“Gu Zhong, actually—you don’t need to do so much for me. You have your responsibilities, and I have my obligations. If we each do our job, perhaps we can maintain peace in the divine realm.”
"But I want to do these things."
"Why?"
The Demon Emperor's question from earlier flashed through Ling Yan's mind, but it couldn't shake her thoughts. She opened her lips and softly uttered three words, her voice trembling almost imperceptibly.
--Why?
The simple three-word question stumped Gu Zhong. Before today, she had never thought about why she was doing this.
She didn't know when it started, but Lingyan had become the most important person in her heart.
Perhaps it was the righteous words spoken when we first met at Tianmen, or perhaps it was the casual birthday invitation and the guilt and longing for not being able to attend, that made it stay in my heart for many years.
Perhaps it was the warmth and affection they shared over the centuries that allowed her to experience true joy and happiness, or perhaps it was because Lingyan was the only one she could rely on for solace.
In the desolate and unemotional vastness of the heavens, they were like two delicate lotuses, intertwined and connected, drawing strength from each other to grow and survive, and had long been inseparable from one another.
Gu Zhong couldn't quite explain what kind of feelings this was. She only knew that Ling Yan was far more important than herself, and she was willing to give up everything to get anything Ling Yan wanted.
Looking into the bewildered and confused eyes before her, Ling Yan gently stroked Gu Zhong's face, her fingertips tracing the shape of his eyebrows and the corners of his eyes, then falling from his high nose bridge to touch his rosy lips.
A jumble of thoughts filled her mind, from admiring her upon hearing of her reputation to their first meeting and getting to know each other, through countless days and nights of spending time together, finally settling on Gu Zhong's silhouette being swallowed by the black hole.
Although Lingyan wasn't sure what kind of emotion this was, she knew at least one thing: she couldn't bear the possibility of losing Gu Zhong again.
Let's confirm it then. Maybe we'll lose all interest, but maybe—it will be some unexpected surprise?
The moment their red lips gently touched, everything in the world seemed to freeze in time.
Gu Zhong's eyes suddenly widened, and the noisy commotion outside the hall, the crackling flames in the sword furnace, and even the ambiguous atmosphere that was so close at hand all disappeared.
A firework of indistinct color exploded in her mind, burning away the delicate strings of reason within her brain, leaving only a blank.
She didn't know how much time had passed before those moist and sweet lips left, bringing her back to her senses from the dazzling dizziness. Gu Zhong's first reaction was to grab the sleeve that had gone and drag it back to her, so that she could greedily savor the taste that had captivated her once again.
Do you know now?
After a long, long time, so long that their knees, which were half-kneeling on the ground, were slightly numb, they finally said goodbye with reluctant red lips.
With a voice that had become languid and hoarse from a long sob, she leaned close to Gu Zhong's ear and asked again softly.
The rising moisture sprayed onto her earlobes, staining their fair and delicate contours red.
"Ayan, I—"
His throat trembled incessantly, and his barely suppressed excitement made Gu Zhong's voice deep and aggressive.
I love you.
Lingyan widened the distance between the two, allowing them to see each other's eyes and filling them with her own reflection.
She didn't speak, but endless joy and laughter overflowed from her eyes, expressing the same love.
"You have good taste!"
Finally, under Gu Zhong's burning gaze, she belatedly realized what audacious thing she had just done. She awkwardly turned her eyes away and muttered something shyly in a low voice.
Perhaps to celebrate the newlyweds, the fire in the furnace suddenly blazed up, a joyful sword cry rang out from the furnace, and a bright silver light appeared. A slender spirit sword leaped out from the furnace and rushed to Lingyan's side, nuzzling her clothes like a spoiled child.
Dark gold patterns appeared on the blade, exuding a rare spiritual aura—this was an excellent sword.
Even someone as devoted to swords as Gu Zhong couldn't help but feel envious and couldn't resist reaching out his hand to touch the blade.
Sensing the intent to covet, the new sword immediately gleamed coldly and stood in front of Lingyan, giving off an impression that strangers should stay away.
"Does this sword have a name?"
In the end, Gu Zhong could only suppress his feelings and turned to Ling Yan to ask.
"Yes, it's called—Smoke and Clouds."
Ling Yan rested her chin on her hand, pretending to ponder for a moment, before uttering a name that Gu Zhong knew all too well.
"ah?"
Yanyun was originally Gu Zhong's sword, but after accompanying Gu Zhong through countless battles, it was already overburdened. After traveling to the spatial rift, Yanyun completely fulfilled its mission, turning into dust, and its spiritual energy returned to heaven and earth.
"Gu Zhong, how about we make a bet?"
Ling Yan's words were all unexpected and taken aback.
"What?"
Looking at the smiling face of the person he loved, Gu Zhong's voice was also filled with sweetness.
"If you can reach the lotus pond before me, this sword will be yours."
As soon as she finished speaking, Ling Yan's figure disappeared from the spot.
Gu Zhong chuckled, stood up, and leaped away, his black sleeves fluttering as he chased after the enemy.
The outcome of this match was without a doubt. This sword was originally intended to be given to Gu Zhong, but the young god was too proud to give a gift. Even if it was a gift, it had to be given indirectly, under the guise of a bet, so that it could be given openly and honestly.
"Thank you for the sword, Ayan."
The war god in black blocked the woman in purple palace attire at the edge of the lotus pond, leaned in, and let the blooming lotuses of the pond conceal their passionate encounter.
Not far away, a fiery red robe lay atop the white jade bricks, gazing at them for a long time.
Chapter 153 The Supreme God and the God of War (Thirteen)
============================
Looking at the smoke and clouds circling around Lingyan but refusing to get any closer to him, Gu Zhong was so worried that his brows were almost knotted together.
"Ayan, am I that annoying?"
She put on a pitiful look and looked at Lingyan.
"Uh—maybe, a little bit?"
Lingyan smiled awkwardly, reached out and stroked the spine of Yanyun's sword. The sword, which seemed to have a mind of its own, swayed up and down, as if it were quite agreeing.
"Yanyun, be good—"
Like coaxing a disobedient child, Lingyan tried to speak softly to Yanyun.
She didn't know why Yanyun was so resistant to Gu Zhong; it was clearly a gift of a sword, yet this spirit sword refused to accept it.
The smoke and clouds swirled around halfway, seemingly intending to ignore her advice.
"What will it take for you to agree?"
The sword, its blade shimmering with smoke, paused for a moment before rushing towards Gu Zhong like lightning, slashing straight at him with a sharp sword aura.
Caught off guard by the sneak attack, Gu Zhong barely managed to dodge the move thanks to his honed reflexes.
But Yanyun did not give up, attacking her relentlessly with sword strike after sword strike.
Gu Zhong couldn't bring himself to kill a sword, especially one forged by Ling Yan herself. With nowhere to retaliate, the God of War could only flee in a sorry state, barely managing to hold his ground.
On that day, the entire divine realm witnessed a scene worth remembering—Lord Gu Zhong was chased by a sword throughout the entire Heavenly Palace of the divine realm.
Yanyun stopped chasing Gu Zhong until she was exhausted. She pointed at Gu Zhong with dissatisfaction, her arrogance seemingly provoking her to fight her.
"I won't fight you."
Gu Zhong understood its intention, looked helplessly at the spirit sword with its unique personality, and earnestly tried to communicate with it.
"If you break it, Ayan will feel bad."
Gu Zhong raised his eyes and looked at the brocade that was originally facing them not far away.
Yan Yun followed her gaze and noticed that the sword's menacing aura had lessened considerably.
"Are you unwilling to follow me because you're worried about her?"
Sensing the change in the spirit sword's aura, Gu Zhong vaguely understood Yan Yun's thoughts and tentatively asked.
Yan Yun froze for a moment, then turned halfway around, facing Gu Zhong with a different face, without responding.
Gu Zhong chuckled softly; this arrogant personality was exactly the same as Ling Yan's.
"You are a sword. Without a sword, you cannot unleash your full power. Only in my hands can you protect her—I will do everything in my power to protect her..."
Whether the smoke and clouds sensed Gu Zhong's sincerity or had to admit the truth of what she said, it let out a soft cry and transformed into a stream of light to get close to Gu Zhong.
When Lingyan caught up with the crazed man and sword, the battle had already ended, and Yanyun was obediently held in Gu Zhong's palm.
"It—gave in?"
Lingyan asked in surprise, seemingly not expecting that this grumpy sword would admit defeat so easily.
"No, we made a covenant."
Sensing the tremor of Yanyun's dissatisfaction, and to prevent it from causing trouble again, Gu Zhong quickly denied it and said a seemingly plausible but actually witty remark to Lingyan.
"What?"
"Hmm—it's not important. Ah Yan, let me tell you—this time when I fell into the spatial rift, I unexpectedly discovered a good place."
Gu Zhong leaned closer to Ling Yan, bent his knees and sat down next to her, casually changing the subject with a teasing tone.
"Gu Zhong, do you know you almost died there?! And you still have the leisure to explore some desolate wilderness?"
As expected, Lingyan immediately stopped pursuing the matter of Yanyun, and, having gathered her anger, unleashed a torrent of abuse on Gu Zhong.
"I didn't expect Ah Yan to be so worried about me!"
He deliberately leaned close to Lingyan's ear and chuckled softly, watching her reaction with malicious intent.
"You! Who's worried about you, you bastard?"
The little goddess's face flushed bright red instantly; when it came to being a rogue, her thin skin always put her at a disadvantage.
Gu Zhong smiled gently, stopped joking, and began to tell her the whole story in detail.
"I'll take you to see that place next time, okay?"
"good…"
No one could have imagined that this promise would be delayed for so long, so long that everything had changed and people were no longer the same.