novelraw Chapter 278 276: Brother Pei, You Never Forgot Me, Right?
Chapter 278 276: Brother Pei, You Never Forgot Me, Right?
"Oh, is that you back, Ah Han?"
Ye Liyuan's voice, light and gentle, drifted from inside the house.
She trotted out, her cheeks flushed like the warmest ray of spring sunshine.
Ye Liyuan walked between Pei Yuhang and Lin Qianyan. She tilted her head up and gave Pei Yuhang a playful wink.
"Ah Han, do you still remember Sister Lin?"
"She's come all this way to find her kin, you know. If you've forgotten her, I'll have to stick up for Sister Lin!"
As she spoke, Ye Liyuan playfully shook her small fists at Pei Yuhang.
Hearing this, Pei Yuhang's expression faltered, his gaze involuntarily shifting to Lin Qianyan.
His fingers unconsciously rubbed the ring on his finger, his knuckles turning slightly white, revealing his inner turmoil.
When Lin Qianyan looked at him, he instinctively hid the hand with the ring engraved with the character "Li" in his sleeve, as if he didn't want her to see it.
"This... What's this about finding kin?"
Pei Yuhang's voice was a little hoarse. He looked down at Ye Liyuan, avoiding Lin Qianyan's gaze from behind his Dao Companion as he spoke.
"Finding kin..."
"Fairy Ye, please allow me to explain to Sword Immortal Pei."
Lin Qianyan suddenly cut Ye Liyuan off. She quietly looked at the handsome man in white before her, her gaze fixed especially on the hand he had hidden in his sleeve. Her beautiful eyes were deep, betraying no emotion.
"Oh, you're right. Sister Lin should be the one to tell you."
Seeing Lin Qianyan speak up, Ye Liyuan nodded and stepped aside, no longer standing between Lin Qianyan and Pei Yuhang.
"Sword Immortal Pei, before I ever set foot on the path of cultivation, I had a 'Brother Pei'."
As she spoke, Lin Qianyan extended her hand and wiggled her fingers in front of Pei Yuhang.
Amidst the shimmering silver light, Pei Yuhang saw the character "Pei" on the Silver Ring that Lin Qianyan wore.
"This is a... keepsake from Brother Pei. I noticed that the style of this ring is very similar to the Engagement Ring on Sister Ye's finger, so I thought... perhaps you, Sword Immortal Pei, are my long-lost... brother."
"Brother Pei, do you still remember Qianqian?"
Lin Qianyan's gaze rested quietly on Pei Yuhang, her eyes holding a trace of anticipation and the faint, sorrowful glint of unshed tears.
But Pei Yuhang's lips only trembled. In the end, he neither denied nor confirmed it.
A subtle silence filled the air, as if even the wind had stopped for a moment.
Ye Liyuan sensed the strange atmosphere. Her gaze shifted between the two of them, a flicker of confusion and unease in her eyes.
She gently tugged on Pei Yuhang's sleeve and asked in a low voice, "Ah Han, say something! Sister Lin has been looking for you for decades. Wait... you haven't forgotten her, have you?"
At this, Ye Liyuan's beautiful eyes widened. Her gaze toward Pei Yuhang was filled with disdain, as if she were silently scorning Ah Han for being such a scumbag, for callously betraying Lin Qianyan's enthusiastic search.
Pei Yuhang snapped back to his senses, his eyes flickering. It was as if a thousand words were churning in his heart, only to melt away into a bitter smile.
He had wanted to coldly say, 'I don't know you at all,' but the words caught in his throat, as if blocked by some invisible force, and he couldn't get them out.
In the end, he could only lower his gaze, his voice hoarse and weary, like a sigh squeezed from the depths of his soul:
"I'm sorry, Qianqian... I thought you were gone."
Pei Yuhang's voice was low, tinged with an unconcealable weariness, as if those words had drained all his strength.
After speaking, he raised his head and looked at Ye Liyuan, who was standing to the side, with a complex expression. "Liyuan," he said softly, "I'd like to speak with Qian— with Fairy Lin alone. You can go brew the medicine first."
Ye Liyuan blinked, her gentle smile still on her face, and nodded lightly. "Okay. But Ah Han, you absolutely must not disappoint Sister Lin after she came all this way to find you~!"
Her tone was light and somewhat playful, as if she hadn't noticed the subtle, heavy atmosphere between the other two.
Lin Qianyan watched Ye Liyuan's retreating back, the corners of her mouth lifting into a faint smile. "Sister Ye is so kind and lovely. It's no wonder you dote on her so much."
Her voice was soft, carrying an undisguised trace of envy, yet it also seemed to hide an indescribable bitterness.
Hearing this, Pei Yuhang's gaze fell upon Lin Qianyan's face once more.
Her face was even more beautiful and moving than he remembered, but her eyes were no longer as clear and easy to read as they once were. Instead, they held an added layer of unfathomable depth.
Pei Yuhang knew in his heart: the girl who used to trail behind him, cheerfully calling out "Brother Pei" even when he often called her an "idiot," had now become the shrewd Jade Pool Saintess.
'Why am I trying to see a shadow of the past in her?'
'Everyone is moving forward. I should be looking ahead, too.'
His Adam's apple bobbed. He seemed to want to say something but didn't know where to begin. In the end, he just lowered his head, his voice almost inaudible:
"Congratulations, Qianqian... You've finally become an Immortal. It must have been very hard for you all these years, after becoming the Jade Pool Saintess..."
At his words, the smile on Lin Qianyan's face slowly faded. Her gaze was fixed on Pei Yuhang, as if trying to see through his eyes and into the deepest secrets of his heart.
"You knew about me all along?"
Lin Qianyan's voice was still soft, but it carried a faint, imperceptible tremble and an undercurrent of angry disbelief.
Pei Yuhang's breath caught. His fingers unconsciously clenched and unclenched, as if suppressing something.
"I had only heard the name of the Jade Pool Saintess. I knew it was the same as yours, but I wasn't sure if it was you..."
"So even with that sliver of a possibility, Brother Pei never thought to look for me? You didn't want to find out if your Sister Qianqian was still alive? Was it that you were unwilling... or that you didn't dare?"
Lin Qianyan cut Pei Yuhang off. A flash of pain crossed her eyes before she forcibly suppressed it.
The air around them seemed to solidify, so heavy it was hard to breathe.
Pei Yuhang slowly raised his head. A thousand emotions flickered in his starkly clear eyes before finally settling into resignation as he faced his own heart.
"Qianqian, I... I really didn't dare to look for you."
Hearing this, not a trace of surprise showed on Lin Qianyan's pretty face, as if she had already anticipated his answer.
She stepped forward without hesitation. Right outside the chambers belonging to Pei Yuhang and Ye Liyuan, she moved directly in front of him, so close they could feel the warmth of each other's breath and smell each other's scent.
Her voice was still soft, yet it lacked the delicate air of a weak woman. Instead, it held an unconcealable edge, displaying the presence of the Jade Pool Saintess.
"Why? Were you afraid I would disturb the life Brother Pei has now with Fairy Ye?"
"In your eyes, am I, Lin Qianyan, that petty?"
Her voice suddenly rose, laced with self-mockery and accusation. Her gaze was as sharp as a blade, as if intending to rip away every last shred of his pretense.
"Brother Pei, if you were truly so heartless toward me, then why do you sweep my grave every year? Wouldn't it be better to just let it grow over with weeds and rot in the wilderness, eventually turning to a handful of dust and scattering away along with your past connection to me?"
"You haven't forgotten me for a single moment, have you?"
"..."
Pei Yuhang's body trembled slightly, a flicker of panic and pain in his eyes.
Finally, Pei Yuhang took a step back and averted his gaze, looking at the red plum blossoms blooming in the white snow beside them, not daring to meet Lin Qianyan's eyes.
"Qianqian, that's all in the past."
"We're both doing better now... There's no point in talking about the past."
Lin Qianyan didn't answer. She roughly grabbed Pei Yuhang's arm and yanked down his sleeve.
She grabbed his hand, pointing to the spot where the ring engraved with her surname used to be.
"Where is my ring? What happened to it?"
As she spoke, Lin Qianyan's beautiful eyes narrowed into smiling crescents. She held out her own hand, revealing the Silver Ring engraved with the character "Pei."
Despite her elegant and affable smile, the words that came out were like a knife stabbing into Pei Yuhang's heart.
"Brother Pei, the ring on your hand was supposed to be a pair with mine... So, the ring that represents me, what did you do with it?"
"You see me and you still try to hide your hand. Did you think I wouldn't be able to see?"
"I even saw the ring on Sister Ye's hand. Brother Pei, what's the point of this self-deception?"
Pei Yuhang's throat bobbed. After a long moment, he slowly began to speak:
"It's not that I didn't cherish that ring. It's that when I was at the Yin Yang Sacred Land... a wicked woman saw the ring on my hand, took it off, and destroyed it."
Hearing this, Lin Qianyan froze. The dangerous glint in her beautiful eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by nothing but heartache as she looked at Pei Yuhang's face.
She lunged forward and hugged Pei Yuhang tightly, as if trying to merge herself into his body.
"I'm sorry... Brother Pei. I made you remember something painful."
Her voice was full of self-blame, as if, in that moment, she had reverted to the little girl who could only cry and apologize in Pei Yuhang's arms after getting into trouble.
"It's okay... That's all in the past."
Pei Yuhang gently stroked her smooth, dark hair, comforting her softly.
"Brother Pei, is that woman still alive?"
Lin Qianyan suddenly spoke. Her voice was slightly hoarse, stripped of its usual softness, and instead held a thick, hidden killing intent.
"Besides the woman who destroyed the ring, do you still remember the names of the Female Cultivators who caused you the most pain, the ones who used to torment you most often?"
As she spoke, Lin Qianyan tightened her grip on Pei Yuhang's white robes, so tight that he felt a twinge of pain.
But Lin Qianyan didn't notice, simply continuing in a low voice:
"Qianqian is no longer the helpless young girl who could only watch as you were taken away.
I am the Jade Pool Saintess, a Void Refining Realm Great Cultivator! The women who once bullied you—I will make them pay in blood, their Divine Souls annihilated!"
Her beautiful eyes became bloodshot, filled with a fire of indignation that had been suppressed for who knows how many years.