Chapter 45.4

She paused, deciding to be honest with Yun Pianpian. “While it’s true that Young lady Xu was wrong to leave her family without saying goodbye, if I put myself in her shoes, I wouldn’t want to be a parasitic dodder flower, relying on others to survive and draining someone else’s lifespan.”

Yun Pianpian’s eyes sparkled as Chi Lu spoke with genuine sincerity. However, it seemed as though a mask was welded onto Yun Pianpian’s face, maintaining a constant smiling expression from beginning to end.

Chi Lu found Yun Pianpian’s behavior rather odd, but it wasn’t the right moment to voice her concerns, so she suppressed her doubts for the time being.

She was about to explain the situation to Yun Pianpian when they suddenly heard exaggerated shouts coming from a distance.

“Sister Yun, I’ve come to save you!!”

A fierce young man with a sword in hand charged recklessly down the street adorned in red decorations.

Xu Shiling’s face lit up with joy. “The aura on him… another one with the Jing surname!”

She hadn’t even finished expressing her delight when the red-robed man in the corner cast a cold glance her way. Her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately fell silent.

She turned to Chi Lu, and pleaded, “Young Sect Leader, all three of them have the same aura as Jing Cheng. Could you do me a favor and try persuading them for me?”

Xu Shiling hooked onto Chi Lu’s left arm, while Yun Pianpian held onto her right hand, leaving Chi Lu sandwiched in the middle like a piece of meat in a bun, utterly dumbfounded.

She couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. “Do I really have that much influence?”

Yun Pianpian was the first to respond, “If the Young Sect Leader asks, I’m certainly willing to help find the person.”

Before Chi Lu could reply, Jing Luoyun, who had been charging towards the courtyard with loud shouts, suddenly let out a cry of pain.

Jing Luoyun had run into an invisible barrier, clutching his nose as he crouched on the ground, struggling to speak.

Chi Lu couldn’t help but grit her teeth as she broke free from Yun Pianpian and Xu Shiling, striding quickly toward Jing Shuxing.

“He never listens to me,” she muttered to herself as she walked.

She left the two young women standing there, staring at each other in bewilderment.

Xu Shiling asked Yun Pianpian, “Miss from the Jing family, the Young Sect Leader’s tone is so harsh. Could it be that she’s had a quarrel with that gentleman?”

Yun Pianpian maintained her fake smile, saying, “I don’t know either.”

Her mouth was pulled into a stiff upward stretch, but her eyes were void of light, not to mention any hint of genuine amusement.

Chi Lu approached Jing Shuxing and pointed at Jing Luoyun, who was now bruised and battered. Her expression was caught between a smile and a frown. “You used your powers again, did you?”

Her eyes clearly showed displeasure.

Jing Shuxing looked surprised. “Does the Young Sect Leader not want me to stop him?”

With more pressing matters at hand, Chi Lu couldn’t immediately think of how to explain herself to Jing Shuxing.

She couldn’t just bluntly tell him, “I’ve seen your future, and if you keep using your powers repeatedly, your health will only get worse.”

As her gaze lifted, she met Jing Shuxing’s eyes looking down at her, filled with a probing smile. “Is the Young Sect Leader worried about me?”

“It’s okay. I’m not uncomfortable. You can use me however you like.”

—What kind of nonsense is he spouting!

Chi Lu silently stared at Jing Shuxing, subconsciously labeling him as “impossible to communicate with.”

Suddenly, she bent down, and her eyes landed on the belt at Jing Shuxing’s waist.

Jing Shuxing instinctively took a step back, but Chi Lu reached out and hooked her finger around the belt strap. “Don’t move.”

Her command was like a bolt from the blue, striking Jing Shuxing. He didn’t dare move a muscle as Chi Lu pulled out a piece of spiritual jade hidden within his belt.

She tapped the spiritual jade with her finger, summoning a spiritual net that began at Jing Shuxing’s waist and firmly bound him.

After securing him, the spiritual jade transformed into a warm current that entered Jing Shuxing’s body, circulating through his meridians and flooding him with overwhelming drowsiness.

Chi Lu caught Jing Shuxing’s falling body, guiltily averting her gaze. “You know, this is the only trick I have.”

—This marked the fourth time she had knocked Jing Shuxing out.

The spiritual jade had been deliberately placed there by her, specifically for moments when Jing Shuxing disobeyed, allowing her to take immediate action.

It served both to nourish his body and to induce restful sleep, it was a top-tier material for nurturing the spiritual platform.

Holding Jing Shuxing close, she mimicked Ying Lianyi’s gentle coaxing, like soothing a child. “Disobedient children can only go to sleep.”

She heard a few short breaths as Jing Shuxing tried his best to stay awake, but the effects of the spiritual jade were exceptional. He struggled desperately, but only grew more fatigued.

In a moment of desperation, Jing Shuxing simply pulled the hairpin from his headpiece and stabbed it toward his shoulder.

Chi Lu quickly intercepted him.

“This is for shielding you from cold and evil energies, not for anything else.” Chi Lu pried the hairpin from Jing Shuxing’s hand and reinserted it into his headpiece.

Her sleeve was then grabbed, and a strong force pulled her downward.

Drowsiness clouded Jing Shuxing’s eyes. He was already half-asleep, with his head uncontrollably tilting back. He clutched Chi Lu’s sleeve tremblingly, and his fingers slowly crawled upward.

“Is the Young Sect Leader planning to break her promise?” His voice was low, mingling with the rustling of fabric, barely audible.

“Young Sect Leader clearly promised me… that you would take me back to the Linghua Sect.”

Chi Lu felt puzzled. “I did promise you, so why bring this up now?”

“Then what are you doing to me right now?” Jing Shuxing grabbed onto Chi Lu with one hand while bracing himself against the ground with the other, and his fingers digging deep into the soil of the spiritual vein. “Are you planning to break your promise, leave me behind, and abandon me here all alone?”

With a ripping sound, Chi Lu’s sleeve tore. As she tried to pull her hand back, her shoulder was firmly gripped.

She looked down, locking eyes with Jing Shuxing.

Due to his overwhelming drowsiness, his eyes were filled with moisture and bloodshot, stubbornly resisting closure. The owner of those eyes channeled nearly all his strength into holding onto Chi Lu, whispering softly in her ear.

“Don’t even think about it.”

“If you leave me behind, I’ll crawl, even if I have to, all the way to the Linghua Sect to find you.”

Chi Lu opened her mouth, but the words got stuck.

Were Jing Shuxing’s symptoms this severe before?

No, wait—wasn’t he first thinking she was going to kill him, then suspecting she had improper thoughts about Jing Luoyun? Now, he’s just worried about being abandoned by her, which is already a significant improvement.

But even so, this behavior couldn’t be described as normal…

Chi Lu pressed her palm down, intending to forcibly close Jing Shuxing’s eyes, but when she met those eyes, that full of an ambiguous mix of anger and sorrow, she abandoned the idea.

She felt a pang of regret for her rashness.

Even if she couldn’t fully explain, she needed to reassure Jing Shuxing somehow.

She began, “I’m not planning to leave you behind…”

No, his eyes were about to close.

The spiritual jade’s effect was excellent, leaving Jing Shuxing with hardly any energy to listen to her words.

Chi Lu focused, intensifying her tone. “Listen carefully, I will never leave you behind.”

Jing Shuxing’s dark eyes were misty, the cool dampness of the spiritual vein forming droplets at his lashes.

Upon hearing Chi Lu’s words, his eyelids trembled slightly, and the water droplets fell, sliding down the corners of his eyes.

His pitiful expression was as if he were about to cry.

Chi Lu completely regretted her actions.

She bit the tip of her tongue and leaned closer to Jing Shuxing’s forehead, using the essence of her tongue’s blood to draw a symbol on his forehead.

“This is the unique mark of the Linghua Sect. If we ever get separated, once your spiritual platform heals, you can use this sect mark to find me.”

“I will always be waiting for you.”

The deep red of the blood contrasted sharply with the bright red of his robes. Jing Shuxing was barely able to support himself; his eyes were bloodshot, and his grip on Chi Lu’s shoulder grew weaker and weaker.

He breathed rapidly, and he questioned with a faint voice, “How many others have you done this for?”

Jing Shuxing didn’t interpret Chi Lu’s actions as a kiss, and he knew he wasn’t someone special.

Chi Lu didn’t understand what people called love, nor did she comprehend the emotions Jing Shuxing felt when he had once left a kiss mark on her forehead.

She would draw the sect mark on his forehead and could do the same for others. The mere thought of Chi Lu treating anyone else like this made Jing Shuxing feel as if he could—

“You’re the only one,” Chi Lu replied.

“—?”

Not to mention that this was Chi Lu’s first time leaving the sect, even the act of drawing a blood-marked symbol went against Ying Lianyi’s list of “absolutely never let anyone take advantage” rules.

But Jing Shuxing was different. He had done the same to her before, so Chi Lu could comfortably consider this as payback.

“You are the most special one,” Chi Lu said as she lowered her gaze.

Author’s Note:

Xiao Jing: I can die in peace now.

————

Actually, in this scene,

Xiao Jing’s original line was: “If you dare to leave me, I’ll kill you.”

The author got possessed by him while writing, and it twisted the storyline.