Chi Xuan's voice was very soft, carrying a faint, almost imperceptible tremor.
Gu Qingying looked at the deeply buried emotions in her eyes, emotions that were almost overflowing, and sighed inwardly.
This woman, equally breathtakingly beautiful and someone who might have achieved Dao Attainment in an earlier era, loved that man so deeply.
Even now, with her lifespan greatly diminished and her end approaching, her devotion had remained unchanged as she kept watch here day after day.
"He's still alive."
Gu Qingying told her truthfully, briefly recounting how the three of them had gone to Scarlet Glow River, the Female Emperor's attitude,
and how they had finally heard Tan Lin's voice before being teleported away in an instant.
Chi Xuan stood quietly beneath the pavilion and listened.
The expression on her face shifted from a trace of hope, to unease, to excitement upon hearing Tan Lin's voice, then to gloom and melancholy when she learned that they had been teleported away without discovering anything more.
"What... did he say?"
Chi Xuan pressed urgently, her voice anxious.
"He said, 'I am well. There is no need for you to come again.'"
Gu Qingying repeated.
In truth, she had changed two words. Tan Lin's original words had been "do not," but she had changed them to "there is no need." She did not know why—perhaps she merely wanted to put Chi Xuan more at ease.
Hearing this, Chi Xuan froze.
She mulled over those eight short words again and again, the emotions in her eyes shifting endlessly.
After a long while, she slowly closed her eyes, and two streams of clear tears slid down soundlessly.
Drip...
"It's good that he's alive. It's good... that he's alive..."
She murmured to herself, her voice choked with sobs.
Gu Qingying looked at her and felt