Transmigrating into the world of Jade Dynasty, I was targeted by the female lead in a reverse romanc

Neither of them spoke. Their hands were clasped together, their fingers interlocked but not tightly, yet there was a quiet steadfastness to it, as if they had been standing like this for many years.

Jiang Xiaochuan lowered his eyes, looking at the two people's clasped fingers, and his Adam's apple bobbed slightly.

"noob."

"Hmm?" She turned her head to the side, the morning breeze ruffling the stray hairs at her temples, her clear eyes reflecting the increasingly bright colors of the sunset.

"If..." Jiang Xiaochuan's voice was very soft, so soft that it was almost drowned out by the sound of the spring water.

"I mean, what if I go back to Qingyun in the future? What will you do then?"

Xiaobai did not answer immediately.

She remained silent for a long time, so long that Jiang Xiaochuan almost thought she wouldn't answer.

Then she spoke, her tone as casual as if she were remarking on the nice weather: "I'll go back with you."

Jiang Xiaochuan was taken aback, then turned to look at her: "Qingyun doesn't allow demons to..."

"I'm not going up the mountain," Xiaobai smiled, her smile clean and bright in the light.

"Open a small shop in Heyang City. When you go down the mountain to buy supplies or to train, stop by for a bowl of tea. If your sect asks, just say—"

She paused, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Just say it's an old friend."

Jiang Xiaochuan was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "If they recognize you as a demon..."

"Then I'll go," Xiaobai said with an unusually calm expression, as if she were stating something perfectly natural.

"Let's go to the next town and open another shop. If you come, I'll be there; if you don't come, I'll wait."

She paused, her voice lowering, but without a trace of grievance, instead carrying a clarity born from traversing countless years: "Three thousand years, the most useful skill I've learned is waiting."

Jiang Xiaochuan suddenly felt a tightness in his throat, as if something was blocking it. After a long while, he managed to squeeze out, "This is not fair."

Xiaobai shook his head.

She lowered her head and looked intently at their clasped hands, as if trying to decipher the unseen destinies hidden in their palm lines. Then she whispered, "There is no fairness in relationships, only willingness. I am willing to wait for you, regardless of your feelings."

She raised her head, her gaze meeting his eyes directly: "It is a blessing that you are willing to make me wait."

Jiang Xiaochuan's lips moved, but before she could say anything, she spoke again, her voice even softer, yet each word clearer than the last:

"What I fear most is not that you marry someone else, or that you forget me, but that you clearly miss me, yet you dare not come to see me because of some damn rules and moral principles."

Those words, carried on the morning breeze, were more resounding than any mountain spring or birdsong.

Jiang Xiaochuan blurted out, "I will come."

Xiaobai paused for a moment, then smiled. She didn't say anything, but her lips curved into a smile. Unexpectedly, tears welled up in her eyes, shining brightly in the rising sun.

She didn't wipe it, she just nodded vigorously.

"That's enough."

The two stood there, holding hands, watching the rising sun completely emerge from the mountain ridge, illuminating the entire valley.

The spring water still gurgles, and the birdsong is as clear and crisp as the purest sound in the world.

A new day has begun; the wind is warm, hands are hot, and no one is letting up.

……

On the way back to the Miao village, the mountain road was winding, and the wild banana leaves on both sides still had the dew of last night hanging on them. Xiaobai lifted her skirt and jumped across a shallow mountain stream. Suddenly, she turned around and her eyes rolled.

"Jiang Xiaochuan, if Lu Xueqi and Biyao both fell into the water one day, who would you save?"

Jiang Xiaochuan paused, then continued walking forward as if nothing had happened: "...They can all swim."

"I mean, if."

"I will not answer hypothetical questions."

Xiao Bai caught up with him in a few steps and walked alongside him, turning her head to look at his expression: "Then let's change the question."

"If I fell into the water, would you save me?"

Jiang Xiaochuan glanced at her, his gaze indifferent: "You can swim."

"I'll pretend I don't know." Xiaobai blinked, her expression carrying a hint of unreasonable cunning.

"Then pretend."

Xiao Bai was taken aback, then laughed in exasperation. She ran ahead of him in a few steps, walking backwards and pointing at him as she went: "Would it kill you to say 'help'?"

Jiang Xiaochuan stopped and looked at her.

At that moment, the mountain wind suddenly quieted down, and sunlight filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, dappling her face. He looked at her for a while before slowly saying, "I will save her."

Just as Xiao Bai was feeling smug, he heard him pause for a moment and then add, "But whether you'll let me save you is another matter."

Xiao Bai stood there, stunned.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end she just chuckled softly, the laughter growing louder and louder, like thin ice melting in the sunlight.

"Yes." She nodded, her expression a mixture of pride and tenderness.

"I'm so capable, I should be the one saving you."

She naturally took his arm, the touch light but carrying an irresistible intimacy:

"Next time you fall into the water, I'll save you, but—"

She looked up, her eyes sparkling, "If you save me, you must repay me with your body."

Jiang Xiaochuan pulled his hand out of her arm, his expression unchanged, but his ears were flushed with a barely perceptible blush: "No need to trouble yourself, I can swim."

Xiao Bai laughed loudly, startling several unidentified mountain sparrows in the roadside bushes, which fluttered away towards the distant mountain ridge.

She stopped trying to hold his arm, and simply followed behind him with her hands behind her back, saying with a smile, "Jiang Xiaochuan, you can be so cute sometimes."

……

That night, an oil lamp was lit in the wooden building, its flame flickering gently and casting long shadows of the two people onto the wooden wall.

Under the dim light, Xiaobai bent down to sew a new jacket. The fabric was moon white. She sewed very slowly and carefully, stitching bamboo leaf patterns on the cuffs with each stitch. The stitches were so fine that they were almost invisible. A few strands of silver hair fell down and hung on her face, but she didn't bother to gather them up.

Jiang Xiaochuan sat opposite him, Mo Xue lay across his lap, her sword drawn three inches from its sheath, gleaming with a bluish light, filling the room with a chilling stillness.

He used a soft cloth to wipe the sword, starting from the tip, inch by inch, moving very slowly and with very light force, as if afraid of disturbing the silence of the room.

Neither of them spoke, but the atmosphere was quiet and beautiful. The only sounds were the soft rustling of the cloth rubbing against the sword's spine as they wiped it, and the subtle rustling of needle and thread through the fabric, creating a strange harmony.

The lamp wick suddenly popped and crackled.

Xiaobai put down her needle and thread and looked up.

"Jiang Xiaochuan, there's one more question."

Jiang Xiaochuan didn't stop, continuing to wipe the sword at that slow, deliberate pace, and simply replied, "Speak."

She opened her mouth, as if holding the words between her lips for a moment, before uttering them very softly: "If one day you had to choose between me and the Qingyun Sect, who would you choose?"

The hand wiping the sword stopped.

A bluish light flowed across the sword, reflecting off his suddenly frozen knuckles.

The silence in the room suddenly became very heavy, so heavy that you could hear the hissing of the burning lamp oil and the faint barking of dogs from the depths of the Miao village in the distance.

The lingering echo of the light bursting open seemed to still resonate slightly in the air.

After a long silence, Jiang Xiaochuan said, "That day will never come."

"What if?" Xiaobai pressed, her tone still so soft, so soft that it was almost impossible to detect any emotion. Only in her eyes under the light did something shine brightly.

He looked into her eyes and said, word by word, "I will find a way to prevent that day from coming."

Xiao Bai smiled.

The smile started at the corners of her lips, slowly spreading until it reached her eyes, which were now glistening with tears, shining like shattered stars.

She didn't press further, but with that smile, she whispered, "Cunning."

He paused, then added, "However... I accept this answer."

She picked up her needle and thread again, lowered her head, and began sewing the jacket once more. The needle pierced the fabric, the thread following behind, making a soft sound, and the rhythm became steady and long again.

After a long time, so long that Jiang Xiaochuan thought the topic was over, she whispered:

"Jiang Xiaochuan, if that day ever comes, choose Qingyun Sect."

Jiang Xiaochuan looked up: "Why?"

Xiao Bai didn't look up, her fingers flying across the paper as she sewed her needle and thread. Her voice was flat and indifferent, as if she were talking about something trivial: "Because I don't want you to regret it."

She paused, the needle piercing the fabric and drawing a straight line: "When you saved me, I didn't ask if you were willing, and now, I shouldn't force you to choose."

At this point, she suddenly stopped, raised her head, and looked straight at him with surprisingly clear eyes.

"But you have to promise me one thing."

"What?"

Xiao Bai looked at him intently, as if trying to etch this moment firmly into their gazes:

"Choosing Qingyun Sect is fine, but don't forget me. Occasionally, in the dead of night, I'll think of a fox named Xiaobai in the Southern Frontier who sewed clothes for you, cooked for you, and waited for you."

She smiled, a faint smile that softened the entire wooden building.

That's enough.

Jiang Xiaochuan stared at her for a long time.

After a long time, when the lamplight flickered three times and the faint cry of an unknown night bird could be heard in the distance, he finally whispered, "Okay."

He lowered his eyes and continued wiping the sword.

The movements were slow and gentle.

The soft cloth brushed against the spine of the sword again and again, the blue light flickering and illuminating his face.

Xiao Bai lowered her head and continued sewing, a faint smile on her lips, each stitch steady and unhurried.

Under the lamplight, the shadows of the two people were stretched long, quietly overlapping on the wooden wall, like a painting that would never fade.