Crush's Cold Senior Sister is Actually Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Surrounded by Floating Clouds, They Fled Hand in Hand

Ling Qi: “…”

No matter how many centuries passed, this person faced her with the same sarcastic undertones and the same hostility. Ling Qi chose to stay silent, no longer bothering with her.

On the other side of the glass, seeing Ling Qi suddenly frown and stop talking, An Jin felt a subtle sense of unease. She paced back and forth by the glass, feeling restless. But if she tried to shatter the glass to get out, the Demon Lord would likely rush over and kill her before the glass shards even hit the ground.

An Jin took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She looked around the hall. The vast palace contained no furniture or decorations other than the soft mat she was sitting on. Only two thick ancient trees in the corner, piercing the dome, could barely be called “greenery.” Was she supposed to use a transformation spell to turn into an ancient tree and attack someone?

An Jin frowned, her gaze following the tree trunk upwards, then her eyes lit up.

On the other side, the Demon Lord was still sneering, “Don’t you want to know how my Master died? Bring me the divine bone, and I’ll—”

Before she finished speaking, a huge hornet’s nest fell from the tree with a “thud,” directly hitting the Demon Lord’s head. A swarm of hornets buzzed out, attacking in droves. Fortunately, the turtle had a hard shell; after retracting its limbs, it could remain motionless on the ground. The small snake on its head was not so lucky. Despite thrashing its tail and jumping around, it couldn’t escape being stung.

But Xuanwu was, after all, the Demon Lord who had cultivated for thousands of years and once caused chaos in the Celestial Realm. A flick of her tail could kill a swarm of these hornets. An Jin hadn’t intended to actually harm her, just to cause a small disturbance to help them escape.

Seeing the Demon Lord busy dealing with the hornets, An Jin withdrew her divine sense from the ancient tree’s branches and landed on the ground with a somersault. Before she could even stand steadily, she grabbed Ling Qi’s hand and ran.

Ling Qi was about to remind her that in the Demon Lord’s territory, they absolutely couldn’t leave without her permission. But feeling the burning warmth in her palm, Ling Qi’s heart raced, and the words she was about to say were swallowed back. She let herself be pulled, stumbling two steps, and ran frantically outside with the other person.

It was as if everything had returned to eight hundred years ago, when Yuan Shunhua, who could never sit still in the academy, begged her to skip class and go play. Cranes soared, clouds swirled, and they fled hand in hand.

Ling Qi felt a moment of trance.

But this sense of familiarity didn’t last long. An Jin was soon bounced back by another glass door. Fortunately, Ling Qi quickly grabbed her arm, preventing her from falling to the ground again. The two turned around, their backs pressed tightly against the cold glass, watching helplessly as the Demon Lord’s vast shadow slowly approached.

Ling Qi’s brows furrowed slightly, not wanting to see the other person get too close to An Jin. So she moved sideways, shielding An Jin behind her, and drew her sword with her right hand. The sword light flashed like a mirror through the dim hall, but the Demon Lord remained unmoved.

Seeing Ling Qi’s vigilant posture, An Jin felt a chill in her heart. Even Ling Qi was preparing to fight to the death; it seemed she might not actually make it out of the Demon Realm alive today. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, feigning calmness. “Haha, I didn’t expect you to have so many glass doors here. You’re quite rich, haha…”

What happened to “tens of thousands for one glass door”?!

The Demon Lord’s gaze was still fixed on her. “You don’t remember anything, yet you still choose to stand by her side?”

Huh? A question mark slowly appeared above An Jin’s head. How did the Demon Lord know she had amnesia? Besides, Ling Qi was her Senior Sister. If she didn’t stand by her Senior Sister, was she supposed to betray her sect and defect to the Demon Realm?

An Jin had countless retorts, but facing that person’s eyes, for some reason, she couldn’t say anything.

The Demon Lord hadn’t really expected an answer. She turned her head to look at Ling Qi, her tone still mocking, “Do you think I’m blind?” Let alone just a changed face, even if her figure changed, her race changed, she could still recognize her Senior Sister at a glance. So Ling Qi holding a sword and blocking in front of her Senior Sister was truly annoying.

Ling Qi looked at her calmly, her body still unmoving.

Looking at her Senior Sister’s expression of resignation to death, and then at the two of them looking ready to fight side by side, the Demon Lord got a headache. After a long while, she raised a white flag and surrendered, saying, “I need a divine bone to get out.”

After all, they had spent thousands of years together day and night. The Demon Lord knew exactly how to play the victim to appear more pitiful in the other’s eyes. “Because my divine soul is weak, I… cannot leave the Demon Realm without permission. During that awakening a few hundred years ago, I forced my way out, but my divine soul was severely damaged within three days, and I’ve been forced to remain here ever since.”

“I must get out. If I stay here, I can’t do anything, I won’t know anything.” The small black snake on the turtle’s back didn’t shed tears, but it couldn’t stop its choked sobs, its voice slightly trembling. It looked clearly fragile but pretended to be strong, giving off an air of “I’m miserable but I’m pretending to be fine.”

An Jin almost immediately believed it. “So if we agree to help you find the divine bone, can you release all our companions?”

“They all fell down on their own; they’re just temporarily unconscious. Once they wake up, they can leave whenever they want,” the Demon Lord said, then lowered her eyes, adding in a low tone, “With my divine soul damaged now, what could I possibly do to them?”

Ling Qi’s mouth twitched slightly. It was as if the hurricane just now wasn’t caused by her. She was one of the Four Great Ancient Divine Beasts and had served under Emperor Qingyuan for thousands of years. No matter how weak and powerless she was, effortlessly crushing a few immortal cultivators would be more than enough.

But An Jin didn’t know this. She just felt that what the other party said seemed to make some sense, and she really did look pitiful. After thinking for a moment, she took another piece of coconut candy from her pocket and offered it. The small black snake’s tail hooked, and the candy in An Jin’s hand instantly disappeared.

Feeling that the other party was somewhat amenable, An Jin couldn’t help but push her luck. “And the Heavenly Whisk Grass, do you know where to find it?” She still remembered Ling Qi’s promise to her Master.

The small black snake, placated by a piece of coconut candy, was content. “The entire area by the entrance is full of it; just pick whatever you want.”

An Jin blinked, surprised it was that simple.

Before leaving, Ling Qi hesitated, then turned her head. “Eight hundred years ago, Emperor Qingyuan passed away… do you truly know nothing?”

The Demon Lord remained silent for a long time before speaking, her voice hoarse: “That was my Master.”

“I want the culprit to pay the price more than anyone.”

…

An Jin remained in a state of shock until they picked the Heavenly Whisk Grass and left the forest.

“So the Demon Lord inside… was one of Emperor Qingyuan’s disciples back then?” This was the first time An Jin had met such a legendary figure, and she was very excited.

Ling Qi nodded, then said, “Anyway, don’t get too close to her. Even if she gets out of the Demon Realm, it’s best to stay far away from her.” They leaned against a giant rock outside the forest, waiting together for their other companions to emerge.

An Jin propped herself up with her hands, jumped onto the giant rock, and asked, somewhat puzzled, “Why?”

Because she’s best at acting cute, selling misery, and feigning pity. Once she latches onto you, it’ll be for days, and she’s very possessive, not letting anyone else get close.

“Because she holds grudges. You used a hornet’s nest to mess with her this time; when she gets out, she’ll definitely retaliate against you fiercely.”

An Jin nodded, feeling what she said seemed reasonable. “What about Emperor Qingyuan’s other disciples? The mortal realm says that the disciples who once served under the Emperor either went missing or have fallen… Since Xuanwu is still here, are the others also still here?”

This time, Ling Qi was silent for a long time. She didn’t want to reveal everything at this moment. She didn’t want to tell her now that no, your mother is dead, your senior sister is gone, the once peaceful and tranquil Wuyou Island is now desolate, and none of us have a home anymore. Even if the beautiful dream was eventually going to end, it didn’t have to be now. I cannot change your suffering, but at least I can make it come as late as possible.

Ling Qi took a deep breath, carefully choosing her words, trying to make her voice sound as natural as possible, “They should all be there. Maybe we’ll have a chance to meet them someday.”

“Wow.” An Jin was a little excited. “So, is Baihu also giant like Xuanwu?”

“Yes, a super big, fluffy one. She’s very gentle and especially formidable.”

“What about Emperor Qingyuan? Was she very dignified, always sitting solemnly and never smiling?”

Ling Qi chuckled softly. “No, she was very easygoing. She’d take back moves if she lost at chess, and sometimes she was a bit lazy.”

“Wow,” An Jin sighed again, almost treating Ling Qi as an encyclopedia. “What about Zhuque? Are Zhuque’s feathers really flame-colored? They say Zhuque is the guiding immortal bird that leads the souls of tomb masters to ascend to heaven, and can also grant immortality. Is that true?”

“…I don’t know, maybe.” Seeing An Jin dissatisfied with her perfunctory answer, Ling Qi added, “But Zhuque is innocent and good-natured, and exceptionally beautiful.”

They continued to chat casually, one sitting on the giant rock, the other leaning against it. Somehow, the conversation circled back to the previous disciple selection. “Was it Fu Xin who was supposed to come to the Demon Realm before? Why did you suddenly decide to come?”

“Because…” Ling Qi hesitated, then decided to tell the truth. “I need to exchange the Heavenly Whisk Grass with True God Chongguang for a Time-Flowering Lotus.”

“The Time-Flowering Lotus can be used to travel back in time. I… need to find out the cause of Emperor Qingyuan’s death.”

“Travel back in time?” An Jin had only seen such things in supernatural posts on the mortal realm’s internet; she didn’t expect them to actually exist in the Celestial Realm. Ling Qi saw her expression and knew she had misunderstood. “The Time-Flowering Lotus can help establish a gate, allowing one to travel back to a specific point in the past, but one can only observe; no changes can be made.”

One could only watch helplessly as tragedy unfolded again, watch beloved people leave again, and know the outcome yet be powerless to do anything. Even so, the Time-Flowering Lotus was incredibly rare.

“The time point you travel back to is completely random. It could be your past, or the past of someone you know, so what you see depends entirely on luck.”

“So does that mean if I brush past someone, they could see what I looked like when I was a child?” An Jin frowned, feeling this would violate her privacy.

“There’s that possibility,” Ling Qi nodded in acknowledgment. “But Time-Flowering Lotuses are inherently rare; even True God Chongguang doesn’t have many, so you don’t need to be too nervous.”

Before they finished talking, Ling Qi’s communicator received a message. An Jin leaned over to look. It was Senior Sister Cen, who had given them lessons before.

The communicator was answered, and Cen Xiyao’s face appeared on the screen. Her expression was tense, and her voice was urgent, “Are you free right now? Something’s happened in the East Sea.”