Someone Was Waiting for Her to Come Home

Qian Renxue carried the outer robe to the door and saw Bai Jin waiting at the bottom of the steps, his right wrist Medicinal Bandage soaked with blood, and he was still holding the key left by his grandfather in his hand.

She descended two steps, and golden light spread outwards along the stone beneath her feet. The power left within her body from the Divine Position was too great; she hastily withdrew it, and the lowest broken stone was lifted up again, nearly causing her to collide with the worshippers who were cleaning the corridor.

Qian Renxue immediately stopped, letting the stone fall back to the open ground as it was, and the golden light gradually disappeared into her legs.

Bai Jin waited until she had put it away before coming up.

He didn't let her see the completed Divine Outfit again. He reached out and took the robe, leaving his other hand free in front of her. When Qian Renxue grasped it, she used too much force, and golden Divine Power pressed down on him from between her fingers.

A very narrow space of Limitless unfolded between the two.

She relaxed a little, Bai Jin pulled back the distance, his fingers falling back into her palm. Qian Renxue looked down at his hand, finally exhaling the breath that had been building up in her chest, but she couldn't utter a single word.

"I'm here," he said.

She stood there and cried.

Bai Jin hugged her, not using his Soul Skill to hide his cries. The people below the steps slowly retreated to the outside of the corridor, and the golden light of the Worship Hall was also withdrawn into her body. Sunlight shone through the unrepaired tear on her head, illuminating the outer robe whose shoulders had just been sewn shut.

Qian Renxue cried until she couldn't speak, but still wanted to look back at the Altar. Bai Jin accompanied her inside once. The empty altar only had wet marks left by her tears. He stood beside her, waiting for her to touch the now-cooled stone surface before taking her outstretched hand as she turned around.

"I hugged him; I was still hugging him last night."

I saw it.

"I knew he was going to die. I knew it all."

Bai Jin didn't make her explain why she walked through that door again. He put the robe back in her arms and led her step by step to the outer hall. Today she was able to hold the light of the entire Divine Temple, and she would still stop when she saw her grandfather's empty chair. These things didn't need to be changed to the same color by the Divine Position.

The bowls beside the chair had been washed and were placed upside down on an old wooden tray.

Qian Renxue placed her outer robe on the back of the chair, the sewn thread peeking out. She reached out and tucked the thread into the fabric, then straightened the original collar. Bai Jin placed the key on the table, took out a key belonging to the Outer Courtyard, and handed it to the servant waiting outside the door.

"The East Corridor is still usable, but replace the two broken pillars in the west courtyard. Don't bring anyone here to kneel in the rubble."

The priest looked at Qian Renxue, waiting for her response.

She nodded, allowing those who wished to say goodbye to enter from the outer hall, without requiring anyone to swear an oath of loyalty to the empire during this farewell. She had already personally taken over what her grandfather had guarded during his lifetime; others' remembrance of an old man should be left to them to express.

The officiant accepted the order and left, and the door to the inner sanctuary was closed again.

Bai Jin helped her out of the corridor. Once outside the courtyard, she could see the broken Stone Pillar and the new wound on his right wrist. Qian Renxue wanted to send the Holy Light over, but he showed her his hand. The wound had closed up under the Reverse Cursed Technique, but the blood was still on the protective cloth.

"Those that could be cured have already been treated," he said. "My head still hurts; that will have to wait."

She withdrew the Divine Power she was about to send, refusing to use her current Divine Position to fill the spiritual Meridians he hadn't yet opened. Bai Jin remained at level Level 98. He had stood guard outside the hall today, protecting many people, and had paid the price, not receiving the same power as her when she crossed that door.

Qian Renxue looked into his eyes.

"If you ever reach that point in the future, call me."

"You can wait over there."

"I'll hold."

The two did not go any further into the inner hall. The Deacon who had just been rescued from the Outer Courtyard came to express his gratitude. Qian Renxue noticed the scrapes on his hands first and asked the physician to take him to get them bandaged. The man bowed to her, and Bai Jin pushed a medicine box left by the corridor over to him, telling him to free his hands first.

Only after Qian Renxue and the others left did she withdraw the golden light that had been shining on the wound. The hand was quite ordinary, wrapped in Medicinal Bandage. From now on, she would still have to carry boxes, eat, and write letters. She already had the strength to protect these people, and she also had to remember how they lived their lives.

She held his hand firmly, and the two slowly descended the Stone Steps. Before truly leaving the Worship Hall, Qian Renxue removed the last of her Divine Outfit, the golden patterns receding into her flesh and blood. The silver light left by the old bone in her Left Leg responded to her once more, and her robes fell to her feet again.

When I got home, the food on the table was already cold.

Bai Jin didn't use Cang to pull all the bowls on the table into his arms, but instead asked someone to heat up the soup first. Qian Renxue sat in her usual spot, her forehead no longer Divine Outfit. As she picked up the spoon, she remembered the overly salty soup from last night, and her tears, which had just stopped, began to fall again down her cheeks.

He moved his bowl next to her, telling her to speak if she wanted, or to eat if she didn't.

Qian Renxue took a sip and put the bowl down.

I'll forget to eat again in the future.

"I called you."

You'll forget it yourself eventually.

Bai Jin pulled the empty chair closer. "Then let them call two at once."

She picked up the spoon again, drank half a bowl of soup, and put the rest on the table. Later that evening, Bai Jin sat on the tatami mat next to her, looking at the things she had brought back from the Worship Hall. The key, the cracked old sword, and the outer robe were all placed in the same cabinet, but the Holy Sword was still with her.

She slept restlessly, and when she opened her eyes in the night, she first looked out the window. The direction where Qian Daoliu lived was already far away. Bai Jin was still sitting by the couch, with the Official Documents in his hand half-flipped. He did not go to the Outer Courtyard to practice the Nine Rings again after she fell asleep.

Qian Renxue grasped his sleeve and closed her eyes again.

Three days later, Bibi Dong came from the Papal Hall, without bringing the proclamation celebrating her ascension to godhood, nor did she have anyone first incorporate her Divine Position into the Empire's bestowal. Qian Renxue met her in front of her house, took out the old side plaque, and placed it on the table.

The mother saw the side sign but did not put it away.

"I've heard about the matter Worship Hall."

He even cooked for himself that night.

Bibi Dong looked at her, and after a while, said that she hadn't seen Qian Daoliu sitting at that kind of dining table for many years. Qian Renxue didn't say who her grandfather had conveyed forgiveness for before he passed away; since the old man's last words didn't include that sentence, she wouldn't fill it in for him.

"I won't speak for you about your past hatred of him," she said. "I can't bear to let him go, and I'm still investigating your affairs."

Bibi Dong's expression darkened, her hand hovering over the sideboard, but she didn't flip it over to cover the already concluded case file on the table.

I didn't tell you to burn it.

Don't make me burn [firewood] again.

Her mother glanced at the Divine Outfit she had already retracted, remained silent for a moment, and then agreed. Qian Renxue could sense from very close range another power within her that was still changing. The corruption of the Rakshasa was still there; today's meeting had not cleansed it, nor had it turned her mother into another person.

Bibi Dong was still walking towards her Divine Position.

She didn't ask the angels to open the door for her, nor did Qian Renxue go to guard the door that had twice caused backlash. Her mother sat for a while and asked if she was going back to the Papal Hall that night. Qian Renxue said she was staying home.

"Then let the physician go one less time," Bibi Dong said.

She got up and left without a hug, nor did she write this meeting into an order to cancel the old case. Qian Renxue saw her to the door and waited for her mother's car to drive away before returning to the courtyard.

Bai Jin is repairing one of the legs of the chessboard.

The tremors from the Worship Hall loosened the old table. He didn't have it replaced and was just putting the original wooden wedge back in. Qian Renxue squatted down beside him, supporting the tabletop. The golden light only shone on the wooden wedge and no longer enveloped the entire courtyard.

"Okay." He pushed the edge of the table.

She placed the chess pieces back onto the board one by one, then suddenly said, "Don't always bear that pressure alone. At least tell me where you are."

"My decision to go on my own doesn't mean I have to hide it from you."

Bai Jin handed her the last chess piece, still keeping the one he was supposed to play in his hand.

"West Courtyard tomorrow. Be back in the evening."

Qian Renxue took the chess piece and placed it in its original position, clearing half of the table for him.

I'll wait for you to eat.