Living up to you Chapter 44

Chapter 44

At a lonely secluded corner in the all black with no daylight devil realm, a green smoke rose in spirals. In the remote and uninhabited place, unexpectedly there was a faint aroma of food from the mortal realm.

In a not spacious room in a house with a courtyard deep in the devil realm was a wooden table. There were a few dishes on the table and two bowls filled with rice. There was someone sitting at the table, but it was only one person.

The other one was lying on a couch. Her body was surrounded by a black mist. Her complexion was pale, but her lips were still ruddy. The long eyelashes were slightly closed as if they would open in the next moment.

The person sitting at the table was only sitting and didn’t move his chopsticks. The aroma of the food gradually dissipated. The night dew stained the air without being noticed. Even if the color of the sky hasn’t changed, it should be nighttime now. The food had become cold completely. That person was still sitting by the table without moving.

It wasn’t until a gust of wind blew out the painted lantern on the door that he gently waved his hand. The table became empty. He got up, lay down on the couch and took the woman beside him into his arms.

The corpse had been preserved by his spell and had never stiffened. It was still soft like when it was alive. There was even some warmth on it.

He held her, but he didn’t sleep and had his eyes open. His black eyes looked above him. His gaze was boundlessly empty. One would wonder where his gaze fell. When the night wind blew in through the window, he seemed to be afraid that the person next to him would be cold. He moved his body a bit and hugged her tighter. He brushed way a few strands of scattered hair on her face. His fingertips crossed the end of her eyebrow and paused on her ear. His gaze fell on her face like it had been solidified there and could no longer leave her face.

He seemed to already be accustomed to this. He silently stayed by her side, protected and watched her. He couldn’t feel the passage of time. With a blink of the eye, ten thousand years seemed to have gone by.

Inadvertently, the woman’s brow seemed to move a bit. He got up abruptly. The dark room lit up instantly.

The woman’s eyelashes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly. They slowly raised and exposed her clear eyes.

Nan Zhi’s whole body froze. There seemed to be a myriad of emotions rolling in his eyes, but they had all been suppressed by him. In the end, he became calm like the surface of a lake and probed, “Chen Xi…?”

The woman’s eyes shook slightly. Then, she smiled softly at him as if water could be pinched out of that smile.

Nan Zhi’s eyelids drooped slightly, concealing the emotions in his eyes and asked in a low voice, “You…remember everything?”

The woman laughed and grabbed his hand. She said, “Nan Zhi.”

Nan Zhi’s hand shivered slightly and stiffened. After a short while did he turn his hand and held that hand.

He took her to the mortal realm, to the northern city.

It was the end of summer. The autumn came early at the northern city. Large pieces of golden leaves swayed in the wind and the expansive green grass fields seemed to have traces of withering. Occasionally, a few butterflies chased after the shadow of the summer flowers.

The market was full of people and lively as always.

Nan Zhi randomly found a small shop and ordered two bowls of noodles. The two ate together in silence. Then, the two continued to walk around the market in silence. Nan Zhi had been holding her hand and led her through the bustling crowd. They paused in front of each stall. When he saw that her gaze didn’t focus on them, he took her to another stall.

At noon, Nan Zhi took the woman to a restaurant. A play was playing on the stage of the restaurant.

After the two sat down, they ordered a few dishes and were silent again.

On the stage played other people’s story. Since, one wasn’t in the mood to watch, it also wouldn’t move the heart. Although, both of them looked at the stage, it was obviously that they weren’t listening carefully. The woman had a smile on all the time. Her eyes were empty without any liveliness. Nan Zhi looked at her from time to time. As he looked, he became absent-minded and stared fixedly at her without even blinking.

He reached out and gently pushed her hair behind her ear. His voice was clear like rain in the spring but it was abnormally hoarse, “In the past, you liked to watch plays the most.”

The woman’s smile stiffened slightly. Immediately after, the smile became brighter, “You still remember?”

The corners of Nan Zhi’s mouth raised slightly, but there was no smile at the bottom of his eyes. He restrained the emotions in his eyes, took a sip of tea and didn’t respond.

The people scattered after the play ended. Nan Zhi took her to the grass field. Although, it was early autumn and the weather was getting colder, there were still many children laughing and playing with paper kites on the grass field.

“Nan Zhi, I…miss you very much.” The woman lying on the grass had her hands before her eyes. Through the space between her fingers, one didn’t know if she was looking at the blue sky or the flying kites in the air.

She seemed to want to nestle against Nan Zhi. He suddenly turned over and his whole body almost covered her body. He took away her hands and stared scorchingly at her.

The woman still had tears in her eyes. Seeing his face so close up suddenly, her face reddened.

The icy aura of always. Even the surrounding wind became contaminated with the coldness. He pressed her under him. One hand was around her waist. The other hand carefully caressed her cold cheek. There had never been excess emotions in those eyes that were deep like a pond. This was also the case at this moment. He only looked faintly at the woman under him, making people feel that those two black inks would dye the sky black before he would let it go. However, under the thick black ink, something seemed to be surging in the tranquility and would break out in the next moment.

He was getting closer and closer. His breath landed on the woman’s face. her cheeks seemed to be covered with peach blossoms. They were pinkish and attractive. The woman slowly closed her eyes as if she was waiting to be plucked by him. However, the right hand that was originally on the grass suddenly raised silently and a sharp dagger appeared in her hand.

Nan Zhi didn’t kiss her. Instead, he slowly buried his head in her neck. Both of his hand held her as if he wished to use all his might to let her merge into his embrace and never let go again.

The woman’s hand trembled slightly in the air.

This body had once belonged to her, but now it was not anymore. It was so familiar yet so unfamiliar.

There were broken pieces of souls inside the body and suppressed by the Soul-Suppressing pearl. She felt very crowded. Those pieces of souls that didn’t belong to her seemed to want to drive her out of this body at any time without care whether she was willing or whether she could bear to part with this body.

She came here to fetch the devil king’s true element. At this moment, she should stab this dagger in his heart and then issue a sneak attack when the opportunity presented itself.

However, the breath sprayed on her neck was moist and warm. The strength he held her with was as if he wanted to crush her. She even had the slight illusion that he was despairing, that he would bury himself in her neck and cry the next moment.

With this stab, his breath would probably restore to the coldness.

The five fingers of Ling Xi tightened their grip and trembled uncontrollably. She had exhausted all the power from her heart, but this dagger couldn’t go down no matter what.

Ling Xi seemed to see her soul cry inside her body, but her eyes were dry. She looked at the tears of her soul indifferently as if she was detached from the six realms.

She didn’t know when Nan Zhi had put his lips beside her ears. The breath he exhaled was cold. He whispered, “Very similar, but unfortunately…you are not.”

While he said that, he turned his hand, threw away the dagger in Ling Xi’s hand and he grabbed her throat. The sharp increase of the vicious current attracted a breeze of cold wind. Ling Xi was strangled by him. She lay immobile on the grass. She only saw the darkening sky and the quick gathering of the dark clouds.

“I don’t care what your objective is. Get out.” Nan Zhi’s voice seemed to have been dipped in ice. The coldness was dense.

He didn’t strangle her hard, but the violent murderous intent and devilish aura made her unable to breath. She stared at him fixedly.

“Get out.” His fingers narrowed their hold slightly and seemed to want to cast a spell. He said disgusted, “Don’t dirty this body.”

The stars and light in Ling Xi’s eyes suddenly went out. There was only deathly stillness. The closed lips seemed to be bleeding. She casted a spell. Her right hand held a dagger again. She ignored the hand on her neck and stabbed at Nan Zhi’s heart without hesitation.

Warm blood slid down the palm of her hand.

A thunder could be heard in the sky. The rain fell without warning, washed away the blood and made splashes of water.

The dagger didn’t go straight into his heart. Instead, it had been grabbed by Nan Zhi’s hand.

Ling Xi recalled that night on the top of Cangjia Mountain. She grabbed Nan Zhi’s sword and begged him to wait a bit more. The sharp blade pierced her palm. She still could remember that pain.

The heavy rain poured down, wetted her hair and blew off her bangs and revealed the “cross” on her forehead that hasn’t completely healed yet. Her throat was choked by Nan Zhi. As long as he moved a little, she would cease to exist once again. The dagger had also become ashes because of him and melted into the rain.

Ling Xi smiled slightly. Instead of retreat, she advanced. She said, “If you have the ability, then break her neck!”

Nan Zhi paled. He let go as if his hand had been burned. Seeing this, Ling Xi quickly casted a spell and pushed him away. Then, she immediately rose up and went away with the wind.

The rain was heavy. The children on the grass field had long cleaned up their kites and went home to hide from the rain. Nan Zhi was like a not collapsing big tree under the thunderstorm. He didn’t move and didn’t even use spells to heal the wound on his hand. The rain wetted his hair and slid down along his sleeve and across his palm and dyed in red. It took a long time before he moved slowly. In the middle of the night, he came to a house that had been deserted for a long time.

Weeds grew all over the flowerbeds in the front yard. Some had already withered and some has flourished next to the branches. The painted lantern in front of the house had become damaged, mottled and yellow. The dusty rattan chair in the backyard became new again because of the rain.

He walked over and sat down to the left where he sat most often.

The person next to him was no longer here and the voice that repeatedly called him “Nan Zhi” was also no longer there. He thought that he could still hear it.

Seeing her open her eyes, seeing her smile lovably, seeing her satiated expression after a meal, seeing her fixed gaze while watching a play.

He thought he could still see them.

The rain was very cold but it couldn’t drench the heart that had already became numb from pain after all.

He knew from the first glance that it was impossible to be her, but he still couldn’t bear to let go.

—

Ling Xi didn’t go far on the sword. Seeing that no one chased after her, she slacked off. She almost fell down from the sword and was securely held by someone.

Qin Ling swept over her from the top to the bottom. Even in the rain, he was still elegant, “Not bad, you got back your body.”

Ling Xi hugged him and buried her head in her chests. Her body trembled slightly.

Qin Ling brought her to a deserted forest. He made a barrier and isolated the wind and rain on the outside.

“It doesn’t matter if you didn’t get the true element. Next time, big brother will go with you.” Qin Ling patted Ling Xi’s back comfortingly. “Anyway, you’ve gotten back your body. You cast a spell and I will help you drive out the souls that doesn’t belong to you.”

While Qin Ling spoke, both his hand began to make a spell, but was stopped by Ling Xi.

She grabbed his hand and put it on her heart. Her eyes were still like stagnant water. “Big brother, the moment he saw me, he called me Chen Xi.”

Qin Ling was slightly stunned. The hand that Ling Xi grabbed his hand with trembled slightly, “It turned out that he accompanied me to the market, watch a play with me, eat with me…because Chen Xi liked it.”

Qin Ling gradually lost his smile and his eyes gradually became cold.

“He also said that I dirtied her body…” The glimmer in Ling Xi’s eyes flickered and tears emerged, but the tears had never fallen down, “Big brother, isn’t it that I don’t have a conscience? Why do I still feel heartache?”

Qin Ling caressed Ling Xi’s hair tenderly. The rain dried up where his hands touched. “You only don’t have a conscience, it’s not that you don’t have a heart.”

“Then, big brother, let’s go find that person, alright? Beg him to also take out my heart.”

Ling Xi put her hands around Qin Ling’s neck, leaned against his chest and sobbed, “Like that…I won’t feel heartache.”

Ruthlessness flashed in Qin Ling’s eyes and he said coldly, “Big brother will kill him on your behalf. No one will let you feel pain anymore.”

Ling Xi shook her heart and sobbed, “Let’s go find that person. Take me to that person and let him also take my heart, alright? I don’t want it anymore, don’t want it anymore…as long as it doesn’t hurt like this, I don’t want anything anymore.

Qin Ling sighed, “You don’t even want big brother anymore?”

Ling Xi was silent. Her tears wetted the clothes on Qin Ling’s chest. She embraced that warmth. It took a long time before she stopped crying and whispered, “Big brother, after the seal of the god realm is lifted, let’s never come back here again.”

Qin Ling hugged her and sighed, “Originally, we shouldn’t have come here.”

—

The emperor of the mortal realm was assassinated. The mortal ream was in chaos. The demon king died overnight. The demon realm was in chaos. The true divination of Cang Yu from the mortal realm was taken quietly. For a time, the world was alarmed.

The netherworld was still stable. The judge was anxious. Such a big matter happened outside and was about to become chaotic like a pot of porridge, their king of hell still refused to listen to him finish reading the war challenge.

• Pot of porridge” complete mess

On this day, he had no choice but to go to the king of hell again and said tremblingly, “Your highness, the three realms, mortal, demon and immortal had already been disturbed by that Jing Yan that not even chickens and dogs are left undisturbed. If your highness doesn’t take preventive measures as soon as possible, presumably…”

• Not even chickens and dogs are left undisturbed: great commotion

“What did you say?” It was rare for Ming Sheng to throw away the mud that he was playing with and paid attention to what the judge said.

“This subject said, mortal, demon…”

“Go, go, go, who wants to hear this? This king means the name you just said!” Ming Sheng interrupted him impatiently.

The judge recalled what he had just said and said, “Jing Yan…It was Jing Yan who had sent the war challenge to the leaders of every realm…”

Before the judge could finish, Ming Sheng’s two eyebrows furrowed, “Jing Yan? Is there another one called Qin Ling?”

“This…” The judge wasn’t sure himself. He said hesitantly, “It seemed to be rumored that it was a man and a woman, but this subject doesn’t know if one is called Qin Ling.”

Ming Sheng patted the mud from his hand and said in deep thoughts, “They actually appeared…”

The judge was curious and picked up his courage to ask who “they” were. Unexpectedly, Ming Sheng disappeared with a turn of his body and only left a voice hovering in the judge’s ears, “This king will go play a bit outside. Undertake more responsibilities for this king!”

“Your, your, your highness, this netherworld can’t be without a ruler for one day…” The judge could only wail.

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