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

Xiao Bai then let go of him, wiped away her tears, took his hand, and looked him up and down, as if to confirm that he had returned unharmed.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "What was in the cave? Are you hurt? Are you...?"

"It's nothing," Jiang Xiaochuan interrupted her, "I'm perfectly fine, not a single hair is missing."

Xiao Bai breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered something and asked, "Then...what about the stone statue? And that so-called goddess? Did you see her?"

Jiang Xiaochuan's smile faded slightly. He looked at the stone statue at the cave entrance. The statue still stood there, quietly gazing at the sky, with a compassionate yet gentle expression.

"I saw him," he said softly, "but not really..."

He didn't continue speaking, released Xiaobai's hand, walked to the stone statue, and looked up at it.

The statue was still the same statue, but he always felt that she was looking at him with gentle yet sad eyes, like the last time Linglong looked at him.

His heart ached, and he opened his arms to hug the stone statue.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, "Linglong, I'm sorry."

The stone statue didn't move, but a tear slid down from the corner of its eye and landed on Jiang Xiaochuan's shoulder, warm.

Linglong's remnant soul sighed softly deep within his consciousness: "Fool, who needs you to apologize?"

She looked at the man who was embracing her, the man she had waited for, longed for, hated, and loved for a thousand years.

He's still the same, or rather, he hasn't changed at all.

The exquisite remnant soul murmured, "A thousand years, Jiang Xiaochuan, I have waited for you for a thousand years."

For a thousand years, the stone statues have been exposed to wind and sun, watching the clouds roll and unroll.

For a thousand years, the evil spirit has guarded the cave entrance, watching the flowers bloom and fade.

For a thousand years, a remnant of her soul has been trapped inside the stone statue, watching the sun rise and the moon set.

We've been waiting for this moment.

Waiting for him to come, waiting for him to hold her, waiting for him... to come home.

Jiang Xiaochuan didn't notice. He hugged it for a while, then let go, took a step back, and looked at the stone statue.

"I'm back," he said. "Are you...are you alright?"

The stone statue, of course, did not answer.

As Jiang Xiaochuan looked at it, he suddenly felt that the stone statue was smiling. It wasn't the face that was smiling, but the feeling, the sense that she was smiling, a gentle and content smile.

Then he heard a voice, very soft and gentle, like the wind whispering in his ear.

Welcome home.

Jiang Xiaochuan was taken aback. He looked around, but there was no one there. Xiaobai was by the pool and hadn't come over.

He thought he was hallucinating, shook his head, and turned to leave. Just then, the stone statue suddenly cracked open with a "crack".

Jiang Xiaochuan was startled and turned around to look.

The cracks on the stone statue multiplied, spreading like a spider web, and then with a "crash," the entire statue shattered, breaking into pieces scattered on the ground.

Jiang Xiaochuan was dumbfounded.

"I didn't touch you," he said, sounding a little flustered. "I just hugged you. Don't try to frame me..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw a beam of white light fly out from the rubble and enter his body. At the same time, a wisp of black energy from the heavens and earth also entered and merged into his body.

She was finally freed, emerging from the stone statue, transforming into a beam of light, and entering his body.

At the same time, the malevolent aura that had followed her for a thousand years—a wisp of Long Nianchuan's original malevolent aura—also entered.

Deep within his consciousness, she saw a red figure, and she also saw that wisp of black malevolent energy, obediently entrenched in the corner, as if waiting for something.

His mind went blank.

He also saw Linglong's last remaining soul smiling at him in his mind.

"Our family," Linglong's voice echoed in his mind, gentle and content, "is finally reunited."

Jiang Xiaochuan stood still for a long time.

Little White ran over, looked at the rubble, then at him, and asked worriedly, "Young Master, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

Jiang Xiaochuan snapped out of his daze and shook his head.

"It's alright," he said, taking Xiaobai's hand. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"Let's leave here," Jiang Xiaochuan said, looking into the distance. "Have you had enough of Southern Xinjiang? Where do you want to go?"

Xiao Bai looked at him, her eyes shining.

"Wherever you go, I'll go."

Jiang Xiaochuan thought for a moment.

"Let's go see the sea," he said. "The East China Sea is vast and blue, with fish, boats, and islands."

"Okay," said Xiaobai, "Let's go see the sea."

Jiang Xiaochuan smiled, summoned the God-Slaying Spear, and jumped up. Xiaobai followed suit, hugging his waist from behind and pressing her face against his back.

Jiang Xiaochuan stiffened, suddenly remembering Lu Xueqi. She had also hugged him like this before, in Qingyun, on the Rainbow Bridge, when he carried her away on his sword.

He shook his head, dismissing those thoughts.

He's a real bastard, unworthy of Lu Xueqi, unworthy of Xiaobai, and even less worthy of Linglong.

But he couldn't help it; that's just who he is—greedy, cowardly, and selfish.

He activated the God-Slaying Spear, its shaft glowing with a dark red light, carrying the two of them as they soared into the sky and flew eastward.

Xiaobai hugged him tightly, closed her eyes, and smiled.

Linglong's lingering soul remained in his mind, quietly watching them fly away, flying towards the East China Sea, flying towards... a distant place she could never reach.

She smiled, found a spot in the corner, sat down, hugged her knees, just like many years ago when she waited for Jiang Xiaochuan to come back inside the house.

This time, however, she didn't have to wait.

She was inside him, in his consciousness, in every heartbeat, in every breath he took.

He lives, so she lives.

If he dies, she dies.

We'll never be apart again.

Linglong's remnant soul closed her eyes, a smile playing on her lips: "That's fine too. If I can't be with you in life, I'll be with you in death. If I can't be with you to see the sea, I'll be with you to see the sea in your eyes. Jiang Xiaochuan, this time, you can't shake me off."

She sank into the depths of her consciousness and fell asleep.

I slept soundly and felt very content.

Like a wanderer who has been away for a thousand years, finally returning home.

……

The wisp of black malevolent energy that had been lurking in the corner of his consciousness suddenly stirred.

A very soft, childlike voice rang out beside Linglong's broken soul, as if whispering.

"mother……"

Linglong was fast asleep, or rather, she was immersed in the sound of the wind rushing past her ears as Jiang Xiaochuan flew by with his spear, which made her tremble slightly and break free from her half-awake state.

She "looked" at that wisp of hostility.

It still lingered there, its outline formed by the black mist slightly clearer than before, like a curled-up baby.

"Mother," the voice rang out again, tinged with confusion but clear, "Just now... when Father was holding that stone statue, the way he looked at it... was so beautiful."

The exquisite, remnant soul remained silent.

"There was light in Dad's eyes, sadness, reluctance, and... and many other things that Nianchuan couldn't explain, but Nianchuan felt that when Dad looked at the stone statue like that, his heart must have been very soft, very soft."

It paused, seemingly trying to organize its thoughts.

"Father...he must really like Mother, right? Like Mother likes Father."

The remnant soul of Linglong had no physical form, but she felt a throbbing sensation similar to "suffocation." She "looked" at the black mist that represented the last trace of her child, wanting to say something, but unable to utter a sound.