A Farewell Approaches
Sang Ying had never seen Jiang Zhuoxue look so miserable. Logically speaking, he should have been even more pitiful when he first lost everything and escaped from the dark prison.
However, because Jiang Zhuoxue was wearing a black robe to cover her injuries and was putting on a stubborn look in front of Sang Ying, showing no sign of weakness, she seemed alright.
Jiang Zhuoxue was covered in dust, and her robes were wrinkled and crumpled, as if she had suffered some great calamity.
Not only that, Sang Ying's gaze swept over him from head to toe, finally settling on his bleeding finger.
This guy seemed oblivious to the pain, letting his finger get injured like this, yet he just grinned foolishly at Sang Ying.
"Are you alright?" He seemed still unable to believe it, and cautiously asked again.
Sang Ying nodded and took out several bottles of wound medicine to apply to Jiang Zhuoxue.
These wound medicines were quite effective; the bleeding from Jiang Zhuoxue's finger stopped immediately after they were applied.
"Be more careful in the future, don't be so reckless, and never try to save someone by hurting yourself." Sang Ying paused before continuing, "I don't like it."
She knew that he wouldn't listen to her if she just said a few words, so adding "I don't like it" might make him listen a little.
And indeed, that proved to be true. Jiang Zhuoxue reached out her hand, still damp with blood, and tightly grasped Sang Ying's wrist, her face and voice filled with pleading. "I promise you, I'll promise you anything, please don't leave."
While waiting for Sang Ying's reply, his grip tightened, but he didn't apply force to Sang Ying wrist. He simply encircled her with his hands, then secretly held them together, not daring to relax for even a moment.
Those greyish-white eyes looked over, and although they were completely devoid of any spirit, Sang Ying somehow saw a pleading look in them.
Unfortunately, Sang Ying ultimately couldn't agree to his request, "I have to leave."
Jiang Zhuoxue lowered her head and gently touched Sang Ying's arm with her forehead.
"But I promise you, we will meet again," Sang Ying couldn't help but add, "You might not recognize me then, but when that time comes, we will never be apart again."
This was the first time Sang Ying had so clearly expressed her feelings, but it was Jiang Zhuoxue from ten thousand years ago who heard it. As for whether Jiang Zhuoxue from ten thousand years later would still remember this promise, Sang Ying didn't care.
If they can meet again, there will always be a chance to tell him.
Jiang Zhuoxue, who had been in utter despair, grasped at a straw as if she were being swallowed by the sea, and eventually slowly recovered.
"You're not lying to me, you really will come back to see me?" Jiang Zhuoxue asked in a very low voice.
Sang Ying nodded. "I won't lie to you. No matter where you go, I will eventually meet you again."
Even if he is trapped at the bottom of the cliff behind the Flowing Light Sword Sect, she will eventually appear there and meet him again, even though he has forgotten himself.
Perhaps their fate was already sealed long ago.
Having received several promises from Sang Ying, Jiang Zhuoxue's anxious heart finally calmed down.
He loosened his grip on Sang Ying's hand, but his mood was much better than before.
Jiang Zhuoxue stepped back, but the Spring-Heralding Bird squeezed in again. This time it was probably frightened, and kept rubbing against Sang Ying, almost making her stumble.
In the end, it was only after she gave him a few warnings that he calmed down a bit.
"I underestimated the audacity of the Moonless Household before. I didn't expect that these two, unable to steal anything, would actually try to kill us in the secret realm." Sang Ying's tone was cold.
She had encountered many people who were hostile to her, Wuyue Qing and the others wouldn't be the last, but they would certainly learn a lesson.
"I almost forgot to give you this." Jiang Zhuoxue took out an Image-Retaining Stone from her sleeve.
Sang Ying took it and saw that the Image-Retaining Stone was already activated.
"When did you activate the Image-Retaining Stone?" Sang Ying asked.
Jiang Zhuoxue answered her calmly, "After those two appeared at the cave entrance."
Previously, they had turned off the Image-Retaining Stone because they were hiding a secret, fearing that someone would discover something was wrong. But after Wuyue Qing and the other person appeared, Jiang Zhuoxue became more cautious. Taking advantage of the moment when Sang Ying distracted the two people, she secretly turned on the Image-Retaining Stone and recorded their vicious faces.
However, after Sang Ying attacked them, Jiang Zhuoxue stopped making records. He was worried that Sang Ying had gone too far and that if the records were released, the Moonless Household would blame them.
This subconscious action, in fact, left them with valuable evidence.
Sang Ying grasped the Image-Retaining Stone tightly. "Alright, let's properly return the favor to those two from the Moonless Household!"
Sang Ying wasn't the type to be magnanimous and let things go after being schemed against, and neither were Jiang Zhuoxue and the Spring-Heralding Bird.
Furthermore, besides being skilled at finding treasure, the Spring-Heralding Bird is also adept at finding people, which means that Wuyue Qing and her companion are destined for a bad end.
They were initially quite pleased with their own intelligence, having effortlessly eliminated the biggest obstacle to the Moonless Household. Although they failed to obtain anything valuable from Sang Ying, the map drawn by the Moonless Household was quite good, and the two of them found many good things along the way.
"Sure enough, without those two incredibly lucky people interfering, we've gotten many more good things than before," Wuyue Qing said happily, holding a Moonlight Grass.
Just as Wuyue Wenren was about to say something in agreement, a gust of wind suddenly blew towards their faces. The flying sand made it impossible for Wuyue Qing to open her eyes.
When the wind gradually subsided and the two opened their eyes again, the Moonlight Grass in Wuyue Qing's palm was long gone, along with their Storage Bag containing many treasures!
Hidden in the shadows, Sang Ying and her companion watched Wuyue Qing's furious expression in the distance. She slightly raised her hand towards the sky, and two items landed precisely in her hand.
These two items were the very same two that Wuyue Qing had previously lost!
The Spring-Heralding Bird circled briefly in the air before landing directly in the small patch of grass where the two of them were nestled.
Sang Ying weighed the Storage Bag in her hand, quite satisfied with its weight. "No wonder the third young lady of the Moonless Household followed us all the way, trying to take things from us. I'm starting to enjoy doing things like this where you can get a whole bunch of good stuff with just one transaction."
"Since you like it, let's continue." Since we're robbing the Moonless Household anyway, he didn't feel the slightest bit guilty.
Jiang Zhuoxue said so, and Sang Ying thought so too.
The two people and the bird immediately recognized Wuyue Qing and her companion and followed them closely.
Whenever these two got something good, it would be snatched away in no time.
Originally, Wuyue Qing and her companion intended to resist, but when they realized that no matter how they resisted, they would be robbed, and the other party could appear and disappear without a trace, the two finally gave up the struggle completely.
With five days left before the secret realm reopened, the two of them completely gave up and couldn't be bothered with any more trouble. They simply went to reunite with their family and wait for the final moment to arrive.
Similarly, looking at her feet that were starting to disappear from time to time, Sang Ying realized that her departure might be just around the corner.
A note from the author:
That's all for today. I'll start updating three times a day tomorrow!