Chapter 60
I'll abandon you first.
"Indeed, Master Jiang has always been exceptionally composed. How could he be like those ordinary people who are easily deceived by such a physical appearance?"
Pei Xueyan sat next to him, playing with the hem of his skirt. She counted the days; it had been ten days already. How could she have fallen for him in just over ten days before?
I was indeed a little anxious and couldn't help but want to tell him.
“I went to Qishi Mountain for fun, and you saw that I was all alone and had no cultivation, so you protected me the whole time, and that’s how we got together.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Qiye frowned slightly: "I did go to Qishi Mountain, but I went there to subdue the water demon, and I did not meet you."
A bitter taste rose in her mouth, but Pei Xueyan forced a smile: "Think about it again."
"No need to think about it anymore." Jiang Qiye said calmly, patiently explaining, "On my way down the mountain, I passed through villages and towns and was asked by the people to go to Qishi Mountain to exorcise a demon. At that time, Master Qilin had already invited people from various immortal sects to gather. After many days of fruitless investigation, I finally took action and subdued the water demon. Qishi Mountain is steep and shrouded in mist. If you don't have cultivation, you won't be able to get close to the foot of the mountain, let alone meet it on the mountain."
Nothing is more painful than this moment.
I remember everything except her.
Pei Xueyan saw that he was very angry and unhappy. She was really upset, as if her heart was being stabbed with needles, but she still had to say in a lighthearted manner, "And then?"
"After receiving the cultivation manual from Master Qilin, I went to Yuanhua Mountain to see Master Zijin. My master's cultivation was damaged, so I went to ask for medicine to help him regain his spiritual power. On my way back, I was ambushed and injured in the forest, and then lost all my cultivation."
Pei Xueyan looked straight at him.
Everything about her and the middle part was completely erased.
"Since you already know, why are you asking me?"
"You hurt me in the woods, didn't you?" he said, raising his hand to rip open his collar, revealing two deep, bone-revealing scars on the side of his neck. Although they had healed, they were still gruesome.
"I guess so." He looked at her, analyzing coldly, "You seem like a weak woman, and I was caught off guard, so you took the opportunity to attack and injure me, didn't you?"
"Jiang Qiye!"
Pei Xueyan suddenly raised her voice, and all her pretense shattered.
She couldn't keep up the act anymore; she was heartbroken, overwhelmed by feelings of grievance, anger, and heartache.
Yet she still forced herself not to reveal the past, suppressing her sadness and anger to force a smile: "I... I have no cultivation at all, how... how could I possibly hurt you?"
Jiang Qiye paused for a moment, then made up an excuse: "Even without cultivation, there are other methods."
Pei Xueyan's gaze was too direct, or rather, too frank.
Her eyes darted around, her eyelashes slightly curled, and she stared at him intently.
Feeling that he had gone too far with his words under a woman's gaze, Jiang Qiye lowered his eyes and said in a soft voice, "If you are unwilling to speak, I can only guess."
She turned her head away, clearly not intending to speak to him anymore.
After a moment of silence, Pei Xueyan got up and left.
He had just said he owed her two favors, but now he showed no sign of repaying them.
His demeanor was not at all like that of a gentleman.
Pei Xueyan sat outside the palace, her hands supporting her chin as she gazed into the distance.
Yes, this place is much better than Yishui Villa, but it doesn't feel warm at all.
The ethereal mountains and waterfalls floating in the sky, the mythical beasts that occasionally flit by—even in such a fairyland-like place, she could not be kept.
Having stayed long enough, Pei Xueyan didn't want to stay here any longer, nor did she want to wait any longer.
At least, Jiang Qiye, who had no romantic feelings, was really annoying to her.
Pei Xueyan sat outside, and Jiang Qiye lost all interest in practicing his martial arts.
Not long after, he came out.
He looked down into the distance, speaking casually, "I can heal your back injury."
"..." Pei Xueyan glared at him, then got up and prepared to leave.
"If there were any verbal clashes before, please don't take them to heart. You said that my emotional roots were severed by my master. Emotional roots are the foundation of romantic love between men and women. Now that they are gone, I can't say anything soft."
"I didn't!" Pei Xueyan paused, turned to look at him, "You were able to subdue those people today only because your disciples were wary of your cultivation. But since you've married a 'demon,' they will not let you go in the end. Anyway, we never consummated our marriage. If you let me go, you can announce to the world that I lied to you and that this marriage is null and void."
Jiang Qiye had had this idea before, but he didn't expect her to bring it up first.
"That would be excellent."
Hearing his decisive affirmation, Pei Xueyan murmured softly, "Then go to the Temple of the Old Man Under the Moon and cancel the marriage certificate."
Jiang Qiye asked in surprise, "A marriage compatibility certificate? There are such things?"
Pei Xueyan smiled and said, "Of course I have some. I made it up along with the lie I gave you."
Jiang Qiye's heart skipped a beat.
The entanglement between them seemed to be far more complicated than he had imagined.
Perhaps, they were truly in love back then?
He closed his eyes and casually flicked his sleeve.
A marriage compatibility sign instantly floated in mid-air.
Jiang Qiye looked up and saw that there were quite a few words on it. He read them word by word.
"'In life, we will share the same bed; in death, we will share the same grave. I only wish to stay together year after year, until death do us part.' I respectfully present this marriage invitation to Heaven." Did you write this by yourself, or did we write it together?
Pei Xueyan turned her head away, not wanting to look at these words anymore. When she had no memory of them, she thought they were unimportant, but now, after reading them carefully, she felt a strange feeling inexplicably rising in her heart.
She replied casually, "I can't remember."
Jiang Qiye glanced at her and repeated softly, "Until death do us part, until death do us part..."
He repeated those four words over and over, and suddenly an idea popped into his head.
Could it be that the two were truly in love back then, and Master removed his love root before leaving because he was afraid that he would be deeply entangled in the tribulations of love?
That's not right either.
If Master said that his cultivation was deceived, and that cultivation was actually possessed by Pei Xueyan, then it doesn't make sense.
Jiang Qiye couldn't figure out the cause and effect, so he simply closed his eyes slightly, unwilling to get any deeper into these tangled old stories.
Pei Xueyan made up her mind that if he continued to act coldly within three days, she would immediately run away.
Anyway, she has plenty of ways to trick him into opening the barrier.
The food at the Qingzong Sect was so bad that she took off her earring and insisted that the disciple who delivered the food go down the mountain to buy her a beggar's chicken.
Although she was not officially announced as the sect leader's wife, the entire sect already knew the truth.
This request put the disciple in a dilemma; refusing was wrong, and agreeing was also wrong.
Pei Xueyan raised her eyebrows, her tone tinged with anger: "Your sect leader barely gets a proper meal a month, this chicken is for him to nourish his body!"
The disciple stubbornly refused to accept the earring, so Pei Xueyan waved her hand and said, "Stop arguing and come back quickly!"
The disciple had only been a disciple for a few years and was naturally timid. When she urged him like that, he actually agreed and turned to go down the mountain.
When I returned, the beggar's chicken wrapped in lotus leaves was still steaming hot. The chicken meat was stewed until it was tender and fell off the bone, and the aroma was irresistible. It was incredibly delicious.
With such a big chicken, Pei Xueyan could only manage to eat most of it at most.
Carrying a glistening chicken leg, she walked to the entrance of the hall and deliberately raised her voice, shouting, "Sect Leader Jiang, you've gotten so thin from hunger! If you don't eat something soon, you might not even have the strength to practice your martial arts!"
There was no sound inside the hall.
Pei Xueyan lightly kicked the door a few times, her tone laced with threat: "If you don't come out, I'll call for help! I'll tell everyone that Sect Leader Jiang is bullying and humiliating me..."
She was pondering what to say after "bully" when a clear, cold voice suddenly came from behind the palace door:
"What did I do to you?"
Pei Xueyan looked up and saw Jiang Qiye appear outside the hall in a flash.
His gaze swept over the beggar's chicken in her hand, his thin lips pursed slightly, and he said indifferently, "I don't eat it."
"Eat it or not, it's up to you. I'm leaving in a few days anyway, so I can't be bothered with you."
Jiang Qiye walked to the stone bench in the courtyard and sat down, asking, "Where are we going?"
"go home."
"Yishui Villa?"
Pei Xueyan nodded: "That's right, I've been out for so long, my senior sister must be worried."
"You snuck out?"
"Otherwise what?" Pei Xueyan swallowed the meat in her mouth and said frankly, "I told my senior sister that I wanted to check if you were injured. If you are better, I will go home."
Jiang Qiye remained silent for a moment, then picked up the chopsticks beside him, took a small piece of chicken, tasted it, and said in an ambiguous tone, "No need."
"What do you mean 'no need'? Didn't you just say you weren't going to eat? Why are you picking up your chopsticks again?"
He put down his chopsticks, his voice turning colder: "You don't need to rush back. When it's time to leave, you'll be allowed to go."
"I'm not going to wait. If we're going to break up, it's my decision; if we're going to divorce, it's my decision first. Don't even think about beating me."
Jiang Qiye looked up at her, his face dark, and said, "Impossible!"
He cares about his pride, but does she not want it?
Her parents abandoned her, her master abandoned her, and her husband also wanted to abandon her.
This time, she insisted on giving him up on her own initiative.
“You’re a man, and the sect leader, so why are you afraid of not finding a new woman in the future? Anyway, whether you say it first or not, once I go down the mountain, I’ll spread rumors everywhere that I abandoned you first and that I refused to be with you.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Qiye couldn't help but smile: "If that's the case, then what were you angry about just now?"
Pei Xueyan pursed her lips, turned her head away, and refused to speak.
"Since you still have feelings for me—" He paused, "why pretend to be reserved?"
"Jiang Qiye!" she called his name angrily, her voice filled with resentment and anger. "I didn't! I don't like you at all, I hate you, I hate you!"
As she spoke, she grabbed the lotus leaf containing the beggar's chicken and pulled it closer to her, frowning as if possessively guarding her food: "Go away, you're not allowed to eat it!"
"You let me try it."
"You!" Pei Xueyan pointed at him, "You won't be allowed to now! You should go back and practice your great demon cultivation. At the next Immortal Sect Conference, you can show off your Black Rock Mist Heart-Locking Claw and let everyone see how evil you are."
"......"
He wouldn't have bothered with the girl, but she really could say anything, always choosing to hit where it hurt.
“I have already helped your master dispel the evil cultivation within her body. The black smoke was expelling the impure cultivation that had harmed her body. It has been almost completely cleared away now, and I no longer have any trace of evil or heretical aura on my body.”
Pei Xueyan snorted. "The only people present were your master, my master, and you. If I were to recount the details of what happened, do you think anyone in the cultivation world would believe that you are Ye Xiuluo's personal disciple?"
"What?" Jiang Qiye suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with shock, staring straight at her. "You were here?"
Pei Xueyan almost burst out laughing at his incredulous expression. "Then why do you think I knew you were a great demon?"
[Author's Note]
I'm done for, I can't take it anymore, it feels like I'm writing about ships non-stop, and eventually I'll have to write about them every day.
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