A broken sob escaped Yan Chiling's throat as she curled up into a ball, her nails digging deep into her palms. Blood dripped from between her fingers, blooming into glaring red plum blossoms on the bluestone slab.
"sorry......"
His voice was fragmented, as if it came from a very far place.
The images in my memory are becoming more and more vivid:
Young Bai Ying tiptoed to wipe the blood from his face, saying, "Fourth Senior Brother, it doesn't hurt, let me blow on it for you."
As a child, Bai Ying blushed as she accepted the peach wood hairpin he had carved under the peach tree.
There was also that time when he was seriously injured and unconscious. When he woke up, he saw Bai Ying lying by the bedside with dark circles under her eyes.
These warm memories, intertwined with the subsequent hurt, caused Yan Chiling pain that almost suffocated her.
He recalled how he had gradually driven the person who loved him most into becoming a complete stranger.
"White Firefly... White Firefly..."
He called out the name again and again like a lost child, his voice growing softer and softer until it finally turned into a silent sob.
Outside the window, the rain poured down and thunder roared, as if even the heavens were weeping for this betrayed love.
Yan Chiling took out the short knife he had retrieved from the bottom of the Cliff of Contemplation.
The blade reflected Yan Chiling's distorted face. He suddenly grabbed the short sword and, without hesitation, plunged it towards his heart—
"clang!"
A burst of spiritual energy suddenly blasted the short sword away. Su Yu stood beside him, his face deathly pale: "Fourth Junior Brother! Have you gone mad?!"
Yan Chiling raised his head listlessly, his expression one of utter despair. His voice was hoarse beyond recognition, each word seemingly forced out from his chest: "Senior brother...do you think... someone like me... deserves to live?"
Su Yu was startled by his words and immediately stepped forward to press down on his trembling shoulders: "Fourth Junior Brother! What nonsense are you talking about!"
"I'm not lying!" Yan Chiling suddenly looked up, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Su Yu. "I actually... I actually thought the person I loved most was Ruan Xinrou... For her, I did so many heinous things to Bai Ying!"
His voice grew increasingly agitated.
Ruan Xinrou never hid anything from him; she always showed her true self without any pretense.
"Senior brother, you have no idea how vicious Ruan Xinrou is!" Yan Chiling's nails dug deeply into his palms. "I can't even count on both hands the number of times she's plotted against Bai Ying! Many times she almost killed Bai Ying!"
At this point, Yan Chiling suddenly let out a painful whimper.
Because he suddenly realized that, as Ruan Xinrou's closest person, he should have been the one who knew the most about these conspiracies.
But at the time, I was being manipulated and I turned a blind eye to all of this, and even... even aided and abetted the evildoers!
"I clearly saw her true colors with my own eyes..." Yan Chiling's voice was broken, "But at that time, I was too infatuated with her, so much so that...so much so that I felt everything she did was right...I only wanted to get revenge for her."
His tears fell in large drops to the ground, and he cried his heart out. That sight startled Su Yu, and long-held doubts resurfaced.
"Fourth Junior Brother..." Su Yu's voice began to tremble, "Actually... I feel the same way..."
He slowly crouched down, meeting Yan Chiling's gaze: "Back in the sect, I was always fair in rewards and punishments. But ever since Ruan Xinrou came..." Su Yu closed his eyes in anguish, "I never doubted anything she said. Whenever she complained of being bullied, I would assume it was Bai Ying's fault..."
This realization sent chills down Su Yu's spine.
He remembered that it wasn't just him; his sixth junior brother, Qin Zijing, had also privately said, "Senior brother, I always feel... my mind isn't quite clear when I see junior sister... she almost killed me before, but all I wanted to do was protect her... why is that?"
"We're all possessed..." Su Yu suddenly grabbed Yan Chiling's arm, his voice carrying a glimmer of hope, "Fourth Junior Brother, let's go find Bai Ying! Let's tell her everything and beg her to come back..."
Su Yu desperately wanted Bai Ying to come back.
He knew that his master's death had turned the sect and his fifth junior sister into enemies.
However, Su Yu had personally witnessed how his master tried to kill his fifth junior sister.
The fifth junior sister's killing of her master was a last resort.
Now they should go find Fifth Junior Sister together, and then take her to the Sect Master to beg him. Maybe the Sect Master will allow Fifth Junior Sister to return.
Su Yu could almost picture Bai Ying returning to the mountain gate—the little girl who always followed him could finally go back to where she belonged.
"I'll go gather the other fellow disciples; we'll go together to beg her forgiveness." Su Yu's fingers lightly traced the patterns on the communication talisman, spiritual energy already flowing through his fingertips. "She grew up alongside us since childhood; her feelings for us are so deep..."
At this point, Su Yu's voice suddenly choked. He recalled Bai Ying's resolute figure as she left for the last time. But quickly, he rallied: "As long as we sincerely apologize and explain everything clearly... she will forgive us."
The communication symbol began to glow faintly, and a long-lost smile appeared on Su Yu's face.
He could almost see Bai Ying standing in front of the sect's main hall again, wearing that disciple's robe, giving them that familiar smile.
"That's it!" he said firmly, about to activate the communication talisman, when a cold hand suddenly pressed down on his wrist.
Su Yu looked up in confusion, meeting Yan Chiling's lifeless eyes.
The pain in those eyes sent a shiver down his spine.
"Chiling?" Su Yu softened her voice. "Don't worry, I know you're still struggling with this. But we have to find her, at least let her know what we've done..."
Yan Chiling's hands suddenly began to tremble violently. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"They're not coming back..."
These three words, spoken as lightly as a sigh, struck Su Yu like a thunderbolt. The light from the communication talisman suddenly went out, slipping from his fingers.
"Wh...what do you mean?" Su Yu's voice began to tremble.
Yan Chiling's lips moved, and a tear silently slid down her cheek: "Bai Ying...she's already..."
Before he could finish speaking, Su Yu had already staggered back two steps.
He shook his head, unwilling to believe the thought that flashed through his mind.
But when he saw the unfathomable despair in Yan Chiling's eyes, a chill ran from the soles of his feet straight up to his heart.
Outside the hall, a cold wind swept past, carrying fallen leaves with a whooshing sound.
That sound was just like someone's sobbing.
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