43: Three Corpses

Yan Qingning lay prone on Jiang Xun's body, like a block of ice that wouldn't melt.

She didn't seem satisfied with just that.

She rolled over, lifted Jiang Xun's blanket, and burrowed inside.

Jiang Xun was pressed down so hard he could barely breathe, but more uncomfortable was the chill seeping from her body, piercing through his thin clothes and straight into his bones.

The little bit of warmth in the bed vanished in the blink of an eye.

"You're like a block of ice." Jiang Xun turned his head, his neck brushing against her hair, the cold making him flinch. "The bed isn't warm anymore."

"Then you warm me up." Yan Qingning buried her face in the side of his neck, her voice muffled.

"How could I possibly warm up a great Cultivator of the Dongxu Realm?" Jiang Xun said helplessly.

A Golden Core Cultivator was already impervious to heat and cold, and their state wouldn't be easily changed by external forces.

Let alone a Void Tempering Cultivator like Yan Qingning.

"I don't care."

Acting like a spoiled child, she buried her face even deeper.

Her breath brushed against his skin, still cold.

Jiang Xun, at a loss, suddenly said, "Why are you just like Sang Linger?"

He said it very softly, like a casual remark.

But Yan Qingning reacted as if she'd been provoked.

She suddenly looked up, staring into Jiang Xun's eyes.

Those eyes, usually shrouded in icy mist, now clearly reflected his face, along with a touched, almost instinctive emotion.

"I won't allow you to mention other women," she said urgently and seriously. "In your heart, there can only be me."

Jiang Xun looked at her serious expression.

Then he reached out, gently wrapping his arm around her back and pulling her closer into his embrace.

The movement was slow, carrying a hint of comfort.

"Are you even jealous of your own disciple?" he asked.

Yan Qingning pursed her lips and said nothing.

After a long while, she spoke, her voice as light as a whisper to herself:

"She is Yan Qingning's disciple."

"She isn't my disciple."

Jiang Xun's heart skipped a beat.

The hand around her back instantly stiffened.

What did she mean... "not my disciple"?

Isn't she Yan Qingning?

"You..." Jiang Xun's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice a bit dry. "Aren't you Yan Qingning?"

The "Yan Qingning" in his arms looked up at him.

Her gaze was very frank, frank to the point of being pure.

"I am Yan Qingning," she said. "But I am not her."

Jiang Xun stared at her: "...What do you mean?"

"I am her self corpse," she answered bluntly, as if stating something perfectly natural.

"I have taken on the most primal 'self' within her heart—the one who cares about nothing and only wants to love you."

self corpse.

These two words left Jiang Xun stunned for a long time.

Gradually, the meaning began to sink in.

Yan Qingning wasn't just "half a step" away from the Ascension Realm.

She was practically on the threshold.

At the Perfection of the Dongxu Realm, a Cultivator needs to examine themselves, gain insight into their true heart, and sever the "Good-Self, Evil-Self, and self corpse" to obtain a flawless heart and ascend the path to immortality.

This was the most straightforward description of that Realm in the game.

And now, this "Yan Qingning" lying in his arms was the "self corpse" she had severed.

Stripped of all reason and restraint, only the most primitive and pure part remained.

No wonder.

No wonder she had been abnormally avoidant these past few days, no wonder the chill on her body was growing heavier, and no wonder she appeared tonight in this near-collapsed state.

"Do you know?"

The "Yan Qingning" in his arms suddenly spoke, her voice carrying a hint of grievance:

"When I saw you standing with another woman in her heart, do you know how sad I was?"

As she spoke, her fingers unconsciously tightened on Jiang Xun's lapel:

"But that woman Yan Qingning... she actually just watched without saying a word. How could she bear it? I was furious."

Hearing this, Jiang Xun felt a mix of emotions.

He gently patted her back, like coaxing a child:

"I've only met Sang Linger a few times; how could she compare to you?"

The self corpse seemed comforted by these words, leaning back into his arms and nuzzling his neck.

"Since the moment I was born," she whispered, "my two sisters were killed by Yan Qingning."

Jiang Xun's movement paused.

"The Good-Self and the Evil-Self... she was so decisive." Her voice dropped, carrying a nearly innocent sense of grievance.

"Only I remained, because the thought of 'loving you' was too strong. She couldn't sever me for a while and could only suppress me beneath the ice in her heart."

Saying this, she hugged Jiang Xun tighter:

"It was so cold there... so dark... I was alone for so long."

Jiang Xun could feel that her body's trembling wasn't entirely from the cold.

There was also fear.

Fear of that frozen place.

The hongmeng fish pendant on his chest seemed to sense something, its light brightening a bit more. A warm current passed through their touching skin like a faint but persistent fire.

She let out a comfortable sigh.

She buried her face in his chest, her voice slurred, "Finally... it's warm."

Jiang Xun lay there, letting her hold him.

He looked at this "Yan Qingning" in his arms—this "her" who had only love, only obsession, and only the most primitive desire for possession.

Yet that description from the game echoed repeatedly in his mind.

Without severing the Three Corpses, there is no hope of Immortal Ascension.

Yan Qingning had already severed the Good-Self and the Evil-Self.

Now, only the self corpse remained.

Sever it, and she could become an Immortal.

Fail to sever it, and she would die.

But looking at the state of this "self corpse"... could Yan Qingning really bring herself to do it?

Or rather—

Could she bear to?

"Yan Qingning," Jiang Xun suddenly spoke.

"Hmm?"

"Your original body... now where is she?"

The "her" in his arms was silent for a moment.

"She's being suppressed by me," she said. "She's watching me."

A chill ran down Jiang Xun's spine.

"She's watching us," she added, her tone calm. "Watching all the time."

Jiang Xun looked up.

But he suddenly felt as if there really were a pair of eyes in the darkness.

Cold, restrained, struggling.

The "Yan Qingning" in his arms gradually quieted down, her breathing becoming even and long, as if she had truly fallen asleep.

He looked down at her peaceful profile.

Moonlight leaked in from the window, casting a faint shadow on her face. She was sleeping soundly, a slight curve of satisfaction even touching the corners of her mouth.

She murmured.

"Wait for me, it's coming soon..."

Jiang Xun stroked her back and asked, "What's coming soon?"

"Marrying... you."

After that, there was only the sound of her steady breathing.

Jiang Xun watched her for a long time.

In his heart, he silently asked Yan Qingning.

Is your affection truly love, or is it the obsession of not being able to have what you love?

Then, he gently reached out, his fingertips very lightly brushing the tips of her hair.

In his movement was a complexity he hadn't even noticed himself.

He looked at Yan Qingning.

What a Cultivator fears most is the Heart Demon tribulation, and the so-called Heart Demon is a look back at every stage of a Cultivator's life.

All your love, hate, greed, anger, and obsession will be firmly remembered by the Heart Demon.

It seemed the Heavenly Dao wanted to filter out those with complex minds.

Leaving only the purest and simplest.

If your mind is fickle, you end up with your body perishing and your Dao vanishing.

And severing the Three Corpses is a choice given to you by the Heavenly Dao.

To choose to be an Immortal without desires or needs.

Or to retain and face the deepest cravings in your heart.

Yan Qingning.

I'm afraid you also feel you won't make it through!

You don't want to wait anymore, do you!

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

His voice was so low it was almost inaudible.