Jiang Moqing was starved for love.
In nearly twenty years of her life, she had received very little nourishment from something called “love”.
Born into a noble family, the first thing Jiang Moqing came to understand in childhood was not parental affection, but the scheming and intrigue within her clan. What followed closely behind was the hatred born of her family’s destruction.
The first half of her life was filled with darkness and vengeance. She wrapped herself in a shell of cold indifference to conceal her inner longing for love. What An Xiaoyao gave her felt more like a debt of gratitude than love itself.
Only after becoming Dao companions with Lin Que and receiving his love did Jiang Moqing finally understand what it felt like to be cherished.
However,
After obtaining Lin Que’s love, Jiang Moqing’s craving for affection was not satisfied. Instead, like tasting marrow and finding it exquisite, her desire only began to grow.
The more love she received, the more she yearned for even greater love. It was like a bottomless abyss….no matter how much was given, it could never fill her. It only pulled her deeper and deeper, until escape became impossible.
Lin Que was exactly that for her.
There was no doubt that Jiang Moqing loved Lin Que. But her need for love was increasing day by day. In less than a year, she went from expecting nothing in return to being unable to tolerate even the slightest imperfection in her eyes.
Time soon reached the one-year mark of Lin Que and Jiang Moqing’s relationship. By then, Jiang Moqing’s love for Lin Que had already reached a pathological degree.
One evening, Lin Que returned to the cave dwelling earlier than usual. He was in an excellent mood. His discussion with Ao Xinyu had gone smoothly, and he had even made a special trip to Wanbao City to buy several skewers of candied hawthorn that Jiang Moqing loved.
“Senior Sister, I’m back.” He opened his arms with a smile and embraced her.
Jiang Moqing returned the embrace.
But after wrapping her arms around Lin Que, her delicate brows slowly drew together.
She leaned in slightly and caught a scent on him… the fragrance of another woman.
“Junior Brother, where did you go today?”
“I went to Wanbao City to discuss future cooperation with Xinyu…” Before Lin Que could finish speaking, Jiang Moqing cut him off.
“Xinyu? Since when have you become so close to that dragon girl?”
Jiang Moqing stared straight into his eyes as she questioned him. “Has your relationship grown to such a point that you would even skip coming home for dinner…?”
“I didn’t,” Lin Que shook his head.
Freshly cooked dishes still sat steaming on the table. Lin Que had clearly returned early, yet Jiang Moqing was still dissatisfied.
Holding his hand tightly, her eyes were filled with unease.
“Junior Brother… don’t contact her anymore in the future, alright?”
“But she and I are just friends… and we still have cooperation matters to handle…”
“In the end, which is more important…her, or me?”
Jiang Moqing threw out that timeless, impossible question.
Lin Que blinked. For a moment, he felt that the Senior Sister before him had become somewhat unfamiliar. Yet he could also sense her unease. That look in her eyes was like a cat on the verge of being abandoned.
After taking several deep breaths, Lin Que finally made his choice.
“I… won’t contact her anymore.”
Hearing those words, the anxiety on Jiang Moqing’s face at last faded. She held Lin Que tightly and pressed a deep kiss to his cheek.
“Thank you.”
“…Mm.”
Lin Que thought the matter had ended there.
However, this was only the beginning.
As time passed, Jiang Moqing’s need for love grew ever stronger, to the point where she could not bear to be apart from Lin Que at all.
Originally, when she stayed at home each day, she never felt bored. She would practice swordsmanship, study new recipes, or occasionally go out to carry out sect missions for experience.
But ever since she asked Lin Que to cut ties with Ao Xinyu, the unease in her heart not only failed to disappear….it deepened.
Whenever Lin Que went out, Jiang Moqing would suspect that he was meeting other women.
She no longer had the heart to do anything at home. As long as Lin Que left, she would sink into gloom and dejection; and the moment he returned, she would begin endlessly seeking reassurance from him.
Even though Lin Que gave her all the love he could, constantly cutting down the time he spent outside, reducing his other social interactions just to spend a little more time with Jiang Moqing, even setting aside several days specifically to take her out for leisure, Jiang Moqing still remained unsatisfied.
Jiang Moqing kept demanding more, while Lin Que kept giving.
What he received in return was not contentment but Jiang Moqing’s growing anxiety over gain and loss, while Lin Que himself became increasingly cautious and sensitive, afraid that something he did might once again touch a nerve in his Senior Sister’s fragile heart.
There was even one time when Lin Que returned an hour later than expected, only to find Jiang Moqing kneeling on the ground in tears, both of her arms covered in scratches.
This was no longer normal.
Lin Que realized there was a problem and tried to resolve it, but Jiang Moqing believed he was trying to abandon her.
Thus, a misunderstanding that should never have existed deepened, and their relationship increasingly felt like walking a tightrope over a cliff, liable to plunge into the abyss at any moment.
In the end, unable to endure it any longer, Lin Que finally brought up the matter that should have been raised long ago.
“Senior sister, I think… we both need some time apart to calm down. It should be good for both of us.”
Under the moonlight that night, Jiang Moqing’s ink-black hair hung in disarray as she knelt on the ground, clutching Lin Que’s arm and begging him not to leave.
Gazing at Jiang Moqing, her face drenched in tears like pear blossoms in the rain, Lin Que closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, and drew a deep breath before finally pulling his hand free from hers.
He understood that their relationship had already become unhealthy. If they did not separate now, the consequences would likely be unimaginable.
And so, Lin Que hardened his heart and left, leaving Jiang Moqing alone beneath the moon, crying.
Late at night, Lin Que found an inn in the city. After all, the only place he had lived in the Sword Seeking Sect was Jiang Moqing’s cave dwelling.
He ordered several jars of wine and sat alone by the window of his room, gazing at the bright yet incomplete moon on the horizon as he poured and drank by himself.
With Lin Que’s physique, ordinary wine could not possibly make him drunk.
Yet whether it was that the wine failed to intoxicate but the heart did or for some other reason, Lin Que had not drunk much before he collapsed drunk in the room.
When Lin Que woke again, he was startled to find that what met his eyes was not the ceiling of the inn but an unfamiliar place devoid of daylight.
Before he could sense anything else, he felt waves of tingling sensation beneath him. Lowering his head, he saw Jiang Moqing sitting there without a single thread on her body, her pretty face flushed crimson as she gazed at him in a haze of intoxicated longing.
“Junior brother, you’re awake?”
As she spoke, her delicate body moved up and down without pause. Her long disheveled hair fell over her shoulders, hiding the snowy curves beneath and giving her a wild chaotic beauty.
“Senior Sister? Why are you here…”
After a brief moment of confusion, Lin Que tried to struggle, only to find his entire body weak and limp. His arms were bound by chains forged from some unknown material, making it impossible to break free.
When he looked at his Senior Sister again, he saw that the expression on her face was no longer tearful, nor was it the cold aloofness he had once adored. Instead, a faintly crazy smile hung upon her lips.
Her slender hand pressed against Lin Que’s chest, her face flushed with an unnatural redness.
Leaning down, she brought her lips close to his ear and whispered softly,
“From now on, we’ll never be apart again, Junior brother~”
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