After My Faked Death Failed, My Ex-Wife Came Chasing After Me - Chapter 46.2

“Oh, I see. Senior Brother truly understands things better…”

The more Lu Ting’an listened, the colder her heart became.

Could it be that Sun Youqing and Lu Qingchen have gone mad?! They must know perfectly well in their hearts that Lin Zheng has nothing to do with the rebellion against the immortal sects; otherwise, why would they have saved her? Yet even so, they were unwilling to let her go.

The five fingers under Lu Ting’an’s sleeves tightened slightly. She bit her lip and boldly walked out.

When the two disciples saw her, they were first stunned, then hurriedly came forward to bow: “Eldest Miss! Oh, in the dead of night, why have you come to such a place? If anything happens, we won’t be able to bear the responsibility.”

Lu Ting’an felt a surge of joy. She had just been thinking that these two outer disciples probably didn’t know about her confinement yet, and perhaps she could trick them into opening the door.

“Open the door.”

Hearing this, the two disciples were instantly terrified: “Eldest Miss, this… this won’t do. Without the Sect Leader’s order, no one is allowed to enter the Soul-Severing Prison.”

Lu Ting’an gave them a cold sideways glance and said: “Are you two tired of living? Lin Zheng is about to be executed. As her junior sister, what is wrong with me coming to see her off? Open the door.”

The disciples looked at each other and ultimately did not dare to offend her. They unhooked the keys and opened the gates of the Soul-Severing Prison.

Lu Ting’an stepped into the hall, and the two heavy doors slowly closed behind her. A ghostly wind blew in the prison, chilling her to the bone. Lu Ting’an couldn’t help but shiver. She quickly lit the fire-starter in her hand and, using that tiny bit of light, moved forward step by step to search.

As she got closer, her footsteps stopped abruptly.

She saw two cold-gleaming dark iron chains hanging from the stone pillars on both sides, firmly imprisoning the figure in the center of the hall. Lin Zheng knelt there with her head bowed, motionless.

A ray of bright moonlight fell diagonally from the window, reflecting her pale face and making her figure look exceptionally thin.

Lu Ting’an didn’t care about anything else. She rushed forward to grab Lin Zheng’s arm, her voice trembling involuntarily: “Wake up, Lin Zheng, wake up!”

Lin Zheng’s lips moved, and then she slowly opened her eyes. She looked up at her, her eyes full of astonishment. Her voice was hoarse as she said: “…How is it you? What are you doing here? Go back quickly.”

Lu Ting’an stomped her feet in anxiety. “Worry less about me and worry about yourself! Do you know that the Master and the Sect Leader want to kill you? You’re to be executed in two days, and you’re still not thinking of how to escape?”

Lin Zheng looked blankly at the ancient-patterned green bricks in the hall, which were mottled with old, dark red bloodstains. She gave a bitter laugh and said: “From the moment Master sent me to the Soul-Severing Prison, I already knew.”

Lu Ting’an was dumbfounded, freezing on the spot. After a long while, she spoke in disbelief: “Lin Zheng… have you gone mad? Since you knew, why did you still walk into the trap?”

Lin Zheng gave a light sigh and looked up, her eyes full of clarity. She said: “Lu Ting’an, do you know what it means to be ‘guilty of possessing a jade’? Now that the flames of war between the demon race and the cultivators have been lit, no matter how I explain, who will believe me?”

“Furthermore,” she paused, her voice dropping a few notches, “Master and the Sect Leader both showed me the kindness of recognition. I was orphaned in Qingqiu when I was young. If they hadn’t taken me in, I would have been left without a corpse long ago. Since they want my life, then I shall return it to them.”

Lu Ting’an simply couldn’t listen anymore. Internally, she frantically complained about when Lin Zheng would ever change her stubborn “donkey” temper. She blurted out: “Are those even the same thing? Think about your mother; she is still suppressed under the Demon-Locking Tower. Are you not going to save her anymore?”

At the mention of her mother, a trace of pain flashed through Lin Zheng’s eyes. Her fingertips tightened slightly, and she remained silent for a moment.

Seeing her waver, Lu Ting’an immediately struck while the iron was hot: “You don’t truly want to die; you’re just bound by those pedantic notions of ruler and subject, father and son, loyalty, filial piety, and gratitude! If you die like this, that would be the true tragedy!”

Lin Zheng was stunned. She looked up at her, her gaze full of disbelief: “You… why do you care so much about my life? Clearly, in the past, you loathed contact with me so much that you weren’t even willing to give me a second glance…”

As Lin Zheng’s questions grew lower and lower, Lu Ting’an’s heart sank bit by bit.

After a long time, she finally spoke, her tone more serious than ever before: “Lin Zheng, I can’t explain this matter to you.”

“But you must remember,” Lu Ting’an looked at her and said word for word, “I care about your life very much. Extremely much. So, please, you must pull yourself together, okay?”

Lin Zheng looked at her with a complicated expression and suddenly asked a question out of the blue: “Lu Ting’an… who exactly are you?”

Lu Ting’an was suddenly choked up. She diverted the topic without leaving a trace: “Who else could I be? A sucker. Enough nonsense—do you want to escape or not?”

Lin Zheng stared at her blankly and did not speak.

Lu Ting’an cursed under her breath, feeling as though her brain had truly taken in water. Her painstaking persuasion felt like playing a lute to a cow. She turned to leave.

But in the next instant, the hem of her robe was tightly grasped.

Her footsteps stopped, and she slowly turned her head. She saw Lin Zheng take a deep breath, her fingertips trembling, with a trace of struggle and sorrow in the way she looked at her.

“Lu Ting’an, I don’t want to die.”

Lu Ting’an looked down at her and suddenly let out a light laugh.

Not long after, Lu Ting’an used the passage token Lu Qingchen had given her to very smoothly lift the restrictions of the Soul-Severing Prison. She then drew Lin Zheng’s Broken Moon sword. With two “clangs,” the two dark iron chains were completely severed.

Lin Zheng rubbed her wrists, which had been marked red by the iron chains. She looked at the moonlight covering the ground outside the back door of the Soul-Severing Prison. The insects chirped, the shadows of the trees swayed, and the night wind gently brushed past the strands of hair on both their foreheads.

Lu Ting’an pulled a heavy money bag from her robes and stuffed it into Lin Zheng’s arms, saying in a deep voice: “Once you leave, Master and the others will definitely think you’ve fled to avoid punishment. It will be impossible for you to ever return.”

“However, it’s just as well. Staying in the Baiyun Luying Sect is boring anyway. You are free now.”

Lin Zheng gazed quietly at her face. It made Lu Ting’an feel a bit uncomfortable. She gave her a reproachful push and said: “What? Are you reluctant to leave me?”

Lin Zheng stood in the moonlight. Her usually cold and sharp features were now full of tenderness.

“Thank you.”

Lu Ting’an’s cheeks turned slightly red. She scratched her head bashfully and said with some embarrassment: “It’s nothing. Consider it repayment for the many times you risked your life to save me. You know, as the Eldest Miss of the Baiyun Luying Sect, I never…”

Before her words could finish, Lu Ting’an’s vision suddenly went dark. Her whole person fell into a soft embrace, and the faint fragrance of gardenia surrounded her nose.

Lu Ting’an froze. It took her a long moment to realize that Lin Zheng was hugging her.

Warm breath brushed against the side of her neck. Lu Ting’an’s heart skipped a beat. Her arms subconsciously reached up to her back, wanting to hug her back. But in the next instant, Lin Zheng had already let go. She gave her a deep look, flipped onto her sword, and disappeared into the layered shadows of the mountains.

Lu Ting’an stood dazed on the spot. Looking at the figure getting further and further away, she felt an inexplicable emptiness in her heart, accompanied by a dense, throbbing pain.