Can I refuse?
"Can't."
"I still refuse. No one can take me away from him," Xue Qing said firmly, though her words sounded a little awkward.
"You just said you'd marry me! You broke your promise! You'll never get married! You'll never get married!" Linghu Julin was enraged by Xue Qing.
"The martial arts novels your older brother bought you are all old editions. It's not popular for heroes to be paired with beauties anymore. Every Ultraman has a little monster silently getting beaten up by his side, and every hero has a bandit leader silently getting beaten up by his side. You're still young, but you'll definitely meet your own bandit leader in the future." Xue Qing patted Linghu Julin's shoulder encouragingly.
"What are you saying? Is it a dialect? I don't understand it," Linghu Julin asked in confusion.
Xue Qing smiled wickedly: "How could you mere mortals possibly understand what I'm saying? I have a more profound language, ABCDEFGHIJKL...VWXYZ. How about that? You understand even less."
"This is the madness that my brother mentioned, which relapses from time to time. It's alright, I can tolerate it because you're good-looking," Linghu Julin said, frowning.
"Actually, I'm already pregnant with someone else's child," Xue Qing said, looking heartbroken.
“Although my elder brother said we shouldn’t marry a woman with a child, I can overlook that because you’re beautiful,” Linghu Julin said, his brows furrowing even more.
"I have body odor."
"I'll find a doctor to treat you."
"I have athlete's foot."
“I can endure it.”
"I don't wash my hands after using the toilet."
"I will urge you to correct it."
"Actually... I'm a man." Xue Qing finally used her trump card.
Linghu Julin's brows furrowed so deeply that they were almost twisted into a knot. After holding it in for a long time, he finally said, "This... I can't accept it."
"Yay!" Xue Qing cheered. The little brat was no match for her. Had he ever seen what it meant to fall in love with a fertilized egg? Had he ever seen what it meant to breastfeed with a cucumber? She had seen it all! She was the epitome of a strong-willed, resilient young woman from the 21st century!
"You're here. Did you get Ling Shu?" Liu Ying asked as she walked over from a distance.
"Of course, look who's in charge," Xue Qing said proudly.
Linghu Julin pondered for a moment and said, "You just said you're pregnant, is it his...?"
Before Linghu Julin could finish speaking, Xue Qing punched him hard on the head, making him unable to speak.
"You rude and vicious woman! Just like my second sister! Neither of you will ever get married! You will never get married!" Linghu Julin roared.
Xue Qing lowered her eyelids and made a face at him: "Ling Shu is mine now, I'll be happy even if I never marry." After saying that, she grabbed Liu Ying and left, leaving Linghu Julin, who was fuming with anger.
“I always feel like you’ve been talking nonsense to him,” said Liuying.
Xue Qing said seriously, "Actually, you're a woman disguised as a man? Only a woman's intuition can be so accurate."
"Ha, I can never beat you when it comes to twisted logic," Firefly teased.
"You little brat, behave yourself. Your antidote is still in my hands," Xue Qing said, stroking Liu Ying's chin.
"Yes, yes, your words are like sacred decrees to me. Even if I were asked to pluck the stars and the moon, I would do it without hesitation," Liu Ying said with a gentle smile.
Seeing Liu Ying's smile, Xue Qing's cheeks flushed, but she still wouldn't let it go: "Come on, do you think this is a play? If I ask you to pluck the moon, are you going to bring out a basin of water? That trick has been played to death. I'm more knowledgeable than you think. Don't try to fool me. If I ask you to pluck the stars, can you pluck them?"
"Wait for me here, don't go," Liu Ying told Xue Qing, telling her to wait where she was while she ran off.
A little while later, Liu Ying returned carrying a basin of water and placed it not far from Xue Qing.
"No, are you really going to fool me with a reflection in the water? It's okay for the moon, but it's too difficult to see the stars," Xue Qing said unhappily.
Liu Ying drew the Suwen sword from her waist. The pure white blade seemed to be shrouded in a faint halo under the moonlight, while the edge gleamed with a cold, clear light.
"Uh, I was just kidding, please don't kill me to silence me for this!" Xue Qing pleaded, raising her hands above her head.
As Liu Ying extended her sword, Su Wen spun in a graceful arc, the tip of her sword lightly dipping into the water in the basin, stirring up a tiny splash. Because of the speed and power of her sword strike, the splashes of water scattered high in the air. One sword, two swords, three swords, four swords... Liu Ying continued to stir up water splashes from the basin, and the countless tiny water droplets, enveloped in moonlight, shimmered like stars.
Xue Qing was stunned. A bright smile involuntarily appeared on her lips, but in her heart she was screaming, "God, don't let me be so happy! If something so wonderful is unattainable, I'll feel like taking revenge on society!"
If she went over and hugged him now, would it be considered indecent? Would she be pushed away? It didn't matter; if she was pushed away, she would just pounce on him again, becoming more and more courageous, invincible. So many longings, so many unrequited desires, so much love and so much attachment—all these emotions scattered on the ground, forming a track that led Xue Qing to Liu Ying, and she hugged her tightly.
He didn't push her away, nor did he embrace her in return. He simply accepted her embrace quietly. The scattered water droplets were swallowed by the thick snow of Blissful Peak. The bright moonlight gently enveloped everything like a thin veil. Their body heat warmed the sky, the earth, and their memories. She remembered the first day after she transmigrated, when this person in white robes and a green sword asked her, "Are you feeling better?" She accidentally stumbled upon him bathing and almost killed him in a fit of shame and anger. Facing Yan Ming, he could throw down his sword for her and endure twelve stabs without complaint. He was there when she first saw a corpse, when she first killed someone, when her second senior brother died, when the silkworm died, when she cried, and when she laughed. He was there for her, as gentle as the moon, yet he became a warmth she couldn't leave, like the sun. Please, don't fall below the horizon, don't throw her into darkness when her eyes were already set for the sun.
"Alright! Goodnight!" Xue Qing suddenly let go of Liu Ying and ran all the way to her room. After locking the door, she leaned against the door and burst into tears. "Liu Ying, how much of the only memories that have sustained me until now are because of what you did for me? I want to treat you the way you treated her before. Will my ending be like yours before?"
Xue Qing squatted down along the door panel, crossed her arms and hugged herself tightly. She felt a chill running through her body. Had she caught a cold from standing in the snow for too long? So cold, so cold that she felt frozen stiff and couldn't move. It felt like her internal organs had frozen solid. Xue Qing felt like she was about to die, and she was so cold that she fainted.
When Xue Qing woke up at daybreak, she found herself lying by the door. Her body was no longer cold. Could it be a sudden cold? It came on so quickly. And it recovered so quickly—was it some kind of miracle cure?
Now that she had obtained the Spirit Pivot, it was time to go back and make the people of Kunlun Palace envious and jealous of her. Xue Qing put the Spirit Pivot in her bag, still carrying the Qingyun Sword at her waist. The Spirit Pivot's blade was too soft. Everyone said it was the best sword in the world, but it was practically unusable. At most, it could be used as a whip to add some fun to the bedroom. If she used it to kill someone, people would think she was just teasing them.
Upon meeting Liu Ying, Xue Qing felt somewhat awkward, but Liu Ying showed no particular reaction. He probably hadn't been drinking last night and wouldn't have forgotten what happened. The two bid farewell to the Linghu siblings. Linghu Julin sighed upon seeing Xue Qing, likely lamenting that such a handsome girl was a man.
Xue Qing and Liu Ying had already gone down the mountain when Linghu Julin suddenly remembered something. He ran to the edge of the cliff and shouted down the mountain, "You lied to me! How could it be a man if you're pregnant!"
Unfortunately, Xue Qing couldn't hear it. If she could, she would have patted Linghu Julin's head earnestly and said, "You're still young. There's something called male childbirth."
By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, Xue Qing's feet were aching. She asked Liu Ying to fetch a horse-drawn carriage from town, and then sat down at the foot of the mountain to wait.
After the fireflies left, Xue Qing sat alone on the snow. When she got bored, she drew Old Man Ding on the snow.
"Long time no see, you seem to be having a lot of fun," a charming and unrestrained voice said.