My Husband’s Ascension C65
Chapter 65 Kiss
Zhao Zhao, hearing his words, felt a flicker of confusion and said softly, “Of course I wouldn’t do such a thing.”
How could she even leave if she left him behind? And to forsake him would mean facing Mount Ling with one less formidable ally. She was not foolish enough to let long-past grievances dictate her actions.
“The past is behind us. Don’t dwell on it.” Zhao Zhao spoke with gentle reassurance, then, as if remembering something, she lifted her head from his embrace with effort. “But there is one matter I must make perfectly clear.”
Xie Lanshu lowered his gaze, listening in silence.
“You mustn’t rush to hug me on a whim. Your embraces… they really hurt.”
The strength in his arms softened slightly, yet he did not let her go.
Zhao Zhao furrowed her brow. It seemed this man was not as obedient as he appeared. She could only emphasize once more, “Even a gentle hug is forbidden. Without my permission, you must not touch me.”
The embrace that had threatened to engulf her finally receded. Xie Lanshu stood framed by the evening glow, serene, a faint smile upon his lips.
“Hungry?” he asked.
“…Hungry.”
“I will prepare the meal. You should rest first; just an hour will suffice.”
Zhao Zhao truly needed the respite. Every moment within the Three Thousand Million World had worn her down, leaving her bone-weary.
But after taking two steps, a thought struck her—
Of the few requests she had made earlier, he had not given a single clear answer.
Sleep would only stave off the fatigue in her body. Once she awoke and ate a little, she could finally think in peace about how to leave the Three Thousand Million World.
“…So in a very short span of time, you experienced nearly a thousand small worlds?”
Xie Lanshu replied, “Yes. But this ‘short span’ refers to external time. For those of us within the Three Thousand Million World, the flow of time here is no different than usual.”
Zhao Zhao paused, absorbing the weight of his words. “In other words, from last night until now… in true, outside terms, only an instant has passed.”
“Perhaps even shorter than an instant.”
Zhao Zhao seemed to understand why even those of unparalleled cultivation could be driven to madness within this place.
In an impossibly brief span, the body was forced to traverse hundreds, even thousands, of chaotic small worlds, each offering a different life to live.
And these lives were not all pleasant.
One might finally fulfill a long-cherished wish in the previous world, only for the next to shatter that dream and return everything to the starting point and perhaps even worse than before. Emotions would be overturned in the blink of an eye, and the cycle showed no sign of end.
Madness was not only understandable; it was natural.
To remain composed amidst such turmoil would be nothing short of impossible.
“Are you worried?” he asked, holding Zhao Zhao’s icy fingers and gently rubbing them. “Your hands are so cold.”
Her hand had somehow ended up in his grasp… Zhao Zhao quietly withdrew it.
“Are you not worried?”
The sparse bamboo in the courtyard whispered in the night breeze, letting fragments of moonlight sift through. Amidst the shifting silver shadows, the young man’s voice was soft, “Worried about what?”
“Worried we might never return to reality,” she answered.
He blinked in sudden understanding and lifted his gaze to Zhao Zhao. “I was rather anxious… but now that you’re here, that worry has vanished.”
Zhao Zhao frowned. “The Three Thousand Million Worlds are no mere illusions, nor some ephemeral possibility. Do you understand? Each of these small worlds we traverse is as real as the one we came from.”
More precisely, they were not trapped in a single inescapable cage; rather, each small world was its own cage. They were merely moving from one cage to another.
“If every world is real, then the notion of ‘returning to reality’ becomes meaningless.” His eyes were deep and still, like a moonlit pool. “The world in which I am with you… that is my reality.”
“…”
A sharp sound suddenly broke the stillness.
Zhao Zhao’s palms struck his cheeks, and the force of her slaps echoed crisp and clear.
Xie Lanshu’s pupils constricted slightly.
“Don’t speak such foolishness. I will not roam these small worlds like a stray dog, wandering endlessly in places that are not mine.” Her eyes shone with a rare, resolute fierceness. “Perhaps among these worlds there are ones where I might fare better than I do now, but I do not belong there. Picking you up and marrying you at Yunmeng Pier, being abandoned, then clawing my way through the Cultivation Realm, and surviving death’s edge again and again. These were all hardships I would rather not have endured. Yet I will not, like a coward, cast aside these painful memories and delude myself by occupying worlds that are not mine.”
“I have a place I must return to; a world forged by the me who endured these unwilling sufferings. A world that is truly, indisputably mine.” Zhao Zhao cupped his face, her words deliberate and firm, each syllable a warning. “The suffering I endure here is to save you, Xie Lanshu. I do not ask you to save me in return. I only ask… do not let me die because of your selfish desires. Can you promise me that?”
Xie Lanshu’s gaze lingered deep within her eyes.
In a fleeting reverie, he recalled the girl from long ago; how she had crossed countless rivers and mountains alone, ascending an immortal realm unreachable for mortals, exhausting every measure she could conceive.
In the end, she had staked her very life for a single meeting with him.
Now, she asked nothing of him. Her sole hope was simply this:
Do not let her die for his selfish desire.
Guilt and regret gnawed at him inch by inch, rendering any verbal apology pitifully inadequate.
Because he had witnessed every suffering she had endured with his own eyes. He watched how she had come to him, bloodied and tear-streaked, and how she had turned away in despair when hope faltered.
“…I promise you.” His voice was dry, husky with emotion. “In truth, I have already roughly discerned a way to leave this place.”
Zhao Zhao hurriedly asked, “What way?”
He lifted his gaze to the boundless sky above. “Since we are not trapped within a barrier cut off from reality, then by continuously cycling through these Three Thousand Million Worlds, we are certain to return to the world we originally belonged to.”
Lowering his eyes, Xie Lanshu spoke to Zhao Zhao with calm resolve, “Provided that, until that time, neither of us loses our sanity.”
Zhao Zhao knew this would not be an easy task, especially for Xie Lanshu, whose mind was already fraying at the edges.
…
The very next morning, upon waking, she realized they were no longer in the small world they had originally occupied.
With certainty, Zhao Zhao understood that the cycling through these worlds was being orchestrated by Wu-Shaman Xian.
A sword clattered to the ground, its harsh ringing echoing through the empty stone cavern.
Zhao Zhao lay there, unable to move even a single finger. A seemingly fierce struggle had drained her spiritual power dry, leaving her body covered in wounds that made each breath a torment.
“…I… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… it’s… it’s all my fault… I harmed you… I… ruined your cultivation…”
Before her stood Xie Lanshu, his figure backlit, countless disciples of Kunwu Sect arrayed behind him.
The blood that had flowed from Zhao Zhao stained the pristine edges of his shoes as it pooled at his feet.
He seemed unable to face the scene before him. The disciples stared in shock as the mask of composure that always cloaked their Dao Lord fractured inch by inch, and from each fissure burst an anguish he could not restrain.
Zhao Zhao tried to speak, to offer words of comfort, but the pain wracking her body left her utterly mute.
The moment she awoke, she carried the memories of this world.
In this small world, she had dreamed of the future, ascended Kunwu, and after leaving had established Cloudculm Abode. The early events were nearly identical to what she remembered, save for Xie Lanshu’s intervention in the first half.
The divergence began the moment Yao Ling and Rong Yu were taken.
The demons seized Rong Yu, while Mount Ling took Yao Ling. Zhao Zhao, her cultivation still limited, could not stand against these two forces and was forced onto the path of demonic cultivation.
Though she had managed to protect Rong Yu, her attempt to strike at Mount Ling provoked a counterattack from the Cultivation Realm. She and Dao Lord became enemies in the truest sense, locked in a struggle to the death. In the end, the Demon Realm suffered a crushing defeat, and she was driven to the brink by Dao Lord Tianshu, her cultivation utterly destroyed.
When the two entered this small world, it was immediately after Dao Lord Tianshu had shattered her powers.
“Master, what are you doing?” Senior Disciple Zong Fei hurriedly blocked Xie Lanshu as he poured spiritual energy into Zhao Zhao while carrying her in his arms. “This is the demonic cultivator who invaded the Cultivation Realm. Master, you don’t mean to save—”
“Of course I mean to save her. Step aside.”
The Kunwu disciples were thrown into an uproar.
Zong Fei was sweating profusely, panic etched across his face. “Master, you mustn’t! If you save her, how will you answer to the Cultivation Realm?”
Xie Lanshu took a single step forward, holding her firmly in his arms.
Outside the stone cavern, the clear, sharp ringing of spiritual swords being drawn rang out.
From the very first day of their training, every Kunwu disciple had been taught by Dao Lord Tianshu to uphold the eradication of demons and defense of their Dao as their sacred duty. Private feelings could never interfere; even a Dao Lord who set the rules could not contravene them.
Xie Lanshu took another step forward.
Zhao Zhao mustered what little strength she had and tugged at his robe. “Xie Lanshu…”
In truth, Xie Lanshu was now deaf to all external voices. What filled his mind was the agony and remorse of having destroyed Zhao Zhao’s cultivation with his own hands, and the obsession that drove him to save her at any cost.
Why must they block him?
Those who stood in his way were truly a nuisance.
It was precisely to protect them that he had shattered her cultivation, committing an error beyond repair.
“Xie Lanshu…” Zhao Zhao did not understand why, as the one who had suffered, she had to console the very man who had harmed her. She tugged harder. “Xie Lanshu, you promised me…”
If only they weren’t here.
If he had never been Dao Lord Tianshu… if there had been no Cultivation Realm, no duties to uphold… if the world contained only the two of them.
Cruel thoughts churned relentlessly in his mind. Xie Lanshu remained silent, yet the mere presence of his intent sent the Kunwu disciples before him trembling, their hands almost unable to grip their swords.
Would Dao Lord really kill them?
How had it come to this?
The Single Intent Sword lying on the ground quivered. It erupted into countless sword shadows, their keen edges aimed directly at the innocent Kunwu disciples.
It seems there’s no other choice…
Zhao Zhao sighed, seized his robe, and brought her face close to his with all the strength she could muster.
A kiss, void of any desire, pressed against his pale lips.
“Calm yourself.” She fixed her gaze unwaveringly upon him, her voice stern, “If you truly lose your mind, I will chain you like a dog. I swear it.”
TL Note: 🤢🤮 poor mc
