The Light of the Righteous Path Has Gone Offline - Chapter 17

Ming Jing lowered her head and looked at Murong Chi.

Countless emotions surged through her eyes, but in the end, she said nothing.

Her pitch-black pupils reflected Murong Chi’s flower-bright smile, radiant enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun.

Murong Chi was clearly someone who belonged beneath the dark curtain of night, just as Ming Jing did now.

So why, at this moment, did she seem so brilliantly luminous within Ming Jing’s heart?

Ming Jing blinked and drove away the turbulent emotions.

She watched Murong Chi prop herself up, struggling to bring their faces level.

“The fireworks are beautiful, aren’t they?”

Ming Jing nodded silently.

Her hands clenched as she adjusted Murong Chi in her arms and held her even more tightly, forgetting even the waves of pain rising from the soles of her feet.

Murong Chi turned her head and looked toward the sea of fire raging within the cavern.

Her profile was picturesque, with a trace of tears hidden in her eyes.

They were as clear and crystalline as precious glazed gems. Beneath the corner of her right eye rested an extremely small black beauty mark.

Ming Jing discovered in surprise that Murong Chi actually had a mole beneath her right eye.

It was only a tiny dot, but against the hazy tears within her gaze, it was impossibly beautiful and even more capable of stirring the heart.

“The fireworks are beautiful, and the flames are fierce. In half an hour, this cavern dwelling will be reduced completely to ruins.”

Murong Chi slowly raised a hand and stroked Ming Jing’s face, moving from her jaw to the tip of her nose, then across her brows and eyes.

Finally, her hand stopped atop Ming Jing’s ink-black hair.

With some indescribable emotion, she rubbed it roughly before continuing,

“Every trace of the past will disappear completely, as though neither you nor I ever existed at the bottom of Asura Cliff.”

“So there is nothing that cannot be abandoned.”

“People often speak of rebirth through fire. I never truly believed in it, but there is no harm in listening.”

“Flames can burn away pain and destroy towering mountains, but they cannot erase the deepest obsession within one’s heart.”

“Fire is blooming everywhere inside the cavern, and the inferno is burning fiercely. Whether it is the ancient pavilion that has stood for a thousand years, the steep and jagged rocks, or the jade bed colder than ice, all of it will vanish within the flames.”

“We just escaped from that cavern.”

“So, put another way, we defeated the fire.”

More precisely, they had defeated Red Lotus Karmic Fire.

Murong Chi stared deeply at the inferno.

Her voice carried an almost imperceptible tremor.

“Red Lotus Karmic Fire burns with such fierce and scorching heat, yet we still survived.”

“Once everything has been lost and nothing remains, there is no longer any reason to fear losing more.”

Those without fear were invincible.

Her gaze followed the dancing flames.

She laughed softly, her brows lifted and the corners of her lips curved upward, appearing perfectly delighted.

Ming Jing instinctively lowered her head.

The towering firelight cast a glow across Murong Chi’s exquisitely beautiful face.

She watched the sea of flames in complete concentration, her face turned slightly aside.

Thoughts that could not be dissolved rested between her brows, while her gaze was deep and full of meaning.

Three thousand strands of hair, whiter than snow, drifted downward and brushed across Ming Jing’s waist.

The faint itch seemed to reach all the way into her heart.

Was Murong Chi actually comforting her?

Could Murong Chi truly comfort someone?

Fireworks bloomed inside the cavern.

Murong Chi watched the flames and smiled, while Ming Jing lowered her gaze and watched Murong Chi without moving.

Vines twisted down beside the path.

Tiny green plants forced their way upward through cracks in the rocks.

Above them, enormous masses of cloud and mist rolled and surged.

The world beneath the cliff was vast and boundless.

Yet at this moment, Ming Jing could see only Murong Chi.

Murong Chi watched the fire for a long time.

So Ming Jing watched Murong Chi for just as long—until both her arms repeatedly ached and eventually became numb.

Ming Jing could not understand the smile on Murong Chi’s face.

She only looked at the lifted brows and raised corners of her eyes and felt that the smiling woman in her arms was extraordinarily sad.

Sadder than Ming Jing had ever seen her during any moment throughout the past nine years.

Those were Murong Chi’s own fireworks.

They had made Ming Jing a little happier, so why had Murong Chi become even sadder?

Ming Jing sighed inwardly.

The hand resting upon Murong Chi’s shoulder moved upward and covered her eyes, blocking her view and completely separating her from the flames.

Ming Jing felt Murong Chi’s lashes blink against her palm, creating a faint itch.

She cleared her throat.

“Fireworks may be beautiful, but they should not be watched for too long.”

In any case, Murong Chi was lying in her arms.

Whether Murong Chi continued watching was something Ming Jing had the right to decide for her.

With that thought, Ming Jing tightened her hold before Murong Chi could react, turned around, and walked away.

Her steps moved lightly across the long, narrow path.

With one stride, she seemed to cross an entire world and emerge beneath the vast open sky.

The sun was gradually sinking westward.

Its light filtered through the clouds and mist, covering the bottom of the cliff in a hazy golden glow.

Even the fierce astral winds that had been howling past began to subside.

Murong Chi glanced sideways at Ming Jing.

The dreamlike light of dusk reflected within her eyes as she smiled softly.

“You’re right.”

“Since fireworks should not be watched for too long, will you allow me to look at the other scenery?”

She tugged at her favorite section of Ming Jing’s sleeve, nearly unable to let it go.

Her tone even carried a trace of coquettish pleading.

Ming Jing’s breathing paused.

Her voice became slightly hoarse, though faint amusement threaded through her words.

“What scenery would you like to see?”

The landscape beneath the cliff lay before them.

Because of the Blood Talisman Formation, nearly everything was barren, and the ground outside the cavern could almost be described as completely devoid of vegetation.

The scent of blood drifted through the air.

Broken walls and ruined structures stood everywhere, resembling an abandoned battlefield.

“Many things.”

Murong Chi held that section of Ming Jing’s sleeve with one hand and seized a loose strand of her black hair with the other.

She wound it around her finger and smiled languidly.

“I’ve never seen any of the scenery beneath the cliff.”

Perhaps the atmosphere at that moment was too pleasant.

A layer of grievance appeared within Murong Chi’s voice that even she herself did not notice.

For a thousand years, she had been unable to step outside the cavern entrance.

She had remained within that exquisite, fully furnished cavern dwelling that resembled a miniature palace.

She had never seen even a single inch of the land beyond it and had no idea what the bottom of the cliff looked like.

Because she had never seen any of it, everything was novel to her.

“Ming Jing, carry me around and let me look, all right?”

Murong Chi’s voice still carried its inescapable chill, yet it also possessed the pure clarity of a child.

It seemed to pierce through layer upon layer of empty space and strike Ming Jing’s heart with perfect accuracy.

Ming Jing lowered her head.

Her gaze condensed into a single point, resting only within Murong Chi’s eyes.

She parted her lips and gave an extremely soft reply.

“All right.”

The injuries covering Ming Jing’s body had been caused by summoning the sword aura.

Although Murong Chi had used an ancient demon’s pure essence to suppress the chaotic Asura energy, pain still remained, making it difficult for Ming Jing to stay standing for long.

Carrying Murong Chi and walking around like this was even more difficult.

For Ming Jing, every step was extraordinarily arduous and exhausting.

Yet as she listened to the explosions of the fireworks echoing into her ears, the truest thought within her heart was this:

At this moment, even if Murong Chi asked her to carry her forever—to the ends of the earth, until the seas dried and the stones crumbled—it would not matter.

It was only pain.

She could endure it.

She should have already grown accustomed to enduring pain like this.