Faceted Jade a.k.a Carven Jade [ENG Translation]

CHAPTER 100

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In the previous life, I squandered the grace you bestowed upon me, undeserving of your kindness.
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Qin Yan stood in silence, holding the umbrella aloft, his gaze fixed on the person before him.

With Fu Changling clad in his wedding robe, Qin Yan was inexplicably reminded of Fu Yushu in the illusory realm.

He wondered if Fu Changling's gaze upon him mirrored the same sentiment as Fu Yushu's years ago when watching Lin Chen walk away, knowing full well he couldn't stop her yet desperately striving to do so.

Amidst the sound of rain pattering against his umbrella, almost drowning out all other noises, he parted his lips and uttered in a low, hoarse voice, "Apologies."

Upon hearing this apology, Fu Changling knew the outcome, and sudden calmness washed over him.

As though the worst had already come to pass, he unexpectedly gained a sense of resigned tranquility, akin to the settling of dust after a tempest. He gazed at Qin Yan, whose expression remained unchanged, showing neither joy nor sorrow, much like always.

The relentless downpour created a silent curtain, separating the two and obscuring their faces, making it difficult to decipher their expressions.

"Why..." Fu Changling strained to control his emotions as he asked in a husky voice, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"You've always been deceiving me," Fu Changling chuckled involuntarily. "In the previous life, you deceived me and led me to believe that you were a demon. I ended up ruining you and killing you. You shouldered all the burdens on your own, endured them for a lifetime, and deceived me throughout that lifetime."

"In this lifetime," Fu Changling raised his head, his hand tightly balled into a fist, a smile lingering on his face, even as tears welled up in his eyes, "you remained unchanged."

"You clearly know everything, yet you persist in your silence."

"You treat me like a fool, confiding in you about my past and sharing my pain, making me believe you were dead, living in anguish and guilt. Every day and night, I longed for your return, haunted by nightmares of your death before my eyes."

"All of this," Fu Changling finally lost his composure, staring at Qin Yan, no longer restraining himself, and no longer trying to reason. He just kept staring at him, questioning, "Don't you know any of this?"

"You do know," Fu Changling smiled. "When we were at the Cliff of Ten Thousand Bones, I cried and begged for your return. In Taiping Town, I was on the brink of being possessed by a demon. My desire for your return had become my inner demon. All I needed was for you to acknowledge it, and I could crawl out of the depths of hell and seek redemption. But you didn't. You just watched, turned a deaf ear and a blind eye, and pretended not to know."

"And then you carried on with your deceit."

"You deceived me about loving me. You deceived me about feeling something for me. You deceived me about wanting to marry me. You deceived me about growing old together, inseparable in life and even in death!"

"I thought this lifetime was a fresh start. I believed that by taking your place at the Golden Light Temple, accompanying you to the Cliff of Ten Thousand Bones, and saving your Shīfu and Yunze, I could salvage everything and make things right again."

"I thought that... I had atoned enough for my sins, so Heaven granted you permission to give me another chance."

"You felt something for me. You protected me. You cared about me..." Fu Changling's emotions took hold, causing him to grasp the fabric over his chest as if trying to physically clutch his heart tightly. The pain was so intense that it made it difficult for him to breathe. "Qin Yan, you don't have to love me."