Rings and the Lantern Festival

On the road to Sunset Forest.

Le Ling sat by the window, glaring displeasedly at the man seated in the middle of the carriage.

Qian Daoliu had initially been cultivating with his eyes closed, but those beautiful eyes had been fixed on him the entire time.

He helplessly opened his eyes and asked with a smile, "Ling'er, why are you looking at me like that?"

"I have nothing to do with you now! Tell your brothers not to call me Sister-in-law!"

Le Ling looked at him in protest.

Ever since Star Dou Great Forest, hearing her say once again that she had nothing to do with him made Qian Daoliu's smile vanish instantly.

He raised his hand and swiftly pulled her over, directly lifting her onto his lap.

"If those things hadn't happened back then, we would have married long ago!"

"Even though you were gone later, and I was forced into a political marriage, in my heart, the place of my first wife has always belonged to you alone!"

As he spoke, he took a small velvet box from his waist, opened it, and held it before her.

"I had this pair of wedding rings custom-made. Since the jade ring I gave you as a token of our love was broken, then so be it. We'll start over now."

Le Ling's struggling body froze when she heard his words and saw the pair of rings!

Qian Daoliu continued, "My name and a pair of little wings are engraved on the women's ring, while your name and a fox tail are engraved on the men's ring. I know you'll like them. I'll put yours on for you."

As he spoke, he took out the smaller women's ring, then grasped her right hand and removed the storage ring she had originally been wearing.

Just as he was about to slide the new ring onto her finger, Le Ling suddenly came back to her senses and quickly pulled her right hand away.

"I don't want it!"

She struggled again, trying to push away the man holding her.

Naturally, Qian Daoliu refused to let her go before he had put the ring on her.

He continued holding her tightly, restraining her body so she could not move.

"Ling'er, even if you refuse now, I'll still put it on you like last time after you fall asleep tonight. So you might as well let me put it on you properly now."

"You..."

Hearing the man's domineering words, she angrily reached out and hit him.

"You bastard! You're threatening me!!"

Qian Daoliu let her vent by hitting him for a while.

Then he simply grabbed her hand. While lowering his head to kiss her red lips, he swiftly slipped the women's ring onto the ring finger of her right hand.

"Mm..."

Le Ling became even angrier and struggled harder.

But then she suddenly realized that she could not move her body. He had actually used Soul Power to forcibly restrain her again!

Soon, the ring was on, and Qian Daoliu withdrew that sliver of Soul Power.

But he did not release her immediately. Instead, he kissed her for quite some time before finally letting her go.

Le Ling swiftly pushed him away and returned to her seat by the window. Just like last time, she began trying to pull off the ring.

Yet for some reason, this ring was just like the previous one—it could not be removed, clamped tightly around the ring finger of her right hand!

Qian Daoliu did not bother trying to persuade her this time. He knew she definitely would not be able to pull it off anyway.

He silently picked up the larger men's ring and put it on, then closed his eyes again and resumed cultivating.

After trying for a while without managing to remove it, Le Ling said unhappily, "Take it off for me!"

Qian Daoliu opened his eyes, the corner of his lips curling slightly. "Fine. Come sit over here, and I'll help you take it off."

"You want to trick me into going over there, then kiss me again? Dream on!"

Le Ling leaned against the window ledge and no longer wanted to pay him any attention.

The slight curve of the man's lips deepened as he closed his eyes again and returned to cultivation.

After that, the carriage gradually fell quiet. Le Ling remained angry, and knowing that she was angry, Qian Daoliu did not provoke her again, giving her time to calm down.

Since she could not pull it off, she had essentially accepted the ring!

Qian Daoliu could have simply done as he had last time, putting it on her in secret after she fell asleep at night.

But this ring did not carry the same meaning as the previous one. That one had merely been an ordinary storage ring he had worn for many years.

This custom-made ring, however, was not only a storage ring—it also represented the beginning of their relationship anew.

So even knowing she would resist, Qian Daoliu still wanted to put it on her himself while she was awake!

By evening, after traveling all day, the carriage arrived at a place called Jiali City. However, Sunset Forest was still roughly a day's journey away.

At that moment, lively, bustling clamor drifted in through the carriage window.

Le Ling had been lightly dozing by the window. Hearing the noise, she slowly opened her eyes, lifted the curtain, and looked outside.

"This is..."

"This is Jiali City."

Qian Daoliu stopped cultivating and said, "Do you remember Jiali City's lantern festival? We came here together back then."

Last night, when he learned that they would be heading out today to hunt Soul Beasts, he had remembered while treating Le Ling's Nightmare Affliction that these three days happened to be Jiali City's lantern festival.

So early that morning, he had privately told Steward Yao to take a detour here first today. He wanted to bring Le Ling to revisit that lantern festival.

After all, they had come here together back then, and had even shared their first kiss here!

At the mention of the lantern festival, scenes of the two of them visiting this place together long ago instantly surfaced in Le Ling's mind.

"Steward Yao, stop the carriage."

Qian Daoliu rose to his feet, took Le Ling's hand, and led her out of the carriage.

After the two got down from the carriage, Steward Yao proactively said, "My lord, Miss Le Ling, go enjoy the lantern festival."

"Leave the hotel arrangements to me. I'll come back here later to pick you up."

Qian Daoliu was extremely pleased with his steward's tactfulness. Holding Le Ling's hand, he turned and walked toward the lantern festival.

Meanwhile, Le Ling was immersed in memories of the past from beginning to end, so she allowed the man to lead her inside.

Before long, the two entered the lantern festival.

Several long lantern-lined streets were filled with all manner of decorative lanterns, lighting up Jiali City's night sky like countless stars.

The lights were brilliant and dazzling!

Besides the lanterns, flowers had also been arranged along both sides of the streets, making it feel as though they had stepped into an immortal realm.

In an instant, scenes from the past continuously overlapped with the present, leaving Le Ling somewhat unable to distinguish reality from memory!

Qian Daoliu watched her.

At that moment, her appearance was exactly the same as when she had been eighteen, unchanged in the slightest. As for him, although his appearance had not changed after reaching the level of a Peerless Douluo,

before he had reached the Douluo level, his features had already gained a few more years.

"Ling'er, I remember you loved looking at lanterns back then. What about now?"

"Now..."

Le Ling walked beneath a lantern and raised her hand to toy with the pendant hanging beneath it.

"I still like looking at lanterns and visiting lantern festivals, but you're no longer the same!"

With that, she turned to look at him and said expressionlessly, "Qian Daoliu, there's no use bringing me here to relive the past. I'm no longer the girl I was back then either!"

Qian Daoliu stepped forward and embraced her, burying his head in the hollow of her neck.

"Ling'er, I know reliving the past won't do much, but I think we can use the memories of our new beginning to overwrite the old ones and slowly forget them. Wouldn't that be good?"

"I..."

Before Le Ling could finish, she suddenly sensed something unusual nearby!

She abruptly pushed Qian Daoliu away and swept her sharp gaze around.