Love Travels through Time (My father who traveled through time and space to cultivate immortality came back to pick me up) - Chapter 98
Chapter 98: Awakening
Xiang Haikui thought so as well.
Glancing at Jing Ran beside her, she said, “Doesn’t this count as forcing my hand?”
She then looked at the father and son standing before her.
“They don’t seem very cooperative—kneeling and trembling like that. Honestly, it strips away even the slightest desire I have to make a move.”
They truly underestimated her. She wasn’t one of those overbearing powerhouses from the Shanhai realm; as long as she wasn’t completely overwhelmed by the demon blood, she could still discern what was urgent and what was not.
No matter how badly she wanted to hack these scum to pieces with a flurry of blades, she had to restrain herself.
Besides, her urge to fight really wasn’t that strong at the moment.
Back then, after giving her intensive training, her Boss and Master had sent her off to Yinsha to face Meng Xilou without the slightest trace of worry.
Xiang Haikui had never understood where their confidence came from.
Was it because they were supremely confident in their teaching, because Tian kuang was sufficiently dominant and overbearing, or because she, Xiang Haikui, was exceptionally gifted?
None of the above.
The real reason was that in the eyes of her Boss and Master, someone like Meng Xilou simply didn’t exist to begin with.
That was why, when her enemy became Jing Ran, her Master was willing to risk his life to back her up.
An enemy becomes a thorn in your side—impossible to ignore—only because they are difficult to defeat.
Looking at them today, they were nothing more than a bunch of pitiable wretches.
Consider Meng Xilou: how indignant he had been when he lost to a little human girl, unable to figure out where he had gone wrong even as his avatar died.
He had returned, rushing to enter secluded cultivation to heal his injuries, eager to head back down to the mortal realm and settle the score with her once he recovered.
Yet, when he finally emerges from seclusion, he will suddenly realize that in just a short dozen years, the outside world has turned completely upside down.
What kind of look will be on his face then?
While her mind wandered, the hearts of the Meng family father and son trembled in shock.
They had remained kneeling only because they had been caught red-handed by the Emperor earlier, carrying the guilt of their crimes and not daring to rise.
Yet after her remarks, it sounded as if they were intentionally remaining on their knees to appease her anger—all to avoid serving as the Emperor’s test-blades and sacrificing themselves for the conflict between the Celestial Clan and the Shanhai Clan.
“Father?” Meng Nanting could not resist sending a voice transmission right under the Emperor’s eyes, hoping his father would make a decision on whether to stand up and provoke Xiang Haikui.
The Patriarch of the Meng family was losing his composure step by step.
If they didn’t provoke her now, the false charge would stick to them.
But if they actually did, offing her would lead to consequences they could not possibly bear.
Fortunately, Jing Ran broke the deadlock for them, though the words that followed only filled them with greater dread.
“This Emperor has no intention of forcing you to draw your blade. Kill them if you wish. The blade-drawing mentioned in our bet refers to your move to seize the formation disc, not to taking revenge.”
He cast a side-glance at Meng Nanting, feeling a slight reluctance in his heart.
After careful cultivation, he was indeed a good prospect, but… “If you do not wish to dirty your hands, this Emperor can do it for you.”
The atmosphere in the Meng family had already been dark with heavy clouds, but in an instant, it turned into a devastating, merciless storm.
Meng Nanting fell to his knees in panic, kowtowing, “Emperor, spare my life!”
He had already guessed in his heart that the Emperor had changed his strategy.
After all, the two had shared a romantic past; the Emperor wanted to curry favor with her, using warmth to shake her resolve.
He hurriedly kowtowed to Xiang Haikui as well.
“Miss Xiang, previously I was blind to harm you, and I know my sins are unforgivable. But for the sake of my younger sister, please spare my life!”
Xiang Haikui had no time to pay attention to Meng Nanting right now; she couldn’t understand what Jing Ran was trying to pull.
Meng Nanting continued, “Your father has always doted on my younger sister. Once she regains her identity and learns that Miss Xiang killed her brother, if she seeks revenge, your father will be caught in the middle, and it will surely make things extremely difficult for him…”
He was truly bringing up the one topic he shouldn’t have. Xiang Haikui’s expression turned icy cold, shooting a razor-sharp glare straight at him!
She slammed her palm onto the sword case. With a sudden sequence of crisp snaps, the floor tiles in the courtyard—already showing cracks—all crumbled into fine dust.
Amidst the suffocating killing intent, a dull thud echoed—the sound of a cracking skull!
Xiang Haikui’s heart jolted.
Unexpectedly, the Patriarch of the Meng family had struck without warning, slamming his palm heavily onto Meng Nanting’s temple!
Although Meng Nanting had remained vigilant all along, his Inspiration and spiritual energy shared the exact same origin as his father’s.
His protective spiritual energy could not even distinguish it, let alone block the blow.
It was a blatant move to sacrifice the pawn to save the king.
With Meng Nanting’s intellect, he had anticipated it and harbored a faint premonition that he might be pushed out as a scapegoat, yet he had still held onto a sliver of hope.
After all… they were father and son.
Even without that lingering hope, he couldn’t have dodged it anyway.
Otherwise, the one to suffer would be his mother, who possessed not an ounce of background in the family.
As he collapsed, he looked at the Patriarch of the Meng family—his eyes carried no shock or sorrow, but rather a plea.
The Patriarch of the Meng family understood his request and answered with his eyes: I will treat your mother well.
When Meng Nanting drew his last breath, a look of agony washed over the Patriarch’s face, as if he were trying desperately to endure.
“Miss Xiang, every plan my daughter made after descending to the mortal realm was the work of this rebellious son. I wonder if this resolution satisfies you?”
Xiang Haikui remained silent for a long time.
She seemed to understand a little better why Xiang Tianqing’s heart was so entirely consumed by her father and why she was so terrified that someone else might diminish that paternal love.
Her mood growing increasingly irritable, she turned her eyes to Jing Ran.
This bastard wanted both to curry favor with her and to mess with her mind—a two-pronged approach that was all gain and no loss.
Meng Nanting deserved to die; he had nearly killed Lu Xiqiao and had ambushed her into severe injury.
Had it not been for that, she wouldn’t have been forced into dual cultivation with her Boss, nor would any of the subsequent events have occurred.
Yet compared to that, she despised Jing Ran’s attitude of treating human lives as mere chess pieces even more!
The demon blood was gradually boiling within her body; if she stayed any longer, she wouldn’t be able to control her emotions.
Grit her teeth, she decisively picked up the sword case, turned around, and strode out of the Meng family compound.
“Little Kui.”
Jing Ran turned to pursue her.
Xiang Haikui walked on foot toward the royal palace.
Jing Ran caught up.
“I brought you here to take revenge. Instead of being happy, you’re angry with me?”
Xiang Haikui’s gaze was cold as ice.
Jing Ran added, “I’ve sent people to track Que Chi’s whereabouts. I’ll kill this Zhuyan for you.”
“Back then, you were the one who bribed him to turn on us at the last moment, stabbing my Master and causing him to be imprisoned, right?”
Xiang Haikui’s pace grew faster and faster, almost turning into a blur.
“He rendered great service to you after all; how can you not show a single shred of past affection?”
“Naturally, it is for you.”
“Ah, is that so? But he protected my Master earlier, and now I don’t particularly want to kill him anymore.”
“Little Kui, I don’t want to see you risking your life like this anymore. Can we… start over again?”
His words came abruptly, deep and slow, laced with a faint touch of awkwardness.
Xiang Haikui’s steps faltered, and the sound of the wind around her ears died down.
Jing Ran stepped in front of her. He had wanted to reach out and rest his hand on her shoulder, but she was as sharp as a sword—touching her would only leave him wounded.
“I can make a three-part agreement with you: you return the formation disc and the treasure to me, and I will release your Master on my own to fulfill your wish.”
Xiang Haikui frowned.
He stated his condition.
“You only need to promise me that from now on, you will draw a clear line between yourself, Yin Changli, and your Master, and stay by my side in peace. I can let bygones be bygones.”
“You’ll let bygones be bygones?” Xiang Haikui doubted whether her ears were deceiving her.
“Yes, I will let bygones be bygones,” Jing Ran repeated.
Xiang Haikui was so infuriated that she almost laughed out loud.
“How about you don’t bother taking revenge for me either. You’re my number one enemy—why don’t you stab yourself a few times first, and then I’ll consider whether or not to accept your letting bygones be bygones?”
She was aggressive as always, and Jing Ran was well-prepared for it.
“Little Kui, in making this decision, I went through many things you cannot understand…”
“Then don’t make things hard on yourself, alright?” Xiang Haikui interrupted him.
“And spare me too—I have no interest in feeling deeply indebted to you!”
Jing Ran’s hands trembled in rage as he tried his utmost to maintain his patience.
“You want me to ’empathize’ with you, but when have you ever ’empathized’ with me? I’ve told you time and again that because of that divine artifact concerning the fate of my entire Celestial Clan, I simply had no choice…”
Xiang Haikui interrupted him once more.
“Hypothetically, if you ceded the throne to Bai Xingxian and the divine artifact vanished into thin air on the spot, and Little Bai would end up doing a better job as Emperor than you, would you give it up?”
Jing Ran said, “Don’t you think making such a hypothetical is utterly pointless?”
Xiang Haikui insisted, “Answer me.”
Jing Ran kept his face dark and remained silent.
Xiang Haikui: “See? You didn’t even hesitate.”
Jing Ran’s patience was wearing thin.
“Isn’t this just you being unreasonable? Is there anything wrong with having ambition for power and status?”
“There’s nothing wrong with it. If you directly said, ‘This daddy just wants to be the overlord of the Three Realms—those who obey me shall prosper, and those who oppose me shall perish under this heaven,’ then no matter how defiant I felt in my heart, I’d still respect you as a real man!”
She looked back at him coldly.
“So, stop trying to make me understand your so-called ‘having no choice.’ It’s not that I can’t understand—it’s that there aren’t actually that many ‘no choice’ situations in this world. Wanting to play the saint while acting like a hypocrite—who the hell are you trying to nauseate?!”
No matter how prepared he was, Jing Ran could not bear such humiliation.
“Don’t push your luck too far!”
“The Emperor doesn’t need to waste time on a stubborn block of stone like me. Your ‘sincerity’—cheaper than dirt—doesn’t move me one bit.”
Xiang Haikui didn’t care in the slightest, bypassing him without a trace of attachment as she continued walking.
“You’d be better off gathering your strength to defeat me and forcing down a pill that gives me amnesia—that suits your style much better!”
Jing Ran stood with a rigid face, watching her retreating back. Her flowing long dress made her figure appear even slighter and thinner.
Yet it was precisely such a frail woman who carried the heaviest sword, spoke the most venomous words, and possessed the coldest, hardest heart.
Refusing a courtesy only to suffer punishment, denied any favor from fate—she brought it entirely upon herself!
Fine, then he would grant her wish.
“Listen well, Xiang Haikui! You chose this path yourself; don’t go blaming this Emperor again in the future!”
Xiang Haikui strode forward with large steps, raising her middle finger behind her back.
…
Returning to the royal palace and flying up onto the golden lotus, Xiang Haikui immediately began to meditate, yet she couldn’t calm her mind for a long time.
This trip to the Meng family had indeed made her quite restless and irritable.
Meanwhile, Jing Ran—who had been plagued by irritability for days—was now sitting cross-legged with closed eyes, his expression calm and indifferent.
He was creating an avatar.
Normally, only those with a cultivation level above the Ninth grade could cultivate an avatar, and at any given time, only either the avatar or the main body could be controlled.
However, at a realm like his and Yin Changli’s, they could essentially control both simultaneously.
The avatar quietly left his body, streaking across the night sky like a shooting star and landing once more outside the main gates of the Meng family compound.
In the mortal realm, at the courtyard residence in the Capital of the Jinling.
The weather tonight was stiflingly humid and hot. Xiang Tianqing carried an ice pillow out into the yard, looking through the arched entryway at Xiang Heng, who was sitting in the courtyard.
After a moment’s hesitation, she walked in.
“Father, are you worrying about Little Sister again?”
Xiang Heng was slightly taken aback. Ever since receiving guidance from Yin Changli, he had frequently reflected on his attitude toward Little Kui lately, while also worrying about her safety away on this journey, often losing himself in thought.
Xiang Heng turned back and looked at her lovingly.
“Haven’t rested yet?”
Xiang Tianqing said nothing, walking across the yard into his room to replace his pillow with the cold ice pillow she had made over the past few days.
When she had gone out earlier to look for her Master, Xiang Haikui had returned once.
By the time she found her Master and came back, Xiang Haikui was already gone.
She wondered if Xiang Haikui had avoided her on purpose.
And lately, her father often kept his brows knit, looking deeply worried…
Xiang Tianqing suppressed herself, sweeping away all these chaotic thoughts from her mind.
As of today, she had gained some perspective; her vision and open-mindedness in the past had indeed been a bit narrow.
That was because she had lived in Silver Sand City since childhood and had never traveled outside.
In her world, there were only her father and senior martial brothers—they were all the color in her life.
Especially her father, who pulled out the demon poison for her, raised her to adulthood, shielded her firmly with his own body amidst blood and storm, and cherished her like the apple of his eye.
She had been spoiled rotten.
As an adopted daughter, was it not human nature for her to fear that once the biological daughter returned, she would fall from a star in the sky to mud beneath their feet?
Besides, even if she was petty, she kept it buried in her heart and had never done anything malicious to Xiang Haikui.
On the contrary, it was Xiang Haikui whose single sentence had created a rift between her and her father.
“Father, please get some rest early.”
Having swapped the pillow, Xiang Tianqing prepared to leave.
Xiang Heng couldn’t help but bring up the topic she disliked hearing again.
“Little Qing, you still refuse to believe it at all, don’t you?”
Xiang Tianqing paused in her tracks.
“No.”
Earlier, when she was kidnapped by the Lu family, a series of unexpected events had occurred. By the time she woke up, Jinling was in chaos, and the Lu family had fallen from power.
After being confused for a period, she had gradually come to believe a few parts of Xiang Haikui’s previous “slander” against her.
She might really be a reincarnation from the Upper Realm.
“But even if all of that is true, what Xiang Haikui said about seeing me kill you with my own hands in that ‘future dream’ must be fake!” This was the single thing that enraged Xiang Tianqing the most, becoming an indelible rift between her and her father!
Xiang Haikui was definitely doing it on purpose—mixing this single falsehood into ninety-nine lies so that the lie seemed like the truth, making her father believe it without a shadow of a doubt.
She had been made into the “killer” of her father, burdened with a conviction of guilt that she could never wash away for the rest of her life.
An unwarranted, baseless charge!
“Little Qing, actually… it’s not entirely impossible, is it?” The father and daughter had depended on each other for many years. If not for this matter, Xiang Heng wouldn’t have known that his daughter—gentle to the point of being slightly timid—was actually so stubborn at her core.
“My demon poison used to flare up easily. Every time I went into secluded cultivation, didn’t I always instruct you that if I couldn’t control myself, you must…
“I only agreed to it back then because I wanted you to enter secluded cultivation with peace of mind. Did you actually take it seriously?”
Hearing these words, Xiang Tianqing felt her heart flood with bitterness and aggrieved hurt.
“Why don’t you try slaughtering the entire mortal realm into a living hell and see if I’d raise a hand against you?”
Choking on her sobs as she spoke, she shut her mouth, turned on her heel, and walked away.
The more Xiang Heng called after her, the faster she walked.
Sigh.
These two daughters were giving him a real headache.
Xiang Heng couldn’t help but wonder: if they had been two sons, or a son and a daughter, would there be far fewer troubles?
He was a straightforward man and truly terrible at guessing the subtle, fickle thoughts of young women.
Forget his daughters—in the past, he couldn’t even figure out why his wife would suddenly go silent or get angry.
…
Leaving the courtyard, Xiang Tianqing headed toward the Sword Dao Academy on the outskirts of the city.
Not long after leaving the city gates, she focused her mind, held her breath, and slowly reached her hand for the hilt of her sword.
“Who’s there?”
The woods lining both sides of the road were far too quiet.
No—beneath the night breeze, the leaves weren’t moving a single inch!
Unsheathing her sword, Xiang Tianqing barked sharply.
“Come out!”
“Daughter.”
A voice suddenly echoed from deep within the forest.
Just as Xiang Tianqing locked onto the direction, the figure was already right before her eyes—it was the avatar of the Patriarch of the Meng family.
For a brief stay in the mortal realm, the Celestial Clan had no need to possess a human body; the Meng Patriarch still retained the appearance of his true self.
Xiang Tianqing had no memory of him whatsoever, yet his call of “Daughter” made her heart quiver.
Panicked, she wanted to hide, completely unwilling to face him.
However, the moment she turned to flee, the Meng Patriarch appeared before her like a ghost, blocking her path.
“Nanting said you should already know everything. Since that’s the case, why try to run away upon seeing your father?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know you, Senior.”
Xiang Tianqing tightened her grip on her sword hilt, trying her best to calm her emotions.
Don’t panic.
She only needed to remember that she was Xiang Tianqing, and Xiang Heng was her father.
She had already been reincarnated, and at her core, she was Xiang Tianqing—that was an indisputable fact.
Everything else had nothing to do with her.
The Meng Patriarch was displeased by her attitude.
“Then do you not remember your Eldest Brother, Meng Xilou, either? He was severely injured for your sake…”
Xiang Tianqing’s heart skipped a beat as memories of the Eldest Senior Brother who had doted on her surfaced, and she couldn’t help wanting to ask about his current state.
Yet the moment she recalled Meng Xilou’s true motive for staying by her father’s side, her teeth ached with hatred.
Just as Xiang Tianqing was about to refute the person before her and tell him to get lost back to wherever he came from, a series of rustling footsteps sounded.
A dark figure emerged slowly from the shadows.
The man wore a hooded cloak.
Dark hair poured out from beneath the hood, making it impossible to glimpse his face.
His voice was deep and raspy.
“Cut the nonsense.”
“Yes.”
The Meng Patriarch bowed to him in apprehension.
A feeling both familiar and foreign made Xiang Tianqing knit her brows.
As he drew near, she caught sight of the sharp jawline extending from beneath the rim of his hood, and her pupils contracted in shock.
“Senior Brother Jing?!”
The Meng Patriarch hurriedly barked a warning.
“Do not be rude! Pay your respects to the Emperor at once!”
“The Emperor?” The concept was completely foreign in Xiang Tianqing’s mind.
“Xiang Tianqing, this Emperor needs you to do something.”
Jing Ran raised his hand, revealing an object resembling a razor-sharp fish bone resting in his palm.
The fish-bone spike flew toward her, hovering motionless in the air right before her eyes.
“Daughter, Xiang Haikui is currently in the Celestial Realm. The secret treasure of the sword case in her hands is filled with the array discs of the prisoners of Shanhai,” the Meng Patriarch explained via a private voice transmission.
These words were not suitable to be spoken in front of the Emperor.
Yin Changli had been delaying his appearance, the Shanhai Clan showed no movement, and Xiang Haikui was difficult to deal with.
The entire Celestial Clan was in panic, mistaking every rustling tree for an enemy.
When it came down to it, it was because the war against the Shanhai Clan back then had broken out too abruptly.
The Celestial Clan had suffered heavy losses and a severe gap in talent; at the top, only the Emperor and Dugu He remained to hold up the sky.
Dugu He was an unreliable brute who had secretly descended to the mortal realm on his own to duel Qi Yin, remaining unreturned to this day and becoming less dependable by the moment.
Otherwise, the Emperor would not be heavily relying on Han Qi and the human forces behind him.
At present, either the Emperor lacked confidence or wanted absolute certainty, prompting him to move against Xiang Heng.
Today, Xiang Haikui had visited the Meng family, and merely having Meng Nanting mention Xiang Heng had caused her to lose her composure.
It was clear that foolish filial piety was her fatal weakness.
By controlling Xiang Heng, the array discs would essentially be half in hand.
The difficulty lay in the fact that Xiang Heng was no easy target either.
Though lacking in cunning, he was brave, skillful in battle, and possessed a fierce, unyielding disposition, naturally born with “Tian kuang.”
Although the Emperor still retained his human appearance, his physical body as a Celestial had long been fully restored.
Descending with an avatar this time, his cultivation was less than twenty percent of his true self; capturing Xiang Heng alive in the mortal realm was virtually impossible.
If Xiang Heng chose to shatter like jade rather than yield as a tile, he would be useless as leverage and would only further infuriate Xiang Haikui.
Fortunately, Xiang Heng had Xiang Tianqing by his side.
The Meng Patriarch instructed.
“Daughter, take advantage of when Xiang Heng is off his guard and thrust this object into him…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Xiang Tianqing swung her sword and slashed straight at the fish-bone spike!
With a loud clang, a blinding light flashed as the spike was struck.
Xiang Tianqing was thrown back dozens of feet by the impact, her sword flying out of her grip.
She spat out a mouthful of blood as she hit the ground, though it wasn’t very noticeable against her red gauze dress.
She scrambled up immediately, extending her five fingers to suck the sword back into her hand, and pointed it at them in fury.
“Keep dreaming! Don’t you dare try to hurt my dad!”
Knowing she was no match for the two of them, she swiftly threw out a Thunder Talisman, turned on her heel, and sprinted toward the gates of the Royal Capital.
She hoped the Thunder Talisman would summon the city patrol, while she needed to rush back to warn Xiang Heng.
The Meng Patriarch froze in place for a moment.
To think his usually gentle and obedient daughter had been molded into such a state by Xiang Heng after her reincarnation!
He didn’t chase after her, simply cupping his hands to ask the Emperor.
“Your Majesty, what do you think…?”
After members of the Celestial Clan were reincarnated as humans, not just anyone could awaken at a moment’s notice like the Emperor.
Not even he had any way to help his biological daughter—whose Inspiration was linked to his—recall her past life.
The Emperor should be able to.
Jing Ran extended his hand toward Xiang Tianqing, a sphere of golden light condensing in his palm.
“Go!”
The light orb shot forth from his palm.
The golden orb struck Xiang Tianqing in the back.
With a startled gasp, her entire body was paralyzed in an instant.
Unable to resist this invading force, the sea of her consciousness breached like a burst dam, and memories of her past life came surging and tumbling forth.
“Daughter?” the Meng Patriarch called out tentatively.
Xiang Tianqing’s beautiful eyes were wide with shock, her entire frame trembling uncontrollably like leaves in the wind.
It was true.
Xiang Haikui hadn’t been lying after all—every last bit of it was true!
Living a life in the mortal realm, all the efforts she had thought were her own turned out to have been arranged in advance—and were even things she herself had agreed to…
After a long while, her face deathly pale, Xiang Tianqing turned her head back and called out in a quavering voice, “Father…”
Her gaze then involuntarily shifted to Jing Ran, where she instantly felt the overwhelming pressure of his immense Inspiration aura.
She had never met the Emperor before, but there was no doubt he was the Emperor.
Her legs giving way beneath her, Xiang Tianqing fell to her knees with a heavy thud.
