Chapter 118 — Deep Scar
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 2 of 4
Ming Li smiled. "Such a small thing—after all these years, why do you still hold it in your heart?"
Lu Xueling lifted her head and gazed at the bright moon in the sky, lost in thought. Her beauty, under the moon, was like a flower blooming softly in the clear light.
"From that time on, I have kept you in my heart," she said softly, faintly.
Ming Li's body jolted; he jerked his head up. He could never have imagined that such words would come from the lips of Lu Xueling, ever cold as ice and frost. Yet looking at that lovely figure in the moonlight, she was unmistakably there before him.
In his heart there rose suddenly an ill foreboding, like a calamity stealing upon him, waiting quietly ahead. He could feel it, and could no longer escape it.
"Later, we went together to the Kongsang Mountain, beneath the Dead Spirit Abyss, and fought the demon cultists, and battled the ghosts and specters. You risked your life to save me, and I did the same for you..."
She spoke thus softly, her voice drifting, with a touch of unreality; and Ming Li—no, it was as if in that moment he had once more become the Zhang Qingyue he had once been, the years of the past rising one by one before his eyes.
Only, he could not utter a single word.
"At that time we were trapped in a hopeless place, struggling on the edge of death, and yet I was never afraid. If I had died there with you, I—"
She turned and faced this man, a light in her eyes that had never been there before, a thousand tender feelings buried deep in her heart that had never shown before; even through the snow-pale skin of her cheeks there now faintly showed a delicate pink, a beauty that stirred the soul.
"...I would have been willing!" She spoke slowly, yet with the firmness of ice split and snow cut.
The night was just right!
The evening wind blew lightly!
The two, face to face, suddenly both fell silent.
Ming Li's heart was in chaos, a thousand thoughts crowding into his mind—yet as if from within a surging, turbid tide, a voice cried out loudly:
Bili!
In an instant, he went cold from head to foot, his blood cold, his heart cold.
Lu Xueling watched the man before her quietly, taking in every change in his face and expression. At first confusion, then bewilderment, perhaps a trace of panic—and then, all at once, indifference, an indifference that wrapped him up tight and whole!
Yet the tenderness in her eyes did not diminish by half; she went on speaking in a low voice.
"Later—Liubo Mountain, Jietian Peak—one thing after another. I stood by and watched you change little by little. Until at last, on Jietian Peak, beneath the Immortal-Slaying Sword, after that Miss Bili took that blow for you, I knew you could never turn back."
A faint smile touched the corner of her mouth, utterly bitter, and she said quietly, "And truly, you never did turn back."
Ming Li secretly clenched both hands, his nails digging deep into his palms; he breathed hard, gritting his teeth, willing his indifference not to crumble in an instant.
Only... only...
Only how could he face this woman with indifference?
"Why must you do this to yourself?" he said in a low voice.
Lu Xueling smiled a desolate smile, her gaze distant; her figure in the moonlight was bleak and beautiful.
"I do not regret it. Ten years, and my heart still holds you. If it were possible, I would rather give up everything and go with you to the ends of the earth. But in the end, it is impossible!"
She bit her lip and repeated low, slowly: "Impossible, impossible..."
Then she lifted her head!
Her lips were so white, the skin of her face paler still, as if it would turn transparent; only her gaze was bright as the lonely moonlight hanging high in the sky at that moment.
"The Canglan Sect raised me and nurtured me; my master cherished me, loved me, taught me. I can never betray Qingyun."