Chapter 42: Old Dream (V) “Please forgive me for being so rash. I said…
"Why, is this thing very rare?" Jiang Lang asked, supporting his forehead.
Lian Qiang shook her head and said honestly, "I just don't understand. Since you've put so much effort into asking for it, why don't you use it?"
This statement was quite inappropriate in their relationship, but the questioner wasn't afraid, and the answerer wasn't bothered either: "I'm just a mortal, so shouldn't I have my own selfish desires?"
Perhaps Lian Qiang's expression of disbelief was too exaggerated, Jiang Lang chuckled softly and put away the Dream Silkworm Silk. "Before I became the Demon Lord, I also always thought I was just an ordinary person."
No one knew where Jiang Lang came from. When they learned his name, he had already carved out a world of his own in the demon world where the strong were respected.
Lian Qiang had heard of Jiang Lang's deeds. He had risen from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, from a nobody under the Demon Lord to slaying him and replacing him. It had taken Jiang Lang only ten years.
Jiang Lang never talked about the time before he became a demon. It was rare to hear him talk about the past. Lian Qiang was about to listen attentively when Jiang Lang glanced at her and asked, "Are you curious?"
"Who wouldn't be curious about the past of the dignified Demon Lord?" Lian Qiang clasped her hands together and begged, "Tell me about it."
"Tell me why you want to get the dream silk, and I will tell you too." Jiang Lang slowly stated his conditions.
Lian Qiang's expression froze for a moment, then she smiled again. "The first half, as you guessed, I ran into him again. But he seemed... to have forgotten me."
She told Jiang Lang everything that had happened on the way. Chu Shan had only sensed a partial emotion, but in front of Jiang Lang, she could tell him everything.
Lian Qiang explained in detail, and Jiang Lang listened attentively.
"He's actually been treating me pretty well these days. It suddenly occurred to me that he wasn't as bad to me in the past as I remembered," Lian Qiang said with a self-deprecating smile. "Sometimes, I feel like I deserve it."
"So, you're angry because you can't get the love you want? It sounds like he's been treating you well these days, and it's no wonder you still have feelings for him."
Lian Qiang, who was exposed by him, became really angry and embarrassed: "Say another word!"
"Then I won't say anything," Jiang Lang said calmly, "but you know, good medicine tastes bitter, and honest advice is unpleasant to the ears."
Lian Qiang didn't want to agree with him. There was a long silence in the hall. Just as Lian Qiang was about to speak to ease the awkward atmosphere, Jiang Lang spoke up, "Besides, I'm not laughing at you."
After hearing this, Lian Qiang's eyes widened in a daze: "...Actually, you're right. I wanted to use external forces to forget and let go. Firstly, I couldn't bear to do so, and secondly, I felt that doing so would be deceiving myself."
She pretended to be cheerful: "Anyway, the Dream Silk is in my hands. If I can't stand it one day, I can burn it. It won't be considered as asking for trouble!"
Jiang Lang stopped tapping the armrest and let out a breath: "Back then, I made the same choice as you, but my stance was a little different."
"Oh?" Lian Qiang looked interested, and his gloomy look faded away.
"I...when I was little, I met a girl."
This is a perfect start to a story, whetting the listener's appetite. Unfortunately, Jiang Lang lacks such patience and talent: "She treated me well, but she didn't know I was a demon. I also had selfish motives and didn't tell her the truth. Later, my identity was exposed, and I didn't dare to face her, so I ran away."
At this point, his expression seemed to darken: "I don't know what happened to her. After so many years, she must be dead."
Jiang Lang's story could not be more straightforward. Lian Qiang frowned, wanting to comment that his storytelling skills were really bad, but then realized that maybe it was not that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't.
"...Then why, after all these years, didn't you go looking for her?" Lian Qiang asked softly, "You can't be so desperate that you can't find her. At least, you should know that she's really gone."
Hearing this, Jiang Lang lowered his eyes and smiled: "I dare not."
For a moment, Lian Qiang couldn't believe what she heard.
"I don't dare." Jiang Lang repeated the words, as if speaking to Lian Qiang, but also as if speaking to himself. "After so many years, I feel I have failed her. I don't even have the courage to light the dream silk to see her again. How could I be willing to hear the news of her death with my own ears?"
Lian Qiang heard the crackle of a candle, and Jiang Lang's gaze followed. This time, she felt again that Jiang Lang was actually looking through her. "She has a pair of very beautiful eyes, like yours. She also has a small red mole under her eye. A hundred years ago, when I rescued you, I was returning from Kunlun Mountain.
"I saved you out of selfish motives. But after spending so long together, I realized you two are nothing alike. Every time I look at you, I realize she's gone."
...So that's how it is. Lian Qiang, having been told the truth, wasn't particularly angry. She simply asked softly, "What about her?"
"What?"
"Have you asked her?" She sighed. "You left without saying anything. I don't even know if she cares about your identity... I know it's not appropriate for me to say these things. But I think, Jiang Lang, you're such a coward."
Jiang Lang laughed, not getting angry, and admitted: "You are right."
He was so frank that Lian Qiang felt like she was punching cotton. But after all, Jiang Lang treated her well, so she shouldn't blame him too much. Lian Qiang said nothing more and sighed again, "I came back this time just to say goodbye to you briefly."
"What? Have you finally realized that you still can't adapt to the weather in the demon world and want to run away?" Jiang Lang leaned back on the chair and spoke teasingly. The atmosphere between the two seemed to have returned to before.
"No, I just want to go out for a walk," Lian Qiang answered seriously. After a series of unexpected experiences, she wanted to learn from their casual and carefree attitude. "You can think of it as me not completing my mission and feeling ashamed to do you a favor."
"I haven't seen you succeed many times, why didn't you feel ashamed before?" The Demon Lord waved his hand, "Forget it, go if you want, just remember to come back."
Lian Qiang smiled: "Of course, my home is here, where else can I run to?"
After getting the permission, Lian Qiang was very excited. Just as she was about to go back to pack her luggage, she was stopped by Jiang Lang.
Jiang Lang, who always wore a joking expression, now looked a little serious: "The seal of the Demon Abyss has been loosened recently. You must be careful when you are alone outside."
The Demonic Abyss seemed to be a deep abyss that had existed since the dawn of the Demon Realm. No one could reach its depths alive, and it was said that beneath it lay countless suppressed or deceased demons and monsters. Jiang Lang, as the Demon Lord, though he wished to refine its power, was powerless, and could only venture shallowly into the depths. Not to mention Lian Qiang; just hearing the shrill wails from afar was enough to terrify him.
It would be fine if it was sealed forever. If one day, the seal of the Demon Abyss was lifted, the monsters that had been accumulated there for tens of millions of years or even longer would riot. It would be a catastrophe not only to the Demon Realm, but also to the world.
Lian Qiang understood, nodded heavily, and left.
After she left, Jiang Lang was the only one left in the hall. He stared at the empty hall for a long time. Then, he suddenly laughed, intermittently. At the end of his laughter, he took out the ball of silk thread, looked at it for a long time, and lit it with his own hands.
The smoke from the burning silk slowly transformed into a human figure in the air. Jiang Lang opened his eyes, his heart tightening little by little, but he didn't want to miss a single moment.
Lian Qiang, who had already walked out, naturally had no idea what was going on inside. After she walked out of the Demon Palace, she felt much more cheerful.
Rumors aside, Jiang Lang still managed to find her a small courtyard outside the palace. It wasn't large, but Lian Qiang felt like she had a place to call home. When she was wandering outside, she knew she had somewhere to return to.
She originally wanted to plant a tree outside the yard, just like the one Chi Xingji brought back that year, but no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't find another tree of the same kind. Even after asking Jiang Lang for help, she still found nothing.
Lian Qiang could only comfort herself that sometimes fate has run out and one cannot force it too much.
In the days after she was rescued, she felt hopeless and wanted to plant something to pass the time, but the soil in the demonic world was different from that in the human world, and everything she planted died. Lian Qiang refused to believe this, and the more she faced setbacks, the more courage she gained, and she even developed a little fighting spirit.
It’s a pity that despite her fighting spirit, reality has always been the same. Until now, she has not been able to grow any flowers or plants, and the area in front of the yard is bare.
She hadn't been home for a long time, and this time she came back just to leave. Lian Qiang couldn't help but feel regretful and decided to stay a few more days before leaving.
Lian Qiang spent a few days comfortably. Although she would think of Chi Xingji from time to time, she just thought that he had probably returned to heaven by now, so she didn't think about it anymore.
That day, she arrived at the border between the demonic and human realms, only to find many demonic cultivators blocked there, their faces filled with worry. Confused, Lian Qiang pulled one aside, demanding to know more: "Excuse me, what's going on out there? Aren't we all supposed to leave here?"
"Don't mention it," the demon cultivator waved his hands, his brows full of discontent and helplessness. "A few days ago, a sword cultivator was blocking our way, brimming with immortal energy! The brothers also wanted to leave, but they couldn't defeat him. He insisted on checking everyone out, and when we asked him what he wanted to do, he wouldn't say. I really don't know if this guy has a mental problem. Why doesn't he go back to guard the gate of Heaven?"
Lian Qiang's heart skipped a beat. Sword cultivator?
Her intuition told her that she should turn around and go back, but her feet seemed to be nailed down and she couldn't take a step forward.
The crowd gradually moved forward, and the number of people around him became fewer and fewer, revealing the swordsman who was blocking the pass.
After not seeing him for many days, he was still dressed in black, his expression still distant. He stood there with his sword in hand, his imposing presence evident. With him as the center, a large area around him was empty.
Lian Qiang didn't know why Chi Xingji appeared here, she only knew that she should run away.
——The farther you run, the better.
All the blood in Lian Qiang's body rushed up, making her dizzy. She stepped back one step at a time, but unexpectedly met a pair of familiar eyes.
It seems like it was just yesterday when I last saw these eyes.
Without thinking, she turned around and tried to run, but in the crowd, the noise she made against the current was too loud, not to mention that she had already been firmly locked on and had nowhere to escape.
Lian Qiang hadn't even taken a few steps when she heard someone descending from the sky. The next moment, her arms were tightly grasped, and no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't break free. Disregarding everything, Lian Qiang slapped the person backhandedly, "Let me go! This is the Demon Realm, how dare you act so rashly!"
She couldn't understand why Chi Xingji was so lingering!
If she had known this would happen, she should have burned the dream silk and become a stranger to him, and she wouldn't be in such an awkward situation now!
"Whether or not to allow me to act rashly is up to me." His calm words made her even more angry.
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The author has something to say: There was a loud bang in the sky, and the ex-husband made a brilliant appearance!
The update time may be unstable recently, so please bear with me. TT can try to come back later or the next day. Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2023-05-10 21:22:44~2023-05-13 22:34:56~
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