Yue Jin didn’t use the spiritual stone Ye Yushuang gave her.
In the past, she would have just used things she stole or snatched, not caring at all, with no psychological burden. This time, she didn’t know what she was being stubborn about.
People on the street were bundled in thick coats and furs, but she only had a thin outer garment wrapped around her. She walked, stopping occasionally, covering nearly thirty miles, passing through dusk and night.
Finally, she reached her destination as the sky began to lighten.
There weren’t many people at the alley entrance of the east suburban dock, just a few early fishermen and boatmen. Yue Jin only knew that to get to Huaijin City, one had to travel by water, but she wasn’t particularly sure how.
She exhaled a puff of cold air, stepped forward, and grabbed a boatman. “Can I go to Huaijin City on your boat?”
“Huaijin City? That’s far,” the boatman leaned his elbow on his oar, sizing her up. “You can take my boat to the edge of Nanyang Prefecture, then transfer to a ferry. It’ll take three days.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Yue Jin wasn’t picky. She sat down on the boat, shrinking her body. Without food in her stomach, she couldn’t stand for long periods.
As she sat down, the spiritual stone on her chest accidentally showed a small part, glimmering slightly.
The boatman saw it clearly.
Before long, another person came up from the back of the boat and sat inside the cover. The boatman untied the rope, began rowing, and called out to set off.
Yue Jin was highly alert. Even though she was extremely tired and hungry, with her eyelids barely open, she didn’t sleep. She remained completely still, like a stone statue.
The boatman steered the boat while observing her situation.
After about half an hour, the shoreline was nowhere in sight. The small boat floated on the lake, drifting gently.
“Are you sure you saw it clearly? That it was a high-grade spiritual stone, not a low-grade one you mistook?”
“The light was so pure, how could I be mistaken!”
“That person doesn’t look rich either, with a face that pale. Don’t let this turn into a wasted effort.”
“What are you afraid of? We’re in the middle of the water. No one will find out if we push her down. She’ll be easy to deal with.”
Yue Jin was staring blankly at the rising edge of the waves, not paying attention to the two people inside the cover. The two finished their conversation after a couple more sentences and separated.
The boatman put down his oar and approached her silently. He greeted her kindly, “Miss, why are you going to Huaijin City? Visiting relatives?”
She glanced at the man’s face but didn’t answer.
When outside, Yue Jin tried her best not to cause trouble, but she also knew her own temper, so not speaking was best.
The boatman persisted, “I’ve been rowing boats here for over twenty years. I’ve seen many young girls like you, alone and lonely. It’s quite pitiful.”
“Can you just let me be quiet?” Yue Jin couldn’t help but speak up. “I’ll give you the money when I get off the boat.”
“Hey! Don’t mention it, just consider this a free ride. I don’t miss one or two trips a day anyway.” The boatman laughed heartily, but his eyes darted downwards.
“Your clothes are too thin. I have something thicker, I’ll get it for you to put on…”
As he spoke, he reached towards Yue Jin’s collar, making a gesture to touch her.
Yue Jin suddenly stood up, dodging the move. The boatman immediately raised both hands, reaching forward to grab and push her shoulders, intending to press her into the water.
She kicked out, but forgot her left leg was unstable. She swayed and grabbed the side of the boat, which allowed the other person to circle behind her and grab her hands.
The boatman covered his stomach, a fierce look on his face. “Her left leg is useless, let’s disable her right leg first!”
Yue Jin wasn’t as strong as the person behind her. She struggled several times but couldn’t break free. That person was also quite agile, constantly dodging left and right, preventing her from landing a single hit.
As she struggled, her collar opened, revealing a large portion of the spiritual stone in her pocket, making the two men’s eyes light up.
Yue Jin figured these two didn’t plan on letting her live after getting the treasure. With a forceful push of her hands, she flipped backward and leaned back.
She jumped into the water herself.
The person holding her quickly let go to avoid being pulled in. The late autumn lake water was bone-chillingly cold. Yue Jin gasped for breath, her hands constantly slapping the surface of the lake.
Coldness and loneliness swept over her entire body again.
Seeing those two also jump into the lake, she wanted to pull out the spiritual stone and throw it to distract them, but her hands were stiff and she couldn’t bend them at all.
Her body temperature was gradually falling.
If only I had known earlier…
Yue Jin’s head submerged in the water. She couldn’t breathe and just felt someone grab her sleeve.
If only I had known earlier, I should have shortened Fu Lingyi’s sword by a bit before leaving and spat in her face to vent my anger.
It’s a pity, I’m going to die.
“Fu…”
The words that came out turned into bubbles. Her figure sank underwater. What she could see before her was a clear blue light.
The spiritual stone from her collar floated out and fell to the bottom of the water, like a large stone heavily settling in her heart.
The next moment, she was pulled forcefully upward, out of the water. Someone wrapped their arms around her waist, shielding her entirely in their embrace.
Yue Jin closed her eyes, only able to hear the person’s heavy heartbeat.
She silently prayed in despair.
Please, please don’t let it be Fu Lingyi who saved me.
“Darling, do you enjoy pretending to sleep?”
Her hope was dashed.
Yue Jin opened her eyes. She looked around blankly. She was already on shore now. Her soaked clothes had long since dried, her body temperature had returned, and she was leaning against a warm body.
Fu Lingyi looked at the person in her arms, examining her with complicated feelings.
When Yun Lingyue sent her the red spiritual jade message, she had just cut off the head of a giant lizard demon beast with her sword.
Having helped the local town solve a big problem and currently receiving cheers and adoration from the mortals, she heard two bad pieces of news.
One was that Yue Jin had run away.
The second was that throughout the cultivation world, a rumor was spreading that Fu Lingyi, the Senior Sister of Disciplinary Hall Sword Sect, had been dumped by her companion, and that companion was a mortal who looked very much like the Demon Lord.
In short, Fu Lingyi was dumped by the Demon Lord.
She spent most of the day flying on her sword to the mission location, but only took half the time to fly back.
Then she started searching the entire city for Yue Jin.
Although rumors shouldn’t be true, somehow this one was getting closer to the truth as it spread.
Why would this person say such things to all the cultivators?
Fu Lingyi was completely bewildered. Just then, she saw people arguing in the middle of the lake, and one person fell into the water.
Immediately, Yue Jin’s stubborn face appeared in her mind.
After a moment of hesitation, she took action and saved her.
Fu Lingyi felt truly conflicted at this moment.
She brought her back to humiliate her, to get back some of the hatred she felt from the past. How did she end up saving her instead?
She should have just let her die like that. It would have been like getting rid of a pest.
Had she gone soft-hearted?
Had she softened her heart when facing the Demon Lord in such a sorry state?
Yue Jin sat blankly for a moment, then her mind started racing. Since things had come to this, she could only try her best to salvage the situation.
After a moment of thought, she began to cry with sobs.
“Fu… Fu Lingyi, why are you still looking for me?” she sobbed, squeezing out a few tears as she cried. She turned her head away, not looking back, afraid her expression would give her away. “You have adorable junior sisters who admire you readily, gentle and kind junior sisters from neighboring sects, while I’m just a disabled person without cultivation, scorned by everyone. Why bother looking for me? You’re just giving people gossip fuel…”
Fu Lingyi felt helpless. Now, who was giving people gossip fuel?
She was the one who got dumped.
“I…”
Yue Jin interrupted her attempt to argue, crying loudly. Anyone listening would feel wretchedly sad. “I’m not worthy of you at all! I, Yue Qingshu, don’t want to be a woman scorned by others! I love you, but I can’t hold you back! I choose to let go!”
It was Yue Qingshu, she hadn’t misremembered, right?
This was still the name that damn Fu Lingyi had carelessly given her. Most likely, that person herself didn’t even remember it.
Not caring if what she said was right or wrong, as soon as Yue Jin finished speaking, she flicked her sleeve and stood up, wanting to run away before Fu Lingyi could react.
Her right wrist was grabbed. She was forcefully pulled back by the cross-legged Fu Lingyi, falling onto her lap.
Yue Jin’s heart jumped, and she looked up at her.
Fu Lingyi’s spiritual energy flowed, rendering the person on her lap unable to move. Her eyes were light as she softly murmured, “You… love me?”
The word “love”—she hadn’t heard it since her mother died.
Fu Lingyi’s mother was the previous Sect Leader of Disciplinary Hall Sword Sect. She died ten years ago during a struggle with the demonic sect.
From then on, she was transferred from her mother’s discipleship to Venerable Yi Qing’s. She was brought from her home to Disciplinary Hall Sword Sect.
No one loved her. Her Master taught her so as not to let down her mother. The Sect Leader guided her to protect her own position and prevent people from saying she mistreated the daughter of the previous Sect Leader.
She knew it very clearly in her heart.
But this devil before her, who was once arrogant enough to be condemned by heaven and earth and committed all the wicked deeds in the world—would she actually say she loved her after losing her memory?
“Yes, I… I love you,” Yue Jin was a little nervous as she lied, her voice stuttering. “You’re good to me, and you saved me, but everyone says I’m hindering your cultivation path. Let me go. I, I will wish you success in achieving the Great Dao throughout my short life…”
Why was she so imposing in front of others, but couldn’t manage it in front of this woman?
Yue Jin really wanted to slap herself, to be less useless.
“No.”
Fu Lingyi reached out and climbed her hand up Yue Jin’s waist, pulling her forward into a very intimate position. Then, her hand moved up her back to her neck, burying itself in her hair. She closed the distance between them.
“…What’s not okay?”
“Leaving is not okay. I won’t let you go. Your short life cannot be spent wishing me success in becoming an immortal,” Fu Lingyi smiled. Her smile was extremely deceptive; no wonder all living beings were captivated by her. “From now on, you must use your future to keep loving me.”
Be merciful to the Demon Lord?
Go soft-hearted on this devil?
She wouldn’t be that foolish.
The demonic sect stole her most beloved playmate when she was young and killed her mother after she grew up.
She would never forgive anything related to the demonic sect.
She would make her repay a thousand, ten thousand times over.
She wanted to make this person suffer terribly after regaining her memory, remembering that she actually said “love” while looking at Fu Lingyi’s face.
Fu Lingyi looked deep into Yue Jin’s eyes. Their faces were pressed extremely close, they could feel each other’s breath on their cheeks.
This made Yue Jin’s face red and her heart pound.
But this was absolutely not because of shyness.
It was absolutely because she was utterly disgusted, and her stomach was empty from not eating all day, giving her a suffocating feeling with nothing to vomit.
But she still had to say those words.
After all, the act wasn’t over yet.
“Okay, I love you. I’ll love you my whole life.”
Nice work