Chapter 71 I bet you can't bear to part with me
Jing Qianheng looked away, ignoring her, his face calm, but his fingers, resting on his knees, curled slightly.
Jiang Zhishui put down her chopsticks and pressed, "Wrong? No way?"
Ever since Jing Qianheng said those things to her last time, he has become taciturn and has deliberately kept his distance from Jiang Zhishui for several days.
Jiang Zhishui was completely confused and couldn't figure out what he wanted.
Jing Qianheng didn't know what he wanted. Should he continue to force her or continue to deceive himself? As long as he was with her, he would cherish every moment.
But he couldn't bring himself to let go. So he could only force himself to give up in this way. He begged for three months, and once those three months were up, she would be able to get rid of him completely.
It would be a lie to say he didn't yearn for closeness when the person was so nearby, but he dared not touch them, nor could he. He had already forcibly bound the person to his side, and any further desires would only make him appear even uglier.
She always indulged his excessive behavior. Even when she was trembling with fear, she would force herself to cooperate. She didn't enjoy it, nor did she want it; she only did it because of him, because of her guilt over that one act of indulgence, and so she tried every means to repay him.
Child... what child? He doesn't need a monster like himself. He wants to end this disgusting dragon bloodline. How could he let her bear this curse again?
Jiang Zhishui knew he was very angry, and she didn't dare to ask him how he discovered that he had been switched at birth. The key was that he was hardly talking anymore, and she was afraid that she would make a mistake if she said too much.
She... wasn't indifferent; she was also afraid that he would suddenly realize that she wasn't that great, that there were better people who could replace her, that he would wake up, that he wouldn't need her, and that he wouldn't like her as much anymore.
Jiang Zhishui never dared to indulge herself too much, never dared to seriously examine her own heart. She always went with the flow and let things develop as they would. She thought he was just confused for a moment and that he would eventually cool down. She enjoyed the moment, and her sweet words were to coax him, but also to deceive herself.
Jing Qianheng was willing to make a deal with the devil just to spend three months with her day and night. He was crazy and unreasonable.
He actually thought she would want to get rid of him, that she would want him to disappear!
Jiang Zhishui also wanted to stay with him for a long time, but so many problems remained unresolved...
These past few days, she's been tossing and turning, unable to sleep, her head throbbing with worry. She wanted to talk to him, but the doors and windows of his room were tightly shut, and he was as cautious as if he were guarding against a wolf.
Jiang Zhishui should have had many things to do... She needed to find a way to get the artifact from Pei Yan, figure out how to deal with Li Mo, and understand what Jing Qianheng and Li Mo had agreed on. She also needed to figure out why Li Mo was so willing to work for Jing Qianheng. He must have received some kind of guarantee that would ensure Jing Qianheng would obey her in three months.
These problems need to be resolved as soon as possible, but right now, because Jing Qianheng is angry and unwilling to talk to her, she is in a state of turmoil and can't help but care, so she can't ignore him.
After a moment of silence, Jing Qianheng still ignored her. Seeing that she had almost finished eating, he got up to clear the dishes and said coldly, "Few people usually come here. I'll go out and take a look. I won't let anyone bother you again."
Jiang Zhishui grabbed him and said, "So what if someone comes? If you want to live an ordinary life, you have to deal with ordinary people. There's nothing wrong with that. I don't think it's a disturbance."
Jing Qianheng looked at the hand she was holding, frowned, and subtly pulled away, his voice low and husky: "Okay, as long as you're not bothered."
Jiang Zhishui watched him walk out, sighed, and followed him out. Wherever he went, she followed behind, nagging incessantly: "I'll do the washing. You cook, I'll wash the dishes, that's fair. Otherwise, if I'm lazy, you'll hate me later..."
Jing Qianheng silently finished everything without letting her interfere. He didn't really respond when she spoke. When he was about to go back to his room to change, she followed him. He blocked the doorway, turned to face her, and said earnestly, "Jiang Zhishui, you don't need to do anything, you don't need to do anything. You don't need to force yourself..."
Jiang Zhishui followed closely. When he stopped, she was still a little unsteady and took two steps back in embarrassment. She looked up at him and said strangely, "I didn't force you. It was all my own choice."
Jing Qianheng stared at her for a long time, then murmured softly, "Lying again..."
Jiang Zhishui admitted that she had been a bit reckless at times, but she didn't dislike Jing Qianheng in the first place. Most of the time, it was because he didn't like her and was suspicious of her that she had to tell little lies to please him.
She always felt guilty for forcing him to be with someone he disliked, which had caused him a huge emotional blow. Therefore, she was always more patient and tolerant with him.
However, she later belatedly realized that he was not entirely forced that time.
“I did lie to you, but not everything I said or did was false,” Jiang Zhishui said frankly. “Didn’t you also enter the Purple Sun Immortal Mansion to conceal your identity and make things easier?”
Jiang Zhishui, afraid that he would be unhappy, quickly waved her hand and explained, "...I'm not trying to argue with you about these things. I'm just giving an example. Many things are done out of necessity. I have to go through a lot of maneuvering to find the best way to protect everyone."
"Getting close to me, flattering me, it's all just your mission." Jing Qianheng hadn't dared to ask these questions before, but now her words stirred his emotions. "Once the mission is accomplished, you'll abandon me, won't you?"
Jiang Zhishui paused for a moment, "Originally... that was how it was, but now that the mission is complete, I want to stay by your side and don't want to leave."
Having experienced the entanglements of past and present lives, Jiang Zhishui finally understands that Jing Qianheng's feelings for her have never changed.
From the moment he first met her at the Purple Sun Immortal Abode, he had liked her. However, due to his status, he deliberately kept his distance and restrained himself from looking at her. Even though he was secretly jealous of her intimacy with Lin Ye, he never revealed his feelings. He simply stayed far away, preferring to keep his distance rather than see her.
Jiang Zhishui initially thought his declaration of liking her was just a way of teasing her, a confession tinged with revenge, somewhat sarcastic and ambiguous. She had never asked him when he had fallen for her, but subconsciously she didn't want to, afraid that knowing would make it even harder to let go later. Perhaps a vague feeling was better.
When Li Mo possessed Master Wu, he successfully trapped her. Overjoyed, he drank too much and started talking incessantly. He said he had always been very lucky, having possessed several key figures in his first life and accomplished many things.
He also said that there was a silly boy who thought he was some kind of Mingxuan Heavenly Venerable. Every time he appeared, that boy could quickly recognize him and chase after him calling him Master. So he simply acknowledged the identity of Mingxuan Heavenly Venerable and asked that silly boy to pay more attention to Jing Qianheng. He also secretly looked for opportunities to let Jiang Zhishui and Jing Qianheng have more contact.
Jiang Zhishui guessed that the silly boy he was talking about must be her Uncle Song An.
At the Ziyang Immortal Abode, Jing Qianheng clearly liked Jiang Zhishui, but he never gave her a friendly look. Li Mo, who had been watching him for a long time, was speechless at his headstrong descendant.
After getting drunk, Li Mo recounted many past events, each one of which was heartbreaking.
Jing Qianheng would spend several days searching for the owner of a sugar figurine stall after hearing her mention that she liked one, asking him to make the style she liked, and then happily bringing it back to her.
He didn't give it to her in person; he just left it at the door. Jiang Zhishui found it strange at the time. She had heard the stall owner mention before that business was bad in the area where he used to set up his stall, and he was moving away, but he didn't say where he was moving to. She wondered how Jing Qianheng had found her.
Jiang Zhishui never imagined that the sugar figurines would be a gift from Jing Qianheng. She only mentioned them to her senior brother Lin Ye and a few others. He thought they were a gift from his senior brother and even brought a few spiritual fruits as a return gift.
Jing Qianheng was injured by a demon beast because of her. Hearing that there was a medicinal herb that could help, he disregarded his own illness and went out in the rain to find the herb. After returning, he developed a fever and collapsed, but he still remembered to ask Su You to deliver the herb to him.
Once, Jiang Zhishui came to him on behalf of a female cultivator, and he got angry and scolded her for meddling. The two even had a fight that time, and Jiang Zhishui avoided him for several days.
Li Mo said that the incident was because the female cultivator had heard about an evil cultivation method from somewhere. She took a liking to Jing Qianheng's aptitude and wanted to cultivate with him, but he refused. Enraged, she deliberately led other male disciples to ambush him, causing him to fall into the icy lake, get trapped by the barrier, and almost drown.
The female cultivator was very pretty. Although she was an outer disciple, she was usually very diligent and hardworking, and was well-liked by her teachers. Her words to Jiang Zhishui clearly stated that the outer disciples were jealous of her close relationship with Jing Qianheng, so they bullied Jing Qianheng, and she urged Jiang Zhishui to go and save him.
If it weren't for that female cultivator's timely report, Jing Qianheng would have almost sunk to the bottom of the lake.
Jiang Zhishui saved Jing Qianheng, but instead of receiving a thank you, he dragged her into the lake, leaving her completely soaked.
The female cultivator later came to find her again, saying that Jing Qianheng was angry with her because of the incident where he was tricked into falling into the lake, and refused to accept her apology. Jiang Zhishui thought of Jing Qianheng's unreasonable behavior that day and understood the female cultivator's feelings.
Jing Qianheng didn't want anyone to see his unpleasant side, so he took his anger out on her. Although Jiang Zhishui was still angry, she softened and went to help the female cultivator when she saw that she was so upset that she was about to cry.
Who would have thought... the reasons behind it would be so different?
With each thing Li Mo said, Jiang Zhishui felt more and more apologetic, realizing that she had unintentionally hurt him so many times.
She couldn't even imagine that he had silently...liked her for so long.
Jing Qianheng's eyes flickered, his expression carrying a broken, restrained emotion. He said in a hoarse voice, "I can't tell which of your words are true anymore. The only thing I know is that you will definitely leave me, you will never belong to me..."
Jiang Zhishui knew that after experiencing several unwelcome "betrayals," Jing Qianheng was now like a frightened bird and not easily appeased. She smiled and said, "How about we make a bet?"
Jing Qianheng was tired of living in fear and wanted to resolve the entanglement between the two of them once and for all, to put an end to it in a destructive way.
He was filled with sorrow, but she, on the other hand, smiled and challenged him to a bet, overturning everything he had arranged with just a few words.
“I will never leave you again.” Jiang Zhishui took a step forward, grabbed his hand, and rubbed her fingertips against his fingers. “Qianheng, I bet you won’t be angry with me for long. I bet you won’t be able to let me go.”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
