DEG - Chapter 25
Chapter 25: She Should Come See Me Now
Although the quest was issued by a love rival, it was still a quest. Besides, Luo Nanqiu was the central figure of the current version's event.
Even if it was a quest from Luo Eighteen, it might just be a major one!
Breaking Waves Riding Wind nodded without hesitation.
Then she heard Luo Eighteen say, "I want you to take Ah Xun away from here."
Breaking Waves Riding Wind noticed that Luo Eighteen's gaze was somewhat heavy.
"Is this her idea? Or..."
Breaking Waves Riding Wind couldn't help but ask, an indescribable complexity stirring in her heart.
Luo Eighteen stared at her and sneered. She could see her rival's little scheme to steal her girl and said directly, "We're on great terms."
Only now did she remember that she and Luo Nanqiu were one and the same.
"This is a quest issued by me."
"Ah Xun loves me too much." Luo Eighteen's exquisite fan covered the lower half of her face, her violet eyes sparkling and shimmering in the sunlight.
Within them was a hint of a brag disguised as vexation. "Just because she heard my future self suffered for a few years, she's willing to give up her own future, to be willingly trapped by her self-pity trick, wanting only to be a golden canary that makes me happy."
"That won't do," Luo Eighteen interrupted with feigned annoyance, which also served as the quest's background story.
After hearing this, Breaking Waves Riding Wind's mood sank. Although she knew it was highly unlikely, she still held a sliver of hope that Jiang Xun and Luo Nanqiu's relationship had fractured.
But with everything Luo Eighteen just said...
Who didn't know what Luo Eighteen was up to?
"But this quest is very difficult," Breaking Waves Riding Wind stated, explaining the problem objectively.
This was, after all, one of the most mysterious and heavily guarded planets in the interstellar space.
Players had been digging for years but hadn't managed to unearth a single piece of information about the planet's interior, let alone get inside for a tour.
Sometimes, after failing to infiltrate time and again, players would break down and wonder: Has the Regent's home not even been modeled yet?
Is that why we can't get in at all!
But a little thought made it clear that was impossible.
How could anyone build a game world like this?
Breaking Waves Riding Wind's thoughts aligned with most players.
This game was so realistic and vast that it didn't feel like a game world, but a real world one could traverse to just by putting on a gaming helmet.
Although there was no direct evidence, the evidence was everywhere.
In short, considering that this might be a real world, Breaking Waves Riding Wind accepted and undertook quests with the same caution as if she were living a second life.
Liking Jiang Xun was one thing, but she had to be alive to like her.
How much nerve would it take to steal the treasure of someone who had just gotten it back?
Luo Eighteen seemed to see the cowardice in her heart. In their brief interaction, Luo Eighteen had already figured her out. Knowing her feelings were fragile, she acted with a bit more pride and patience.
"Use your head. Why do it yourself?"
She offered a hint.
"Someone as good as Ah Xun, don't you think her comrades-in-arms would miss her?"
The answer was, of course they would!
Qing Yue was Jiang Xun's comrade-in-arms, and she herself found it difficult to define the relationship between them.
Perhaps it was because no single identity was what she truly wanted.
She was once Jiang Xun's senior sister, the one who guided Jiang Xun into the military. She had also been Jiang Xun's comrade and Jiang Xun's adjutant.
In the end, Jiang Xun became her superior officer.
This shift in status wasn't because she had been stagnating-in fact, she too was a rising star in the military-but her light was completely overshadowed by Jiang Xun's.
Because Jiang Xun's promotion speed was simply too fast.
A unique and utterly domineering Ability, coupled with Jiang Xun's brilliant military mind.
There were even opportunities provided by opponents who tried to be clever but ended up shooting themselves in the foot, making Jiang Xun's promotions feel like they were rocket-fueled.
Qing Yue could only watch as the junior she had high hopes for ascended step by step to a height she could never reach.
Like the sun, hanging high in the sky, shining brilliantly.
Those romantic feelings in her heart, because they were so untouchable, were melted away by that sun and buried deep inside.
Qing Yue knew she wasn't the only one in the Imperial Military who harbored romantic feelings for Jiang Xun.
But the other's brilliance gave rise to a deep-seated sense of inferiority within her, making her profoundly aware-she wasn't worthy.
What could she do with this kind of affection other than suppress it in her heart?
All she could do was inquire about Jiang Xun's past, unable to help herself.
She knew Jiang Xun and the Eldest Miss of the Luo Family were childhood sweethearts with a deep bond. She had also heard from many friends that everyone thought the Eldest Miss and Jiang Xun would end up together; they were a perfect match.
That was the Eldest Miss of the Luo Family, the one who was about to become its leader.
...
Sigh, forget it. Such an outstanding person, with such an outstanding partner. Sometimes, she couldn't even muster a shred of jealousy, because the gap between them was simply too vast.
She knew her own status and talent; she could only witness Jiang Xun's meteoric rise.
She looked forward to Jiang Xun's future achievements, to one victory celebration after another that belonged to Jiang Xun.
But she never expected that the rising sun would fall in its 24th year.
And then be branded with the crime of treason.
They had defended Jiang Xun, only to suffer for it themselves. The diplomatic missions they were sent on became increasingly difficult, and after surviving by the skin of their teeth time and again, they were demoted for poor performance.
It was then that she knew the desire for Jiang Xun's death was a long-premeditated plot.
But what could she do?
She was powerless.
She hoped the Eldest Miss of the Luo Family would clear Jiang Xun's name. After all, wasn't it said that... the Eldest Miss was very fond of Jiang Xun?
They were childhood sweethearts. She surely couldn't bear to let Jiang Xun carry such a stain on her name.
It had to be so.
Qing Yue began a long wait.
She knew that after the Eldest Miss lost Jiang Xun, the Luo Family thought she had lost her strong right arm and began to target her in unison.
She knew the Eldest Miss frequently faced assassination attempts.
She had worried that the Eldest Miss wouldn't be able to hold on, that she would be defeated by the other Luo heirs, leaving Jiang Xun with no chance of exoneration, to be trampled completely into the mud.
Fortunately, Luo Nanqiu persevered.
She personally witnessed the Eldest Miss reveal her sharp edges.
Without Jiang Xun's protection, Luo Nanqiu displayed her own ruthlessness.
Those siblings who targeted her, tried to assassinate her, and attempted to pull her down from the heir's throne were all executed by her.
In the years after Jiang Xun's death, all the turmoil in society stemmed from Luo Nanqiu.
Qing Yue watched as Luo Nanqiu used iron-fisted methods to consolidate the Luo Family. Then, in a series of moves she couldn't comprehend, she seized power from her father and became the most powerful head of the Luo Family in the interstellar world.
Qing Yue waited for her to clear Jiang Xun's name.
But she found that Luo Nanqiu had fallen silent.
Just as her heart grew cold, thinking their past friendship was all a lie, that Luo Nanqiu had only used Jiang Xun as a pawn and was thus indifferent when Jiang Xun died and was covered in filth, Qing Yue began to hate her.
Qing Yue knew clearly that Jiang Xun's path in the military had been so difficult precisely because Luo Nanqiu was behind her. After long contemplation, she finally understood why Jiang Xun had died.
Behind the truth of her death, there was no escaping Luo Nanqiu.
Although Luo Nanqiu hadn't acted directly, she was the direct cause of Jiang Xun's death.
Qing Yue began to hate her.
A hatred that was a mere annoyance to Luo Nanqiu, a hatred that, even with all her efforts, couldn't scratch a single hair on Luo Nanqiu's head.
She felt a surging helplessness about this.
But there was nothing she could do.
Powerlessly, she looked at her photos with Jiang Xun again and again, her hatred for the Eldest Miss gradually deepening.
Until one day, during her leave, someone knocked on her door.
The visitor was familiar, yet a complete stranger.
She had once had the privilege of meeting this Eldest Miss, thanks to Jiang Xun, but she never imagined she would have changed so drastically in this time.
Her skin had an unhealthy pallor, her expression lacked its former liveliness-in fact, it was the complete opposite.
Her black hair was a heavy mass, and her violet eyes, though translucent, held a sadness as deep as the sea. Dressed in a black gown, she had the air of a widow who had lost her beloved.
But she was also as exquisite and fragile as a magnificent porcelain doll.
The porcelain doll tugged at her skirt, as if curtsying. "Pardon the intrusion."
Her lips curved into a smile of false pleasantries.
"Miss Qing, I heard you were Ah Xun's comrade-in-arms..."
The hatred that was about to overflow from her heart was not assuaged in the slightest, even with Luo Nanqiu looking so haggard and knocking on her door with such a lowered stance.
She cut Luo Nanqiu off. "Yes, I was. What can I do for you?"
Her voice was unavoidably sarcastic.
Luo Nanqiu chuckled lightly. Such a cold reception was not enough to break her etiquette. She remained smiling and courteous, her manners so impeccable that Qing Yue almost thought she herself was a billionaire with a family background so profound that even Luo Nanqiu had to treat her politely.
Then she heard Luo Nanqiu say, "I would like to buy all the items you have that are related to Ah Xun."
Qing Yue tightened her grip on the doorknob.
It was unexpected, yet also within her expectations.
"You're collecting Jiang Xun's belongings?"
"What's the use of collecting these things?"
"To comfort yourself that you, my lady, didn't abandon her?"
Luo Nanqiu seemed not to have registered any of the hostility.
She took out the contract she had brought.
The list of items for transaction was crystal clear, all of them related to Jiang Xun.
Even her photos with Jiang Xun were on it.
She heard Luo Nanqiu say to herself, "I will give you a price that will satisfy you."
Qing Yue could barely suppress the rage in her heart.
"Do you really think her belongings can be bought with money?!" She nearly grabbed Luo Nanqiu by the collar, wanting to vent her anger at this interstellar magnate who could never be offended.
Interrupted, Luo Nanqiu lifted her eyes, looked at her, and shook her head. "For me, no."
"For you, yes," she said with certainty.
"I will bring you money and opportunities. In exchange, you just have to trade Ah Xun's things to me." She curved her lips into a smile.
"After all, the most important thing..."
"Your memories with her, I cannot take those away."
Luo Nanqiu's words were extremely bewitching.
Luo Nanqiu's attitude was also extremely firm.
Though her posture was humble, Qing Yue knew that she was determined to take away everything related to Jiang Xun.
If she went along, she would be richly rewarded. If she went against her...
Those things would become her own posthumous belongings, to be collected and taken away by Luo Nanqiu.
There was nothing Luo Nanqiu set her sights on that she couldn't take.
A heavy sense of powerlessness threatened to drown her.
She didn't look at the contract.
"I don't want any of this," Qing Yue heard herself say. "I want an answer."
Luo Nanqiu looked at her in surprise.
In that daze, Qing Yue suddenly felt that perhaps this great lady was only now, for the first time, truly seeing her.
"Please ask," she said, her tone still polite and humble.
"Why won't you clear Jiang Xun's name?"
"Do you really think Jiang Xun would commit treason?!"
As if she hadn't expected Qing Yue to ask this.
Luo Nanqiu fell silent for a long time, and Qing Yue waited.
She watched as those violet eyes gradually grew still.
"Do you think Ah Xun needs this exoneration?"
"She does!" Qing Yue answered decisively.
Unexpectedly, Luo Nanqiu laughed with extreme delight at that moment, and even her still eyes began to shimmer.
"I also think she needs it very much."
"Do you think she'll hate me for not clearing her name?"
"She hates that sort of thing the most, working so hard her whole life, only to be covered in filth in the end..."
"Do you really think you can anger her back to life from her coffin?!" The incredulous words slipped out.
Luo Nanqiu lifted her eyes and looked at her darkly.
She just gave a light laugh.
"She should hate me."
Her voice was so soft Qing Yue could barely hear it.
"...She should come see me now."
"Even if it's only in a dream."
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