62: Chapter 62 The Painful Parting

The Purple-robed Woman didn't even glance at the one-armed young girl, slowly turning around as her gaze fell upon Su Bingqing.

That ice-cold gaze instantly melted, becoming tender and warm, and a loving smile appeared at the corners of her mouth.

"Mother."

Su Bingqing lowered her head, her voice carrying a hint of timidity, like a child who had done something wrong.

The Purple-robed Woman was about to say something, but her gaze suddenly landed on Su Bingqing, pausing slightly.

A smile had just bloomed at the corners of her mouth, but the next moment, that smile froze.

Her eyes turned icy cold, and killing intent surged.

"You've lost your chastity?"

Her voice was very calm, calmly terrifying to behold, "Could it be this brat?"

Su Bingqing lowered her head, not daring to look into her mother's eyes. Her lips trembled slightly, and she couldn't say a single word.

The Purple-robed Woman's gaze shifted to Baili Yunche, like two cold sharp swords that pierced him to the bone and chilled his entire body.

"How bold of you."

Her voice carried a suffocating sense of oppression.

"You actually dare to bully my daughter. Have you figured out how you want to die?"

The invisible pressure pressed down on Baili Yunche's shoulders like a mountain.

That pressure was too heavy, so heavy that he couldn't bear it at all.

His knees were shaking, and his bones were squeezed and creaking, as if they would be crushed to pieces at any moment.

But he gritted his teeth, desperately supporting himself and refusing to kneel.

He could kneel to anyone, but he couldn't kneel to her.

Because she was Su Bingqing's mother.

If he knelt, he would never be able to raise his head again.

"Kneel."

The Purple-robed Woman spoke coldly, her voice carrying unquestionable majesty.

Baili Yunche's knees finally gave out, heavily slamming into the ground.

Beads of sweat as big as beans broke out on his forehead, and his face was as pale as paper, but that pair of eyes was still raised stubbornly, staring fixedly at the Purple-robed Woman.

"Mother! I beg you!"

Su Bingqing dropped to her knees with a thump, her face covered in tears,

"Don't hurt Baili Yunche! It was all of my own accord! He… He only did it to save me…"

Her voice was so choked with sobs that she couldn't speak a complete sentence, and her forehead knocked against the ground again and again, making a muffled sound.

"Auntie."

Baili Yunche knelt on the ground, speaking word by word, his voice hoarse yet firm, "I will take responsibility for Senior Sister."

"Responsibility?"

The Purple-robed Woman sneered, every word like a knife, showing no regard whatsoever for Baili Yunche's self-esteem.

"What are you going to use to take responsibility? You can't even beat a Golden Core Cultivator and can't even protect your own life. What are you going to use to protect Bingqing?"

Baili Yunche opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found he couldn't say anything.

What she said was right.

He couldn't even beat Luo Jinhu at the fourth level of the Golden Core, and almost died at his hands.

If Su Bingqing's mother hadn't appeared in time, I'm afraid both he and Su Bingqing would already be dead.

A him like this, what qualifications did he have to say he wanted to protect Su Bingqing?

What qualifications did he have to say he wanted to take responsibility for her?

He smiled bitterly, lowering his head, unable to utter a single word.

"Mother! Mother! I beg you! Don't kill him!"

Su Bingqing kowtowed frantically, her forehead striking the gravel as fresh blood streamed down, staining the ground red.

"I'll go back with you! I'll listen to you in everything! I only ask that you don't kill him!"

Seeing her daughter like this, the Purple-robed Woman's heart softened, and a trace of heartache flashed in her eyes.

"Silly girl, why must you do this."

She sighed, the ice-coldness in her tone melting away by a few fractions.

She turned to Baili Yunche, her gaze still cold and stern, but devoid of killing intent.

"For Bingqing's sake, I won't kill you."

"But you must remember—"

"You and she are simply not people of the same world. The gap between you two is even further than the distance between heaven and earth. Watch yourself."

Baili Yunche lowered his head without speaking.

The Purple-robed Woman stopped looking at him and turned to Su Bingqing, her voice becoming gentle: "Bingqing, you should come back with me now, right?"

Su Bingqing nodded mechanically, tears continuously sliding down her cheeks.

She slowly stood up, walked over to Baili Yunche, squatted down, and reached out to gently wipe away the blood at the corner of his mouth.

"I'm sorry, Baili Yunche."

"It's all my fault… If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have…"

Baili Yunche raised his head, looking at the tear stains all over her face and the shocking blood on her forehead. His heart felt as if it were being tightly clutched by an invisible hand, hurting so much that he couldn't breathe.

"No."

He held her hand, gripping it tightly, "It's just that I'm incompetent and unable to protect the person I love."

His voice was trembling, his eye sockets red, but he didn't shed tears.

A man's tears could not be shed at this time.

Su Bingqing's tears gushed forth even more violently.

She leaned down, gently pressing a kiss onto his lips, then stood up and walked step by step toward the Purple-robed Woman.

With every step she took, her heart ached by another fraction.

With every step she took, her tears fell one drop more.

"Alright, it's time for us to go."

The Purple-robed Woman spoke indifferently, raising her right hand and making a slash in front of her.

Rip—

A crack appeared in mid-air.

That crack was fully over a zhang long, its edges shimmering with a dim blue light, and inside was a profound darkness, as if leading to another world.

A low, whining sound of wind came from within the spatial rift, making one's hair stand on end.

A spatial rift!

Tearing space apart with a mere wave of a hand!

Baili Yunche's pupils shrank sharply, his heart shocked to the extreme.

An existence capable of tearing space apart… That was a means only attainable at the Void Refining stage or above!

His guess was not wrong; Su Bingqing's mother was at least a powerhouse of the Void Refining stage!

The Purple-robed Woman executed a spell technique, and a soft purple halo flew out from her hands, wrapping around the entirety of Su Bingqing.

Su Bingqing's body began to drift uncontrollably toward the spatial rift.

She turned her head back to look at Baili Yunche, tears blurring her vision.

"Baili Yunche—"

Her voice came from afar, growing further and further away, increasingly ethereal.

"You must come find me!"

"I'll wait for you in Zhongzhou!"

This was the last sentence she left behind.

The purple halo carried her flying into the spatial rift, getting further and further away, smaller and smaller, ultimately turning into a purple dot of light that vanished into the boundless darkness.

The spatial rift began to slowly contract, one zhang, nine chi, eight chi…

"Senior Sister—!!"

Baili Yunche cried out hoarsely, his voice echoing through the mountain forest and startling a flock of birds into flight.

He watched that increasingly smaller rift, watching that final bit of purple light vanish into the darkness, as if something had been forcibly gouged out from his heart, leaving it hollow and hurting so much he couldn't breathe.

"Senior Sister, don't worry, I will definitely go find you!"

Facing that soon-to-be-closed rift, he shouted with all the strength in his entire body.

The rift grew smaller and smaller, narrower and narrower, until finally—

It vanished.

That light, that rift, that person, had all vanished.

The mountain forest returned to peace.

The wind continued to blow, the birds continued to chirp, and the leaves continued to rustle.

As if nothing had ever happened.

Baili Yunche knelt on the ground for a long time without getting up.

He lowered his head, his hands supporting himself on the ground, his fingernails digging deep into the soil.

His shoulders were trembling slightly, kneeling just like that, motionless like a stone sculpture.

Senior Sister's voice still echoed by his ears.

"You must come find me… I'll wait for you in Zhongzhou…"

Baili Yunche slowly raised his head, gazing in the direction where Su Bingqing had vanished, his eyes filled with determination.

"Senior Sister, I will definitely go find you."

He clenched his fists, speaking word by word as he swore an oath:

"No matter how far Zhongzhou is, no matter how many hardships and obstacles lie along the way, I will definitely go find you."

"So what if it's Soul Transformation? So what if it's Void Refining? They are all just temporary! One day, I, Baili Yunche, will marry you in grand style!"