Chapter: 981 (1/2)
AST 981 – A Single Smile Would Overthrow A City, The Next Would Overthrow An Entire Country
The next day!
Qing Shui bid goodbye to his family since he had some business to attend to. He allowed the members of the Qing Clan to choose to stay for two days, or go back to the Heavenly Palace if they preferred. In any case, he would go home soon when he was done with his matters.
The others didn’t say anything special but asked him to come home as soon as possible. Qing Shui turned towards Yiye Jiange and Luan Luan and said, “I’m going to the Skysword Sect, do you want to come?”
“Yes, I want to go. I miss that place so much, it’s been a long while.” Luan Luan replied happily.
Yiye Jiange was stunned for a moment, but nodded her head. She glanced towards Qing Shui suspiciously, which caused him to develop a guilty conscience. He wasn’t sure whether Yiye Jiange knew about his relationship with Zhu Qing or not.
If he didn’t do anything wrong, he wouldn’t have felt the way he did just now. Because of his guilty conscience, he evaded her gaze entirely without batting an eyelid. Di Qing didn’t feel like joining, so the three of them mounted their flying beasts and flew directly from the Yan City towards Cang Lang Country.
Even though Canghai Mingyue and Huoyun Liu-Li could go back and visit the ‘Earthly Paradise’ in the Cang Lang Country, they couldn’t leave the Qing Clan at the moment. They decided to go back when the time was right, and asked Qing Shui to drop by there on his way to the Skysword Sect.
Qing Shui smiled and nodded in agreement. Then he faced his family and waved goodbye.
Luan Luan had her own flying beast, so she winked at Qing Shui to mount on his own with Yiye Jiange so that they could spend more time together. Qing Shui rubbed his nose and smiled, then he pulled Yiye Jiange onto the Fire Bird, causing her to smile in defeat after turning to look at the silent teasing exchange between the man on her side and Luan Luan.
She knew she was the same as Luan Luan – both of them sought comfort in each other mentally. Even though Luan Luan had the same attitude when she was with Qing Shui, like a relationship between a father and a daughter, nothing had changed since then. But she knew the truth in her heart, and that explained everything Yiye Jiange had been doing for the past few years. Her relationship with Qing Shui was unnatural, but there was nothing she could do to wear away the awkwardness between them.
Qing Shui felt helpless as well. He had pretended to be husband and wife with Yiye Jiange because of that same reason. Now that Luan Luan understood their situation, there was no need for the charade anymore.
However, Yiye Jiange knew about the things that Luan Luan had said to Qing Shui, and she didn’t know what to feel about it. She had been carrying the blood burden on her shoulders ever since she had lost everything in her life, so the thought of marriage had never clicked in her mind. Yiye Jiange had closed off her heart, pushing away those who tried to unlock her true self.
She always felt that her life was a series of torment and suffering. Her childhood was bright and happy, living as an heiress to the large and famous Ye Clan. That was until the sudden loss of everything and everyone in her life. It was during this loss that the memories of her childhood had become the most precious thing to her, but nothing could bring back the happier times when everything had faded into the past. Whenever she recalled those memories, her heart would break until she felt numb. No one could understand her suffering. There were many times that she considered suicide as an option, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Her memory of her parents sacrificing themselves so that she and her brother could live prevented her from attempting to suicide several times. Even if she were to become a living corpse, she would have to live on in this world.
Even so, she had thought about marrying to a man of great power so that she could use that power to exact her revenge. Yiye Jiange knew that she was attractive in appearance, but to find a man who could go against the mighty forces of the Lion King’s Ridge was almost impossible. Moreover, the stronger a man becomes, the more strenuous his duties to his family would be. No one would allocate any resources or time to declare a war against a supreme sect for the sake of a woman.
Eventually, she started to let go of her thoughts of revenge and bottled her hatred inside her heart along with the basic needs of relationship and romance. That one time in the Hundred Miles City was to prevent someone else from becoming a person like her.
However, she hadn’t expected that one day she would ultimately seal her destiny with that young man. He was her friend, at least. Perhaps even a good friend, but that was about it.
But what caught her by surprise was that the man she had saved had reached a transcending growth all by himself, and he was able to bring back her brother’s daughter to her. Yiye Jiange actually trusted him and told him her deepest secret. It was quite unbelievable when she recalled those moments she had with him.
At this moment, he reached out and held her hand, but she didn’t feel uncomfortable from their skinship, nor did she reject his touch. Her current attitude towards the situation was a shock to herself, because she even felt a slight relief when her hand was clasped by his. She turned towards the man who was smiling just for her. He was a man who was younger than her, and a man whom she had treated as a junior. She wouldn’t have accepted him as her pupil if she didn’t see him that way, but things had changed since then. Their relationship had become more complicated, and she was even a bit confused at their current standpoint.
He was gazing at her eyes that were filled with reluctance, linger, and pity…… And she suddenly felt nervous from his gaze. Yiye Jiange swiveled her head away slowly, feeling the increased throbbing in her heart. She was unsure about her feelings at this moment.
However, she knew one thing for sure – she was touched by his feelings!
This was the first time that she had a clear understanding of her own feelings. Perhaps this was also the moment she finally noticed that she really needed a man who was capable of loving her, but Yiye Jiange thought otherwise and quickly dispersed this thought.
She may have felt this way before, but she didn’t want to risk Qing Shui and make him bet his life against a powerful sect. She looked down again to see that her hand was still being held tightly by this man, and because of that, she raised her head towards him and gave him a smile.
A single smile would overthrow a city, the next would overthrow an entire country!
“At first glance, soldiers will lose their town; at second glance, a monarch will lose his crown!” Qing Shui continued to glance at Yiye Jiange, who was startled by his sudden outburst.
“Will you become my wife one day?” Qing Shui asked with a smile.
Yiye Jiange looked at Qing Shui bewilderedly as she couldn’t catch his meaning. Nevertheless, she smiled at him and said, “You have so many wives by your side. There’s no difference if I become your wife or not.”
“I knew you would say that. I know, I should have been satisfied to even have one wife by my side. But I did not force them to be with me, and I like them all so….” Qing Shui became awkward as he looked at Yiye Jiange besides him.
“So you are the same. The stronger you are, the greater your desire to monopolize women will become. In the past, you might have been satisfied with just one of them as your wife, but that’s because you weren’t strong yet. As you’ve grown stronger, your desire became greater too.”
When he heard the words coming out from her mouth, Qing Shui was stunned. Her words were true for the most part, but he had never felt that he had betrayed his conscience in the slightest. Those who became his wife were the ones he really liked. But those he never had feelings for wouldn’t become his lover, much less a wife, like Xiang Bao from Xiang Clan and Gongsun Jianwu from Gongsun Clan.
“Jiange, do you wish to have a man who would only love one woman?” Qing Shui chuckled.
It was rare enough for Yiye Jiange to shoot a contemptuous look at Qing Shui, which was why he became a bit timid when he saw her eyes. Regardless, he gripped her hand tighter in an attempt to appease her angry emotion.
“No woman would want to share their husband with another woman. People are selfish creatures. Just like treasures – no matter how many treasures appear in front of you, you will have one favorite treasure even though you might like all of them. Most importantly, your taste in treasures will change, and so your favorite treasure may become something else.” Yiye Jiange revealed a soft smile as she glanced at Qing Shui.