Chapter 331.1: Soul Returns
That person’s smiley disposition, seemed to cast a warm sun into her cold lonely soul, catching the young girl off guard.
Unexpectedly….. she was not repulsed by it.
The love her strict grandfather showed her was always accompanied with endless blood and tears. Although he was her closest blood kin, the young and puerile little girl could not help but feel sad and dejected around him.
And the man’s appearance had undoubtedly quickly made up for the longing for affection from kin that she had envisioned.
It was always so easy to start to rely on a person and to like them.
She started to let down her wariness and her heart’s defences that she had put up for so many years, and came to truly see this man as her real elder brother, to treat him as an important and treasured kin.
Till the day she turned sixteen, the day she was to undergo her coming of age ceremony.
From being just a clean good looking youth, that person had grown to become a man. No matter in terms of looks or the way he carried himself, he had changed dramatically.
It was probably because they had been close for such a long time and were too familiar with each other that she did not notice it at all. Even the youth that she had brought back was seemingly trying to hint to her about it.
She might very well have noticed something before, but she was still unwilling to admit it, not wanting to face up to it.
Till one fine day, where the man told her that he had a surprise for her.
He had said, from them onwards, she would not have to suffer so much anymore, as he would help her shoulder everything.
She had been mystified at that time, not understanding the meaning behind those words when she then found herself slumping limply onto the table before her, unable to summon up the slightest bit of strength at all.
The man in front of her with his handsome and genteel face then gently carried her up before putting her down on the bed. It was only at that moment that she finally came to realize something as she fought to keep her increasingly blurry sight open, and her heart filled up with pure and utter disbelief.
He laughed softly and said: “Do not be afraid. From today onwards, Qing Qing will come to belong to me. We will be together forever, as we walk on the path towards great power.”
A light soft kiss then fell on her forehead, earnest and sincere.
But even though she was unable to move her body at all, unable to gather up any strength at that moment, she was still able to feel the immense surge of unease rising up inside.
She had never ever thought that the relationship between the two of them would become like that.
A person that she had seen as an elder brother for so many years, was now doing things that someone with that identity should never do to her.
In that instant, she felt as if she had fallen right into a glacial pit, her body turned icy cold, losing all temperature.
However, his voice still came to sound in her ears.
Chapter 331.2: Soul Returns
“I do not think that you’re aware that I found you so exceptionally unforgettable right from the moment I first saw you. And when those cold indifferent eyes finally came to be filled with trust and affection towards me, it was truly the most beautiful sight throughout the whole entire world to me.”
“At that moment, Qing Qing was so movingly beautiful it just made me want to possess you so much, just like now…..”
Upon saying that, he lowered his body and was going to kiss the young lady on her soft luscious lips.
Unexpectedly, even though she was unable to resist and unable to move, she still barely managed to turn her head to the side just when his lips were just about to press down on her, resulting in the man coming to kiss her cheek.
He was surprised and was just about to make his move again when he heard the young lady’s slightly hoarse voice sound out slowly and haltingly.
‘Can you not….. do this to me…..” The hoarse sounding voice even carried a slight sobbing tinge.
Do not shatter the last sliver of hope I still hold in my heart…..
Do not make me become disgusted with you…..
He had said that he would be his closest kin, to forever shield and protect her like an elder brother.
The young lady then closed her eyes sadly, and a single tear fell from the corner of her eyes, crystalline clear under the silvery moonlight, beautiful and alluring.
“Why are you crying?” Seemingly greatly pained, he stretched a hand out to wipe the tear away. “Don’t you like Big Brother very much? Big Brother dotes on you so much, why do you not like me?”
As his voice fell, he did not wait for her to respond but went on to run his long slender fingers down over the young lady’s smooth cheek, moving them slowly towards her robe collar that was in slight disarray.
A small section of her well defined collarbone came exposed, together with that soft smooth neck, her skin so fair it seemed to glow with a faint pinkish tinge. Such a tender and nubile young lady, and unimaginably perfect. Even her hair was giving out a faint alluring fragrance, pulling him in seductively like an irresistible love potion.
His heart was inextricably attracted to her.
She closed her eyes in despair, her body unable to summon up any strength, but the fingers on her unmoving hands were tightly clenched up, the veins on the back of her palm bulging up visibly.
It was so painful….. So very painful…..
Why?
Had it all been her own wishful thinking all this time?
The man’s gentle countenance was filled with exhilaration, like the mask he wore for so many years had finally been torn off, and his real face had come revealed.
She screamed out silently inside.
Is that what Hell feels like? If it is, then just let her die at this moment from this tormenting agony she was feeling inside…..
Chapter 331.3: Soul Returns
“You beast!”
Suddenly, a barely subdued rage filled roar sounded by her ears. She felt the weight pressing down on her body lift away and a piece of clothing that was filled with a kind of chilly air was immediately wrapped around her.
“There’s no need to be afraid. It’s alright now.” The youth’s clear voice that carried an icy tinge sounded in her ears, and it felt like the voice of an angel.
When she came to open her eyes, all that she saw was the always quiet and handsome looking youth, silently protecting her by her side, and the expression on his face at that moment was seemingly showing a rare moment of worry and anxiety.
She did not say anything as she looked at him, so he did not dare open his mouth as well, afraid that he would scare her, that frail and frightened little thing.
It was not known how long had passed before a change came over her gaze and she said softly to him: “Little Ye, thank you.”
Thank you for pulling me right out from Hell.
Time moved again and the scene changed. Because of her stubborn refusal to give in, she was made to watch her kin and people who were close to her die one by one as time went by, coercing her to agree to his evil intentions.
Clad in a pristine white ceremonial dress, it was the day she turned twenty. As the devil was waiting eagerly for her arrival, she chose to end her unbearably painful life.
That was because she discovered….. that even up to that point, she was still unable to steel her heart to have him dealt with permanently.
How sad and laughable is that! ?
The kinship that she treasured so much, was all just a fake and hypocritical act to him, never affecting him much in any way.
And what she was most sorry about, the person she felt she had really let down, would be the grandfather who had carefully groomed her from a very young age, hoping to see her take over the Family Clan from him.
He had told her that she must not cry, as only the weak shed tears.
And she must not be moved by affairs of the heart, as that would impede her steps in her way forward.
And now, not only has she allowed herself to be impeded, she has also cried in pitiful weakness before.
Grandfather….. must be very disappointed in her…..
But she was really tired. So wearily tired. Even though her life had spanned just a measly twenty short years, she felt as if she had already ploughed through more than a better half of her life.
Throughout her life, she had never felt so weak and helpless like now.
This time, she really felt like being a weakling for once, to escape from everything.
“Qing Yu, you’ve grown up so much…..”
An old and wizened voice that was so familiar to her seemed to reach her from far over the horizon.
“But….. why do you still dwell so much in memories of the past, unable to be free?”
“Real strength, does not singularly come only from a person’s level of powers, but it’s also the ability to let things go, to forget the painful past. You’ve only paid attention to all the unbearable things that have happened on the surface, but failed to notice that it had been constantly pushing you to grow all this time as well. Have you realized that?”
Chapter 331.4: Soul Returns
That last statement from the old and wizened sounding voice carried a sliver of strength and power, striking her deep in her soul, as if she had returned back to the time when she was being sternly admonished.
“Grandfather…..”
The sleeping young lady suddenly parted her lips to talk in her sleep, her long eyelashes becoming slightly moistened as the look on her face became sad and pitiful looking, which pained a person’s heart to see.
“She moved!”
Sitting by the bed, the enchanting looking man in red clothes immediately widened his eyes in surprise when he saw that, and he quickly rushed outside to say in a raised voice: “Jun Yao! Come in and see! The little lass just spoke!”
That flustered man who was in such an excited hurry, was none other than Bai Zhi Yan who had not been seen for so long.
From the time that Lou Jun Yao came back from that place, it had already been a fortnight in the blink of an eye.
Qing Yu was carried back here by Lou Jun Yao because she had fallen into a deep coma back then, her entire body turned a fiery red, the burning temperature refusing to recede, while her pulse was faint and erratic, disappearing completely at times, which was just terrifying to see.
Bai Zhi Yan and his father had been relentlessly busy for a good number of days straight, working to treat the young lady before her body temperature finally came back down.
But the young lady had not once opened her eyes, like she would never wake up from her sleep anymore. Lou Jun Yao had not shut his eyes all this time, throughout the whole two weeks, till he suddenly fainted last night and was sent back to his room to rest.
It was only after the man fainted that Bai Zhi Yan checked the man’s condition and came to discover that the man’s body seemed to have been burnt everywhere, where there was almost no healthy bit of flesh left on him.
And because the man had left that alone for too long, his clothes had stuck to his burn wounds in many places, where the slightest tug on his skin would tear and reopen the wound, causing him to bleed. It was just too ghastly to see.
Bai Zhi Yan really did not know how the fella was able to withstand it for so many days, not saying a single word about it but to just keep watch over the little lass like he had lost his very soul.
Lou Jun Yao’s room was not far away from here and he had already regained consciousness. When he heard Bai Zhi Yan’s loud exclamation, he appeared there in almost the very same instant.
But the pallor on his face still looked a little pale, his violet eyes seemingly a little grim. Having not spoken for a good number of days, his voice came out a little hoarse. “What did you just say?”
Bai Zhi Yan’s lips quivered a moment before he replied: “The little lass showed some response just now and she even opened her mouth to say something, but I did not hear her clearly and do not know what she said.”
Hearing that, Lou Jun Yao’s gaze swiveled onto the figure lying on the bed with her eyes closed. She was not showing any signs of regaining consciousness and the aura around his body seemed to grow heavier.
“It’s true! She really spoke just now! Why would I want to lie to you?” Bai Zhi Yan quickly explained in a hurry when he saw the suspicious look on Lou Jun Yao’s face.
“Qing Yu, wake up already. Everything’s over and the life you chose for yourself is just beginning isn’t it?”
Finally, it seemed like the old man’s stern and kindly face flashed very briefly and smiled at him. It was for just an instant before it disappeared before his eyes.
On the bed, Qing Yu’s body jerked once before then slowly opened her eyes.