From then on, she followed him to the ends of the earth, ignoring his indifference, his rejection, and his aloofness. The man always said he would abandon her, but seeing her fall behind, he would always wait for her. When they spent the night in the woods, he would always remain silent, and she would sit curled up under a tree, only to wake the next morning to find his outer robe draped over her shoulders…
Yin Sang, she thought, how much longer are you going to struggle with yourself?
Beneath the swaying plum blossoms, he finally erupted in fury, hurling the most vile insults at her, the Qian family, the emperor, and himself. He said, "Do you want to live this kind of life with me? Forever hiding like a stray dog, forever living in the shadows, never seeing the sun? Do you want that? Look at my hands, do you know how much blood, how many sins, how many unpaid debts are stained on them? And let me tell you, I won't stop here. What's mine, I will take back, one by one, no matter the cost!"
"Why are you treating me like this? Why won't you make your life a little better?"
He gave a cold laugh. "Is that possible? Better yet... I'm a person cursed from birth, cursed by the heavens, but I'm determined to live, and I'll continue to survive at any cost! I will have the last laugh, I will have the last laugh! If I gain control of the world, the first thing I'll do is burn that palace down, just like I burned down the Tenglan Palace twenty years ago, burn it to the ground!"
She gazed at him silently, then suddenly lunged forward and embraced him tightly from behind. He was startled, and tried to break free, but she held him firmly, whispering, "I know they owe you so much, I know they owe you so much, making you unhappy from birth, causing you so much suffering, but..." She turned to face him, looked up into his eyes, and said in a calm voice:
"It's okay if they don't love you, but you must love yourself, you absolutely must love yourself. Don't let yourself suffer like this anymore, it's not worth it, really..."
He hesitated for a moment, but quickly regained his composure and said coldly, "How do you know it's not worth it? If I succeed, I will be the emperor, and everything I've lost will be back."
"Is it just wealth and status you've lost?" Her voice was even softer. "I think what you truly care about is losing your mother, losing family, losing the happiness you should have had..."
"Shut up!" he interrupted her sharply. "Don't think you know me, Qian Cuiyu! You're just a clueless young lady from a sheltered family, good for empty talk and ignorant of the hardships of life!"
She lowered her eyes, then raised them again after a moment, and said, "Fine. I don't understand you, and I don't need to understand you, because..."
She looked at him and smiled gently, a smile that reached his eyes and his heart. "All I need to do is love you. Yin Sang, if you won't love yourself, then let me love you. With me loving you, there is me loving you in this world!"
A loud clap of thunder sounded, and Qian Cuiyu on the bed stirred.
Her thoughts tore through layers of mist, and it seemed as if a voice was constantly calling to her, urging her on. Guided by that force, she walked forward step by step, and then suddenly her footing gave way, and she fell to the ground—
Qian Cuiyu suddenly opened her eyes. Because she opened them so quickly, her vision went blank for a while before colors and outlines slowly appeared.
At that moment, she saw Qian Bao'er.
She was still the same Bao'er I remembered. Seven years had passed, and she still looked as radiant and beautiful as ever. In comparison, it only highlighted my own haggard appearance.
Seeing each other again at this moment feels like a lifetime ago!
Qian Bao'er's lips moved a few times, about to speak, when Qian Cuiyu suddenly grabbed her hand and cried out, "Bao'er! Bao'er, save me! Please save me!"
Qian Bao'er was greatly surprised and said in a trembling voice, "Second sister, you..."
"Bao'er, I know you're the smartest, you must have a way to save me, right? Please save me, I can't die, I can't die!" Qian Cuiyu said, struggling to sit up, her voice growing more and more urgent, "Bao'er, I can't die, I can't die!"
"Second Sister, lie down quickly, we'll talk after you lie down!" Qian Bao'er quickly comforted her, saying softly, "Don't worry, as long as I'm here, I'll never let you die!"
Qian Cuiyu knew her sister was just trying to comfort her; who could stop someone from dying? Tears welled in her eyes, but all her strength suddenly vanished. She could only lie there, half-dead, murmuring softly:
"I can't die... If I die, what if one day, if he regains his memory and remembers everything?"
Qian Bao'er's eyes flashed, and she understood what she meant. She picked up a damp cloth from the side and wiped her sweat while saying, "What time is it? You're still thinking about him like this... Hasn't he hurt you badly enough?"
Qian Cuiyu shook her head and sighed, "How can you say who harmed whom? If we really want to be serious, we can only say that fate is unfair; it keeps playing tricks on us and tearing us apart..."
"But he forgot about you!" Qian Bao'er exclaimed angrily. "I really can't think of a more despicable and hateful way to hurt someone!"
Qian Cuiyu was stunned, her gaze suddenly becoming unfocused, and she murmured as if in a dream, "He...he didn't do it on purpose...it was me...it was me who made the choice for him..."
What? Qian Bao'er didn't understand.
Tears finally welled up in my eyes. The events of that day flashed before my eyes again. Every expression, every sound, was crystal clear. I had never forgotten them in the six years since!
It's her...
It was her! She was the one who chose this path back then, so no matter how much she resented, resentful, or heartbroken she was, she couldn't tell him everything from the past in person.
That was a promise.
Her promise to the old man Xuanyuan.
Chapter Eight
In November, as her sword wound gradually healed, his illness worsened.
Each episode of her frenzy lasted longer and the intervals became shorter, and she finally understood why.
Yin Sang practiced the "Crane Soaring Through the Nine Heavens," a martial art that had been lost to the martial arts world for a long time. As the name suggests, it had nine levels. With each level, one's martial arts skill would double, and it was known as the strongest and most domineering peerless martial art in the world. He was the only person who had reached the seventh level before the age of thirty, when he was only twenty-four.
Then he began cultivating the eighth level. By the time he met Qian Cuiyu, he had been cultivating for a full year. Then, misfortune struck.
It turns out that Ou Wangzi, who originally created this martial art, only mastered the seventh level. The last two levels were imagined by him, and he passed away before he could verify them. Little did he know that his manual contained a mistake at the eighth level. Practicing it would lead to a backlash of internal energy, similar to qi deviation, which would recur repeatedly until the meridians were severed and death ensued!
This is also why no one has ever been able to reach the ninth level.
By the time he realized this, it was too late.
He had already decided to give up everything and stay with this rare and wonderful soulmate. But happiness was too short-lived, and fate once again pulled him to the brink of life and death.
At first, he was afraid that Qian Cuiyu would worry, so he kept quiet, but each attack was more and more severe, and he could no longer hide it.
Upon hearing this, Qian Cuiyu was speechless. When she could speak again, she only managed to say, "I'll stay with you."
Happiness, you gave me; when you are in pain, I am there for you.
After each attack, Yin Sang would collapse to the ground, utterly exhausted and covered in wounds. Qian Cuiyu would silently emerge from their hiding place, bandage his wounds, and hold his trembling body, repeatedly and tenderly saying, "Hold on, you must hold on. You can't let it ruin you, absolutely not! The pain will pass, it will pass, and then you won't feel pain anymore..."
Yes, he will always wake up, the pain will pass, but it will come again next time, and it will be more intense. This repetition and repetition, this cycle, he can endure it once or twice, he can endure it ten or twenty times, but what about a hundred or a thousand times?
If one knows that the final outcome will inevitably be death, then what is the point of going through such a process?
But when he saw her dark eyes, he could only grit his teeth and persevere.
He stroked her hair and said, "I can't bear to see you become a widow, so don't worry, I will hold on until the very end."
This man… Ha, why won’t he even lie to her? The final moment, when is the final moment? How much longer can they stay together?
Qian Cuiyu kissed his fingertips, rested her face on his cheek, and whispered, "Okay, I'll stay with you."
Yes, she will stay with him. If he dies, she will not live alone.
Yin Sang, if Heaven is going to destroy you, then let me be one of you too. Let's go to the Yellow Springs together, and be together in the underworld!
Then one day, she met the old man Xuanyuan.
That day, Yin Sang's illness flared up again, and he plunged into the deep pool, splashing wildly before floating to the surface. Qian Cuiyu hurriedly grabbed a bamboo pole to try and pull him out, but she couldn't reach him no matter what she did. She couldn't swim and was sweating profusely with anxiety when a gray shadow drifted by, followed by the sound of water splashing. With a "splash," Yin Sang was lying on the ground at her feet.
Qian Cuiyu crouched down and found that Yin Sang's lips were bluish-black, his hands and feet were ice-cold, and his breathing was extremely weak, as if it would stop at any moment. She immediately shook him desperately, shouting, "Wake up, Yin Sang, don't sleep, don't sleep! Wake up!"
"Give up." A cold voice rang out from ahead.
Qian Cuiyu looked up and saw an old man in a gray robe standing in front of her. He looked like a sage, but his expression was extremely cold.
He saved Yin Sang... Just as he thought this, the gray-robed old man said again, "He practiced evil arts and has gone deep into demonic possession. This should be the last time it flares up. The next time it flares up, it will be the day when all the meridians in his body are severed."
Seeing that he spoke with perfect accuracy, Qian Cuiyu was both surprised and anxious, and said:
"Who are you? How did you get here?" Could he also be a lackey sent by the imperial court to capture him?
The old man in the gray robe paced a few steps, then glanced at the dying Yin Sang on the ground, a hint of hesitation flashing across his brow. After a long pause, he finally said, "Actually, it's not necessarily a certain death..."
Qian Cuiyu was startled and her eyes widened.
“But…” The gray-robed old man sneered and turned to leave.
Qian Cuiyu quickly stepped forward and called out to him, "Wait! Old man, please show me the way!"
The old man in the gray robe turned back to look at her again, shook his head, and said, "No, no..."
People are strange sometimes. When they reach a dead end, they quietly resign themselves to death, but when a glimmer of hope appears, it's as if their whole being bursts into flames, and it's impossible to remain calm. So Qian Cuiyu chased after him again to stop him, staring at him for a long time before finally kneeling down on both knees.
Although she didn't utter a word, her intention was clear. A hint of helplessness flashed in the gray-robed old man's eyes, then he slowly said, "You are Qian Cuiyu?"
Qian Cuiyu's expression changed instantly—he recognized her! He actually recognized her!
The old man in the gray robe continued, "You broke with the Qian family for his sake, have you ever regretted it?"
Qian Cuiyu shook her head.
“Then I cannot save him,” he said.
"Why?"
The old man in gray robes said, "Because if you want to save him, you will have to pay a huge price."
Qian Cuiyu asked in a trembling voice, "What... price?"
The old man in the gray robe stared at her for a long time before saying, "For example—to forget each other from now on, even if we are separated by the ends of the earth."
Qian Cuiyu staggered back a few steps, never expecting that the price he was talking about would be like this.
"To stop him from going mad, I need to use even stronger internal energy to suppress him, but his martial arts are so high that I'm probably the only one in the world who can defeat him. If I want to save him, I must transfer all my life's worth of internal energy to him..."
Qian Cuiyu coldly interrupted him, saying, "I understand. Cuiyu dares not make such a presumptuous request. Please leave, sir."
The gray-robed old man shook his head and sighed, "It's not that I'm reluctant to give up my cultivation, but..." He glanced at Yin Sang on the ground, "In his current state, he's not worth me risking my life to save."
A chill ran up from the soles of her feet, and Qian Cuiyu finally understood what he meant.
"Golden Eye is a menace to the world. I cannot save such a dangerous individual, for no one can guarantee he won't harbor ambitions again. Therefore, unless his memories are erased, allowing him to be completely reborn and become the successor of Qingyantai, continuing my work," the gray-robed elder said calmly. "This is the price you and he must pay. It's better for him, but for you..."
Qian Cuiyu was completely speechless. The temptation was right in front of her, so alluring, yet so bloody! Two paths—one was to die together, with their time together already pitifully short; the other was to live together, but to make him forget her.
The gray-robed old man said, “Therefore, I want you to think it over carefully. I will take him away, reform him, give him a new life, and from then on, bring blessings to the martial arts world and spread virtue throughout the land. But you cannot go with me. Because memory is a very mysterious thing, and Qingyantai’s Nirvana Divine Skill is not omnipotent. There is no guarantee that he will remember the past because of you one day, and then all my efforts will be in vain.”
Qian Cuiyu said in a hoarse voice, "Am I the only one...?"
“Currently, it seems only you remain. Golden Eye has vanished, Liu Shumei is dead, and very few people know Yin Sang’s true identity. As long as he doesn’t actively recall the past, no one can recognize that the successor of Qingyantai was once the mysterious elder brother of Golden Eye.” The gray-robed elder nodded and said, “I’ll give you a day to consider. I’ll come back at this time tomorrow, and the choice will be yours.”
The footsteps faded away, but Qian Cuiyu remained standing there, motionless. The whole world seemed to darken before her, yet within that darkness, a glimmer of light shone, alluring and captivating.
Yin Sang, what should we do? What should she do? What should she choose?
When Yin Sang woke up, it was completely dark. A dim lamp on the table illuminated Jian Cuiyu's face; her deep eyes were fixed on him without blinking. Seeing that he was awake, she smiled and said, "We've made it through again."
Yin Sang grasped her hand, and before she could speak, Qian Cuiyu said, "Are you hungry? I made your favorite braised fish with broad bean paste and stir-fried rabbit slices with garlic."
Seeing that he didn't speak, she pulled him up like a little girl and said reproachfully, "I don't care, you have to eat everything I made!" As she spoke, she pressed him to the table, lifted the lid of the plate, and in addition to the braised fish with broad bean paste and the stir-fried rabbit slices with garlic, there was also a clear soup. The soup was beautiful in color and had a fragrant aroma. It was clear at a glance that a lot of thought had been put into making it.
Yin Sang smiled and said, "Hold out your hand."
Upon hearing this, Qian Cuiyu instinctively hid her hands behind her back. Yin Sang stretched out his arm and grabbed her hands in front of him. Sure enough, her ten fingers were red and swollen, with many broken skins. "It's so cold, don't get them wet. I'll take care of them when I wake up." He always carried medicine with him and immediately took out a bottle.
Just like many days ago, when she broke her hand playing the piano, it was him who, with his head bowed, carefully and gently applied medicine to her little by little.
Qian Cuiyu's eyes welled up with tears. Yin Sang helped her apply the ointment, then looked up and smiled, saying, "Alright, let's eat."