116: Chapter 116 The Cold Road to the Underworld

Snow falls silently.

Staining Cang Mingyue's azure hair with specks of white.

She still knelt on the bluestone steps before the Regents Mansion, motionless.

A thin layer of fine snow had already settled on her shoulders.

The truth Su Chen had told her.

Not only did it fail to bring her any comfort.

It even shattered her last shred of hope.

Yes, it was her who didn't believe him.

It was her cowardice and suspicion that left her without even the courage to ask one final question.

And so she fled in panic.

In the end, only this bone-deep regret remained.

Inside the manor gates, Ye Jingjun stood frozen for a long time, her back to the swirling snow.

Her red clothes were more vibrant than blood, strikingly bright in this pure white world.

She listened to the suppressed sobs behind her and felt Cang Mingyue's weak yet stubborn aura after self-sealing.

Finally, she let out a sigh that was barely audible.

She slowly turned around and walked to the threshold.

Looking at the blue figure almost curled up in the snow.

"Get up."

"Even if you kneel here until you die, he won't see it."

Cang Mingyue suddenly looked up.

Through tearful eyes, she saw Ye Jingjun looking down at her.

The look in those phoenix eyes was dark and inscrutable.

"Don't you want to see him?"

Ye Jingjun stepped aside, clearing the path into the manor.

"I have placed his body in the great hall."

"Come in."

"Take one look, then leave."

This sudden permission made Cang Mingyue freeze instead.

She struggled to stand, but her legs were numb from kneeling so long and the invasion of the cold.

Stumbling, she almost fell again.

She leaned against the cold stone steps, barely supporting herself.

Looking at the wide-open manor gates.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally prepared to take a step.

But.

Just as her toes were about to cross the threshold, she suddenly pulled back.

As if burned by an invisible flame.

"No, I won't see him."

Cang Mingyue shook her head.

"I'm afraid he'll be angry with me."

"He treated me so well, yet I wouldn't even believe him at the very end."

"How can I face him... let him remember me as I was before."

Ye Jingjun's eyes flickered slightly.

Seeing Cang Mingyue like this, the slight grudge in her heart born from Su Chen's final obsession actually dissipated for the most part.

Fellow sufferers at the end of the world, why torment each other?

"As you wish."

She no longer forced it and turned to lead the way.

"Since you're here, have a cup of hot tea to warm up before you leave."

One after the other, they silently crossed the snow-covered corridor to a secluded Warm Pavilion.

The room's decor was extremely simple; in the center stood a burning charcoal brazier, dispelling some of the chill.

The maid served hot tea and then quietly withdrew.

Only the two of them remained in the pavilion, sitting opposite each other.

They looked at each other in silence.

Finally, it was Cang Mingyue who spoke first.

"Sister Ye... what are your plans for the future?"

Ye Jingjun gave a sorrowful smile.

Her red lips curled up slightly.

Forming an extremely desolate arc.

"I have already settled the matters of the court."

"Following Su Chen's plan, I have designed a complete administrative system that can function even without an emperor."

"The several Ministers of State I've selected are all loyal and capable, enough to maintain this peaceful era."

"As for me?"

"Naturally, I am going to accompany him."

"He is all alone in that cold place; it's too lonely."

"This empire is too heavy; after three years, I am weary."

"For the rest of my life, I only want to be with him."

"The Road to the Underworld is cold."

"He is afraid of the dark; I must go and hold the lamp for him."

Hearing this, Cang Mingyue looked up at her.

Only then did she notice a familiar sword pinned to Ye Jingjun's magnificent red robe.

It was the su chen sword.

On the sword, there were faint, speckled bloodstains.

Looking further up, there was a pale pink, recently healed sword scar on her snowy-white neck.

"As you can see, I have long intended to die."

"That day, when you knocked at the Regents Mansion, I had just finished handling all the affairs of Great Ning and was preparing to go down and join him."

"I had already cut halfway through my neck, but then I happened to hear your voice."

"So..."

"You mustn't!"

Cang Mingyue cried out in alarm, not even noticing that she had knocked over her tea.

"Sister Ye, you absolutely must not do this."

"If Young Master Su has a soul in heaven, he certainly wouldn't want you to take your own life for him."

"He fought for this vast empire for you, hoping you would live well and watch over this world for him."

"Moreover... he loved you so much that he didn't forget to give you a formal status even before he died. If he saw you down there, how sad and heartbroken he would be."

"A soul in heaven?"

Ye Jingjun chuckled.

"If he had a soul, why hasn't he entered my dreams in three years?"

"Heh... Cang Mingyue."

"Call me selfish or call me cowardly."

"But a long life is a punishment for me, not a blessing."

"Every day without him is agony."

"Tell me."

"Living, watching his empire grow more stable day by day, hearing others praise me as a 'wise Prince Regent', yet never being able to touch even a corner of his clothes again."

"How is such 'living' any different from death by a thousand cuts?"

She stroked the sword scar on her neck, her tone terrifyingly calm.

"My biological father made me practice the Heartless Sword because he had been hurt by love back then and didn't want me to fall into the same pit."

"But some things aren't simply avoided just because you want to."

"When the Heartless Sword Technique is practiced to its peak, one becomes devoid of emotion and nature."

"But as it happened... I fell in love with him."

"The sword heart backlashed, gnawing at me day and night."

"You wouldn't understand this kind of pain."

"Only by following him can I find release."

Cang Mingyue opened her mouth but found herself speechless.

She could understand Ye Jingjun's feelings—that despair of a heart turned to ashes after losing a beloved, that pain of being backlashed by a technique and tortured by obsession.

Moreover, Ye Jingjun had watched her own husband leave her on their wedding day.

That kind of despair was hard to bear even just to imagine.

Even Cang Mingyue herself—was she not also being sliced day and night by endless regret?SR

She had simply chosen a different way to atone.

"I understand."

Cang Mingyue lowered her head and stopped trying to dissuade her.

"I plan to return to East Lai. On the former site of the Penglai Immortal Sect, I will establish a sect and convert to the Daoist path for quiet cultivation."

"Firstly, to consolidate my cultivation and see if I can find a way for a mermaid to transform into a dragon."

"Secondly, to use my power to watch over this world for him, to guard the new order he worked so hard to establish, and to prevent Evil Demons from causing trouble again."

"...This is probably the only thing I can do for him."

Ye Jingjun looked at her quietly.

After a long time, she nodded slightly.

"That... is also good."

"If he knew, he would be comforted."

The two fell into silence once more.

The tea grew warm and then cold, but neither of them ever finished it.

Outside the window, the snow gradually subsided.

Finally, Cang Mingyue stood up and gave Ye Jingjun a deep bow.

"Sister Ye, take care."

"I'm leaving."