Love Travels through Time (My father who traveled through time and space to cultivate immortality came back to pick me up) - Chapter 68
Chapter 68: No Road Back from Bian City (5)
The maiden’s heart was shattered into tiny bits and pieces.
The small deer that was already barely kicking inside her heart was now hacked to death with a barrage of blades.
Xiang Haikui felt that she would never love again.
Could he be considered a cosmic-level straight-as-a-board steel male?
Fortunately, he had no sense of belonging back on Earth, walking around with a misanthropic face all day and disliking interaction with others; otherwise, wouldn’t he have been beaten to death with wooden clubs long ago?
After Xiang Haikui finished stuffing that chicken leg into his mouth and prepared to withdraw her hand, her wrist was suddenly caught by Jing Ran.
Jing Ran spat out the food in his mouth.
“So it’s not that I don’t know how to speak, but that you don’t like listening to the truth.”
Xiang Haikui exerted force with her arm, wanting to break free from his grip, but the tighter she pulled, the tighter he held.
Jing Ran let out a light, slightly dumbfounded laugh.
“Then what do you like to hear? I already told you long ago that I hold no sense of reality toward my reincarnated life, so how could I possibly develop much pity or affection for a girl met by chance? Recalling it now, the fact that I even thought to lend you a hand was already a twist of fate…”
Thinking about it this way, it makes sense, Xiang Haikui frowned.
After all, when she went to return the umbrella to him the next day, he seemed to have virtually no recollection of it.
It was she herself who had draped all kinds of filters over him.
Regardless of the reason, in the end, it was his appearance that changed her life.
Jing Ran said: “Except for a few things I cannot tell you, I don’t want to hide anything else from you. A long time ago, I cheated women too. Later on, there was no need to, and now I neither know how to nor care to.”
Xiang Haikui gave an “Oh”: “Let go.”
“Look, no matter how filthy you are now, I don’t mind it at all. As long as you are happy, I can get filthy right alongside you.”
As Jing Ran spoke, he forced open her clenched fist.
That greasy hand of hers rubbed against his, making his hand just as greasy.
He guided her hand and pressed it against his heart, even staining his clothes with grease spots.
“Think back to the expectation you had when you confessed to me—isn’t this precisely the result you wanted?”
Xiang Haikui met his gaze.
The corners of his lips hitched up slightly, his eyes filled with a smile, his tone tinged with a bit of doting indulgence.
“Don’t believe me?”
“I believe you.”
Xiang Haikui believed what he said was true.
Yet she suddenly felt that her senior brother wasn’t actually “clueless.”
It was because he didn’t care about her maidenly heart at all, nor did he care about her opinion of him.
It was just like a master raising a pet—giving the pet the best care possible.
Feeding it food, taking it out for walks.
But when a master spoke to a pet, would they consider whether the pet liked listening to it?
Xiang Haikui didn’t know if she was harboring too much malice toward him to think this way.
Yet as her hand was pressed against his heart, his heartbeat remained steady, without the slightest ripple or fluctuation.
It inevitably led her to compare him to her boss.
After her boss woke up from his hibernation, although he repeatedly stated that he was drawing a line between them, his body had been honest as could be.
When recuperating inside the hollow tree, his breathing had been consistently ragged.
When flying up to the ground from the tree hollow, her boss had wrapped his arm around her waist, and she could feel that his usually icy-cold hands were scorching hot.
Just like when he had lost his memory before, the fair skin near his ears would turn slightly red.
Xiang Haikui could gradually understand it now.
A big shot who was originally capable of controlling everything, waking up from a dream only to find that his emotions and body were both out of his control—it would be a miracle if he didn’t feel disheveled and awkward.
Just as her mind drifted, the Tian Kuang Sword issued a danger warning once again.
Since it wasn’t directed at her anyway, she remained completely unmoved.
Jing Ran had already scooped her up, carrying her as he instantly vanished from the long table, landing on top of a wooden railing over a dozen yards away.
With a loud bang, the long table along with the utensils and food on it were shattered into powder.
Those dolphin-like creatures that had originally been leaping in the sea actually transformed into human forms and flew up onto the terrace.
There were over a dozen of them in total, all male.
Their bodies were somewhat short compared to humans, and their skin was entirely blue, looking strikingly like Smurfs.
A shimmering water curtain, resembling a gigantic jellyfish, swallowed the entire terrace whole.
“A redundant move,” Jing Ran let out a cold sneer.
Xiang Haikui knew he was referring to this “jellyfish.”
Since he was currently in a period of recovery, using people to practice his skills came at just the right time.
He had long ordered his subordinates not to step in and help, nor would he flee.
These people were all here to deliver experience points.
Presumably, after this wave of experience points was over, there would be another.
Xiang Haikui actually couldn’t quite wrap her head around it—there were so many of these minor clans dissatisfied with the Celestial Clan, so had her boss never thought of allying with them?
How great would a joint confrontation be? Why go full “Hulu Brothers saving their grandfather” by coming one by one to feed him experience?
“Stay here and don’t move.”
Jing Ran placed a golden arc around her body and leaped down from the railing.
Without wasting a single word on either side, they engaged directly in battle.
Those “Smurfs” were exceptionally fast.
Switching between various formations, they jointly generated all sorts of gales, flames, and ice spikes around Jing Ran’s body.
In an instant, Jing Ran was swallowed whole, yet this posed no threat to his protective golden light whatsoever.
Those people didn’t look surprised either, continuing to rapidly shift formations at a dizzying, relentless pace.
Standing on the railing to observe the battle, Xiang Haikui could tell from their intentions that they wanted to wear down his golden light first before unleashing a killing move to sanction him.
Xiang Haikui observed carefully, wanting to spot where Jing Ran’s weakness lay.
Jing Ran’s voice transmission suddenly reached her: “Block your vision.”
Xiang Haikui froze for a moment, hastily doing as he said.
Enveloped in flames, Jing Ran suddenly raised his palm, and a sphere of light spun rapidly in his palm.
That sphere of light was as dazzling as the sun, the rays it emitted instantly swallowing the flames.
Xiang Haikui heard a few blood-curdling screams that sent a chill through her heart.
Even with her vision sealed, she felt her sea of consciousness being scorched by a wave of intense heat.
When she opened her eyes, those “Smurfs” were nowhere to be found.
The “jellyfish” above their heads had also turned into a thin layer of skin, floating down tattered like a deflated balloon.
Xiang Haikui drew a deep breath. She couldn’t help asking: “Senior Brother, what percentage of your cultivation have you restored?”
Jing Ran drew back the sphere of light in his palm: “About half.”
This overlord of the Three Realms was truly no idle boaster. Xiang Haikui swallowed hard.
“Are you really afraid of Yin Changli?”
Jing Ran looked at her, remaining quiet for a good while before asking, “Have you ever seen Yin Changli kill anyone after his hibernation period ended?”
Xiang Haikui: …
Jing Ran: “Back at the Lu residence, when you were trapped by the nine-headed bird, he used only a fraction of his spiritual energy to sever the bird’s nine heads with a single finger. I have never fought him head-on, but I imagine his strength is likely only a notch below mine. However, he is exceptionally cunning and must be guarded against.”
Xiang Haikui was astonished.
So besides having a brilliant mind, her boss was actually this good at fighting?
“I thought Senior Brother was merely afraid of the divine artifact in his hand.”
“That divine artifact poses a threat to my entire Celestial Clan.”
At the mention of this, Jing Ran felt it was utterly mind-boggling. His eldest brother must have been out of his mind—wasting half a lifetime of effort to use his own body as an experiment, all to create a ultimate weapon that could counter his own clan.
“Let’s go back.”
All of Jing Ran’s interest had vanished.
He withdrew the golden arc of light around Xiang Haikui and turned around.
Just as Xiang Haikui was preparing to leap down from the railing, that fluttering tattered jellyfish cloth suddenly shot straight down and slapped right onto her shoulder.
Immediately, a sharp pain shot through her shoulder as a charred “chicken claw” took her captive.
“Emperor, hope you’ve been well.”
Xiang Haikui heard a voice behind her laughing heartily—a laugh that made her skin crawl.
Jing Ran snapped back to reality, his brow furrowing.
“So it’s you.”
“Oh,” Jing Ran nodded again.
“So those earlier ones were meant to throw their lives away just to pave the way for you. No wonder you made that redundant move. It seems my mercy back then didn’t earn any gratitude from you lot.”
“Bah! Return the source of life of our Tianyuan Sea to us!”
The person sliced a bloody gash into Xiang Haikui’s neck, blood gushing out profusely.
“Otherwise…”
“Idiot.”
Before he could finish his sentence, he heard the captured woman swear.
With sword intent flowing back into her body, Xiang Haikui transformed directly into a flood dragon and slammed straight into his chest.
Jing Ran struck instantly, his golden light burning the attacker to ash.
Given her recent unstable state of mind, Xiang Haikui didn’t dare stay transformed for long and quickly reverted to her human form.
Wiping the blood from her neck, she walked back with a dark face.
“I didn’t expect Student Xiang to actually help me.”
Jing Ran smiled faintly, a trace of amusement in his eyes.
He reached out to help her stop the bleeding, but his hand was slapped away by her.
“As if he could coerce you?”
The wound on Xiang Haikui’s neck throbbed with a burning pain as she bared her teeth and healed herself.
“Acting like this without asking who’s right or wrong—it doesn’t sound like you.”
Jing Ran looked at her with a slightly scrutinizing gaze.
“Regardless of who’s right or wrong between you two, the moment they laid hands on me, they were in the wrong.”
Whoever hit her, she would hit back—that was Xiang Haikui’s stance right now.
“If you can’t win, go home and cultivate; if you want a head-on clash, bring out real power,” she cursed spattingly.
“Taking innocent people hostage to coerce someone—despicable! Trash! Shameless and vile! Disgusting to the extreme! Having your clan wiped out serves you right!”
Rarely finding her on his side, Jing Ran had been listening with a faint smile, but his expression suddenly darkened.
“Are you cursing me?”
“Ha, if some people insist on fitting themselves into the mold, I can’t help that.”
—
The Cave of Ten Thousand Bones.
An intrusion of power startled Qi Yin out of his sleep.
Once he probed to see who the visitor was, he looked at the little black snake coiled around the chain in surprise.
“Changli?”
Yin Changli walked in through the corridor carrying two jars of wine, a faint smile on his face.
“Master Qi, I’m here to slap you in the face. Who was it that said they would protect me back then, saying as long as you lived, no one could harm me?”
He blew a breath, and the coiled little black snake dissipated.
“Relying on you, I’d die without even knowing how.”
This slap to the face landed loud and clear.
Qi Yin gave an embarrassed chuckle.
“What happened?”
Without waiting for Yin Changli to answer, he asked again, “Did your hibernation end early? What about my little disciple? How is she? Did she survive? Did she escape her heavenly fate?”
Yin Changli had originally intended to tease him a bit more, but at this question, his good mood vanished completely.
“I lost.”
Yin Changli walked over to Qi Yin’s side and sat down on the stone steps, setting down the two jars of wine.
“Originally, Han Qi merely triggered an imprint mechanism in me, but I ended up digging a hole and burying myself in it—I actually fell in love for real.”
Qi Yin froze for a moment.
“The hole you dug… oh, Haikui?”
Yin Changli felt a headache coming on.
Seeing that he didn’t mind the dirt and sat straight on the ground, Qi Yin raised an eyebrow, dragged his chains over to sit down as well, unsealed a jar of wine, and took a drink.
“Since you came looking for me, do you have something you want to say?”
“I will attack Bian City the day after tomorrow. The Celestial Emperor has returned from his mortal tribulation and is currently there…”
Yin Changli recounted the details step by step.
Qi Yin had no idea that so much had transpired in such a short time.
“I came today because I want Master Qi to give me a scolding.”
Qi Yin: “Why?”
Yin Changli: “With only two days left, I should be thinking about whether there are any oversights. Yet in reality, I can’t help but constantly think of her. I can’t control the urge to go take her away right now. I even wonder if Han Qi’s curse is still in my head—am I falling deeper and deeper into this poison?”
“What’s wrong with thinking about Haikui?” Qi Yin couldn’t understand.
“That little disciple of mine is so adorable; I worry about her all day too.”
“Among all the imprisoned seniors, Master Qi, you are the only one who was betrayed by a disciple…”
“So you think I will scold you and tell you not to be led by your emotions like I was?”
Yin Changli wanted to drink wine too, but he held back.
“I am very afraid of unsealing those ten years of memories. Through Little Bai’s account, I realized I’m not sick—it feels just like how I used to be…”
“In the past, my father would always scold me for my cowardice. Now, you are the only one left who dares to scold me, Master Qi.”
Qi Yin patted his shoulder.
“Changli, although your father scolded you, did he ever force you into anything?”
Yin Changli remained silent for a long time.
“Because I disappointed him too deeply, he gave up on me long ago.”
Qi Yin shook his head.
“Do you know that whenever your father mentioned you to me, it was never with disappointment, but with pride? You probably don’t know that out of all your brothers, the one your father loved most was you.”
Yin Changli’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Why did our ancestors want us to learn the Human Realm Way? The Human Realm Way is precisely what is closest to the Heavenly Way.”
Qi Yin spoke to him with a rare gentleness and warmth.
“Whether it is the Celestial Clan or our Shanhai Clan, we are inherently lacking a bit of reverence for all living things—yet you possess that heart.”
“Changli, this is not cowardice. The Buddhas take pity on all sentient beings; could you say they are cowardly?”
Like a loving elder, Qi Yin pressed his hand gently on top of his head.
“Your current evasive mindset—that is true cowardice…”
Yin Changli’s pupils contracted slightly.
Since he didn’t reply, Qi Yin simply drank his wine without uttering another word.
After a long while, he said: “Keep an eye on me for a bit. I am going to step into my Sea of Consciousness.”
“Alright.”
—
Yin Changli had noticed long ago that his once-barren Sea of Consciousness was now fully planted with sunflowers, covered densely with tiny, hand-written words.
Yet he had only entered once, taken a few quick glances, felt sick enough to vomit, and immediately fled back out.
Returning here now, he began to endure the nausea, reading word by word.
—
Miss Xiang is still very afraid of me today.
I sewed my own mouth shut.
I really don’t understand how the old me could be so utterly clueless about respecting people.
Yin Changli, everyone else is a fool, but are you yourself so exceptional?
Look at this scorched earth in your Sea of Consciousness. At your age, ending up a lonely soul—you truly are exceptional!
—
Through my unremitting efforts, Little Kui isn’t so afraid of me now.
She’s started smiling at me.
Every time she smiles at me, I come and plant a sunflower.
She faces the sun, and I face her.
—
Little Kui got injured again today to protect me.
I want to protect her, yet I am so useless.
Fortunately, I am not truly useless. As long as I recover, I will never let anyone bully her again.
She always worries that once I recover, I won’t like her anymore—how could that ever be possible?
Even now, when I can’t think properly, I can still see Little Kui’s goodness. There is no reason why, once I regain my past wisdom and can see through people’s hearts even better, I would fail to see her goodness instead.
She is so wonderful.
Without doing a thing, just standing under the sun makes her shine brightly.
If I fail to see it, that only proves these years of my life might have been lived for nothing.
I must be sure to wipe my eyes clean and look closely at this beautiful world, and at the most beautiful girl by my side.
—
Over these past few days, terrifying images keep appearing in my mind.
Those are my memories.
I am beginning to feel afraid, somewhat terrified to face them. I finally understand why Little Kui was always worried that I would hurt her once I woke up.
I also understand why, no matter how hard I tried, she remained unmoved.
Because my mind is no longer filled with Little Kui every second of every day.
I’ve even started to feel that she is a bit foolish.
I reflected carefully on myself: she hasn’t changed at all—it is I who am changing.
She remains that very same brilliant ray of sun, while my heart draws closer and closer to darkness.
Han Qi said that my attempt to alter my fate failed.
I don’t think so. I was originally sinking endlessly in a sea of suffering, but now, someone has finally reached out a hand to me and pulled me ashore.
I must, must remember this.
Rather than spending all day calculating the future, it is better to push open the door to the past and sweep clean the dust that has fallen upon my heart along the way.
I hope that when I am clear-headed, even if my heart is filled with exhaustion, I will still be the youth whose eyes hold only her when standing before her.
To be her youth, and hers alone.
