In her heart, Shui Yiqiu praised. Fellow Daoist Fu’s feelings for her Dao companion were truly deep.
To think she could cry so sorrowfully in front of an outsider, all just to win back her beloved’s heart.
How touching.
However, her own presence here seemed rather superfluous.
Fu Lingyi half-covered her face with her sleeve, sobbed twice, unwilling to look at Yue Jin, even dodging her touch, looking quite angry.
Yue Jin felt anxious inside. She was afraid of this, afraid that Fu Lingyi would ignore her.
Yes, it wasn’t any other feeling, just fear.
Afraid that Fu Lingyi would ignore her, and even more afraid that she would hate her.
But she didn’t know how to respond to this love.
Originally, she had only felt sorry towards Fu Lingyi. After all, her willfulness had always caused Fu Lingyi to suffer severe punishment.
Now their relationship had eased, no longer as hostile as before.
She wasn’t an idiot; it wasn’t that she couldn’t see the changes between them, nor that she couldn’t see Fu Lingyi’s intentions.
It wasn’t… that she wasn’t aware that Fu Lingyi had feelings for her.
It was just that she was unwilling to admit it.
But now, that person had openly and honestly spoken the word “love” to her.
They were sworn enemies! If Fu Lingyi hadn’t, at the very beginning, seen her with her spiritual energy completely lost and impulsively insisted on bringing her back, she would have surely died beneath that sword long ago.
She hadn’t expected that facing each other day and night would unexpectedly cause Fu Lingyi to develop such different feelings for her.
Yue Jin had always been avoiding it, always closing off her heart.
Ignoring everything Fu Lingyi did as if she hadn’t seen it.
She had always been unwilling to admit this fact, and also unwilling to admit… that she herself felt a bit of a flutter in her heart.
“Lingyi, please don’t cry anymore…” She reached out to pull, but grasped only air.
But the heart couldn’t be deceived, at least it couldn’t deceive itself.
Yue Jin watched her sad and distressed, and her heart truly ached.
It hurt like being hacked, bitten, and gouged, a pain like having a piece of flesh scraped off.
However.
Their current relationship was built upon a lie.
If Fu Lingyi knew that she had always been pretending amnesia, would she still say she loved her?
Would she still tell her they would be together forever?
The renowned righteous path valued not deceiving others above all else. Fu Lingyi was a model disciple; if she knew the truth, she definitely wouldn’t forgive her.
“The two of you, actually, the treatment…” Shui Yiqiu saw them like this and quickly tried to intervene.
“Fu Lingyi, I truly don’t love you.”
As soon as these words were spoken, Fu Lingyi’s blood ran cold.
“What did you say?”
“You can’t just say things like that, Fellow Daoist Yue,” Shui Yiqiu wiped away sweat. If she’d known her Master would choose her, she should have feigned illness and let her second junior sister come instead. “You’re practically getting married; you can’t just say things like this here…”
“I don’t love you because I lost my memory and don’t remember the little things about our past together. However,” Yue Jin declared earnestly, speaking very seriously, “however, I want to marry you, become your Dao companion, and be with you for a lifetime. So, can you wait for me?”
Yue Jin was thinking very simply.
She just wanted to make up a lie, to stop Fu Lingyi from crying and to stop her own heart from hurting so much.
But she didn’t realize that she had actually spoken her true feelings.
She vaguely held some expectation regarding this.
Looking forward to this lie that would last a lifetime.
“Wait for you… wait for you to do what?” Fu Lingyi stopped her tears, staring blankly at her.
“Wait for me to fall in love with you.”
Shui Yiqiu almost wanted to applaud. Those words were so roundabout and tactful, perfectly hooking someone’s attention.
Truly worthy of being the Dao companion most desired by females in the cultivation world; her methods were truly impressive.
Yue Jin stood up, pulled Fu Lingyi into a hug, and gently wiped away her still-wet tears.
“Stop crying. Seeing you cry makes me feel bad.”
“You want to marry me?” Fu Lingyi asked, muffled against her chest.
“Very much so.”
“Do you really want to?”
“Truly.”
“Will you fall in love with me?” Fu Lingyi asked again in a low voice. “Will you truly fall in love with me?”
“I will.”
Yue Jin answered crisply, her heart secretly filled with anticipation.
She could no longer grasp her own feelings clearly.
Fu Lingyi spoke smoothly now, but when she knew everything later, would she still secretly hold feelings of love for her?
Or would she feel disgusted?
Yue Jin could only pray that she wouldn’t fall into it.
“Wonderful, wonderful,” Shui Yiqiu couldn’t help but applaud. “The cultivation tabloids really was right; it seems Fellow Daoist Fu really was dumped before… Ah, I’ve spoken too much.”
“It’s fine, those are all just rumors.” Fu Lingyi smiled uncaringly. Her heart was full now, she was very happy.
Yue Jin had just said she wanted to be with her forever and ever.
She had heard it with her own ears; it was absolutely true.
Shui Yiqiu nodded. She was now thankful she hadn’t let her second junior sister come; otherwise, she wouldn’t have seen such a spectacular scene. “However, what Fellow Daoist Yue said just now is also true. Your body has been delayed for too long. Recovering sooner will also greatly benefit your physical cultivation. I have a few Returning Energy pills here. If you take them daily, perhaps they can also treat your cultivation stagnation.”
Yue Jin quickly thanked her and accepted them.
Over the next few days, Shui Yiqiu accepted the Chongxiang Sword Sect ‘s warm invitation to stay here. She also checked on Yue Jin’s cultivation daily to see if it could circulate.
Tao Lan rarely saw such a proper cultivator and was always circling around Shui Yiqiu while she cultivated, full of eager interest.
Yue Jin was also semi-forced to interact with her often.
In her heart, she was actually a little apprehensive.
After all, the feeling this Shui Yiqiu gave her was too much like A’Ling. Although her sect and everything else didn’t match up, her upright conduct, preferences in dress, everything was incredibly similar to her memory.
“Fellow Daoist Yue,” in the forest, dappled with tree shadows, Shui Yiqiu, acting politely on the stone steps, called out to her who was sitting quite far away. “Why are you alone today? Is Fellow Daoist Fu willing to let you out by yourself?”
Since her calculated confession last time, Fu Lingyi had been overjoyed and stuck to her even more closely.
Every night she wasn’t willing to handle sect affairs, insisting on holding her while she slept, causing Yue Jin to get no sleep all night.
These affairs were almost piled up into a mountain. Yun Lingyue couldn’t stand it and dragged Fu Lingyi away to handle them, only then could Yue Jin get a moment to breathe.
“She went off to be busy.”
Yue Jin was unwilling to sit closer, but her gaze kept drifting over. “Shui Yiqiu, is that right? Have you always used that name?”
“Fellow Daoist Yue, you’re joking, of course I have. Ah, but…”
“But what?” Yue Jin’s ears twitched.
“But I was picked up by my Master. She said I had a serious illness in my early teens, and many things aren’t very clear in my memory.”
“Is that true!”
Yue Jin suddenly got excited. She remembered that A’Ling was also around sixteen or seventeen when they separated.
Her emotions leaked out too much. Moreover, she even showed a bit of excitement, forgetting the atmosphere of their conversation at the moment.
This should be a somber atmosphere, she reminded herself. Calm down a little.
“…Is that true? Where were you picked up? How much do you still remember?”
Shui Yiqiu curled her lips. “My Master didn’t tell me these things. The things I remember are also vague. I didn’t expect Fellow Daoist Yue to be quite concerned about my affairs. It truly makes me feel flattered.”
Not hearing the answer she wanted, Yue Jin wasn’t annoyed. She moved slightly closer and asked, “Then, what magic artifact do you use? Is it a sword?”
“I usually use a sword. It’s just a shame that Medicine King Valley rarely has places to use one; most of the time is spent refining spiritual plants and herbs.”
Tao Lan looked left and right, then interjected, “I want to learn the sword later too! I want to be like Sister Fu!”
“You can learn anything,” Yue Jin pulled her to sit beside her, “just don’t learn from your Sister Yun. She’s not skilled, and she likes to hit people. You won’t gain anything good by following her.”
Shui Yiqiu looked at Tao Lan. “That’s a good ambition. Is this child yours?”
“Cough, cough cough,” Yue Jin choked, unable to catch her breath, “No, she’s from Huang Yi Valley. I’m just taking care of her for now.”
Shui Yiqiu had heard of Huang Yi Valley. The tragic sect extermination and the matter of Yaoguang Pavilion’s Grand Elder becoming a demon were still flaunted on the cultivation tabloids every day, never taken down.
She paused, then changed the topic. “I thought so. Fellow Daoist Yue and Fellow Daoist Fu have deep feelings for each other. Rumors are just rumors after all.”
“What rumors?” Yue Jin was curious. Could there be something she’d missed?
Shui Yiqiu hesitated for a moment, unsure if she should speak.
“Just say it. The cultivation world has gossiped about me plenty. One or two more rumors don’t matter.”
Yue Jin put her own questions aside and urged her to speak quickly.
“Ah, it’s nothing more than matters like that. Fellow Daoist Yue, you don’t need to take it to heart. Besides, I’m certain that even if Fellow Daoist Yue had descendants with other people outside, Fellow Daoist Fu wouldn’t mind.”
Yue Jin: “Descendants?”
After Shui Yiqiu’s explanation, she finally understood. Cultivators in the cultivation world truly didn’t love cultivating at all. As soon as there was the slightest stir, they’d immediately start spreading gossip.
From when she was a mortal, and after she dumped Fu Lingyi, they said this mortal loved beauty, was eager to capture virtuous women, and gave birth to… children, quite a few children.
This kind of rumor, Fu Lingyi had kept tightly under wraps, not letting a single bit leak out to her.
“Now that I’ve said it, will Fellow Daoist Fu get angry?” Shui Yiqiu felt a little regretful. She shouldn’t have been so talkative.
“It’s fine. I just won’t tell her.”
“Who won’t you tell?”
Yun Lingyue’s voice suddenly rang out from behind. Yue Jin jumped in fright, almost slipping off the stone steps.
“Sister Yun!” Tao Lan shouted.
“Yun Lingyue, are you planning on scaring only me for your entire life?” Yue Jin was utterly speechless. She was practically developing a phobia.
“If you don’t do things that weigh on your conscience, why would you be afraid of me scaring you?”
Yun Lingyue pulled Tao Lan closer and gave her a tap. “Tell me, are you hiding something from your Senior Sister again?”
Shui Yiqiu stepped forward to smooth things over. “It was my mistake. I shouldn’t have told Fellow Daoist Yue the rumors from down the mountain. I hope Fellow Daoist Yun can forgive me.”
Encountering someone so polite, Yun Lingyue actually restrained herself a lot and didn’t have her usual straightforward nature.
“Since you said it, there’s nothing that can be done. It’s not a big deal anyway, no need to mind. Your Senior Sister just cherishes her.”
“I was the one at fault first.” Shui Yiqiu was truly impeccable with her etiquette; no one could find fault with her.
“It doesn’t matter what she knows or doesn’t know, as long as the person isn’t lost.” Yun Lingyue said, glancing at Yue Jin. “Your Senior Sister is looking for you. Come with me.”
“Isn’t Fu Lingyi busy?”
Yun Lingyue raised an eyebrow and snorted. “Your Senior Sister asked me to relay two messages. First, you should call her Lingyi. Second, even if she’s busy, you can still stay with her. Tsk tsk, she really guessed everything you would say.”
Yue Jin: “…”
“Oh right, I forgot. There’s one more message.”
Yun Lingyue led Tao Lan forward, not looking back.
“She misses you.”
A gentle breeze swept past, rustling not just the leaves.
Nice work 👏