After Infusing Love Poison to the Cold Sword Sovereign - Chapter 21.4

The tassel remained pristine, untouched by flaw, yet the blade was drenched in crimson, her blood winding down the steel like a scarlet serpent.

The woman’s icy gaze settled upon her, ultimately hardening into a single command “Strike.” before she averted her eyes, offering no further glance.

The sword did not linger long in her heart perhaps only a few breaths before it was swiftly withdrawn, leaving behind a gaping wound that gushed with blood.

“Luo Qingyi!”

Her strength ebbed away, her life force dissipating with each surge of blood. She pressed a futile hand against the hole in her chest, whispering the other’s name.

“Do you hate me?”

Luo Qingyi had already turned away, her sleeves sweeping the air as she refused even a glance. At the sound of that final call, her figure paused just barely, almost imperceptibly before she quickened her steps and vanished without looking back.

This was fine.

She had brought this upon herself by cursing Luo Qingyi. Had she not been selfish, had she not entangled herself in this ill-fated bond, she would not have caused Luo Qingyi to fall from grace.

She would not have made Luo Qingyi the scorn of thousands, a laughingstock.

She truly deserved to repay Luo Qingyi with her life. Why had it taken her this long to realize?

Her thoughts were seized by agony, her mind growing sluggish, her vision blurring.

In her final moments of consciousness, she recalled the last illusion she had seen in the grand hall after refining the love curse.

What had that voice said? Do not break the curse and what else?

Do not let her prove her Dao.

So, this was it. Once the curse was broken, the lover who walked the Path of No Emotion would kill her to fulfill the will of Heaven.

Wu Ruo let out a self-mocking laugh, though she no longer had the strength to even twitch her lips. She lay sprawled on the ground, her blood staining the endless expanse of white snow into a scarlet sea.

And the elder who had promised to safely escort her away never came.

Had the dream ended?

Why hadn’t she woken up? Why was she still drowning in this boundless darkness?

Her consciousness slipped once more into a shapeless flow, her body adrift as if submerged in liquid. She struggled to discern the shifting world, to return to the life of an ordinary person but it was futile.

Let her wake up. Please, let her wake up. Let her return to the mortal realm, to the little girl’s side. She remembered there was a little girl. Did the girl have a mother? Or a father? What was her name? Xiao Yu’er?

She couldn’t recall.

It felt like she had forgotten so, so much.

Had the little girl asked her something about her past?

Her past… She had just dreamed of it. She remembered it clearly she was the Holy Maiden of Miaojiang, captured by a demonic cultivator while descending the mountain, and then there was.

Her head throbbed.

Later, she had saved someone. Who was it?

The pain worsened.

She couldn’t remember. Nothing came to mind. Every attempt to recall brought only suffering, every thought sent her trembling uncontrollably.

A voice seemed to whisper in her ear gentle, familiar, the kind that often lulled her to sleep.

But she could no longer remember who it belonged to.

“Forget it all,” the gentle voice said. “Aruo, forget all the pain.”

Was there something else after that?

Something like, “When you wake, I’ll give you a grand bonding ceremony”?

No, that couldn’t be right. She didn’t even know this person, why would she rashly agree to a bonding ceremony?

Wu Ruo kept her eyes closed, curling up as she clutched a loose piece of clothing in front of her. The collar was slack, and the scent clinging to it felt strangely familiar, yet she recognized nothing, remembered nothing.

A wave of dizziness washed over her again, and she sank into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Snowfall Peak, summit.

“Senior Sister! Senior Sister, you’ve been holed up in there for three days, did you bring that person back already?”

The proud young girl paced anxiously outside the Moonview Hall. As the direct junior disciple of Immortal Luo, she was the only one who could freely come and go from the summit after that incident. Everyone else couldn’t even catch a glimpse of Luo Qingyi.

Jiang Qingbei circled the area a few times, but no sound came from inside. Unwilling to stand around, she pulled an ice-silk lounge chair from her spatial storage and sprawled across the doorway.

“Senior Sister, last time you asked me to get Forgetful Dust from Hundred Herbs Peak, but Elder Wang said she was out. I managed to buy some outside the sect, it should have similar effects. Do you still need it?”

Forgetful Dust was a special type of high-grade elixir. Unlike most pills that enhanced cultivation, this one erased the most painful memories of a person’s life.

Demand for it was usually low only those plagued by inner demons that hindered their cultivation would resort to taking it. Expensive to produce and rarely sought after, even Hundred Herbs Peak’s alchemy hall didn’t keep it in stock.

The door opened, and Jiang Qingbei immediately sprang up from her chair, pulling out a few rose-red pills. “Here! A different kind of Forgetful Dust though it looks similar. Senior Sister, is this for that Miaojiang witch girl?”

“That’s thoughtful of you.” Luo Qingyi merely glanced at the pills in the girl’s hand, not taking them. A rare, nostalgic smile touched her usually cold face. “I procured some from Apricot Grove Sect recently. I no longer need them.”

“So you’ve already given it to her?”

“Yes.”

At this, Jiang Qingbei craned her neck curiously, trying to peek inside. “Is she asleep? When she wakes up, she won’t remember you. So you’ll have to win her over again? Hah, then I won’t have to apologize, she definitely won’t remember me.”

Luo Qingyi frowned, her tone cooling. “Forgetful Dust only erases painful memories.”

“Painful, Oh! You mean, making her forget that sword strike? That’s good. If her memories only hold the you who loved her, it’ll be easier to pick up where you left off.”

Luo Qingyi gave a slight nod, tacitly agreeing.

Jiang Qingbei withdrew her prying gaze and said breezily, “Alright then. Once she wakes up, when do you plan to hold the bonding ceremony? I’ll prepare gifts, she gave me a silver bracelet once, and I won’t take it for nothing. I’ll give her plenty in return, as an apology.”

“We’ll decide the date after discussing it with her when she wakes,” Luo Qingyi said, her brow tightening. “And you will apologize properly.”

“Fine, fine!” Jiang Qingbei pouted and huffed but didn’t argue further.

After exchanging these words, Jiang Qingbei departed, and the mountaintop once again fell into silence, with plum blossoms scattering quietly amidst the heavy snowfall.

Luo Qingyi returned to the house, brewed a cup of light tea, and sat quietly on the low stool by the bed, gazing greedily at Wu Ruo’s sleeping face.

It had been so many years since they last met.

At first, there was the pain of betrayal and manipulation.

Then, an overwhelming hatred.

Yet, after finally breaking free from the other, when she returned beneath the plum blossoms, all she could see in her mind’s eye was the playful, affectionate smile of the girl she had once loved along with the habits carved deep into her bones.

The heartache was unbearable, unforgettable.

She had thought Wu Ruo was dead. In a single night, her raven hair turned white, as lifeless as the eternal snow atop Falling Snow Peak.

Fortunately, the heavens granted her a second chance. She found Wu Ruo again, able to fulfill the marriage ceremony she owed her and renew the promise of an eternal bond.

She had already fed Wu Ruo the Dust of Forgetting. When the other awoke, she would forget the most painful moments of her life forget the sword that had once pierced her heart and reconcile with her.

And then, Luo Qingyi would make up for all the regrets of the past.

A flawless, blessed marriage ceremony. The apologies and repentance of the sect disciples who had once humiliated them. And the promise she had made to stay together forever.

“Ah Nuo,” Luo Qingyi murmured, staring at the other woman for a long time.

By her calculations, Wu Ruo should be waking soon.

The woman on the bed stirred slightly, her lashes fluttering before her eyes slowly, gently opened.

Those once-bright, lively eyes still held their luster, but now they were filled with deep unfamiliarity and the confusion of finding oneself in a strange place.

“Where is this?” Wu Ruo sat up, her drowsy gaze sweeping over the entirely unfamiliar surroundings before finally shaking off the last remnants of sleep, her eyes widening in alarm. “Hey, where am I?”

“Moonview Hall. After you left, I had it rebuilt and named it Moonview Hall, the name you once chose.”

Hearing this, Wu Ruo finally turned her head, only now noticing the woman sitting quietly by the bed, waiting for her with an intense, complicated emotion in her eyes.

She didn’t recognize her. Wasn’t she in Miaojiang? She was the next Holy Maiden, personally chosen by the Grand Witch! A-Xiang always said Jin Hua was eyeing her position, always trying to push her out. Could this be Jin Hua’s doing had she been kidnapped?

She needed to return to her tribe immediately, not stay in this strange place, awkwardly staring at some woman she didn’t know!

Wu Ruo scooted back on the bed, raising her left arm defensively as she demanded loudly, “Who are you?”

“…”

Luo Qingyi stiffened as if struck by something inconceivable. Her beautiful eyes widened in shock, her expression hollow and lost. “What did you say?”

“I said, who are you?” Wu Ruo gritted her teeth. Seeing that the other woman wasn’t immediately attacking, she mustered a bit more courage, straightening her posture to appear less vulnerable.

“I am the Holy Maiden of Miaojiang. If you return me to my tribe, I will repay your kindness. Though my cultivation is weak, our systems are different, I can still inflict harm on you. Surely you don’t want to be entangled with a desperate poison cultivator?”

As she spoke, Wu Ruo fumbled in her pocket but found no bottle there. Yet her panic lasted only a moment. The next second, she regained her composure and declared with unshakable confidence, “Of course, if you’re willing to let me go, my clan will assist me in offering you appropriate compensation.”

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