Crush's Cold Senior Sister is Actually Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: “…A Very Good Guess. Don’t Guess Next Time.”

An Jin sat cross-legged amidst the mist, trying to reason with Wuxu. “I truly have no past memories. You can’t ask someone with amnesia to tell you what she’s forgotten, right?”

Wuxu was silent for a moment, then asked, “Do you have no desires?”

“I guess so.” An Jin thought for a moment. “I’d quite like to ascend to True Godhood.” She said “quite like” but her tone was casual, and the “I guess” sounded forced, however you heard it. It showed no real eagerness.

Wuxu still wouldn’t give up. “Then fear? Are you not afraid of anything?”

“I am afraid.” An Jin counted on her fingers: “I get a little carsick, I’m afraid of heights, and I’m a little afraid of mice…” Then she racked her brain but couldn’t think of a fourth.

The voice in the air became even more speechless. After a moment of silence, it said: “…You are the second person I’ve met who has no desires and no fears.”

An Jin was very cooperative: “Who was the first?”

Wuxu answered quickly this time: “You are different.”

“How are we different?”

“She has everything, thus no desires, and no fear.”

“Ah?” An Jin’s mind spun. She truly couldn’t imagine anyone in the Upper Realm fitting that description. She asked, somewhat uncertainly, “The deceased Emperor Qingyuan?”

“No.” Wuxu seemed annoyed by her pestering, her replies becoming shorter and more impatient.

But An Jin couldn’t suppress her curiosity. “Then what desires or fears could Emperor Qingyuan have had?” She was admired by the world, revered in the Upper Realm, with believers everywhere… Could such a powerful person have been afraid? Could she have wanted something she couldn’t get?

“There are only a few: hatred and resentment, separation from loved ones, unfulfilled desires… go guess for yourself.”

“Is it… is it Emperor Feiling!” An Jin suddenly had a flash of inspiration. “As Emperor Qingyuan’s Junior Sister, she harbored improper desires for her Senior Sister, but her Senior Sister’s eyes were on the common people of the world, untouched by love, hate, or karma, equally protecting and loving all living beings in the world…”

“So the Junior Sister turned love into hate, hating that the bright moon didn’t shine only on her. Because her love was unrequited, she killed her Senior Sister. In the end, she discovered that her Senior Sister’s deepest desire was herself! So she was filled with regret and pain, but was forced to become the new Emperor to protect the common people her Senior Sister loved, not daring to follow her Senior Sister into death.”

After An Jin finished speaking, the illusion was silent for a long time. Just as An Jin thought the other party hadn’t heard what she said and was about to repeat it, Wuxu slowly spoke: “…A very good guess. Don’t guess next time.”

Huh? What did that mean? Did she guess correctly or not? An Jin was about to press for an answer when suddenly the world inverted, and a wave of dizziness swept over her. She instinctively closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, the illusion had disappeared. She was back in the secret realm.

Although she had left the illusion, the dizziness had not yet subsided. Her legs felt weak, and her body swayed as if she would fall. Just as she thought she was about to hit the ground, a pair of arms timely embraced her.

“Are you alright?” Ling Qi held her, but as soon as she let go, An Jin’s body softly slumped downwards, scaring Ling Qi into immediately tightening her grip, no longer daring to let go.

“I’m fine, I’m fine…” An Jin forced herself to wave her hand. The whole world seemed to be spinning. Her stomach churned, and sour liquid surged upwards. She covered her mouth, trying to break free from Ling Qi’s hand.

“Don’t move, you can’t even stand still,” Ling Qi said, pulling her closer into her embrace.

“…If I don’t move now, I’ll throw up all over you, Senior Sister,” An Jin weakly reminded her.

“Then throw up.”

“…” She no longer had the strength to speak, her entire body hanging limply on Ling Qi, as if she would slide down the next second if Ling Qi let go.

Just as she was feeling so nauseous that her vision blurred, An Jin suddenly caught a faint, almost imperceptible scent of hibiscus flowers from Ling Qi. She took a deep breath, and her churning stomach gradually settled down.

Seeing that her condition was better, Ling Qi also released her hand, letting her stand steadily against the stone wall. Fearing she might find it uncomfortable, she even extended an arm to serve as a headrest for her.

An Jin’s first reaction after recovering was: “Senior Sister, you wouldn’t believe what just happened!”

“What happened?” Ling Qi was genuinely curious. Over a thousand years ago, when they entered Wuxu together, her illusions were always empty. Now, after so many years, with even memories no longer existing, how could things have appeared out of thin air in the illusion?

An Jin looked very conflicted, unsure how to describe it. “It’s just… I suspect Emperor Qingyuan and her Junior Sister had a private affair.”

Ling Qi: “???”

An Jin leaned against the wall, resting her head on Ling Qi’s arm, and recounted her conversation with Wuxu in the illusion. After finishing, she tilted her head and asked, “Wuxu said I guessed very well, and then threw me out of the illusion so quickly. Was it afraid I’d guess more secrets?”

Ling Qi: “…” Is there a possibility that Wuxu’s “very good guess” didn’t actually mean that?

Seeing Ling Qi silent, An Jin suddenly realized that Emperor Feiling, one of the subjects of her gossip just now, seemed to be Senior Sister’s former Master. She scratched her head, feeling a little embarrassed. “I was just guessing blindly. Maybe Emperor Qingyuan actually harbored malicious intentions towards her Junior Sister…”

Ling Qi, however, looked even more pained. She rubbed her forehead, repeating what she had said to Ying Huaiyu at the Chongguang Palace gate earlier: “Spend less time in the mortal realm, and less time online.”

“Oh, oh.” An Jin nodded obediently.

Creak. The stone door behind them suddenly opened. Both of them looked towards the door, their eyes showing some surprise at the newcomer.

Yang Anping slowly walked in, holding onto the door, her steps very slow, her body trembling violently. Cold sweat soaked her entire back. Her goose-yellow clothes clung to her, drenched, and her body trembled uncontrollably. As soon as she entered, she squatted on the ground without a word, huddled in the corner. Cold sweat dripped from her forehead, her once neat hair was disheveled, and a few strands clung to her forehead.

No matter what, she was a fellow disciple, and she had even pulled An Jin up when she almost fell in the previous trap room. An Jin, seeing her in such a state, was also somewhat worried. She released her shoulders from the wall, straightened up, and walked towards the corner. Seeing her get up, Ling Qi’s eyes shifted slightly, and she retracted the hand that had been resting on the stone wall.

“Are you alright?” An Jin squatted down to look at her, pulling a handkerchief from her sleeve and handing it over, comforting her. “Don’t worry, everything in the illusion is fake. It’s over now, it won’t come again.”

“Look, I’m here, right? I wasn’t in the illusion, right?” An Jin had thought about it; they hadn’t met many times, and Yang Anping wasn’t hostile towards her, so whether the other party’s illusion was desire or fear, it shouldn’t have included her. It turned out she was right.

Hearing her words, Yang Anping relaxed a little, and her breathing was no longer as rapid. She took the handkerchief An Jin offered, clenching it tightly in her hand, her voice still somewhat hoarse: “Thank you…”

Ling Qi leaned against the stone wall nearby, watching their movements in the corner. She frowned slightly when she saw An Jin offer the handkerchief. When she saw Yang Anping take the handkerchief, Ling Qi’s frown deepened. Unable to hold back, she straightened up and walked over.

Yang Anping’s emotions had just slightly calmed, but her pupils suddenly constricted when she saw Ling Qi approach. She almost instinctively shouted, “Go away! Don’t come near me!” An Jin, who was squatting beside her, was startled by her shout, lost her balance, and directly fell to the ground. Ling Qi paused, not walking forward, stopping two meters away from them.

Yang Anping shivered all over after speaking, trembling more violently than when she first entered. Her voice was hoarse: “Stay away from me, go away, the farther the better…” An Jin had just stood up from the ground, and hearing her words, her brows furrowed slightly. She was about to speak but was interrupted by Ling Qi. “I don’t know what you saw in the illusion.”

Ling Qi looked directly at Yang Anping, her face showing no emotion. But when Yang Anping looked up and met her gaze, her body trembled again.

“I don’t know what was in your illusion, and I don’t want to know. But since you’ve been out of the illusion for so long and are still in this state, then I can only take the liberty of sending you out of the secret realm now.” Ling Qi’s voice was clear and cold, without any fluctuations. She wasn’t threatening, just stating a fact.

Yang Anping, however, hated this side of her the most. She gritted her teeth and said, “You don’t need to bother! Just stay away from me!”

“I promised Chongguang True God that no matter what the gains were this time, I would definitely bring you out safely.”

Sure enough, upon hearing the words “Chongguang True God,” the hostility in Yang Anping’s eyes lessened. She leaned against the wall and slowly stood up, but her legs were somewhat numb from squatting for too long, and her vision suddenly blurred. Just as she was about to fall to her knees, An Jin quickly supported her. She held onto An Jin’s arm, slowly straightening up: “What did my mother tell you?”

She waited for a long time, but the other party didn’t say a word. Yang Anping looked over in confusion, only to see Ling Qi staring blankly at her hand on An Jin’s arm, her eyes somewhat obscure.

Yang Anping: “?”

“Anyway, it’s not what you think.” Ling Qi withdrew her gaze, answering somewhat ambiguously.

An Jin stood by, feeling like she hadn’t heard anything useful. But Yang Anping already understood Ling Qi’s meaning. She slowly released her hand from An Jin’s arm and leaned against the stone wall, bowing her head in silence.

An Jin’s arm had just regained its freedom when, the next second, it was grabbed by another hand. The hand holding her wrist was very cold, and there was almost no space between them. The other person’s long hair occasionally brushed against her neck, which was quite ticklish. It wasn’t a comfortable position, but An Jin obediently remained still.

“I’ll say it one last time: your things are yours; I don’t want them.” Ling Qi’s hand didn’t loosen, but her gaze towards Yang Anping grew increasingly impatient. “I’m sending you out of the secret realm now. Don’t make me say it a third time.” An Jin expected Yang Anping to continue resisting, but to her surprise, as soon as Ling Qi finished speaking, she very obediently straightened up and walked over.

“I’ll be back soon. You can go to the Sword Mound and find Ying Baizang first. If anything urgent happens, contact me on the communicator.” Ling Qi reluctantly released An Jin’s hand, and also casually patted her head. But An Jin looked conflicted: “Or maybe I should just wait for you here. Senior Ying seems quite fierce…”

Although this was their second meeting, counting their previous encounter in the Demon Realm, An Jin had never seen the other party smile once. She always seemed to have a stern face, looking very serious.

“…It’s fine, maybe she’s actually quite hoping to see you,” Ling Qi chuckled. Ying Baizang probably never dreamed that one day she would be described as “a bit fierce” by An Jin.