Twenty years ago, at Jinping Villa, the dusk glow was like dye and the maple color was like rouge.

That was the last time Zhao Ya saw Gong Ziling and Xie Anping standing side by side, admiring the red maples dancing in the wind under the sunset.

Autumn maples always show their most beautiful colors when they are falling, just like the bright red on Xie Anping's pale face after a long illness.

Xie Anping in the glow stretched out his palm, wanting to keep the falling maple leaves. Gong Ziling held Xie Anping's hand tightly, wanting to keep her from passing away.

The scene of the falling red leaves was engraved in Zhao Ya's memory forever. It was the most beautiful and tranquil scene she had ever seen in her life.

Only the picture belongs to the fairy couple, and there is no room for any unsightly dirt.

So she couldn't bear to blaspheme, and she didn't dare to come forward to defile it, so she hid quietly in the depths of the maple forest, like an insect that couldn't see the light.

Twenty years later, at Jinping Villa, the Spring and Autumn Period has changed, and people and affairs have changed.

The person who was looking at the maple hand in hand with Gong Ziling was sleeping under the green grave in front of him. At this time, the person standing side by side was a new person.

What has not changed is that Zhao Ya is still hiding deep in the maple forest, looking at a scene that does not belong to her from a distance, but this time, her mentality is different...

Zhao Ya leaned against the maple tree and looked at Xie Lingyan in front of the green tomb with cold eyes, her eyes filled with a mixture of teasing and ridicule.

Being too far away, she couldn't hear clearly what was said between Xie Lingyan and Gong Ziling, but she could guess it.

This little girl should be told about the relationship between her and the person in the tomb at this time.

After all, she should call Young Master Ling uncle, Zhao Ya thought maliciously.

From the first time Xie Lingyan entered the villa, she could see the little girl's hidden emotions, just like Xie Anping had seen through her back then.

But she didn't stop it or expose it, because she had already foreseen today's outcome.

In other words, she has already been looking forward to today's results.

Connected blood creates similar faces. Zhao Ya has always been curious about how Xie Anping, who has gotten everything she wants, will look like if he encounters a situation where love cannot be loved and cannot be obtained.

Pain? Sadness? Helplessness? Or despair?

Perhaps this answer can be gleaned from Xie Lingyan's similar face.

But in the end, when she saw Xie Lingyan trembling slightly, kneeling in front of the unmarked tombstone, paying homage to her nephew, she did not laugh out loud as she had originally expected.

Instead, she felt a sense of sympathy for the same patient, which made her unable to bear to take a closer look at the expression on Xie Lingyan's face.

We are all losers who cannot love each other, so what is there to fight for? In the end, the living cannot win against the dead.

Zhao Ya even suddenly felt that if Xie Lingyan could really keep Young Master Ling, that would be good. At least, Young Master would no longer have to participate in the battle for the Book of Heaven and challenge the three religions and six ways, the human and demon races, for a long-dead person.

An extremely powerful enemy.

Zhao Ya was in a daze as she thought about it. Until a familiar voice called her back.

"Come out, it's getting dark." Gongzi Ling was still standing in front of the grave, but his voice came in like a whisper. It seemed that he had already noticed her presence.

Well aware of Young Master Ling's ability, Zhao Ya was not surprised. After tidying up her appearance, she walked out of the woods. When Xie Lingyan was nowhere to be seen, she resumed her usual tone and asked with some revenge, "Where is your wife and niece?"

Gongzi Ling said calmly: "There was something important happening in her faction, so she left first."

Knowing in her heart that Xie Lingyan must have been upset and just excused herself to leave, Zhao Ya still deliberately said: "Oh, what a big deal it is, why did she stay in the villa for so long and leave without even saying goodbye?

"

Gongzi Ling said: "Jinping Villa is free to come and go. If you should leave, why force you to stay?"

Zhao Ya turned her eyes and looked directly at Young Master Ling. Tu Qiong saw, "Where is Young Master, when do you plan to leave without saying goodbye?"

Young Master Ling also looked at Zhao Ya and asked, "What about you, are you planning to keep me by force?"

Their eyes looked at each other, as if time had stood still. Zhao Ya wanted to find even a trace of hesitation in Gong Ziling's eyes, but in the end, she was defeated.

Zhao Ya lowered her head, avoided the young master's gaze and laughed at herself, "Forcibly staying? Am I worthy? The peacock's wings only pursue the passing figure, the rest are not valuable, nor are they worthy of the young master's stay."

Young Master Ling comforted him in a low voice: "I know you are angry, but I promise you that the dispute over the Heavenly Book is my last attempt. No matter what the outcome is, I will never look for a way to bring the dead back to life again. My Young Master's

Promise, don’t you believe it?”

"I don't believe it." Zhao Ya smiled sadly, shook her head slightly and said: "Young Master promised a thousand pieces of gold, but only in this aspect, I don't believe it at all. I know Young Master too well, she is your weakness, your Achilles' heel, time and time again

, you fly towards the impossible road for her, like a moth outside the lampshade, hurting yourself to death and bruises, and every time there is a glimmer of light, you will start again and again until you break through that.

Layer the lampshades until you throw yourself into the burning candle flame..."

Zhao Ya raised her head again, her eyes no longer as cold as before, and her worry and concern were palpable, "The battle for the Heavenly Book is not just a candlelight, but a flame that burns the world. The three religions and six paths, the human and demon races, are all affected by the Heavenly Book. Now

All forces converge in Leshan, and a war is about to break out. Entering the battlefield alone is tantamount to setting yourself on fire. Even if you have the power to penetrate the heavens and the earth,..."

Young Master Ling laughed loudly and waved his sleeves to interrupt her worried words, "Ha, the Three Religions and Six Paths and the old dragon have already prepared a grand ceremony. Why should I be afraid of being present? Without being burnt by fire, I cannot distinguish between pure gold and gold.

Without this line in the fire, it seems that it is easy for me to acquire the heavenly book!"

"But I'm afraid, I'm afraid that the young master will break his promise, but I'm also afraid that the young master's promise will come true. I'm afraid that this will become your last attempt..." Because of the past that he couldn't bear to look back on, Zhao Ya was like a cocoon, layer by layer.

Her sincerity had been sealed away, but at this moment she was willing to tear out a crack in the invisible cocoon and reveal her true feelings.

"Sir, please don't go, okay? You can't just live in the past. There are things in front of you that are worth cherishing. For our... sake, and for the sake of Jinping Villa, don't go!"

A gust of autumn wind blew hard, causing the maple leaves to fall, like a red rain, just like that year.

Fallen leaves were flying between Zhao Ya and Gong Zi Ling, making Zhao Ya unable to see clearly Gong Zi Ling's expression. She was silent for a long time before hearing Gong Zi Ling sigh sadly:

"Who doesn't live in the past..."

The speaker may not have meant it, but the listener did. Zhao Ya's pupils shrank, her expression of eagerness and pleading froze, and the past came rushing back like a nightmare.

At this time, she saw a hand pushing away the maple leaves and patting her shoulder. It was Gongzi Ling who wanted to comfort her again, but Zhao Ya instinctively screamed and stepped back to distance herself from Gongzi Ling.

"I'm sorry, I forgot for a moment that you are so obsessive and it was me who was rude. But you don't even dare to touch me. How are you going to keep me?"

Young Master Ling took his hand back and said, "I didn't plan to tell you to save you from having to say goodbye, but if you ask, there's no need to hide it. My Young Master will leave tomorrow night. I'll leave you to take care of me after the villa."

After saying that, Gongzi Ling turned and left.

He walked very slowly, and Zhao Ya only had to reach forward to grab Young Master Ling and keep him behind.

But her hand seemed to be extremely heavy and she could never reach it out.

Until it gets further and further away, until it is out of reach...

-=-

The palms as white as jade were spread out in front of her eyes, and the crystal water drops rolled down from the nails soaked in impatiens juice, along the five slender fingers, gathered into a stream at the wrist, and fell into the steaming bathtub.

middle.

Zhao Ya stared at her hands like this. They were perfect, as pure and white as a hibiscus that had just emerged from the water, but Zhao Ya still felt dirty.

Not only her palms, but every inch of her skin, every pore, and even every drop of blood felt dirty.

So she would take a bath three times a day. Other demons said that she was very clean, but she felt that even if she took out all her skin and soaked it in water and washed it ten, hundreds, thousands of times, it would still not be able to cleanse her body of filth.

This filthy palm is not worthy of retaining the young master...

"If it were you, what would you do?" Zhao Ya thought of Xie Anping again. Xie Anping, with her fragile appearance, was the bravest woman Zhao Ya had ever seen.

She dared to go deep into southern Xinjiang and challenge Gu Xuan, a woman she did not dare to face.

Dare to angrily expose the Lingxiao Sword Sect's flaws for a foreign witch like yourself who was sold into a pit of corpses.

He dared to deprive himself of his good cultivation, left his family behind to teach, and married into Jinping Villa alone.

Dare to say goodbye to Gong Ziling softly and face death with a smile...

"You must be able to reach out your hand and keep the young master without any scruples."

Zhao Ya stroked her fair neck with her hand, as if asking, but also answering to herself.

Under her neck, she hides another secret, which is the body Gu left to her by Gu Xuanfei, which is a symbol of humiliation, slavery, and no self.

Therefore, since she escaped from the clutches of Gu Xuanfei, she tried all means to finally remove Guxuanfei's consciousness from the body Gu.

But she somehow managed to keep the voodoo on her body. Without the filling of spiritual consciousness, the voodoo was always restless. Zhao Ya felt that the voodoo was just like her, empty and always longing for something to bring it back.

The empty body is filled.

It wasn't until Xie Anping died of illness that her and Gu Chong's appetites were satisfied at the same time.

Wanting to be the person she most admires and admires, or to drag that person into the abyss like her. I don’t know which motive is more powerful. In short, before Xie Anping died, Zhao Ya invaded Xie Anping’s consciousness with a body poison.

All memories of Xie Anping's time with Gong Ziling were taken away.

Since then, every night when she sleeps, she will enter Xie Anping's memory. In her dreams, she becomes the person she wants to be and does what she wants to do...

It was the same this time. The helpless feeling of powerlessness made Zhao Ya physically and mentally exhausted. Unknowingly, Zhao Ya closed her eyes and started to have that dream again.

In the dream, she is Xie Anping, the elegant and fairy-like Xie Anping, the clean Xie Anping.

Xie Anping was able to do things that Zhao Ya was not qualified to do, so she stretched out her hand and grabbed Gongzi Ling who was about to leave.

Gong Ziling turned around and looked back. When he saw her, he was shocked at first, then ecstatic. He shouted and danced with excitement like a child, and then he hugged her tightly, pressed his lips to her ear, and whispered.

Gong Ziling held her tightly, as if she would disappear if he let go. The warm and strong arms held her so hard that she became breathless.

She couldn't hear the love words the young master was saying in her ears, but she didn't have to, because the young master's hot breath was blowing in her ears, which was enough to make her head feel hot and dizzy, as if she had drunk a good daughter's red wine.

The intoxication of happiness...
To be continued...