# Chapter 2049: Parting
*Shiiing!*
The sound of a blade cutting through air rang out, light yet sharp.
A small Abyss Beast was cleaved into several pieces midair, its body fragments scattered far away by its original pouncing momentum before crashing to the ground.
The young girl withdrew her sword and continued on in silence.
Half a month ago, she had already been able to move without leaving a trace, yet now her sword strike actually produced the sound of air being torn. But she seemed completely oblivious to it, walking forward in a daze, without direction, without knowing where she was going.
Seven days had passed since she parted ways with Yun Che.
On the day Yun Che left, she felt as if a hollow hole had been gouged out of her heart—a feeling of loss, of emptiness, of heaviness... a kind of pain she had never experienced before, one she couldn't even describe.
With her rapidly expanding knowledge and her still immature rationality, she could well understand that Yun Che's resolute departure was rational, the most correct choice. As the Divine Maiden of the Zhe Tian Divine Kingdom, she absolutely could not, for the sake of personal feelings, do anything that would harm the Zhe Tian Divine Kingdom.
She thought this painful emptiness was just the discomfort of sudden loss, and that as the Zhe Tian Divine Maiden, she would quickly dispel it.
But one day, two days, three days... five days...
The hollow gouged from her heart remained.
Wherever she looked—the gray tree she could lean against, the dim gray sky, the sword marks she had carved, the abyssal land they had walked together—all conjured phantom images of Yun Che.
The biting wind that brushed past her ears, the distant howls... and the gravest, grayest silence—always faintly carried echoes of Yun Che's voice.
Hua Qingying watched her silently, never appearing, never offering even a single word of guidance or comfort.
She was like a pure white scroll, while Yun Che was a brush dipped in the myriad colors of the world, staining her white life with layers of glazed rosy hues—every color so vividly imprinted on her soul.
She had been a lark leaving its nest for the first time, and Yun Che had adorned her with colorful feathers, letting her deeply feel the beauty of the world for the first time. Yet just as she wanted to indulge in that bliss, he had cruelly torn it away.
On the surface, it seemed like a return to how things were, but in reality, it left a pain and scars that would take who knew how long to heal.
"This is good too." Hua Qingying murmured softly. "Once she overcomes this trial, her state of mind will surely grow."
Wasn't this precisely the reason she had insisted Hua Caili travel alone before her marriage?
Hua Caili's footsteps grew slower and slower. Finally, she stopped, staring blankly at a broken black log ahead.
She walked over and slowly sat down beside the log.
During their rest, he would keep watch for her, use the warmest Light Profound Force to heal her wounds, sit in quiet meditation while secretly glancing at her, and answer all her questions in a gentle voice. No matter how much she pressed him, he never showed even the slightest impatience...
When the howls of Abyss Beasts arose, his first instinctive action was always to shield her within his aura.
When practicing swordsmanship, his gaze was never on the sword, but on her...
When fighting fiercely against Abyss Beasts, his sword force was extremely fierce, yet he reserved the deepest gentleness for her—never letting even a single drop of Abyss Beast blood touch her body.
...
And now, he was gone, leaving her all alone.
Unconsciously, she reached out her arms and gently hugged herself.
The light in her eyes was so dim it was heartbreaking.
When she first entered the Mist Sea, she had been alone too. Facing the vast sea of mist, she had felt some trepidation, some fear, but more than that, anticipation and a hint of excitement.
Now it was just a return to being alone—so why did it hurt so much?
*Crunch~*
The sound of footsteps on the ground came from behind, within a hundred paces.
Hua Caili, lost in her daze, was startled and quickly rose, the Glazed Cloud Sword behind her flashing with sudden light.
The newcomers were two cultivators traveling together. Seeing Hua Caili suddenly on guard, the one in front said, "Has this immortal maiden been injured?"
Hua Caili did not answer. She turned around and left directly, quickly disappearing from their sight.
The two exchanged glances. Although they were both deeply captivated by her partially veiled grace, they did not pursue. After all, in the Mist Sea, most people preferred to avoid unnecessary trouble.
As the Divine Maiden of the Zhe Tian Divine Kingdom, her nature was pure and kind, and her manners were impeccable. In the past, whether facing kind intentions or veiled ulterior motives, her upbringing would have made her respond politely and kindly.
But these days, it was as if half her soul was wandering, leaving her with no heart to react to anyone.
At that moment, Hua Qingying's brows suddenly knitted. Her gaze followed a trace of aura and shot into the distance.
In an instant, she locked onto the figure of Yun Che.
He was walking this way, heading in the direction that Hua Caili had gone.
These days, Hua Caili had been wandering the Mist Sea in a daze, too distracted to even know where she was going. This impending accidental encounter with Yun Che could only be a coincidence.
In the vast Mist Sea, encountering each other again so soon after parting—it could only be described as a twisted fate.
However, this was not the scene Hua Qingying had hoped to see.
Just as she hesitated over whether to interfere with Hua Caili's direction, a group of Abyss Beasts burst out from Yun Che's location, charging straight at him.
These Abyss Beasts were all at the Divine Lord level. For Hua Caili, they would be a fierce battle, but they posed no threat to Yun Che.
The great crimson sword named "Yunli" flashed into his hand. As he swung it, a fierce ice storm erupted, scattering the nearby Abyss Beasts in just a few breaths before shattering them one by one. His technique was brutal and ruthless, utterly different from when he had been by Hua Caili's side.
Hua Caili, walking ahead, suddenly stopped. She lifted her head sharply, and her long-silent beautiful eyes rippled with trembling waves.
This aura...
"Yun Gongzi..."
She whispered, and her body moved faster than her reason or thoughts, charging straight toward the aura that haunted her dreams.
"..." Unable to intervene in time, Hua Qingying could only let out a faint sigh, watching helplessly the inevitable reunion.
But her "expectations" were soon dashed.
After finishing off the last Abyss Beast, Yun Che's motion of sheathing his sword suddenly froze. He turned his gaze toward Hua Caili's direction, clearly having sensed her presence. Joy and alarm flickered across his face... followed by a flash of painful struggle.
Then, he spun around and fled in the opposite direction at full speed.
He unleashed his maximum speed, far surpassing Hua Caili's. The distance between them quickly widened, and he soon vanished from her perception range.
Hua Qingying: "..."
Hua Caili chased to where Yun Che had been, only to see the ground littered with frozen Abyss Beast remains.
The unique icy aura confirmed that her perception had not been mistaken—not long ago, he had been standing on this very ground.
"Yun Gongzi!" She kept turning, frantically searching for Yun Che's aura in every direction. "Come out... I've found you! Come out quickly..."
"Even if you have to leave... never to see each other again... at least we should say a proper goodbye... Yun Gongzi!"
There was no response.
She didn't give up. Following the hastily carved sword mark on the ground, she chased in the direction Yun Che had fled.
She chased for a very, very long time, crossing layer after layer of abyssal dust, long losing her sense of direction. But she didn't stop... because a fearful voice kept echoing in her heart: If you stop now, perhaps you will never see him again in this life.
Just then, a curtain of snow—something that should never exist in this eternally gray world—suddenly appeared before her, so surreal it seemed like an illusion.
Hua Caili's gaze became dazed. Her steps unconsciously slowed, and she stepped into the snow curtain.
Snow... the same aura, the same snowflakes as that day.
Behind her, shallow footprints were left in the snow. She reached out, letting the snowflakes fall into her palm, land on her white robes, and settle on her dark hair.
Within the snow curtain, on a stone platform lightly covered with snow, a long black sash fluttered.
It carried the aura of Yun Che, clearly having been left only recently.
She stepped forward, slowly reaching out, and picked up the sash.
On it, written in shallow letters etched with Light Profound Force, were the words:
"Our meeting was already a blessing from heaven; why must longing simmer through the remaining years?"
Her jade-like fingers trembled along with her eyes. She turned the sash over. On the other side, the same Light-etched words read:
"Today we share the falling snow together—in this life, it counts as having grown old by each other's side."
Both hands holding the sash pressed against her face. Her body slumped weakly, her shoulders shaking violently.
The snow continued to fall, faintly muffling her desperately suppressed sobs.
A faint glint of sword light flickered in Hua Qingying's eyes... An Abyss Beast that was about to pounce on Hua Caili silently turned to dust.
It had been less than ten zhang away from Hua Caili, yet she was completely unaware.
"Sigh." Hua Qingying finally let out a soft sigh. She knew she had to appear and guide her now. Hua Caili was approaching the limit of her fragile heart.
She descended, landing lightly in front of Hua Caili.
Hua Caili raised her tear-filled eyes. The moment she saw her aunt, it was as if a string inside her had snapped. She threw herself into Hua Qingying's chest, and the tears and sobs she had been struggling to hold back burst forth like a dam breaking, wailing freely, heartbroken.
Hua Qingying said nothing. That jade hand that commanded the strongest sword in the Abyss gently stroked the young girl's back, letting her release and vent to her heart's content.
She cried for a very, very long time—longer than all her tears before. She cried until the snow curtain finally ended, punctuated by at least dozens of dying wails from Abyss Beasts.
If anyone else had made this girl weep, Hua Qingying would have been determined to slay them.
But Yun Che... let alone slaying him, she couldn't even bring herself to blame him.
The sobbing in her arms finally began to subside. The Sword Immortal lowered her eyes slightly and said, "That time I punished you the harshest, you only stubbornly shed two tears. Today, you've paid back all the tears you held back then."
Hua Caili lifted her head from her aunt's chest. Her slightly reddened eyes shimmered with a misty light that would break anyone's heart: "Aunt, I... I... I really feel so sad..."
Just those words, and the tears that had taken so long to stop came pouring out again.
"I know." Hua Qingying said softly. "Don't feel ashamed. Don't deny or doubt yourself because of this. Even though it hurts a lot, it was also a beautiful experience, wasn't it?"
The young girl looked at her through tear-blurred eyes: "Did Aunt... also go through this?"
Hua Qingying shook her head. "No. But I cannot forget your mother's day back then..."
The word "mother" made the girl freeze.
Her aura slightly disturbed, Hua Qingying closed her eyes briefly, then said, "Caili, do you remember the question I asked you before you set out on this training journey?"
The young girl parted her lips and replied through her tears, "Was it... that question about how determined I could be?"
Hua Qingying shook her head, but she wasn't surprised by Hua Caili's answer. She knew that the question she had asked back then had never really entered her heart.
"I asked you whether you truly liked Dian Jiuzhi."
"..." The shimmer of Hua Caili's tears stopped trembling.
Hua Qingying spoke for her: "You said you did. I asked you how you liked him, and you said he was good-looking, talented, and treated you very well. Especially, he was someone recognized even by Father God."
Hua Caili now vaguely recalled that her aunt had indeed asked this, and she had indeed answered that way.
"I also asked you: 'When you haven't seen him, do you truly miss him from your heart?' Do you remember your answer?"
Following her memories, the girl said softly, "He is the Divine Son of the Senluo Divine Kingdom. Naturally, everything is fine with him. Why would I need to miss him?"
"Mm." That was exactly Hua Caili's answer at the time, and it was that answer that made her decide to let Hua Caili travel alone into the world. "But when you haven't seen Yun Che, you think of him day and night, don't you?"
Hearing the name "Yun Che" from her aunt's mouth, Hua Caili's beautiful eyes instantly reddened. She forcefully sniffled to hold back her tears: "Aunt, I... I..."
"Alright, no need to say more." She knew that Hua Caili already understood.
She continued in as gentle a tone as she could: "Your body is now fully recovered. You no longer need to go into slumber in the Pure Land. The Senluo Divine Kingdom has known of this since the last time you left the Pure Land."
"The Senluo Divine Son Dian Jiuzhi has been waiting for you for so many years, with unwavering devotion. Now that he knows this, the next time he pays homage to the Abyss Emperor, he will surely eagerly bring up the matter of your betrothal. When that happens, the wedding date will be imminent."
"But your feelings for Dian Jiuzhi are clearly not those of a man and a woman. In the end, I cannot... bear to watch you unknowingly bind your life like this."
"Is it... because of mother?" the young girl asked softly.
"Yes." Hua Qingying lifted her head. This emotionless Sword Immortal, who rarely showed any feelings, now had a deep, poignant sorrow flashing through her eyes. "Your mother's nature was gentle as water, but her emotions burned like fire. Her life was short, but she loved and hated without regret, even unto death..."
Her voice faded, unable to continue. After a brief pause, she went on: "You are her daughter—Qu Wanxin's daughter. Perhaps the soul hidden deep within you is also like hers."
"Thus, I wanted you, before your marriage, to see the myriad of worldly affairs with your own eyes, to understand what true feelings between a man and a woman are, rather than living in ignorance."
She knew very well that Hua Fuchen had always hoped that Hua Caili would never touch romantic feelings, and that Dian Jiuzhi was the most suitable partner for her in this life... He never wanted his daughter to follow in his footsteps, or in her mother's.
Whether this action was right or wrong, she herself didn't know. She only knew that this stubborn insistence of hers was ultimately the unwillingness she felt about what happened back then...
"Only, I never expected that you would walk straight into this tribulation."
"But perhaps this is good." Hua Qingying wiped the tears from the young girl's face. "Though it hurts, once you overcome this tribulation, your emotions and soul will become more complete. When you marry Dian Jiuzhi in the future, you may have regrets, you may feel pain, but at least you won't be left with remorse and emptiness."
"Overcome this tribulation..." the girl murmured, then shook her head. "But I..."
"You will." She gently comforted her. "First times are always unforgettable. But time heals everything. You will eventually forget, eventually let go, eventually learn reason, choice, and compromise. This is also what he called—growing by stepping on thorns."