Chapter 1263 – The Fish and the Bird
This silence was the same as when they said their goodbyes while flying away from Peng Lai. It had been 100 years, but this scene was still the same.
Wang Lin was silent because he didn’t know what to say. Whether it was because he had said it was best if they forgot each other, or how he had found Li Qianmei’s bracelet, Wang Lin was unable to say a word.
That bracelet had saved Wang Lin’s life in the Seven-Colored Realm. He would repay this kindness, but there were no special feelings in this repayment.
His heart was already dead and could only hold Li Muwan… Unless it was when the world was destroyed, unless it was at the moment of death, perhaps he would choose a different path.
However, right now he couldn’t do it. Or to be more accurate, Li Qianmei hadn’t really entered his heart. Wang Lin only admired Li Qianmei as a fellow cultivator. Only the appearance of the bracelet and the twist of fate had made this admiration a bit complicated.
Wang Lin even felt that Li Qianmei’s excellence shouldn’t be displayed for him. They only knew each other through the three questions, and aside from that, they knew nothing of each other.
They didn’t have the several years spent in the Sea of Devils, the hundreds of years of waiting at the Cloud Sky Sect, no shock of dying of old age in the valley, and no music that accompanied Wang Lin for his 2,000 years of cultivation.
There was also no painful roar from Wang Lin that shocked the world when the messenger of the heavens arrived.
“Even if the heavens want you to die, I’ll take you back!!!” This was a promise, this was Wang Lin’s promise to a woman.
That’s why Wang Lin remained silent facing Li Qianmei.
Wang Lin’s heart felt complicated toward Li Qianmei…
Li Qianmei bit her lower lip and said, “Can you sit with me for awhile…” She was sitting on the grass in the courtyard. The moonlight fell on her, making her very beautiful and alluring.
Wang Lin silently sat down beside Li Qianmei as he looked at the bright starlight in the night sky and the charming moonlight. As he sat there, the fragrance from Li Qianmei’s body entered his nose, and he seemed to relax.
“During these 100 years, were you well…” Li Qianmei lowered her head as her hands played with a blade of grass so it entangled her finger.
Wang Lin softly said, “Alright.”
“Did you look at the painting?” Li Qianmei smiled as she looked at Wang Lin. There was a beautiful implication under her calmness.
Wang Lin’s gaze fell on Li Qianmei’s face, then he quickly withdrew his gaze but didn’t speak.
“Thank you for your treasure. It accompanied me on the battlefield for these lonely 100 years….” Li Qianmei softly said as she looked at Wang Lin.
Wang Lin opened his mouth to say something, but in the end didn’t say anything.
“In a few days, I’ll have to leave…” Li Qianmei looked at Wang Lin. Her eyes seemed to be trembling, but her gaze was even more determined. She still looked at Wang Lin, but her fingers seemed to entangle even more grass. It was as if no matter what, her fingers didn’t want to break free.
Wang Lin silently pondered before saying, “I… will send you off.”
Li Qianmei revealed a smile and winked. “I thought you had become a mute.”
Wang Lin bitterly smiled and silently shook his head.
“You said you were going to send me off last time, but if I hadn’t gone back to find you, you wouldn’t have sent me off.” Li Qianmei’s eyes seemed to tremble even more, but she still looked at Wang Lin.
Wang Ling avoided Li Qianmei’s gaze as he looked ahead and whispered, “This time I’ll send you off.”
There was bitterness on Li Qianmei’s face. She looked at Wang Lin and felt like he was very far away. Even though he was right beside her, she felt like he was far away, so far that there was no force that could bring him closer.
Just like a fish looking at the bird in the sky. It shed tears in the water, but the bird couldn’t see… Because what separated them was the unbreakable surface of the water.
If the bird happened to land beside the river and saw the fish in the water, it may pause for a moment while looking at the fish, but it would soon open its wings and leave. It would cause bitter ripples to echo across the surface of the water, affecting the fish’s body.
“After I leave this time, it will be a long time before I can come back… Or I might never come back…” Li Qianmei whispered in Wang Lin’s ear, making him even more silent.
“I’m an orphan. Master picked me up. Going to the battlefield at the Demon Sect is my destiny…. If I never come back… I hope you remember…” Li Qianmei wrapped her fingers around the grass. Her fingers gently trembled, becoming entangled even tighter.
She didn’t tell Wang Lin that his figure had become even more clear in her heart. She didn’t tell Wang Lin that she had risked her life while seriously injured to recover the golden pen. She didn’t tell Wang Lin what kind of pressure she was bearing to come here!
Her weak body couldn’t bear this pressure. Only the dead could leave the battlefield at the Demon Sect… And she withstood the pressure of the Heaven Breaking Sect, the Demon Sect, and 100 years of battle, yet still decided to leave mid way to meet someone that was far away from her…
She also didn’t tell him that because of her departure, there were many different voices of dissatisfaction in the Heaven Breaking Sect. There was also condemnation in the Demon Sect due to her departure…
She also didn’t tell Wang Lin that her departure meant that she had missed the chance to actually enter the Demon Sect and receive their teachings.
She didn’t say any of this, so Wang Lin wasn’t aware…
“When I was little, I found out that I was different from others. My hair is blue; no one in the Cloud Sea has this hair color… I still remember how my playmates used to laugh at me when I was a child…” Li Qianmei softly said with bitterness in her eyes as she recalled her childhood.
“I cultivated very hard, and Teacher refined a lot of pills for me. With these pills, I was able to reach my current cultivation level… My cultivation was given to me by master, by the Heaven Breaking Sect… I have to go to the battlefield, that is my destiny.”
Li Qianmei didn’t loosen her hand that was entangled by the grass. Instead, she pulled up the grass so it was still entangled around her fingers.
She stood up and moved her blue hair. She looked at Wang Lin and softly said, “If one day I’m no longer here, will you remember that in your life, there was a woman named Li Qianmei that quickly passed by…”
Listening to this, Wang Lin felt a sting of pain in his heart. His face was slightly pale as he looked up at Li Qianmei and gently nodded.
“I’ll…”
Li Qianmei revealed a smile, but there was a hint of sadness in this smile. She looked at Wang Lin as if she wanted to completely engrave him in her memories, or… completely erase him from her memories…
There was a distance that was same as leaving and forgetting, it was immeasurable and just as far. Just like when the fish at the bottom of the lake saw the bird leaving. It struggled to jump out of the water so it would no longer be stopped by that barrier. However, it only got one glance before it fell back into the lake…
Wang Lin looked at Li Qianmei, and the bitterness in his heart became even stronger… He faintly remember back when he opened the Heaven Defying Bead’s gate and stepped inside. It was as if he had seen his previous life. At the end, he saw himself become a bird.
In his blurry memory, he seemed to remember that as a bird, he was once attracted by a bright-colored fish in the lake. He landed next to the lake and carefully looked at that fish…
At that moment, the fish in the lake also looked at him.
Accompanied by the moonlight, Li Qianmei’s sigh was like a gentle wind. It diffused across the courtyard and gradually disappeared with her figure.
Looking at Li Qianmei’s back under the moonlight, Wang Lin softly said, “Thank you…”
“Why are you thanking me?” Li Qianmei stopped and turned around to look at Wang Lin. Her expression was still calm.
Wang Lin silently pondered for a while before waving his right hand, and a bracelet appeared.
“It saved my life once…”
The moment she saw the bracelet, the serenity that she used to mask herself collapsed. She looked at the bracelet, stunned, and gradually revealed a smile. At this moment, she became dazzlingly beautiful.
Li Qianmei blinked and softly said, “I remember… I threw it away…”
“I accidently picked it up later…” Wang Lin’s expression became a bit strange. Even he himself couldn’t believe it when he said it.
“Oh, so you accidentally picked it up.” There was a smile in Li Qianmei’s gaze as she nodded.
“I’m giving it back to you.” Wang Lin knew that Li Qianmei had misunderstood him, but this was a misunderstanding that was difficult to explain. Wang Lin got up, holding the bracelet, trying to return it to Li Qianmei.
“You picked it up. If you give it back to me, I’ll throw it away again.” The smile in her face became even wider as she carefully looked at Wang Lin and left.
“Remember, you promised me that you would send me off.” Li Qianmei’s words gently arrived. Her body gradually disappeared into the moonlight as she returned to her room in the courtyard.
Holding the bracelet, Wang Lin let out sight. After a long time, he put it away, and his gaze fell outside the courtyard.
There was another woman standing there. This woman was an absolute beauty, and she was also looking at Wang Lin. She looked bleak and lonely under the moonlight, and they stared at each other.
This stare made it feel as if they had returned back to planet Suzaku and back to the Heng Yue Sect. When a woman named Liu Mei who was born with a water spirit root looked into the crowd and saw a youth named Wang Lin.
