Qin Wanyuan, who had just finished brewing the tea, was utterly stunned at this moment. She never expected Jiang Moqing to be so bold as to actually grab Lin Que’s hand in broad daylight.
She had only just stepped away for a short while!
And this, even after Qin Wanyuan had specifically emphasized that she would be right back. If she had been gone any longer, she didn’t even dare to imagine what Jiang Moqing might have done!
Holding the tea, Qin Wanyuan hurriedly rushed out of the kitchen, only to be met with the scene of Lin Que trying to leave, only to have his hand grabbed by Jiang Moqing.
“Senior Sister, please show some self-respect.” Lin Que’s expression had already turned slightly cold.
That cold look made Jiang Moqing’s heart ache, yet she still didn’t let go of his hand. Instead, she stared fixedly at Lin Que’s right hand, which she had grasped.
“Junior Brother, your hand…”
Noticing Jiang Moqing’s gaze, Lin Que’s brows furrowed, and he immediately pulled his arm back. Turning to the side with his hands behind his back, he said, “It’s an old injury. There’s no need for Senior Sister to worry.”
“Senior Sister!” Qin Wanyuan couldn’t help raising her voice.
Startled, Jiang Moqing turned around and saw the anger written on Qin Wanyuan’s face.
“Senior Sister, what exactly are you doing?” Qin Wanyuan questioned sharply.
Faced with her accusation, Jiang Moqing involuntarily took a step back, momentarily feeling guilty. But she quickly shook her head; her conscience was clear. The only reason she had come was to see her Junior Brother, nothing more.
As for holding his hand….it was simply because she had noticed something unusual about his right hand and wanted to express concern, that was all.
After mentally bracing herself, Jiang Moqing finally opened her mouth only to respond with a question of her own directed at Qin Wanyuan:
“Junior Brother’s right hand is injured. Have you ever noticed?”
“…Of course I know!”
Qin Wanyuan did indeed know about Lin Que’s old injury.
But…
That knowledge had only come after her rebirth, when she used the dream share talisman provided by the system to enter the shared dreams between Lin Que and Jiang Moqing.
As for her previous life… she truly hadn’t known a thing.
In Qin Wanyuan’s eyes, Lin Que had always been a heroic figure who could stand tall no matter what happened. Someone who wouldn’t even flinch if the sky fell.
She had never once considered that he might have a vulnerable side.
Even the fact that he never used a sword with his right hand had simply been chalked up by Qin Wanyuan as him being left-handed.
Lin Que would never show his weakness in front of Qin Wanyuan. But in the dreamscapes shared with Jiang Moqing, he would occasionally reveal his youthful side before his Senior Sister. That sense of quiet dependence was something Qin Wanyuan had never witnessed.
In that moment of realization, Qin Wanyuan suddenly understood why she had been so guarded against Jiang Moqing all along.
There was just too much about Lin Que that she didn’t know.
In contrast, Jiang Moqing’s understanding of Lin Que far surpassed her own.
In fact, even what she knew about Lin Que’s past now was built upon the shared past between him and Jiang Moqing.
Back when the system had clearly stated its objective to have her assist Lin Que in capturing the favor of other targets, Qin Wanyuan had already prepared to snuff out any budding flames in the inner courtyard.
In other words, once the target was captured and she had accumulated enough points to survive the crisis two years from now, she would sever the bond between Lin Que and Jiang Moqing.
Then, everything would return to peace.
But after truly coming into contact with Jiang Moqing and learning about her past with Lin Que, Qin Wanyuan lost her confidence.
She was afraid….afraid that she couldn’t compare to Jiang Moqing. Jiang Moqing was so outstanding, and she had grown up under the same roof as Lin Que, fellow disciples of the same sect. The bond between them ran incredibly deep.
She feared that Jiang Moqing might take Lin Que away from her. That was why, when the strategy reached a critical point, she began to resist Jiang Moqing’s involvement.
Realizing this, Qin Wanyuan let out a self-mocking laugh.
The strategy must be completed, and the points must be accumulated. Nothing is more important than Lin Lang staying alive. But if I keep obsessing over whether Jiang Moqing might steal him away and interfere with the mission, wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse?
Even if there really is a chance that Jiang Moqing could take Lin Lang away, how could I ever abandon saving him just because of that risk? No matter what, the most important thing… will always be him.
Taking a deep breath, Qin Wanyuan made up her mind. She would no longer be timid, and she would no longer stop Jiang Moqing from approaching Lin Que.
She would wait until the strategy was complete….until she had gathered enough points to heal Lin Que’s old injuries. And then she would compete with Jiang Moqing.
Besides, it wasn’t certain she would lose.
Qin Wanyuan believed that the bond she shared with Lin Que across two lifetimes would not be so easily severed.
Almost the moment she had this thought, the system’s voice rang out in her mind:
[Congratulations, Host, on your moment of clarity. Hidden rewards unlocked: Minor boost to Comprehension, Minor boost to Constitution.]
[Achievement Unlocked: Selfless Love.]
[Hidden Quest Triggered: Childhood Friend VS Sudden Arrival! Represent the “Sudden Arrival” faction and claim victory in the ship war.]
[Quest Reward: 10,000 system points.]
A flurry of system prompts exploded in Qin Wanyuan’s ears, making them buzz.
After processing everything, Qin Wanyuan suddenly felt a newfound clarity in her mind. The most immediate change was this: Jiang Moqing’s sword dance from the past two days, those parts she hadn’t been able to understand before….she now suddenly grasped the essence of them.
Qin Wanyuan blinked. She hadn’t expected that simply making a firm decision would trigger the system’s hidden reward.
Though she had just gone through a whirlwind of thoughts, not much time had passed in reality.
Jiang Moqing, noticing that the frown on Qin Wanyuan’s face had relaxed, faintly sensed a subtle, indescribable pressure. Almost as if the latter had experienced a moment of enlightenment in just a few short breaths.
“Senior Sister.”
Qin Wanyuan spoke with a gentle smile on her face.
“Though I know Lin Lang has an old injury, I don’t know how to treat it. May I ask if Senior Sister has a method?”
Jiang Moqing was momentarily stunned by Qin Wanyuan’s frank admission of her inability to heal Lin Que, but she quickly replied,
“I do… but I can’t guarantee that it will work.”
Jiang Moqing did indeed possess an ancient method for treating injuries to the meridians in the arm. It was something she had specifically learned from the Valley Master during her time cultivating in the Heartless Valley.
While it couldn’t perform miracles like fully regenerating meridians, it did have a definite effect.
Because… Jiang Moqing had tested it on her own right hand.
In truth, before discovering that Lin Que’s right hand had not healed, Jiang Moqing herself didn’t even know why she had sought out the Valley Master to learn a method for healing meridians or why she had used her dominant hand to test such a dangerous technique.
Now, however, she understood.
“If needed, I can teach this method to Junior Brother.”
“Lin Que is but an ordinary inner-sect disciple and cannot accept such a great favor.” Lin Que cupped his hands in a polite refusal.
He had done nothing to earn such a reward, and even more so, it was a gift from an ex. Things between him and Jiang Moqing were already over. Parting without debts was the best possible outcome.
If he were to accept this favor for no reason, he had no idea what complications might arise.
However—
At that moment, Qin Wanyuan stepped in front of Lin Que.
“We will accept Senior Sister’s kindness. If you truly can heal Lin Lang’s injury, I will do everything in my power to repay you.”
Leave a Reply