Chapter 500: The Agony of a Blunt Knife, The Future Is But an Illusory Dream, and a Visit

The night wind moaned, weaving through ancient courtyards and deep halls. It swirled for a time among the pavilions and palaces before finally dissipating into the covered corridors, making the high-hanging Golden Lamps sway.

It was deep in the night, a time that should have been utterly still, tranquil and serene.

BOOM!!!

But just then, an earth-shattering boom suddenly erupted, shaking the surrounding palace halls and high walls.

The ancient trees trembled. A slender figure shot out from the palace doors and alighted on the top of an old tree.

Jiang Ruxian was dressed in snow-white robes that perfectly accentuated her exquisite immortal form. Her black hair danced in the wind, falling in slight disarray over her chest.

Her flawless, jade-like face—fair, delicate, and the very picture of perfection—was now tinged with an inexplicable blush.

A trace of blood stained her petal-soft lips. It didn’t detract from her beauty in the slightest; instead, it traded some of her usual, fairy-like aloofness for a captivating allure more vibrant than any blossom.

“Jiang Ruxian, don’t you think you’ve gone too far?”

Jiang Lan emerged from the palace entrance.

He straightened the collar of his slightly disheveled robes, his expression ice-cold. In his palm, brilliant Runes flickered, radiating an immense power.

At this, Jiang Ruxian’s emotions calmed somewhat.

“I…”

She wanted to explain, but the words died on her lips. She suddenly didn’t know what to say.

‘How could I explain?’

‘That my emotions were in turmoil and I lost control? That I simply acted on impulse?’

But even she didn’t believe that excuse. For a cultivator of her level, was it even possible to lose control of one’s own state of mind?

No, all of this was simply born from her true feelings.

“You know how I feel…”

After a moment of silence, Jiang Ruxian spoke softly.

“Feelings? Your so-called feelings are just a way to soothe your own guilt. I’ve already told you, there’s nothing between us anymore. I don’t owe you anything, and you don’t owe me anything.”

“I won’t pursue what happened tonight, but don’t let it happen again,” Jiang Lan said, his tone placid.

Jiang Ruxian stared at him, dumbfounded.

“I know you want to get back at me, but must you be so heartless…?” she murmured.

Jiang Lan reached up to touch his chest, as if he could still feel the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Immortal Heart that once beat there.

But now, that heart had long since been returned to Jiang Ruxian.

“I never wanted to get revenge on you.”

“Then and now, all I’ve ever wanted is to cut all ties with you,” Jiang Lan said, his expression impassive.

“Why…”

“Why can’t you give me one chance? Why must you treat me like this…?” Jiang Ruxian continued to murmur, her pupils trembling.

“I don’t understand why you’re so different now from the person I knew in the future, but I’m sure there’s a reason.”

“Jiang Ruxian, you’ve seen the future too, haven’t you?” Jiang Lan asked, watching her calmly.

Hearing this, Jiang Ruxian’s heart fluttered. She suddenly had no idea how to answer him.

“Don’t be silent…”

“Answer me, Jiang Ruxian.”

“Someone as proud as you should be above lying,” Jiang Lan said, his gaze fixed on her.

“I’m sorry…”

A sharp pain lanced through Jiang Ruxian’s heart, and she couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze.

She suddenly realized that from this moment forward, the distance between them was growing ever wider—so wide she no longer dared to reach across it.

“I’m sorry…”

Her eyes trembled and her expression clouded over as she repeated the words.

“So it’s true.”

Receiving the answer he’d expected, Jiang Lan let out a dry, self-deprecating laugh, one that held a private, bitter meaning known only to him.

Jiang Ruxian lowered her head and fell silent.

This was supposed to be a secret buried deep in her heart forever, but Jiang Lan, with his sharp intellect, had already figured it out.

She didn’t just know the future; she had returned to the present *from* the future.

“If this is really how you feel, as you claim, then tell me: what is this future that you know?”

“If you hadn’t known about that future, how would you have treated me then?”

“Kill me? Desecrate my tomb and scatter my ashes?”

With a scornful smile, Jiang Lan said, “In the past and in the present, I, Jiang Lan, have been more than fair to you.”

Hearing his words, the color drained from Jiang Ruxian’s face.

“Don’t insult me by passing off your guilt and sense of obligation as some kind of affection…”

“Jiang Ruxian, you are not worthy.”

Paying her no more heed, Jiang Lan turned and walked back into the hall, the doors slamming shut behind him with a BOOM.

Jiang Ruxian’s face was ashen. Faced with Jiang Lan’s barrage of questions, she had no idea how to respond.

A sense of confusion and sorrow began to well up within her.

In truth, it was just as Jiang Lan had said. The future he had seen was one she had personally lived through.

She could neither explain it away nor deny it.

She had chosen to hide all this from Jiang Lan for her own selfish reasons, subconsciously unwilling to admit to what she had done.

Even now, she still clung to that same cowardice.

But after tonight, they had finally laid everything bare. Paradoxically, she felt a sense of peace settle over her heart.

‘Future?’

‘No, that isn’t the future anymore. It’s just an empty dream.’

Jiang Ruxian placed a hand over her heart, her emotions quickly calming. Then she turned, and with a flash of light and a flutter of white robes, vanished in the blink of an eye.

The commotion would have ordinarily alarmed many people, but Jiang Ruxian, not wanting to make a scene, had taken measures to conceal it all.