Sweeping her gaze across the expressions of the three women, Jingliu's lips couldn't help but curl up slightly.
Did you see? Master's true feelings for her, his disciple.
Moreover, Master had personally admitted to liking her, even if he included the word "perhaps"—a word she considered redundant.
Now, do you all see clearly?
Especially you, Ruan Mei!
As long as Ruan Mei admitted that breaking the rules with her Mas—with the Master of her previous life—while drunk stemmed from her truest inner feelings,
Then she must also admit that Master's love and longing for her in this life likewise came from the heart.
That heat, as scorching as a branding iron, had already touched the final boundary.
If Master hadn't come to his senses at the last moment... even if she had ended up being literally eaten by him, it wouldn't change the fact that everything had progressed naturally.
As long as Master liked it, what did it matter if she became a mantis eaten during mating?
What did Ruan Mei's experience even count for?
It was nothing more than the bandit-like behavior of a teacher who, in a drunken stupor, forced unwanted emotions onto her student and selfishly left her own mark on him.
In his previous life, Master had no romantic feelings for her. Even if he did, to take it a step further, he would never have broken the rules.
It was all Ruan Mei's own doing that led to everything that followed.
But what about her and the Master of this life?
She was the one who liked Master first.
Long before Azure City fell, even before that challenge match against the Vanguard, her heart had already begun to stir for Master.
It was only now that she realized those innocent childhood palpitations were actually love.
Later, after Azure City was destroyed, Master took her in as his disciple. As they depended on each other for survival, he gradually grew to like her, and then to love her.
This was a mutual pursuit!
It was just that Master's already scarred heart had been set ablaze by the unquenchable fire of hatred, leading him to choose a restrained love and tenderness.
"Master and I share a mutual affection. Do you understand now? We aren't even on the same starting line."
Jingliu didn't care if these words were too piercing.
There was only one Master.
Whether or not he had another life, there was only one.
Master was hers, and could only be hers... Even if he was destined to be shared with others, it should be Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold, who shared a bond with him in this life... Come to think of it, the connection between them and Master could also be considered a mutual pursuit of sorts.
Even if the tenderest part of Master's heart belonged to her, Jingliu had to admit that while the track Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold were on wasn't prominent, their positions were firm enough.
Master would not fail those who had given their hearts, souls, lives, and everything else for him.
The fact that he still sought to save them and selfishly decided their futures for them upon his departure was the best proof.
From this perspective, both Sleeping Snow and Clear Cold had more of an advantage than the three women before her.
"Perhaps."
Black Swan rested her chin on her hand, calming her slightly fluctuating emotions with a beaming smile.
"But I don't care. I only care about Mr. Qi's thoughts, and whether he's willing to keep a place for me."
"It doesn't need to be large."
"No matter how many cycles of reincarnation pass or how many times we miss each other, as long as it's kept forever—not erased, not forgotten."
"Like that, a small area is enough."
"She wasn't greedy; she was easily satisfied."
Yu Qintu hadn't expected this young girl before her, barely over a thousand years old, to be so sharp-tongued.
But what kind of storms hadn't she weathered?
"Ms. Jingliu, based on what you've said, I feel that the one with the greatest advantage at the starting line probably isn't you."
"But rather... the woman the Little Fellow might encounter in his third life."
"Why don't you try guessing whether you can find him before then?"
As soon as those words were spoken, a flash of red light flickered in Jingliu's eyes, and her breathing grew slightly heavier.
The smile on Black Swan's face deepened.
As expected of a genius, the counterattack was truly sharp.
However... Black Swan turned her gaze toward Ruan Mei.
Her reaction was somewhat unexpectedly... intense, revealing her possessiveness.
But it didn't matter.
What woman doesn't have a sense of possessiveness?
She had it too, but she simply saw reality more clearly than her possessiveness allowed.
Yu Qintu's pride was that of a genius, unwilling to share easily, yet she was upright and could tolerate the concept of fairness.
Jingliu's feelings stemmed from a thousand years of suppression and the cruel twists of fate, which had evolved into a morbid attachment and love for Mr. Qi.
Ruan Mei... was even easier to understand.
After all, of the four present, she was the only one who had ever possessed Mr. Qi. It was only human nature that she wouldn't want to see someone else nearly succeed and overtake her.
Sigh... If only Mr. Qi's personal guard sisters were here.
In that case, Ruan Mei would surely be even more distressed.
But for now, only she and Jingliu knew about this.
"That is my business; there's no need for Ms. Yu Qintu to worry about it."
Jingliu was no ordinary person either; how could she be so easily provoked into losing her composure by a few words?
In her heart, even an expression like losing composure was something only Qi Zhimu was allowed to see.
"In that case, let's end today's conversation here," Yu Qintu said with a slight smile.
"What, you don't plan on leaving yet?" Jingliu narrowed her eyes.
"Of course not. After all, the Little Fellow's name isn't on the list of martyrs from the Battle of Shuhu yet..."
Yu Qintu's smile slowly faded, her expression becoming indifferent.
"I'm not that bored, and I'm too lazy to overreach, but if the Xianzhou Alliance is unwilling to leave him a grave, I would be more than happy to do it myself."
"Little Swan, Ar-Ruan, what do you think?"
Ruan Mei remained expressionless. "I have no objection to your idea."
Black Swan didn't mind the slightly intimate form of address and narrowed her eyes in agreement:
"Mhm, I second that. Also, if the Xianzhou Alliance decides his merits don't outweigh his faults, Ms. Jingliu is welcome to visit the planet where Mr. Qi first passed away to see him."
"The anniversary of his death is on the Great Cold, and so is his birthday. The Xianzhou Alliance's solar terms also include the Great Cold—isn't that a coincidence?"
"After all, for 1679 years, we have kept the traces of his existence very well protected."
That small, elegant Bamboo House remains intact to this day, and that world has safely weathered several extraterrestrial crises because of them.
Upon hearing this, Jingliu's face finally darkened, becoming quite somber.
As a Xianzhou person who had lived on the Luofu for many years, how could she not know what a grave crime it was to meddle with the Ambrosial Arbor?
Even if Master, as the primary offender, did it to seek revenge against Shuhu and eliminate a natural enemy for the Alliance, it wouldn't silence certain old fogies in the Alliance.
Those vermin were like that by nature; they had no achievements of their own, yet they thrived on witnessing the failures and misfortunes of others.
"The Qi Family is full of loyal martyrs; there's no need for Ms. Black Swan to worry."
A trace of chilling killing intent emerged in Jingliu's eyes.
"My home has long since been destroyed, and the most important person to me is gone. I wouldn't mind slaughtering those worthless vermin and becoming a traitor to the Xianzhou."
"Sigh, you're making me out to be far too cold-hearted."
A helpless sigh drifted from not far away.
Hua walked over slowly.
"Rest assured, those old fogies who are used to hiding behind the scenes—the worthless vermin you spoke of—can do nothing more than wag their tongues."
"The Xianzhou Compendium will faithfully record Qi Zhimu's merits and faults. As for the common folk of the Xianzhou Alliance... he is a Survivor of Azure City who sacrificed himself heroically to take revenge on Shuhu, a martyr recognized by the Reignbow Arbiter."
"I don't think anyone will forget the glance the Reignbow cast toward him that day."
"Are you satisfied with this outcome?"
Jingliu's expression softened slightly, and she gave a small nod.