Min Ning lightly furrowed her brows.
"You're leaving?" Yin Weiyin asked in surprise.
"Mm, why not?"
"...Well, nothing, really." Yin Weiyin was actually glad she was leaving. "Safe travels."
With that said, the two let go of each other's hands, and Min Ning's figure gradually disappeared from sight.
The female crown still couldn't help but secretly wonder, puzzled. Min Ning left without saying goodbye, which matched her disposition, but her departure lacked the carefree air she once had.
Then, Yin Weiyin noticed sothing belatedly,
"Why was she using her right hand all the ti?"
He wasn't sure if that could even be considered a point of doubt...
......
The corridor was pitch-dark and depthless, with countless twists and turns, nine bends and eighteen curves, where it was almost impossible to see one's hand in front of their face.
The woman in red didn't know how long she'd been walking, but she was getting closer and closer to the building where Master Bai previously resided.
She pressed against the wall, her body trembled as if her soul had been sucked away, her legs gave out, and she knelt on one knee.
"Ugh... Ugh..."
Min Ning groaned in pain, an indescribable dizziness overwhelming her. She clutched at her chest with one hand, her shoulders rising and falling as she exhaled a turbulent breath.
After catching her breath for a while, she looked around as though she had just awakened, instinctively asking:
"Zhu Yu, I... Where is this?"
After a long wait, she heard Zhu Yu's response by her ear,
"...You're close to returning to Shu."
The voice sounded faint and ethereal, as if it were on the brink of sleep.
Min Ning was startled, her shock apparent as she asked, "What about Chen Zunming and the others?"
"They're fine..." Zhu Yu paused for a mont before elaborating, "He won."
Min Ning heaved a sigh of relief but, looking around, was perplexed again. She rubbed the wall repeatedly, glancing around, only to spot the familiar Quanzhen Sect Pill Furnace.
Zhu Yu quietly explained, "You were never soone from the Sword Pool. You mistakenly intruded here. With Wu Buxu's death, the Secret Realm sent you back of its own accord, and so you ended up here."
Min Ning's bold brows furrowed, still finding it all quite unbelievable, though the explanation seed reasonable enough.
As long as everything was fine...
She shrugged her shoulders, reacquainting herself with the weight of her body and the freedom of her limbs.
"This feels... a bit sore though." Min Ning pounded her thigh with so force to relieve the stiffness, muttering to herself, "Why does it feel like... I've been taken advantage of?"
"You're imagining things."
"Am I?" Min Ning murmured, "He wouldn't have dared to sneak a move while I was sleeping, would he? That would be very petty of him."
"He's not that fond of you."
The one-ard woman spoke softly, her tone shadowy and elusive.
She wasn't sure what had co over her... to have done sothing so absurd.
Tracing the root cause, it was seeing Chen Yi's sword, that long-buried chaos stirring in her heart. And as it lingered in her thoughts, it made her sword-heart unstable.
All because of him, compounded by his inquisitive look that seed to press for answers. Zhou Yitang hadn't left Min Ning's side, instead going along with events and playing her part. As for his brash passion, she knew of it long before, had even ntally prepared for it—after all, they were husband and wife across two lives.
Yet even after hearing all this, Zhou Yitang still couldn't understand why her sword-heart wavered. Amid monts of intimacy, fragnts of the past surged through her mind.
Entwined grievances and obsessions had drained their first lifeti empty. She often found herself touching his face only after he had fallen asleep.
Having severed the Three Corpses, she shouldn't be so conflicted. Yet in the underground palace this lifeti, her heart softened once again. She had always believed in cutting ties decisively when needed...
Thinking further held no aning. Zhou Yitang lowered her gaze and silenced her thoughts.
The past was gone,
but the obsession remained.
...…
No one knew how much ti had passed.
After a battle, Chen Yi was thoroughly exhausted. When daylight broke, he finally woke suddenly.
He opened his eyes in a haze, imdiately seeing Yin Weiyin seated not far off, while Lu Ying remained deep within the cave.
Chen Yi pressed a hand to his forehead, still feeling groggy. He glanced at the sky outside the cave, sunlight dazzling as if it were a spring day. Last night, he had a dream that seed fitting.
In the dream, Zhou Yitang slowly approached him.
She pressed one hand against him, not bracing herself on the wood of the bed, but instead taking a cloth to cover his eyes.
She said little, as always. She simply placed one hand against his abdon.
And then...
A warm, moist sensation lted into his embrace.
Chen Yi didn't understand why he'd dream such a scene, one about his master. Whether in his past life or this one, his dreams of her mostly carried feelings of guilt. Occasionally, there were glimpses of marital harmony, but spring dreams were almost nonexistent.
Perhaps it was the allure of a heroine's charm. Coupled with Min Ning's repeated ntions of Zhou Yitang last night, it seed to linger on his mind.
"Where is she?"
Chen Yi began looking for Min Ning's figure. The female crown gestured toward one spot with a "hmph," and he looked down to find a brief ssage left behind.
"Gone. Don't bother worrying."
The handwriting carried sharpness, swift and resolute, reflecting the heroine's personality.
Yet that character for "worry," bent slightly at one corner, hinted at hesitation perhaps revisited many tis...
User Comments
0 comments from readers