Chapter 42.2

The cultivators on the outer circle began to grow impatient. Out of respect for the Young Sect Leader, they refrained from rushing into the inner circle. However, a few elders, unable to wait any longer, raised their voices and called out, “Young Sect Leader, do you need assistance?”

Chi Lu raised her hand to stop them, gripping the whip handle tightly, and took step after step toward Jing Shuxing. His expression remained indifferent, giving no indication of what he was thinking.

With every step she took forward, he retreated a step back, until he was right at the edge of the cliff.

Chi Lu’s heart suddenly tightened, a sense of foreboding sweeping over her as she saw the boy’s heel hanging in the air, with nothing but the abyss, filled with wailing ghosts and howling wolves, behind him.

“Stop,” she commanded, feeling the ominous premonition growing stronger.

Snap.

Then, the long whip in her hand suddenly felt lighter as the Red Soul Whip slipped from Jing Shuxing’s fingers, falling onto the scorched black ground. It lay there like a lifeless red snake, stuck to the earth, no longer moving according to Chi Lu’s will.

Stunned, Chi Lu looked up and saw that Jing Shuxing was carefully studying her, his gaze filled with the flowing waters of contemplation, the sharp edge of sorrow, and the daring blaze of fire.

He looked at her without blinking. “I told you, the Young Sect Leader has done me a great favor, one I cannot repay.”

“Wait—”

Chi Lu suddenly realized what Jing Shuxing was about to do, and her pupils contracted into thin slits. She let go of the whip handle and lunged forward, desperately trying to grab hold of Jing Shuxing.

But she only brushed past his fingertips.

Jing Shuxing, like a kite with its string cut, vanished from Chi Lu’s sight in an instant, plummeting into the Soul Transformation Abyss, where the wails of countless ghosts echoed. Chi Lu had moved as quickly as she could, yet she couldn’t even catch a fragment of his robe.

“Young Sect Leader,” she heard Jing Shuxing’s voice, sticky and elongated like a thread of lotus root, “just as you wished.”

He offered no resistance as he was pushed into the Soul Transformation Abyss.

Chi Lu’s mind exploded with a deafening roar.

Falling into such an abyss meant certain death.

Jing Shuxing had no spiritual power to protect himself and wouldn’t even make it to where she had driven the spiritual stakes.

She only wanted to complete her mission, not take his life. He shouldn’t die because of her loathsome mission.

The system’s prompt sounded in her ears, but Chi Lu couldn’t care about that anymore. Without saying a word or calling out to anyone, amidst the shocked cries around her, she leaped into the abyss after him.

The Red Soul Whip was too heavy to lift, so Chi Lu simply discarded it, focusing her spiritual power around herself. Like a bird diving with wings spread wide, she flew straight towards Jing Shuxing.

She grabbed his thin wrist and forcefully shook off the vengeful spirits that were about to bite into him.

With a swift motion, she drew out the staff that Jing Shuxing had returned to her, which she had placed in her space bag, and plunged it deeply into the wall of the abyss. As the two of them continued to fall, the staff struck sparks as it carved a line into the stone wall.

Jing Shuxing’s delicate brows furrowed deeply. He hung in midair like a rag doll, as if he had already given up the will to live.

With a faint smile on his face, he softly asked, “Have you changed your mind again?”

Chi Lu couldn’t understand—why could he still smile at a time like this?

Gripping the nearly broken staff in one hand and holding onto Jing Shuxing with the other, Chi Lu gritted her teeth and explained, “I have my reasons, which is why I staged this act.”

“Let’s get you back up first, and we’ll talk about everything… up there!”

She cried out in pain, sharply inhaling as her gaze shifted to the cliff above.

A blast of spiritual power struck her hand with precise accuracy. Chi Lu’s jade hand trembled, nearly causing her to lose her grip on Jing Shuxing.

Two more blasts of spiritual power followed. The first one split the staff in half, and the second rushed toward Chi Lu’s waist with a sweeping force. Looking up, she saw Jing Yi towering above, resolute in his intent to bury Jing Shuxing in the abyss. Yet, out of some lingering fear of the Linghua Sect, he had no plans to directly kill Chi Lu.

Unfortunately for him, Chi Lu had no intention of leaving the Soul Transformation Abyss.

Chi Lu gathered her spiritual power and flung Jing Shuxing upwards, releasing him from her grasp as she let herself fall into the dark, foul-smelling wind.

The surroundings blurred as they sped past, the dots of people above becoming smaller and smaller. In her mind, Chi Lu called out to the system, “Does this count as completing the mission?“

The system’s voice shimmered faintly, [Mission completion… Calculating rewards for the host… Calculation complete, initiating fake death mode…]

Suddenly, the system fell silent.

The light extinguished in an instant, as if trying to avoid some inhuman, monstrous presence that had appeared out of nowhere. A pitch-black curtain seemed to descend over Chi Lu’s vision.

A familiar scent reached her nose as she was caught in a cool, somewhat chilly embrace, her feet quickly touching something solid.

…No, not solid ground.

A barrier unfurled in an instant, a vast, transparent net that seemed to stretch endlessly across the Soul Transformation Abyss. The surrounding malevolent energy was swept away in an instant, while the black mist outside surged in waves, forming various patterns that silently imprinted themselves on the enormous net.

Chi Lu found herself held tightly in Jing Shuxing’s arms, his chin resting on her forehead as he nuzzled her gently, filled with deep affection.

How did he get down here again? Wait, what exactly is going on right now?

Chi Lu panicked, instinctively trying to push Jing Shuxing away, but he caught her hand and firmly pressed it to his side.

“Young Sect Leader, you don’t hate me, do you?” His voice was as warm as the sun melting away the spring snow. “Not only do you not hate me, but you also risked your life to save me.”

“It’s not like that,” Chi Lu’s vision darkened as she futilely knelt on the barrier, trying to dig a hole to escape through. “Let me go down. If I don’t go down soon…”

Huh?

The system, which always appeared promptly with its cold, mechanical voice, didn’t notify her of a mission failure. In fact, ever since Jing Shuxing had pulled her into his arms, it hadn’t made a sound.

Chi Lu realized that, for the moment, she was neither going to die nor get electrocuted.

Instead of worrying about the system, Chi Lu should be more concerned about Jing Shuxing standing in front of her. Her attitude had changed overnight, followed by harsh scolding and beatings—Jing Shuxing must absolutely loathe her to the core.

He was so powerful, pulling her out of the abyss, surely planning to take his revenge personally.

Chi Lu thought to herself, “I’m doomed.”

Forcing herself to muster some courage, she confronted Jing Shuxing, “What do you intend to do?”

The girl’s dark pupils were wide and unblinking, gleaming brightly. Jing Shuxing recalled that when she first entered the courtyard and lashed out at the cultivators with her whip, her eyes must have looked just like this.

He reached out, loosely encircling her slender, pale neck with his hand. Her black eyes remained bright, showing no intention of resisting.

Jing Shuxing understood—at this moment, he could do anything he wanted to her.

He could strip Chi Lu of her weapon, easily kill her, or trap her in a small, isolated world. If he erased everyone who had seen her, the Young Sect Leader of the Linghua Sect would vanish from the cultivation world, and no one would be able to trace her whereabouts.

At that point, she would no longer be a figure of authority, no longer a gifted cultivator, not even a person. She would become a mere object, entirely his possession.

His hand brushed across Chi Lu’s delicate neck, then silently withdrew, coming to rest on his own chest as if it had never intended to cling to her like a venomous snake.

The giant net began to rise, lifting Chi Lu high into the air. With a sweep of her gaze, she could overlook the entire scene below.

Chi Lu’s mind was filled with thoughts of how she might meet her end—perhaps with a flourish like fireworks, or mapped out on the ground, or maybe she’d just disappear entirely, leaving nothing behind.

Then, out of nowhere, she heard Jing Shuxing speak: “Jing Luoyun isn’t here.”

What does that have to do with anything?

Chi Lu stood frozen in place, stiffly raising her head.

Jing Shuxing took the opportunity to kneel beside her. He gently cupped her face in his hands, and with great care, pressed his lips to her forehead.

He left a kiss.

“Stop thinking about Jing Luoyun, Young Sect Leader. Look at me—I’ve always been by your side.”

The tightly wound string in Chi Lu’s mind suddenly snapped.

Even though she might not be well-versed in matters of love, she had read enough storybooks to understand what a kiss between two people meant.

She covered her forehead, leaning back like a startled bird.

“You, you, I…” A flush of red crept up her face, and her lips stiffly opened and closed as she struggled to find words.

Shouldn’t he hate me? Chi Lu thought. Where’s the hatred? Who uses their lips for revenge?

Jing Shuxing’s face showed a mix of desolation and hurt as he asked, “Does the Young Sect Leader still not think much of me?”

“That’s not the issue!” Chi Lu snapped, clearly frustrated.

Before she could explain further, Jing Yi’s furious shout echoed in the distance. The supreme pressure of the cultivation world’s foremost master spread out, forcing the surrounding cultivators to prostrate themselves on the ground, unable to move.

“Young Sect Leader, I intended to treat you with respect, but you brought this upon yourself.”

“Since you are determined to save my son, even by resorting to deception, I don’t mind sending you both off as a pair of doomed lovers.”

He leaped into the air, and added, “As for the Young Sect Leader’s body, after a thorough mind-wiping with the Soul Search Spike, it might still have some use.”

Jing Yi casually raised his hand, sending one palm strike towards Chi Lu and another intending to shove Jing Shuxing into the Soul Transformation Abyss.

With two heavy thuds, both Chi Lu and Jing Shuxing remained unmoved, their figures standing firm. A wave of surprise washed over Jing Yi’s face.

Unable to believe it, he increased his strength to eighty percent of his cultivation power. Before he could make another move, Jing Shuxing spoke.

“Young Sect Leader, should we keep him alive?”