Chapter 35

Wuwang Sea was silent, all sound gone. A bright silver moon hung high in the deep-blue night sky, scattered with specks of starlight and reflected on the mirror-like lake, illuminating the entirety of Wuwang Island.

Gong Dongling sat alone and barefoot on the rocky shore by the lake, propping up her face as she stared blankly at the horizon, not knowing when Xie Yu would finish her mission and return to the island.

After the system’s warning, the thing she had worried about had actually come true, and Gong Dongling’s heart was suddenly filled with mixed feelings.

She had always used her own power to interfere with the plot’s development, all so Xie Yu could escape the shadow of being the female lead of an angst novel, and so she could protect Xie Yu for a lifetime and let her walk a smooth, open path to immortality.

But one person’s power still could not contend against the plot’s self-correction. The fate between the male and female leads would eventually continue.

In the book, the original owner had been the vicious female supporting character. Using her identity as the white moonlight, she had repeatedly obstructed the two leads’ relationship, but all she did was assist the male and female leads in discovering their awkward feelings for each other. Although Gong Dongling’s starting point was different from the original owner’s—she only wanted Xie Yu to break free from that scumbag—the result was already very clear.

Moreover, Gong Dongling herself did not know why. On the other side, the male and female leads were rekindling their past fate, yet on her side, aside from helpless worry, there was also a sour, disappointed feeling in her heart. It felt as if the person closest to her would gradually drift farther and farther away from now on.

The instant this thought appeared, Gong Dongling abruptly realized her own selfishness.

Even if the other person were not the scumbag Ji Yuran, but some other upright, refined cultivator of good character, her heart would still feel heavy.

Why… did she not want Xie Yu to be with someone else?

A moment of confusion appeared on Gong Dongling’s face. She knew she had come to this world because of Xie Yu and had always placed her in the most important position in her heart. Perhaps Gong Dongling had also developed greed, wanting to ask for some return—to be placed in Xie Yu’s heart in an equally important position.

Since childhood, she had never felt anyone’s sincere and passionate feelings for her. She had never been placed in an important stolen content position in anyone’s heart. She was longing for it…

Without knowing when, she had actually developed a bit of possessiveness toward Xie Yu that she should not have.

After understanding the greed in her heart, she was both angry and amused. She was only Xie Yu’s senior sister, not the male lead. Why was she randomly becoming possessive of Xie Yu? She was merely a guide who had descended in place of a bodhisattva to ferry Xie Yu onto the immortal path!

Even after dissecting and despising herself like this, her heart did not feel any lighter. Gong Dongling thought that perhaps she needed time to accept it.

But just then, the jiao dragon in Wuwang Sea moved. With a boom, it leaped out of the water, breaking the stillness of both the lake surface and the night. Beneath that crescent moon, it formed a magnificent scene of a jiao leaping over the dragon gate.

Gong Dongling snapped alert almost instantly and looked toward the bright boundary line where water met sky. The person coming was precisely Xie Yu, whom she had been waiting for.

Xie Yu came flying on her sword through the moonlight. She wore black night clothes, her dark hair simply tied into a high ponytail, which gave her a refreshing air. Beneath her cool, plain face, she radiated a youthful spirit that rushed straight toward one’s face.

She glanced coldly down at the jiao dragon. It still remembered the grudge of Xie Yu drugging it with Xuanji Grass, and every time it saw her flying over Wuwang Sea, it would always leap out to show off its might.

But as Xie Yu flew a little closer, her gaze passed through the jiao dragon and extended toward the shore, where she abruptly noticed a familiar figure.

It was Senior Sister. Just that one glance made her heart skip half a beat.

No matter how calm and composed she was in front of outsiders, these past few days, whenever she faced Senior Sister, she would subconsciously avoid her.

Ever since Xie Yu realized that her feelings toward Senior Sister were romantic, she had not known how to face Gong Dongling. She knew that Senior Sister’s feelings toward her were nothing more than a senior sister’s care for her junior sister. In their relationship, this was definitely only an unrequited love that would end without illness on her part.

When she wanted to avoid Gong Dongling again, Xie Yu instead saw Senior Sister hugging her bare arms in the cool lake breeze. Her cheeks were [unauthorized copy]faintly red from the cold, yet she was still constantly looking in Xie Yu’s direction. Xie Yu’s heart could not help being touched.

Senior Sister must have been waiting here especially for her for a long time.

When it was the person one loved, even a small matter could fill one’s entire heart. Xie Yu no longer wanted to consider whether she should hide her young girl’s thoughts. Her heart and eyes were filled entirely with Senior Sister as she rushed toward her.

Gong Dongling was anxious to ask Xie Yu what had happened. Seeing her land, she hurriedly stood up, completely forgetting that she was currently barefoot on the rocky shore. A sharp rock underfoot suddenly stabbed her sole, and she nearly fell again.

Xie Yu caught her first. Her fingertips touched Gong Dongling’s icy wrist. After hesitating for a moment, she did not let go. Instead, she opened both hands and covered Gong Dongling’s skin exposed to the wind, silently warming it in her palms.

She did not dare lift her head and look at Senior Sister, afraid she would lose control and reveal the feelings she should not have.

With her wrist held by Xie Yu, Gong Dongling felt the warmth in the other girl’s palm. She coveted this moment of warmth. Although she thought Xie Yu’s action was a little sudden, she still did not pull her wrist back.

Seeing Xie Yu’s somewhat abnormal mood, Gong Dongling’s heart also tightened. She asked Xie Yu with extra caution, “A-Yu, did… did something happen when you went to Buzhou Mountain today?”

Only after a moment of silence did Xie Yu tell the truth. “I met Ji Yuran.”

She was torn over whether to say this. After all, Gong Dongling and Ji Yuran had once been childhood sweethearts. On one hand, she did not want Senior Sister to remember this person’s existence. On the other, she cared about Senior Sister’s attitude toward him and wanted to see what reaction Gong Dongling would have when she brought up this name.

Besides, I defeated him too… Xie Yu thought, carrying a somewhat childish competitiveness in her heart.

At this moment, the last trace of luck in Gong Dongling’s heart was extinguished. Her heart turned to dead ash as she cut straight to the point. “Do you have someone you like?”

What did the plot matter? Even if the Heavenly King himself came today, she would still make Xie Yu stay away from that scumbag!

But this sentence exploded like a thunderclap in Xie Yu’s heart. Xie Yu abruptly lifted her head, visibly panicked.

Seeing this expression, Gong Dongling felt another burst of sorrow and anger. This was guilt, right? She had guessed correctly, right?

Yet this startled, helpless expression felt somewhat familiar to her. For a moment, she could not remember when she had seen it before. In the past, it had indeed been rare to see such helplessness on the steady, prematurely mature Xie Yu’s face.

Of course, Xie Yu thought Gong Dongling had keenly noticed that she had fallen for her. But after her panic, she forced herself to calm down, her eyes locked tightly on Gong Dongling, waiting to see what else she would say.

“A-Yu, Senior Sister isn’t trying to interfere with your affairs. I only want to know who the person you like is. Although I already have a guess in my heart, I still want to hear you tell me yourself.” Gong Dongling knew she could not expose her god’s-eye view, so she wanted Xie Yu to say it herself.

However, Xie Yu had clearly misunderstood her meaning again. She thought Senior Sister wanted to hear her personally say the words of confession. A little hope suddenly rose in her heart. She lifted her eyes in surprise toward Senior Sister, and her ink-dark pupils reflected dots of starlight in that instant.

Could it be that Senior Sister had not only seen through her, but was also looking forward to this moment when the two of them could be honest with each other?

Perhaps bewitched by that hard-won bit of hope, or perhaps moved by the encouragement in Senior Sister’s eyes, Xie Yu suddenly tightened her hold on Senior Sister’s wrist. Her still slightly pale lips opened and closed.

“I like you…”

“Ji Yuran, right?”

The two of them spoke at the same time in that instant. The moment Xie Yu heard that name, she pulled herself back from the cliff and stopped the sound she had not yet finished. At this moment, her mind suddenly became clear, and she immediately understood what had happened.

Gong Dongling had misunderstood and thought she liked Ji Yuran.

And just now, not only had she misunderstood Senior Sister’s meaning, she had actually exposed herself!

Gong Dongling said her prediction with great confidence, not yet realizing anything was wrong. But when she replayed what Xie Yu had said, she suddenly froze on the spot. From her initial certainty to her current pupil-shaking shock, it had taken only an instant.

“I would sooner like you than ever like Ji Yuran.”

Perhaps it was only in the face of crisis that human potential would be stimulated. At this moment, Xie Yu appeared calm and breezy on the surface, as if nothing had happened, and spoke these words coolly to patch up her foolish self-exposure.

“Ah, ah, so that’s how it is!” Gong Dongling seemed to have been rescued and regained her ability to move, but embarrassment had turned her entire face red. She hurriedly picked up Xie Yu’s words to cover up the awkwardness of having frozen on the spot just now.

Was there anything more embarrassing than being full of oneself and thinking the other person was confessing before even listening to the whole sentence?

Xie Yu looked at Senior Sister’s sudden relief, and her heart seemed to sink into an ice pit. Although she had expected this result long ago, only when she truly faced it did she feel the despair of being pushed from the clouds into the depths of a valley.

At this moment, the evil soul power inside Xie Yu swelled faster than ever before. Just like in the past, it surged uncontrollably toward her heart and into her eyes while she was still conscious.

When she lifted her head, the smile on her face had already returned to normal, and her tone was as usual. “Why would Senior Sister think I liked Ji Yuran? Could it be that Senior Sister cares about him very much?”

After all, Senior Sister and Ji Yuran had been childhood sweethearts for so many years. Xie Yu was the one who came later, and she had even entered between them as the substitute rival in love… Not a trace of Xie Yu’s pain could show on the surface. She could only barely close her eyes, hiding all emotion as her fingers clenched tighter and tighter.

But then Xie Yu remembered that she was still holding Senior Sister’s hand. The feeling of being afraid she might hurt her instantly took the dominant position in her heart, pressing down all the messy guesses and wicked thoughts at once.

Gong Dongling was very surprised that Xie Yu would suddenly ask this. Then she abruptly remembered that her attitude of persuading them to break up did indeed look exactly like the image of a vicious female supporting character. Knowing Xie Yu had misunderstood her relationship with Ji Yuran, she hurriedly proved her innocence.

“How could I possibly care about that scumbag?! From the moment he found a substitute and hurt A-Yu, he had already turned into dregs in my heart. The one I’m worried about is A-Yu. I’m afraid you still can’t let go of that past rotten fate and will be tricked by him again.”

The more Gong Dongling spoke, the more she felt bitter disappointment, looking at Xie Yu with deep sorrow as if angry that iron had not become steel.

Only then did Xie Yu understand that everything was merely a misunderstanding between the two of them. She gradually calmed down and realized she had been too easily alarmed.

She looked deeply into Gong Dongling’s bright, clear eyes and said, word by word,

“If this is what Senior Sister wishes, then not only Ji Yuran, I will never have anyone I like in this lifetime. I will only stay by Senior Sister’s side.”

Only Xie Yu herself knew that, in this promise, only the second half was true.

Gong Dongling had not expected Xie Yu to say something like this. She opened her mouth and was just about to say something, but suddenly remembered that little bit of possessiveness she had felt earlier. Her breath caught, and her heart actually began to beat with involuntary excitement.

Author’s Note:
She confessed—oops, not yet! Hahaha. It’s not that Senior Sister doesn’t like A-Yu. She just never thought in that direction at all and hasn’t awakened yet. Although A-Yu suffered a crushing defeat this time, she still awakened the ji soul buried in Senior Sister’s bones, hahaha.