Chapter 195 Farewell "Well, I'm going on a long trip, it might... be..."

Jia Yue gently stroked her face, wiping away her tears with his fingertips. Her face was wet, her eyes red... This was the first time she had shown such vulnerability in front of him since their reunion. After enduring countless hardships to get to where she was now, she was only twenty years old.

"Hate me, hate me however you want..." He stepped forward and pulled the person into his arms, his voice like a sigh, "Please, let's switch bodies back, okay?"

Jiang Yuhuo's burning forehead was pressed against his cold chest, and his chaotic and intense emotions seemed to gradually subside because of the coolness on his body.

She knew Jia Yue's purpose in helping her regain her body. Having repeatedly used the mermaid pearl to repair her body, this new body probably understood its condition better than she did. Now, calming down, she understood that he meant well. But having reached this point on her cultivation path, she could no longer return to the body stripped of its spiritual veins. Unless, she resolved to remain a mortal forever.

But before she could refuse, she heard Jia Yue's voice above her head, "I know what you're worried about." He kissed the top of her head, which was still warm from the heat, "Don't worry, I've already found your spiritual veins. And your wings, I'll get them back one by one."

"You will have a complete body."

Jiang Yuhuo was shocked and doubtful upon hearing this. If it was possible to get back the wings that Qin Yuqi had taken back then, how could he possibly get them back when the spiritual vein was in Jia Qianyang's hands?

"How did you find it...?"

“That kind of soul-absorbing technique is the Soul Devouring Technique of Tianque. Not many people in Tianque have access to this forbidden technique.” Jia Yue looked at the person who was buried in his arms and raised his head, his smile unconsciously tinged with bitterness.

He wouldn't tell her that he had witnessed the Soul Devouring Technique being performed in her memory, nor would he tell her that he had even tried to use this forbidden technique to retrieve her soul.

Fortunately, she was unharmed.

"There is only one person who was able to learn this forbidden technique and ultimately leave the Heavenly Palace."

"Who is it?" Jiang Yuhuo unconsciously tightened his grip on Jia Yue's clothes.

"Li Tinghe, the former heir of the Tianque clan."

Jiang Yuhuo frowned; she had never heard of this name before.

Seeing her doubts, Jia Yue patiently explained, "Li Tinghe has been gone from Tianque for more than two hundred years. Few people in the world know this name. I only found him by checking the records and asking the elders in the sect. He mysteriously disappeared shortly after he took the throne, and no one in the sect has seen him since."

Knowing that Jia Qianyang came from the Li family, Jiang Yuhuo never expected him to have any connection with Tianque. Connecting this to what Li Mengbai had said—that he had been taken from the Li family's prison—Jiang Yuhuo pieced together Jia Qianyang's trajectory: leaving Tianque, then imprisoned in the Li family, released by Li Mengbai, and then cultivating the Soul Devouring Technique in the mortal world…

I just don't know why he left Tianque, or what happened to him in the Li family.

Jiang Yuhuo had completely calmed down, so she got up from Jia Yue's arms and looked directly at her, asking, "But how do you know where he is?"

Knowing his identity is one thing, finding him is another. What makes him so certain that he has found her spiritual vein?

Jia Yue simply looked at her, and after a moment smiled, "Because his body is in Tianque."

Jiang Yuhuo finally agreed to the body swap.

As Jia Yue said, Jia Qianyang had always kept his body hidden in Tianque. It must be said that Jia Qianyang, or rather Li Tinghe, was truly cunning, deeply understanding the principle that the most dangerous place is actually the safest. She destroyed so many of his clones, while his body, which occupied her spiritual veins, remained safe and sound within a certain barrier in Tianque, continuously supplying power to his soul.

She was unwilling to accept it.

This is one reason.

Seeing that the merman's face was paler than ever before, Jiang Yuhuo snuggled up to him and gave him a breath of fresh air.

When they parted, they were both panting. Jiang Yuhuo asked Jia Yue one last question, "If I switch back, this body will die. Will the Life Pearl then return to your body?"

Having received Jia Yue's affirmation, Jiang Yuhuo finally nodded.

"Okay, I'll switch back."

Upon hearing these words, the merman's eyes softened instantly. He joyfully embraced the person before him, his heart overflowing with happiness. Holding the person he had lost and regained, he seemed to see the white-haired, golden-eyed girl smiling at him, and they could return to the past.

Overwhelmed with joy, he lowered his guard and failed to notice the shadowy mist lurking in the corner of the secret room. The mist, which should have been flowing discreetly, remained still and trembling, staring at the two figures by the ice platform, as if it contained a surging rage.

The body exchange was scheduled for three days later, and the location was still the temple on Miyang Mountain in Xidu City.

This was carefully arranged by Jia Yue.

When the body is reborn, the spiritual veins that were stripped away will resonate with it, and the closer they are, the stronger the resonance will be.

Three days is enough time for him to set up an array in the temple that completely severs the connection between the spiritual veins and the body. Since body swapping takes time, and to avoid being discovered by Jia Qianyang prematurely, swapping bodies in Xidu City, tens of thousands of miles away from Tianque, is undoubtedly the best option. Once she has her new body and has passed through her weakest phase, they can go to Tianque together and reclaim the spiritual veins before Jia Qianyang discovers them.

Even if Jia Qianyang discovers her while she is retrieving the spiritual vein, by the time he arrives, she will have already retrieved the spiritual vein and will not only be unafraid of Jia Qianyang, but will also be able to capture his old body and new soul in one fell swoop.

Everything seemed to be flawless.

On the night of the third day, at the appointed time, Jiang Yuhuo opened the door to her bedchamber and saw a merman walking towards her in the snowy night, his white robes and blue hair standing alone and aloof in the wind and snow. He had come to take her away.

As Jiang Yuhuo stepped outside, she saw another figure.

Wrapped in a thick fur coat, her still-growing body became even rounder, and she held a glass palace lantern in her sleeves. She stood under the eaves, looking at them hesitantly, unsure whether to go in or back out.

On such a windy and snowy night, my aunt was going out with this mermaid.

Xiao Jing stopped walking, but a sense of unease began to rise in her heart.

During the day, her aunt gave her a bushel of pearls, each one as beautiful as the last one she had seen. While overjoyed, Xiao Jing couldn't help but let her mind wander. So many pearls, all from that merman… what did he want in return for offering them? Did he want to use these pearls to exchange for her aunt?

Her hands, clenched tightly in her sleeves, tightened inch by inch. A bright smile bloomed on Xiao Jing's face as she innocently asked, "Auntie, it's so cold outside. Where are you going? You'll come back, right?"

Jiang Yuhuo was unaware of the turmoil his actions were causing in Xiao Jing's heart.

But this is a problem she can never escape.

The real Ji Hongyu was long dead; the body swap was tantamount to making "Aunt" die again in front of Xiao Jing. Jiang Yuhuo liked this "niece" very much and couldn't bear to make her sad, originally intending only to leave quietly. But now, it seemed she had no choice but to say goodbye.

Jiang Yuhuo squatted down in front of Xiao Jing, covered her ears which were red from the cold with his hands to dispel the chill, and then put a hood on her to keep her warm. "Well, we're going on a long trip, it might... be a very long time."

So long that she would never recognize her again.

She pinched her still slightly chubby cheeks. "While I'm not here, Xiao Jing, grow up well, do what you love, and become the person you want to be... I'll always be thinking of you from afar, you know? Even if I'm not by your side, I'll always be with you. Do you still remember how to use the communication talisman I taught you?"

Xiao Jing held back her anger, pretending not to understand what she meant. She just nodded silently, gritting her teeth to force back the tears that were about to well up, and then forced a smile. "Auntie is an immortal. She can come back no matter how far away she is. I'll wait here. Auntie will definitely come back, right?"

Her aunt didn't make any further promises, but just smiled and patted her head before leaving with the mermaid.

At their final farewell, she stood under the eaves, watching their figures recede into the distance in the snow, and suddenly felt a strong hatred for the merman.

It was because of him that his aunt left! He stole his aunt away!

The hatred was so intense that the merman turned his head seemingly casually, his icy blue eyes giving the little girl under the eaves a deep look.

The temple was completely silent.

On such a snowy night, and given that Lord Zongzi had specifically instructed them to leave, the people in the temple were happy to have some peace and quiet and left early. The entire hall was brightly lit, but completely empty.

Although the body swap would take place in a secret room, Jia Yue still did not want to be disturbed in the slightest.

He had never personally experienced the pain of his soul being separated from his body, but he had sensed it to some extent in Jiang Yuhuo's original memories. Even that little bit was enough to cause unbearable agony. He didn't want Jiang Yuhuo to suffer it again.

As Jiang Yuhuo passed through the main hall, he suddenly noticed that the positions and orientations of the four divine statues seemed to have changed. The positions of the Feather God and the Mermaid God had been switched, while the faces of the Qilin God and the Taotie God had turned in the opposite direction.

How much power would it take to move such tall and majestic statues? The people in the temple certainly wouldn't do such a disrespectful thing; it seems that only one person has the power to do it.

Jiang Yuhuo didn't understand the intention behind doing this.

When asked about Jia Yue, he simply took her hand like a priest would a believer, kissed it, and said, "May you be blessed by the four gods."

Jiang Yuhuo vaguely felt that there must be a divine doctor among them, but knowing that Jia Yue was unwilling to say, she did not ask. She simply braced herself to prepare for the long and painful body swap that was to come.

Jia Yue took her hand and squeezed it gently in her palm. "Don't be afraid, this time is different."

As for what was different, he refused to elaborate.

The heavy iron door slowly opened again, revealing the soft white pearl light inside, illuminating the body on the ice platform.

Jiang Yuhuo, however, saw someone inside who should never have been there.

The man with black hair and purple robes, with delicate and affectionate features, was sitting in a corner of the ice platform. His slender fingers lingered on the white-haired girl's face, and a playful smile played on his lips.

The moment Jiang Yuhuo saw Li Mengbai, the words he had spoken to her outside her door a few days earlier suddenly came to mind: "Jiang Yuhuo, I will not let you go."

While she was still in a daze, the people around her were already surging with spiritual energy, and in an instant, a silver light flashed by, shooting straight towards Li Mengbai at the edge of the stage.

But the purple figure instantly pried open the white-haired girl's mouth and pinched the green bead in her mouth with two fingers.

The ice arrows that were shot at him melted instantly. Seeing the mermaid's face change drastically in an instant, a smile slowly spread across Li Mengbai's eyes. "Come on, come and kill me... As long as I crush this Ice Soul Pearl, this body will instantly turn into dust."

His gaze shifted to Jiang Yuhuo's face, then he lowered his head and sighed softly at the lifeless face on the ice platform, "So beautiful... my wife."

"Why have I never told my husband this..."

Jiang Yuhuo felt a chill run down her spine; she saw that familiar, cold, and vicious smile on his face again.

When he felt intense hatred, he was actually smiling.