Chapter 57 (Revised) Yu Bai, I love you...
The sound of something cutting through the air rang out one after another.
A flash of light suddenly appeared in the sky, and then everything returned to normal.
Several people rubbed their eyes in surprise, but they didn't see the flash of white light again. After thinking about it, they could only assume it was their imagination.
However, such illusions appeared one after another along a certain route, and progressed step by step, forming a teleportation trajectory from the Great Wilderness to the Central Plains.
The 131st, the 132nd, the 133rd... Li Qingyun counted silently until he reached the 139th, at which point the teleportation finally stopped.
One hundred and thirty-nine scrolls!
From the Central Plains to the Great Wilderness, is this all the methods our master used to send Chang Yubai there?!
Li Qingyun never imagined that she would return to this place one day.
But he couldn't help not coming back.
Anyone who realizes that their years of scheming have only benefited someone else will inevitably seek confirmation.
But what happens after verification?
Li Qingyun couldn't understand it. He couldn't comprehend how things had developed to this point. He had only wanted to use Li Hongyi to break down Chang Yubai's hidden feelings, but why...?
Why was it that in the end, he was the one who couldn't take it anymore?
He stood in the desolate wilderness, the wind whipping up dust that blurred his vision, but it couldn't stop him from locking onto his target—
A tombstone that has been disguised.
Chang Yubai truly loved his master to such an extent that he didn't even want his tombstone, which was in a deserted place, to be disturbed.
The tombstone has stood in this desolate place for more than a decade. It is neither blown down by the wind nor damaged by the rain. Only the faintly shimmering cleansing runes operate day after day, and not a speck of dust can stick to the surface of the tombstone.
A gentle breeze rustled through the leaves, making them crackle. Although it was a desolate wasteland, it looked as if someone had been carefully tending to it.
On the tombstone, a name that is both familiar and unfamiliar lies there, cold and heartbreaking.
“Venerable Qingyun, ha… Venerable Qingyun.”
He stroked the inscription carved on the tombstone, finding it all absurd.
Li Qingyun.
From the very beginning, there was only Li Qingyun in Master's heart.
The seeds of this had been sown when they first met when he was eight years old. After he simply introduced himself, Chang Yubai chose him as his apprentice without hesitation... but he only felt that this was a lonely person seeking comfort.
How can I not ask? What was I so confident about back then?
How could you know that your master shared the same name as you, yet treat him as a dead man who had completely become a thing of the past?
So the calls of "Master" reflected in the Jingyuan Stone were not his own silent utterances... It turned out that Chang Yubai was repeatedly thinking of an old friend.
"ha……"
It turns out that people laugh out loud when they are at their most helpless.
He pressed his forehead against the tombstone, wishing he were the one buried in the soil at that moment.
“Li Qingyun…you chose me because of this name, and you raised me because I resemble him…”
"The way you look at me always seems to be gazing at something. I thought you were seeing a scene from your imagination come to life, or perhaps you were looking forward to a bright future..."
"I was wrong. I shouldn't have blindly believed you could move on... How could I forget..."
Li Qingyun couldn't say whether she felt more pain or regret.
He should not forget that on this very land, Chang Yubai shed tears for his master's death.
Even someone who remains calm and composed in the face of anything can feel sadness and grief...
He would travel for three months to bury his master in his hometown.
Chang Yubai would shed tears because of his grandmaster!
How could I possibly turn a blind eye?
How could he think that such a thing is not worth caring about?
Li Qingyun rested one hand on the monument and the other on his cheek, hoping to touch something, like tears in a moment of collapse or some imagined touch... But his hand found nothing but empty air, only his wind-chilled cheek pressed against his palm, echoing the loneliness of the moment.
It turns out that when you're so sad you're in despair, there's no time to shed tears.
But his mind was clear.
“I also tried to tell myself to calm down, that I should give you time to explain... but Master, I can’t help it... I can’t help thinking about other things.”
He knew that as long as he asked, Chang Yubai wouldn't lie to him, but before that, Li Qingyun already felt like he was going crazy.
He didn't want to hear Chang Yubai recount the past of his master.
He didn't want to know how peaceful and happy Chang Yubai and his grandmaster lived.
All he knew was that, through more than five thousand different days and nights, more than five thousand different kinds of warmth, and more than five thousand similar scenes, the person who could make Chang Yubai smile was never him.
It turns out... he had been immersed in a ridiculous misunderstanding all along.
"Are we really that alike?" he murmured, his voice trembling with a hint of unwilling struggle. "Are we really that alike?"
Like when you see someone emerge from a memory, you won't want to look away from them for a whole day?
It's like knowing there's a difference between the two, yet stubbornly refusing to speak up and insisting on separating them.
If you were unwilling to separate, then why did you suddenly realize your mistake after Li Hongyi appeared and try to persuade yourself not to imitate the behavior of your old friend?
What? Has the past of his master been torn open, and Chang Yubai finally remembered who he cared about?
Because he acted so clumsily, Chang Yubai was disgusted, thinking that he didn't act convincingly enough and that he was too far from the warm image in his memory. That's why he didn't want to keep staring at this fake version of himself.
Li Qingyun also wanted to persuade himself to stop, to stop this meaningless internal debate, but if he really stopped, who could make up for his satisfaction over the past ten years?
[Chang Yubai, you're such a bastard!]
But even with such a jerk, I still can't let go of him.
He can't let it go!
No one else will ever be able to enter his miserable life.
He could only look at the grave before him, his smile bleak and helpless.
The eight large characters “Tomb of Venerable Master Qingyun” were too glaring, but the more he looked down and focused his gaze on the two characters “tomb”, the more fortunate he felt.
“But you are a dead man, Grandmaster.”
In just a few breaths, his gaze changed, his eyes seeming to hold tenderness.
He began to stroke the stone tablet.
Let the wind howl in my ears, and let time slip by.
As the sun set, a corner of the stone tablet was polished smooth and shiny, and Li Qingyun's touch on the stone tablet became even gentler.
Li Qingyun smiled and said, "The dead should remain forever in the past, Grandmaster."
The dead shouldn't compete with the living for anything.
[Besides, you didn't get Chang Yubai, did you?]
Li Hongyi was right. Whether it was knowledge or experience, that guy was far superior to him.
The master-disciple relationship is a shackle. Even if some emotions surge like a tidal wave, and even time has to give way to them, it is impossible to break through this constraint.
To change Chang Yubai's perception and to take his place as her lover, one must shed the master-disciple relationship and let Chang Yubai truly see oneself.
"Chang...Yu Bai..."
He closed his eyes.
He clearly felt the powerlessness emanating from his chest and the emptiness deep within his heart.
Just yesterday, my heart was burning with excitement, eagerly anticipating love. But now, it's completely empty, unable to hold anything.
All that persistence, that determination, that confidence that had once surged within my heart, has vanished without a trace.
Li Qingyun had no idea how long she had been kneeling in front of the grave.
His movements went from natural to stiff, until finally, he was like a puppet made by a machine, repeating the same action over and over again, his palms constantly stroking the top of the stone tablet, his fingertips repeatedly wiping away the halo of light from the surface.
The temperature of the sunlight on my body kept changing, from gentle to scorching, and then gradually becoming stuffy.
This is a desolate wilderness. It may have once been someone's hometown, but now it is barren and deserted, with no one to be seen or pass by.
No kind person would come to him and tell him what time it was or how much longer it would be before he had to go home.
No one will come here.
"Xiaoyun!"
But two words still managed to break into this solitude.
Li Qingyun thought he was hallucinating, but then he sensed a sense of anxiety.
His senses, being born a tree, could not deceive him. Only then did Li Qingyun realize that Chang Yubai had truly arrived, standing right behind him.
Master's arrival was sudden. Li Qingyun reacted for a moment and realized that he had appeared here in an instant, so he must have known where he was and used a teleportation scroll directly.
For some reason, Chang Yubai stopped moving after landing two meters away from him.
He sensed that Chang Yubai's anxiety had eased, but a hint of fear had been added.
"Xiaoyun, are you alright?"
"Xiaoyun... I've been looking for you for so long."
Logically speaking, Chang Yubai should have remained calm and composed, as always, following his master's orders. However, this time he doubled his speaking speed, a reaction that only occurs when someone is anxious.
It turns out that a certain part of the anxiety has not been relieved, but rather brought to the forefront.
But this would be almost impossible for Chang Yubai.
Li Qingyun knew all too well how much this guy valued emotional restraint, so it was truly rare for him to be so emotionally expressive, even "panicked," as he was now.
The coolness detected by my sense of smell grew stronger, and as I remained unresponsive, it gradually became more moist.
He knew that Chang Yubai's emotions should not fluctuate, but in fact, there was a method to it. If Chang Yubai was shocked, Li Qingyun could not detect any change in his emotions. Only Chang Yubai's slightly widened eyebrows could prove that he was not at peace.
When Chang Yubai gets angry, he will be surrounded by demonic energy, which smells like burnt charcoal, making people want to frown. The chaotic aura seems to block the lungs. Li Qingyun dares not smell it for long and can only believe that Chang Yubai will calm down on his own.
But if sadness is mixed in, Chang Yubai's surroundings become like a continuous downpour, damp, humid, and stuffy. This sadness will not attract demonic energy, but it still makes people feel suffocated. The unseen bitter rain rushes into the nasal cavity, making those who smell it feel sour and uncomfortable.
But over the years, Li Qingyun has only seen the third scenario twice. Once was when Chang Yubai held him and cried to him about the passing of his grandmaster. The other time was also when Chang Yubai held him and said that he wanted to be Chang Yubai's master and disciple for life.
Such a profound loss of composure has not been seen for a very, very long time.
Really? Chang Yubai?
Are you really sad for me?
For my sake, you even disregarded the composure your master had repeatedly warned you to maintain?
A sudden hope arose in his heart—perhaps the years of getting along couldn't be faked, perhaps he had indeed been too impatient.
Perhaps he really should listen to Chang Yubai's explanation.
Or perhaps...
Li Qingyun's breathing became heavier.
[I can't stand it.]
He still couldn't bring himself to listen to Chang Yubai recount the past of his master.
The forbidden presence disrupted his rhythm, rendering all the thoughts he had spent the entire day trying to calm down useless.
The mere thought that he might be a substitute for his master made his soul feel so agitated it felt like it was about to explode.
Chang Yubai stood quietly behind him, waiting for his response, but Li Qingyun had no intention of replying to those trivial matters.
He only wants to know one thing!
[Chang Yubai, I only want to know one thing!]
He suddenly stood up, and in the instant he made his move, a sweet scent born of surprise pushed aside the downpour and rushed into his nostrils.
Li Qingyun turned around and looked back.
The sweetness became more intense.
Ke Liqingyun smiled.
The sweetness abruptly stopped.
Unaware of the difference between the two, Li Qingyun only learned the cold exterior, not caring about the emotions and love hidden within.
But now things are different. He now knows that the appearance he is in is not him, but Venerable Qingyun, his grandmaster.
He perfectly portrayed the demeanor of his master, truly bringing the deceased to Chang Yubai's presence.
He watched Chang Yubai's every reaction, observing his transformation from surprise to astonishment, bewilderment, and fear...
His master was pale, as if he had lost his soul.
But Li Qingyun did not let him go.
His words made the situation even more murky and chilling.
"Yu Bai, I love you."
He said, "I have always loved you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
