"You like her, but you've never truly told her. She's always been a little muddleheaded. How could she understand if you never said anything?"
"Besides, although her injuries this time weren't entirely your fault, you still bear a responsibility you can't shirk." Su Jiu paused, a sharp glint flashing through her eyes. "Jin Chen, do you admit that?"
Jin Chen felt as though he had swallowed a bitter fruit; bitterness filled both his mouth and his heart. But he still had the courage to shoulder his responsibilities as a man. "I do!"
Su Jiu's lips curved slightly, and a flicker of appreciation crossed her eyes. It vanished so quickly, however, that Jin Chen, immersed in grief, clearly failed to notice it.
"This time, whether Mian Mian wakes up or not, she will become my wife-the only wife I will ever have in this lifetime."
Su Jiu turned away and waved a hand. "There's no use telling me that. Wait until Mian Mian wakes up and tell her yourself."
After sending everyone away one by one, Su Jiu felt an uncommon hint of exhaustion. Still, to reunite with the others, she forced herself to muster her spiritual qi...
Only this time, the door did not open.
Instead, someone emerged from it-or, more precisely, a lingering wisp of divine sense.
The light radiating around that divine sense was exceptionally gentle. It took the form of a woman who looked very young, though that was merely her appearance. There was no telling how long she had lived within this door; perhaps tens of thousands of years. Yet her spiritual pressure still struck Su Jiu as terrifying, proof of just how powerful a cultivator she must have been in life.
The woman circled Su Jiu, then smiled. "To think his last wisp of divine