Chapter 731 - 575: Husband...
Chapter 731: Chapter 575: Husband...
"I don’t want this Ascension Realm if it costs you your life!"
A woman’s gentle yet firm voice drifted through the room.
Xiao Mo gazed at Gui Junmeng’s earnest, resolute face. His lips parted as if to explain something, but then he slowly closed them.
"Jun Meng, I’m sorry..." Xiao Mo finally said.
Hearing Xiao Mo’s apology, Gui Junmeng gently lowered her head. Her heart instantly softened, and she felt that her words and tone had been a little too harsh.
"Xiao Mo... actually, you don’t need to apologize to me."
A look of deep self-reproach flashed in Gui Junmeng’s eyes, and her voice was soft and low.
"I’ll admit, I’ve been angry with you lately, but I know deep down that everything you did was for my own good. I shouldn’t have been avoiding you, and I shouldn’t have made things so difficult for you."
"And..."
Gui Junmeng looked up, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks like the first peach blossoms of spring.
"I’ve had some time to think these past few days, and I’ve figured things out. Whether you’ve ever had feelings for me or not... what does it matter? My feelings for you will never change."
"And... one last thing..."
As she spoke, Gui Junmeng slowly lowered her head again, her voice becoming so quiet it was as if she were afraid of startling something.
"Xiao Mo... do you remember? You once said... that I’m not Jing Ci..."
"But Xiao Mo..." Gui Junmeng bit her lip, gazing deeply at him, her clear, fox-like eyes reflecting only his image. "Jing Ci and I... we look identical, and our figures are the same... If... If it’s okay with you... you could just... treat me like her..."
Gazing into Gui Junmeng’s clear eyes, which held a pleading look, Xiao Mo couldn’t help but freeze for a moment.
Without realizing it, Xiao Mo slowly reached out and gently stroked Gui Junmeng’s cascading hair. A gentle smile touched his lips.
"Jun Meng, you aren’t Jing Ci, and you don’t need to be. You are you. And this world having a woman named Gui Junmeng in it... is a truly... wonderful thing..."
At Xiao Mo’s words, a faint joy trickled through Gui Junmeng’s heart, quiet and slow like a spring stream.
A light blush colored her cheeks, like a sunset’s glow on snow-white Xuan paper.
"I... I’ll head out first... You... you get some rest..." Gui Junmeng gently slipped her hand from Xiao Mo’s grasp. She shyly lowered her gaze and turned to leave.
This time, Xiao Mo didn’t stop her.
He knew the tension between him and Jun Meng had finally eased, at least a little.
However, just as Gui Junmeng reached the doorway, she stopped. Turning back, she looked at Xiao Mo earnestly. "Xiao Mo... actually, this world is a better place with you in it..."
"So... please don’t do anything foolish like that again, alright? Can you promise me?"
Gazing into her fox-like eyes, as clear as water, Xiao Mo’s heart stirred. He then smiled and nodded. "Alright... I promise you."
Hearing Xiao Mo’s answer, the corners of Gui Junmeng’s lips curled into a faint, sweet smile.
She turned and walked out the door. Her loose Daoist robe brushed against the threshold, her steps as light as if she were walking on clouds.
After Gui Junmeng left, Xiao Mo slowly retracted his gaze, turning to look out the window.
’I seem to... have promised a lot of things...’
’But the things I’ve promised... it feels as if I can’t keep any of them...’
He gave a faint smile and shook his head, a hint of barely perceptible self-deprecation in the gesture.
An hour later, Xiao Mo stood up, walked out of his room, and went alone to Liu Shui’s courtyard.
He reached out and knocked gently on the door.
"Young Master?"
Liu Shui opened the door and was quite surprised to see Young Master Xiao standing on her doorstep.
’The Young Master was always so mindful of propriety. He would rarely visit her this late unless it was truly something urgent.’
"I apologize for disturbing you so late, Sister Liu Shui." Xiao Mo bowed with his hands clasped, his tone gentle yet solemn. "There is a small favor I’d like to ask of you, if you would be willing to hear me out."
...
「Half a month passed quietly.」
Ever since her talk with Xiao Mo, Gui Junmeng no longer avoided him as she had before.
Their relationship returned to how it once was; they were even closer than before.
Xiao Mo continued to practice Dual Cultivation with Gui Junmeng, spending their days and nights together.
However, for now, Xiao Mo and Gui Junmeng’s cultivation was still limited to the exchange of Spiritual Power.
In truth, with Gui Junmeng having reached the Immortal Realm and Xiao Mo now in the Mid-stage Jade Realm, they were both more than qualified to join on the level of the Divine Soul.
The only reason they hadn’t was that the final step of their wedding ceremony had never been completed.
Although their respective Daos were very close, they remained faintly separate, never having truly merged.
Joining their Divine Souls at this point would be far less effective, as the first time one engages in Divine Soul Dual Cultivation is critically important.
Logically, Xiao Mo should have completed the final step of the wedding ceremony with Gui Junmeng long ago.
However, as Xiao Mo’s injuries had not yet healed—he could barely even get out of bed—the matter was temporarily set aside.
Later, just as Xiao Mo’s injuries began to improve, he and Gui Junmeng had their falling out.
Coupled with the fact that Daoist Yun Xi had gone to the Human Alliance and had yet to return, the matter was delayed even further.
Of course, the most significant reason was that Xiao Mo never took the initiative to bring it up.
As for Gui Junmeng, being a young woman, she was naturally too shy to be the first to mention it.
After all, while joining at the level of the Divine Soul didn’t involve direct physical contact, the books all said that the sensations it produced were virtually indistinguishable from those of a physical union.