Chapter 52: A Love That Cannot Blossom

*Things like sexism and racism are purely for worldbuilding and to make it more realistic. Thank you for your understanding.*

**NSFW chapter**

A young man had a smile on his face as he walked down the streets of the slums under the light of the sun.

His happy expression seemed to never leave his face as he almost walked with a skip in his step, passing others that looked at him strangely because of it. He paid them no heed as thoughts of returning to his house and seeing "her" filled his mind entirely.

'Sigh. It's been weeks since I took her in and these feelings just won't go away...is this really love?' The young man thought with a rueful expression, however, he would never regret meeting "her". In truth, he never really believed in love and when he saw couples walking down the street hand in hand, he used to see them as delusional or, in milder words, naively optimistic.

However, ever since he stumbled into "her" that fateful night, the young man had been fighting with himself about the new feelings he was feeling. Everytime she smiled, he did. Everytime she laughed, he did. And every time she had that worrying expression she usually wore or woke up screaming in the middle of the night, he would rush to her aid with no hesitation.

He was astounded at himself as he started to view her in a selfless light. He gradually came to see no faults in her, even though he didn't think so at first...

He thought as he walked with merely a smile on his face. He would never let anyone know what he was thinking, and he would probably never tell "her" about these feelings either. Some would call it cowardice, the young man thought of it as realism.

Walking for a few more minutes that seemed to fly by as he only had one person on his mind, the young man suddenly perked up as he saw his house just before him.

Walking forward and opening the door, he looked forward and came to lay his eyes on "her".

There she was, smiling warmly at him with those lovable eyes and faultless expression. He felt those feelings assault him again as he felt a squeeze right near his heart, unnerving him.

"Welcome home, Jin." Her lovely voice assaulted his ears as he felt as though his soul would leave his body.

"Thanks." Jin merely said, playing it cool as he closed the door behind himself, all the while imagining her staring at the back of his head. He used to find it embarrassing to imagine all these scenarios with her in his head, but now he didn't care anymore. He seemed to be falling deeper and deeper...

"It's hot outside today, I bet it was hard for you..." Her voice came from behind as Jin focused himself on taking a bled-dry animal from his dry storage and reading it for skinning.

"It wasn't too bad. The Lord cultivators took pity on us and gave us more rest than usual. Though I heard someone did die from the heat today, maybe that's why." Jin said with an ounce of pity as he purposely broadened his shoulders for her gaze.

"Oh my, that's terrible! Did you know who it was?" She exclaimed with compassion, making Jin praise her character even more.

"No, it was just an old man who worked himself to death. He's lived his life." Jin said stoically, not noticing her frown from behind him.

"But still...it's sad..." She muttered and Jin hummed in response, his shoulders moving as he gutted the rabbit-like animal and yanked its hide from its body and exposed its pink meat.

"Here, can I help?" Her sweet voice came from right beside Jin as she placed her hand on his lower back and leaned around him to peek over his shoulder.

Jin just turned to her and smiled warmly unknowingly, making her blush and avert her eyes.

"Sure, come here, I'll show you. Have you ever gutted an animal before?"

"Bleh! No way!"

"Do you want to try?"

"Hmmmm, I'll consider it..."

...

Minutes fell into hours as the two eventually sat around a low table with a wooden bowl each of meat and vegetable stew. It filled the room with its smell and the steam from the bowls floated into the air.

"Jin." She broke the silence and made him look up from his bowl only to see her serious face staring right into his, a hint of sadness and maybe even unwillingness within her beautiful eyes.

"Ahem. Yes?" He quickly finished his mouthful of food before answering.

"Umm, I've been thinking about it for a long time, and I think it's time..." Her voice was solemn, however, Jin could only lovingly cherish it even now.

"Time for what?" He said as he tore some bread from a nearby loaf and dipped it into his stew before eating it.

"Time for me to leave."

Her voice was like a bucket of cold water that was poured over Jin, making his pupils shrink. He looked up at her with eyes that could only be seen as pleading, his body language tensing up and becoming uncomfortable to look at.

"I thought-" Jin started as he sighed heavily and let his eyes wander to the floor. "I thought you were happy here... Aren't you?"

"Oh, Jin. These have been some of the best days of my life!" She professed with emotion and moistened eyes. "But, I have things I need to do, places I need to go..." Her voice became quiet as she realised how selfish she sounded.

"So, I'm just in the way?" Jin said with a sigh as he struggled to control his quickening breath and an incredibly suffocating feeling that was overwhelming him.

"No, that's not what I-" She started to speak, reaching out for his hand but seeing him pull away. She sighed and sat there quietly.

They both sat there silently, not even eating their food and just looking down.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have spoken. I don't want you to feel bad about leaving; it's fine." Jin said without a trace of a smile as he started to continue to eat, not looking up to meet her gaze at all.

"Sigh, Jin. Don't say things like that. You're just making me feel even worse." She said with a depressing voice as neither of them looked up.

"No, I'm not. I just said that it's fine if you leave. It doesn't bother me, seriously. Let's just enjoy the meal." Jin said argumentatively with a carefree expression, however, there was an angry look in his eyes accusing her of betrayal.

"Yes, you are! You know exactly what you're doing! Making it look like I don't care about you when I do!" She started to raise her voice and Jin didn't respond, only raising his eyebrows and so obviously pretending he didn't care.

However, her words caused him to look up with fuming anger in his eyes as he stood up and looked down at her as he shouted!

"Well, how am I supposed to know when you say things like that?! I thought you were happy here! I tried so hard to make you happy here, and what?! You don't even care?! Of course, I'm fucking heartbroken, for fucks sake!"

He ended in exasperation and self-deprecating laughter, wiping unnoticeable tears from the corner of his eye.

She just looked down with a saddened expression in silence. Looking at her, Jin scoffed before turning away and walking toward his bedroom. It was the only bedroom in the house and where he let her sleep ever since she came to stay here.

He walked in and slammed the door behind him before throwing himself onto his bed and trying to fall asleep, leaving her alone.

However, only minutes later, he heard a knock coming from the door. It was quiet and sad to listen to.

Jin didn't speak a word, only sighing in annoyance when he heard the knock. He turned onto his side, facing his back to the door.

He heard the door slowly open, the light filling the dark bedroom.

"Jin, I..." He heard her start before trailing off into quiet.

And with a depressed look in his eyes, he sighed before getting up and sitting on the bee to face her meek figure that just stood there in the doorway, her head peeking around the door that wasn't even opened halfway.

He raised his head to look at her with a tired expression, seeing her not saying anything.

He eventually got up and walked to the door, pulling it open all the way before looking down at her with evident sadness on his face and waiting for her to speak.

"I... I just want to say I'm sorry." Her small voice came from below him.

"Hah, sorry for what? It's my fault for falling in love with you." He said with a rueful sigh.

Hearing that, she looked up to meet his gaze. There were so many things he didn't know about her... When he found her crawling down the streets injured that night, he took her in without hesitation. And now, living this humble and happy life, she didn't want to let it go but she knew she had to.

But not because she needed to leave, but because she couldn't just live here happily and let things end as they did. She had things to do, and it hurt her that she had to throw this life away to do them.

And now, hearing him say he loved her...

Qing Chu Hua leant in towards Jin and kissed him passionately. She wrapped her arms around his neck and felt his hands find her waist, embracing her as their bodies clung together in this unfair world.

She leaned on his body and pushed him into the bedroom, dragging him over to the bed, all the while not letting their lips part for a second.

Her eyes were shut tightly, and she hoped his were too. If not, he would see the tears streaming down her face as she clung to him desperately.

They fell onto the bed with his body on top of hers. He covered her with his large body, his warmth encompassing her small and dainty chest. Her breasts tightly pushed into him, their bodies rubbing and them feeling the need to lose their clothes.

She grabbed at the hem of his shirt and pulled it across his muscular back for him. And he rose from their embrace, shedding his shirt for only a moment before their lips crashed onto one another yet again, their tongues colliding with passion.

He felt her ripping at her own clothes, moving his gruff hands over her breasts and gripping at the fabric before ripping it apart. Her perfect and round breasts were exposed to the air as her pink nipples hardened feeling a large hand groping them.

Chu Hua moaned incessantly as they never stopped kissing for even a moment. She wrapped her legs around Jin's waist and felt him lightly thrusting his clothed body into hers, making her moist down there before she grinded on him in return.

Eventually, she felt a hard bulge thrusting into her covered pussy, and felt it throb, it needed attention.

"Put it in." She whispered mesmerising into his ears as he started kissing her neck strongly. After that, she felt him pull his own clothes off before he shifted his attention to her exposed body, his cock standing inches away from her pussy which was getting wetter and wetter.

Instead of pulling her clothes off, he grabbed the hem of her robes at the bottom and pulled it over her waist, it wrapping around her belly and attracting the lust deep within him.

Steam rose from the both of them as he lay his body over hers once again, staring deeply into her eyes with unimaginable love. She only responded by wrapping her arms around his neck with an infatuated expression, just meeting his gaze lovingly.

Seeing that, Jin took his rock hard cock and lightly pushed it against her pussy before gently entering her. However, a moment later, he thrust his entire length strongly into her, making her squeal with pleasure and grip him tighter.

He felt her walls tighten around him as began to move strongly, putting his lips back onto hers and feeling her claw at his back.

She moaned loudly and he grunted occasionally as he fucked her pussy more and more powerfully before he eventually felt himself getting closer and closer. And with a few more powerful thrusts, Chu Hua felt him bulge and swell inside her as she felt his cock shoot warm cum deep into her tight pussy.

She squealed in delight and grabbed his neck, pushing him onto the bed and climbing on top of him. She saw him grunt as he had just cum inside her, however, she didn't care and continued to move as she rested her small hands on his wide chest.

She rocked her hips back and forth and side to side endlessly before she felt his bulge again! Falling back onto his cock deeply, she grabbed her ass and spread her cheeks as he exploded deep within her!

Chu Hua giggled lovingly as she looked down to see Jin. He was but a mortal, however, she was a Stage 2 cultivator. She wouldn't let him rest yet...

...

Jin awoke suddenly in the middle of the night as his eyes groggily opened to see only darkness.

He felt to the side of him but only felt dreadingly empty sheets where he thought Chu Hua was. Suddenly getting a foreboding feeling, he looked around to see everything as it was, only she wasn't here...

He got up from his bed and put on a loose robe before walking out of the bedroom with a little bit of hope still within him. After all, the love they shared last night was real. He was sure of it... The heat of it, the look in her eyes, the way she wouldn't let him leave her side... If that wasn't love, he didn't know what to feel.

He opened the door painfully slowly as the air felt colder than usual.

And what he saw was nothing. Nobody.

He lowered his eyes as he sighed deeply.

'She still left.' He was fighting his tears back with all his might, however, it wasn't enough.

...

Qing Chu Hua walked through the dark and empty streets without looking back.

She breathed the night air deeply as he thoughts were clear and unwavering. Her eyes lacked regret and seemed resolved, a new chapter in her life starting.

She didn't let herself think of Jin, because then she might stop walking and turn back right now. She wouldn't let herself do that. She was done being weak, being frail. During these weeks with him, she had a lot of time to think.

She thought about Fang, about what he had said to her. She thought about the monster that tried to kill her. She thought about those moments she had in the face of death.

But most importantly, she thought of her father. How he had died weakly along with her entire family in the hands of Hong Yuxuan. She was still filled with hate, even now. Chu Hua knew that if she were to forsake her hatred and live a happy and fulfilling life with Jin, it would be the best thing that ever happened to her.

However, she couldn't forget that burning hatred inside her. She hated feeling weak, especially feeling like prey in the face of that abomination.

All those feelings pushed her to become a new person, the person she was now. She felt renewed and free with her resolve guiding her forward.

Qing Chu Hua walked endlessly in the night, her feet even starting to hurt, before she came upon a huge wall that cornered a section of the city.

Cultivators in green robes looked down at her with cold eyes from the huge wall, only to see her smiling back at them nicely.

"Who are you?" A younger man came to a huge steel gate in the wall and spoke to her from between the thick bars.

"My name is Qing Chu Hua, I am an exile from the Temple and I bring news." She spoke confidently and without deception. The cultivate before her was much stronger than her, and the ones atop the wall could seemingly kill her with a glare.

However, she wasn't afraid.

"I want to meet Zheng Li."

The cultivator just smirked at her words. After all, Zheng Li was the grand Stage 6 leader of the Freedom Alliance! And this puny Stage 2 wanted to meet the illustrious cultivator?

"Ridiculous." He said to her.

Chu Hua just smiled at the cultivator before putting on a haughty expression.

"Well, then I'll just go to the City Administration then. I'm sure they will appreciate what I have to say a lot more."

The face of the cultivator took a turn for the worse as he stared at Chu Hua murderously. The City Lord was the one who had pushed his Freedom Alliance to this state!

"Thinking of killing me? Then no one will benefit." Chu Hua said as she suddenly had a powerful gaze that made the cultivator waver.

"Let her in." A strong voice came from above. It was ethereal and powerful and made the cultivator flinch as an incredulous look came upon his face. He lowered his eyes to look once again at Chu Hua and his expression darkened as she saw her smug face.

"Yes, my lord." The cultivator instantly responded, moving to let the smirking Chu Hua past him with an ugly expression. However, if the lords had said it, it was to happen.

Qing Chu Hua smirked internally as she gracefully walked forwards into the territory of the Freedom Alliance.

*3,021/3,000 words*