Crush's Cold Senior Sister is Actually Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 40

Chapter 40: She Stood on Her Tiptoes, Wrapped Her Arms Around Ling Qi’s Neck, And Kissed Her Directly on The Lips.

“My name is Yuan Shunhua. Shunhua, like the hibiscus flower. You can call me Xiao Jin.”

“If you come with me, I’ll give you all my toys, and my senior sister makes really delicious small cakes!”

“Because… I’m the one who brought you home. I have to take responsibility for you.”

That millennium of time had been firmly sealed in her heart, but it was shattered in this way and then poured into her mind with the irresistible force of a tsunami.

Those familiar figures, those kind voices, kept lingering.

She remembered the day she first met Ling Qi. The sky was filled with a thousand rays of light, and the clouds were vast and boundless. On their first meeting, she had abducted the person and brought them home.

She remembered Mother and Divine Sovereign Fei Ling playing a game of go in the bamboo pavilion on Carefree Island. One person, who couldn’t win, wanted to cheat but surrendered under Divine Sovereign Fei Ling’s half-smiling gaze.

She remembered a young Se-Se clinging to her sleeve and acting spoiled, while Ling Qi stood to the side with her arms crossed. It was clear she was displeased, but she forced herself to look magnanimous and refused to say a word.

She remembered getting into a fight with Huaiyu for no reason and then, under everyone’s astonished gaze, reaching out her hand, helping the other person up, and walking forward shoulder to shoulder.

And then laughter echoed in the air.

It felt like countless needles were being driven into her skull. Every nerve was screaming in pain, and her whole being was about to be torn apart.

One fleeting scene after another passed before An Jin’s eyes—crying, laughing, shouting; loving, hating, and clinging—all of them beautiful.

On Carefree Island, several Lu Xuan birds flew directly at An Jin’s face, covering her in feathers.

By the treehouse, Yuan Xihe came out with a freshly baked tray, on which several rows of small cakes were neatly arranged.

In Jiu Yang Palace, she and Ling Qi lay side by side on a bed and somehow ended up rolling to the same side. She wrapped her arms around the other person’s neck and naturally rested her head on Ling Qi’s chest, and just like that, she fell into a deep sleep.

And when she opened her eyes again, it was another morning.

How could she have forgotten so many beautiful things, so many cherished feelings?

Dozens of paintings surrounded her, and An Jin collapsed to her knees. She covered her face with her hands, tears uncontrollably streaming between her fingers, crying so hard she couldn’t stop.

She remembered the exhilaration of toppling the Dragon Palace, the satisfaction of punishing evil and upholding justice. She had grown up with so much love and affection that she had developed such a clear-cut personality, acting with great zeal.

She thought she could save many people, clear all the injustices in the world, and ensure that all good people were rewarded.

In the end, she couldn’t save anyone.

She could only watch as her usually calm and composed mother, Emperor Qing Yuan, who always had control and was unperturbed by anything, knelt so weakly in the puppet formation for the first time and told her:

“Don’t trust Shen Tianmo.”

Then, with an encouraging smile, she watched as An Jin, with trembling hands, raised the Wu Ji Sword and personally destroyed the puppet formation.

Emperor Qing Yuan was always smiling.

Even knowing that the consequence of this was the annihilation of her body and soul, and that her spirit would forever dissipate into the heavens and earth with no chance of reincarnation, she was still smiling.

And Yuan Se, who was usually the most delicate and couldn’t bear the slightest hardship, endured the pain of a thousand cuts to fall into the demonic path. In the moment before her sanity was swallowed, she struggled to shout at her:

“What are you standing there for, run! Run to the mortal realm, as far as you can!”

She had arrogantly thought she could protect everyone, but when Carefree Island was flowing with bl00d and everyone was in pain, she was having a beautiful dream for eight hundred years in the mortal realm, unwilling to wake up.

So it turned out there was never an An Jin in this world. There hadn’t been one before, and there shouldn’t be one in the future.

It was Ling Qi who stood in front of her, using herself as a shield, to block out all the pain and darkness of eight hundred years ago, weaving a beautiful dream for her called “An Jin.”

So I am Yuan Shunhua.

Why?

Why did I just have a dream, and when I woke up, everything was gone?

Why are you doing this to me?

If the heavens are destined to take everything from me, why did you give me the best things in the first place?

She collapsed to the ground, her shoulders trembling violently, her head buried in her arms. She didn’t even have the strength to lift her head.

She cried hysterically.

Her right hand clenched into a fist, she slammed it hard on the ground. A series of sorrowful and helpless cries echoed in the air.

Separated by the barrier of dozens of paintings, her sharp cries were heard clearly by all the Divine Sovereigns and Upper Immortals present.

At some point, the surroundings had fallen into a deathly silence. The people outside couldn’t see what was happening inside. They didn’t know what had happened. They just listened to the occasional cries, and after a moment of silence, they huddled together and whispered.

In mid-air, Shen Tianmo had long since put away her smile. She watched all of this with an obscure expression, her eyes holding an ambiguous meaning.

…

The surroundings felt utterly black. Although her eyes were open, she couldn’t see anything. There was no light, no sound, nothing. Only a silent blackness remained.

It seemed that all her senses were stripped away at this moment. She was like a person thrown into a void, and her very existence became blurry.

“Is this… what they call the scattering of a soul?” she thought, a little lost.

But the intense pain in her body was clearly reminding Yuan Shunhua, telling her that it wasn’t that good. Of course you’re still alive.

A tearing pain came from her chest, wave after wave. Her heart felt like it was about to explode, and the pain was so severe she couldn’t stand up.

“Xiao Jin!”

The call seemed to come from a very, very distant place, through a thick wall, blurry but filled with a sense of urgency.

And in the next second, the darkness suddenly receded like a tide, and a sliver of light slipped through the gaps of the paintings. The scattered dots of light fell evenly on her and on the floating clouds around her.

Yuan Shunhua stretched out her hand, and the dots of light landed on her palm, dancing lightly and twirling.

When she looked up again, it was dawn.

The heavenly light instantly poured in. Outside the paintings, the conversations of the Divine Sovereigns and Upper Immortals became clear again. Yuan Shunhua suddenly felt a lightness all over her body, and the heart-wrenching pain she had just felt simply disappeared.

“Xiao Jin!”

Another very anxious call.

Who is calling her?

Yuan Shunhua’s head was still heavy. She felt hazy, and her mind seemed to have stopped thinking.

She desperately wanted to respond, but when she opened her mouth, her throat felt as if it was blocked by something, and she couldn’t make a sound.

At that moment, the voice from outside suddenly stopped.

Don’t… don’t go!

Don’t, don’t give up on me just like that… wait a little longer, it won’t be long, I’ll come to see you soon.

She felt a sense of panic in her heart. With a fierce wave of her right sleeve, countless brilliant golden lights, like lightning, shot simultaneously at all the paintings around her.

First, there was a “crack,” like the sound of wood breaking.

Then, a huge “boom” was heard. The dozens of paintings in front of her cracked at the same time. The frames shattered into several pieces of wood and scattered on the ground. The canvases instantly turned into dust, sprinkling down and landing on the floating clouds below.

Yuan Shunhua was momentarily stunned. She slowly lowered her head and looked at her open palm. The golden light that had not yet dissipated was still on her right palm, and it was then that she realized.

This was certainly not An Jin’s divine power.

Because there was no An Jin left in this world.

The huge crash of dozens of paintings breaking at the same time startled everyone present. The bustling entrance of the Chongguang Palace fell silent once again. Thousands of people stopped their conversations simultaneously and all looked over.

The dozen or so Upper Immortals closest to her were the first to see Yuan Shunhua’s face. Their pupils constricted, and all their expressions froze on their faces, changing from stunned to incredulous.

The Upper Immortals farther away also turned their heads one after another. Many were so shocked when they saw her face that they dropped the swords in their hands. Fortunately, the floating clouds caught them, so it wasn’t noisy.

Thousands of gazes were all focused on Yuan Shunhua, and the entire palace entrance was silent.

The scene was, for a moment, very shocking.

In the midst of this silence, a familiar white figure suddenly broke through the crowd, sweeping past at a low altitude over everyone’s heads.

“Catch!”

Ling Qi leapt forward, throwing the long sword in her hand straight at her.

Yuan Shunhua instinctively reached out to catch it. The force of the throw made her stumble, and she almost couldn’t keep her balance. It wasn’t until she gripped the hilt that the familiar feel of it made her recognize it.

It looked like an ordinary sword, not even a pretty one, but she held it very tightly.

The scabbard was made of lacquer bamboo, completely black, looking nimble and light, with no other craftsmanship. A blue knot was wrapped around the hilt to prevent the sword from slipping out of her hand. The characters “Qing Yuan” were carved in bird seal script at the top, which was its only decoration.

It was a very ordinary sword, but when the people around her saw the characters on the hilt, they all took a collective sharp intake of breath.

Yuan Shunhua gently caressed the two small characters on the hilt and closed her eyes.

She didn’t get her own Wu Ji until she was fifteen. Before that, the Qing Yuan Sword had always been her favorite.

Her mother never liked to carry her sword when she went out. If asked, she would say it was “too heavy to carry.” Over time, the sword became her exclusive toy.

For a period of time, she carried this sword around with her everywhere she went every day.

At that time, she had no idea what it meant to be able to draw a sword from its sheath. She only knew that every time she drew the sword, she could scare those with ill intentions into kneeling and begging for mercy.

Gradually, everyone in the Upper Realm knew that Emperor Qing Yuan suddenly had a daughter. So many Upper Immortals gathered to gossip: “I never heard that the Emperor was in a relationship before. Where did this child come from? She couldn’t have just popped out of a rock, so who would the other mother be?”

After some discussion, everyone unanimously agreed it must be Divine Sovereign Fei Ling.

After all, at that time, there was no one else in the entire Upper Realm who could freely enter and leave Carefree Island.

Divine Sovereign Fei Ling was even more reclusive back then than she was now. She had ascended for many years but had never been willing to take a disciple. Other than her senior sister, Emperor Qing Yuan, she barely interacted with anyone else.

By the time she found out about this, the rumors were already running rampant in the Upper Realm, and even Yuan Shunhua had learned to call her “Mother.” She couldn’t explain it even if she had ten mouths.

With a “zheng,” the sharp sword was drawn from its sheath.

Yuan Shunhua, holding the Qing Yuan Sword, scanned her surroundings.

The blade reflected her face under the heavenly light. She was stunned for two seconds before she realized why all those Upper Immortals looked so shocked.

This face was both strange and familiar. She gently touched her cheek, feeling a sense of unreality.

Actually, if she could choose, she would prefer An Jin’s face—it was cute and friendly. In comparison, while Yuan Shunhua’s face was stunning, it was also sharp and quite aggressive.

But on the whole, it was more comfortable to use what was her own.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, her fingers tightened on the hilt of the sword. She slowly walked forward, the sword in her hand pointing towards the ground. Each step was firm.

It was as if a spotlight was shining on her, and everyone’s gaze followed her movements.

She stopped in front of Ling Qi and looked up slightly.

Ling Qi’s gaze towards her was always gentle, filled with the most intense and complicated emotions, but this time, a hint of worry and tension, a kind that was hard to detect, flashed in her eyes.

There was also a bit of fear.

Yuan Shunhua suddenly felt a pang of sadness. Her heart felt as if it had been fiercely grabbed, and the ache was intense.

Why are you afraid?

Is it because I still haven’t been able to earn your trust… Is it because even today, you are still vaguely worried, afraid that all my feelings are just based on a lack of knowledge of the past?

But I clearly loved you so much a long, long time ago.

She looked up into Ling Qi’s eyes, and both of them were silent.

Perhaps it was because they were being watched by too many pairs of eyes, or perhaps it was because they had been apart for too long, but for a moment, neither of them spoke first.

Just when Ling Qi thought she would remain silent, Yuan Shunhua suddenly asked, “Can I kiss you?”

“…What?” She suspected she had misheard.

Yuan Shunhua repeated: “I asked… can I kiss you?”

Ling Qi was caught off guard by the bright eyes she looked into. The familiar heat and persistence were undiminished, but now they were mixed with many unfamiliar things.

There was an unconcealed aggression, desire, and certainty.

This time, Yuan Shunhua didn’t wait for her answer.

She stood on her tiptoes, wrapped her arms around Ling Qi’s neck, and kissed her directly on the lips.

It was thought to be a light peck, but she pried open Ling Qi’s lips and teeth, delving deeper. Their lips and tongues intertwined, shallowly and deeply.

The sea of clouds surged, and mist swirled.

Below, thousands of spectators watched as they kissed passionately in plain sight.