Chapter 151 – His Secret
Bai Ye must've been worn out by the long day. Usually, he would hold me in his arms for a long time afterward and keep talking to me until I fell asleep, but he was the one to fall asleep first tonight. In the wavering candlelight, I lay by his side and watched him quietly, until the flames burned out and I dozed off as well. When I woke up to the rising sun in the morning, he was already gone.
He left without saying goodbye? I rubbed my bleary eyes and felt a bit disappointed. This was unlike him—he had always let me see him off every time before he left for a trip—though I suppose a retreat was different. He probably just wanted to avoid last-minute distractions.
I sat up in bed. There was still a hint of lingering heat under his side of the blanket, and I ran my hand over the sheet beneath, trying to catch one last reminiscence of his warmth. The room still smelled like him, fresh herbs mixed with cedar. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, imagining he was still sitting right next to me, his scent drifting into my nostrils as he gathered me in his arms.
Reality finally struck me. He was gone, and this would be the longest time that I'd be separated from him ever since we met. How could I bear it? This was only the first day, and I already started to miss him …
I reached under the pillow and fetched the crystal orb he gave me last night. It was beautifully made, gleaming with a rainbow of colors when I held it up against the sunlight. He had told me to wait a while before using it, and I knew he had meant it as a way to comfort me in case he'd be gone for months, but who would've thought I could miss him so much already?
Although this was probably much sooner than he expected, I decided to summon it. Pushing my spiritual power through the crystal, I waited eagerly to see what kind of visions he had stored in there for me to see.
A haze of milky light swirled, fluttering like snow inside the orb. I clutched it tight and watched without blinking. The vague shape of a mountain top slowly materialized in front of my eyes. As I stared harder into the crystal, the scene grew sharper, and I recognized it was the main peak of Mount Hua. Two figures stood on top of two sharp-edged rocks, facing each other.
It was Bai Ye, and … the girl in red from my visions.
I gasped. Why would Bai Ye want to show me a memory of him with someone else?
No matter. It was him all the same, and my eyes were fixed intently on the scene nonetheless. It was snowing indeed, a blanket of whiteness covering the ground and trees all around them. Flurries landed on their shoulders, a bright contrast against their black hair, and the girl's red dress flapped in the wind like a fiery flame in deep winter. She still looked young and beautiful, but her gaze on Bai Ye had changed yet again. Dark, cold, with a trace of despise.
"So you're sure about this?" she asked.
Slowly, but firmly, Bai Ye drew Lightbringer from its sheath. "You leave me no choice," he answered. His voice betrayed no emotion.
"Then shall we make a deal like you immortals love to do?" The girl's lips curled into a sneer. "If I lose, I give you my life as you wish. But if you lose, you'll have to give me yours. It's only fair that way, isn't it?"
My hands grew cold. Bai Ye wanted her dead? Why? What had happened between them?
Bai Ye looked at her. A gust of wind howled through the valley, sweeping up a whirl of snowflakes, landing a few specks on his thick lashes. The tiny crystals melted quickly, glistening like a thin mist of unshed tears. He clenched the hilt of his sword, so hard that his knuckles turned white.
"My life has always been yours," he said at last.
The girl suddenly burst into laughter. "Do you think I'm still that naive girl a hundred years ago?" Her voice was hard and cold as ice. "I won't fall for your sweet lies ever again, Bai Ye. But if you insist, then very well, I will claim what belongs to me with my own hands!"
She raised Twin Stars. Crimson light poured from her grip, flaring like a devouring flame, but it wasn't only pulsing along the blades of the swords. Instead, it glowed all over her body, lighting her up like a vengeful devil burning with rage. With only one swift move, her blades crossed Lightbringer, and two waves of spiritual power clashed hard against each other, sending the falling snow around them swirling like a storm.
A part of me thought that I probably shouldn't keep watching anymore, but a different part of me made my hands clutch the orb tighter. Who was this girl? Her mastery of swords was unbelievable, almost on par with Bai Ye, and as I followed their exchanges of tremendous skill, I started to find her a bit … familiar. How was this possible? Where had I ever seen a girl with such beauty, such sharpness, such power?
The clang of their swords kept ringing. Crimson and white flashed in a busy ensemble behind the veil of snow, so fast that I soon lost count of how many moves had passed. Maybe a hundred, maybe more, and there was still no sign of either side gaining the upper hand. The girl gritted her teeth. "Why are you holding back?" she snapped when Twin Stars met Lightbringer again. "Don't pretend you can't bring yourself to hurt me. You knew this moment would come the day you brought me here."
She pulled back, spinning her blades around and coming fast at Bai Ye once more. Bai Ye dodged without a counterstrike. "I didn't know it," he said, his voice still emotionless, "but I won't deny it was my fault."
The girl laughed darkly. "It was your fault, yet I am the one to bear the consequences?" Her attacks didn't slow. "Why do I have to die when my power grows unchecked, while you get to walk away unscathed with everything you took from me through dual cultivation? Come at me with your full strength, Bai Ye. I don't need your mercy. The sooner I die, the sooner I can start my next cycle of life and forget everything about you. Your promises, your lies, your—"
Another spin, and her sword went straight for Bai Ye's throat. She was fast, and she really meant to kill him. But Bai Ye was faster. With a flip of his body, her blade scraped past the side of his neck, and he gripped her, pulling Twin Stars out of her hand. The rest of the girl's words froze in the snow-filled air as he buried the tip of her own sword into her heart.
Everything hushed. Rivulets of scarlet stained the white snow beneath them, blossoming like a fiery flower in the bleak winterland. The girl's lips parted, and I think she said something, but I didn't hear it. Because the next moment, a sharp pain unlike anything I had ever felt before pierced my heart, and I clenched my chest, suddenly unable to breathe. The crystal orb fell, rolling onto the floor.
I felt it. The hurt, the hate, the despair … the emotions that no vision could possibly bring. The emotions that one could only understand if they had experienced it themselves.
She was me, and I was her.. And he had killed her.
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