Crush's Cold Senior Sister is Actually Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 32

Chapter 32: “It’s Good If You’re By My Side.”

“It’s enough for you to be by my side.”

A loud boom.

When An Jin killed another demonic beast in the illusion, Ling Qi’s formation was just completed. The faint golden light in her palm was injected into the formation. The golden light followed the complex patterns, gathering from the edge of the formation to the center, and a dazzling light burst out in an instant.

Then the golden light shot up, and all the demons and evil creatures in the illusion were instantly annihilated.

An Jin: “…”

Her sword was still frozen in mid-air, and the demonic beast she was halfway through fighting just disappeared in front of her.

Taking advantage of the gap while the illusion was resetting, the two of them sat side by side under a locust tree to rest. Ling Qi’s peripheral vision kept drifting to the side, but the person next to her was seriously reading a book called “The Compendium of Heavenly Arts,” which she had pulled out from who knows where, completely unaware of her gaze.

Ling Qi let out a soft sigh.

For the past two days, she had been waiting for An Jin to speak first, but with tomorrow being the day they would leave the illusion, the other person still hadn’t mentioned a word about what had happened before.

That day, in the face of Cen Xiyao’s questioning, Ling Qi didn’t give a direct response.

She just stood there, her expression calm, and asked in return:

“Are you really not going to approve me?”

After a few seconds of staring at Cen Xiyao with an unruffled expression, she added: “You know, Chong Guang Palace isn’t the only place I can go. If you don’t agree, there will be others who will.”

The final result was that Ling Qi left with An Jin in one hand and the golden pass in the other.

She had prepared herself to be questioned by An Jin, and she had been rehearsing her speech in her mind for a long time, but almost two days had passed in the illusion, and she still hadn’t had the chance to say those words.

Finally, during a break on the second day, Ling Qi couldn’t hold back and asked first: “Do you want to talk?”

“What do you want to talk about?” An Jin closed the book and placed it on her knees. She turned to look at her. “The Qing Yuan Sword, or Yuan Shunhua?”

Ling Qi’s body stiffened slightly, and her back instantly straightened, clearly becoming nervous. Seeing this, An Jin suddenly smiled, her eyes sparkling with wit.

“I know you’re getting this sword for her, Senior Sister. After all, besides the Vermilion Bird Dao Master, there’s no one else in the world who can pull out the Qing Yuan Sword.”

“With the Emperor having been gone for over eight hundred years, if this sword can truly be returned to its rightful owner, it would be a perfect ending.”

An Jin seemed to have completely disregarded Cen Xiyao’s words about “being utterly devoted.” For a moment, Ling Qi almost thought that she had remembered everything, but the other person’s gaze was completely clear and transparent, with no hint of doubt.

“…Is there nothing you want to ask?” Ling Qi’s voice was very soft. “About the things Cen Xiyao said before.”

“Of course there is.”

An Jin suddenly turned around to face her, her eyes astonishingly bright.

“I thought you and Senior Sister Cen had a good relationship.” An Jin leaned in a little. “Why did she suddenly give you a hard time?”

Her eyes were filled with curiosity, not a trace of reluctance, only a desire for gossip.

“…”

Ling Qi had considered a thousand possibilities, but she never expected that this would be the focus of the other person’s attention. She was stunned for a few seconds before shaking her head helplessly: “She wasn’t giving me a hard time. She just… gave her heart and soul to someone for over a thousand years, and she’s always afraid that others will repeat her mistakes.”

“She already disapproved when she saw me hand over the divine bone so easily.” Ling Qi shrugged. “But she’s also a very difficult person. She always has something to say about others’ business, but when she’s in the same situation, she seems to be blind.”

“Senior Sister Cen has unrequited love?” An Jin’s eyes widened.

She had always thought that Senior Sister Cen stayed in the academy from morning to night, and her mind was only on teaching and answering questions. She had no time for romance, let alone unrequited love.

“To be honest, I’m not very clear about their relationship either,” Ling Qi said. “It’s certainly not mutual love, but it’s not like Senior Sister Cen is the only one who’s in love either.”

“Who is it?” An Jin leaned in even closer, her eyes sparkling. “Who, who?”

“…Is there nothing else you want to ask?” Ling Qi put her hand on her forehead.

Why was the topic really centered around Cen Xiyao?

Seeing that Ling Qi really didn’t plan on telling her, An Jin pouted and drew out a long “hmm.” Then she blinked and, under Ling Qi’s somewhat nervous gaze, slowly began to speak:

“Are you going to great lengths to find the Reverse Flow Flower to investigate the cause of Emperor Qing Yuan’s death and desperately try to win the Qing Yuan Sword at the martial arts competition, all for Yuan Shunhua—”

An Jin paused, and seeing Ling Qi’s unnatural expression, she smiled softly: “Are you hoping I would ask that?”

“I do have some worries,” An Jin admitted frankly, her eyes clear. “But it’s not fear, and it’s not suspicion. I only care about what I see, and I don’t believe in hearsay.”

“No matter what happened in the past, no matter what kind of relationship you had with each other,” An Jin’s voice was firm. “You are here now, and the person you love is me.”

She was the one who had confessed yesterday, and the other person had never said a single word about liking her, yet An Jin’s tone was so confident.

She was confident that Ling Qi loved her.

She looked at Ling Qi with a very serious gaze and said: “It’s just that sometimes, I can’t help but think about things.”

“I think about how someone accompanied you through the underworld and killed demons for you. You grew up and cultivated together, traveled through the four seas and eight wastelands… Such a long, long journey, you walked it together, supporting each other. So what… what haven’t you had yet? What can I give you?”

I’m not afraid that you’ll accidentally think of her when you walk through familiar streets.

I’m not afraid that acquaintances or strangers will bring her up in various ways.

And I’m even less afraid that you’ll stand together one day in the future and talk about the past that I wasn’t a part of. And I’ll sit quietly on the side, watching your laughter melt into the air.

Because of all this, I’m even more certain that you love me. Many people look up to you and follow you, but you’ve never been moved by them. You’ve been through so much, yet you still turned around and held my hand without a second thought.

I’ve never doubted your sincerity, but I can’t help but worry sometimes.

I’m afraid that the love I can give you is something you’ve already received from someone else many years ago. I’m afraid that everything I do won’t be able to move you more.

I’m afraid that this relationship will eventually become you endlessly accommodating me and satisfying all my requests. I’m afraid that in the end, I’ll be the only one who’s happy.

“Sometimes I can’t help but doubt myself. Can I really make you feel safe and happy by my side? Can the things I give you still bring you anything new?”

An Jin turned her head and looked directly at Ling Qi.

She seemed to be waiting for an answer from the other person with a determined look, and she also seemed to be questioning herself.

They sat under the locust tree in the illusion, very close to each other. A gust of wind blew, and the snow-white locust flowers fell from the tree, covering their shoulders. Ling Qi closed her eyes, then slowly opened them.

She suddenly sat up on her knees and pulled the person in front of her into her arms amidst the fallen locust flowers. The scattered petals were startled by her movement and then floated to the ground.

Before An Jin could react, her forehead had already hit Ling Qi’s collarbone hard. She let out a pained “ow,” but the person who was usually so gentle didn’t let go to rub her forehead. Instead, she tightened her arms, holding her even tighter.

The movement was too quick, and the tiny locust flowers fell from her shoulders onto An Jin. An Jin didn’t struggle. Instead, she nestled into the other person’s arms, letting the petals fall to her legs.

“It’s enough for you to be by my side, Xiao Jin,” Ling Qi’s voice was a little hoarse and sounded strained. “As long as you’re here, you’re already my anchor.”

“Whenever I feel lost and start to doubt myself, as long as I think of you waiting for me in the distance, I suddenly calm down. As long as you don’t leave me, I’ll never have nowhere to go.”

“You don’t know how many times in those eight hundred years I stood at a crossroads and almost took the wrong path… But I knew I couldn’t. I hadn’t found you yet. I had to walk steadily, one step at a time, until I could walk back to your side…”

Ling Qi chattered on and on, and by the end, she didn’t even know what she was saying. At a time like this, she had even less time to notice that neither “eight hundred years” nor “walk back to your side” sounded like things a person who had only known her for a few months would say.

But the person in her arms just lowered her eyes, letting her hold her tightly. She listened to every word and sentence, silently hugging her back with the same force.

The truth was important, but the person in front of her was clearly more important. Since she would remember everything sooner or later, what was the point of getting to the bottom of it now?

For some reason, Ling Qi ended up lying on An Jin’s lap, feeling sleepy. In a daze, she seemed to see a new wave of demonic beasts in the illusion, but before she could see them clearly, they were all annihilated by a few golden lights.

She turned over, and her long hair brushed against An Jin’s wrist. And An Jin just happened to withdraw her hand at this moment.

Half-asleep and half-awake, they chatted aimlessly.

Ling Qi couldn’t even open her eyes: “In your current state, you don’t need hellish training. Don’t waste your time here.”

“I can’t do that,” An Jin refused. “We said we’d stay here for a day and a night.”

“Have your divine powers recovered… or have you remembered everything?”

“Then why don’t you tell me what I’m supposed to remember, Senior Sister?”

“…”

“Seriously, let’s go. Staying here any longer is a waste of time.”

“No, I haven’t found my incantation yet.”

“Who still uses incantations now? Everyone wants to hide their hand unless they absolutely have to.”

“Senior Bai Zang does. It wasn’t an emergency in Wu Xu.”

“…Don’t learn from her.”

“What’s your incantation, Senior Sister?”

Just as she was about to fall asleep, Ling Qi remembered her last words were: “I don’t have an incantation. A true incantation requires you to believe in it from the bottom of your heart. I have no faith.”

She didn’t know how long she had been asleep, but the dazzling heavenly light was waking her up. Half-asleep, Ling Qi suddenly felt the breathing in her ear getting heavier, and her eyelashes were a little itchy.

The next second, a very, very light kiss landed on the corner of her mouth.

Ling Qi opened her eyes. She thought she would see An Jin’s face close up, but the person in front of her was still very focused on reading the “Compendium of Heavenly Arts.” She subconsciously touched the corner of her mouth and only caught two or three locust flowers.

“You…”

Ling Qi’s eyelashes trembled, and she was a little dazed for a moment.

“They’re kissing you for me,” An Jin looked up from the pages of her book and smiled at her, her eyes crinkling.

Ling Qi’s breathing hitched. In an instant, countless fragmented memories flooded her mind like a tide.

So… that’s what it was.

So the hibiscus flowers that were scattered on her all those years ago had this meaning.

It turned out that a long, long time ago, her lover had already been quietly expressing her feelings to her.