Chapter 1223: Peak of the Cloud Sea — The Fish and the Bird

This silence was just like when they parted ways at Penglai years ago, standing in the starry sky. A century had passed in the blink of an eye, yet this scene was still similar.

Wang Lin's silence stemmed from not knowing what to say. Whether it was choosing to forget each other in the Jianghu, or the bracelet Li Qianmei gave him before parting, both had rendered Wang Lin speechless.

That bracelet had even saved Wang Lin's life Within the Boundary of the Seven-Colored Realm. He needed to repay this kindness, but that repayment could not contain affection.

His heart was already dead, holding only the memory of Li Muwan. Perhaps, only when the heavens and earth were destroyed, or when his Dao perished and he died, would he choose a different path.

But right now, he couldn't do it. Or perhaps, Li Qianmei had not truly walked into his heart. For Li Qianmei, Wang Lin only held the appreciation shared between Fellow Daoists, but the appearance of that bracelet and the turning of fate had complicated this appreciation.

Wang Lin even felt that Li Qianmei’s excellence should not have blossomed for him. They had only met because of those three questions; apart from that, everything was blank.

He and she did not share years of life within the Devil Cultivation Sea, nor hundreds of years of waiting within the Cloud Heaven Sect, nor the shock of seeing a beauty turn white-haired and into withered bone in the valley, nor the two thousand years of cultivation accompanied by the sound of the zither surrounding Wang Lin.

Nor was there the moment the Heavenly Dao Messenger arrived, causing Wang Lin to roar toward the sky, painfully bellowing that world-shaking declaration.

"If Heaven commands you to die, I will still snatch you back!!!" This was a promise, Wang Lin’s lifelong promise to one woman.

Therefore, facing Li Qianmei, Wang Lin remained silent.

Wang Lin’s feelings toward Li Qianmei were complicated… "Can you sit with me for a while…" Li Qianmei bit her lower lip and spoke softly. She sat on the grass in the courtyard; the moonlight shone down, making her breathtakingly beautiful and peerless at that moment.

Silently, Wang Lin sat down next to Li Qianmei, gazing at the brilliant starlight in the dark night sky and the enchanting moonlight. A faint, subtle fragrance from Li Qianmei reached his nose, and his entire being seemed to relax completely.

"Have you been well these past hundred years…" Li Qianmei lowered her head, her jade hand fiddling with a blade of green grass, wrapping the grass around her finger.

"I'm fine," Wang Lin said softly.

"Did you look at that Jianghu painting?" Li Qianmei smiled lightly, raising her head to look at Wang Lin. Her expression was serene, yet contained a hidden beauty.

Wang Lin's gaze fell upon Li Qianmei's face, withdrew after a moment, and he remained silent.

"Thank you for the Magic Treasure. It accompanied me through a lonely century on the Rift Battlefield…" Li Qianmei stared unblinkingly at Wang Lin, speaking softly.

Wang Lin opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, nothing came out.

"I will be leaving in a few days…" Li Qianmei continued to look at Wang Lin, her eyes seemingly trembling, yet her gaze was firm, fixed constantly on Wang Lin. However, her finger wrapped around the green grass seemed to coil tighter, as if unwilling to break free from the blade.

"I… will see you off," Wang Lin said slowly amidst his silence.

Li Qianmei smiled, blinked, and chuckled softly, "I thought you had become mute."

Wang Lin gave a wry smile, shaking his head without speaking.

"You said you would see me off last time, too, but if I hadn't returned halfway to find you, you wouldn't have done it." The trembling in Li Qianmei's eyes seemed more intense, but she continued to gaze at Wang Lin.

"This time, I will see you off." Wang Lin avoided Li Qianmei's gaze, looking straight ahead as he spoke softly.

A sense of bitterness appeared on Li Qianmei's face. Looking at Wang Lin beside her, a feeling of vast distance filled her heart. He was very close, yet also very far—so far that it seemed no power in this world could bridge the gap.

It was like the swimming fish in the water and the flying bird in the sky. The fish looked at the bird, and the tears it shed dissolved into the water, unseen by the bird… Because what separated them was the heavens and earth, and the unbroken surface of the water.

Occasionally, the bird landed by the river and saw the fish in the water, perhaps pausing for a moment. But in the end, it spread its wings and flew far away. All that remained was the wind generated by its flight, which disturbed the water's surface, creating circles of bitter ripples that agitated the body of the fish watching the bird from the riverbed.

"When I leave this time, it will be a long while before I can return… or perhaps, I will never return…" Li Qianmei whispered softly. These words, falling into Wang Lin's ears, made him even more silent.

"I am an orphan. Master picked me up and raised me. Going to the Demon Sect Battlefield is my fate… If one day I never return… I hope you can remember…" Li Qianmei's finger, wrapped around the green grass, trembled slightly and coiled even tighter.

She did not tell Wang Lin that the image of him in her heart had grown clearer over the past century, nor did she tell him that she risked severe injury just to retrieve the golden Immortal Pen after it was lost. She certainly didn't tell Wang Lin how immense the pressure she was enduring was, just to be able to come to the Wuji Sect now!

Her delicate body could not withstand this pressure. Only the dead were allowed to leave the Demon Sect Battlefield… Yet, under the pressure from the Potian Sect, the pressure from the Demon Sect, and the fatigue accumulated from a century of killing, she still chose to leave mid-journey. All of this was just to see the person right in front of her, who felt so incredibly far away… She also didn't tell Wang Lin that because of her departure, there were dissenting voices within the Potian Sect and words of dissatisfaction directed at her. Even the Demon Sect had condemned her for leaving. Nor did she tell Wang Lin that by leaving the battlefield this time, she would miss the opportunity to truly enter the Demon Sect and be recognized for receiving its teachings.

"When I was little, I realized I was different from others. My hair was blue. No one in the entire Cloud Sea had hair of that color… I still remember how the children I played with mocked me…" Li Qianmei spoke softly, the bitterness in her eyes carrying childhood memories.

"I cultivated the Dao very diligently. Master also refined many Medicinal Pills for me, and with the help of these Medicinal Pills, I achieved my current cultivation. My cultivation was given by Master, given by the Potian Sect… Therefore, I must go to the battlefield; this is my fate."

The hand Li Qianmei had wrapped around the green grass did not loosen. Instead, with a crisp sound, she pulled the blade out of the ground, leaving the grass still wrapped tightly in her hand.

She stood up, tucked a strand of her blue hair, and looked at Wang Lin with her eyes, speaking softly, "If one day I am no longer here, will you remember that there was once a woman named Li Qianmei who briefly passed through your life…"

Hearing this sentence, Wang Lin's heart felt a sharp pang. His face turned slightly pale. He looked up at Li Qianmei, and after a long time, he gently nodded.

"I will…"

A smile appeared on Li Qianmei's face, yet this smile carried a hint of profound sorrow. She looked at Wang Lin, as if trying to completely engrave him into her memory with this one look, or perhaps… to completely forget him from her memory. There is a distance in this world where remembrance and oblivion coexist, equally immeasurable and equally distant. Like the fish at the bottom of the water, struggling to leap out of the surface the moment the bird departed, wishing to gaze at the bird without the water separating them. But in the end, after just one glance, it returned to the bottom and sank down… Wang Lin looked at Li Qianmei, the bitterness in his heart growing thicker… Vaguely, a scene flashed in his mind: after he opened the Heaven Defying Gate and stepped inside, he seemed to see scenes from his previous life. In that final scene, he saw himself become a bird flying between heaven and earth.

In the blur, he seemed to see that the bird had once been attracted by a brightly colored fish under the sun in a river below. It landed by the river and took a careful look at the fish… At that moment, the fish was also looking up at him from the riverbed.

Accompanied by the moonlight, Li Qianmei's soft sigh, like a gentle breeze, permeated the quiet courtyard, and her figure gradually moved away.

"Thank you…" Wang Lin said softly, watching Li Qianmei's silhouette under the moonlight.

"Why are you thanking me?" Li Qianmei paused, turned to look at Wang Lin, her expression still serene.

Wang Lin remained silent for a moment, then flipped his right hand, and a bracelet appeared in his palm.

"It saved my life once…"

The moment she saw the bracelet, the serenity Li Qianmei had been masking instantly collapsed. She stared blankly at the bracelet, and a smile gradually appeared on her face. This smile grew wider and brighter, giving her an astonishing beauty in that instant.

"I remember… I threw it away…" Li Qianmei blinked and said softly.

"I accidentally picked it up later…" Wang Lin's expression was somewhat strange; even he found it hard to believe the words coming out of his own mouth.

"Ah, so you accidentally picked it up," Li Qianmei said, smiling as she nodded.

"Here, take it back." Wang Lin knew Li Qianmei had misunderstood, but this misunderstanding was difficult to clarify. Wang Lin stood up, holding the bracelet, intending to return it to Li Qianmei.

"You picked it up. If you give it back to me, I’ll just throw it away again." The smile in Li Qianmei's eyes deepened. She bit her lower lip, gave Wang Lin a careful look, and turned to leave.

"Remember you promised me you would see me off this time," Li Qianmei's soft words drifted over. Her figure gradually disappeared into the moonlight, returning to her room in the courtyard.

Holding the bracelet, Wang Lin sighed inwardly. After a long time, he put it away, his gaze falling outside the courtyard.

Standing there was another woman. Her appearance was peerless, and she was also looking at Wang Lin, her expression complicated and forlorn. Under the moonlight, this forlornness turned into loneliness as she silently met Wang Lin's gaze.

That look seemed to transport him back to the Vermilion Bird Star, back to the Heng Yue School, where the woman with the innate Water Spiritual Root, named Liu Mei, stood inside the Heng Yue School and looked for the first time at the young Wang Lin in the crowd.

This chapter was tiring to write, very tiring. It seems Er Gen truly isn't good at writing this kind of material. After reading, please give a monthly vote for encouragement. Tomorrow, there's still Mu Bingmei… what a headache.