She chuckled through her tears.
Chapter 80 of "The Smile of the Flower": You Swear Again
In his arms, gazing into his eyes...
A sharp pain stung her eyes, and tears streamed down her cheeks. "What are we going to do now?"
Yi Chunjun frowned, his beautiful eyes widening: "What? What should we do?"
Xiaoyuan pushed his hand away, slowly stood up, gazed at the bright yellow forsythia outside the window, and sighed softly, "From now on... there will always be this wound in our hearts. These past four months, I've missed you." She confessed frankly, and his body trembled slightly as he listened quietly to her continue.
"...I've thought about coming to you, but can we still love each other like before? Can we still get along like before?" She closed her eyes with some worry. "Our love has been flawed, cracked."
He was silent for a moment, then stood up but didn't come over.
He uttered just two words in a cold tone: "Bullshit!"
She was startled, opened her eyes, turned her face to the side, and stared at him in a daze.
"I don't care about your flaws or your cracks in your heart!" he glared at her. "These past four months, I've come to understand one thing more and more. Whether you believe me or not is completely unimportant, as long as you're still by my side!"
She opened her mouth slightly in surprise, her lips trembling. These words... came from Yi Chunjun?
“Back then, I secretly took the Moon King's Seal…” He frowned, lowered his eyes, not wanting to speak, but unable to remain silent. “Actually, I knew you would doubt, waver, and come here! But you actually came, and I… I…” He pursed his lips, then raised his eyebrows, “I wanted to teach you a lesson, but I ended up teaching myself one!” He was somewhat self-deprecating and somewhat annoyed.
"Teach me a lesson...?" Her eyes blurred; these were the words she wanted to say but lacked the courage to. Yes! In the face of love or the absence of love, does belief or disbelief even matter?
“Yes!” he said sternly. “I want to tell you that in this life, you must believe in me as much as you believe in yourself! The consequence of not believing in me… is losing me.”
She looked at him, speechless.
"It's so unfair!" he complained. "You don't believe me, but... but I still can't let you lose me!"
She walked over and gently hugged him, her voice resolute. "I don't trust you? If I didn't trust you... I wouldn't have told you the secret. But after telling you, I can't help but doubt myself. I'm confused too. Yi Chunjun... do you still love me?"
He paused for a moment. "Nonsense!" he snapped, his long, slender fingers slowly lifting her chin. His eyes held a mixture of resentment and helplessness. "If only I didn't love you! I could just walk away gracefully! Why suffer like this!"
She pouted, "If you hadn't secretly taken the Moon King's Seal, would all this have happened?"
He snorted, "Thinking about it now, it was absolutely necessary!" He straightened his face and asked solemnly, "These four months apart... Li Yuan'er, can you live without me?"
She looked at him, about to say something, but he suddenly covered her mouth. "Don't say it! Don't say anything that will make me angry!" He glared at her, his face full of embarrassment and anger. "Of course you can! You've been hiding so well for the past four months! I don't care whether you can or not, in this lifetime, I will never let you escape even half a step again!"
Her heart skipped a beat, but it was sweet. She pulled his hand down and looked straight into his angry eyes. "In this life... I will never leave you again. And I trust you as much as I trust myself."
Silence... He looked at her in his arms, and she looked up at him holding her... No amount of words could compare to the affectionate look in her lover's eyes.
After a long while, she realized what she meant.
"You knew I'd come looking for you to settle scores?"
"Yeah, you're petty."
"You lied to me again?! Didn't you swear you'd never lie to me again?!" she accused, crying.
He was silent for a moment, then asked, "Is there?"
"Yes! You swore it to the heavens that day above the waterfall!"
"...I remember now. I mean, I won't lie to you intentionally anymore. Sigh, I've gotten used to it. This time it was unintentional," he lied.
"You!" Xiao Yuan glared at him.
"Alright, I've already been punished so severely! Do you know that it took us two days just to move the treasure from the outer chambers? I'm exhausted! And yet, you still give me such a cold look!" He felt wronged again.
"I was wrong, Yi Chunjun." She twisted her shoulders coquettishly, trying to laugh. "By the way, why was it arranged that way? Why did Palace Master Mieling abscond with the treasure to Western Xia?"
"When we arrived at Xiao Wang's tomb, those people had almost finished killing each other, leaving only a few powerful figures and aristocratic families. Needless to say, the Murong family, one by one, was all dealt with by Pei Junwu and me. The others who deserved to die were also dealt with very quickly."
"Mmm." She rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek, and sure enough, he looked a little smug.
"Regarding that treasure, I had already made this plan when I spread the word. Everyone has thoroughly explored that place and seen with their own eyes that it's empty. The most dangerous place is actually the safest. Closing the Soul-Severing Gate should ensure everything goes smoothly."
"How did you discover there was an inner room? And your blood can activate mechanisms, right?"
"There was no Sky-Supporting Curse in the outer room, and for two consecutive nights, I noticed that the moonlight shining through the holes in the dome representing the moon and Sirius was all on the same point, which is the hole where the mechanism is located, so I tried it. Actually, activating the mechanism doesn't necessarily require the blood of the Xiao family. I estimate that as long as the blood is human and the viscosity or temperature is sufficient, it can be activated."
"Then why did they kill the Palace Master Ling and take away the treasure, and then flee to Western Xia?"
"Besides the people in our sect, who else knows who the Palace Master of Extinction Palace is? Those who are looking for the Palace Master of Extinction Palace don't know what he looks like or what his background is. They could search to the ends of the earth and still not find him."
"Did you already have this scheme planned out all along?"
"Um."
Why must we go to Western Xia?
"Hmph! Saying he doesn't hold a grudge against Li Yuanhao is just fooling that idiot Yuanxun! I won't be satisfied until he suffers a bit."
"Look how badly you'll suffer if I believe you!" she seized the opportunity to accuse.
"Hmph! You still have the nerve to say that! I've never lied to you, let alone anyone else!" He glared at her.
"Aren't you lying?"
He remained silent, pursing his lips.