Chapter 66 Arguing
Jing Qianheng knew his physical condition and guessed that this might be the price he had to pay to travel through time and space.
Jiang Zhishui originally thought that as long as she obtained the divine artifact and returned to the second life with Jing Qianheng, she would have completed her mission. But seeing him like this now, she was afraid that his body wouldn't be able to withstand it if she took him with her through the time travel.
But letting him stay here is not an option either. The only way is for her to first obtain the artifact, return to her second life, awaken the system, and then find a way to bring Jing Qianheng back.
Jing Qianheng was already afraid that she would despise him, and now, clinging to a sliver of hope, he confessed everything. But Jiang Zhishui's reaction made his heart clench, yet he dared not show it. He simply withdrew his hand and stubbornly said, "Of course you don't want me to come."
"..." Jiang Zhishui felt she couldn't tell him these things; if he knew, he definitely wouldn't cooperate properly. She took his hand and said, "It's not that I don't want to, it's that I shouldn't have. Why are you so angry?"
"Don't you think I'm disgusting?" Jing Qianheng's hand trembled slightly. "These things on my body, and... I sometimes become very ugly."
Jiang Zhishui stared at him intently, leaned forward, kissed his lips, and smiled, "I don't find it disgusting at all; in fact, I think you smell quite nice."
Jing Qianheng's cheeks flushed slightly as he squeezed her hand back. "Don't worry, I'll be fine soon."
Jiang Zhishui lowered her eyes, her fingers tracing the back of his hand, carefully choosing her words before finally speaking: "Things aren't as simple as you think. You can't stay in this time and space any longer, Qianheng, listen to me..."
Jing Qianheng turned his face away from her, his tone impatient, "Divine artifact, divine artifact, all you ever talk about is this."
"I haven't said anything yet." Jiang Zhishui sighed helplessly and said, "...To be honest, I don't understand why you are so reluctant to go back. Even if you don't trust me, you shouldn't joke around with your own body."
Jing Qianheng said, "I told you I'm fine."
"How could nothing be wrong!" Jiang Zhishui said sharply, "You're really infuriating. You always pretend to be pitiful in front of me. You only care about yourself, you're willful and stubborn, and you won't listen to any advice. I've said everything I can to you, but you just won't listen. Do you think that just because you're in pain, I can stand aside and pretend nothing happened? Do you really think we'll be happy being together like this? Or do you think that as long as you're happy, it doesn't matter what happens to me?"
Jing Qianheng's face turned pale. He sat up and said urgently, "That's not how it is! That's not what you said!"
Jiang Zhishui couldn't bear to see him like this, but she had to provoke him. She pretended to get up and leave, but he grabbed her wrist, staring intently at her. He breathed heavily and said coldly, "You don't need to provoke me. It might work once or twice, but don't treat me like a fool. Don't always—cough cough!—use this trick!"
Jiang Zhishui looked surprised. Seeing his face turn red with anger, she didn't dare to say anything more. She reached out to pat his back, but he brushed her hand away. After a moment of silence, Jing Qianheng raised his eyes, his eyes reddening and filled with aggrieved anger.
Jing Qianheng took a few deep breaths, his emotions still surging. He said fiercely, "What's wrong with just staying here? If I die, you can finally get rid of me completely. It shouldn't be a bad thing for you. You won't have to rack your brains to deal with me anymore, say things you don't mean, or pretend... to like me..."
"You don't need to pretend for long, can't you even endure this short period?" Jing Qianheng paused, a bitter smile playing on his lips. "Jiang Zhishui, you're right. How could it be? How could you possibly like me? How could you... really like me just because I like you? How could it be such a coincidence? How could you be so lucky? How could you... get what you want..."
Jiang Zhishui was speechless for a moment, staring blankly at him.
"So..." Jiang Zhishui frowned and said, "You plan to just keep dragging this out and refuse to hand over the divine artifact even if it means your death?"
Jing Qianheng's fingers tightened, his voice hoarse: "Yes, I won't give it to you, don't even think about it. Just stay put, and one day you'll get what you want."
Jiang Zhishui looked at him incredulously and said in a hoarse voice, "Are you crazy?"
"I'm crazy?" Jing Qianheng scoffed. "I just want you to be single-minded and only look at me. Is that not allowed?"
Jiang Zhishui didn't know what to do with him. She broke free from his grip and said irritably, "I'm not talking to you anymore. It's pointless. You don't trust me at all. What's the point of talking? You rest first. I'm going out to check on the others."
The air inside was stifling, and Jiang Zhishui couldn't stand it any longer. With that, she stood up. Jing Qianheng, looking tense and dizzy with anger, reached out but missed, his voice cracking: "Don't leave!"
Jiang Zhishui didn't even glance at him. She got up and walked straight out. Jing Qianheng grabbed the bed curtains and stood up, clutching his throbbing head. The blurry figure in front of him gradually disappeared into the distance. He was so anxious that he panicked. However, his legs felt like they were filled with lead, and every step he took required a lot of effort.
His legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground, his hair disheveled. When he looked up, he saw Jiang Zhishui already at the door. His voice was unsteady as he called out, each word heartbreaking: "Jiang Zhishui! Jiang Zhishui! Jiang Zhishui!!"
Jiang Zhishui placed her hand on the doorknob, closed her eyes in exasperation, and stood frozen for a moment, gripping the door. She then turned to look at Jing Qianheng lying on the ground, her face filled with sorrow.
"What's your rush?" Jiang Zhishui didn't open the door and go out in the end. Instead, she walked back to him, squatted down, and sighed, "Chasing me like this, people would think I stole some treasure from you."
Jing Qianheng's eyes were filled with her image. As she approached, he grabbed her sleeve with one hand, holding it tightly. His eyes reddened, and he seemed to have been frightened, his sharpness fading as he softened his expression, saying, "Don't go..."
His words completely softened Jiang Zhishui's heart.
Jiang Zhishui helped him back to bed and covered him with the blanket. She wanted to get him a glass of water, but when she got up, she couldn't move her legs. He was holding her sleeve tightly. She turned around and said, "Let go, I'll get you some water."
He stared straight at her, his grip on her hand never loosening.
Jiang Zhishui stopped arguing with him and just sat by the bed watching him.
After staring at him for a moment, Jiang Zhishui couldn't stand it anymore, so she reached out and covered his eyes, saying gently, "Go to sleep, I won't leave."
My eyelashes twitched a few times in my palm, then stopped moving after a while.
Jiang Zhishui had heard Su You say before that when Jing Qianheng had a fever, he would endure it on his own, never uttering a sound no matter how much it hurt. Su You took care of his daily life and had also witnessed his fevers.
According to the people at the Imperial Medical Academy, the pain was unbearable for ordinary people. If it were someone else, they would probably have to commit suicide with a sword to die, rather than suffer such torment, which would be worse than death.
But Jing Qianheng was always calm and composed. Even after waking up from a coma, he showed no expression. Despite his young age, no matter how harshly others treated him, he would not shed a single tear even when he was in extreme pain.
He always huddled in a dark corner, enduring those days and nights alone.
But in front of Jiang Zhishui, he changed his tune, becoming childish. He would try every trick in the book to get something from her if he felt even slightly uncomfortable. If Jiang Zhishui said anything harsh to him, he would feel incredibly wronged. Even when he was sick and not thinking clearly, he still made demands of her.
Feeling a warmth in her palm, Jiang Zhishui released her hand and saw her moist eyelids. Her heart felt as heavy as if a boulder was pressing down on it.
"You think you can have me all you want, huh?" Jiang Zhishui gently stroked the corner of his eye. "You were the one who was talking the loudest just now, and I didn't say anything, yet you still shed tears."
Jing Qianheng didn't know what was wrong with him. He didn't understand why these tears were coming out. Emotions he had never experienced before would inexplicably surge up when he was with her, each time more intense and more difficult to bear than the last.
Jiang Zhishui finally managed to coax him to sleep. She got up, walked to the window, and looked up at the night sky.
She glanced back at Jing Qianheng lying on the bed, her mind filled with a jumble of unresolved thoughts.
The bright moon shines, and several fleeting shadows fly by.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
Jiang Zhishui glanced at Jing Qianheng; his breathing was steady, and he hadn't been woken up. To let him sleep longer, she fed him a calming pill while he was asleep.
Two disciples from the immortal sect arrived at the door. They had something to say, so Jiang Zhishui closed the door and followed them to the front hall.
Just as she entered the front hall, a dark shadow flashed past behind her. Jiang Zhishui, being wary, quickly dodged. She reacted instantly, drawing her sword to meet the attack. When their swords clashed, her pupils contracted sharply, and she exclaimed in surprise, "Senior Sister Liu?"
Liu Chuxi looked pleased and withdrew her attack, saying, "Junior Sister, it's been a long time."
Behind Jiang Zhishui, Lin Ye stepped forward with his sword and said with a smile, "Junior Sister, you have excellent skills."
After Ying Xue and Song An visited Qianjing Peak together, she naturally told them about meeting Jiang Zhishui. Liu Chuxi and Lin Ye were ordered to go to Taoyang City to deal with the demons, and they brought someone with them.
On the surface, they came to Taoyang City to exorcise demons, but their real purpose was to take the opportunity to rescue Jiang Zhishui.
The person who told them that Jing Qianheng and his group were going to Taoyang City was Jiang Zhishui, who lived in the Jiang Mansion on Qianjing Peak.
She took the initiative to approach Liu Chuxi and others, requesting cooperation.
When Liu Chuxi and Lin Ye first saw her, they were both quite surprised. People who looked so alike even had the exact same name.
If Liu Chuxi hadn't personally examined her spiritual core, she would have found it hard to believe that the person standing in front of her was actually a demon.
The demon race often takes the human form as a reference. After her initial surprise, Liu Chuxi guessed that this demon had imitated Jiang Zhishui's appearance.
However, from Jiang Zhishui's perspective as a demon, she is the true one. The person who has had this face and identity since childhood is the real Jiang Zhishui, and the one who suddenly appeared is impersonating her and trying to take away everything that should belong to her.
The system created Jiang Zhishui with another demon identity, originally intended as a backup character. Now that internal parts are missing and the mechanism is malfunctioning, this setting has become somewhat redundant. Without system intervention, the character can only act according to the initial settings.
In this first life, all the characters are acting according to their own will, not controlled by the plot, but following their own hearts.
After hearing Liu Chuxi's rescue plan, Jiang Zhishui was taken aback. "You mean, we should make a trade?"
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