Chapter 54: Happy Ending
"Greetings Sect Master Wu and disciples of ShenMing Wu! We have prepared the spiritual carriage!" A man exclaimed in joy. "It's a pity you won't be staying for the celebration! Even the Young Madam from Zheng Long isn't staying."
"We're grateful that you prepared a carriage for us to travel back. This will be enough for repayment," Yu Xuelan answered.
Just before they were about to depart, Meixiang ran up to Yu Xuelan.
"Are you really leaving already?" Meixiang panted.
Yu Xuelan nodded, "Thank you for taking care of Lin Changying."
"No, it's alright. Are you sure you won't wait until she recovers? After everything you went through to save her too."
"No, it's fine. As long as she's all healthy and healed, then I am happy."
Just when they were about to set onto the carriage, Yu Xuelan added, "Meixiang, I hope you understand that Sect Master Wu had his reasons to do what he did before."
Meixiang's face flushed red from embarrassment, but immediately regained her composure.
"Oh right, you wanted to know our opinion on Yu Xuelan before, right?" Meixiang asked.
Although the topic had ended when they were in the cage, Yu Xuelan was still curious about their opinion of her.
"I wish," Meixiang muttered and gripped onto the edge of her sleeves, "I wish she never died."
"Maybe if she was still alive, things wouldn't be like this."
Yu Xuelan stared blankly at the girl.
"What?"
...
Without exchanging any more words, they departed the city. The two cultivators sat inside the carriage silently.
Yu Xuelan glanced out the window and looked at the picturesque view. Despite the comforting atmosphere, she couldn't help but let her heart drown in anxiousness. She always tried to ignore the issues of Yu Yang, but everything Long Wen, Changying, Bo Fan, and Meixiang mentioned, lingered in her mind.
Perhaps she was forgetting something once again. Like always.
Wu Zhitian lifted his eyelids and gazed at the girl whose mind has drifted off once again, deep in thought.
His lips slightly separated as though he wanted to say something, but then closed, then separated, and closed again. Sadly, he could never tell her, both in her last life and in this one.
Yu Xuelan was the first to break the silence, "You know about my contract to this body, right?"
He nodded.
"I've basically been indirectly killing people to live. How horrible could I get?" She chuckled.
Wu Zhitian carefully listened. Even though he did not retaliate, it dejected him by how harshly she was speaking about herself.
"Sometimes I wonder. What if the last person I need to kill is someone I was close to?" Yu Xuelan questioned, leaning her head against the window frame. "Why do I still cling onto something that wasn't supposed to happen? Maybe I should've just..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Wu Zhitian felt his heart tighten and clenched his fists.
"Ah, sorry, I shouldn't think like this," Yu Xuelan laughed.
Laughing like always.
"If you disappeared again, I don't know what I would do," Wu Zhitian said.
Yu Xuelan's lips separated in surprise by his words. She didn't know whether she felt touched or saddened, or maybe she was refusing to feel such emotions. Because she knew she didn't deserve such pure feelings. Yet, it seemed like Wu Zhitian continued to pour all these pure emotions upon her that she didn't know how to handle it all anymore.
What if someone really waited for her for eight years? Was that possible? She immediately dismissed these thoughts, not allowing herself to get her hopes up. Why would anyone wait for her?
Just then, she vaguely remembered there used to be something that always hovered around her. What was it again?
She couldn't remember clearly.
"Wu Zhitian."
"Mn?"
"Maybe I should leave," Yu Xuelan suggested.
The boy's lips separated as a rush of irremediable bitterness stung his heart.
"Did I... do something wrong?"
"No no! I just... don't want to bring any more trouble. To you and ShenMing Wu," she smiled.
"If Yu Yang notices that I have come back, then ShenMing Wu would really be in danger. Seeing that he sent Bo Fan to hunt me down. Who knows what he would do next," she thought.
Wu Zhitian's mind fogged up as everything that he desperately wanted to avoid, everything he desired to grasp with his dirtied fingertips, were slipping away once again.
"Please don't leave," Wu Zhitian mumbled.
Something drained out of her just by hearing those words. Before she knew it, an unsettling regret and guilt filled her. Yet, amidst that painful wound in her heart, she was relieved.
Yu Xuelan lowered her eyes and turned her head away.
"I don't think I have the right to pretend like I didn't drag innocent people back into that nightmare."
Maybe I am afraid.
"Yu Xuelan."
"Hm?"
Perhaps it was the softened moonlight or the fireflies that roamed around them that every time he called her name, it was different to how other people called her. It wasn't something she could decipher, but every time he said her name, a strange emotion would stir inside of her.
Wu Zhitian attempted to recollect his thoughts together and force something out of his throat. But he too, was afraid.
The girl noticed how distraught the boy appeared to be and stayed silent as she also tried to gather her thoughts.
There was a momentary silence until both of them opened their mouths to speak.
"Ah, you go first," Yu Xuelan said.
"No, it's alright."
"Oh... okay..."
Yu Xuelan scratched the back of her head before poking in between Wu Zhitian's brows and joking, "Why do you look so upset? Is me leaving really that bad?"
She didn't expect him to give much of an answer, but it surprised her to see him nod without hesitation.
Having no other choice, she sighed and a soft smile escaped her lips.
"Alright, alright. I was just joking I won't leave. If I stay and somehow everything becomes chaotic will you take responsibility?" She laughed.
Wu Zhitian's eyes instantly lit up and he nodded, "Yes."
The girl raised her brows and didn't know whether if she was making the wrong choice or not. But did she ever really care if she chose the incorrect path? She had already lived through such an insufferable life that everything that was thrown to her in the future was just a numbing gesture.
Suddenly, her annoying brain reminded her of the kiss and she smacked herself in her mind.
Why the hell did that just pop up in my head?
Yu Xuelan looked at him but felt like his eyes were not there, like they were stuck in a dream and an abstract vision was playing in front of her where only she could see the boy sitting beside her.
"Well, I guess I'll cause as much trouble as I can!" Yu Xuelan laughed.
She turned back to the front, trying to avoid his gaze. It was worse tonight. Making eye contact with him made her heart feel relatively unsettled, and it was more than usual.
"Thank you," she smiled.
Yu Xuelan hoped her thanks didn't appear to be shallow. She didn't know if it was because she felt guilty and that guilt had accumulated for years while she desperately tried to make up for the lost time, but she knew she owed this boy more than just a simple "thank you".
...
She clapped both her cheeks with her palm, which shocked the boy and cried, "Enough of this gloomy mood!"
"And enough about me. Let's talk about you!" Yu Xuelan rejoiced and stared at Wu Zhitian with her eyes gleaming in curiosity.
"Can I ask you something?" She inquired.
He nodded.
"I don't understand," Yu Xuelan pondered, "Long Wen said you're dangerous but you seem pretty innocent to me."
Wu Zhitian blinked and attempted to meet her gaze.
"Did you steal from her?" She asked.
He shook his head.
"Well, you don't seem like someone who would steal from her in the first place."
Yu Xuelan poked her temples with her finger, trying to think of more reasons.
"Did you accidentally destroy one of Zheng Long's training sites?"
He shook his head.
Yu Xuelan gasped, "Did you swoon one of the girls from her father's harem?"
Wu Zhitian stayed silent in disappointment.
"No?" Xuelan thought for a while before her face lit up.
"Is it because you're a Demon God?"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone