After Infusing Love Poison to the Cold Sword Sovereign - Chapter 22.2

Only Wu Ruo her heart pure and transparent, devoted to her, thinking only of her, following only her.

It had been so long since she had experienced such untainted affection.

How could she not miss her? How could she not long for her?

Love and hatred, intertwined to the marrow, had woven through her soul. The moment the girl’s blood had stained her sword, her world had darkened irreversibly.

From then on, no light could ever pierce through again.

She spoke heavily, “The matter of us becoming cultivation partners before, it was real. Cultivation partners are not an obstacle to cultivation, but rather a process of mutual benefit, nurturing the Dao through emotion.”

No one in the world could have imagined that the aloof Sword Venerable of the Emotionless Path, the dignified and noble Immortal Lord Luo Qingyi, would ever say something so contrary to her cultivation principles just to make the woman before her look at her one more time.

“?” Sounds like something a scheming woman from the Harmony Sect would say to trick someone.

Wu Ruo abruptly changed the subject, asking, “You say we were cultivation partners, do you have any proof?”

The woman faltered, as if seeing a glimmer of hope, her voice even carrying a pleading tone: “You can check, do you have a Qiankun pouch in your sleeve? We once left traces of our divine sense in each other’s spatial artifacts, making our external possessions mutually accessible. That was our promise. Look and see.”

Wu Ruo, half-doubting, lowered her hand and felt her sleeve. “Nope, nothing there.”

Luo Qingyi was taken aback for a moment before reaching for an old-fashioned coat hanging on the rack. It was a mortal-world design, made of fabric devoid of any spiritual essence, unable to withstand the harsh cold of the cultivation realm. The garment had already wrinkled, its fabric peeling in patches. She said, “Then it must be inside this.”

“Immortal Lord, don’t tease me. This kind of clothing is really mine?”

Wu Ruo couldn’t help but question as soon as she saw it, swallowing the word “ugly” out of respect for the other party. Yet, curiosity got the better of her, and her hand moved faster than her mind, taking the coat and rummaging through its tattered pockets.

A sense of comfort spread the moment her hand dipped into the pocket, as natural as a fish returning to water or a lost item finding its owner. The ragged pocket suddenly began to glow, the mortal fabric disintegrating into shreds, leaving behind a brand-new, luxurious treasure pouch.

She could feel it this Qiankun space seemed truly hers.

“Open,” Luo Qingyi commanded.

At the woman’s words, the Qiankun pouch burst forth with a dazzling golden light. A wisp of red silk floated out, winding around their fingertips like a fate-binding thread before vanishing without a trace.

“Now, are you willing to believe?”

Wu Ruo cradled the Qiankun pouch that belonged to her, not bothering to inspect the rare treasures inside most likely gifts from Luo Qingyi in the past. Instead, she retrieved some glass vials, insect larvae, and various materials for refining gu poison.

A little snake, long dormant, awoke from the pouch and coiled around her hand. Though she didn’t remember the serpent, the Miao villages always kept the Five Poisons as companions snakes and insects were nothing unusual to them.

Running her fingers over the familiar scales, she felt a bit more grounded, finally regaining a sliver of stability.

Though she still doubted the woman’s claims, her wariness lessened slightly. Casually, she asked, “How long have we been together?”

“Eighteen years.”

“Oh! Wait, eighteen years? You mean I’ve been in this immortal sect for over eighteen years?”

Wu Ruo shot to her feet, accidentally stepping on a shard of the teacup and wincing in pain. But her mind was elsewhere: “I’ve been away from the tribe for nearly twenty years? What could have happened to Miaojiang in all this time?”

Ignoring the cut on her foot, she hastily slipped on her shoes and made to dash outside.

Luo Qingyi quickly moved to block her path. “Wait! Miaojiang is perfectly fine. Just the other day, we received a letter of peace from the Miao envoys. You’ve suffered a head injury; it’s best to rest for a while.”

“Perfectly fine?” Wu Ruo pressed urgently. “No, I can’t stay away for so long without knowing how things are back home. Immortal Lord, please let me go back and see!Her desperation to return home made her brush past Luo Qingyi’s obstruction, charging toward the door.

The moment she opened it from the inside, she came face-to-face with an enlarged visage.

Jiang Qingbei stood at the threshold, holding an exquisitely packaged box, his expression sour. His hand was still raised mid-knock, frozen in shock at the sight of the long-lost acquaintance before him.

“Wu-Wu-Wu…” The young mistress, who had rehearsed her apology countless times in her quarters, immediately stumbled over her words upon seeing the real person. All her prepared lines vanished, leaving behind only disjointed, meaningless syllables.

“Hmph, though I’m also at fault, back then—”

“You are…?”

Both spoke at the same time. Though Jiang Qingbei had come to apologize, her pride kept the words stuck in her throat. Yet, she was met with Wu Ruo’s cheerful cry instead.

The Miao girl, who had just woken up, had been listless moments before, but the moment she saw Jiang Qingbei, her eyes lit up. She grabbed Jiang Qingbei’s hand excitedly. “A-Xiang!! You’re here too!”

The sudden address sent the young mistress into a flustered panic, scattering any coherent thoughts she had managed to gather. Jiang Qingbei stammered, “W-W-Wu Ruo, w-w-what are you doing?!”

Luo Qingyi hurried out of the room just then, frowning slightly at the sight of Wu Ruo holding Jiang Qingbei’s hand.

Jiang Qingbei, facing her directly, was all too familiar with her senior sister’s micro-expressions. Her heart pounded even harder, and she yanked her hand back in fright. “D-Don’t do this!”

The girl adorned in jewels and finery also wore a silver bracelet on her wrist, which peeked out again as her sleeve slipped slightly.

Wu Ruo’s eyes flicked to it briefly, confirming the other’s identity once more. Delighted, she said, “A-Xiang, did you come here as an exchange student too? Have you been back home these past few years?”

A chill ran down Jiang Qingbei’s spine. Between her senior sister’s jealous glare and Wu Ruo’s inexplicable familiarity, her already limited brain capacity short-circuited completely. “Huh? I’m not!”

“Junior Sister A-Xiang.” Luo Qingyi reacted swiftly, shooting Jiang Qingbei a meaningful look before speaking in a low voice. “Don’t you remember? Half a year ago, when you went down the mountain for training, you made a trip back to Miaojiang.”

Jiang Qingbei grew even more bewildered, but like a headless fly, she could only follow her senior sister’s lead. “Uh, I remember?”

Luo Qingyi’s voice, transmitted through a secret technique only audible to the intended recipient, finally reached her ears: “Wu Ruo has woken up, but she’s forgotten everything related to Zhiyuan Immortal Sect. A-Xiang is her childhood friend from the Miao village. Since she’s mistaken you for A-Xiang, play along and don’t let her leave.”

Tasked with this sudden responsibility, Jiang Qingbei nodded stiffly, her expression blank.

Under normal circumstances, she would’ve refused outright, but when it came to her senior sister’s orders, she had no choice but to brace herself. “Uh, Wu Ruo, the treatment here is really good. We’re both direct disciples of the elders now, so let’s not go back.”

Wu Ruo’s worries melted away instantly. Without suspicion, she beamed. “Really? That’s great! I’ve been forgetting a lot of things lately. Come on, show me around! And our dorm too.”

She didn’t forget Luo Qingyi, who stood just a step away. With a perfunctory attitude, she turned and flashed her a smile, waving. “Um… Partner-Sis, my friend’s here, so we’re gonna go explore first. We’ll talk about the rest later.”

Luo Qingyi had been about to stop them, ready to glare Jiang Qingbei into refusing. But when Wu Ruo turned back and called her “Partner,” the word sent a jolt of joy through her, sweeping away all other concerns.

Did this mean Wu Ruo was willing to talk to her? Even willing to acknowledge their relationship? Willing to give them another chance?

The words of protest died in her throat. In the end, all she said was a soft, “Go ahead. Come back early.”

Watching the retreating figures of Wu Ruo and Jiang Qingbei walking side by side, the former appeared full of energy from a distance, asking questions left and right, gradually merging with the image of the girl from her earliest memories, the figure she would never forget in this lifetime.

She gazed nostalgically as the two walked away, their silhouettes slowly blending into the horizon before disappearing from her sight.

Yet, Jiang Qingbei, trailing behind Wu Ruo, seemed out of place in the scene her expression blank and wooden, her movements stiff, as if she wanted to lose her temper but couldn’t quite manage it.

Luo Qingyi suddenly realized something and rushed out the door in a hurry.

She had overlooked Jiang Qingbei’s intelligence this junior sister of hers was utterly unreliable!

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