Li Qingshan and Han Qiongzhi left the Han estate. Suddenly, snowflakes began to drift down from the gloomy sky.
“What a sight I haven’t seen in a long time.” Li Qingshan extended his hand and touched a snowflake. In the blink of an eye, snow drifted throughout the entire place. The world seemed to fall quiet too.
“Where are we going?” Han Qiongzhi asked.
“As the madam wishes. We’ll go wherever you say!” Li Qingshan smiled.
“Who’s your madam? You seem to have forgotten about something,” Han Qiongzhi said.
“How could I forget it? Though, proposing the marriage just then seems a little hurried. I’ll come here again once you refine the Fruit of Wisdom. Hopefully your father doesn’t object again.”
Li Qingshan glanced at the grand entrance behind him.
“What if he objects again?”
“Then I’ll give him a beating!” Li Qingshan waved his fist around and revealed a toothy grin.
“Don’t you dare!” Han Qiongzhi widened her eyes before laughing as well.
“There’s nothing else I can do. All I know is to use my fists.”
Han Qiongzhi held his hand gently. “Since you treat me as your madam, what’s so important about holding a wedding?”
“Don’t worry, there’ll definitely be one.”
Li Qingshan waved his hand, and clouds gathered under their feet, lifting them up into the air. They flew off into the distance.
He purposefully remained below the clouds, travelling through the wind and snow. The snow fell harder, drifting through the air like feathers. The ground became pure-white very soon.
Han Qiongzhi leaned against him in his arms. “If only we could remain like this.”
“We still have a long time ahead of us!” Li Qingshan said.
“Really? Stop trying to coax me. I’m not as easy to coax as before. I can sense that you’ll be going to a very, very distant place!” Han Qiongzhi raised her head. Her beautiful face was melancholic, while her voice was so soft that it was almost drowned out by the wind.
Li Qingshan was rather surprised. He had never explicitly told her about his identity, much less mentioned his aspirations beyond the Nine Heavens to her.
“I’m right, aren’t I? I’m not particularly clever, but for some reason, I feel like I can always understand your thoughts,” Han Qiongzhi said rather proudly.
“I will bring you with me.” Li Qingshan’s heart softened. Han Qiongzhi grabbed his mouth forcefully. “It’s best if you don’t make a promise about something you can’t achieve so easily. And you said something like cherishing a one and only despite all the women in life. My ass!”
“Don’t slander me. I’ve spent three decades on cultivation and only cultivation. I’m as innocent as snow. Why’re you looking at me like that? Don’t you believe me…”
Under Han Qiongzhi’s gaze, Li Qingshan gradually ran out of confidence too. “Alright, I admit that I made some mistakes every now and then. Please be the bigger person, madam, and forgive me!”
“Hmph, who wants you to apologise? Feel free to do whatever you want!” Han Qiongzhi suddenly pushed Li Qingshan away.
She left Li Qingshan scratching his head. He had no idea what to say.
“Who made me like a guy like you? It’s not like I plan on getting along with you for my entire life! I originally thought I wouldn’t fall in love with any man, and I would be fortunate if I came across one. I just never thought our time together would be so short. I thought it would be a century at the very least, and then I’ll run out of patience with your philandering and kick you away for good. You bastard, you’re not even giving me this opportunity. Wouldn’t that make it impossible for me to get over you?”
Han Qiongzhi’s face changed, sometimes furious and sometimes with sighs. As she went on, her eyes reddened. When Li Qingshan had demonstrated his true cultivation to her, she felt happy for him, but she also completely understood something. She would never be able to catch up to him.
“Qiongzhi…” Li Qingshan’s heart stirred. He wanted to say something, but he was unable to say anything.
Han Qiongzhi arrived at one end of the cloud alone and gazed at the pure-white ground. When she waited for his return, perhaps it was a form of hardship, but she still clung onto a ray of hope. Yet now, she had to watch as he travelled further and further away. Eventually, he would completely vanish from her world. Just what kind of despair was that?
She rubbed her eyes and looked back with a smile. “Don’t worry. I might not be able to become your cultivation partner, but I won’t become your deadweight either. You have to do your best to travel a little further. You have to become a hundred times better than that bastard Si Qing. You have to make everyone look up to you!”
Within the wind and snow, she was like a ball of fire, which dazzled Li Qingshan’s eyes. His heart burned with even greater fervour than when he gave Si Qing a fierce beating.
Han Qiongzhi arrived before him, holding him by his cheeks and asking him, “Do you want me?” Her face was completely red, but her eyes remained fixed on him. She said seriously, “My husband, I want you!”
Li Qingshan pulled her into his arms with a single stroke and kissed her on her lips before collapsing together on the cloud. The mist surged and enveloped them, and the entire cloud vanished into the cloud layer too.
。
He could still remember when he first saw her. He did not have any good impression of her. Even when he accepted her courtship, he had done so reluctantly. Back then, his head was still full of Gu Yanying. Only after spending a period together did he develop these romantic feelings for her.
Among all the women he had seen in his life, she was not the most beautiful, nor was she the one who made his heart throb the most, let alone the one who provided him with the greatest existence. With closer thought, even this romance was surprisingly ordinary. Sometimes, it even gave him the feeling that he did not transcend to a whole new world. Instead, he had remained on a certain university campus and was involved in a plain relationship. There was neither the awkwardness and repression of the cowshed, nor were there the ups and downs after he had left the mountains.
However, when he looked back, only this period of plainness had made him want to pause and stop, keeping him from thinking about some aspiration beyond the Nine Heavens.
Following the deep kiss, Li Qingshan began disrobing her as he gently kissed her neck. His heart was filled with tenderness. Even his actions became especially gentle.
Slap! Han Qiongzhi smacked the back of his head. “What’re you dilly-dallying around for?”
“I’ve never seen a woman who’s so bad at reading the mood like you!” Li Qingshan widened his eyes.
“Hmph, you’ve finally given yourself away! Tell me, how many women have you done this with?” Han Qiongzhi said.
Li Qingshan lowered his head again to seal her lips with his mouth. With a forceful tug, there was a rip, and he tore apart the red clothes.
“My clothes…” Han Qiongzhi said vaguely.
Before long, enchanting moans rang out from the clouds, drifting and dispersing in the snow and wind.
……
Several days later, in Han Qiongzh’s dwelling.
“Do you think you’ll become smarter if you eat this thing?”
Han Qiongzhi laid in Li Qingshan’s arms lazily and lifted up the Fruit of Wisdom. They were both naked, filled with a healthy and vigorous sense of beauty. They faced each other calmly without any embarrassment.
“What else can happen?” Li Qingshan yawned. Even he felt a hint of lethargy after several consecutive days of entanglement, but not because he was exhausted. The Strength of the Earth could support him physically forever. He had just completely relaxed mentally.
“You said you ate one before, so why don’t I feel like you’ve gotten any smarter?” Han Qiongzhi asked.
“Because I’ve always been very smart, so the effects clearly won’t be obvious. It’ll definitely have an effect if you eat it!” Li Qingshan grinned.
Chomp! Han Qiongzhi could not be bothered with refuting him, eating the Fruit of Wisdom in a single gulp. “You can go now. Don’t get in the way of my cultivation!”
