Chapter 171: 115, there is no Divine Emperor, everything is just a big dream_2
Could it even get bigger?
No way, it's going to burst open!
Wu~
She couldn't help but let out a wail of misery.
Luckily, at this moment, Lin Qingque was still so engrossed in the persona she had crafted for herself that she failed to notice this.
...
When the torturous ordeal finally ended, Xu Yuan slowly exhaled in relief.
It was truly tormenting.
And Jing Lixue crawled out from under the table.
She wiped the corner of her mouth, her peach-blossom eyes blurry like those of a drunk, carrying a hint of playful seduction, "How was it?"
"Not bad."
Xu Yuan wiped the sweat from his forehead, speaking indifferently.
This time, he had held back far longer than last time.
"Hmph."
Seeing that he was not easy to manipulate and did not mention the matters about the Divine Emperor that were discussed earlier, Jing Lixue couldn't help but snort and looked up at the sky, which had turned a dim yellow unknowingly.
"It's about time... we should leave."
A trace of melancholy was evident in her expression.
"Leave? But it seems we still haven't found the gap in the dream, have we?"
"Follow me."
Jing Lixue extended her smooth hands, soft as tofu, and gently grasped his hand.
The next moment, the scenery before their eyes changed again.
The splendid Divine Emperor's Great Hall disappeared in a blink of an eye, replaced by a tranquil narrow path.
On one side of the path was a parched, scarred land, as if plowed by a heavenly bull, revealing a mottled pattern; on the other side was a temple so dilapidated that one could easily see inside without even pushing the door open.
Jing Lixue's gaze carried a mix of nostalgia and reminiscence.
"This place... "
Xu Yuan felt a shock in his heart.
This broken temple, he had seen it before in a previous game; it was where he and Jing Lixue had met for the first time.
No wonder nothing was visible in the world of his heart even when he reached the very end.
As it turned out, from the beginning, the so-called gap in the dream was not in his heart, but in Jing Lixue's.
"Don't be mad, okay? I just helped you cool down."
Seeing his gaze turning towards her, about to say something, Jing Lixue bent her eyes and spoke softly.
"..."
Alright, alright, just wait here for him, right?
Recalling the excitement just now, Xu Yuan actually couldn't get angry.
"So what was your purpose?"
Xu Yuan, feeling the soft touch in his palm, asked.
"What purpose? Of course, it's to better understand Xu Yuan," Jing Lixue shook her head and chuckled, as if his question was amusing.
After a moment of silence again, Xu Yuan looked at her seemingly sincere expression and sighed, "Alright then."
Although, if he was not mistaken, this was probably a setup by her to infuriate Lin Qingque.
But then, what of it?
Since everything was already recorded, like the proverb 'With too many lice, one stops itching,' he might as well just let go.
Let it be whatever it will be.
Jing Lixue glanced at him still acting his part, took steps forward, and walked to the door, pushing open the temple door.
"Here, is the exit," she said.
Then she walked in, her figure fading away like a bubble.
Xu Yuan watched the door in front of him, continually hearing the rustling sounds of the leaves being blown by the wind.
After hesitating for a moment, he still stepped in.
...
In the deep night, forked lightning pierced the heavy black curtain, casting down silver light, illuminating the earth, just like the legendary Candle Dragon casting a fleeting glance to The Mortal World with eyes opening as day and closing as night.
But it was only a glimpse.
After that glimpse, the Candle Dragon closed its eyes again, followed by its breath.
The wild wind shook the great trees like a mischievous child, making the leaves dance in a rustling melody, turning into a light snowfall.
A frail and thin figure that appeared exceedingly fragile in the night, gritted her teeth and staggered forward from the end of a distant path.
She hadn't eaten for many days, her lips cracked and pale without a touch of water.
She stared blankly at the sky, praying for a heavy rain to fall.
However, it seemed to be just dry thunder, for after the thunder and lightning, there was only the wind, no sound of rain.
Or perhaps, her life, like a candle in the wind, wouldn't hold out until the rain came.
As a child, she felt the breath of despair so close for the first time; it hung far behind her like the limping old wolf she had encountered earlier, waiting for her to completely exhaust her strength.
However, unlike last time, when she had relied on human ingenuity and a small knife to feign death and narrowly defeated the enemy, even surviving on its flesh, this time she had no one upon whom she could rely.
The rumbling thunder resonated, like the snores of the sleeping Candle Dragon.
The sky darkened in her field of view, her eyelids grew increasingly heavy, and her consciousness gradually blurred.
She couldn't go on, she was about to collapse.
Feeling the life force draining from her body, the young girl slowly closed her eyes.
She too was about to fall asleep.
But it was that kind of eternal slumber.
Just before her candle-like life force was about to be extinguished completely, a beam of white light suddenly pierced the darkness, much like the previous lightning, but unlike that earlier lightning, it did not illuminate the entire world.
It only illuminated her.
It lit up not just her body, but also her life.
Her last sight was of a gentle-faced young man in white, who descended like an Immortal and walked slowly toward her.
"Is he the Immortal from the Immortal Realm, coming to take me?"
This was Jing Lixue's last thought.
When she regained consciousness, the first thing she saw was the young man holding her grimy self, lying in the scene of a temple.
With just one glance, she was deeply immersed in it.
This was also her second glance at the young man.
In the beautiful sunlight, the young man's peaceful and handsome features were finely outlined by the light, radiant as a spring scene, surpassing all the picturesque landscapes she had seen later.
Then, when she woke up again, she saw only a bag of snowy white pears, a brand-new knife, and the Fate Skill that changed her destiny.
Thus, the girl who had wandered since childhood and lost her name, acquired a new one.
Her third encounter with the young man was when he stood in front of her, wrapped in his junior sister's tender gaze, majestic as a Heavenly God, polite yet distant: "Princess Luoyang, I come on behalf of the Heavenly Dao Sect to lend you a helping hand to ascend the throne of the Divine Emperor."
His clear eyes reflected her figure, like ripples on the surface, rising but not sinking.
At that time, she valued power immensely, so when the Divine Emperor fell, and cultives from the eight major Sects appeared before her, she was not surprised.
However, she had not expected that he would be the one to come, and even less that she would be the one he chose.
She harbored no ambitions for the throne, ascending only to search for him in the vast world.
And from the young man's eyes, she saw that he knew none of this; he had even forgotten her.
Thus, she did not hesitate to say yes.
Latter on, he Ascended to the Immortal Realm and became a true Immortal, no longer hers alone, while she stayed in the Mortal World, ruling as its Divine Emperor.
Until later, upon waking, she found herself once again the beggar she had been originally.
Just when she thought that there was no First Divine Emperor Jing Lixue, no all-encompassing love just to aid his ascension, that all these were merely a dying beggar's final grand dream, the familiar everything quietly arrived.
As she excitedly thought she could meet him again,
She discovered the young man's empty gaze, a masterless soul, like a puppet manipulated by the Heavenly Dao.
They were like characters in a storybook, endlessly repeating cycles of rebirth.
From that moment, she resolved to protect him at all costs.
For this, even if it involved lies, being at odds with the world didn't matter.
...
Jing Lixue did not deceive him again; this indeed was the exit.
But what she did not explain was that there was one more cutscene cg to watch before leaving.
As she left the ruined temple, Xu Yuan also woke up again.
"...If what she says is true, her inner world really is simple."
Xu Yuan opened his eyes, but instead of rushing to cultivate, he pondered.
Jing Lixue's mental world, unlike her deeply scheming nature, seemed to consist only of that broken temple and the Divine Emperor's Great Hall.