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

"Congratulations on your successful completion of seclusion, Yao'er. Your cultivation has greatly improved." Her voice was clear and melodious, carrying just the right amount of joy.

Biyao's gaze fell on her face, but it was somewhat vacant, as if seen through a layer of fog. After a moment of scrutiny, it slowly focused. She seemed to want to smile, but failed and only gave a soft "hmm".

His voice was also a little hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time.

"Have you been waiting for a long time?" Biyao asked, her gaze sweeping over Jin Ping'er.

"Not long." Jin Ping'er smiled and naturally took her arm.

The touch was icy cold, and her fingertips curled up almost imperceptibly.

"I figured you should have come out in the next few days, so I've been coming to check on you every day. What a coincidence, we ran into each other today."

Biyao let her hold her arm, neither breaking free nor getting any closer.

The two walked out side by side. The passageway was deep and dark, and the ever-burning lamps embedded in the stone walls cast their shadows, which were sometimes long and sometimes short.

"How's it outside?" Biyao asked, her eyes fixed on the dimly lit passageway ahead.

Jin Ping'er's smile remained unchanged: "What else can we do? After the battle at Qingyun Mountain, all the factions in our Holy Sect were weakened and are now mostly lying low. Our Sect Master is a man of great talent and ambition, and in recent years he has brought the Blood Refining Hall under his command. Naturally, our Hehuan Sect is of one heart and one mind with the Ghost King Sect, but..."

She paused, as if carefully choosing her words, "The Hall of Longevity and the Sect of Ten Thousand Poisons are ultimately a thorn in our side."

Biyao listened quietly, her face expressionless, only nodding very slightly from time to time.

After walking for a while, nearing the end of the passageway, the light brightened, and Biyao suddenly stopped.

Jin Ping'er also stopped and turned her head to look at her.

Biyao turned her face, her calm eyes looking at Jin Ping'er, and asked slowly, "Is there... any news about him?"

The passageway was eerily quiet, save for the occasional crackling sound of the ever-burning lamp wick popping.

Jin Ping'er tightened her grip on Bi Yao's arm slightly.

Her bright smile seemed to freeze for a moment, but it quickly relaxed and became even more radiant than before.

She blinked, a perfect blend of confusion and regret in her eyes: "Who? Oh, you mean that kid from the Qingyun Sect..."

She sighed and shook her head. "I haven't heard from them since then. I suppose they're on Qingyun Mountain. The righteous and the demonic paths are different. Yao'er, you should..."

Biyao didn't speak, she just looked at her calmly, but that made Jin Ping'er swallow back the words of comfort she was about to say.

The silence spread again, heavier and more stagnant than before.

Jin Ping'er felt that the arm she was holding seemed even colder.

After a while, Biyao shifted her gaze back to the light ahead and softly said, "Is that so?"

There was nothing more to say.

She continued walking out, and Jin Ping'er hurriedly followed. When they were almost out of the passage, Jin Ping'er suddenly exclaimed "Ah!" as if she remembered something. She took out an oil paper package from her sleeve and carefully opened it.

Inside was a string of candied hawthorns, the bright red hawthorns coated in a glistening sugar shell, gleaming enticingly in the sunlight filtering in from the end of the passageway.

"Look at me, I almost forgot."

Jin Ping'er handed the candied hawthorn to Bi Yao, her smile carrying a hint of presenting a treasure.

"I was passing through a town at the foot of the mountain, and this looked fresh. I thought you might like it, so I bought some. Want to try it?"

Biyao's gaze fell on the string of candied hawthorns and froze.

Changhe City...

street corner...

It was filled with bundles of straw...

The dazzling sun...

The crunchy sugar coating...

That pale hand that swiftly snatched the candied hawthorn...

And then there was the man's wide-eyed, helpless yet amused expression after his candied hawthorn was snatched away...

The image was so clear it was almost blinding.

She reached out, her fingertips trembling almost imperceptibly, and took the bamboo skewer, which was icy cold in her hand.

She brought it to her lips, hesitated for a moment, then opened her mouth and took a bite.

The sugar coating crackled between my teeth with a crisp sound, and the sweetness spread, followed by the slight tartness of the hawthorn.

Jin Ping'er looked at her, her eyes filled with cautious anticipation.

Biyao chewed slowly. The sugar was top-quality rock sugar, boiled until clear, and the hawthorns were large and pitted clean.

delicious.

But as she chewed, she felt the sweetness lingering on her tongue, unable to dissipate, and after the sourness came a faint astringency.

It doesn't taste right.

She ate two, then stopped, letting her hand holding the candied hawthorn hang down at her side.

"Doesn't it taste good?" Jin Ping'er asked softly.

Biyao shook her head.

"I'm full," she said, her voice flat.

Looking at her drooping eyelashes and pale lips, Jin Ping'er felt the tightness in her chest deepen.

She didn't try to persuade him further, but simply smiled and said, "Then give it to me; it's a shame to throw it away."

As she spoke, she naturally took the candied hawthorn skewer from Biyao's hand, which only contained two hawthorns, and took a bite from the spot where Biyao had bitten it, and began to eat it carefully.

Biyao didn't say anything, and stepped out of the passageway.

A mountain breeze blew, lifting the hem of her light green skirt and a few strands of her hair.

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled; the stale, stagnant air from the secluded stone chamber seemed to still linger in her lungs.

"Ping'er," she said softly, gazing at the overlapping, dark mountain shadows in the distance, "come for a walk with me."

"Okay." Jin Ping'er swallowed the hawthorn in her mouth, quickly followed, still holding the candied hawthorn in her hand.

The two walked slowly along the mountain path.

Occasionally, patrolling disciples would pass by, and upon seeing them, they would respectfully bow their heads and step aside.

Biyao ignored them, her gaze drifting blankly over the cold stone walls, the jagged rocks, and the bottomless ravine in the distance.

The wind picked up, bringing with it the faint howls of wild beasts or the shouts of disciples practicing martial arts in the distance, all mixed in with the mountain wind and indistinct.

Biyao stopped at the edge of a protruding cliff.

Below is a rolling sea of ​​clouds, torn into fluffy shapes by the wind; further away, at the end of the sea of ​​clouds, are the shadows of continuous mountains.

Biyao's gaze remained fixed on that silhouette, motionless. The wind blew the strands of hair from her forehead onto her pale cheeks, but she seemed oblivious.

Jin Ping'er stood half a step behind her, looking at her slender and upright back, at her blank yet empty gaze towards Qingyun Mountain, and felt a sharp, persistent pain in her heart, as if being pricked by needles.

She looked at the half-eaten candied hawthorn in her hand; its bright red color seemed out of place and pitiful against the backdrop of the gray sky and shadows of the mountains.

"Yao'er," she said, her voice slightly distorted by the wind, "why are you doing this to yourself?"

Biyao seemed not to hear, continuing to gaze in that direction. After a long time, so long that Jin Ping'er thought she wouldn't answer, she finally spoke very softly and slowly:

Thinking of him makes it not bitter.

The voice was ethereal, as if talking to itself.

Jin Ping'er gripped the bamboo skewer tightly in her hand.

"But if he doesn't have you in his heart, thinking like this is like stabbing your own heart with a knife over and over again."

Biyao finally moved, turning her face slightly to the side, a strand of hair brushing against her pale lips.

"It's enough that I have him in my heart."

She added, her voice even softer, almost as if it would be blown away by the wind, "He'll find out eventually."

"So what if I know?" Jin Ping'er took a small step forward to stand beside her, also looking in the direction of Qingyun Mountain, her tone carrying a hint of anxiety that she herself was unaware of.

"He is a disciple of the Qingyun Sect, and you are the daughter of the Ghost King Sect. Righteousness and evil cannot coexist. You didn't understand this principle seven years ago, do you still not understand it now? Even if he knows, even if he... has a little bit of feelings for you, so what? Can he betray Qingyun? Or can you abandon the Ghost King Sect?"

Biyao remained silent, gazing into the distance. The mountain wind whipped at her clothes, making them flutter wildly, as if she wanted to ride the wind and return home.

"I can wait," she finally said after a long time.

The three words, scattered by the wind, yet strangely clear and stubborn, drilled into Jin Ping'er's ears.

"One year, ten years, a hundred years, until the righteous and the demonic are no longer at odds, until... he is willing to turn around and look at me."

"What if he never looks back?"

Jin Ping'er turned to look at her, her gaze sharpening.

"What if he already has someone else by his side? Yao'er, don't forget, there's another one on Xiaozhu Peak of Qingyun Sect..."

"Stop talking." Biyao interrupted her, her voice still soft, but with an undeniable coldness.

Jin Ping'er's words stuck in her throat.

Looking at Biyao's pale profile, her tightly pursed lips, and the stubborn, almost desperate light in her eyes, all her advice and reasoning seemed pale and powerless. In the end, she could only sigh, a long and helpless sigh that dissipated in the wind.

A cold drop landed on Biyao's hand.

She looked down.

Another drop.