Chapter 67: “Will Master Marry Me?” p2
Li Yu’s affirmation clearly pleased Mu Tao.
But the joy was fleeting.
Her expression became more complex, her brow furrowing slightly, as if struggling with something.
“Mu Tao, what’s wrong?” Li Yu couldn’t help but ask, worried.
“Even if I remove this barrier, Master…will you truly stay in the Demon Realm with me?”
“I’ve never considered leaving.” Li Yu explained earnestly, “What happened before…I had no choice, and I can’t explain why. If I had a choice, I would never have abandoned you.”
Mu Tao’s eyes reddened, tears blurring her vision.
She asked softly, “Do you…truly care about me that much, Master?”
Li Yu: “I do!”
Mu Tao: “I know you have your reasons, and I won’t ask why you abandoned me… But I really want to know…in your heart, besides our master-disciple bond, do you truly…have no other feelings for me?”
Li Yu: “…”
Could she answer this?
Mu Tao: “Is it…that difficult to answer?”
Li Yu: “…”
In Mu Tao’s current, clearly unstable state, if she admitted to having romantic feelings, wouldn’t Mu Tao immediately…
Seeing Li Yu’s silence, Mu Tao wiped away her tears, her voice choked with emotion. “During the Cloud Platform Trial, Master, to save me, you recklessly broke through your cultivation despite your injuries…”
“You knew…I had the Heavenly Demon’s Demon Bone, the most dangerous thing in this world. Even if you couldn’t bring yourself to kill me, for the sake of the world, you should have kept me weak and trapped on Mount Chao Yao.” She couldn’t help but ask, her voice filled with confusion, “Didn’t you do that for over two hundred years? Why…why did you suddenly change your mind, giving me the manual, taking me to the human realm, teaching me spells?”
“In the City of the Undying, to find me, you endured the backlash, broke through the illusion…”
“In the bamboo forest of Lingzhou, when I lost control, you risked your life to awaken me…”
“When everyone wanted me dead, you abandoned everything, endured severe injuries, took me away from Mount Chao Yao, protected me, and sent me to the Demon Realm…”
“Was it all…just my wishful thinking?”
Mu Tao raised her right hand.
With a flash of dark light, a string of silver bells, tied with a red string, appeared on her wrist.
The broken string, the cracked bells, all repaired with a spell.
The oath was broken; they were just ordinary bells now, yet she still wore them, concealed by a spell.
“The Harmony Bells…they represent a lifelong promise, right? I didn’t know that before, but Master…didn’t you?” She asked, her voice filled with a quiet desperation. “When we first went to the human realm, you personally tied them on me…was that also…just my wishful thinking?”
Mu Tao said, “Master, I’ve always…always believed you had your reasons.”
But even with those reasons, her master still left.
Without a single explanation.
In that darkness, she saw her master’s tears for the first time.
That single pearl, left behind, like a final memento.
She had thought about it countless times, what her master’s reasons were…
And what those tears meant…
She couldn’t understand her master’s reasons.
But she believed that pearl, that tear, was proof that her master still cared.
But was a single tear enough?
Perhaps her master was just…in pain…
But if her master truly didn’t care anymore, how could she find the courage to survive alone in the Demon Realm?
She was so conflicted.
So conflicted that a single tear could wage war in her heart for so long.
Regarding her master’s affection, she both desperately wanted to believe it and didn’t dare to.
Every day and night in the Demon Realm, she had repeatedly told herself—even though the Harmony Bells were broken, it didn’t mean her master didn’t care anymore.
Her master was still the one who would do anything for her, defy the world for her.
Her master’s feelings for her couldn’t be less than her love for her master.
Her master left because something stood between them.
She didn’t know what it was, but even though her master had returned, that obstacle still remained.
Even her tears and tantrums couldn’t elicit an answer.
She had thought countless times—her master’s words must be true, but sincerity in the present couldn’t guarantee the future.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to believe her master, but if those reasons could make her master leave once, couldn’t they make her leave again?
—She couldn’t bear to lose her master a second time.
Mu Tao’s voice choked with tears.
Li Yu wanted to make a promise, but promises seemed meaningless now.
Unless the system’s restrictions were lifted, allowing her to explain everything.
But that was impossible.
Mu Tao wiped away her tears and looked up at Li Yu, her eyes filled with a quiet desperation, asking again, “Do you truly…only have master-disciple feelings for me?”
Li Yu looked into Mu Tao’s eyes, the crimson deepening, and felt a sharp pang in her chest.
Was it because of the curse that she couldn’t respond to these genuine feelings?
She hesitated, unsure, afraid to answer, lowering her gaze to avoid Mu Tao’s eyes.
She desperately tried to untangle the mess in her mind, to find a reason—a reason to confess her true feelings.
What was the hidden main storyline the system insisted on?
She still had 30% of her mission left, and this 30% had clearly deviated from the original story.
The system had said that her purpose was to preserve the crucial plot points while guiding the story back to its original, more logical outline…
Although she didn’t want to admit it, this outline must be related to the Heavenly Demon.
The Upper Spirit Lamp, containing the Heavenly Demon’s soul fragment, was guarded by Mount Chao Yao. The novel repeatedly mentioned the ancient battle, yet the Heavenly Demon itself never appeared.
The only time the Lamp played a significant role was when it broke the seal on Mu Tao’s Demon Bone.
After that, it was resealed and never mentioned again.
Even the crucial information about Mu Tao’s Demon Bone being connected to the Heavenly Demon was omitted by the author.
And the black-robed figure, who didn’t exist in the original story, Weisheng Xuanzhu, who was essentially a background character for half the novel and then conveniently killed off, was the one trying to revive the Heavenly Demon.
The starting point of this entire story seemed to be the centuries-old resentment of the southern kingdom.
And this resentment wouldn’t have become so potent without Weisheng Xuanzhu’s influence.
So, the revival of the Heavenly Demon was planned from the beginning.
But the author, finding it too difficult to write, drastically changed the plot before the clues were fully revealed?
So, in the revised story, the Demon Bone was no longer connected to the Heavenly Demon, and the hidden antagonist, plotting the Demon’s revival, became a disposable character.
The foreshadowing was never resolved, the plot couldn’t continue logically, and forcing a new storyline onto the existing foundation caused the entire story, both characters and plot, to collapse.
Now, everything was back on track—so, the little protagonist’s final mission, with her Demon Bone, would be to confront the Heavenly Demon?
If so, staying here was just delaying the inevitable, not changing the outcome.
If she couldn’t tell Mu Tao any of this,
Then she could at least try to face it with her,
Instead of pushing her away out of fear…
Although she had so much she couldn’t say, she could at least tell Mu Tao her true feelings!
As for the curse, as long as Mu Tao was calm, she could surely find a way to subtly warn her.
Only then could she regain her freedom and discuss the Heavenly Demon with Mu Tao as equals.
Thinking this, Li Yu looked up at Mu Tao, a sense of relief washing over her.
“Mu Tao, I…”
Just as she spoke, Mu Tao stood up and walked towards her.
She gently cupped the back of Li Yu’s neck.
As her fingers tangled in Li Yu’s hair, she leaned in, silencing Li Yu with a kiss.
The kiss was forceful, possessive, making Li Yu’s breath catch.
She instinctively tried to pull away,
But Mu Tao pushed her onto the stone table, her knee pressing against Li Yu’s legs, making her freeze.
She tried to push Mu Tao away, but the silver bells on her wrist chimed softly, the sound seemingly encouraging Mu Tao.
What was this? Had she gone mad?
Li Yu struggled harder.
Mu Tao, sensing her labored breathing, briefly released her lips.
Li Yu gasped, trying to speak, but Mu Tao kissed her again, silencing her.
This was insane…
Li Yu’s cheeks burned.
Thankfully, this kiss was gentler, less forceful.
Like a dragonfly skimming the water, soft touches, like an apology, a plea.
But she wouldn’t stop, afraid that if she did, Li Yu would say something she didn’t want to hear.
Every shared breath was a desperate plea.
Li Yu gradually stopped struggling, trying to calm Mu Tao by responding to her kisses.
Tears fell, each drop echoing loudly in the silent room.
Mu Tao finally released her, a deep-seated resentment in her tear-filled eyes.
“Master always has so many concerns, I never know…where I stand with you.”
“But you…you’re the only one in my heart…”
“This isn’t…fair…”
“Please…don’t make me…just watch from afar anymore…”
She whispered these words, a dark red aura enveloping them.
Li Yu wanted to speak, but her mind felt foggy.
“Master…do you think…what we’re doing…is inappropriate?”
“Yes, I’m being unreasonable, I shouldn’t be so hasty…”
“Will Master marry me?”
“With a proper title…would you…stop rejecting me?”
As the aura dissipated, the blue in Li Yu’s eyes faded.
All her worries, her hesitation, her surprise, vanished.
She whispered, “Alright, I’ll marry you.”
Mu Tao finally heard the words she longed for.
After a moment of silence, she wiped away her tears and knelt at Li Yu’s feet,
Like she used to, when watching the stars alone.
She extended a finger, counting the fallen pearls, one by one.
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