Chapter Fifty-Eight: Departure

"You keep looking at me like that and you’ll make me shy..." Back in the VIP room, surrounded by faces shining with anticipation, Zhou Tian spoke bashfully.

"Zhou Tian, you hid this well. If not for what happened today, just how long were you planning to keep it a secret?" Liu Yan’s smile was radiant, her eyes curved like crescent moons—she seemed to be in excellent spirits.

She helped Tianling to sit on a chair nearby. Thanks to the miraculous medicine she’d just taken, Tianling already looked much better. Zhou Tian grinned. "How long? Maybe until you and Zhou Zui get married?"

“You—when did your tongue get so sharp?” Liu Yan choked on his reply, forced to mutter resentfully.

Zhou Zui, standing nearby, looked thoroughly bewildered. Huh?

"Now that everything’s settled, we won’t overstay our welcome. Take care..." Li Xunchuan rose to his feet, the others quickly following suit.

It was clear the young couple had things to discuss—what was the point of hanging around and playing the third wheel?

As everyone began to leave, Liu Yan suddenly glanced back. "Tianling, don’t put too much faith in certain people’s sweet words!"

Zhou Tian could only sigh. Liu Yan was indeed one to remember every slight. Tianling’s petite figure was still suffused with a faint spiritual glow, her skin radiant as if she’d stepped from a painting—a lingering effect of the divine medicine.

At Liu Yan’s words, Tianling blinked her large, luminous eyes, her delicate brows arching slightly. She glanced at Zhou Tian, then nodded to Liu Yan.

"Hee hee..." Liu Yan let out a mischievous laugh, her eyes twinkling slyly as she stepped out.

"Are you feeling alright, Ling’er?" After they had gone, Zhou Tian sat beside Tianling, concern coloring his voice.

"I’m almost fully recovered. That medicine... was amazing." Tianling could still feel the lingering power of the divine pill within her. It was no ordinary medicine—it had healed not only her injuries from the arena, but the divine light now gently repaired her body, slowly mending even old wounds she’d almost forgotten.

"That’s good..." Zhou Tian breathed a sigh of relief. He and Zhou Xunchuan had requested that pill, though he wasn’t exactly sure of its level. But anything Zhou Xunchuan provided was never ordinary.

A quiet settled between them. Zhou Tian gazed at Tianling’s breathtaking beauty—she seemed ethereal, lost in thought as she stared into empty space.

After a while, Zhou Tian offered a rueful smile. "Ling’er, I’m sorry..."

Anyone who’d watched the events in the arena could tell Zhou Tian had been prepared; he just hadn’t told Tianling.

"It’s alright..." Tianling turned to him, her eyes limpid as autumn water. A rosy blush bloomed on her cheeks, a mist of emotion softening her gaze. In the gentlest voice, she said, "How could I blame you, when I like you so much?"

Zhou Tian gazed into her crystalline eyes, seeing his own reflection there. Was his face actually growing hot? Impossible... How could I be blushing? I’m the night king of the city, the life of every party... It must be shock, just shock. Why does Tianling seem so different today? She would never have said something like that before...

What Zhou Tian didn’t know was that, after her near-death experience in the arena, something inside Tianling had quietly changed.

He felt as if his whole body was floating, about to lift off the ground...

A slow, radiant smile blossomed on Tianling’s face, her brows arched like distant mountains, her eyes crescent and bright as the winter plum’s first bloom—stunningly beautiful.

"Zhou Tian, are you... actually shy?"

Zhou Tian was silent for a moment, then retorted indignantly, "Well! Trying to tease your own husband—what punishment do you deserve?"

"Mmm... ah..." Tianling let out a startled cry, but her words were cut off as her lips were sealed; her whole body melted into his...

...

In the days that followed, Zhou Tian felt that monotony was about to descend on his life—because he’d received some very bad news.

Tianling was returning to the Vast Sky Sect!

The moment Zhou Tian heard, he felt like a boneless salted fish, too listless even to turn over.

In the Qin Prince’s manor, the main hall—

"Young Lord Zhou, don’t look at me like that. It really wasn’t my idea to send Senior Sister home!" Zixu was unnerved by Zhou Tian’s dark expression—especially with Uncle Zhou standing nearby. From what he’d seen in the recent projection, the "old grandpa" he’d thought was so well hidden was glaringly obvious to these people, as plain as a lamplight. He could only force a wry smile.

"I know," Zhou Tian replied. Of course it wasn’t this kid—he didn’t have that kind of influence. The main reason was a letter from the Vast Sky Sect’s leader. After reading it, Tianling had simply said she wanted to go back for a while.

Curious, Zhou Tian had Uncle Zhou make a copy of the letter. There was nothing secret in it—just an explanation that, as the Vast Sky Sect’s representative for the Eight Provinces Tournament, Tianling was asked to return for some training.

Though the capital was filled with martial masters, any one of whom might surpass the Vast Sky Sect’s leader, Tianling had grown up in the sect and regarded it as her home. After being gone so long, she wanted to go back, even if that home had once disappointed her.

But Zhou Tian was still displeased—someone had to bear the brunt of his frustration, and Zixu made the perfect target.

"Listen, kid, don’t get any funny ideas. If you do, you won’t be the only one to suffer!"

He slung an arm around Zixu’s shoulders and whispered in his ear.

"Young Lord, you must be joking. I wouldn’t dream of it!" Zixu protested with another bitter smile, revealing nothing.

"All ready..." Tianling’s voice called from outside. She entered, clad in white as pure as snow, graceful as a figure stepped from a painting, her fragrance drifting in the air. Behind her was an unfamiliar middle-aged man.

By now, Zhou Tian no longer tried to stop her. Tianling might seem gentle and delicate, but she was fiercely independent. After what happened last time, she understood that in the capital—even as the young lord’s consort—she couldn’t die even if she tried.

But she didn’t want to rely forever on Zhou Tian’s protection. That’s why she had to return.

Zhou Tian knew he couldn’t stop her. With a sigh, he said, "Let’s go... Come, I’ll take you to the teleportation array..."

The Qin Prince’s manor boasted arrays leading to every corner of Futian Province. When Zixu and the others had arrived, they’d had to transfer several times, as only a few cities had arrays connecting directly to the capital.

But the Qin Prince’s manor lacked for nothing—they could teleport straight to the city nearest the Vast Sky Sect, saving a great deal of time.

Tianling didn’t refuse. If a shortcut was there, why make things hard for herself? That wasn’t independence—that was foolishness!

With Zhou Tian watching, Tianling and her companions stepped onto the teleportation array. He would have liked a passionate farewell kiss, but Tianling still lacked the nerve...