After Being Certified by the Immortal Lord on the Path of Ruthlessness - Chapter 36

“Different from caring about me?” Ling Lan softly repeated Jiang Mianhao’s words, pondering the deeper meaning behind them.

 

Jiang Mianhao hummed in agreement, unsure how to articulate her thoughts.

 

Even she couldn’t clearly distinguish her feelings toward Lu Jiu.

 

All she knew was that whenever she saw Lu Jiu injured or in pain, her own heart ached in response.

 

In those moments, it felt as though their senses were interconnected.

 

Jiang Mianhao found it incredibly strange. A sensation she had never experienced before.

 

Moreover, whenever her gaze fell upon the Tongxin Kou identical to her own, ripples of emotion surged uncontrollably through her heart.

 

“Why?” Ling Lan lifted her head, her usually cheerful eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Why is she different?”

 

The surroundings remained noisy, yet time seemed to stand still for Ling Lan.

 

As she looked at Jiang Mianhao, a tumult of emotions welled up inside her.

 

Ling Lan didn’t understand why she felt this way. This overwhelming sense of losing the person before her.

 

Even though Jiang Mianhao was standing right in front of her.

 

Her ears, reddened because of Lu Jiu; her tension, stirred by Lu Jiu.

 

And now, even as she stood before Ling Lan, physically present, her heart lingered with the person lying on the bed just beyond the door.

 

Before hearing an answer, Ling Lan closed her eyes.

 

She yearned for one, even though she seemed to have already grasped it.

 

“Huh?” Jiang Mianhao was taken aback by the question, her mouth slightly agape as she struggled to find words.

 

Why was Lu Jiu different?

 

Jiang Mianhao couldn’t explain it herself. She hadn’t even realized when Lu Jiu had carved out such a significant place in her heart.

 

Was it when Lu Jiu, after accidentally hitting her, took her out to bask in the sun every day and helped her achieve human form?

 

Was it when she protected her repeatedly, sparing no spiritual power?

 

Or was it when she descended from the skies just as danger approached?

 

But Ling Lan had done all these things too.

 

Jiang Mianhao’s mind grew muddled. She let out a weary sigh. “I’m sorry, Lanlan. I don’t know either.”

 

“I don’t know why my feelings for Lu Jiu are different.” Jiang Mianhao pressed her lips together and lowered her gaze.

 

Suddenly, Ling Lan no longer wanted to know the answer.

 

She felt grateful for Jiang Mianhao’s obliviousness, relieved that her response was simply, “I don’t know.”

 

“But,” Jiang Mianhao lifted her head and looked earnestly at the person before her, “you will always be my family, the one I care about the most.”

 

Though she had her answer, Ling Lan couldn’t bring herself to smile. She reached out and ruffled Jiang Mianhao’s hair.

Ling Lan spoke slowly, each word deliberate and sincere. “I will always be by your side, too.”

 

It wasn’t until Jiang Mianhao had changed the water for the third time that she finally allowed herself to rest.

 

A dull, persistent ache still throbbed in her chest.

 

The person on the bed lay still, whether asleep or unconscious.

 

Her typically aloof and expressionless face was deathly pale, with fine beads of sweat continuously forming at her temples.

 

She seemed to be enduring some intense, grinding pain.

 

Sitting by the bedside, Jiang Mianhao watched the suffering figure, her own heart aching in sympathy.

 

She didn’t dare pause the cloth in her hand, gently wiping away the sweat trickling from the other’s forehead.

 

Originally, Ye Qingge had only suffered from spiritual energy backlash, but now she was once again trapped in a nightmare.

 

Around her raged ferocious, blazing flames.

Her inherently icy-cold body was subjected to the torment of fire.

 

This was the price she had to pay for being a Divine Maiden.

 

Her unique, once-in-a-millennium circumstances and innate extraordinary talents had all turned into endless suffering, tormenting her.

 

Although she had fallen into a nightmare, Ye Qingge’s senses remained intact.

 

She stayed lucid, enduring the torment again and again, gritting her teeth and relying on her tenacious willpower to hold on.

 

The scorching heat around her grew increasingly intense, as if someone outside were stoking the flames.

 

Ye Qingge could no longer bear it; the inside of her mouth was already bleeding from biting down.

 

The bone-deep pain threatened to devour her sanity.

 

She groped for her little finger.

 

This was her trump card to endure the nightmare.

 

Just as she grasped her little finger, her hand was taken by someone else.

 

A pair of hands held hers.

 

Amid the endless flames, those hands were the only source of coolness.

 

Ye Qingge’s senses faltered, but her vision was pitch black, her entire being trapped in the nightmare.

 

She couldn’t discern where those hands had come from.

 

But with their arrival, the scorching heat around her dissipated.

 

Ye Qingge couldn’t help but grasp those hands.

 

That touch of coolness became the only guide leading her out of the nightmare.

 

Jiang Mianhao watched as her own hand was grasped.

 

A pair of sweaty, red hands pressed against hers, with snow-white skin that seemed to burn like a flame, scorching Lu Jiu’s palm.

 

The burning heat pressed against her, startling Jiang Mianhao but she did not pull away.

Instead, she held Lu Jiu’s hand even tighter.

 

Lu Jiu seemed to be in great pain.

 

Jiang Mianhao couldn’t free her hands to brush aside Lu Jiu’s hair, so she could only watch as the strands were soaked with sweat.

 

“Lu Jiu,” Jiang Mianhao called out patiently. “Wake up, Lu Jiu.”

 

She held Lu Jiu’s hands with both of hers; the initial grip wasn’t enough.

 

Separating her fingers, she tightly wrapped them around Lu Jiu’s, forming an interlocking clasp.

 

“Lu Jiu, open your eyes. Lu Jiu.”

 

The clasped fingers tightened, as if enduring some immense agony.

 

Jiang Mianhao worriedly watched Lu Jiu’s little finger, fearing it might shatter at any moment.

 

This was something Jiang Mianhao had discovered by chance last time Lu Jiu often had nightmares.

 

And Lu Jiu’s way of escaping the nightmares wasn’t by jolting awake, but by forcibly breaking her own little finger.

 

“Lu Jiu,” Jiang Mianhao coaxed patiently. “Lu Jiu, wake up. It’s just a dream. Wake up, and it’ll be over.”

 

Ye Qingge heard Jiang Mianhao’s voice by her ear, but her own ten fingers remained tightly clasped, unable to move.

 

The scorching heat around her miraculously dissipated with each soft call.

 

Gradually, light appeared before her eyes, and Ye Qingge crawled out of the alchemy furnace.

 

Step by step, she moved toward the light.

 

Finally, as she approached the source, the heavy weight pressing down on her slowly faded away.

 

The lightness of shedding the burden made her let out a long sigh.

 

Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and she gradually opened her eyes.

 

Seeing the awakened person, Jiang Mianhao was overjoyed and whispered, “You did so well, Lu Jiu.”

Still in a daze, Ye Qingge blinked, slowly regaining her senses.

 

The unruly spiritual power that had run amok inside her body had plunged her into darkness and dragged her into the nightmare.

 

But the usually terrifying and unbearable nightmare had been escaped, thanks to Jiang Mianhao’s persistent calls.

 

Ye Qingge opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

 

The flames of the nightmare had stripped away all her senses; waking up, she felt like a fish gasping for water.

 

“Are you thirsty?” Jiang Mianhao asked, looking at her pale lips, anxiously rising to fetch water.

 

The tightly interlocked fingers pulled her back.

 

The one who had just stood settled back down.

 

“What’s wrong, Lu Jiu?” Jiang Mianhao coaxed softly. “I’m not leaving. I was just going to get you some water. Aren’t you thirsty? And you’re sweating. It must be uncomfortable. Let me wipe it for you, okay?”

 

Ye Qingge shook her head, refusing to let go of the hand she held.

A strange emotion, surging from the heart-bond, had taken hold of Ye Qingge’s heart.

 

She hadn’t fully awakened from the nightmare and refused to release Jiang Mianhao’s hand.

 

The trial of love remained unresolved, and the Heavenly Dao had already issued a warning.

 

Ye Qingge could only cling to Jiang Mianhao’s hand, unwilling to let go.

 

“Not thirsty?” Jiang Mianhao sighed, moving a little closer. “Do you want to sleep some more? Does anywhere on your body hurt?”

 

Ye Qingge simply shook her head, still holding Jiang Mianhao’s hand tightly.

 

“You don’t want me to leave?” Jiang Mianhao guessed her meaning and moved even closer.

 

This time, Ye Qingge didn’t shake her head. Instead, she closed her eyes and instinctively leaned toward her.

 

Jiang Mianhao was amused by the small gesture and couldn’t help but smile, her eyes curving with laughter.

 

The one who had just awakened from the nightmare had no strength, only nodding and shaking her head like a pitiful little puppy.

 

“Alright, I won’t leave.” Jiang Mianhao moved closer, her thigh pressing gently against Ye Qingge’s forehead.

 

With each inch closer, the emotions in her heart surged even more intensely.

 

Ye Qingge’s forehead was already pressed against Jiang Mianhao’s thigh, unable to get any closer.

 

So she opened her eyes and gazed at the person beside her.

 

Jiang Mianhao looked back gently and, sensing her gaze, asked softly, “What’s the matter?”

 

Ye Qingge didn’t speak, only blinked.

 

Jiang Mianhao glanced at her own held hand, then at the small distance between them.

 

If she wasn’t mistaken…

 

“Do you want me to hold you?” Jiang Mianhao whispered.

Ye Qingge paused, neither shaking her head nor nodding, just blinking as she looked at her.

 

Her gaze was as clear as water, her golden pupils reflecting Jiang Mianhao’s figure.

 

Jiang Mianhao shifted slightly, bringing her legs together. “Then… can I let go of one hand to hold you? I’ll keep holding the other.”

 

The response wasn’t verbal, but a slight loosening of a hand.

 

Jiang Mianhao smiled softly, knowing her guess was correct.

 

With the freed hand, she first picked up the handkerchief beside her and gently wiped the sweat from Ye Qingge’s temples.

 

Then she reached for the water on the table and carefully fed some to Ye Qingge.

 

The series of actions flowed seamlessly, as if rehearsed countless times in her heart.

 

Jiang Mianhao set the cup down, lifted her hand slightly, and after bringing her legs together, rested Ye Qingge’s head in her lap.

 

“Sleep a little longer, okay?” Jiang Mianhao patted the back of the person in her arms gently, coaxing her softly.

 

Ye Qingge, having just awakened from the nightmare, hadn’t intended to sleep again.

 

But nestled in Jiang Mianhao’s embrace, she unknowingly closed her eyes.

 

Listening to the gradually steady breathing of the person in her arms, Jiang Mianhao couldn’t resist lowering her head to look at the face resting against her.

 

It seemed she had found the answer to the question that had been on her mind.

 

Why was it different?

 

Perhaps…

 

It was the secretly reddened ears after accidentally seeing Lu Jiu bathing.

 

It was the transgressive desire to taste the sugar-coated hawthorn when it brushed against Lu Jiu’s lips.

 

It was the face buried in her embrace every morning upon waking.

 

Jiang Mianhao gazed at the person sleeping in her arms and couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile.

 

This usually aloof and proud individual had let down their guard beside her, sleeping so peacefully.

 

Finally, Jiang Mianhao understood why Lu Jiu was the exception.

 

Because of favoritism.

 

Because they were the only one.

 

Because she felt a physical desire for Lu Jiu that crossed boundaries. A desire she didn’t feel for Ling Lan.

 

Like now, in the long, quiet night, the serene sleeping face of the person in her arms made her want to draw closer.

 

Closer.

 

Even closer.

 

By the time Jiang Mianhao realized it, her lips were already pressed against the corner of the other’s forehead.

 

And the one still lost in dreams remained completely unaware.