Chapter 26 No one has ever dared to love her so resolutely.

"If I say I'm cold, will Master feel sorry for me?"

Will Master regret punishing me by making me kneel in the snow?

Ling Shu continued to press for answers.

Zhuang Jinfu was silent for a moment, then said, "I won't make you kneel in the snow anymore."

Ling Shu left Zhuang Jinfu's embrace, still gathering her clothes, her bright eyes fixed on her: "But you'll always get angry. If I don't kneel in the snow, you'll definitely find other ways to punish me."

“Ling Shu, if you offend someone, they will definitely be angry.” Zhuang Jinfu stood up from the ground and called to Hai Gu, pointing to a white jade pendant with lotus patterns, asking her to bring over another set of clothes.

Ling Shu didn't get up, but knelt on the wet ground. She wanted to see if Zhuang Jinfu would feel sorry for her and call her up, and she was also testing her limits. She pretended to be innocent and said, "What can I do if I can't help it?"

"You still have to endure it."

"This is too difficult for Lingbao."

“Ling Shu,” Zhuang Jinfu felt that she needed to have a proper talk with Ling Shu about this issue, guide her properly, and clearly refuse her so that she wouldn’t get more and more involved. “Feelings can’t be forced by your own wishes. You’re not a child anymore, and you should be more sensible.”

"I'm sixteen, still young."

"No, you're nineteen, you're an adult, you're a grown-up."

"Huh? How come I'm nineteen already..."

"You can understand what I'm saying at sixteen?" Zhuang Jinfu looked at the water stains on the ground, then at her sitting on the wet ground. He pulled her up from the ground, dried her off, and said seriously, "I cultivate the Path of No Emotion, and I will not touch love in this life. I know where your heart is, but love requires mutual consent. Cherish your feelings and don't just like someone based on appearance. Before you decide on someone as your Daoist partner, you should carefully consider whether the other person is worth being with and whether the other person can reciprocate your feelings. Don't fall in love with someone easily."

"But Master, I just love you."

"..."

Hai Gu knocked on the door and brought in a set of clothes. Zhuang Jinfu took them and, before turning to go into the small room, left her with a message: "Disciple cannot like Master."

"Why!"

Zhuang Jinfu closed the door and stood behind it: "You cannot defy societal norms. You have already suffered too much condemnation, so don't like me."

Ling Shu called out from outside the door: "According to worldly sayings, humans and demons cannot fall in love. So, I am the only demon in this world. Am I going to lose the right to love?"

"Will Lingbao be destined to grow old alone?"

There's nothing wrong with dying alone.

After Zhuang Jinfu said those words, she found herself losing strength and feeling a tightness in her chest. She tried to condense a cluster of ice crystals in her palm, but the icy blue ice crystals began to dissipate from their sharp edges after condensing, even though she had not used any magic to retract the ice crystals.

Her ruthless path was not at peace.

She didn't know when it started.

This cannot continue.

Even if you reject me a hundred or a thousand times, I will still tell you that I like you.

Ling Shu spoke these words with unusual determination to the closed door, as if Mount Tai were pressing down on her, forcing her to stop liking Zhuang Jinfu, but she remained steadfast in her feelings.

Why love?

Because she was the first person who resolutely wanted her to live, even when people wanted to destroy her.

Zhuang Jinfu was her salvation in her desperate situation.

She defied societal norms and insisted on her living, so she too would resolutely transcend societal norms to love her.

There was no sound from the other side of the door, not even the rustling of clothes being changed. Ling Shu desperately wanted a response, so she waited there for a while, but nothing came.

Behind the door, her hands, which were gathering ice crystals, trembled. No one had ever dared to love her so steadfastly. From being disliked by everyone to being respected by everyone, she had walked alone for a long time.

After the footsteps faded away, Zhuang Jinfu changed his clothes and came out, staring blankly at the spot where Ling Shu had stood.

"Master."

That familiar voice called to her again, and she felt as if she had been struck by an electric current, which paralyzed her entire body for a moment. She turned around and saw Ling Shu standing there with a determined look on her face.

Zhuang Jinfu's lips trembled, and his throat tightened as he watched Ling Shu's figure disappear.

It's an illusion.

Ling Shu wasn't here; she had gone out. If she had stayed any longer, she would have seen the usually aloof and dignified Immortal Venerable Qingxi looking lost in thought.

Ling Shu left the Shuiyue Hot Spring and was on her way back to the Jinlu Palace when she saw Zhao Chi, dressed in black, waiting for her in the courtyard.

"Sister Zhao, what are you doing here?" Ling Shu asked, her expression innocent and naive as ever.

"Are you faking it?" Zhao Chi's sharp eyes scanned her, as if he could see through everything. "The demon core used in the Fire Sparrow's magic weapon is from the same clan as you. The demon core contains a bit of the demon's will from its previous life. One of your demon habits is to protect the weak. You are the Demon King's granddaughter. As their elders, they will protect you. Even if they obey their master and harm you, the harm will be lessened because you are a demon. It is not enough to damage your human memory."

"Did that wicked Firebird kill so many of my people?" Ling Shu then said sadly, tears welling up in her eyes as she wiped them away with her sleeve.

"Still acting?" Zhao Chi frowned, clearly disapproving, and finally said helplessly, "Forget it."

“I’m just here to give you some advice,” Zhao Chi glanced in the direction of Shuiyue Hot Spring, where the Immortal Venerable was bathing. Ling Shu had taken the initiative to deliver things, and Ling Shu’s intentions were obvious. “You can’t love her.”

"Who I like is none of your business!" Ling Shu said angrily.

“Your being with her is against the will of Heaven, and it’s destined to have no good outcome.” After saying that, Zhao Chi added, “I’m sorry, I’m being presumptuous, but I don’t want you to get hurt. Heartbreak is hard to heal and hurts the most, so I want to stop you before you get too deeply involved.”

"I don't want to hear it! I don't want to hear it!" Ling Shu covered her ears and glared at her resentfully. "You're a bad person, and I don't listen to bad people."

Zhao Chi was also nervous. It was her fault for being so talkative: "It was wrong of me to deceive you in the past, but what I'm saying now comes from the bottom of my heart. I hope you're doing well."

"I don't believe you." Ling Shu turned and left.

Zhao Chi followed behind and said, "A person like the Immortal Venerable cannot be loved. She is cold-hearted and indifferent, and only cares about the common people. She is a piece of ice that has been frozen for ten thousand years, a freak without feelings. Ling Shu, don't go. Just believe me this once. She really cannot be loved."

"Is that how you see her?" Ling Shu glared with her peach blossom eyes, gritting her teeth. "I won't allow you to say that about her! She has joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness! Her ruthlessness is the ruthlessness of the Great Dao, not the absence of emotion!"

"No matter what, she is a guardian immortal who cultivates the Path of Ruthlessness. If her Path of Ruthlessness is broken, how can she protect the Shangqing Realm?"

Ling Shu stopped in his tracks.

"It's good that you listened. She won't abandon the thousands of lives outside just because of you. It's her duty."

"Ling Shu?"

Ling Shu stood still, and Zhao Chi didn't dare to walk past her. So he just waited for her to turn around. After a long time, Zhao Chi heard her ask a question in a low voice.

Why sacrifice her alone?

"What?" Zhao Chi was stunned.

"For your peace, are you going to sacrifice her happiness?" Ling Shu didn't turn around, her hands hanging down, a bitter feeling welling up inside her.

“She chose to cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness herself, and she also chose to ascend herself. Who can she blame?” Zhao Chi said blankly. “Besides, the various karmic connections that outsiders don’t know about may be the will of Heaven. She is the guardian of the Shangqing Realm chosen by Heaven.”

“No! She was forced into a corner, which is why she chose the path of ruthlessness. If she had a choice, she might not have chosen this path.” Ling Shu suddenly turned her head, her eyes unusually resolute, with tears welling up in them.

"How do you know she's desperate?" Zhao Chi didn't want her enthusiasm to end up feeling cold and helpless.

"My mother told me!"

Zhao Chi thought for a moment, and it wasn't surprising that Ling Shu knew about the Immortal Venerable's past. After all, Wen Ji and Wang Lifu used to be inseparable, like a divine couple. Zhao Chi said, "But she is now the guardian immortal of the realm, and the fate of the Shangqing Realm is intertwined with hers. That's a fact."

Ling Shu angrily said, "Shangqing Realm, Shangqing Realm, I hate you hypocrites who always talk about the common people! Why should she be sacrificed for a group of unrelated people? She is a person too! She also has the right to love!"

Zhao Chi couldn't control her emotions either: "Ling Shu, are you trying to make her a sinner in the entire Shangqing Realm?! Do you want the whole world to curse you as a femme fatale?!" At the end, her voice choked with sobs, her heart aching with suppressed pain: "Haven't you suffered enough infamy already? Why do you have to bear another eternal infamy because of her?"

"I'm not afraid of infamy!" Ling Shu looked at the heavens and earth, a sudden determination rising within him. "Is the Shangqing Realm really that important? Why don't I overturn this world and start all over again? That way, she won't have to continue bearing this unfair responsibility."

Zhao Chi's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly understood why Wang Lifu insisted on killing Ling Shu. She possessed a thousand years of demonic power and a rare, heavenly-level lightning spiritual root. If she went astray, the world would surely descend into chaos. Rather than waiting for the danger to grow slowly, it was better to nip it in the bud. But how could Wang Lifu bring himself to do it...?

This is her biological daughter, the only bloodline left by her deceased lover. It is said that Wang Lifu has been married for many years but has never lived with his wife. How much pain must she have felt when she ruthlessly killed Ling Shu at Tianlei Terrace?

Zhao Chi spoke cruelly: "Ling Shu, forgive my bluntness, but one person cannot overturn a world." Then he changed his tone, "If you really want to try, I am willing to be a traitor who betrays the world with you. My power is small, but it is still a power."

She was just a homeless fugitive; what did the fate of the Shangqing Realm matter to her? She only cared whether she would be alive to eat when she woke up tomorrow.

Ling Shu raised an eyebrow, incredulous: "Just now you were defending the Shangqing Realm, and now you're saying you want to rebel?"

"Not pretending anymore?" Zhao Chi laughed.

Ling Shu retorted, "What's the point of pretending with you?"

Zhao Chi crossed his arms, adopting a shrewd stance of negotiating terms and using each other: "So what's your plan?"

Ling Shu smirked and said with a wicked grin, "Then of course we should find out who's behind this first."

"And then?" Zhao Chi smiled knowingly.

Ling Shu's expression changed, her eyes sparkling with a pure and innocent light, like a child who would be unhappy if she didn't get candy that day. She whispered in Zhao Chi's ear:

"Then kill him."

A glint flashed in Zhao Chi's gloomy eyes, and he curled his lips into a smile, saying, "Alright."