Only After She Weathered Divine Punishment Did She Learn His Heart; Hu Liena: Shen Yichen, I Accept You!

Night had fallen. The distant sound of patrols outside the Pope Palace drifted in from afar, and the bedchamber was so quiet that only her breathing could be heard.

The taut string she had held all day finally loosened.

Hu Liena slowly walked over and sat by the window.

Moonlight fell through the lattice, spilling across her skirt and fox tails.

Her five snow-white tails hung behind her, their tips lacking their usual liveliness, unnaturally still.

She raised her right hand.

The Sword Mark of the Severing Thought Sword glimmered with a cold white light on the inside of her wrist.

Beside it lay the Pine Needle Leaf, the one Ye Lingling had brought from Taixu Temple.

Hu Liena stared at it for a long time.

Taixu Temple.

Tiandang Mountain.

Spirit Crane Valley.

Old Pine Tree.

Stone Chamber.

And the man she had never met, yet who had already saved her life twice.

Shen Yichen.

The moment his name passed through her mind, her eyes grew a little hotter.

How pathetic.

Hu Liena bit her lower lip.

She had never even seen his face.

At first, she had thought the Marriage Contract had come out of nowhere, an overbearing and inexplicable arrangement.

Eighteen Betrothal Gifts had descended from the heavens. The entire continent had watched her become a spectacle. She had been pushed into the eye of the storm, without even a chance to refuse.

Back then, she had asked herself over and over:

Why?

Why had Shen Yichen decided my life for me the moment he emerged from a century of seclusion?

Why hadn't he asked whether I was willing?

Why did the whole world say I was the Celestial Master Partner, as though I had no choice but to accept it?

But now, Hu Liena couldn't bring herself to ask those questions.

Because every gift he had sent was more than empty words.

The Primordial Spirit Bead had evolved her martial soul.

The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron had suppressed Tang San's fortune for her.

The Severing Thought Sword had cut off Tang Hao's arm and shielded her from a Divine Soul assassination attempt.

The Star River Map had pushed her step by step toward becoming a Titled Douluo.

And the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment was even more unbelievable.

It had swallowed even the Divine Punishment of a God King.

These weren't betrothal gifts.

They were her life, protected inch by inch.

Hu Liena lowered her head and gently stroked the Golden Toad's back with her fingertips.

"Shen Yichen."

She spoke his name.

Her voice was very soft.

So soft it was as if she feared disturbing someone.

"How many things have you prepared for me?"

No one answered from outside the window.

Moonlight fell in her hair. Her fox ears peeked out from her side locks, their tips still faintly red from earlier that day.

Hu Liena herself didn't notice.

When she said his name, her voice had softened.

It didn't sound like the voice of the Martial Soul Hall Saintess.

It sounded more like a young girl who had finally let down her guard.

"Just how much do you care about me?"

The moment she said it, Hu Liena's fingers stilled.

How much did he care?

She hadn't dared think about it before.

Nor had she wanted to.

Because if she did, she would have to admit she cared.

But today was different.

The instant Divine Punishment descended, her mind had gone blank.

There was no Spirit Hall.

No becoming a god.

No Tang San.

No so-called Saintess title.

There was only one thought.

Shen Yichen, save me.

She had called his name in her final moment.

And he had truly saved her.

Without warning, tears spilled from Hu Liena's eyes and struck the front of the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment.

The Golden Toad pattern glimmered. Before the tear could slide down, a wisp of auspicious energy caught it, turning it into a fine shimmer of moisture that scattered into the fabric.

Hu Liena froze.

Then the tears fell even harder.

"You even take care of this?"

She raised a hand to wipe her eyes, her voice a little hoarse.

"Shen Yichen, aren't you a little too overbearing?"

No one replied.

But the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment was warm.

So warm that she could no longer hold it in.

She hadn't been without protection as she grew up.

Bibi Dong had been strict with her, but beneath that severity lay genuine care.

When Divine Punishment descended today, Bibi Dong had known she couldn't block it, yet she had still stood in front of her.

Hu Liena hadn't been untouched by that moment.

Xie Yue cared for her, too.

Her brother never said it aloud and usually wore a cold expression, but whenever trouble arose, he was always the one standing in front of her.

Even after Tang San had gravely wounded him, when he was recovering, he had heard that Divine Punishment had targeted her and nearly rushed out despite his injuries.

She knew all of this.

She wasn't ungrateful.

But Shen Yichen was different.

Bibi Dong and Xie Yue protected her because they had spent so many years together.

What about Shen Yichen?

He had never met her.

He had never heard her voice.

He had never seen her grit her teeth and push through her training, nor seen her wear the Saintess's icy air in the Pope Palace, keeping everyone at a distance.

Yet he had sent one priceless treasure after another into her hands.

He hadn't sent them at random.

Each one had arrived just when she needed it most.

She lacked a foundation, so he had given her the Primordial Spirit Bead.

Tang San's fortune had weighed her down, so he had given her the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron.

She faced the murderous Divine Soul intent of Tang Hao and Tang San, so he had given her the Severing Thought Sword.

She needed to break through the divine-level barrier, so he had given her the Star River Map.

The Asura God wanted her dead, so he had sent the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment in advance.

It was too precise.

So precise that Hu Liena was even a little afraid.

Could anyone in this world really calculate another person's life, cultivation, and tribulations so thoroughly?

If so, when he sent the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment, had he already seen today's Divine Punishment?

If he had, what had he been thinking at the time?

Hu Liena clenched the front of her garment.

"Did you know all along that I'd be afraid?"

Her voice was even softer.

When the lightning had struck earlier, she really had been afraid.

Afraid to die.

Afraid she would never see her teacher again.

Afraid Spirit Hall would be crushed by Divine Punishment because of her.

And more than anything, afraid she would die in front of the Pope Palace without ever meeting Shen Yichen.

The thought had filled her with such regret that even now, remembering it made her chest ache.

"I've never been to Taixu Temple."

Hu Liena looked out the window.

The night in Spirit City wasn't entirely dark. Lights glimmered in the distance, and the moonlight overhead was cut into pieces by the edges of the palace buildings.

Yet in that little moonlight, she saw the Cloud Sea Ye Lingling had told her about.

A spirit crane beating its wings.

An Old Pine Tree standing before the Seclusion Chamber.

A straw mat spread over the stone floor.

And a man in white, lounging on a meditation cushion, who had casually pointed a finger and made a God King cough blood.

At the thought, Hu Liena's lips suddenly curved.

"You really are something..."

She raised a hand and wiped away her tears.

"You're not even here, yet you're everywhere."

The Sword Mark of the Severing Thought Sword on her wrist felt faintly cool.

The Tribulation-Avoiding Garment warmed her chest.

The Pine Needle Leaf rested against her pulse.

The Star River Map still hung in the Cultivation Room.

The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron's fortune still buoyed her up.

One by one, the treasures were laid out before her, as though Shen Yichen had silently placed the entire world between her and harm.

Anyone who wanted to kill her would have to collide with them first.

Anyone who tried to scheme against her would be crushed first.

Hu Liena had once thought this kind of favoritism was too overbearing.

Now, though, she thought:

This is wonderful.

So this was what it felt like to have someone protect her like this.

It wasn't a cage.

It meant she could keep moving forward.

Because someone had her back.

At last, her tears stopped.

Hu Liena rose and walked to the window.

She pushed the casement open a little. The night wind blew in, stirring the loose strands of hair beside her ears.

Her five fox tails slowly unfurled behind her, their tips glowing silver-white once more.

She didn't want to hide anymore.

Nor did she want to keep pretending.

When Shen Yichen had sent the Marriage Contract, she could resist.

When the first Betrothal Gift had descended, she could have doubted him.

When the Severing Thought Sword had driven Tang San back for her, she could have said it was only his arrangement.

But today, when Divine Punishment descended and she called out that name in her heart, she could no longer deceive herself.

She accepted it.

She accepted this Marriage Contract.

She accepted these Eighteen Betrothal Gifts.

And she accepted the man she had yet to meet, who had already protected her to such an extent.

Hu Liena raised her hand and pressed it against the Golden Toad pattern over her heart.

"Shen Yichen."

She gazed at the moonlight beyond the window and spoke softly, one word at a time, without the slightest hesitation.

"I'll wait for you to come and marry me."