Chapter 707: Yue Hongling During These Days

Chapter 707: Yue Hongling in These Days

Yue Hongling used the phrase "saw you," not "illusion"—she made a clear distinction, because what she saw that time was Zhao Changhe himself.

The Zhao Changhe in her heart.

It was a smooth, mirror-like wall of ice, where she could not see her own reflection at that moment, but instead saw Zhao Changhe galloping across yellow sands, pursued by thousands of horsemen.

Yue Hongling knew that was the moment she had been most captivated by Zhao Changhe, where true love first took root. Not earlier, in the accidental tenderness of the Maitreya temple, nor in the inn’s embrace after being tricked by Sisi.

Such tenderness could be a dream, fading without a trace before long. But that ride through the yellow sands, hand in hand, was a memory forever etched in her heart, recalled from time to time, impossible to forget.

Yet for a martial artist pursuing the pinnacle of the Way, a swordswoman accustomed to solitude, such sweet memories and yearnings had a rather unflattering name.

They were called heart demons.

They could soften one’s will, lulling one into indulgence in gentleness, so that the heart was no longer firm, the sword no longer sharp, and one lost the resolve to face hardship alone, becoming dependent and hesitant in all things.

At this moment, Yue Hongling could not help but sink into that heart demon, her heart full of past entanglements, a smile even curling at the corners of her lips as she gazed.

She longed to enter, take his hand, and ride together with him across the plains.

The figure in the mirror seemed to smile and extend a hand, as if saying, "Look, even across thousands of miles, we meet. Won’t you stay?"

Her soul seemed to drift, drawn into the vortex of the mirror’s surface. Once sucked in, there would be no redemption.

This was no illusion; from beginning to end, it was her own clinging heart, her own weakness, reflected in the mirror, captured by the demon.

Yet this couple was never like others. Just moments after their intimacy, she had turned and said, following a strand of hair, that she wanted to roam the world. One actually dared to say it, and the other truly found it normal—such was the boldness of Sister Yue.

If a real Zhao Changhe stood before her, saying they had met across ten thousand miles and she must fulfill her promise, perhaps Yue Hongling would have fallen. But facing only her inner reflection, she instead deeply reflected: Why would I inexplicably want to cling to his side? There are still so many places I haven’t been, so many things I haven’t seen.

With that thought, she instantly broke free from the ice wall’s soul-draining pull, and realized the wall was abnormal!

With a loud crash, Yue Hongling viciously kicked the ice wall, and from its depths seemed to come a whimper, as if someone had been beaten to tears...

Yue Hongling felt not a trace of cuteness; a chill ran down her spine.

In that single moment of indulgence in love, she had nearly died!

The joys of men and women had long been considered obstacles on the martial path—indeed, not without reason.

"Clang!" A sword thrust abruptly backward, precisely blocking a blade of light that struck from the shadows.

Seeing that both the ice wall and his ambush had failed, the attacker immediately darted into the snow-covered dense forest, sending snowflakes cascading.

Yue Hongling made as if to plunge into the forest, even sending a sword aura ahead, but as she stepped into the woods, she suddenly turned and drifted away.

A hail of arrows and hidden weapons whistled through the air, striking the path-clearing sword aura, but Yue Hongling had already vanished like a wild goose into the twilight glow, gone without a trace.

"...No wonder she is called the Sunset Divine Sword, truly worthy of her fame. Go—the sect master is not here; we must not tangle with her. Enter the secret realm first."

The group left the forest and fled deep into the snowy mountains. Yue Hongling, who seemed far away, poked her head out from behind a rock.

"And that’s how you followed them into the secret realm?" Zhao Changhe lay in his sister’s arms, listening to her story. Though the heroine’s storytelling was mediocre, lacking any embellishment, glossing over how much she had thought of Zhao Changhe, simply mentioning the heart demon, the whole tale dry and plain—Zhao Changhe still listened with great interest, finding it quite engaging.

So, a side story in a novel was not a bad thing—it let you see others’ journeys.

Speaking of which, Hongling was truly formidable... a true veteran of the jianghu.

Yue Hongling said leisurely, "A bunch of assassins from the Listening Snow Pavilion—how could they outplay this lady? But I originally thought I was following them to their lair; only after entering did I realize it wasn’t... Or perhaps the lair was inside, but they didn’t head toward it. I trailed them and discovered that in their conversations, they mostly talked about matters concerning Buddhism and Taoism, as if they intended to stir up conflict between the two."

"Oh..." Zhao Changhe was startled. "Stirring up conflict between Buddhism and us—I’ve seen that. But what does Taoism have to do with it? Where does that come from?"

"In their words, there was some plan regarding Yuxu, but I followed at a distance and only caught fragments... Roughly, the Celestial Venerable was extremely displeased with Yuxu, saying he had lost the Heavenly Book, and so on... Taking advantage of Yuxu’s absence, they wanted to cause trouble."

"Yuxu is absent... Earlier, they said the sect master was also absent, referring to Xuexiao, right? Both absent at the same time... During the siege of Old Xia?"

Yue Hongling said irritably, "I’ve been in the secret realm all along—how would I know when the siege of the tyrant happened?"

"Uh..." Zhao Changhe then remembered that Yue Hongling had no good impression of Xia Longyuan at all. To her, the ruler was a tyrant, the officials were all minions and lackeys—such was the view of wandering swordsmen. Yue Hongling was a bit better; she had a decent opinion of Tang Wanzhuang, but more extreme types saw even Tang Wanzhuang as a minion, just as he himself had initially thought.

That wasn’t important. What mattered was the timing—it should have been around then. At that time, Xuexiao was in the capital, Yuxu was beyond the pass, and while they were away, the Listening Snow Pavilion and some hidden forces were plotting against Yuxu and Yuancheng.

Yuancheng’s departure from Chang’an might have been a stroke of luck; otherwise, something might have happened... But even here, he hadn’t fully escaped. The space had been deliberately connected by the enemy, who had pursued him in secret. They had happened to see the Vajra and conceived other ideas; otherwise, they might have killed Yuancheng first.

The pieces roughly fit together—that must have been the case. But what exactly they were plotting remained unclear, and Yue Hongling might not know either. Still, this was clearly of great value for his upcoming journey to Kunlun; perhaps his plans would need to change.

Yue Hongling said, "Actually, I didn’t follow for long. Because I wasn’t familiar with the place, I accidentally ran into many monsters and demons. The Listening Snow Pavilion clearly hadn’t fully developed the entire secret realm; many creatures within were not under their control... They were also exploring and seeking treasures. I gained some fortune from that, and also snatched some things from them by force."

Zhao Changhe: "..."

Xuexiao must have been cursing in his heart.

Back then, Yue Hongling had ruined Xuexiao’s plans with Shi Wuding; now, she was ruining them again. Why was it always her?

Come to think of it, if there was a destined karmic bond, shouldn’t it be Han Wubing who was more deeply tied to Xuexiao? Where had Han Wubing gone?

Yue Hongling continued, "Of course, that also exposed my whereabouts. By then, Xuexiao had returned and led the Listening Snow Pavilion in hunting me down. They had the numbers, so I fled; once out of danger, I turned back to ambush them, and this cat-and-mouse game has gone on until now. They couldn’t devote all their energy to me; they still had their plans. So while dealing with me, they carried on with their work, and gradually we ended up here, where I met you. I really don’t know at what point I went from the Tianshan Mountains to Xiangyang—I didn’t feel any transition..."

Yue Hongling spoke briefly, but Zhao Changhe could fully imagine the months of heart-pounding danger, countless monsters and battles, endless escapes and counter-kills, wounds upon wounds, until this moment.

He said he was tired—wasn’t Sister Yue tired too?

He could no longer lie there; he sat up with a start. "Let me see your injuries."

Yue Hongling spat, "Just some external wounds—no need for dual cultivation!"

Zhao Changhe laughed despite himself. "I just wanted to heal you... If you won’t show me, fine."

He reached out and took Yue Hongling’s hand.

Yue Hongling was about to say something, but soon felt an incredibly powerful surge of rejuvenating energy spread through her body. The internal and external injuries from months of fighting, all the subtle hidden wounds, were healed in an instant, seven or eight parts of them. He didn’t even need to probe where the injuries were; he just healed them all at once, as if she were bathing in a warm spring with no blind spots.

Yue Hongling looked at Zhao Changhe’s face in astonishment. His strength now was comprehensive; this rejuvenation technique was a hundred times stronger than before.

Zhao Changhe smiled. "If Sister wants to help me, you need to be in good spirits. Haven’t you had a proper sleep in months, always on alert?"

Yue Hongling hummed in agreement, not wanting to speak.

Why did she feel sheltered when she saw him? Because she could finally relax her mind and rest well. Even if the sky fell, her man was by her side.

His energy still flowed through her hand, warm and soothing, making her drowsy.

Zhao Changhe said softly, "Sleep... At least today, I am by your side."

Blindman crossed his arms, thinking these two were quite foolish. Always worrying about who helped whom, who depended on whom... What was there to distinguish?

Mutual dependence, each other’s harbor—wasn’t that what they had once wanted? To wield swords together and roam the world?

Wait, why am I here analyzing emotions? Who ever saw a book have emotions... Blindman scratched his head. When did this strange thought begin?