“Did she leave any message for me before she left?”
Jiang Huai touched the huge tombstone, a tightness in his chest preventing him from recovering for a long time.
‘How could this happen? Why, as soon as I came out of seclusion, she was gone?’
Wu Zhaohua leaning against the stone gate, her bright smile still vivid before his eyes.
‘How, in the blink of an eye, did she become a stone?’
Qi Yurong was crying heavily, tears streaming down her cheeks, soaking her collar.
She choked out, “Senior Sister said before she passed away… she gave you a Jade Sword.”
“If you miss her, just look at her sword practice. She said her swordsmanship was what she was most proud of.” She wiped her tears, her voice broken.
“She said don’t be sad. She didn’t regret it… These last days, she was very happy.”
Qi Yurong wiped her tears and pulled a ring from her sleeve.
It was a silver ring as thick as a little finger, plain in style, without any decoration.
She held it out with both hands and handed it to Jiang Huai:
“This was also from Senior Sister… she said she didn’t know what to give you… you lack nothing, so she made you a few clothes. Take good care of them.”
She cried again, her voice fragmented:
“Senior Sister didn’t want us to disturb you. This is everything.”
Qi Yurong finally crouched on the ground and wept loudly.
Every time before, she had deliberately avoided this cemetery, afraid she couldn’t control her tears.
Before, even though she couldn’t see Senior Sister, at least she knew Senior Sister was roaming the Immortal Realm, and there was still something to hope for.
Now even that hope was gone. Senior Sister was dead.
That Senior Sister who had stood tall in her heart had simply disappeared.
Jiang Huai stared blankly at the ring, gripping it tightly in his palm.
His vision blurred, as if through a veil of mist.
His Adam’s apple moved, but he couldn’t make a sound.
“Why didn’t you even say a word to me?”
He looked down at the ring. The silver band still had faint scratches, as if carved stroke by stroke with a sword tip.
“I…”
Back then, Wu Zhaohua had saved him when he was starving to death. He had taken care of her for a long time, helped her through the Human Tribulation.
Now she had saved his life again. How could he calculate the debt?
Or rather, from a certain point on, there was no more calculation between the two of them.
“I can’t… I can’t accept this ending.” Jiang Huai murmured to himself.
His fingers tightened around the ring. Gritting his teeth, he said:
“I refuse… to let anyone leave me.”
Qi Yurong looked up sharply. Through tear-blurred eyes, she saw Jiang Huai’s aura before her surge.
The air around him began to distort. An invisible force surged from within him, pressing down so hard she could barely breathe.
“I refuse to let anyone leave me like this.” Jiang Huai stretched his hand toward the tombstone, his voice low.
The mountain peaks began to tremble.
The ground quaked slightly. The tombstones sleeping beneath the soil swayed, and dust and gravel fell rustling down.
All the graves around were shaking, as if something was about to awaken from underground.
Soil churned, turf split, and blue stone slabs were pushed up, emitting dull sounds.
Threads of Yin-Yang Power radiated from his body.
Black and white light spread like mist, seeping into the soil, into the cracks of the stones.
The glow grew thicker and brighter, enveloping the entire back mountain in a halo woven from black and white.
Wind rolled back from the valley, bending the grass and trees, overturning the offerings before the stone tablets.
Qi Yurong stood up in shock, took a few steps back, her voice trembling:
“Jiang Huai! What are you doing?!”
Bai Lei also changed expression, hand on her sword hilt, eyes fixed on Jiang Huai.
Jiang Huai stared at the tombstone:
“I won’t fall in love with this stone! You’re not allowed to leave me like this!”
The ground shook again.
This time it was more violent than before. A crack split open in the soil, expanding continuously.
A coffin slowly emerged from underground, entirely black, its lid sealed tightly.
It rose inch by inch, pushing through the soil and stones, until it hovered a foot above the ground.
Bai Lei wept, shouting at Jiang Huai:
“Senior Sister is already dead! What are you going to do?!”
Jiang Huai didn’t answer.
He stepped forward, raising his hand to press on the coffin lid.
The lid slid open silently.
Wu Zhaohua lay quietly inside.
She had changed into clean white clothes, her hands crossed over her abdomen, her face calm, a slight smile still on her lips, as if she were asleep.
Her cool temperament remained, her features still like a painting.
Her long hair was combed neatly, tied up as tidily as she had done in life.
Jiang Huai looked down at her.
Back then, his cultivation was insufficient; he couldn’t see through the wounds on her body.
Now that he had stepped into a higher realm, he finally saw her Dao Foundation clearly. It had been carved with cuts, one after another, crisscrossing, deep enough to see the bone.
Those scars densely covered her Dao Foundation.
“Is this how you saved me?” he murmured.
Jiang Huai gently raised his hand, and the coffin shattered silently.
The body in white clothes floated up and gently landed on his back.
He raised his hand and guided it. Black and white Yin-Yang Energy flowed from his fingertips, turning into pliable threads that fixed her body to his back.
Qi Yurong stepped forward, pointed at his nose, and scolded:
“What are you going to do with Senior Sister’s body?! I won’t allow you to desecrate her remains!”
She rushed forward, but her legs trembled uncontrollably.
Jiang Huai’s aura was too strong; every step she took felt like walking through mud.
But she gritted her teeth and kept going. Even facing an opponent at the Immortal Level, she would not let him do anything disrespectful to her Senior Sister.
Jiang Huai explained softly, “I don’t know, but I can’t just do nothing.”
“Don’t worry. I am now the Sect Master of Wenxuan Sect. No one will dare to target Wenxuan Sect.”
Qi Yurong bit her lip, tears still on her face, but her expression became complicated.
Bai Lei was silent for a moment, then finally released her hand from the sword hilt.
Jiang Huai floated into the air, his toes leaving the ground, his robes fluttering in the wind.
Carrying Wu Zhaohua on his back, he slowly flew toward the mountain gate.
Outside the mountain gate, the women had been waiting for a long time.
Ao Yao had transformed into a small azure dragon, dancing in the air, her dragon tail swishing:
“Let’s go, let’s go in! Jiang Huai must have come out of seclusion!”
Qin Xuange crossed her arms, glancing at her:
“Then why don’t you go in?”
Ao Yao chuckled, “If you’re not going in, how can I dare to go in alone?”
“Forget it, forget it.”
Su Yingman coughed lightly. Behind her still stood Tang Zhaoxue, Zhu Siyao, and Chi Lian.
Zhu Siyao stood beside Su Yingman, with faint fire qi flickering around her, and giggled:
“Want to go in, Second Sister?”
Su Yingman laughed softly, “Can you stop calling me Second Sister? If we count that way, won’t there be fighting later?”
She glanced meaningfully at the sisters Bai Lu, Chi Hong, and Cang Jing beside her.
“Fighting over who’s second, third, fourth—how unpleasant.” She looked at Zhu Siyao again. “Besides, your mother is here. Can you call your mother Third Sister?”
Zhu Siyao stuck out her tongue, lightly hopping among the group:
“Of course not. We in the Nine Heavens Palace only rank our own people. Anyway, Jiang Huai belongs to our Nine Heavens Palace.”
“So are we going in or not?” Tang Zhaoxue asked anxiously.
Su Yingman sighed, “Don’t go in. They didn’t invite us in anyway.”
“Better to avoid people saying that after Wu Zhaohua’s death, we’re bullying the weak.”
Her expression became complex. She said softly:
“Leave her some respect. We’ll just wait here. It’s not like they won’t come out.”
A small white dragon had already slowly swam out of the mountain gate. Bai Lu scolded:
“Jianjia! Come back!”
Little Jianjia swam in the air, muttering, “What’s the big deal? Can’t I go take a look? Sect Master Wu and Elder Qi really like me!”
“Come back!”
“No! Elder Qi won’t get mad at me!” Jianjia insisted, her tail swishing noisily in the air.
Bai Lu reached out and sucked. With a dragon roar, little Jianjia was forced back, landing in her palm, struggling continuously.
“Behave. Lately you’ve been more and more disobedient.” Bai Lu pinched her, saying coldly.
“Tell me honestly, what have you been up to with Zhu Siyao and the others…”
She was about to continue scolding when she stopped mid-sentence and suddenly looked up.
A streak of Yin-Yang light fell from the sky, black and white rays cutting through the air and landing before the mountain gate.
Jiang Huai slowly floated in the air, carrying a smiling woman on his back.
He looked at everyone, reached up to wipe the remaining tears from the corners of his eyes, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly into a smile.
“Long time no see, everyone.”