Chapter 36 "And you, what are your feelings for me...?"
What did you call me?
Upon hearing these words, Meng Chiwan's body began to tremble involuntarily, but she didn't know why. She attributed it all to being frightened by the two severed hands she had just seen.
"Xihe." Her voice was low, almost a whisper.
Yun Xianqing seemed not to have heard clearly: "Huh?"
Her fingers gripped Zhong Huai's sleeve tighter, almost turning white. Something felt off about Yun Xianqing. She raised her voice, her words clearer: "Yun Xianqing, what's wrong?"
"Yun Xianqing..." Yun Xianqing's smile remained unchanged, from the curve of his lips to the gentleness in his eyes. However, the hand hidden under his sleeve tightened its grip on the water sword until a slight stinging sensation came through. Dark clouds gathered in his eyes, and he suddenly spoke, "Yun Xianqing. What do you call him?"
Meng Chiwan's unease intensified, but Yun Xianqing seemed perfectly normal, his warm aura unchanged from her memory.
"Chi Wan, it hurts." Before Meng Chi Wan could figure out how to reply, she saw him suddenly lower his eyelashes, seemingly somewhat saddened. The strange aura emanating from him seemed to dissipate. When he looked up again, he was staring intently at her, his tone tinged with grievance.
Meng Chiwan's gaze shifted to his right hand. The wound inflicted by the water sword resembled a massive ravine, now flowing with crimson blood. Drops of blood gathered into a smooth stream, flowing downwards and staining his robes red.
But the owner seemed completely unconcerned, letting it flow freely and stain his white robe.
He could say he didn't care, yet he said he was in pain. A deep pool seemed to seep into his eyes, and a layer of blurry mist slowly rose as the blood flowed.
Meng Chiwan unconsciously loosened her grip on Zhong Huai's sleeve, took two steps toward Yun Xianqing, and frowned slightly, worried about Yun Xianqing.
But just as she took her third step, her wrist was gripped lightly.
She looked down and saw Zhong Huai gently pull her back, then look at Yun Xianqing with some contempt: "Chi Wan is so stupid, how could she be deceived by this kind of person?"
Meng Chiwan was inexplicably scolded, and her gaze followed Zhong Huai's hand to his face: "Why did you scold me?"
It's one thing to insult Yun Xianqing, but why insult her?
Zhong Huai looked at her, chuckled softly, his eyes filled with affection, and gently patted her head, teasingly saying, "I misspoke. Chi Wan isn't stupid, she's just too kind, which is why she always falls for these low-level scams."
Meng Chiwan tilted her head, not understanding what she meant: "Huh?"
A low-level scam? Whose low-level scam? Who? Yun Xianqing? Are you referring to that upright and honest Yun Xianqing?
A hint of confusion flashed in her eyes.
Where her gaze couldn't reach, Yun Xianqing's expression had become cold to the point of being harsh, and the evil thoughts in his dark, eternally night-like pupils were almost uncontrollable, flowing out with his gaze.
He looked at Zhong Huai as if he were looking at a corpse.
But Zhong Huai gently touched Meng Chiwan's face the next moment, turning her gaze to Yun Xianqing, his eyes filled with a tangible provocation.
Almost the instant Meng Chiwan caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, he reverted to his sorrowful and aggrieved expression. He glanced at her, then silently lowered his eyes, seemingly very sad, yet for some reason, the wound on his right hand bled even more profusely.
Meng Chiwan frowned and looked over, suspecting that he would go into shock from excessive blood loss at any moment.
After thinking for a moment, she still walked towards Yun Xianqing. She clearly didn't know what she could do for him, but she just couldn't bear to see him lost in thought.
Zhong Huai released her hand at the opportune moment, but said from behind her, "Chi Wan, do you know who he really is? Is your acquaintance and meeting truly preordained by fate?"
Meng Chiwan stopped in her tracks. She wanted to ignore it, but a voice in her heart suddenly stopped her. Then, a sharp, throbbing pain began to emanate from her chest.
She didn't turn to look at Zhong Huai, but instead looked at Yun Xianqing. Yun Xianqing looked up at her, her gaze clear but with a hint of sadness in it.
She didn't speak, but Yun Xianqing spoke up: "Chi Wan, would you rather believe this person who abandoned you for years and never cared about you, than believe me?"
“It’s not that I don’t believe you, I’m just wondering, if fate is predetermined, how far can our fate go?” Meng Chiwan looked at Yun Xianqing, ignoring Yun Xianqing’s barely suppressed malice towards Zhong Huai, and said after a moment of thought.
Yun Xianqing seemed a little stunned.
Meng Chiwan continued, "We've gotten to know each other, but where are we now? Is it dependence? Or... Ke Xihe... what about you? How do you feel about me?"
But as soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly felt a dull pain in her chest, causing her to unconsciously clutch her chest and bend over, her face turning pale in an instant.
The next moment, someone helped her up: "Chi Wan, what's wrong?"
Meng Chiwan lowered her head, the familiar scent of wood lingering around her nose.
Unseen by her, the water sword was flowing, its tip pointing directly at Zhong Huai, separating him from their world.
As Meng Chiwan was in excruciating pain, all her emotions were slowly overwhelmed. At this moment, she suddenly remembered that she had actually forgotten something.
She practically forced the words out through her teeth: "Wen Lian Song and Jiang Yi...you guys..."
Yun Xianqing seemed to want to answer her, but the next moment she was picked up and her body was lifted into the air. The woody scent lingered, making her feel inexplicably dizzy.
Only after landing in another spot, with both feet firmly planted, did Yun Xianqing slowly speak, her voice clear and melodious: "Never seen it before."
The hands that were holding her were very tight, and she wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt that Yun Xianqing's breathing had become a little more rapid.
Meanwhile, Zhong Huai landed on the opposite side, staring intently at Yun Xianqing, his brows slightly furrowed, his hand already holding a magical artifact, his fingertips resting on the strings of the zither.
The sound of the zither drifted into my ears.
"Chi Wan, look, your Zhong Huai brother and you are not on the same path, but you and I are on the same path." Yun Xianqing's voice was gentle and soothing, with a low chuckle.
Meng Chiwan slowly raised her head to look at the place where she had just been. She saw water swords swirling around a three-headed giant beast, rendering it unable to move. For some reason, the beast was lying there making only "ho ho" sounds.
Listening to the melodious and peaceful piano music, for some reason, the pain in her heart seemed to ease a little.
She looked closely and saw that the three giant beasts all had their mouths wide open, and on the ground were three sections of their tongues that had been severed at the roots.
In this very scene, Yun Xianqing seemed to casually follow her gaze, his tone so calm it was almost cruel: "The three-headed demon is the noisiest. Chi Wan wasn't frightened by it, was she?"
Before he finished speaking, his eyes drifted to Zhong Huai, and he smiled, but for some reason, it gave off a cold feeling.
It's a provocation.
It's also a warning.
At this point, he showed no intention of letting go of Meng Chiwan. Instead, he said, "Chiwan, stay closer to me. There are dirty things outside."
The presence of his hands and his embrace was so strong, and the warm breath he exhaled as he spoke beside her made her freeze for a moment.
At the same time, the piano music that had been lingering in my ears inexplicably stopped.
Almost instantly, a sharp pain began to rise in her heart again.
She unconsciously looked at Zhong Huai, trying to break free from Yun Xianqing's hand.
On the other side, Zhong Huai rested his hand on the strings of the zither, seemingly oblivious to Yun Xianqing's words, and simply looked at Meng Chiwan, lost in thought.
Yun Xianqing hesitated to let go of her, and Meng Chiwan, overwhelmed with emotion, said, "Let me go."
She spoke each word carefully, clearly without saying anything harsh, but the moment she spoke, she felt regret, which was quickly dispelled by the pain in her heart.
Yun Xianqing glanced at her, then pursed his lips. His thin, crimson lips seemed to have lost some color, but his expression seemed unchanged. Only his eyes were filled with moisture again.
Looking into his eyes, Meng Chiwan suddenly wondered what lay behind that layer of misty vapor.
But she had no heart to think about it anymore, nor to ask any more questions. She only knew that she didn't want to, and shouldn't, stay by Yun Xianqing's side right now.
Why not? Why shouldn't I?
She didn't know.
Yun Xianqing slowly released her without saying a word, but she heard a few faint "snap" sounds, as if a sword blade was cutting through something.
The three heads of the three-headed monster fell to the ground, rolled a few times, and the bright red blood gathered into a shallow puddle.
Yun Xianqing slowly withdrew the water sword. The water that was originally clear was now swirling with strands of bright red, like an endless red rope.
Meng Chiwan slowly turned around and trembled as she took Yun Xianqing's hand. Although the pain in her heart was growing stronger, she looked at Yun Xianqing and seemed to sense something, her eyes filled with comfort.
"Xihe, I'm not leaving."
Yun Xianqing looked at her, her fingertips feeling cool. After a long while, the beauty mark beside her eye twitched slightly, and then she smiled warmly again: "What did you ask me just now?"
Meng Chiwan was confused for a moment, as she clearly hadn't asked anything, but in an instant she knew what Yun Xianqing was asking her.
It was that question she asked not long ago: "And you, how do you feel about me?"
Author's Note: Meng, the bomb disposal expert, Chi Wan: I'm not leaving!
There will be updates tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and the day after that. [kissing emoji]
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