After Infusing Love Poison to the Cold Sword Sovereign - Chapter 17

Brilliant fireworks bloomed in the night sky, their dazzling outlines painting the darkness. The girls sang and danced, forming a lively circle around the altar. The bonfire crackled and popped, while the clear, melodious chime of silver bells rose and fell in waves.

“Want to try this? It’s called Bobo Crisp, my specialty.”

Beside them stood a small stone table, at the center of which lay a round tray already set with snacks. Wu Ruo nudged the plate toward Luo Qingyi, feigning nonchalance as she first placed the largest piece in the other woman’s hand before picking up a smaller one for herself.

“Ah, Teacher, you made Bobo Candy! Why didn’t you tell me? I want some too…”

Chuncao was about to sneak a piece when Lanting quickly pulled her back. “Use your eyes! See who Teacher made these for!”

Wu Ruo’s heart skipped a beat, her gaze flickering nervously as if caught red-handed. She delivered a swift chop with her hand. “Put that down.”

“Ohhh, I get it! Hehe, Fairy Big Sister, you should try it! Isn’t my teacher’s skill amazing? This is a rare chance, you should have her make it for you every day from now on…”

As Chuncao’s words grew bolder, Wu Ruo panicked, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She frantically moved to cover Chuncao’s mouth, only to hear Luo Qingyi chuckle softly. “Mmm, it’s delicious.”

The golden, crispy shell brushed against Luo Qingyi’s crimson lips as her pearly teeth parted slightly. Pale crumbs clung to the corners of her mouth, loosening with each subtle shift of expression.

Whether eating a meal or a snack, the woman’s demeanor remained poised and graceful, small bites, measured movements, sitting upright without a hint of impropriety.

Wu Ruo was entranced, forgetting even her tussle with Chuncao. It wasn’t until the girl’s exaggerated whining reached her ears that she snapped back to reality.

Luo Qingyi had swallowed it.

Inside was…

“Dearest, most beloved, most beautiful Teacher, won’t you spare just one bite for poor, helpless little me…?”

Noticing Wu Ruo’s dazed state, Luo Qingyi spoke up. “Give her some.”

The familiar voice snapped Wu Ruo out of her trance. “Yours is in another bamboo basket, go get it yourself. You’re too noisy.”

Chuncao let out an excited whoop and dragged Lanting away. Once again, Wu Ruo’s world narrowed to just Luo Qingyi her snow-white wrist emerging from wide sleeves, delicate fingers holding the crisp candy she had made.

Ancient texts said that a love charm could dissolve into anything. With a resolute heart, nothing was impossible.

When she had prepared the snacks, Wu Ruo had taken out the small vial containing the charm. It had melted into the glutinous rice on its own, vanishing without a trace yet she could still sense its presence.

With Luo Qingyi’s immense power, how had she not detected anything amiss in the snack?

Or perhaps, on this final day before departure, she had let her guard down around Wu Ruo.

“How is it? Sweet, isn’t it?”

Luo Qingyi nodded, her expression shifting slightly, indistinct in the dim evening light.

“Mmm…”

A soft, fleeting gasp seemed to linger in the air.

Before long, Luo Qingyi grew still, leaning back quietly in her chair as if slipping into a light slumber.

Wu Ruo gazed quietly at the other person. The clamor around her gradually faded into the distance, leaving only the soft breaths of the woman before her and her own increasingly steady heartbeat. From confusion and fear to adaptation and peace her emotions had settled.

The evening gathering ended amidst cheers, startling Luo Qingyi awake as she reopened her eyes.

The dispersing girls all greeted Wu Ruo and Luo Qingyi in turn. Surrounded by the young women, Luo Qingyi no longer carried the icy demeanor of a sword cultivator but instead seemed more like a gentle and kind elder sister.

Wu Ruo stood in place, watching as the naturally sociable girls crowded around Luo Qingyi, eager to show their admiration. News of how Luo Qingyi had saved the tribe had spread throughout Miaojiang, and now she was hailed as a great heroine.

Was it an illusion? Luo Qingyi seemed to be looking around for something…

Their eyes met, and in an instant, those dark pupils brightened. Luo Qingyi hastily said something to the girls beside her before squeezing through the crowd to reach Wu Ruo.

She heard her voice.

It was still the familiar tone, yet no longer cold and distant, pushing others away. Instead, it carried a hint of unusual tenderness.

A warmth settled on her hand cooler than her own body temperature, yet the touch of skin still set her heart ablaze, surging fiercely within her chest.

“Ah Ruo, it’s getting late. Let’s go back.”

She froze in disbelief. The affectionate address was something she had never heard before. The amnesiac Luo Qingyi of the past would either call her by her full name or respectfully address her as “Holy Maiden,” never with such intimacy like cradling a wisp of cloud, infused with the tenderness of a lover’s chamber.

Seeing her unresponsive, Luo Qingyi gave her hand a gentle squeeze and spoke again, “Ah Ruo? You usually rest at this hour. Go and sleep.”

So much concern, so much care.

Her breath grew faint, her heartbeat pounding powerfully, releasing the fervor in her heart. A single thought surged in her mind, overwhelming her emotions.

“Qingyi,” Wu Ruo whispered, “I love you.”

The lively gathering had dispersed, the prepared fireworks long spent. Yet the fireworks in her heart exploded in an instant, brighter and fiercer than any flame.

She heard Luo Qingyi’s voice: “Mm, me too.”

What was that sound?

Wu Ruo opened her eyes, but the sight before her was neither the familiar room nor the shared bed with Luo Qingyi. Instead, it was an empty, vast hall.

At the center of the hall stood several towering black pillars, covered in eerie and grotesque patterns, each design sinister and terrifying, as if not drawn by human hands.

The surroundings were dark, but faint wall lamps dimly illuminated the space. Beyond that, there was nothing.

“This is…”

A crushing weight descended abruptly, as though a massive mountain had collapsed in an instant, pressing down on her dazed heart. Her legs buckled, unable to support her, and she fell to her knees in the center of the pitch-black hall.

An ethereal voice echoed in her ears, the same one that had appeared in her dreams when she had dreamt of the love charm.

Wu Ruo suddenly felt a pang of regret, as if she had been caught in childhood doing something strictly forbidden by her elders, yet she had recklessly pursued it anyway.

But there was no reprimand as she had expected only a long, drawn-out sigh.

“Where love begins, it runs deep.”

“Where love ends… it neither dies nor fades.”

The voice grew low, mournful, laden with boundless suffering and despair.

“Never… lift the curse…”

The surrounding scene gradually dissolved, consciousness once more sinking into murky confusion. In the moment the last wall lamp burned out, she heard the voice turn desolate, yet tinged with the bitter regret of one who had realized their mistake too late.

“Don’t let her prove the Dao.”

A shiver ran through her body, as if Wu Ruo’s soul had found sudden support. Before the lamp oil could drip onto the floor, she desperately cried out, her voice hoarse with urgency, “What Dao?”

The voice hesitated, seemingly surprised that she could break through the barrier and speak to it directly. But it answered her nonetheless: “The Dao of Heaven is merciless.”

The light went out.

Familiar ceiling, familiar bed, and beside her, familiar…

“Ah Ruo, you’re awake? Did you have a nightmare?”

Luo Qingyi was on the bed, still in a meditative state rather than asleep. Seeing Wu Ruo open her eyes, the woman turned her face toward her, concern etched in her gaze.

When Wu Ruo didn’t answer, merely staring blankly at the ceiling, Luo Qingyi soothingly ruffled her hair before sitting up and cradling Wu Ruo’s head in her lap, gently massaging the sore acupoints on her scalp.

“It’s alright, Ah Ruo. Don’t be afraid. Just rest for a while.”

Her voice was soft, but the pressure of her fingers was firm. As they kneaded Wu Ruo’s skin, she realized the woman’s fingertips bore the calluses of years of sword practice yet they weren’t rough.

“Mmm…” Wu Ruo replied absently.

Under the skilled touch of the sword cultivator, the lingering terror of the dream seemed to fade. The delicate fragrance of the woman’s body filled her nose, like snow that clears the mind, pure and cool.

Wu Ruo’s courage grew, the wild grass in her heart sprouting recklessly, as if bewitched. Raindrops fell upon parched earth, nourishing a barren field starved of love.

“I like you.”

In the silence of the deep night, Luo Qingyi’s voice was exceptionally tender: “Me too.”

Encouraged, Wu Ruo pressed further, closing her eyes and indulging in the dreamlike comfort of the other’s embrace.

“Then, can you stay with me forever?”

“Of course.”

“Then…” Lost in this haven of tenderness, Wu Ruo seemed to have forgotten herself, like a child clutching a newfound candy and refusing to let go. “Promise me you’ll never leave me, never abandon me alone…”

She heard the woman chuckle lightly, as if amused by her willfulness, but the voice that followed was solemn, like a vow sworn unto death.

“Alright, I promise. We’ll be together forever.”

Satisfied, she drifted off to sleep. A fleeting warmth brushed her face, like the lightest gauze grazing delicate skin so gentle, yet so profound, leaving behind a trace in her heart as vivid as a stroke of crimson.

In that hazy moment, she thought she saw Luo Qingyi’s face magnified, so close it was almost within reach.

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