Volume V: The Former Life of the River's Breath - Chapter 151

That day, Jinli was still pondering how she could venture outside to acquire the Soul Grass. Soon after, the door opened, and a multitude of items, scrolls, and memorials were continuously moved in. It appeared her room was once again being treated as a storage shed.

Yet the North Courtyard was vast, filled with countless chambers; why choose her room in particular?

As Jinli remained puzzled, Jiang Ji stepped forward to reply, "Reporting to the Goddess, starting today, our Lord has officially moved into the North Courtyard. May the Goddess be aware."

"Is the South Pavilion no longer habitable?"

Jiang Ji explained, "Not at all. The Lord said the North Courtyard has better scenery, which is conducive to his work."

"Then—then since he is moving in, should I go to the South Pavilion?"

Jinli turned around to look at her belongings, only to realize she had nothing much to pack.

Jiang Ji cupped his fists. "This subordinate does not know. The Lord only said this much."

With that, he led the bustling group away in a grand procession.

Seeing the extra quilt added to her couch, along with the new garments and shoes in her wardrobe, Jinli felt for a moment as though her territory had been forcibly usurped.

Since the young lord hated her so deeply, he would certainly never share a room with her. It would be wiser to show some tact, pack her things, and move to another room in the North Courtyard.

With so many rooms available, what harm was there in yielding one? Yet, after all, it was a place she had lived in for so long.

Jinli simply gathered a few pieces of clothing, opened the door, and left.

Ever since Gengyuan's return, the door had never been locked again. Though her scope of movement was still restricted to the North Courtyard, it was already a tremendous leniency.

Jinli casually picked a room far away from his, tidied it up briefly, and prepared to rest.

However, the door was pushed open once more.

"......"

Had she been discovered again?

Jinli poked her head out to see who it was. Before she could react, she was restrained by immortal magic and forcefully pulled into a broad, warm embrace.

"Who told you to come here?"

Jinli offered a faint, distant smile. "I saw Jiang Ji move all your things into my room, so assuming you wanted to stay there, I thought I would go elsewhere..."

Did she truly despise him to such an extent? Did she yearn to distance herself from him so desperately?

Hmph.

He would never grant her wish.

"I said before, you are my attendant. You will do whatever I tell you to do. You are not permitted to do anything I haven't asked of you."

With that, Jinli was dragged back into the room once more.

She looked down at her reddened wrist, where the lingering warmth of the young lord still remained.

For a fleeting moment, it made her feel a strange sense of yearning.

She raised her eyes to look at the young lord.

His features were as exquisite as a painting, and he was holding a brush with proper posture, writing something.

A table separated the two of them.

As Jinli looked at him, time seemed to drift back to that year under the pear blossom tree. The two of them had similarly sat facing each other across a table, and she had playfully teased him, 'What is it about me that you actually like?' The young lord's face had flushed crimson, yet he had obediently memorized every word she said.

But now, he had probably forgotten most of it.

"Come here and grind the ink for me."

The young lord's icy words dragged her back from her memories to reality. Jinli rose, picked up the inkstone, and began to grind slowly. Her gaze drifted toward the Xuan paper under the young lord's hand; his handwriting was neat and fluid, the brushstrokes powerful, maintaining a sense of propriety without losing its effortless grace. It was exceedingly pleasing to the eye.

"Your handwriting is still as handsome as ever."

She used to love the young lord's handwriting very much.

And she still did, even now...

The brush in the young lord's hand paused, and a dark blot of ink bloomed at the final closing stroke of the character for 'Qi'.

Just as she was about to remind him, the young lord withdrew his gaze. "How I write has nothing to do with you."

His words, sharp as blades, pierced Jinli's heart once more.

She laughed bitterly, a sound laced with pain. "Indeed, it has nothing to do with me anymore."

She withdrew her gaze and continued grinding the ink.

Visibly irritable, the young lord put down his brush and asked once more, "Do you have nothing to say to me?"

Jinli's hand grinding the ink paused, her eyes shifting slightly.

What was there to say?

Should she say why she had stabbed him with a sword before leaving? Should she say why she had bared her true feelings at the Medicinal Spring despite pushing him away so fiercely? Or should she claim that she had never loved him at all, that it was all a lie?

"......Nothing."

The young lord fell silent for a moment. "I do."

Jinli startled, raising her head to look at him.

Leaning back in his chair, the young lord fixed her with a raw, naked gaze—a look that sought to dig deep, trying to uncover the emotions hidden in the depths of her eyes. "Yeming was not killed by me, and I never deceived you."

Jinli lowered her eyes slightly. Gengyuan spoke again, "And what about you? Why wouldn't you believe me?"

Back then, he had begged her so bitterly and offered explanations; why was it that she simply refused to believe him?

"It was wrong of me to make you lose your memories, but I only wanted to start over with you—not as Gengyuan and Jinli, but as Huaigui and you. I just wanted a fresh start with you, was that wrong? I wanted you to love me well just once more, was that wrong?!"

Was it not wrong?

The one who was wrong was herself.

It had always been herself.

It was all her own self-righteousness; it was all her towering arrogance.

The rims of both their eyes gradually grew red.

Yet at this moment, the young lord appeared remarkably calm. Sitting together on the wide chair, there was nowhere left to retreat, nowhere left to hide.

With reddened eyes, tears streamed down Gengyuan's cheeks, while a bitter smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Jinli, you are truly so ruthless. Sometimes I really want to see what your heart is actually made of."

Through more than ten thousand days and nights—had they not been immortals, had they simply been ordinary, fragile mortals—what on earth would have remained of them after all those days and nights?

He was the one who had been wrong before; he should not have used her or harmed her.

Yet when he truly became Huaigui, he had still rejoiced, thinking perhaps heaven was helping him by granting him a chance to begin anew.

Yet Jinli had ultimately shattered that chance ruthlessly to pieces.

No matter how hard he tried to piece it together, he could not mend it.

Leaning close to her, the young lord stubbornly brushed away his tears, his gaze resolute and burning with fervent sincerity as he spoke harshly, "As expected of the Goddess of Lianchuan, who has perused countless men. Across the heavens and the earth, no matter who they are or what status they hold, none can escape your grasp. You love when you love, and when you no longer do, you casually cast it aside with a 'not worth it.' You play as you please, never burdened by the annoyance of being entangled. How carefree..." His voice grew increasingly choked, "When you saw me pleading with you so desperately not to leave, you must have been very smug, and seeing me driven to madness over you must have brought you boundless delight. Back then, without a single word of warning, you carved yourself into my three souls and seven魄, flicked your sword, and walked away in grand style, utterly carefree!"

"You won. You truly won. You knew I loved you, you knew I could never sever my feelings for you, and even though I hated you to the marrow, I still couldn't bring myself to kill you."

The more Jinli listened, the more her tears fell.

For so long, this was the first time the young lord had spoken so many words to her.

Every single word was clear, carving itself into her mind.

Unable to sever the ties.

"That's right, I truly cannot leave you. You won. You really did win."

With those words, the young lord stood up and left.

Silence settled over the room once more.

After calming her emotions, Jinli caught sight of the wine flask hidden beneath the table.

In wine there is truth; the young lord's love was fierce and scorching, burning himself away until she had nowhere to retreat and no place to hide, leaving her with no choice but to let herself be consumed entirely by his love, sinking into it without end.