Pei Chaochao was genuinely taken aback this time.
She had even anticipated that Qiong Guang Jun would have Spiritual Power protecting his body and had prepared to use the demon core for a finishing blow.
This time, everything should have been foolproof, but how could Qiong Guang Jun, injured to such an extent, wake up so quickly?
Unless…
Pei Chaochao’s mind worked swiftly.
She tilted her head slightly upward, glanced up, and quickly reconnected with the wisp of Spiritual Breath she had left behind in the Heavenly Realm.
The next second,
the voices of the Deities flooded her mind in real time—
【That scared me! Why does it feel like she’s looking at us? She’s clearly blind!】
【Guilty conscience, I suppose. I was startled too… but on second thought, even if she weren’t blind, she couldn’t possibly be looking at us.】
【Right, her memories are sealed.】
【Never mind. At least Qiong Guang Jun has awakened. It was worth activating the Rebirth Array.】
【I think you’re being overly cautious. Even if Qiong Guang Jun hadn’t woken up, nothing would have happened. But activating the Rebirth Array… you nearly violated the Celestial Law.】
…
The voices were chaotic, making it clear that the Heavenly Realm was in an uproar.
From the fragmented conversations, Pei Chaochao pieced together the full picture—
The Deities still had no idea she had regained her memories, nor did they know she had just intended to use the demon core to finish off Qiong Guang Jun.
They believed she had fallen in love with Qiong Guang Jun at first sight, just as described in the Book of Fate.
But according to the Book of Fate, every time she tried to help Qiong Guang Jun after falling in love with him, she only made things worse. Every time she tried to save him, she only added to his troubles, like a jinx.
Now, with Qiong Guang Jun in poor condition, some Deities feared she would, as written in the Book of Fate, approach him to “help” and end up jinxing him to death while he was severely injured.
So, they activated the Rebirth Array.
Pei Chaochao: “…”
Pei Chaochao almost laughed out loud.
The Rebirth Array stored the seals of every Deity undergoing tribulation. One of them had loosened Qiong Guang Jun’s seal and quickly restored it to its original position.
The seal had only been loosened momentarily before being reset, so it wasn’t enough to restore Qiong Guang Jun’s memories or divine power. However, the faint traces of divine power that leaked out during that brief moment were sufficient to rapidly improve his condition and rouse him from unconsciousness.
Just one step short.
Pei Chaochao felt she should be angry, but she couldn’t help feeling amused—
Were the people in the Heavenly Realm so afraid?
Without even knowing she had just been planning to carve out Qiong Guang Jun’s heart, they had risked violating the Celestial Law to activate the Rebirth Array.
The corners of Pei Chaochao’s lips curled involuntarily.
This was too interesting.
As a gesture of reciprocity, since they had ruined her plans, Pei Chaochao felt she should return the favor with a grand gift of her own.
Perhaps by damaging the Kunlun Mirror, or by causing them some other trouble, just to make them even more fearful and keep them from interfering with her affairs.
As her thoughts raced, Pei Chaochao tilted her head slightly.
She noticed that the white-haired man from earlier had vanished without a sound.
As if he had never been there at all.
Her hand was now clasped in Qiong Guang Jun’s grip, enveloped in his palm, leaving the demon core held solely in her own hand.
So, she stopped reciting the Immortal Incantation, though she didn’t withdraw her hand from Qiong Guang Jun’s grasp either.
She remained motionless, holding that position.
It was Qiong Guang Jun who withdrew his hand first and spoke: “Miss Pei.”
His voice was cold and sharp, matching the icy aura that surrounded him, reminiscent of unyielding, eternal ice that inspired awe.
It felt as though merely standing beside him or exchanging a few words would leave one frozen.
Pei Chaochao, however, did not regard him with the same awe as others did.
Her tone was intimate, filled with surprise, as she exclaimed, “You’re awake!”
Qiong Guang Jun: “…Mm.”
He asked Pei Chaochao, “Why are you here?”
Pei Chaochao smiled shyly. “I heard you were injured and wanted to help. You said before that I have a medicinal human constitution.”
So fragile, yet she claimed she wanted to help him?
Qiong Guang Jun recalled the scene he had just witnessed—
The great demon roared, the earth trembled.
Amidst the howling demonic winds and the scattered white bones on the ground, she stood there quietly, delicate and fragile.
Danger and fragility combined to create a scene of such intense impact.
That uncontrollable urge to harm surged once again.
His heart pounded, his blood raced, bringing with it a strange sense of thrill. Even his fingertips began to itch, yearning to utterly crush this fragility, yet paradoxically wanting to protect it carefully, fearing it might shatter from the slightest touch.
And such thoughts—
whether to harm or protect—seemed directed only at her.
His hand still wounded, he pressed his fingertips hard against his palm.
The wound tore open, blood flowing even more profusely, yet Qiong Guang Jun remained expressionless. “There’s no need for that.”
Pei Chaochao insisted stubbornly, “There is.”
Qiong Guang Jun’s voice was distant and indifferent. “Why?”
Pei Chaochao tilted her head. “Immortal, are you asking me why?”
She asked softly, “Didn’t you hear it just now? You must have heard it.”
She was referring to what she had said before he opened his eyes: I fell in love with him at first sight.
Without giving him time to react, Pei Chaochao continued, “I just said that I fell in love with you at first sight, Immortal.”
She spoke with utter frankness. “Because I fell in love with you at first sight, I was worried about your safety, so I wanted to help you.”
Not the slightest hint of beating around the bush.
For a moment, Qiong Guang Jun said nothing.
His fingertips pressed against the wound once more, blood dripping steadily down his palm.
With no one speaking, the air fell into a brief silence.
Yet, Pei Chaochao’s mind was anything but quiet.
The Deities chattered noisily:
[How shameless! No sense of shame at all!]
[How can she be so clingy? Qiong Guang Jun hasn’t said a word—his refusal is obvious.]
[Definitely. How could Qiong Guang Jun ever take a liking to her?]
[I remember this part in the Book of Fate too. It describes her confessing her feelings to Qiong Guang Jun, and then Qiong Guang Jun mercilessly rejecting her.]
Listening, Pei Chaochao also recalled the contents of the Book of Fate.
In the Book of Fate, after she confessed her feelings to Qiong Guang Jun, he had replied with icy indifference: Our paths are different; there is absolutely no possibility.
The rejection was blunt and cold, perfectly in line with Qiong Guang Jun’s nature.
Pei Chaochao didn’t care how Qiong Guang Jun would respond. She had said what she did earlier merely to explain why she was here.
But now, this was quite interesting.
Would Qiong Guang Jun respond as he had in the Book of Fate?
The corners of her lips curved upward, her smile deepening with anticipation.
Qiong Guang Jun lowered his gaze, meeting her face full of pure delight.
He blinked slowly.
It was strange. He had fought the great demon and clearly suffered severe injuries, falling unconscious. Yet, just moments ago, it felt as though an extra surge of Spiritual Power had emerged within his body—the very power that had roused him.
As that Spiritual Power filled his body, another scene flashed in his mind.
In that scene, her amber eyes held a bewitching smile as she raised her hand toward him. In her grasp was a divine artifact glowing with sacred light, and she said to him, “What I’ve taken, I have no intention of returning. If you want it, then take it back from me.”
The scene was fleeting, halting at the moment she spoke—dangerous and cunning.
Qiong Guang Jun, his memories sealed, did not know this was a fragment from his past in the Heavenly Realm. He only knew that the image of her in that scene contradicted the harmless appearance he had witnessed, yet it overlapped with the figure from the vision that had flashed in his mind on the night they first met.
[Is Qiong Guang Jun staying silent because he’s thinking of how to reject her?]
[If you ask me, such feelings should just be kept to oneself. Speaking them aloud only makes things awkward for everyone.]
Listening to the deities’ words, Pei Chaochao also stirred the flames with interest: “Is the Immortal Elder thinking of how to reject me?”
Qiong Guang Jun gazed at her.
The Guiyuan Sect had seen many female disciples who admired him, but few were as forthright in expressing their feelings as she was. Even when others had, he had rejected them simply and decisively.
He knew what to say when refusing someone.
Yet, he raised his hand.
Then, his fingers landed on the white silk covering her eyes. The bloodstain on his palm smudged onto the silk, staining it.
With a flick of his fingertip, he directly removed the white silk: “No.”
[?]
[Did I mishear? He said no? Not thinking of how to reject her?]
[That shouldn’t be!]
The deities nearly saw black before their eyes, once again bewildered—
This was Qiong Guang Jun, the Qiong Guang Jun who showed no mercy when rejecting others. How… how could he act like this!
Pei Chaochao was also somewhat surprised: “Hmm?”
Qiong Guang Jun rubbed the white silk lightly but firmly, his gaze fixed on her eyes: “Open them.”
Pei Chaochao complied and opened her eyes.
Her eyes were beautiful—slightly elongated phoenix eyes that, when revealed, lent her entire face a subtly bewitching allure.
It was a pity she was blind, so her eyes lacked luster, her gaze hollow and vacant.
Qiong Guang Jun looked into her eyes: “If you cannot see, how can there be love at first sight?”
Pei Chaochao said, “Immortal Elder, the blind have their own ways of perceiving the world. I can sense your appearance.”
Qiong Guang Jun lowered his gaze to look at her.
Pei Chaochao suddenly changed her mind.
This attempt to extract his heart had failed, and who knew how long it would take to find another suitable opportunity.
She wasn’t ready to give up on extracting his heart, but there were two ways to obtain the Root of Emotion.
She could perfectly well deceive Qiong Guang Jun’s feelings while waiting for another chance to extract his heart.
Making someone adore her was no difficult task for her.
Pei Chaochao raised her hand, her fingertips landing on Qiong Guang Jun’s brow and eyes.
She carefully traced the contours of his features with her fingers, her movements gentle and slow, as if earnestly perceiving: “The Immortal Elder’s eyes are very beautiful. Moreover, you saved me and took me in. It’s only natural for me to be drawn to you.”
Qiong Guang Jun stiffened, as if all the blood in his body had frozen, and abruptly tightened his grip on her wrist.
He averted his gaze.
Then, he picked up the white silk, preparing to cover her eyes once more: “On the night the Demonic Cultivators slaughtered the village, Jiang Du also saved you.”
Pei Chaochao obediently stopped her hand.
She turned her head to make it easier for him to tie the silk, saying as she did so: “It’s different.”
Behind them, Jiang Du, having finished healing his wounds, heard this and let out a low, mocking laugh.
Of course it’s different, he thought to himself.
The truth of that night was that he had intended to capture her as a Medicine Person, and she had stabbed him in return.
Yet she had fabricated it into a tale of a hero saving a beauty, fooling everyone in the Guiyuan Sect.
A bunch of fools.
Jiang Du thought scornfully.
Distractedly, he lifted his eyelids. Pei Chaochao’s white silk had not yet fully covered her eyes, resting just at the bridge of her nose, leaving her eyes still exposed.
And so, he met her gaze directly.
She was clearly blind, yet it seemed as if she were looking at him.
It was as though she knew he was watching her. With her back to Qiong Guang Jun, she opened her palm to reveal the demon core resting in it.
This was her way of signaling to him—while Qiong Guang Jun wasn’t paying attention, before he could take it away, she was returning it to Jiang Du.
Her eyes lacked vitality, yet they were strikingly beautiful, adding a faint, bewitching hint of wickedness to her otherwise harmless face, carrying a touch of something that could captivate the soul.
Jiang Du felt a slight flutter in his heart.
For a moment, he had the illusion that the distance between them had infinitely narrowed.
What happened that night was a secret between him and her, and the demon core was another secret they shared.
…They were birds of a feather, accomplices.
At the same time,
the white silk was tied once more, covering her eyes again.
Qiong Guang Jun asked from behind, “What’s in your hand?”
Jiang Du reached out and took the demon core, his hand closing over hers. His voice was arrogant and lazy: “It’s mine. Mind your own business, Ji, Shen, Zhi.”
Pei Chaochao returned the demon core to Jiang Du.
Then she turned around and smiled at Qiong Guang Jun, understanding and considerate: “I admire you, Immortal. I’ve only spoken my heart’s desire and don’t seek your response. So you needn’t feel burdened—don’t rush to reject me, nor rush to answer me.”
She raised a hand to adjust the white silk over her eyes, her tone bewitching: “After all… I will always admire you, Immortal.”
Qiong Guang Jun lowered his gaze to look at her.
Her left hand pressed against the white silk, and around her wrist was locked a spiritual power rope.
Due to the dissipation of spiritual power, the rope had grown almost transparent.
Yet, the moment her words fell,
he saw the spiritual power rope suddenly infused with a surge of spiritual power, blazing brightly once more.
Shifting his gaze away,
he met the fierce, unruly look in Jiang Du’s eyes behind her.
Qiong Guang Jun’s expression remained impassive,
his fingers twitching slightly as he severed the spiritual power rope.