The Young Lady Only Wants to Cultivate Immortality Chapter 103

When people are in the dark, they always experience different emotions.
A’Ling thought this was perhaps because she couldn’t see, which allowed her to settle her heart and feel more. It was like this now.
The void was pitch black, and she couldn’t see Shi Qingqian’s appearance at all. If it weren’t for the touch of their skin, she wouldn’t even be sure if the person was still there.
In the silence, A’Ling’s slightly warm cheek was pressed against the hollow of Shi Qingqian’s neck. She felt the pulse beating beneath the cool skin, one beat after another, occasionally punctuated by a faint swallowing sound.
All these perfectly timed sounds made A’Ling feel at peace.
A’Ling had never told anyone that she was very annoyed by noise but also afraid of silence.
When she was little, she had to flee with Jin Siliu everywhere, constantly hiding. When there were many people and noise, Jin Siliu would become extremely nervous.
She remembered an even earlier time, around three or four years old. She remembered that for a long time, Jin Siliu had bound her with cotton cloth and protected her against her chest.
Whenever they went to crowded places, Jin Siliu would unconsciously press on the back of her head, forcefully tucking her into her embrace.
A’Ling knew Jin Siliu was protecting her. Every time, she would also become vigilant and remain quiet, listening to Jin Siliu’s heartbeat. Only when her heartbeat stabilized could A’Ling relax her guard and close her heavy, sticky eyelids to fall into a deep sleep.
Later, when A’Ling grew a bit older, Jin Siliu could no longer hold her against her chest. She could only carry her on her back. At first, A’Ling couldn’t get used to it at all.
Jin Siliu was clearly not at ease either. The two gradually formed a tacit understanding. While fleeing, they always spoke to each other. If A’Ling didn’t respond for a long time, Jin Siliu would panic and stop to look back.
Sometimes, when pursuers were close, they had to hide and couldn’t make a sound.
Every time this happened, the silent atmosphere would make A’Ling’s heart pound rapidly. A huge fear, like an invisible hand, would grip her heart. Only when Jin Siliu’s voice sounded again could that hand constricting her heart release its grip.
More than noise annoying her, the silent world made her heart race even more. She was afraid of silent environments.
That was why in her previous life, she had managed to pass through the first six levels of Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff, but she fell on the silent seventh level.
That also seemed like a very distant matter. A’Ling quietly felt the life-filled pulsation of Shi Qingqian, which fascinated her more than a heartbeat.
However, though she liked it, she didn’t intend to stay in this void, so dark that one couldn’t even see the other’s face.
“We’re not there yet?” A’Ling’s hand, which was around Shi Qingqian’s neck, gently scratched the back of her neck.
Shi Qingqian’s body trembled slightly. If there had been enough light, A’Ling probably wouldn’t have noticed the extent of this tremor. But it was completely dark now, and A’Ling was pressed tightly against her. She could feel even the slightest movement.
A’Ling suppressed her mischievous delight. Her playful hand didn’t stop. She pinched Shi Qingqian’s thin earlobe, lifted her head, and her nose brushed along the smooth curve of Shi Qingqian’s profile until it reached her ear.
Her slightly warm lips pressed against her ear and blew a breath inward, humming softly, “Hmm?”
When A’Ling made a move, Shi Qingqian’s body trembled uncontrollably, but she didn’t make any other movement. She let A’Ling’s teasing continue, and the hand that embraced her didn’t loosen.
“Mm, it’s a bit far.”
In the darkness, a calm, deliberate, and very certain voice sounded for the first time.
This time, A’Ling couldn’t help but chuckle. Did she not know where the Corrupted Corpse Forest was? It wasn’t far from her Iron Pagoda in the Demon Realm.
In her previous life, Shi Qingqian had sent her from Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff to the Demon Realm’s Iron Pagoda in the blink of an eye.
Now, in this dark void, although they were in darkness and their sense of time was skewed, A’Ling was certain that they had been pressed together like this in the darkness for at least a hundred blinks of an eye.
A’Ling regretted that the void was too dark. Otherwise, she really wanted to see if Shi Qingqian’s face would turn red when she told lies with her eyes open, or if there was anything unusual.
Shi Qingqian was lingering in the void only because of a slight reluctance in her heart. The breath A’Ling had blown towards her earlier had not only stirred her eyelashes but also stirred her heart.
She really wished she could just hold her quietly like this for a moment, just a moment.
Shi Qingqian drew her arms in a little, telling herself, this is the last time.
The smile on A’Ling’s face gradually faded as Shi Qingqian hugged her tighter.
In the darkness, she reached out and touched Shi Qingqian’s face. Even though she knew she couldn’t see, she still turned the person’s face towards her.
“Are you hiding something from me?”
She had seen how Shi Qingqian had spoken to Gu Jingyang earlier. Their silence when they saw her clearly meant they had something to hide.
She had originally planned to go to the Corrupted Corpse Forest first and then thoroughly question Shi Qingqian. But now, Shi Qingqian’s strangeness made her very uneasy.
Feeling the tightness of the cheek under her hand, A’Ling’s uneasiness grew. She gently rubbed Shi Qingqian’s face, as if this could relieve her tension.
Shi Qingqian let A’Ling’s actions continue. Under the cover of darkness, the pain in her eyes scattered. Knowing that A’Ling couldn’t see, she dared to expose her inner sorrow like this.
A’Ling suddenly felt warmth on her hand, and the next moment, her hand was firmly grasped.
Shi Qingqian led her hands back to her neck: “No, we’ve arrived—”
Before she could finish the word “arrived,” and as her foot was just beginning to lift to step out of the void, A’Ling’s next sentence completely interrupted her.
“I actually shouldn’t like your personality like this.”
A’Ling’s calm tone carried a hint of coolness. If it had been in the past, Shi Qingqian might not have felt anything, after all, it would have been a luxury for A’Ling to speak to her in such a calm tone.
But now, even a slightly indifferent tone felt like a winter frost descending on a summer night, catching her off guard and making her shiver with panic.
The four words, “don’t like you,” from A’Ling’s words, lingered in her ears for a long time.
Her mind exploded, and the other words were all blown to smithereens, leaving only these four words. Shi Qingqian kept hearing A’Ling’s indifferent declaration, “don’t like you.”
Shi Qingqian’s eyes were filled with confusion, her inner hardship and sorrow darker than this void.
Her hands tightened involuntarily. The warmth in her embrace was still so comforting, but how could the words be so cold?
A’Ling, during Shi Qingqian’s long silence, had already confirmed that this person was hiding something from her, and it wasn’t something trivial.
Her words just now were also true. She actually shouldn’t like people who hide things from her, especially those who might think they are doing it for her own good.
She didn’t need this kind of goodness and didn’t think it was goodness.
Feeling the tightening of the hands holding her, and a slight pressure on her back where she was being squeezed, A’Ling struggled to break free.
This struggle made Shi Qingqian’s heart panic and her mind go blank. The strength in her hands suddenly loosened and then tightened again.
The sudden tightening was even stronger than before. This time, A’Ling was directly pulled into Shi Qingqian’s embrace. Their bodies were so close that not even a thin piece of paper could fit between them.
A’Ling found it hard to breathe: “Loosen up a bit, you’re going to strangle me!” As she spoke, A’Ling’s hand, which was around Shi Qingqian’s neck, gently patted the back of her head.
Shi Qingqian’s disordered consciousness returned a little. She loosely released her hold on A’Ling, not even daring to touch her, as if worried she would be angry. She only dared to loosely embrace her.
A’Ling, calling this person foolish in her mind, was amused. One moment she was choking her, the next she was loosely surrounding her as if she dared not touch her.
After cursing silently, A’Ling pulled the slightly trembling hand back to her waist: “Hold me.” The moment she held Shi Qingqian’s hand just now, she felt her slight tremor and stiffness, and her heart ached. Why was this person even less secure than her?
This kind of hesitant, fearful, and anxious demeanor, was this still the supreme being who repeatedly broke through the void like a descending god and saved her from desperate situations?
If the great demons of the Demon Realm saw that their new Demon Lord was such a cautious person, their reputation would be greatly tarnished.
Shi Qingqian, guided by A’Ling, hugged the warm body again. She couldn’t see A’Ling’s expression and didn’t know if she was still angry.
Just as she was about to apologize, a voice, even cooler than before, sounded faintly in the darkness.
“These words… I didn’t want to say them now.”
A’Ling’s original plan was to have a good talk with Shi Qingqian after coming out of the Corrupted Corpse Forest. If conditions allowed, she might even tie her up and give her a good beating. Since things had come to this, it was better to clear the air.
Shi Qingqian gasped in quick breaths. The four words “don’t like you” in her ear hadn’t fully faded. She was somewhat afraid to listen.
She regretted it, regretting not leaving the void sooner for the momentary warmth. She even thought about whether she should step out of the void now.
A’Ling didn’t give her time to hesitate. She heard Shi Qingqian’s pained breathing in the darkness and sighed softly.
“Why do humans have mouths?” A’Ling said, gently tapping Shi Qingqian’s lips with her finger. Perhaps due to nervousness, her lips were a little dry.
Shi Qingqian didn’t expect A’Ling to start with such a question. As the question crossed her mind, before she could even figure out how to answer, A’Ling continued on her own.
“Humans don’t just have mouths for eating. If that were the case, why don’t cultivators who abstain from grain seal their mouths?”
“Since mouths are not just for eating, they should have other uses, such as clearly speaking what’s on one’s mind.”
“Perhaps you think that as long as you act on things, it’s enough, right?”
Shi Qingqian was momentarily speechless at A’Ling’s questioning. She seemed to understand what A’Ling was trying to say.
Her heart, which had been weighed down by a thousand pieces of broken stone, had now dropped quite a bit. It wasn’t “don’t like you.” She breathed a sigh of relief.
A’Ling couldn’t see her expression and only felt that she seemed to be sighing.
Seeing that the other person remained silent, A’Ling also sighed.
She reached out and forcefully pulled A’Ling’s cheek: “I think I might as well sew your mouth shut, since you don’t need it that much.”
After speaking, she seemed to still be angry. She let go of Shi Qingqian’s face and punched her chest: “Have you ever thought that if you had used your mouth more, our relationship wouldn’t have ended up in the state it was before?”
If Shi Qingqian had spoken more when A’Ling first returned to the Huo family, and explained her experiences in the Huo family in detail, would A’Ling and Shi Qingqian have had such a hostile relationship as they did back then?
A’Ling hadn’t thought about this question carefully before. Now, thinking about it, in their previous life, when they reached that irreconcilable point, both of them were responsible.
It had been wrong from the very beginning. A’Ling knew she was also at fault. Even if Shi Qingqian had wanted to explain back then, she probably wouldn’t have listened, and even if she had listened, she wouldn’t have believed her.
But some words, once heard, were bound to have an effect.
Although A’Ling didn’t accept them at the time, after she calmed down, she would always try to discern whether what Shi Qingqian said was true.
If the initial misunderstanding had been resolved from the beginning, how could they have had so many misunderstandings piling up, only to die without knowing what the other had done?
“I’m sorry…” Shi Qingqian’s voice was choked and difficult. She understood the grievance and indignation in A’Ling’s tone. How could she not understand this feeling?
When she saw A’Ling and that ‘her’ in the illusion being tossed about by misunderstandings until death, she was also very upset. Why couldn’t ‘she’ just say one more word earlier?
She always felt that the ‘her’ in the illusion wasn’t her, but now she began to suspect that perhaps they were the same person.
A’Ling reached out and gently covered the person who kept apologizing: “You haven’t wronged me. You’ve always been someone who doesn’t like to explain, just as I’ve always been someone who doesn’t like to listen to explanations. It’s not just your problem.”
She paused: “We both have problems, but now, since we’ve decided to be together, we have to make some changes for the longevity of this relationship.”
Shi Qingqian’s breath hitched, and the hand on her lips happened to be removed. Her question blurted out: “Be together?”
The shock in her tone made A’Ling pause the hand she had just withdrawn. The hand she was about to retract reached out again to Shi Qingqian’s face and gently tapped it.
“What? Didn’t you say you wanted to be my dao companion?”
Shi Qingqian’s question wasn’t because she didn’t remember what she had said, but she thought it was in the past: “But I—”
Her words were interrupted by A’Ling: “Yes, you are a demon. If our paths are different, we cannot form a pact and become dao companions.”
A simple sentence conjured ten thousand sharp blades, all gouging flesh from Shi Qingqian’s heart. Although she knew the possibility of them becoming dao companions was severed the moment she decided to become a demon at Immortal Rainbow Platform, hearing these words from A’Ling still made Shi Qingqian’s heart ache so much that she could barely stand straight.
A’Ling felt the breathing beside her grow heavier. She pursed her lips: “This is something for you to think about. How can you ensure that you will never leave me?”
Feeling the breathing beside her stop, A’Ling continued: “Forming a pact as dao companions is a soul contract, and it is also a commitment to the future at present. Although many people break their pacts, the price is also great. Willing to form a pact proves that the two people at present want to be together forever.”
She sighed. She hadn’t thought that this contract was necessary before, but now, somehow, it felt like having such a thing could prove the commitment to eternity in her heart.
No wonder ordinary people in the world loved to hear people make vows. Even knowing that the vows made under the moonlight were nothing but a mirage, they still remembered them and imprinted them in their hearts.
“We can’t form this kind of contract now. How about you make an oath? Promise that you won’t leave me for the rest of your life.”
A’Ling felt that after deciding to be with Shi Qingqian, she had also become an ordinary person.
She now quite wanted to hear Shi Qingqian say something pleasant.
The breath Shi Qingqian had been holding in was finally exhaled. During the time A’Ling was speaking, she had gone from suspecting she was hallucinating from staying in the void too long to suspecting her deep-seated obsession was causing auditory hallucinations.
Only when A’Ling’s words had all landed did she joyfully return to her senses.
A’Ling wasn’t just acting on a whim or something else. She actually wanted to be with her, for a lifetime.
Shi Qingqian closed her eyes tightly. Her wildly beating heart made a decision in an instant.
She trembling pulled the person in her embrace closer, gently pressed her forehead against hers, and then slowly pulled one of A’Ling’s hands over, placing her hand on her beating heart.
She softly chanted a spell, and with a hand gesture in the void, a dark red phoenix feather appeared at Shi Qingqian’s feet and vanished into the darkness.
A’Ling looked at the endless forest that suddenly appeared before her. As she advanced, the tangled branches and leaves quickly receded to the sides, revealing a wide road shrouded in black mist.
Where is this?
A’Ling was pulled by Shi Qingqian uncontrollably and leaped rapidly towards the end.
At the end, a cliff split into two. The mountain cliff opened like a gate, and with a rumbling sound, the doors opened.
Shi Qingqian turned and took her hand, stepping into another deep darkness.
Unlike the pure blackness of the void where nothing could be seen, this darkness had more light. Shi Qingqian led A’Ling along the way towards the faint light.
Looking at the pulsating blood and the dark red light, A’Ling’s eyes churned like waves.
This is… Shi Qingqian’s Heart Mansion?
The next moment, Shi Qingqian validated A’Ling’s guess with actual actions. She reached out, gathered the faint light within the pulsating blood into a bead, and retrieved it through the air.
She opened her hand. A’Ling looked at the dark red bead in her palm, her eyes widening with horror as her eyelashes fluttered like surging waves.
She watched helplessly as Shi Qingqian used her hand as a blade, carving a character ‘Ling’ stroke by stroke onto the faintly glowing bead.
As the last stroke was finished, fine blood lines seeped from the blood patterns at the corners of Shi Qingqian’s eyes. She seemed unable to hold on any longer, stumbling a step, and kneeling on one knee.
“What’s wrong?” A’Ling quickly crouched down, wanting to help Shi Qingqian up.
Shi Qingqian supported herself on her knee, grasped A’Ling’s hand, and endured the pain of her demon soul being branded with all her might. She gently opened A’Ling’s palm and placed the bead in her hand.
“No need for… a soul contract…” As Shi Qingqian spoke, the brand on her demon soul, which had not yet extinguished, once again seared her eye sockets, her blood patterns a vibrant red like fire.
A’Ling looked at the blood patterns at her eye sockets that seemed to have come alive. Although there was no sound at this moment, she felt as if she could hear the explosive sound of raging fire.
She didn’t know what was happening to Shi Qingqian. She looked down at the bead Shi Qingqian had placed in her palm. This is…
Could it be? No, it couldn’t be!
A’Ling immediately denied the guess in her heart. That would be too ridiculous, unless Shi Qingqian had gone mad.
“My demon soul…” Shi Qingqian gasped rapidly, exhaling the burning sensation in her heart. She tried her best to straighten her back and look at the person in front of her.
A’Ling’s pupils widened to their extreme when she heard the words ‘demon soul,’ and then narrowed sharply when she saw her name on it, her eyes flickering with light.
“My demon soul… has been branded with the master seal… If you hold it… you will forever possess me…” Shi Qingqian endured the searing pain of the brand and finished saying what she wanted to say.
Mad, she’s really mad! Shi Qingqian had truly gone mad!
She had only heard of Demon Soul Master Seals. She hadn’t imagined that any demon could actually brand their demon soul with another person’s name.
Is she crazy? Once the demon soul is branded with this seal, the other person can extract her demon soul at any time!
A demon’s demon soul is as crucial as a cultivator’s nascent soul!
For cultivators, even if their physical body is destroyed, as long as their nascent soul remains, and they strongly wish not to die, they can even seize another body for rebirth.
The demon soul serves the same purpose. She had seen great demons protect their demon souls until death. She had never seen any demon voluntarily brand their demon soul with another person’s name.
This was equivalent to handing over her life to the other person. With them, if they want you to live, you live; if they want you to die, you die.
“Are you crazy!” A’Ling clutched the bead in her hand, and after a long while, could only utter these words.
Shi Qingqian looked up at the person in front of her and slowly curved her lips.
“This is my vow to you.”
Although there was no wind in Shi Qingqian’s Heart Mansion, A’Ling heard all the leaves in the forest they had passed through rustling together.
Thousands of leaves rustled in unison.
But none of this was as passionate as the movement of her own heart.
Although she was within Shi Qingqian’s Heart Mansion, she felt as if the cluster of flesh and blood in her heart was violently trembling, with a dark red glow, shaking her eyes.
For the first time, she believed in the eternity of a ‘vow.’
Before this, she had never believed it. She knew that a vow was the sincerity of the present moment, but it was only the present. She hadn’t expected someone to present ‘eternity’ to her, that as long as she wanted, she could possess this person before her forever.
A tear quietly slipped from the corner of A’Ling’s eye: “Then what about me?”
Shi Qingqian’s eyes trembled suddenly. She reached out and caught the tear. The touch of moisture on her fingertips felt like a downpour in her heart, extinguishing all the burning marks and soothing all the pain.
She knew what A’Ling meant by that question, but she didn’t want A’Ling’s ‘vow,’ neither light nor heavy.
She reached out and carefully wiped the place where the tear had traced with her fingertip. Finally, she straightened her back, supported herself on her knee, leaned forward, clasped A’Ling’s hand holding the bead, and looked into her eyes very earnestly.
“No need. You will always belong to yourself.”
A’Ling’s palm felt burning hot. The tears she had just held back surged forth. How could this person be like this?
It was truly beyond words.
What kind of fool was there in the world?
A’Ling forcefully pulled the person up from the ground, wiped away the tears that had already filled her eyes, so that Shi Qingqian’s face in her vision was no longer blurry.
She grabbed the person’s collar, forcing them to lower their head slightly, and bit her lips forcefully.
She really shouldn’t like people with this kind of personality, who once again made decisions without saying a word.
Feeling a taste of blood in her mouth, A’Ling resentfully let go.
“Don’t you dare regret it!”
Shi Qingqian’s eyes held a smile. She leaned down and imprinted a kiss on A’Ling’s brow with great piety.
Blood smeared across her brow, incredibly beautiful, enchantingly alluring, stirring the soul and captivating the heart.
“Mm, I won’t regret it.”
A’Ling felt she was going mad too. She kicked Shi Qingqian: “Let’s get out of here quickly.”
If she stayed in this Heart Mansion any longer, she would go mad too. She needed to smell the miasma of the Corrupted Corpse Forest to calm this uncontrollable heart.