Crush's Cold Senior Sister is Actually Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 39

Chapter 39: There Was a Huge Crash in the Sky, And Then Memory, Like a Giant Wave, Broke Through The Layers of Fog And Came Sweeping In, Overwhelming Everything.

A few days ago, at the Tianmo Palace.

Even as an immortal attendant shoved her into the dark and damp prison cell, Ling Qi refused to speak another word to Ren Qingwen.

Ren Qingwen, who was also roughly pushed in, still hadn’t given up and yelled at the jail door outside: “Do you know who I am?! My master is Divine Sovereign Chongguang! If she finds out you’ve been so rude, she will absolutely not let you off…”

The immortal attendant behind her ignored her protests, slammed the jail door shut with a loud bang, didn’t spare them another glance, and turned to leave.

“…”

Ren Qingwen turned around and, when her eyes met Ling Qi’s, she quietly pushed the fiery red braids that had fallen in front of her back.

She chuckled nervously: “When… no, after we get out, the first thing I’m going to do is cut them off!”

Seeing Ling Qi look at her with a blank expression, she gritted her teeth again: “I’ll shave my head completely bald!”

“…That’s not necessary,” Ling Qi rubbed her temples. “Leave them. They’re good as they are. So conspicuous.”

Her tone was so earnest that Ren Qingwen was momentarily unable to tell if she was being sincere or sarcastic.

The cell only had a small window, placed high up near the ceiling, barely letting in any light. Using this faint light, Ling Qi scanned the cell and found that besides a pile of moldy straw in the corner, there was no decent place to sit.

With a grateful look from Ren Qingwen, Ling Qi silently retreated to the cold wall, giving her the only bit of straw available.

Having traveled for several days and not having had a chance to rest, she had come to scout the Tianmo Palace at night, only to be caught in the act while climbing a wall. Ren Qingwen was already physically and mentally exhausted and collapsed onto the straw.

The air in the cell was murky, not only mixed with a bloody smell but also with rats scurrying in the corners from time to time. Ling Qi found it difficult to think in such an environment, but she looked up and saw Ren Qingwen sitting on the straw, her head nodding, as if she could fall asleep any second.

“…”

In a daze, Ren Qingwen suddenly felt a chill, and her neck felt a bit cold. She looked up and met Ling Qi’s icy gaze, which immediately shocked her awake: “S-Senior Sister?”

She quickly declared: “Senior Sister! If I could do it over, I’d definitely cover my braids completely and never let others take advantage of them!”

“If I could do it over,” Ling Qi said coldly, “when Yang Chongguang suggested I bring you along, I would have told her—”

With an expectant look from Ren Qingwen, she expressionlessly spat out a few words: “Bring her yourself.”

“…Haha, haha.” Ren Qingwen let out an awkward laugh and scratched her head. “Don’t be like that, Senior Sister.”

Ling Qi folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the cell wall. Hearing this, she glanced at Ren Qingwen again without saying a word.

The events had happened a few hours ago.

Dusk fell, and all was silent.

A row of guards stood at the entrance of the Tianmo Palace, each holding a long spear and looking serious. They were tense and constantly scanning their surroundings, as if waiting for something. Occasionally, someone who looked like a leader would come out and give some instructions, but they were too far away for Ling Qi to hear clearly.

The entire palace entrance was filled with a silent sense of oppression and tension.

Ling Qi’s intuition told her something was wrong. She grabbed Ren Qingwen and pulled her behind a corner of the palace wall, pressing her back tightly against it. Ren Qingwen stumbled as she was pulled, and just as she was about to speak, Ling Qi covered her mouth.

“Don’t make a sound,” Ling Qi said in a low voice, her eyes fixed on the palace entrance. Ren Qingwen’s eyes widened, and she could only make muffled whimpers as she tried to speak.

They could hear the guards with long spears talking in hushed tones in the distance:

“The time limit given by the Divine Sovereign is almost up. Are you all ready?”

“Yes! As soon as anyone gets close, no matter who they are, we’ll take them down and lock them up.”

Both of their faces changed.

“You go back first and tell An Jin not to worry,” Ling Qi decided immediately. “I’ll go through the back door, get the Qing Yuan Sword, and come out. Maybe I can still catch up with you.”

She added a special instruction: “Don’t tell anyone yet, including Yang Chongguang and Cen Xiyao, got it?”

“No way!” Ren Qingwen refused stubbornly.

“You’re not much help with me, and I can be faster alone,” Ling Qi said, a little helpless, not understanding what Ren Qingwen was struggling with.

“Just take me with you. I know some special techniques, and maybe they’ll actually be useful!” Ren Qingwen pleaded, as if she would keep pestering Ling Qi until she agreed.

“…Fine, you can come with me.”

This was the first wrong decision Ling Qi made that night.

They had just climbed the high wall and were about to jump down when they saw several immortal attendants with swords waiting below. Looking back, guards outside the wall were holding up long spears, ready to impale them at any moment.

The immortal attendants of the Tianmo Palace all had the same style as Shen Tianmo: they smiled without their eyes, giving off a sinister vibe. The lead immortal attendant looked at Ren Qingwen’s vibrant red hair and a small smile played on his lips: “We have this Upper Immortal’s hair to thank. It was waving around in the darkness, otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to see where you were.”

Ling Qi and Ren Qingwen: “…”

Ren Qingwen opened her mouth to say something. Ling Qi hadn’t come up with another idea yet, so she decided to see what she would do.

This was the second wrong decision Ling Qi made that night.

Because Ren Qingwen suddenly raised her voice: “We are people from the Chongguang Palace! Divine Sovereign Tianmo sent us to get the Qing Yuan Sword. How dare you touch me!”

This time, Ling Qi didn’t even have a chance to cover her mouth.

The immortal attendant’s smile deepened upon hearing this: “Very good, it seems we didn’t catch the wrong people.”

“…”

In the cell.

Seeing that Ling Qi was no longer paying her any mind, Ren Qingwen laughed awkwardly: “…Senior Sister, don’t be so cold.”

She still wouldn’t give up, trying to save face: “It’s true that I know some special techniques. For example, this wall…”

Ren Qingwen reached out and tapped the wall, confirming something. “I can pass through it.”

Ling Qi raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“Don’t you believe me? Watch!” Ren Qingwen put all her effort into trying to prove herself. A golden light flashed in her palm, and she slapped it against the wall.

Ling Qi didn’t even bother to lift an eyelid. That amount of force and divine power probably couldn’t even scratch the paint off the wall.

But then there was a rumbling sound.

The entire wall collapsed with a crash. For a moment, rocks and dust flew everywhere, leaving the cell in ruins.

Silence hung in the air.

Ling Qi closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress her anger, but in the end, she couldn’t hold it in: “Is that how you pass through walls?!”

She was still trying to maintain her expression, but her voice was already cracking.

Ren Qingwen could only offer an awkward smile: “Well, you see, it’s just that I haven’t practiced for so long… I’m a little rusty, haha.”

As the dust gradually settled, the scene before them became clearer. Ling Qi looked at the room on the other side of the wall, and her eyes met a familiar pair.

The person was sitting in the adjacent cell, with four exquisite dishes and a bowl of soup on the table. In their hand was a steaming cup of tea. They looked quite comfortable.

Their eyes met.

“…”

“…”

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Only Ren Qingwen, staring at the teacup in the other person’s hand, widened her eyes: “How is it that we’re all in prison, but you get to drink tea?!”

Ying Huaiyu looked at the collapsed wall next to them, then down at the teacup in her hand, and finally at them, the corner of her mouth twitching: “…Is that the point right now?”

…

Outside the Chongguang Palace.

The formation in the air had not yet fully taken shape, and An Jin still couldn’t tell what kind of formation it was. She stood beneath the formation, looking at Emperor Fei Ling who was trapped inside, her heart pounding fiercely.

The person who was always so noble and composed now had her face contorted in pain, but her back was still ramrod straight.

An Jin gritted her teeth, suppressing the emotions in her heart. There were too many unanswered questions in her mind. She didn’t know what the formation was for, and she didn’t know why Emperor Fei Ling was involved.

But time was short, and she had no time to think. An Jin could only take a few deep breaths to slow her heart rate, forcing herself to stay calm.

“Didn’t the Divine Sovereign say you were waiting for me? Now that I’m here, why have you suddenly become so busy?” An Jin looked up at Shen Tianmo, feigning composure.

Her gaze casually swept over the unfinished formation above her, with a nonchalant air.

She hadn’t held out much hope, but to her surprise, the woman actually stopped what she was doing.

The formation in mid-air came to an abrupt halt, and all the golden light was withdrawn.

In the formation, Emperor Fei Ling was still trapped by the chains, but her taut body was finally able to relax a little.

“Okay, I’m not busy anymore.”

Shen Tianmo withdrew her hand very cleanly. She turned around with a smile, her expression forgiving.

“Go on, speak. I’m listening.”

An Jin closed her eyes.

The traces of the evil formation in that thatched hut in the mortal realm, the Qing Yuan Sword as the prize for the martial arts tournament. The Tianmo Palace disciple who inexplicably lost to her, and the various abnormalities of her master these past few days… All the clues connected in her mind.

Opening her eyes, An Jin looked directly at Shen Tianmo, feeling a coldness throughout her body, as if she had never been so clear-headed.

“The Qing Yuan Sword was just a bait all along. You just wanted to get Senior Sister Ling out of the way, right?”

“You knew I would stay here, you knew she would go to the Tianmo Palace to retrieve the sword for me…”

The woman in black in mid-air still smiled at her, neither confirming nor denying.

An Jin stared intently at her face, not missing a single change in her expression: “From the moment the Dao Master of Vermillion Bird found the portrait of Emperor Qing Yuan in your Tianmo Palace, to when she found the hot spring in the mortal realm… everything was part of your plan, right? You left the traces of the puppet formation, deliberately leading her to find the portrait and go there.”

“Or rather… you’ve been planning today ever since Liao Huan received that letter.”

“Why?” An Jin looked up, feeling bewildered. She didn’t understand why Shen Tianmo had gone to such great lengths. “What do you want?”

…

“What do you want?”

Ying Huaiyu bent over, holding her knees, and called out to the person in front of her, gasping for air.

Ling Qi, who had finally escaped from prison, was walking at a fast pace. The breathless Ying Huaiyu and Ren Qingwen were chasing after her. The three of them had already searched every large and small room in the basement of the Tianmo Palace, not even sparing the cracks in the walls or the space under the floorboards.

“The Qing Yuan Sword,” Ling Qi stopped and turned back, her brows slightly furrowed, as if she didn’t understand why Ying Huaiyu was asking that.

“You want the Qing Yuan Sword? You should have asked me!” Ying Huaiyu almost ran out of breath. “How long will it take you to find it yourself?!”

“You know where it is?” Ling Qi’s eyes were filled with suspicion.

Ying Huaiyu rolled her eyes: “I’ve been here for so long, after all…”

Seeing that the other person still didn’t believe her, she let out a deep breath and finally told the truth: “I just found it. Why else do you think Shen Tianmo trapped me here and wouldn’t let me go to the martial arts tournament?”

…

Outside the Chongguang Palace.

Shen Tianmo raised an eyebrow. Instead of being flustered or embarrassed at being exposed in public, she clapped her hands twice: “Not bad. You’re as smart as I thought. You truly are… me and A-Yuan’s daughter.”

She only mouthed the last few words, making no sound. The distance was too great for An Jin to see clearly.

She could only see the approving expression on the other person’s face.

“But you missed one thing,” the woman chuckled again. “How could a Su You Flower suddenly appear in the Wu Xu Secret Realm, which has existed for tens of thousands of years?”

An Jin’s pupils constricted.

Before she could react, Shen Tianmo waved her hand, and dozens of framed oil paintings suddenly fell from the sky. The frames of each painting emitted a dazzling golden light. As they fell, they connected to form a golden curtain, as if to envelop her.

The golden light was too bright, and An Jin involuntarily closed her eyes.

Then there was another loud crash.

Dozens of paintings plunged into the ground, connected to form a massive circle. They were airtight, trapping An Jin in the middle.

“This is a punishment for your carelessness,” Shen Tianmo looked down at her. “You need to wake up.”

An Jin couldn’t hear what she was saying at all.

It was as if an invisible force was holding her gaze firmly on those paintings. She couldn’t struggle, couldn’t turn her head, and couldn’t blink.

Dozens of paintings, all of the same person.

The woman in the paintings was still vibrant, her eyes curved like a crescent moon, and her expression was filled with a warm smile.

An Jin suddenly realized that they should have met long ago.

On the way to Liucheng, the driver had asked her if she wanted to visit the nearby Qingyuan Temple, but at the time, her mind was completely on the upcoming grand selection, and she hadn’t paid any attention.

Later, the main hall of the grand selection was crowded with people, and the portrait inside was surrounded by layers of people, so she didn’t bother to push her way through the crowd.

Even later, in the Su You Flower’s illusionary realm, the face of the woman trapped in the puppet formation was blurry. She had already guessed who it was, so she hadn’t gone closer.

They had so many chances to meet.

It felt as if someone was using a sharp steel needle to stab her skull. A tearing headache had no source, and the pain made An Jin cover her head with her hands. Her vision went black in waves, and her ears rang.

Even standing became difficult, but she still forced herself to walk slowly past each painting, looking at each one very carefully.

Dozens of paintings, every single one was of Emperor Qing Yuan.

A violent pain surged in her mind. Something was constantly tearing at her nerves, as if it was about to break out of a cage in the next second.

Cold sweat slid down her forehead, and her body wouldn’t stop trembling.

Just then, the woman in the painting seemed to feel her pain and smiled very gently, as if to comfort her.

Separated by long years, by eight hundred years of time, and by life and death, a voice spoke softly into An Jin’s ear:

“Don’t be afraid, Mother is here.”

In that instant, An Jin heard a huge crash in the sky, and then memory, like a giant wave, broke through the layers of fog and came sweeping in, overwhelming everything.