Chapter 69: Unforgettable (Part 9) Qiu Ruozhao, even if you have an afterlife, ...
Chi Xingji looked solemn and remained silent.
The three of them knew the answer to the question, and Yue Lingjun didn't really want to ask for an answer. Bathed in the thunder tribulation, he murmured, "So this is what it feels like to ascend to heaven."
Lian Qiang suppressed her palpitations. A closer look revealed something unusual. The scene of Chi Xingji's tribulation was vivid in her mind. The thunder now wasn't as powerful as it had been then, and could even be described as milder. Yue Lingjun's expression wasn't one of pain, but rather a hint of... confusion.
After concealing the first half of what she had gained, Lian Qiang told Chi Xingji what she had learned. Chi Xingji paused for a moment and said, "Perhaps it's because she entered the Dao through her heart?"
Just as he said, the confusion in Yue Lingjun's eyes was instantly replaced by determination. She looked up to the sky and laughed heartily, "I've asked about the path to ascension thousands of times in my dreams, and now it's finally realized. What can a mere thunderbolt do to me?"
She spoke with undisguised arrogance, and looked at the two standing by and watching: "With you two watching tonight, I can't be considered lost! I think someone will remember my trip in the future!"
At this point, Lian Qiang no longer hesitated and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Qiu Ruozhao's death, do you really have nothing to do with it?"
Amidst the resounding roar, all other sounds fell silent. Even Yue Lingjun, who was at the center of the thunderbolt, remained silent, seemingly lost in memories.
Just as Lian Qiang was about to convey her thoughts again, Yue Lingjun raised her eyes and looked directly at her, a smile unconsciously appearing on the corners of her lips. "You're the first person to ask me this question. Actually, I'm grateful for your unintentional words that have allowed me to see through my true nature today. So, it's okay to tell you. I just need to think about it; it's been so long..."
Lian Qiang held her breath slightly, and as luck would have it, a strong thunder struck, shocking Yue Lingjun, but her eyes became brighter.
"——Qiu Ruozhao indeed committed suicide by hanging."
Yue Lingjun's eyes did not seem to be fake. Lian Qiang gritted her teeth. Could this be the exact answer she had been searching for?
"Qiu Ruozhao's mood has changed drastically. Does it have nothing to do with you..." Lian Qiang blurted out the words unwillingly. She instinctively wanted to discuss it with her allies beside her. At this moment, the answer in her heart was about to come out -
"Mirror of the Heart."
Lian Qiang muttered to herself, and suddenly looked up, meeting Yue Lingjun's slightly approving gaze.
If there was anything around Yue Lingjun that could cause a person's temperament to change drastically, Lian Qiang really couldn't think of anything else.
"You're indeed smart, and you thought of it not too late. Yes, I did trick him into looking at the Yingxin Mirror," Yue Lingjun continued with that nonchalant attitude, "but that's all. Whatever choice he makes after that is beyond my control."
Lian Qiang almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of his words. "...It's not something you can control? Then what was your original intention? How did you want him to react? To become resolute from now on, or to just break up with you?"
At this point in the conversation, Yue Lingjun's smile faded. "We've been on separate paths for a long time. He should have known this long ago."
"So you didn't even think about telling him, and just decided his fate without authorization!" Lian Qiang glared at him, her hands clenched into fists in anger. "The terrifying thing is, after his death, in front of the world, you still pretended to be deeply in love with him..."
"That was what they wanted to force on me! Did anyone ask me if I was willing? I never thought of him dying!" Yue Lingjun also became angry and interrupted Lian Qiang. Inadvertently, a heavy blow almost bent her back, but Yue Lingjun refused to give in and straightened her spine again.
"...But he is dead, this is an indisputable fact." Witnessing her rare embarrassing moment, Lian Qiang softened his tone and stopped being aggressive.
"Yes, he's dead. If I really have to talk about it, it all started a long time ago." Thinking about the past, Yue Lingjun's gloomy expression relaxed a little, and she said slowly, "When I married him, we were both in our twenties. At that time, I didn't have any extravagant hopes of becoming an immortal, and I really didn't think we could be together forever."
Perhaps because she had recalled this time so many times, her expression was incredibly fluent and quick: "For a long time, I ran around for him, all out of my heart. I have no regrets or complaints. When our relationship was at its best, if the ladder to ascension lay before me, I would never have left him alone to ascend."
Lian Qiang slowly opened her fists. She could tell that Yue Lingjun was right. It was precisely because of this that the truth behind it seemed so cruel and embarrassing.
"...So, why did you do that later?" Chi Xingji, who had been silent for too long, spoke for the first time.
Upon hearing this, Yue Lingjun glanced at him, then glanced at Lian Qiang and said with a smile, "Xingji Immortal Lord, haven't you ever experienced this?"
Doing the same thing for two days is a coincidence, doing it for twenty days is persistence, doing it for twenty years is a habit, then what about doing it for two hundred years, or even two thousand years?
One day during this long century, Yue Lingjun suddenly felt bored.
Her cultivation had stagnated for too long, and her deep devotion to Qiu Ruozhao seemed to have become commonplace during these hundred years. Everyone was accustomed to sending blessings to the couple day after day, but Yue Lingjun began to feel fear from the bottom of her heart.
...Will she have to spend every day like this for the rest of her life?
——She could no longer see her love for Qiu Ruozhao.
Yue Lingjun saw a familiar yet unfamiliar reflection in the Yingxin Mirror. Her eyes were calm, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that she looked tired. There was no trace of her former high spirits in the corners of her eyes and eyebrows, not to mention that she was with ordinary people all day long, as if she could only merge with them. What a genius swordsman who entered the Tao with his heart, but she was just an ordinary woman in the countryside.
Clearly, she had glimpsed her future in the mirror—a ladder reaching into the heavens, a dream so many people long for. That was her original aspiration, and the conviction that has carried her to this day.
But if this continues, can this dream really come true? Or will it always be just a dream?
Yue Lingjun looked at her husband, whose face remained unchanged, beside her as he enthusiastically weaved an intricate straw weave for her. The vows they made at their wedding were still ringing in her ears, and she had never forgotten them. But her heart grew ever more certain: if only they had never met in the first place, they wouldn't be in this dilemma.
It would be best if there was a way to make Qiu Ruozhao take responsibility for this betrayal.
Once the idea took root, it burst forth, reaching the sky. She resented the superficial world for praising her so highly that she could not get off the tiger. She resented Qiu Ruozhao, a mediocre talent, for not having the self-awareness to leave. But the one she resented most was herself.
What was her initial reaction when she saw the figure swaying under the beams? Yue Lingjun couldn't remember it. She only remembered that she calmly handled Qiu Ruozhao's funeral, welcoming and seeing off wave after wave of mourners, and then numbly listening to the praises that were all the same.
"...If I could do it all over again, I would ask him for a divorce and have nothing to do with him from now on. He would definitely agree with tears and then live a good life."
Her confession was silent, but it wasn't drowned out by the thunder; the two heard it clearly. Yue Lingjun had never imagined that her only honesty would be to a stranger she had known for less than a month.
——She had long since stopped liking him. She had always thought she was burdened by the so-called deep love, but now looking back, wasn't it because she didn't dare to frankly deny this feeling?
"Lian Qiang, you're right. I've been ruthless to him for a long time, so we broke up."
It’s not because of the difference in talent, it’s not because of the long years, and it’s not because of the rumors of the world.
This must be the fundamental reason why Qiu Ruozhao committed suicide. As someone beside her, how could he not notice Yue Lingjun's increasingly cold attitude? And everything in Ying Xin's mirror was a sharp weapon that dealt him the most profound harm.
As for what Yue Lingjun did after his death, even she herself couldn't tell whether it was out of guilt, mourning, or some other emotion.
The two people on the side did not speak. Lian Qiang, who was filled with righteous indignation just now, was filled with confusion and sighs.
Did Yue Lingjun do anything wrong? Perhaps no one but Qiu Ruozhao could argue with her. Qiu Ruozhao died, a death caused by her, but not by her. From another perspective, how could this not be Qiu Ruozhao's final act of fulfillment for his wife?
Yue Lingjun is about to have the ending she's always dreamed of. Her name will surely be etched in history. But what about Qiu Ruozhao? Will he be a prominent figure in that story? Did he foresee this before his death?
The thunder tribulation is nearing its end. Yue Lingjun looks exhausted, but his spiritual power is abundant. Ascension is inevitable, and no one can stop him.
Looking at the two figures from afar through the thunder, Yue Lingjun narrowed her eyes, and suddenly another figure appeared in front of her.
"...Ajun, if one day I go before you, no, I am mediocre in talent, so I will definitely go before you. I hope that I will not enter the cycle of reincarnation and be reborn."
The young man's eyes were red, but he forced himself to smile. Yue Lingjun pretended not to notice and didn't say a word of comfort. He just casually asked, "What are you going to do?"
"I want to be... the gentle mountain breeze, or the bright moon in the countryside. Ideally, I want to be the sword tassel tied to the sun, always by your side, helping you ascend."
Yue Lingjun just found it funny and retorted, "But I won't wear a Sun-Shaped Sword Tassel. It's too cumbersome and won't benefit my cultivation. Okay, enough talking. You should rest early. I have to go practice my sword skills."
It was on that day that Qiu Ruozhao understood the disgust in her own words. He watched her go away and never saw the sun the next day.
This was the scene she wanted to see the most, but why did she still cry? Yue Lingjun sighed, raised her head to face the moonlight, and a gust of wind passed by.
She opened her eyes. "Ruo Zhao, are you here? Did you see it? I'm about to ascend."
Qiu Ruozhao, even if you have an afterlife, we will never, ever meet again.
After the thunderstorm, the courtyard was empty.
Lian Qiang witnessed all this in a daze. She turned her head to say something, but Chi Xingji was one step faster. He frowned and spat out a mouthful of dirty blood!
Lian Qiang was so frightened that she came back to her senses. She hurriedly supported him and asked in surprise, "What's wrong with you?"
Chi Xingji, who had steadied himself, went to help her. After a moment of silence, he said, "...There's no time to lose. After you use the Yingxin Mirror, we'll set off immediately to return to the Phoenix Clan."
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The author has something to say: Happy New Year's Eve~
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