Chapter 477: I Can Also Not Be the Holy Priest
Green vines encircled the outside of the temple. Standing in the courtyard, she could smell the faint, fresh scent of plants.
Yun Ji led her by the hand into the main hall. In contrast to the brilliant splendor outside, the interior seemed much more stark and cool.
There were stone steps inside the hall. Following them upward, she could see a large... nest?
’This... this can’t be where Yun Ji sleeps at night, can it?’
’I wonder what it feels like to sleep hanging up there.’
At the top of the stone steps was a smooth, flat, circular platform. A table and chairs were set on it, but other than that, there was only the nest suspended above.
’This... is way too simple.’
"Have you always lived here?"
"Mm."
’How boring...’
Yun Ji walked to the table and sat down, then reached under it.
Just as Qiao Xixi thought Yun Ji was about to get the Soul Stabilizing bead for her, he pulled out a basket of fruit.
Qiao Xixi was a little surprised, but she quickly understood.
’Yun Ji is from the Wing Clan. It’s only natural that he likes fruit.’
After placing the basket of fruit on the table, Yun Ji looked up at her.
Qiao Xixi got the hint. ’He’s offering them to me as his guest.’
She sat down opposite Yun Ji. Just as she reached for the fruit on top of the pile, he picked it up ahead of her.
Qiao Xixi reacted quickly, smoothly changing direction to pick up a red fruit nearby to avoid any awkwardness.
"Are all of these your favorite fruits?"
Yun Ji glanced up at her again, a hint of resignation in his eyes. But he still gave a soft "mm" before lowering his gaze to peel the fruit.
The hall grew quiet, the silence broken only by the CRUNCH CRUNCH of her eating her fruit.
She propped her chin on her hand, tilting her head to look at Yun Ji.
His long, light-colored hair cascaded like an iridescent waterfall over his smooth, soft feathered robe, nearly blending into it.
Beneath his hair, his brow was strong and his eyes deep-set. Long lashes nearly veiled his unfathomably deep gaze. Up close, the bridge of his nose was as proud and straight as a mountain ridge. His skin was whiter than snow, as flawless as a newborn’s.
This wasn’t the first time Qiao Xixi had been struck by Yun Ji’s stunning looks, but seeing him again, his exquisite features still left her in a daze.
Yun Ji seemed completely oblivious to his own beauty. As he lifted his gaze, the corners of his eyes seemed to hold a trace of desolate loneliness.
Qiao Xixi’s breath caught in her throat, a tightness spreading through her chest. The words tumbled out before she could think. "Yun Ji, have you always lived here all by yourself?"
His hands didn’t stop moving. His cool voice was filled with a practiced calm.
"I wasn’t, a long time ago. But I have been since."
Qiao Xixi’s senses returned quickly, and she held back from asking the follow-up question.
’Even if he said he was bored and lonely, what could she do about it? If she couldn’t change anything, why poke at a painful wound?’
"Here."
The peeled orange fruit was offered to Qiao Xixi. She hadn’t realized he was peeling it for her.
She took the fruit, broke it in half, and handed the other half to Yun Ji.
"Thank you, but I can’t eat this all by myself."
Instead of taking the fruit, Yun Ji simply looked at it, then leaned forward slightly and took a bite right from her hand.
When his warm lips brushed against her fingertips, Qiao Xixi felt a jolt of electricity shoot from her hand through her entire body.
She tried to pull her hand back, but he gently held her wrist and took the rest of the fruit in another bite.
Startled, Qiao Xixi let go of the fruit. She didn’t dare look at him again, burying her head and focusing on eating her own piece!
’Why is the atmosphere so strange?’
Yun Ji watched her flushed cheeks, a faint smile touching the corners of his eyes.
But by the time Qiao Xixi looked up, he had already returned to his usual cool and detached expression.
Qiao Xixi ate her fill of fruit and couldn’t manage another bite. She had no choice but to speak up. "Yun Ji, what does that thing you mentioned look like?"
"I’ve already sent someone to retrieve it."
"Okay."
"Will you be leaving after you get it?"
Qiao Xixi nodded. "Mm, I want to go back to the tribe to check on the cubs. With Sangze in his current state, I’m also worried something might happen to Sangqi."
Yun Ji was sitting turned to the side, so Qiao Xixi couldn’t see his expression clearly. When he didn’t respond, she continued, "By the way, before... when you hadn’t recovered your memory, you formed a Guardian Contract with me. Is there any way to dissolve it?"
Yun Ji suddenly turned his head to look at her. "Are you that desperate to have nothing to do with me?"
Qiao Xixi froze. Seeing the corners of his eyes suddenly turn red, she waved her hands in a fluster. "No, no, that’s not it! You’re the High Priest. How can you be bound to me by a Guardian Contract? If something... happened to me, it would drag you down with me."
Yun Ji lowered his gaze, his lips pressing into a thin line.
"I don’t have to be."
"What?"
He suddenly grabbed her wrist, his cool voice filled with resolve. "I don’t have to be the High Priest."
"Yun Ji..."
Qiao Xixi stared at him, her heart pounding like a drum.
"Xixi, you are Shuishui. I said this to Shuishui before, but she forgot. So I will tell her again."
He pulled her slowly to her feet. His tall frame nearly enveloped her, and his soft hair slid across her chest, carrying his warmth.
"If anything happens to you, I don’t want to live either."
Qiao Xixi’s pupils widened, reflecting his face as it drew closer and closer...
A warm breath brushed against her brow, and her mind instantly went blank.
The handsome face before her seemed to gradually morph into the youthful face of a young boy. His gaze was grief-stricken yet resolute as he looked in her direction.
"Shuishui, you can’t let anything happen to you! They said you were just tainted by a dark power. I’ll definitely find a way to purify you. You have to wait for me!"
The boy’s youthful face morphed into Yun Ji’s present-day appearance.
But unlike the cool, detached man she knew, the Yun Ji she saw now had eyes filled with overwhelming sorrow.
"Shuishui, I couldn’t let anything happen to you. To save you, I had no choice but to preserve your life essence and infuse it into the bloodline of a pure-blooded Silver Frost White Wolf. Their bloodline is pure and their power is abundant. I knew it could resurrect you and bring you back to this world."
Qiao Xixi saw Yun Ji exhaust a vast amount of his energy to condense a green seed from the Spring of Life. ’Why does that seed look so much like the one in my space?’
He clutched the seed tightly in his hand and closed his eyes as a single tear rolled from the corner of his eye.
Qiao Xixi felt a warm drop of liquid fall onto her eye. Her own lashes trembled, and a scalding tear traced a path from the corner of her eye.
"Yun Ji, you were the one who protected me back then."
Yun Ji cupped her face, his gaze incredibly earnest. "Mm. The Spring of Life was severely tainted. I tried countless methods, but none of them could completely purify you. My only option was to use a beast’s soul to preserve your life essence and infuse it into the bloodline of the Silver Frost White Wolf clan, allowing their lineage to nurture you."
"So, you’ve been waiting for me all this time?"