Huai Falls for an Old Friend - Chapter 7

Xie Huai still did not accompany me to Mount Xinyi.

Tens of thousands of years had passed, but almost nothing here had changed.

Everyone knew I was returning. From the gatekeeper to my deputy generals, they had all gathered to wait.

“Your Excellency, you’ve finally come home!”

“Your Excellency, I thought I would never see you again!”

“Your Excellency!”

…

A crowd of burly men surrounded me, tearful and talking over one another, utterly ignoring Yun Chen’s pointed coughing behind them.

“All right. I truly have returned, alive and in the flesh. We can talk later. Can’t you see Mount Xinyi has a guest?”

Yun Chen’s expression shifted, then instantly returned to normal. His voice was gentle.

“Ah-Jing, welcome home.”

The Heavenly Emperor and I sat across from each other in the main hall.

The tea brought by the attendants had been my favorite ten thousand years ago, richly fragrant and sweet on the tongue.

“Ah-Jing, you—”

I cut him off. “Your Majesty, my name is Bai Qingqing.”

Yun Chen pressed his lips together. As if conceding, he called me “Qingqing.”

“Qingqing, now that you’ve returned to your rightful place, what do you intend to do?”

I smiled. “My intentions? Does getting married first count?”

“You know what I mean.”

His face chilled.

Of course I knew.

After so many years together, I could often tell what Yun Chen was thinking from a single glance.

There had been another way to end the war ten thousand years ago, besides my sacrifice.

A way known only to the two of us.

Both Yun Chen and I had been born in answer to Heaven and Earth. If we joined forces, we could have destroyed that corruption. The price would have been roughly two-thirds of our spiritual power.

Yun Chen said nothing, but I knew he hesitated.

He wondered whether he could keep his throne after losing so much. Whether he would still be the strongest in the Three Realms.

The Child of Destiny did possess some sense of duty. In the end, he chose to bear the cost with me.

But I charged forward alone.

I sacrificed myself to Heaven and fell.

I had been born for the Three Realms. In that moment, I merely returned to them.

In the final instant before I vanished, I glimpsed Heaven’s secret.

The next time I met Yun Chen, I would probably defy my own heart and love him again.

But if he abandoned me once more—just once—then the red thread tied by the Heavenly Dao itself would break.

“Qingqing.” Yun Chen’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “The years you’ve lived without your memories are not even a fraction of the time we spent together.”

“And in all those years, aside from the bond forced upon us, you still never made me love you.”

I spoke no lie.

Because of that ordained bond, I had always chased Yun Chen without realizing it. In time, he accepted everything I gave him as his due.

Thin anger colored his usually cool face. “You were the one who followed me.”

“Then this should be perfect. Didn’t you complain more than once that I spent all my time among armies and lacked the softness of other immortal maidens?”

His anger collapsed. “I… I was only joking.”

“Yun Chen, you know me. Once I make a decision, no one can change it.”

When he tried to speak again, I added, “Instead of arguing with me, why not ask the Star Lord of Destiny what happened during your mortal trial?”

He had always been proud. Even knowing that he’d forgotten something, he would never seek it out. He simply assumed anything forgotten could not be important.

Yun Chen frowned but did not pursue the subject.

“The demon clans are stirring again. That great demon’s soul gained a chance at survival by following you. We cannot allow him to grow unchecked.”

I knew. It was why I had hurried to Mount Xinyi.

While I was weakened by the lightning tribulation, the wisp of soul had escaped.

“Rest assured, Your Majesty. Mount Xinyi will bring that monster down.”