"Brother Yun..."
Staring at the worried Cang Yue, Yun Che smiled and hugged her, softly patting her back and using Restoration to heal her.
"It's alright... You did great. I am proud of you, Yue'er."
"Um." Hearing his soft voice, Cang Yue gave a small nod. "I am tired. I will go back and rest. Brother Yun should go and check on Sister Qingyue. She didn't look good."
"Yue'er, you..."
Cang Yue shook her head in his embrace and stated: "I just wanted to defeat Sister Qingyue because of my petty. I was jealous, but that doesn't mean I hate her or anything. Just now, she looked quite hurt. Unlike me, she shouldn't have any way to heal her wounds instantly. Brother Yun should pay her a visit. After all, she IS your wife."
"Sigh... Have I ever told you? I am the luckiest man to have you in my life, Cang Yue."
A giggle escaped Cang Yue's mouth.
"Brother Yun says that all the time."
"Yeah. I just thought I need to say it again. Why? Do you not like it?"
"Umum." Cang Yue shook her head. She raised her head and looked into Yun Che's eyes with her crystal gaze and said with a soft, gentle smile adorning her face. "I love it. Today, I will allow Brother Yun to spend the night with Sister Qingyue. But I want Brother Yun to praise me more after."
"Silly girl... I would never get tired of praising you. I know! How about we get married after the tournament?"
"Brother Yun..." Cang Yue's face suddenly blushed, and tears filled her eyes. She felt as if her stomach was filled with butterflies! Her heart was beating so fast that Yun Che could literally feel it through their connected chest.
"Ahem." At the side, Wushang coughed, feeling the atmosphere getting a little bit too pink and awkward for him. "Princess, you should go and rest. I will take care of everything else and will report to you after."
"Okay..." Cang Yue hurriedly distanced herself from Yun Che, feeling the gaze of everyone in the audience, and vanished to her room. The embarrassment she felt after realizing what she just did in front of everyone was too much for her fragile heart to take!
"I will take my leave too." Seeing her vanish, Yun Che said.
Wushang nodded, and Yun Che also vanished.
After a little pause, Wushang said: "Yuanba... Your brother is one lucky person."
"I know... It's my brother-in-law after all!"
…
In the silence of the empty room, Qingyue appeared.
After leaving the stage, she didn't go back to the other members of Asgard; instead, she returned to her room. Sitting on the bed, her face had a deep frown as she felt increasing pain from her chest. The images of today's match kept playing in her mind. Remembering Cang Yue and her last blow, she softly muttered, "It hurts..."
Closing her eyes, she placed her hand over the wounded shoulder, a weird feeling welling up in her chest. "It really hurts..." The voice fell.
"Of course it would. Why would you leave without getting any medical care? Unless you have some weird fetish."
"... Are you here to mock me?" Staring at the man who now sat on a chair in front of her, Qingyue looked at him and asked, "Or to make fun of me?"
Right now, she was questioning her own choices. She wondered if leaving Yun Che was really the right decision. In the past week, she had been thinking about this a lot. But today, seeing Cang Yue utterly defeating her, such questions became even more apparent within her mind.
Was leaving him really the right choice? If she hadn't, would she be the one standing by his side like how Cang Yue did today? Would it be she who would be putting all his focus instead of Cang Yue? Would she be stronger than she currently is?
Such questions, the more she thought about them, the more she felt her heart constricting. This feeling... she hadn't felt it in such a long time, and this made her mad at herself. She didn't know how to face these feelings anymore!
"Mock? Why would I?" Staring at her face, Yun Che softly smiled and replied, "I am here to meet my wife, that's all."
"..." Qingyue replied to him with silence. She closed her eyes, thinking for a while before she opened them. Looking straight into his eyes, she softly said, "Yun Che... Do you hate me for leaving you back then?"
"I don't." Yun Che's reply was straight to the point, causing Qingyue to go silent for some time. "In fact, in this world, you are the woman I respect the most. Unlike Cang Yue, you were there when I was at my lowest. And it was also you who stood by my side when I was at my lowest. I am sure if I wasn't what I am today, Cang Yue would never have looked at me."
He looked into her eyes and smiled. "After all, the reason she and I met was that she saw an opportunity to get into the top hundred in the Blue Wind Ranking tournament. If not for that, she would have never looked at me, nor would she have chased me just to make me accept becoming a disciple at the Ranking Tournament."
"I see..." Qingyue nodded before going into silence, yet Yun Che could see through her and knew she was more relaxed than before.
Staring at her wound, he softly said, "Here, let me heal it."
"You can?" She gave him a suspicious look, making him chuckle in return.
"Did you forget, my dear wife, who opened all your profound entrances?"
Remembering it, an unconscious smile formed over Qingyue's face, which she hid right away and nodded.
"Alright. Then take off your robes."
"..."
"What?" Seeing her staring at him with a deadpan expression, Yun Che acted innocent. "How can I heal you if I cannot even see the wound? Have you ever seen a medical saint healing someone without checking the condition first?"
"..." Thinking it made sense, Qingyue's hand moved, and she gently pulled her robe off from her shoulder, allowing Yun Che to clearly see her collarbone and chest hidden behind those white bandages. Since bras didn't exist in this world, most women used white bandages to cover their chests. Even then, it was impossible for those bandages to fully contain her chest, allowing him to see her cleavage clearly.
Feeling his gaze, Qingyue's cheeks heated up, and she averted her gaze to the side. This made Yun Che raise a brow before a smirk appeared over his face; she didn't attack him, that was an improvement!
He gently touched her skin causing a soft "hiss" to appear out of her mouth.
"Cang Yue really didn't go easy on you…"
"Humph. Weren't it you who told her not to?" She questions with a slight pout. Even though it wasn't visible since she hid her emotions well, she couldn't hide it from Yun Che's perspective.
"How can?!" Yun Che looked shocked as if it was first time hearing it. "I would rather die than to tell someone to hurt my beautiful wife!"
His statement was returned with an eye roll from the beautiful woman.
Silence fell and Yun Che gently used Restoration to heal her wound. He purposely made the healing slow so as to spend as much time with her knowing full well how 'moody' she was when it came to close contact.
"Qingyue… Why do you seek strength?" Despite knowing the answer to his question, Yun Che still inquired. He wanted Qingyue to open herself to him, and for that, he would obviously need to ask personal questions.
Qingyue remained silent. Only after some time passed did she open her mouth and reply: "I want to bring my mother back and complete my family."
"Your mother? Where did she leave too?"
"The Realm of Gods!" Qingyue replied strongly, eyeing Yun Che's expression. A sudden astonished expression formed over her face when she saw Yun Che's expression not changing at the mention of the Realm of Gods.
A certain thought appeared in her mind, which made her heartbeat faster and her slightly impatient.
"Yun Che… You know about the Realm of Gods?"
"A little bit." He didn't explain it to her but gave her enough indication that he was aware. This was enough to make Qingyue's eyes widened and her face excited.
This was the first time she heard someone other than her mother know about the Realm of Gods! And this made her excited! Maybe… Yun Che also knew the way to reach the Realm of Gods!
Thinking, she forgot about the fact that her hands were still holding her robes in place from falling and quickly caught Yun Che's hand instead.
Her eyes desperate, she pleadingly asked: "Please… tell Qingyue how to reach it! Qingyue is willing to do anything! She is even willing to do her duties as the wife!"
"Idiot." Yun Che flickered her forehead causing a pained expression to appear over her face. Seeing her expression, Yun Che smiled. "Even if you don't force yourself upon me, I would still tell you if you want to know. After all, we are still husband and wife… Even if it's just in name…"
Qingyue suddenly felt extreme warmth filling her chest, the same warmth she felt at the night of their marriage when Yun Che opened her entrances despite overexerting himself.
Looking at his face, her eyes mellowed down explicitly and her face softened. She didn't know what she was feeling, but one thing was for sure, she didn't hate this feeling!
...
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