When she finally saw the scene before her clearly, Mo Qiushuang realized that she had somehow returned to Jiang Han’s cave dwelling again.
After so many days away, a thicker layer of dust had settled inside. Looking at the broken, desolate cave, a wave of sorrow rose from the depths of her heart.
Jiang Han had actually been living in a place like this all along. She and her junior sisters had always stayed in top-grade cave dwellings filled with abundant spiritual energy. Their daily needs were taken care of by servant disciples. They never had to worry about anything. Yet Jiang Han had been living in such poverty.
Not only did he have to find his own food, he also had to compete with the spirit beasts in the mountains for resources, fumbling his way forward bit by bit in cultivation.
As the eldest senior sister, she had not once stepped into Jiang Han’s cave in thirteen whole years. Was that really normal?
Every time she went to Lin Xuan’s cave to deliver pills, had she ever once thought about Jiang Han?
Mo Qiushuang’s nose burned. With a flick of her sleeve, a clear breeze formed out of thin air, sweeping all the dust out of the cave and exposing the clutter on the stone cabinet.
“This is…”
Mo Qiushuang stared blankly at the stone cabinet by the wall. Besides that small wooden sword, she saw several other objects.
She remembered them. These were things she and the others had casually thrown to Jiang Han.
It was when Lin Xuan had finally sensed qi and broken through to the 1st stage Qi Refining Realm.
They had given Lin Xuan many magical artifacts and pills to help him stabilize his realm and assist his cultivation.
At that time, Jiang Han had stood not far away, looking at them pitifully, as if he wanted something but did not dare to approach.
He had looked as though he had been bullied by them. The third junior sister had not held back and scolded him as lowly and useless, berating him until his eyes turned red and he almost cried.
In the end, it was Lin Xuan who could not bear to see Jiang Han so pitiful and asked them to throw Jiang Han a few small things they did not want.
Not wanting to upset Lin Xuan, they had reluctantly picked out the most useless items to give him.
She had given him the lowest-grade recording pearl. The second junior sister had given him a wind chime flower that was nearly dead. The third junior sister had given him a long sword that was almost broken.
She remembered it clearly. Even though they were all worthless trash, Jiang Han had smiled so happily at the time, clutching those items tightly to his chest without the slightest trace of dislike.
Now those things were neatly placed on the cabinet. There were many traces of careful wiping on them. Their surfaces were smooth and polished. He must have cleaned them meticulously every single day.
Even that pot of wind chime flower had been placed in the only spot in the cave that received sunlight. It was blooming brilliantly now, nurtured with great care.
It was obvious that Jiang Han truly loved these things.
And yet now, the treasures he had cherished most were left here as though they were nothing more than garbage.
Mo Qiushuang felt her heart trembling. He loved these things so much. Why had he left them behind?
Could it be that he truly did not want them anymore?
Did Jiang Han really not care anymore?
Mo Qiushuang lifted her head, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably. Get faster updates on g.com.
The recording pearl she had given him was placed solemnly at the very center of the stone cabinet. Beneath it was a wooden box lined with soft beast fur.
“Wu…”
Her eyes turned red. She covered her mouth tightly as tears spilled out uncontrollably, dripping down her cheeks.
She recognized the fur at a glance. It was the nape fur of a Foundation Establishment Realm demon beast. That kind of fur cost at least 200 medium-grade spirit stones.
Jiang Han had been so poor. Selling those few spiritual fruits each day, how many spirit stones could he possibly earn? It was likely not even enough for his cultivation.
Who knew how long he had saved just to afford that piece of fur?
Mo Qiushuang could already imagine Jiang Han sitting on his cold stone bed, holding a few broken spirit stones in his hands, dreaming of buying a beast-fur cushion.
He had done all that merely to better preserve the trash she had given him.
Mo Qiushuang could not stop crying. Tears blurred her vision in an instant.
She had never imagined that Jiang Han had lived such a miserable life all these years.
She hated herself for not coming to Jiang Han’s cave sooner. If she had known earlier, if she had known how much he cherished these things, she would never have treated him that way.
Jiang Han had done so much. And how had she treated him?
Mo Qiushuang carefully held the recording pearl in her hands and collapsed weakly against the wall, tears sliding endlessly from the corners of her eyes.
She knew how she had treated Jiang Han in the past. She had always known.
Those memories surged through her mind. She had never been this wretched before. Even when she had once fallen into the Demonic Abyss and endured the agony of countless demons devouring her heart, it had not hurt as much as this.
Her trembling fingers brushed the recording pearl as she slowly infused it with spiritual power, afraid of damaging it.
She wanted to see what precious thing Jiang Han had preserved so carefully inside.
A beam of light shot out from the recording pearl and unfolded slowly in midair, forming a luminous screen. A line of large characters appeared.
“This is the gift from Eldest Senior Sister!”
The characters were big, perhaps to contain all the love he felt. The handwriting was still somewhat childish, yet it was clear at a glance that the writer had been extremely earnest.
“Wu wu wu…”
Mo Qiushuang could not hold back any longer. Her sobs slipped through her fingers as tears quickly soaked a large patch of the ground.
Her heart hurt so much. It clenched again and again. Waves surged violently across the lake of her heart, and the small green lotus within it began to shake violently.
But she could not control herself. She carefully sensed the joy hidden between those lines. It was filled to the brim with Jiang Han’s past affection and dependence on her.
The characters slowly faded. Immediately after, her own figure appeared.
It was her sitting in meditation. She could see her sharp, piercing gaze shooting forward, shattering the image at once.
Mo Qiushuang remembered that scene. That day she had been cultivating when Jiang Han had run over again to play with her.
She had been refining her heart at the time. How could she have had time to play with him? Jiang Han had interrupted her cultivation because of that, and she had been furious. She had scolded him harshly and driven him away.
But now, looking at that cold gaze, she realized she barely recognized herself.
So this was how she had looked at Jiang Han back then, so cold and utterly devoid of emotion.
Scene after scene appeared. Some showed her. Others showed her junior sisters and her master.
Although they were different people, they all did the same thing.
They treated Jiang Han terribly. Not once did she see a kind expression directed at him.
Even her master, whose temperament was usually the most peaceful, had looked at Jiang Han with complete indifference, without a trace of feeling.
If it had only been bad attitudes, that would have been one thing. But among those scenes were countless moments of them beating and scolding Jiang Han.
The one who beat him the most was the third junior sister. Next was their master. She herself had done it too.
Time and again, Jiang Han had been beaten until he was barely breathing. The wounds were painful to look at. He had been so young back then. How had they ever brought themselves to strike him like that?
Mo Qiushuang’s heart spasmed with pain. She could not imagine how Jiang Han had endured all the way until now.
And yet, even though they were all painful memories, Jiang Han had still preserved them so solemnly, as though they were treasures.
The images eventually reached the final scene.
In it stood her figure.
And Jiang Han lay in the mud, both legs bent unnaturally, his face twisted in pain. Blood had long since soaked the ground beneath him, yet he clenched his teeth and did not utter a single sound.
“Jiang Han, get out! Stop bringing those worthless spiritual fruits to disgust me!” Mo Qiushuang’s face was as cold as frost as she shouted at him.
“I’m warning you. If you dare to come near my cave again, I won’t just break your two legs! Get as far away as possible! Don’t let me see you again!”
Bang.
The image ended abruptly.