Chapter 1
Chapter 1
When Meng Zhiyuan appeared, I was fastening the unity knot I had woven by hand to Xie Qingxing’s waist.
My junior sisters had picked up some wedding custom from who knew where. With every thread I passed through the knot, they chanted a blessing.
“The first binds two hearts as one.”
“The second keeps them together until their hair turns white.”
As I threaded the third, a tearful voice sounded behind us.
“Sword Lord…”
Xie Qingxing’s head snapped up.
My hands stilled. I turned.
A slender figure had appeared outside the hall without anyone noticing. She looked ready to collapse.
Xie Qingxing shoved me aside. “Little Dumpling?”
The knot, not yet secured, fell straight to the floor.
Meng Zhiyuan’s face was bloodless. Her gaze landed on Xie Qingxing and me in our scarlet wedding robes, and helpless confusion flickered across her features.
“Have I… interrupted something?”
My youngest junior sister was quick on her feet. Before I could answer, she stepped forward and took Meng Zhiyuan by the arm.
“Honored guest, the seats for the ceremony are this way. You can leave your wedding gift with me.”
Xie Qingxing instinctively took a step after them.
Then he glanced at me and stopped himself with visible effort.
I followed the fall of his wide sleeve. The hand half hidden beneath it was clenched into a fist.
Several junior sisters began guiding Meng Zhiyuan backward. She did not resist. She only looked at Xie Qingxing through her tears and gave him a smile so fragile it seemed about to break.
“Sword Lord, I didn’t know you were getting married today. I shouldn’t have come…”
Xie Qingxing could no longer restrain himself.
He stepped squarely on the unity knot as he strode over. “Stop!”
He pulled Meng Zhiyuan away from my junior sisters and gently wiped her tears. “What happened? Did someone hurt you?”
Meng Zhiyuan murmured, “Sword Lord, he went back to the Demon Realm…”
Xie Qingxing froze.
“Sword Lord! He went back to the Demon Realm! He left me!” It was as though she had finally found an outlet for her despair. She clutched his sleeve, weeping uncontrollably. “How could he cast me aside just like that? Sword Lord, what am I supposed to do? Please bring him back for me, all right?”
Slowly, I bent down and picked up the dust-stained knot.
Then I heard Xie Qingxing answer in a hoarse voice.
“All right.”
Relief finally crossed Meng Zhiyuan’s face. The next instant, weakness overtook her and she began to crumple.
Xie Qingxing hurriedly caught her in his arms.
My youngest junior sister looked from him to me and back again. At last, she could bear it no longer.
“Senior Brother Xie, you…”
Only then did Xie Qingxing seem to remember that today was our bonding ceremony.
Holding Meng Zhiyuan, he looked at me. His lips parted, but no words came.
I tightened my fingers around the knot and forced myself to smile.
“Qingxing, our elders are waiting. Can we finish the ceremony first?”
Xie Qingxing was silent for a very long time.
Long enough for me to indulge in one last foolish hope.
Perhaps, for once, when forced to choose between Meng Zhiyuan and me, he would choose me.
What I received instead was a look of disappointment.
“Chunruo, you know I can’t simply abandon her.”
“I thought you, of all people, would understand me.”
The smile I had fought to hold froze on my face.
Xie Qingxing gave a soft sigh.
“Chunruo, I chose to become your cultivation partner. I will not betray that promise. Once I help Little Dumpling bring that man back, I’ll return at once and complete the ceremony with you.”
“I will explain everything to our masters and the other guests. You won’t have to trouble yourself.”
His expression softened.
“Don’t cry. When have I ever lied to you?”
I touched my cheek and only then realized that tears had covered my face.
“Xie Qingxing, our bonding ceremony—the honor of our entire sect—is all of it less important than a single tear from Meng Zhiyuan?”
“Chunruo, that’s different.”
“How?”
He lowered his eyes to the woman in his arms. “I swore to protect her for the rest of my life.”
I enunciated every word. “You said you would protect me too.”
“Yes. That is why I will return and complete the ceremony with you.”
Xie Qingxing lifted Meng Zhiyuan into his arms and headed for the doors. “I won’t keep you waiting long.”
I called after him.
“Xie Qingxing, take one step beyond that door, and I’m done with you.”
He paused.
Without turning, he showed me only the cool line of his profile.
“Then your feelings for me amount to no more than that.”
No more than that.
What a fine phrase.
I had shattered my spirit meridians and thrown away my cultivation for him, and all I received in return was—no more than that.
The metallic taste of blood rose in my throat. My present body could not bear such a shock.
My junior sisters rushed over to support me. The more hot-tempered among them had already drawn their swords to bar the pair’s path.
I shook my head.
“Let him go.”
A man who could not be made to stay was not worth keeping.
If only I had understood that sooner.