Yu Yi used her sword fire to heat the spring water on Crescent Bay Island, then removed her outer robe and stepped into the water. The sword fire surrounded her not far away, heating the flowing water to a comfortable temperature.
She leaned against a smooth boulder that had been worn smooth by the water flow, her palm containing spiritual energy pressed against her abdomen, forcing out the remnants of Xue Chenjing left within her.
Although it seemed difficult for cultivators to conceive, and she wasn't sure if there was reproductive isolation between her and Xue Chenjing, Yu Yi still carefully cleaned them all out, until she could no longer sense his presence within her body when she closed her eyes and inspected herself internally.
Yu Yi relaxed her body, stretched out her limbs, and quietly enjoyed the soothing flow of the water. Fragments of sunlight filtered through the swaying leaves, casting dappled shadows on her face. Her skin, moistened by the water vapor, glowed with a faint blush, white as if it could emit light.
Feeling the moving light spots on her eyelids gradually weaken, Yu Yi lifted her eyes to glance at the sky visible through the leaves.
The previously bright sunlight had completely disappeared in a short moment, and thick clouds rolled in at a visible speed, pressing heavily overhead. The air pressure became extremely low, and the sky darkened rapidly, as if night were falling.
This realm was formed by Xue Chenjing's thoughts, and the changes in weather could fully reflect his emotional changes. The impending stormlike weather now indicated his current mood.
What's wrong?
Yu Yi was a bit puzzled, rose from the water, dried her body with spiritual energy, took out a clean set of clothes from her storage bag, and put them on. She stepped onto the Green Bamboo Sword and headed back.
A few scattered raindrops fell on the leaves, making a series of crackling sounds. Soon, these sounds became denser, and in the blink of an eye, they connected into a continuous torrent, pouring down a heavy rain that enveloped the entire realm.
Last night, when he was crying under her, the rain outside hadn't been this heavy.
Yu Yi caught a handful of rainwater with her hand, then shook it off from her fingertips. Using spiritual energy to repel the rain, the Green Bamboo Sword carried her through the heavy rain curtain, flying towards the wooden tower at the top of the treetop island.
She lightly landed from the Green Bamboo Sword, her skirt sweeping past the full ground of leaves. Not seeing Xue Chenjing on the second floor, she descended the stairs and called out, "A Jiu? What's wrong with you?"
Xue Chenjing was jolted back to his senses by this call, finally noticing the darkening sky and the pouring rain outside. But it was too late to adjust his mood now, so Xue Chenjing could only coldly warn in his heart, "Without my permission, don't make a sound."
The system retracted its panel and obediently shrunk back to its task tree.
When Yu Yi came down the stairs, Xue Chenjing had already hastily wiped away the tears on his face with his sleeve, though his eyelashes were still wet, and the red marks around his eyes had not yet faded.
Before Yu Yi could ask anything upon seeing his face, Xue Chenjing stepped forward and tightly hugged her, burying his head on her shoulder and nuzzling lightly, murmuring, "Yi Yi, Yi Yi, Yi Yi, I miss you so much..."
Yu Yi was hugged so tightly that she could barely breathe, pushing him with a mix of amusement and helplessness. They had been apart for less than half an hour, but Xue Chenjing's appearance made it seem as if they had been separated for years.
The storm outside still hadn't stopped. After the surrounding leaves were stripped away, there was no shelter left. The fierce wind and rain directly entered the small wooden tower through the open windows, surrounding it with the sound of rain, turning it into an isolated island, with only the two of them on it.
Yu Yi gently patted his back and said, "This is the first time I've seen such a heavy rain in this realm."
Xue Chenjing muffled an "mm" and after a while added, "I remember everything, all of it."
Hearing this, Yu Yi understood the reason for the heavy rain outside.
She wrapped her arms around his waist, her voice calm, not at all drowned out by the rain, carrying a strangely comforting power that soothed the soul. She slowly said, "I took good care of your parents' bodies, protecting them with spiritual energy. You can find a beautiful feng shui treasure spot to bury them."
Xue Chenjing tightened his arms again, suppressing the sob in his throat, and said, "Okay."
Yu Yi looked out at the rain curtain, gently stroking his back, and continued, "Everything has passed. Those experiences you once had will never happen again. Your body has been reborn, and I hope your heart can also see the light soon."
Xue Chenjing's heavy breathing brushed against her neck as he responded, "Okay."
They hugged in the rain for a long time before Xue Chenjing finally let her go. There were no tear marks on his face, but the rain outside showed no signs of easing.
Yu Yi observed his expression and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
Xue Chenjing's eyelashes trembled, avoiding her gaze. He stretched his hand in midair, drawing a spell seal. A round bead rolled out from the spell seal and fell into his palm.
Yu Yi's attention was drawn to the pearl in his hand, looking at the blue-ringed octopus curled up inside the transparent bead, "Is it Cang Cang? Is it okay?"
"Yes, it's still alive," Xue Chenjing nodded, forcing out a smile. The small octopus inside the bead, shrunk to only the size of a palm, curled up into a ball, slightly wriggling, proving it still had a breath left.
Under the nourishment of Xue Chenjing's blood, the wounds on Cang Cang's tentacles had healed, and the broken tentacles were slowly regrowing.
"I'll first place it in the sea and let it slowly recuperate on its own," Xue Chenjing said, then hurriedly turned and stepped into the rain curtain, his figure disappearing like mist scattered by the rain.
Yu Yi chased forward a few steps, then stopped outside the rain curtain. The weather in this realm remained dark, the thick clouds showed no signs of dispersing, and the rain showed no signs of easing, even more oppressive than before.
The heavy rain splashed on the sea surface, and Xue Chenjing sank into the deep sea, stopping at a coral cave. He waved his hand to create a clam shell, laid down a spell of attracting magical breath on the clam shell, and dripped a few drops of blood into the bead, placing the bead inside the clam shell.
After doing all this, he didn't immediately rise to the surface, but floated in the water, asking with a faint hope, "Can I go with her?"
From birth to now, the things he had possessed could be counted on one hand. Now, these few things were also slipping away from him. How could he be willing?
The system regretfully said, "Sorry, host, this request is beyond the system's capabilities."
"Why can't it be done?" Xue Chenjing angrily asked, "When you bound me, didn't you say this was a sweet story? Didn't you say HE means we'll end up together? You made me send her back, but left me here. What kind of together is that?"
The system helplessly explained, "The host also knows this is the second restart of the task. In fact, the first time, it should have been A Yi bringing the luck of another major world here, assisting Pei Jingchao to complete the task of restarting Heaven's Gate, and continuing the path of the demonic way."
"But the first task failed, which led to this second attempt. And the second attempt naturally cannot continue the failed path. So the system bound to you. To make the task proceed more smoothly, the main control system fabricated the book 'After Crossing into a Book, I Ended Up HE with the Villain,' distributing it to my task library, so I could issue tasks based on it."
At this point, the system's tone revealed a bit of resentment, because even it had been kept in the dark! Even it had believed the script it received was the true story of this world, with Xue Chenjing and Yu Yi as its main characters!
It had also been tricked by the main control system.
"So, in the end, there is no book called 'After Crossing into a Book, I Ended Up HE with the Villain.' This world is built on 'Jingchao,' and A Yi is not a character who crossed into a book, but a person from the real major world. That's why the luck she carries can help this small world."
"The gap between the worlds you two are in is too large. The moment you step into that world, you would be reduced to ashes."
Xue Chenjing couldn't make sense of its convoluted explanation and had no energy to try. From hearing that he couldn't go with her, he had already found it hard to remain calm and listen to anything else.
What should he do?
Why were the choices presented to him always no choice at all?
Why did they make him remember his past life? Why did they make him witness the moment she despaired and took her own life because she couldn't return home? After seeing such a scene, how could he possibly be selfish enough to cut off her path home himself?
What kind of reward was this? This was nothing but torture for him!
Xue Chenjing was enveloped by the sea, his long hair drifting like seaweed in the water, resembling a vengeful water ghost. The sound of the waves crashing filled his ears, drowning out his own despairing cries and even his tears.
Before the storm in the realm subsided, he didn't know how to face her again. He was afraid that he would cry uncontrollably, and that would be far too undignified.
The system detected his turbulent emotions and couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy. It cautiously suggested, "Master, why don't you let Yu Yi make the choice herself? She might be willing to stay for you."
Xue Chenjing almost immediately shook his head in refusal. "No, she won't."
He knew exactly how she would choose.
After Xue Chenjing dove into the sea, he didn't resurface for a long time. Yu Yi pulled up a chair and sat by the door, watching the torrential rain outside grow heavier. The rain pounded against the wooden building, splashing droplets that soaked her skirt.
She didn't know when Xue Chenjing would be ready to face her again, but seeing how hastily he had left earlier, it was clear he wanted to avoid her. So, Yu Yi decided not to pursue him, thinking he probably needed some time alone.
However, she hadn't expected that Xue Chenjing's "some time alone" would last so long.
The dark, endless storm in the realm continued for three days before it finally showed signs of abating. Crane Senior Brother returned, drenched and looking like a bedraggled chicken, and huddled in a corner of the wooden building, almost growing mold.
Yu Yi cleaned his feathers and applied protective powder to each one, piece by piece. The crane flapped his wings, scattering the powder everywhere. By the time she finished, the sky outside suddenly brightened.
The oppressive gloom of the past three days began to lift as the rainclouds dispersed. A figure stepped into the light that filtered through the dissipating clouds and smiled at her, saying, "Yu Yi, I'm back."
Yu Yi looked up and carefully studied his expression. Xue Chenjing had changed into a dark blue robe, the same color as the sea, with wave patterns embroidered on the hem. His hair was neatly combed and tied high at the back of his head. His eyes curved slightly, filled with warmth, and there were no signs of redness at the corners of his eyes.
The increasingly bright light of the sky outlined his figure with a soft, glowing aura.
"Have you taken care of Cang Cang?" Yu Yi asked, her gaze fixed on him.
"Yes," Xue Chenjing replied, walking over and wrapping his arms around her. "Yu Yi, let's go to the human world. I want to bury my parents."
Yu Yi reached up and hugged him back. "Alright, I'll be with you."
Xue Chenjing nuzzled his face against her temple. "Yu Yi, I missed you so much."
