal and insurmountable, instantly appeared between them.
If the condition for receiving that trace of tenderness was your inevitable departure...
Then—I would rather not have it.
I would rather forever bury my head in the false lies my master wove, bearing the pain alone, walking towards my demise alone.
Behind her, three won appeared one after another.
Gazing at that back, as desolate as ever, their expressions were varied.
From the end of the battle where Shuhu fell until now, they had all remained on the Luofu, never leaving.
There were far, far too many answers they needed to find.
Now, they naturally knew that the woman before them, nad Jingliu, was Qi Zhimu's only disciple in this lifeti.
Anyone could hear the vast, ocean-like torrent of emotion hidden beneath the heartbreak in those soulless calls of hers.
Her love for Qi Zhimu was no less than that of any one of them.
Perhaps... it was even greater.
After their investigations during this ti, Black Swan and the others had gained so understanding of Qi Zhimu's life in this incarnation.
Born in Azure City, his entire life was spent facing loss.
Family, holand, friends... He spent the greater part of his life battling the Abundance, without a wife or children. Apart from one disciple, only his long-serving guards were his constant companions.
Until Shuhu died, the fire of vengeance imprisoned in his heart was extinguished along with his life.
He, who had always faced loss, ultimately made those who cared for him taste the full bitterness of it.
Black Swan could deeply understand the feeling in Jingliu's heart at this mont.
Yu Qintu understood as well.
Ruan i... understood even more.
It is said that as the Long-lived Species of the Xianzhou age, their threshold for feeling emotions gradually rises, and their mories beco diluted and weary over the long passage of ti, leaving only the most extre, vivid residues.
And these are almost always the dregs of painful and regretful mories.
For the vast majority of Xianzhou natives, the probability of reaching this day increases year by year after they exceed 700 years of age.
Yet Jingliu has lived for over a thousand years. Even witnessing Qi Zhimu's departure, even killing him with her own hands, she never fell into mara affliction... Perhaps, her feelings and obsession for Qi Zhimu outweighed all the painful and regretful mories.
"Master... you liar..."
Suddenly, Jingliu finally murmured a different phrase.
Hearing this, the three won in the distance all had subtle shifts in their expressions.
Black Swan and Yu Qintu's gazes simultaneously fell upon Ruan i, whose eyes instantly dimd.
Back then, when they heard this phrase from Qi Zhimu's past mories, each of the three won had been more agitated than the last.
That Ruan i, under the influence of alcohol, had carved an indelible mark in the youth's heart, and had even given him the most tender promises and beautiful monts.
And the result?
She carved the mark, then personally and heartlessly crushed it, leaving the youth not a shred of leeway.
She gave promises, then wiped the slate clean, put on her clothes, and refused to acknowledge him, pushing the youth into the abyss of nothingness with her own hands.
If not for Black Swan's companionship and the warmth she provided in Qi Zhimu's final days, Yu Qintu suspected he would have gone further and further down the path of Self-Extinguishnt.
Once a Self-Extinguisher reaches the stage where their physical body no longer perishes, they either plunge deeper into nothingness, losing the vast majority of their emotions.
Or, they beco ghosts wandering the border of nothingness, even forgetting their own existence.
Either possibility is suffocating to imagine.
Qi Zhimu thought of his teacher Ruan i, respected her, took care of her daily life, made the snacks and drinks she liked, all just wishing for his teacher's happiness.
How could he have known that the wine he brewed was a Curio, possessing rule-like effects?
Where did he go wrong?
His mistake was this: the teacher he followed was a mad scientist, deeply trapped in her own obsessions, ignoring all the beauty around her, her mind filled only with herself.
And now, Qi Zhimu's disciple also called him a liar... They didn't know what Qi Zhimu had lied to Jingliu about, but at least they knew his deception must have had its reasons.
Otherwise, given his nature, how could he bear to make his discip... Wait—
Yu Qintu recalled Qi Zhimu's manner of conduct, so proper it was almost uncomfortable.
Could it be that even after dying once, he still retained that personality?
Thinking of this, Yu Qintu's gaze towards Ruan i grew increasingly strange, as if looking at the source of all evil.
"You truly are a good teacher, Ah Ruan. To have tornted a perfectly good Qi Zhimu into such a state, with such far-reaching effects..."
Ruan i remained silent.
Before she could respond, the icy figure not far away, clutching her sword as if she had lost her entire world, seed to catch a key phrase. In an instant, she appeared before the three of them.
Those dead, empty eyes emitted a chill that made one's spine tingle.
"What do you an... tornted Master?"
"Exactly what it ans."
Yu Qintu crossed her arms, paying no heed to the cold, murderous aura radiating from Jingliu.
Ruan i was still silent.
She could not explain, nor had she the right to argue, for that was the truth.
Unless Qi Zhimu had completely forgotten all the experiences and bonds of his previous life.
Black Swan inquired softly, "Miss Jingliu, did Mr. Qi ever ntion three nas to you?"
Jingliu's gaze fell upon her.
But Black Swan looked at the other two: "Yu Qintu, Ruan i, and... Clarice Durand."
"Never."
Jingliu answered without hesitation, then her eyes turned 'harmoniously kind'.
"Now, it's ti for you to continue answering my question."
"Miss Jingliu, are you willing to believe in the concept of reincarnation?"
"I can believe it, and I hope it exists even more."
"That's good then."
A faint light glowed in Black Swan's palm as a mory bubble gradually took shape.
Ruan i now cast an inscrutable look her way, as if a warning.
However, Yu Qintu's hand was already on Ruan i's shoulder, her eyes slightly narrowed at her.
Also as if in warning.
The corner of Black Swan's lips lifted slightly as she directly tossed the mory bubble towards Jingliu. It silently rged into her forehead.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Twenty seconds... Monts later, without warning, Jingliu raised her sword and stabbed towards Ruan i!
Her speed was extre. No one present could see it clearly, let alone react in ti.
The sharp sword wind stung their cheeks. The tip of the sword stopped less than half an inch from Ruan i's pupil.
Jingliu trembled all over, her breathing becoming increasingly rapid as she stared fixedly at the woman before her: this woman who had once been her master's teacher.
—If Master truly had a past life... Let's speak plainly: Please, dear readers, take 15-20 seconds to give Haji Huan so free 'Powered by Love' clicks!
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