“After so long, the world has changed so much, but I am still me and have never changed. The night is the most terrible. But for me, is there any difference between day and night?” Qingyi thought.
“Sister, do you know what I truly care about?” Qingyi stared at Ronghua.
Ronghua didn’t look at Qingyi because she had no idea how to treat her. She just played the teacup in her hand to divert her own attention.
“Sister, I have known that you are beautiful and clever since childhood. Mother taught you strictly but was gentle with me. I think my character may be nourished by our mother! I am afraid it is the beginning of the tragedy.”
Holding the fan, Ronghua stroked and examined it carefully along its lines, “I don’t know what you care. The only thing I know is that I don’t want to bother myself to find out what you care about.”
Hearing Ronghua’s words, Qingyi raised her head violently and retorted, “Do you think that the hostility could not unlock the seal of my memory?” Seeing Qingyi so irritated, Shigong forgot that she was still angry. He hugged her directly and comforted her, “Don’t be angry. Don’t hurt yourself with your anger.”
Qingyi had already been in a fury. Seeing that Shigong treated her the same as before, she pushed him away directly.
She yelled, “Don’t touch me. I asked you to go away. Don’t you hear it? I don’t want to see you. Don’t you understand?”
Looking at Qingyi, who blew her top, Shigong knew that it was not the right time for their reconciliation, but he still bowed his head to give in, “But I want to see you.”
Upon hearing his words, Qingyi suddenly calmed down. The tears in her eyes dropped silently, and she felt a bit of pain in her heart.
Ronghua looked up at Qingyi and then called Shigong’s name. Hearing it, Shigong turned to look at Ronghua. But when he saw her cold eyes, he didn’t know how to speak. “Qingyi,” Shigong said timidly. “Shut up,” repeated Qingyi.
Qingyi turned around, “I don’t need you. Do you think I will hurt myself with the world-changing bow?”
Ronghua looked down with a calm expression, but her hand holding the cup betrayed her inner thoughts. She was also uneasy in mind. Maybe only Qingyi, her own younger sister, would beyond her control in this world! The girl following her in the past had grown up now. Since Qingyi knew that it was her fault that had caused an indelible shadow, she would never forgive herself.
“I remember that in the past, sister, I saw you so painful in your dreams every day, but I had no way to help you or bear it for you. When I learned that you came back from the world-changing platform, I knew that you had been hurt in the Realm of Demons, so I went to the world-changing platform and refined it to keep you away from the pain.” Qingyi wiped her tears and said after a deep breath.
“I think it is my greatest tolerance to speak to you so calmly now. But, elder sister, I still want you to know that it was you who gave me a new life. Not everyone can always protect me like you.” After finishing speaking, she thought to herself,” But I will also grow up! I will not always be the little girl hiding behind you. From beginning to end, all I want is to stand by you and fight by your side.”
“I can make up my mind, and you have no right to decide for me.”
Qingyi turned around and walked towards the outside. Noticing that, Shigong no longer cared about Ronghua and ran to catch up with Qingyi. He stopped Qingyi and said, “I leave, and you stay here. I won’t come to bother you again until you forgive me. OK?”
It was only at this moment that Ronghua fully understood. There was always a scar that could not heal in Qingyi’s heart.
Qingyi once lost herself during smoothing over her own mistakes for the gods. In her mind, it seemed that the best choice was to make up for the mistakes she had made. Qingyi struggled to move forward with love and pain. “But, I destroyed all of this.”
Releasing Qingyi, Shigong was about to leave. After only a few steps, he turned back and hugged Qingyi again. This time Qingyi did not refuse him. Shigong finally let her go and left after a bitter smile.
Ronghua remembered that Qingyi and Shigong were at loggerheads that day, and she also remembered the last conversation between the two.
“Dare you look at me, look into my eyes, and talk to me? Dare you? You dare not, right? You said that you approached me without any purpose. But what are these now? Are you guilty? I know you are guilty because you are afraid to see my eyes, afraid to see the truth in my eyes. In fact, you already knew who I am and what I aim at. You regard me as a chance to get yourself to the top. You don’t want to reincarnate, so you took advantage of me. How dare you do that?”
Ronghua felt a shock in her heart. As if someone had seen what she had done, she took the teacup in a hurry and drank the tea, finding that it was really bitter. Looking at them, Ronghua seemed to see herself in the past. At that time, facing the accusations from everyone, she still said nothing, because she believed he would believe her. But when the man came with them to hurl questions at her, she felt as if a knife had been piercing her heart, tears coursing down her cheeks. “Why would you query me together with them? Have you never believed me?”
Behind Ronghua, a beam of light entered her body from a place where she couldn’t see. She didn’t notice it. The light seemed to come out from the box, which contained the memories of the world-changing platform.
“You can go back first. If there is anything, I will look for you again.” Ronghua secretly conveyed the message to Shigong. She knew he did not leave. Qingyi’s current cultivation was not high enough to protect herself if someone stirred up trouble.
Hearing it, Shigong felt relieved and thanked her solemnly. “Thank you, Princess Ronghua.”
Ronghua said nothing because she felt sad when seeing the tears in Qingyi’s eyes, which revealed Qingyi’s sorrow now. Recalling those incidents was like uncovering the scars that were about to heal and exposing the red flesh. It was bloody and painful.
Ronghua sat down and saw him leaving away as if she had seen herself in the past. She shook her head and said to Qingyi, “Calm down. Sit down and have a cup of tea.”
Qingyi looked back at Ronghua’s expression. Ronghua was very calm and always had an unpredictable smile, pretty but dangerous.
“Sister, making tea is a technique.”
Ronghua said with a smile, “A technique?” She stopped speaking but continued the movement of her hands. She scooped some tea leaves in the teapot with a wooden spoon made of mahogany, and then she put the tea in a teacup and poured it with the water boiled in the clay teapot. The steam rose, carrying the fragrance of tea. She could not help but relax. “It’s indeed a technique. If you are not careful enough, the tea will lose its original taste.”
The steam with tea fragrance gradually gave birth to fresh breath, giving them a long-lost sense of familiarity, cleaning the desolation in their chest, and making their mind calm and clear. They seemed to see the life that they once had. Gently and softly, Ronghua lifted the teacup of blue-and-white porcelain, without damaging the soul of the tea.
“The tea made without techniques is bitter.”
Ronghua held the teacup and handed it to Qingyi. Qingyi reached over her hands to take over the teacup, and she saw a few tea leaves stretching and rotating in the clear green liquid. The tea leaves sank slowly and then rose, and they sank again after rising, repeating three times. The shadow of the tea leaves, and the light of the water complemented each other. It was like a bird, just staying so quietly.
“I used to be like this. I closed my eyes and stayed quietly, doing nothing. That was all of my life, without worries.”
“Sister, I haven’t tasted your tea for a long time.” Qingyi’s voice seemed to become soft, and her mood calmed down.
“It tastes wonderful.” Ronghua felt relieved. But… “Sister, you rarely make tea, even when we were still on the land of gods.” Ronghua smiled. Qingyi knew that there was definitely something her sister wanted to do when she made tea by herself.
“Qingyi….”
“Sister!” Qingyi interrupted Ronghua before she spoke.
“How about explaining that news to me?”
Was that news important?
“Do you believe me?” Ronghua looked at Qingyi and asked softly.
Looking into Ronghua’s eyes, Qingyi put down her teacup and said, “As long as you say, I will believe you. As long as you are right, I will believe you.”