Qian Renxue: "I Will Never Leave My Husband"

["Later, they held a wedding in Spirit City on a scale no one had ever seen before.

I don't know where your father got so many extraordinary ideas. One unheard-of invention after another came from his hands, transforming life for Soul Masters and ordinary people alike. The internet, civilian soul-powered cars, televisions, mobile phones, and weapons like pistols, artillery, and tanks all appeared during that time. Even the high-speed trains and passenger planes that now cross the continent were his creations. That leap in productivity gave the continent the new face it has today."

Li Qingyang nodded repeatedly, understanding dawning in his eyes. "So the Li Family surpassed the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and became the richest family on the continent because of those inventions?"

"That's right." Li Yingxue nodded gently and continued, "After you and your younger sister were born, your father withdrew from public view altogether. He spent his days at home researching technology and improving crop yields. Publicly, he was known only as a musician. You already knew that much."

"I knew he was a musician." Li Qingyang nodded. "But I didn't know any of the rest. I always thought Dad just wrote songs for film companies and celebrities. As for his fighting ability, I assumed he was about as strong as the Titled Douluo in the Worship Hall."

"Your father is calm and easygoing now. Even your masters rarely bring up his past. But in his younger years, he had a fierce, ruthless streak. You'd never guess it from looking at him today." Smiling, Li Yingxue refilled his glass with water.

"True." Li Qingyang nodded emphatically. "I always thought Dad was just exceptionally good at writing music."

Li Yingxue smiled faintly. "Ever since he fell in love with music, he's been especially good at telling stories through his songs and expressing what's in his heart. If you really want to understand your father, listen to more of the songs he wrote."

Li Qingyang shook his head, looking puzzled. "I often help him record his songs, but I've never heard any of that in them."

"Do you remember some of his earliest songs?" Li Yingxue asked.

Li Qingyang lowered his head and thought for a moment before answering hesitantly, "Was it 'Never Abandon, Never Give Up'?"

Li Yingxue shook her head gently. She stood, fetched a laptop from inside the house, and opened QQ Music.

"Hardly anyone outside the family knows his first two songs. Let's listen to them together."

"The first is called 'Reluctance.' It tells the story of your father and mother. As I told you before, they went through a painful time when they were forced apart."

Li Qingyang nodded to show that he remembered.

Seeing his nod, Li Yingxue continued, "The second is called 'Brilliant Adventurer.' He wrote it to capture your mother's extraordinary spirit."]

Inside the hall of the Heaven Dou Crown Prince's Residence.

Snake Lance Douluo stared at the Heavenly Screen in surprise, then turned to Qian Renxue beside him. "Young Mistress, I didn't expect he wrote both songs for you. His feelings really must be sincere."

Pufferfish Douluo, standing nearby, nodded slowly. "Of course. If they weren't truly in love, why would the Young Mistress choose him?"

Standing between them, Qian Renxue let a faint, happy smile spread across her beautiful face. She had grown up with so little warmth that she treasured this affection and devotion meant for her alone. Warmth stirred in her heart.

[Li Yingxue pressed play, and the melody began to flow. She turned and sat on a nearby sofa.

Li Qingyang sat quietly on his stool, cleared his mind, and listened intently.

A soft, lilting introduction gave way to a clear, delicate voice that echoed beneath the Heavenly Screen.

"We still had to part; I had no courage to stop you as you turned to say goodbye.

Who wept in that lonely forest? Still, I would not give up. I refused to heed what they called fate.

I searched for you with all I had, beneath the cold stars and the light of the moon."]

As the lyrics reached their ears, silence fell beneath the Heavenly Screen. Even the messages racing across it began to slow.

The song continued, and many tenderhearted listeners felt their noses sting as the melody stirred their emotions.

[In your eyes, I saw the shape of parting. Longing spread through all those days; beyond my promise, there was so much I never told you.]

The voice continued to drift from the Heavenly Screen. There were no anguished cries, only a deep reluctance to part, quietly giving voice to love and longing.

Yet those simple words left countless people beneath the Heavenly Screen silent and lost in thought. Some pictured lovers they had parted from; others remembered family members who were gone. A thousand unspoken feelings rose within them.

The song's melody was plain, its lyrics direct, with none of the ornament of a grand composition.

But that very simplicity and sincerity touched hearts long sealed away, sending ripples through them.

Qian Renxue, in the Crown Prince's Estate, had not yet endured the pain of being forced apart. But she was sensitive by nature, and through the song she could feel the unforgettable ache of that separation.

A faint pain gripped her chest. She made a silent vow: If that day ever comes, I will never leave my husband. No matter what.

The melody carried on steadily, without soaring highs or plunging lows, yet the sorrow of parting woven through every line struck straight at the heart.

Even Pope Bibi Dong, who had always felt a distance between herself and Qian Renxue, suddenly darkened. The gentle song stirred old wounds buried deep within her, bringing back memories of Yu Xiaogang. Qian Xunji had torn her love apart by force, too.

And now the Heavenly Screen showed that the Qian Family had nearly torn her daughter's future happiness apart in much the same way.

Old hatred and fresh anger surged together. Bibi Dong clenched her fists, a cold fury churning in her eyes. Through gritted teeth, she muttered with loathing:

"Damn them. The entire Qian Family deserves to be wiped out."

At that same moment, on the hill behind Blue Tyrant Academy in Heaven Dou City.

Liu Erlong stood alone among the trees as the song playing from the Heavenly Screen drifted to her ears.

The wrenching separation and longing in "Reluctance" touched her deeply. Memories of the past welled up, and a faint sheen of tears filled her eyes.

She gazed at the blue sky. Her lips moved slightly as she murmured, her voice heavy with longing:

"My Xiaogang... where have you gone?"