Hearing the familiar voice, Xiao Fan turned around. A trace of surprise crossed his face as he saw the figure before him.
Disbelief covered Xiao Fan's face.
He looked at the aged figure before him, then turned back toward the figure kneeling in midair within the scene. The shock on his face had yet to fade.
"Qing Jue?"
An aged figure had appeared before Xiao Fan.
Though she looked like an old woman, Xiao Fan could recognize her from the contours of her eyes and brows. She was unmistakably Qing Jue, the young woman kneeling in midair.
"Hehe, it's me."
At Xiao Fan's words, Qing Jue gave a kindly smile. She stared unblinkingly at the scene ahead, only coming back to herself once Ding You's figure had vanished completely.
By then, however, her eyes were already brimming with tears.
"Sorry, I've embarrassed myself again..."
The elderly Qing Jue spoke slowly, her tone even, as though she had already come to regard life and death with equanimity.
Now, she was nothing more than a projection within the Jiao Pearl. The real Qing Jue might long since have vanished into the river of history.
She only revealed this side of herself before Xiao Fan because the scene before her had stirred the sorrowful memories buried in her heart.
"..."
Xiao Fan said nothing. He could also tell that the Qing Jue before him was merely a projection-or rather, a projection the real Qing Jue had left within the Jiao Pearl.
Everything here was merely a record she had left behind when she created the Jiao Pearl.
Qing Jue wiped the tear tracks from her face and regained her composure, then turned her gaze toward where Xiao Fan stood.
Though she was only a projection, Xiao Fan still felt a weight of pressure