Chapter 79 Not Afraid "Aren't you afraid of days like this?"...
Outside the Linggu Pagoda.
After sending Qiandeng inside, Qingping had been guarding the outside of the hall, straining her ears to hear every sound inside. Unfortunately, the hall's doors were made of fine iron, and the heavy iron doors, weighing several thousand kilograms, could withstand attacks from cultivators and naturally also completely block out conversations inside.
She couldn't hear what was happening inside, but those outside had their own news.
After Ling Changyu returned to the sect, he learned that the sect leader had already returned, so he came to discuss matters with him. However, he did not expect that the sect leader would enter the hall with the little mermaid Qian Deng just moments after he arrived.
However, since the sect leader always preferred to keep things brief, Ling Changyu estimated that it wouldn't take long this time, so he stood outside the hall with Qingping and waited for the people inside to come out.
However, the conversation lasted far longer than the two people outside the hall had anticipated.
Qingping and Ling Changyu, one a merfolk and the other a sect protector, were both close to Jia Yue and interacted frequently. Unlike other merfolk, Qingping was not taciturn; in contrast, Ling Changyu was more reserved and inflexible. Each time they met, Qingping would initiate the conversation and speak the most, but this time, she was unusually silent.
Ling Changyu was somewhat unaccustomed to this deathly silence, but he always answered only when asked questions, and for a moment he couldn't find a good topic to say. Thinking of the day when the Sect Master hurriedly left from the forbidden area behind the mountain, he assumed it was related to the little mermaid in the hall at this moment.
Along the way, he had heard a little about Qian Deng's suicide and knew that Qing Ping was worried about Qian Deng, so he tried to comfort her, "Senior Sister Qing Ping, there is no need to worry. Master Zongzi has always been very protective of Junior Brother Qian Deng. He rushed back as soon as he heard about Junior Brother Qian Deng that night, and he will definitely not punish him again."
At this moment, Qingping was thinking about Qiandeng and had no intention of talking to Ling Changyu. But from what Ling Changyu said, it seemed that His Highness had rushed back to Tianque because of Qiandeng.
It was His Highness who ordered Qiandeng to be confined. At that time, Qiandeng was still in good condition in the Locked Spirit Cave. He had no need to rush back for Qiandeng. And Qiandeng's self-harm only happened last night.
Qingping narrowed her eyes in confusion, looking at Ling Changyu's expression. So His Highness had abandoned the Spirit-Sealing Array and rushed back in the dead of night?
Ling Changyu felt a little embarrassed by the mermaid's blue eyes, wondering what he had said wrong. But then he heard Qingping say, "He wasn't doing this for Qiandeng. After returning to Tianque that night, he stayed in Linggu Tower and opened the water mirror in the underground palace."
"He activated the water mirror?" Ling Changyu exclaimed.
Qingping's duties were limited to the Xihua Hall, and she was unaware of Jiayue's internal affairs within the Tianque Sect, so she didn't know what Ling Changyu was surprised about.
However, Ling Changyu was fully aware of the sect's affairs. The Water Mirror was an extraordinary artifact, capable of tracing the past and, in the hands of certain cultivators, even predicting the future. It was a sacred object of the Heavenly Palace, strictly guarded by the sect. Due to its characteristics that violated the order of Heaven, its use was strictly limited. How could the sect leader open it without the permission of the elders' council?
Even though he is the eldest son and will inherit the position of Grandmaster in the future, he cannot act so arbitrarily!
Ling Changyu had already begun to mentally prepare his speech. He planned to give the eldest son a good talking-to before proceeding with the discussion in the hall.
Qingping didn't feel anything about it, but was curious about what had happened that day that made His Highness rush back to open the Water Mirror. The two of them discussed it back and forth, but couldn't piece together a conclusion. Qingping had a vague guess, but it was too far-fetched, so she rejected it herself.
In a corner where no one was paying attention, a silver snake peeked out and secretly pried open a crack in the window, slipping out through the gap.
Inside the Linggu Pagoda Hall.
Unlike the relaxed atmosphere outside the hall, although the hall was spacious, the atmosphere inside had dropped to freezing point, and the two merfolk were on the verge of exchanging blows.
Qiandeng knelt on the ground, her undifferentiated body slender and thin, as soft as a willow branch, but her stiff neck was as arrogant as a small beast, refusing to bow her head.
His eyes were red, his head was raised, and he stared at the person on the seat with an almost fierce look. "Your Highness, if you insist on making me sever ties with Bai Zhen, you might as well kill me now. As long as I can walk and I have a breath left, I will definitely go to her side. No one can separate us."
The person seated did not react to his words, only staring at him coldly. Qian Deng had always been in awe of this prince, and if he were to be looked at like this on a normal day, he would definitely tremble with fear, but now that he had just walked through the gates of hell, he felt that nothing mattered anymore.
Those ingrained hierarchies, etiquette, beliefs, and homes... all become meaningless without the loved ones.
"Qian Deng, you were not originally a rude person."
"I advise you to think it through."
The cold and distant voice echoed in the hall, carrying a sense of moral instruction, but it still failed to awaken the little mermaid on the ground.
“I’ve thought it through. I know what Your Highness is going to say. She can only live for a few decades, while I may live for hundreds of years. But I want to be with her for as long as she lives. I would rather not be in the Heavenly Palace, but go down the mountain and be a mortal with her. Anyway, I didn’t grow up in the sea, and I have no feelings for the Sea Kingdom. As long as I’m with her, I’m fine wherever I am.”
Such treasonous words caused the person in the seat of honor to frown.
"Are you going to betray your oath to the Mermaid God, Sendou?"
The young merman suddenly became agitated, "No! I did not betray you. You forced me to this point, you insisted on separating me from Bai Zhen! We could have avoided this, but you insisted on interfering. I don't want your interference. I've grown up, and I know what I want."
After a terrifying silence, the person seated flicked his sleeve and placed a mirror in front of him, his voice cold, "Look at yourself now."
The person in the mirror had bloodshot eyes, a delicate face full of fragile anger, and a slender neck with no horrible wounds, only throbbing veins.
This sight was completely unfamiliar to him. Chiba gradually calmed down, and his originally excited tone turned into a low plea. He crawled forward a few steps, "Your Highness, I beg you, please let me down the mountain, okay? I can give up everything, but I can't live without her. I know very well that I love her, and I want her to be my partner. There will never be anyone else."
Jia Yue turned her face away, unwilling to look at his humble appearance. "You're just blinded by your heat. If you continue to be so stubborn, I will erase your memory."
"No! You can't do this!" Qian Deng almost screamed. "That's my past with her, it's a part of my life, you can't do this to me!"
Jia Yue wearily rubbed his temples. He hadn't slept for many days, and the noise from Qian Deng was giving him a headache. This child, whom he had watched grow up, was so nakedly laying bare his heart to him, making no attempt to hide his feelings for that mortal, shouting and yelling, frantically demanding his attention.
Perhaps only erasing his memory can bring him peace. Jia Yue stood up and slowly walked towards the stubborn man on the ground.
Qian Deng's eyes widened, and she quickly backed away, her anger and fear forcing out the most vicious words, "You can't treat me like this... I'm not like His Highness."
"Your Highness carries the bloodline of the Sea Emperor and will one day become a god. Even if you are separated from mortals, that person will not shake you in the slightest, because the noble prince of the Sea Kingdom looks down on mortals. She may be a lowly ant in your eyes, but Bai Zhen is to me..."
Before Qian Deng could finish speaking, a strong gust of wind suddenly swept over him, slapping him hard across the face. He was knocked to the ground, his cheek burning.
Qian Deng raised his eyes from the ground, his icy blue eyes filled with a chilling rage.
"How dare you! My business with her is none of your concern."
"So you get angry because of her too? You think she's a disgrace and erased her memory without mercy, but I can't do that. I don't care who she is." Qian Deng wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and curled her lips into a smile. "A merman can only have one partner in his life, and I've found one."
Jia Yue was stung by that smile; the young merman seemed to be showing off to him, foolishly and shallowly flaunting his partner.
He couldn't help but feel a surge of malice. Why could you be so resolute? Why could you give up everything for her?
Why... is the person you love still alive?
"Do you know she'll die!" Jia Yue dragged him up from the ground, grabbing his collar, her tone full of malice.
"After she died, you could only live on in your fragmented body. She was no longer in this world. You couldn't see her, hear her voice, or even find a trace of her. Day after day, you would forget all memories of her. You would be all that would remain! Clinging to a blurry figure, holding onto a phantom affection, hopelessly trapped in the past. And so it went for hundreds of years..."
"Aren't you afraid of living like this?"
Qian Deng was stung by his poisonous words, and tears streamed down her face in fright.
He couldn't bear everything he said. Even just thinking about what happened after Bai Zhen disappeared made Qian Deng feel the suffocating and endless pain and despair.
No, he would never go that far!
He roared, the veins on his neck bulging.
“I’m not afraid! If she dies, I won’t live either.”
The words were spoken with a resounding thud, and the hall fell silent for a moment. Qian Deng saw a hint of confusion flash in the Merman Prince's eyes, followed by a chillingly intense mockery.
Who is he mocking? Does Your Highness not believe that he would die for his lover?
Qian Deng felt that Jia Yue was disregarding his sincerity, but the next moment Jia Yue let go of him.
Qian Deng lost his strength and fell back to the ground after being released by Jia Yue. He saw His Highness turn around and walk step by step towards his seat on the high platform, his shoulders shaking as if he were smiling. The wide white robe trailed on the ground, making his already tall figure appear even longer, and his back looked even more lonely in the empty and dim hall.
The white figure stood with its back to him on the steps, motionless for a long time. After a while, Qian Deng finally heard His Highness's clear and composed voice.
"You can leave now."
*
The heavy palace doors slowly opened, and Qian Deng staggered out of the palace.
Upon hearing the noise, Qingping rushed over and checked Qiandeng's condition from head to toe. She assumed that his weakness must be due to punishment from His Highness, but apart from a red handprint on his face, he had no injuries on his body.
"Your Highness, has he said how you will be dealt with?"
"No."
"They didn't intend to put you in solitary confinement?"
Qian Deng continued to shake her head.
He didn't know what was wrong with His Highness. He had thought he was doomed, and the best outcome would be to have his spiritual power destroyed and be banished from the Heavenly Palace. But His Highness hadn't said anything afterward. Qian Deng didn't even know if His Highness had let him go or hadn't yet decided how to punish him.
Seeing the palace doors open, Ling Changyu assumed it was his turn and was about to enter when the two doors slammed shut again.
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