The Arch-Enemy Must Not Become a Wife

Looking down, it was even more magnificent. A giant vortex was slowly rotating at the seabed, its edges a light cyan color, gradually deepening to a dark cyan, then to gray as it moved inward, until the center of the vortex was completely pitch black, capable of swallowing all light.

Gazing at this mysterious, powerful, and strangely beautiful giant whirlpool, Chu Xuan was deeply shocked; besides that, he also felt a vague sense of familiarity, as if this wasn’t the first time he had seen this scene?

It was normal to think so. Since Chu Xuan’s rise from Gui Xu Grotto Heaven in the past, and his practice of the "Celestial Water Returning Ruins Technique," he naturally would have personally come to see the Gui Xu’s body, which greatly benefited his cultivation and Dao enlightenment.

To say nothing else, just seeing this vortex made the magical power within Chu Xuan’s body restless, as if it wanted to center around his Dantian and form a personal small world "Gui Xu," corresponding with the Gui Xu of the external great world.

It even seemed to want to draw down his chest’s Crimson Palace and his brow’s Purple Mansion, the two upper and middle Dantians, merging them into the lower Dantian, thus uniting the three Dantians.

Chu Xuan immediately calmed himself, dispelling this almost instinctual "illusion." What he was currently cultivating was the "Jade Capital Secrets," and naturally couldn’t do this, as it would lead to instant death.

For now, the Gui Xu’s operation seemed normal and unaffected by frequent natural disasters from the outside world, which relieved Chu Xuan.

At this moment, the little Snow at his waist widened her eyes and shrank her head a bit fearfully, leaving only two little eyes exposed, afraid that if she got too far from Chu Xuan, she would immediately be sucked in and devoured by the Gui Xu.

Qing’er seemed to be there for the first time too, looking around with a face full of amazement.

"You said you’d bring me here to see this in the past, yet it never happened."

Chu Xuan felt a bit awkward, "Did I?"

"Of course you did. Come on, let’s go see that cave mansion you opened up~"

Qing’er’s voice was light, pulling Chu Xuan’s hand, and they floated lightly into a specific position in the air, aligned with the trigrams in "Qian" position.

As they got closer, he noticed some fine grains of sand floating there, faintly reflecting a bit of light.

"We’re here, open it up."

Chu Xuan was even more embarrassed, "I completely can’t remember this part of the memory, no idea how to open it."

"Mostly using the power of Gui Xu to form an array. Although I have some accomplishments in formations, it’s not suitable to act hastily here," Qing’er said, slightly vexed.

"Perhaps try a drop of blood?"

Chu Xuan shook his head. If it indeed was a formation he had set, it couldn’t be opened easily.

He tried to take out the Six Souls Banner, reducing it to its smaller form, and tapped it against these grains of sand.

Upon tapping one of them, suddenly it emitted a splendid light and revealed a thin fissure. Chu Xuan’s eyes brightened, and he flew in with Qing’er.

It was just a small stone cave mansion, meant for closed cultivation, naturally with nothing extraordinary about it.

Inside, there was only a meditation cushion, and... a jade flute.

Qing’er looked around with curiosity after entering, while Chu Xuan stood frozen in place, staring motionlessly at the flute. His pupils contracted slightly, and only after a long while did he take heavy steps forward, tears already brimming in his eyes.

Qing’er had already noticed his emotional state was not quite right, so she just silently watched.

Chu Xuan half-knelt on the ground, picked up the flute with trembling hands, and held it to his chest. Tears finally fell down his cheeks, chokingly murmuring, "Xiaoyun, Xiaoyun..."

Qing’er didn’t offer any comforting words, nor did Xiaoxue; they just quietly stayed by his side, watching him drown in his memories, unable to speak for a while.

After Chu Xuan’s emotions slightly calmed, Qing’er asked, "Was this used by that little bird of yours?"

Chu Xuan wiped his tears away, responding in a low mood, "No, this is one of the treasures I got from Gui Xu Grotto Heaven. I wanted to give it to Xiaoyun. She always liked instruments that could make sounds."

"I thought at the time that she would be very happy to receive this, would play it for me, then hug my neck, gently kiss me, and sing me beautiful songs."

"Unfortunately, by the time I got it, she was already gone..."

Xiaoyun was a girl Chu Xuan had met early in his life. She was his pet, his confidante, and his partner through life and death.

Because of the tough situations in his early years, Chu Xuan didn’t really spend much thought on women. Thus, the women he truly had feelings for were mostly those he met after his rise to fame.

Only Xiaoyun was different. She had accompanied him early on, being a little demon he rescued unintentionally.

She was a transformed skylark, a type of nightingale, to be exact.

Her true form was small, and even after transformation, she maintained a petite stature, adorable and clingy. She loved to sing, singing when happy, singing when sad, singing when killing, and even singing while chewing wormwood.

Chu Xuan loved her singing voice. He would sing all kinds of songs he had heard in his past life to her, and she could immediately sing them back exactly as they were, whether they were in Japanese or English, singing even better than he could, sweet and moving.

Later, Chu Xuan simply sang all his favorite songs from memory to her, using her as his personal "Song Requester."

She accompanied Chu Xuan through the lowest period of his life, from the second realm to the fourth realm, a span of sixty years during which Chu Xuan had grown accustomed to having her always by his side.

Even if Xiaoyun playfully wandered too far, just a whistle from Chu Xuan would have her flying back immediately, nestling beside him like a tiny bird.

When in his arms, she liked to peck softly at his chest, neck, lips with her delicate beak... Her singing voice was something Chu Xuan would never forget in this lifetime.

But Xiaoyun couldn’t accompany Chu Xuan to the very end... she didn’t even wait for him to truly make his name.

The two of them were exploring a secret realm at the time when Chu Xuan was pursued by his enemies, severely injured, and fell unconscious.

In order to save her master, Xiaoyun deeply ventured into a dangerous situation, expending tremendous effort to finally procure a life-saving spirit medicine known as the Nine Tribulations Nirvana Lotus.

However, for the sake of this life-saving medicine, she was severely injured by a mighty demon guarding the spirit medicine, barely dragging herself back to her master, clinging to her last breath.

When the unconscious Chu Xuan awoke after taking the medicine, he only managed to see Xiaoyun one last time, tears flowing as he watched her dissipate before him.

This was one of Chu Xuan’s greatest pains in the past. After recovering from his injuries, he trained furiously to become stronger. Whether it was the foes who chased him or the great demon who killed Xiaoyun, they all ended up being torn to pieces by him.

But the dead cannot be resurrected. Chu Xuan could only silently sit by her grave, talking to her in a low voice...

Since then, he has shown more kindness to demons, especially benevolent ones of the avian kind.

Since then, whenever Chu Xuan hears the song of a nightingale, he thinks of the girl he could never forget.

Despite being resurrected after six hundred years, where he should have forgotten all past memories, he found that he could not forget Xiaoyun’s "singing."

She died in his arms, becoming his greatest sorrow and regret. Whenever he hears a similar chirping sound, sadness wells up in his heart.

She was with him through the toughest times, but when he truly rose, she was already gone.

...

Su Mengqing had never met Xiaoyun, but she had heard the story of this little bird many times from Chu Xuan’s stories.

Chu Xuan had painted numerous pictures of Xiaoyun, both in bird form and human form. So although Qing’er had never seen this girl, she knew what she looked like and was well-acquainted with her personality.

Though Qing’er naturally felt a bit jealous of Chu Xuan’s lingering attachment, she knew, as a very intelligent person, not to express displeasure or criticize Chu Xuan, especially since the person was no longer alive.

Since he genuinely liked and trusted her enough to share these past experiences with her, such treatment wasn’t something every woman could receive.

At least Qing’er knew that Ji Mingyu, who was known to be jealous, wouldn’t have heard about the little bird in such detail even if Chu Xuan did mention her.