Chapter 13 Birds and Fish (I) Just consider the former Chi Xingji dead...
The sea and sky merged into one, the water calm and windless. From one end of the beach, a long, winding corridor stretched out into the sea, ending at a small viewing pavilion.
Lian Qiang was standing on the porch, squinting her eyes at the sea when she heard the fluttering of wings. She turned and saw a butterfly made of paper.
She understood and reached up to catch it, the paper butterfly landing squarely in her palm. Lian Qiang unwrapped it, revealing only a single line of words scrawled in flourish: "I've heard there's going to be a change soon, be careful."
Lian Qiang understood what he meant, put the paper away carefully, and continued to observe the sea conditions.
A hundred years ago, she nearly perished due to the rampage of demonic energy within her body, but was fortunately saved by Jiang Lang, and subsequently returned to the demon world with him. Initially, she thought Jiang Lang was merely a demon general of some status, but later discovered he was actually the Demon Lord.
Lian Qiang was deeply moved by the fact that the Demon Lord passed by and came to her rescue. She could only think that God could not bear to see her situation and wanted to show mercy to her.
But although Jiang Lang had good intentions, he also assigned her a lot of tasks in the past hundred years, sometimes to find people, sometimes to find things. In exchange, he helped Lian Qiang keep her Taoist heart from being completely infected by demonic energy.
"Your body has become a complete vessel for demonic energy. Only this heart is still one-tenth or two-tenths uncontaminated. It may not be useful in the future, but for now, I will preserve it for you."
Lian Qiang was already very satisfied that Jiang Lang could do this for her and prevent her from being attacked by the demonic energy like ordinary demon cultivators. She had no way to repay him, so she could only try her best to do what he asked.
The reason she came here today was because Jiang Lang had heard that the Canglang Sea had been different recently, with frequent storms. He suspected that some treasure was causing trouble, so he sent her to find out the truth.
Lian Qiang looked at the boundless and calm sea. It was hard not to doubt whether the rumors were just rumors.
But since Jiang Lang had sent her here, Lian Qiang had to brace herself and there was no reason for her to retreat.
However, she waited at the seaside for five days, and there was still no sign of any changes on the sea surface. Even Lian Qiang couldn't help but become suspicious.
She stood on the promenade, making a gesture to explore the situation under the sea. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. Due to rumors, the nearby fishermen had also stopped fishing for many days, fearing that they would be caught in the unfortunate shipwreck. Lian Qiang thought that this person would leave soon, so she didn't take him seriously and just went about her own business.
It wasn't until the person who had taken the footsteps stood still behind her for a long time that Lian Qiang, who was concentrating on casting a spell, noticed something was wrong. She wanted to turn around, but the person who had taken the footsteps spoke at the right moment: "Excuse me, please let me pass."
Lian Qiang froze, she could hardly believe what she heard. She turned around slowly, and the person in front of her was indeed the face that had appeared in her dreams many times at midnight.
"Chi..." She opened her mouth to call out, but stopped abruptly. Even though Lian Qiang had imagined meeting Chi Xingji many times in her mind, she never imagined that they would meet again on such an ordinary day.
Years had passed, and he had ascended to heaven, yet his face remained youthful. His long hair was no longer bound with his usual jade crown, but tied with a sash. His eyes still held that air of aloofness, distant, yet without the legendary aloofness of the immortals who looked down upon everything.
...almost, not much has changed. Even after ascending to immortality, he didn't abandon his sympathy for grief. Even Qiang didn't know whether to praise his enduring love or his devotion—she sighed, subconsciously looking for something to see her appearance clearly. Although her face hadn't changed in the slightest, after all, it had been blown by the sea breeze for many days, and she was afraid that her clothes would be disheveled.
As soon as the thought came to her mind, Lian Qiang laughed at herself again.
Why does she always look embarrassed in front of Chi Xingji?
Lian Qiang had described many times how she would feel if she saw Chi Xingji again, but none of them had ever been as real as what she was feeling right now. Love and hate had probably worn away completely with time, leaving only a slight sigh of regret at seeing an old friend again.
Unlike Lian Qiang, Chi Xingji's expression did not waver at all after seeing her face. He looked at her as if... he was looking at a stranger.
"Excuse me, please let me through." Seeing that Lian Qiang didn't move, he patiently spoke softly. Chi Xingji didn't know what he said wrong, and the expression of the woman in front of him froze.
"Are you... Chi Xingji?" Lian Qiang asked with difficulty. She couldn't imagine that Chi Xingji would have this reaction when they met again.
"Do you recognize me?" But Chi Xingji's reaction confirmed her question. He looked calm and composed. He was asking a question in return, but it was just a rhetorical question.
Lian Qiang's hands at her sides tightened her dress a little bit as she tried to appear calm, "...Yes, the Immortal Lord is renowned, known to everyone in the lower realms. I only ventured to guess based on the sword you carry."
What she said was both true and false. The truth was that Chi Xingji's name had completely resounded throughout the world of cultivation since his ascension a hundred years ago. The lie was that she hadn't recognized him by relying on the Tongbei Sword.
After more than ten years of childhood sweethearts and decades of sleeping in the same bed, it was difficult for Lian Qiang to erase Chi Xingji's appearance from the depths of her memory.
She originally thought that Chi Xingji was deliberately not wanting to recognize her and was pretending to be stupid, but judging from his reaction, it didn't seem fake. He might... have really forgotten her.
Lian Qiang thought so, but a bitter feeling unconsciously spread in her heart. It was funny to say that in these hundred years, she had also had hope, thinking that there was another hidden reason behind Chi Xingji's ascension, and perhaps one day, he would come back.
However, reality cruelly shattered her fragile fantasy, forcing her to recognize her situation again and again.
"I didn't know that my name was so famous in the demon world." Chi Xingji's eyes fell on the back of Lian Qiang's right hand. Lian Qiang followed his gaze and quickly put her hands behind her back.
On the fair right hand, there was a black lotus. The lotus itself was pure, but outlined by the black color, it looked indescribably strange and enchanting.
This was after Lian Qiang had entered the demonic realm. Jiang Lang had asked her if she wanted to use her demonic energy to create a pattern on her body to reveal her demonic identity. He hadn't asked casually, not expecting her to agree, but Lian Qiang agreed readily.
"Okay, I'll draw a lotus flower. What do you think?"
Jiang Lang was worried that she would hug the past and feel resentful, thinking that the demons were bad people, but Lian Qiang felt that she was lucky to have survived. She had devoted herself to cultivating immortality in her early years, but the heavens had never favored her. This might not be a foreshadowing.
Besides, since she'd already been possessed by the devil and had made a clean break with her former self, there was nothing to be ashamed of. One couldn't be forever trapped in the past, unable to move forward. Painting this lotus was Lian Qiang's way of reminding herself that things were different now.
But now, after being glanced at by Chi Xingji with a neutral gaze, Lian Qiang began to have bad thoughts about the lotus and didn't want him to see it. However, her actions were quite revealing, which made her suspicious in Chi Xingji's eyes, and even the pressure around her became a little stronger.
Although Chi Xingji no longer recognized her, Lian Qiang could easily tell that his expression meant he was suspicious. Thinking back to the past, no matter how emotionally out of control Chi Xingji was, he would never use coercion to suppress her. Lian Qiang also felt a little angry.
But with Chi Xingji's current cultivation and status, killing her is as easy as pie, and no one has been able to seek justice for her. Even though Lian Qiang was displeased, she could only respond calmly: "I have been in the human world for many years and have heard of the deeds and name of the Immortal Lord a few times. It's not surprising."
She said this in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, and Chi Xingji also let down his guard a little and started chatting with her: "So what did they say about me?"
Lian Qiang's left hand, which was stroking the back of her hand, trembled. She looked up at Chi Xingji and pursed her lips: "Why does the Immortal Lord want to hear this?"
In her impression, Chi Xingji is not a person who likes to listen to other people's comments. He only follows his own ideas, and sometimes he can cause bad influences because he is too stubborn.
"I've lost my memory since I ascended." Chi Xingji was quite frank, or perhaps it didn't matter. "People in heaven are not allowed to easily look up their past unless it's a major event. Even if I wanted to know what kind of person I was in the past, I have no way to find out."
As expected, Lian Qiang silently thought to himself, he had indeed lost his memory, completely forgetting all those past events. The only person in the world who still remembered these things was Lian Qiang.
Lian Qiang laughed in silence. She suddenly felt that all these years were like a waste of time. Her love and hate could only be regarded as feeding the dog.
Her smile drew a puzzled look from Chi Xingji. Lian Qiang composed her expression and continued, "They all say that you, Immortal Lord, are incredibly wise and powerful, a genius born from nowhere. Otherwise, you wouldn't have achieved immortality in just a few decades. You're the first person to do so, ever."
He was also a rare cruel, short-lived, cold-blooded person throughout history. Lian Qiang stuck these words in her throat and didn't say them out loud. Her relationship with Chi Xingji was different from before. Now, she didn't dare to anger or offend him, otherwise he could easily end her.
Although Chi Xingji was not such a person in the past, and Lian Qiang claimed to know him very well, who can be sure about him now that he has lost his memory?
"Is this how they describe me?" Chi Xingji seemed a little confused. "It seems to be no different from how they describe other people in heaven."
Lian Qiang couldn't respond to this. It was true that others praised him in this way, and she did know a side of him that was unknown to the outside world, but there was no need for her to say it.
Just think of the former Chi Xingji as dead, whether he died in Ninghe City or in the courtyard where they had shared joys and sorrows.
"That's all I know. If you want to know something else, you might as well ask someone else." Lian Qiang lowered his head for a while, then raised it again and smiled.
Her smile was too fake and stiff, Chi Xingji saw through it at a glance, but strangely, he didn't feel annoyed at all.
The two stood there for a while longer, and suddenly the magic that Lian Qiang had just cast deep into the seabed had an echo. Her face changed drastically, and just as she was about to speak, Chi Xingji shouted out before her, "Be careful!"
Suddenly, the sea was filled with wind and waves! A tsunami rushed towards them, threatening to swallow them up!
Unable to dodge in time, Lian Qiang stood still and did not run away. Instead, he quickly formed seals in an attempt to protect himself from the huge waves!
At the critical moment, Chi Xingji grabbed her, as if following some instinct, stepped aside, turned his back to the wind and waves, and held her in his arms.
Lian Qiang was stunned for a moment, and the next moment, a huge wave arrived. The violent impact made her lose consciousness and fainted immediately.
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