From being a naturally gifted young genius spoken of by others, to becoming the peak swordsman acknowledged by the Xianzhou, one that might not appear even in ten thousand years, Jingliu had gone through a lot.
Before she revealed her edge, she was just an ordinary new recruit.
When she saw the corpses of her own kind, her heart almost stopped.
But on the battlefield, enemies wouldn't show mercy.
Jingliu didn't even have time to feel fear.
She had no choice but to kill.
Jingliu first cut open the chest of an abomination.
After that, with trembling hands, she used her sword to stab through the core of a former comrade.
Jingliu did not stop moving.
She stepped over bloodstains, crossed severed limbs, passed by wreckage, and continued fighting the abominations.
Time and again, Jingliu brushed past death.
In the dead of night, she would often dream of the companions who had died by her sword, falling into nightmares she couldn't break free from or escape.
In those unfocused, murky pupils, Jingliu saw her own ending.
Falling into mara, dying at the hands of her companions.
Jingliu had long expected this.
Everything in the world follows cause and effect.
From the moment she raised her sword against her companions, her ending had already been decided.
She only hoped that day would come a little later.
Before dying, she wanted to kill as many abominations as possible for the Xianzhou and its people.
Until Jingliu met Zero.
She hadn't planned to reveal her feelings to him.
But people are always selfish, always greedy.
At some moment, she actually began to fear death.
She wanted to be close to Zero, to spend the rest of her life with him.
Jingliu lowered her head, tears continuously falling from her eyes, her vision blurring along with them.
Her lover was clearly right in front of her, so why… did he feel so far out of reach?
Jingliu thought, it was a good thing Zero couldn't see her face.
Otherwise, her lover would have to comfort her again.
She held Zero tightly, not letting him move, forcing him to keep facing away from her.
Unable to stop her tears, Jingliu could only use the same tone as usual and ask him in return, "You said before that you missed me… were you lying? If so, I'm going to be angry."
What kind of pain would make a leader completely forget the achievements he was proud of, and only pick out the "Plague Author of Longevity"? Why treat it as a sin he committed?
Zero had his own pride.
Jingliu knew that every word he used to reject her was actually an attempt to keep her.
Thinking about it now… Zero had started liking her a long time ago.
Otherwise, why would he repeatedly push her away and test her?
A person like Zero wouldn't waste time on unimportant people or things.
If he spoke, it meant he was trying to keep someone.
The fact that he could show a vulnerable and helpless side in front of her… was already rare.
If Jingliu hesitated even a little, Zero would quickly distance himself from her.
What she needed to do was to choose him again and again, firmly.
Jingliu lowered her head and forced out a light laugh.
"Don't try to fool me, I've read the Star Sea Council's news reports."
She replaced "obituary" with "news report" and sped up her speech, "They said you're kind, noble in character, exceptionally capable, and far-sighted..."
Zero didn't pay attention to or care about outside opinions.
He had no idea where Jingliu dug up such fake news from. After hearing it, he only felt his scalp go numb.
Afraid she might say something ridiculous like "strongest human," Zero cut in directly, "Fake. They polished it."
"Kind? Noble character? It was me who started the war across the universe."
"And they say I'm exceptionally capable and far-sighted…"
"It was also me who led the Xianzhou people to pursue the 'Plague Author of Longevity.'"
Zero spoke with reasoning and evidence, refuting the news Jingliu mentioned.
He originally thought that this time Jingliu would let go, but instead, the person behind him held on even tighter.
"Swordsmen refine their skills, doctors improve their medicine…"
"Even Yingxing, a short-lived species, searches everywhere for new materials."
What Jingliu wanted to say was that any decision, like swordsmanship or medicine, has its limits.
Unfortunately, her words weren't very convincing.
The person Jingliu had met was a diviner from the Divination Commission, not a marshal who had accompanied the Xianzhou for thousands of years.
Only Zero's subordinates could untangle the knot in his heart.
She barely managed to hold back her tears.
"I've never thought that following public will is wrong."
"And I've never thought that fighting abominations is wrong."
"But after meeting you, I actually…"
Jingliu faintly felt the tips of her ears growing hot.
Before the two of them met, there must have been others who accompanied Zero, doing all sorts of childish and crazy things together.
Compared to the subordinates and friends who had stayed by his side for hundreds or thousands of years… they had met too late.
How much weight did she hold in Zero's heart?
Jingliu pressed her lips together, resting her forehead against Zero's back, and with difficulty voiced what was in her heart.
"I want to stay with you a little longer."
She wanted to take up more of Zero's time.
"Would you… think I'm greedy?"
Zero placed his hand over the back of Jingliu's hand.
He said softly, "…No."
Jingliu held his hand in return, slightly loosening her embrace and pulling him to turn around.
"That time, when I stood in front of you to protect you… did you think I was overestimating myself?"
For a moment, Zero's expression turned confused.
He asked Jingliu, "When you learned my age, did you feel disgusted?"
Jingliu shook her head firmly. "How could I?"
Zero lowered his gaze and looked into her eyes.
"I never thought you were overestimating yourself."
"I…"
Zero paused.
He opened his mouth, speaking in broken phrases, "Jingliu, to me, you…"
"...are very important."
"If I were to be separated from you…"
Zero fell silent again.
He looked at Jingliu steadily. After a long moment, he finally forced out four words.
"I would be sad."
Jingliu's eyes turned red instantly.
The lover who kept rejecting her to test her feelings… would actually speak so plainly and reveal his true heart to her like this?
Jingliu blinked rapidly, trying to push back her tears, but they fell anyway.
She subconsciously turned her head aside.
Zero raised his hand and gently held her face.
After hesitating for a long while, he only managed to say two words.
"…Don't cry."
Jingliu's tears fell even faster.
"Looks like… you don't know how to comfort people."
Zero moved slowly, carefully wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"Sorry…"
Jingliu tilted her head up, cooperating with his movements.
She bit her lower lip and said in a choked voice, "Why are you apologizing?"
"This only shows… that very few people care about you, comfort you, or coax you."
After she said that, Zero seemed to hear something he couldn't understand and froze in place.
Only when Jingliu was about to kiss him did he come back to his senses, stepping back half a step to create distance between them.
"We're outside right now."
Jingliu thought, there's no one else here.
After thinking for a moment, she stood on her tiptoes and pulled the coat draped over Zero's shoulders over his head.
She grabbed the coat's collar with both hands, forcing him closer to her.
Under the cover of the coat, Jingliu lifted her head and kissed her lover.
Only when she was almost out of breath did she pull slightly away from Zero.
Jingliu's red eyes carried a trace of hard-to-notice obsession.
She didn't want to seem too forceful, so she steadied her voice as much as possible and spoke in a light, smiling tone, "Then, Marshal who protects the Xianzhou…"
"Are you willing to continue being protected by a mortal?"
Zero didn't answer, only looked at her.
After watching her for a long while, Zero raised his hand, pressed the back of Jingliu's head, and kissed her again.
For him, encountering someone who made him gradually lose his rationality… was it a blessing, or a misfortune?
Zero lowered his gaze, focusing on the person in his arms as she gradually softened and sank into the kiss.
Now, he had his answer.
It was both a blessing and a misfortune.
At some moment, he had truly wavered.