Qin Hao, Who Is She Again

"Don't cry... Yaoyao." As soon as Qin Hao spoke, he started coughing violently. Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth, staining his pale lips a piercing scarlet.

"This is what I owe you. You were right to do it, cough, cough." Qin Hao's voice grew fainter. "Consider this sword strike as my apology to you, cough, cough."

"No, that's not it! I don't want you to be like this! I don't want you to be hurt!" Jiang Xinyao shook her head frantically. She pressed down on Qin Hao's wound, desperately trying to stop the bleeding, only to find that the blood just wouldn't stop.

"Pills! Right, give me pills quickly! What are you all standing around for? Can't you see your Divine Son is injured? Hurry up and bring the best healing pills!"

While scolding them, Jiang Xinyao frantically rummaged through her own storage bag for healing pills.

However, the Qin family members she reprimanded stood motionless on the spot. Just moments ago, Qin Hao had shot them a look, signaling them to mind their own business.

The crowd below the stage was dumbfounded as they watched the clearly at-ease Qin Hao and the panic-stricken Jiang Xinyao.

"No way, this actually works? What a clumsy trick to win sympathy!"

"When it comes to thick skin, our Ye family is truly ashamed of being inferior to the Qin family."

The older cultivators stroked their beards and shook their heads, sighing with a "morals are declining day by day" attitude, while their eyes twinkled with the amusement of having seen through it all.

The young prodigies were mostly gaping in astonishment, their worldviews thoroughly shattered. So this was how you could court a girl? Although the method was clumsy, seeing the Jiang family's Divine Daughter so flustered and heartbroken to the point of breaking down, this poor excuse for a sympathy play seemed to be working quite well.

On the arena stage, Jiang Xinyao was completely immersed in her own emotions. She paid absolutely no attention to the reactions of the crowd below, nor did she have the presence of mind to assess Qin Hao's injuries. Right now, she only wanted Qin Hao to get better quickly.

Looking at the continuously bleeding Qin Hao, Jiang Xinyao panickedly poured out the most precious bottles of healing pills from her storage bag and stuffed them all into Qin Hao's mouth.

"Why won't the bleeding stop? Qin Hao, please don't scare me. I know I was wrong. I really know I was wrong. Please get well quickly. As long as you recover, I'll listen to whatever you say, okay? I just need you to get better."

Jiang Xinyao pleaded incoherently, her image as a Divine Daughter completely gone.

Qin Hao raised his hand with great difficulty, as if wanting to caress Jiang Xinyao, but finally let it drop weakly.

"Yaoyao, don't bother. Compared to my wound, my heart hurts even more! What is love in this world, that it makes people pledge their lives to it? Being so misunderstood by the one I deeply love, what meaning is there left for me to live?"

This sentence, combined with Qin Hao's current weakness and his dimming eyes, dealt maximum emotional damage to Jiang Xinyao.

Jiang Xinyao felt her heart break. Cupping Qin Hao's face, she cried even harder.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Qin Hao, it's my fault. I shouldn't have doubted you. I shouldn't have misunderstood you. My heart hurts so much too. Seeing you like this is worse than killing me."

She tightly gripped Qin Hao's fallen hand, sobbing uncontrollably. "As long as you're okay, I'll promise you anything. I won't throw tantrums anymore. I'll never ask you about those things again. No matter what happened in the past, I don't care anymore. I just want you to be well."

Qin Hao reversed his grip to hold Jiang Xinyao's small hand, his voice faint but clear. "Really? Yaoyao."

Jiang Xinyao nodded vigorously. "Really. I just want you to be well. I can give up everything else."

Hearing this, Qin Hao did a kip-up and sat straight up from the ground. His wound stopped bleeding, and his face was no longer pale.

Jiang Xinyao froze on the spot, her brain crashing for several full seconds. Then, a surge of fury, far more turbulent and blazing than before, erupted from the bottom of her heart.

"Qin—Hao—!"

Jiang Xinyao's face flushed crimson. However much her heart ached, however much she regretted and blamed herself just a moment ago, that was exactly how humiliated and furious she was now.

However, before Jiang Xinyao could make a move, Qin Hao pulled her into his arms in one smooth motion.

"Alright, it's my fault. You've scolded me and you've hit me, it's about time you forgive me."

Jiang Xinyao stiffened all over at Qin Hao's sudden embrace. That warm, solid chest and his familiar, crisp scent instantly shattered her overwhelming humiliation and the anger that had just flared up.

"You, let go of me!" She put up a token resistance, then nestled into Qin Hao's embrace, feeling his steady and powerful heartbeat.

"I won't let go. Not now, and not ever."

Jiang Xinyao stared blankly at Qin Hao. This bastard was always like this. Even though he had done such infuriating things, whenever he looked at her with that kind of gaze, she could no longer harden her heart or stay angry.

"Hmph, do you say this to every woman?" Jiang Xinyao pouted, her tone sour with jealousy.

"Yes." Qin Hao didn't even try to deny it, admitting it outright.

Just as Jiang Xinyao was about to interrogate him, the very next second, Qin Hao's lips pressed against hers.

"Only children make choices; I want them all! You can't escape. Not in this life, not in the next, and not in the life after that. Don't even think about running away."

Hearing Qin Hao's almost rogue-like yet domineering words of love, Jiang Xinyao's finally calmed cheeks burned hot once again. She shoved Qin Hao away, turning her face to the side with a muffled voice.

"Who wants a next life with you! I'm already going to be angered to death by you in this life!"

Despite her words, she allowed Qin Hao to pull her back into his arms without struggling any further.

Below the stage, the crowd watched the embracing couple in the arena with varying expressions.

"This? They just made up like that? The Jiang family's Divine Daughter is way too easy to coax. I don't understand, where am I worse than him?"

"Got excited for nothing. I thought I could watch a good show, but ended up being fed a mouthful of romance."

"I've reached enlightenment! This is achieving success through thick skin!"

"What do you mean?"

"Only the shameless can achieve great things."

At the Qin family's seating area, several elders kept their eyes focused on their noses and their noses pointed at their hearts, pretending they hadn't seen anything. However, their slightly twitching mouths betrayed their inner turmoil.

Although the Divine Son's actions achieved the goal, if word of this got out, the Qin family's reputation... Forget it, their Qin family didn't have much of a good reputation out there anyway.

"Buzz——!"

Just when everyone thought this drama would end with Qin Hao successfully "coaxing" Jiang Xinyao and the two reconciling, a sudden change occurred!

A cold, sharp sword aura whistled through the air.

Everyone present turned to look at the source. A woman stood there, wearing a pure snow-white flowing immortal dress with wide sleeves. The hem of her skirt fluttered without any wind, and her long, waterfall-like black hair was loosely tied up with only the simplest white jade hairpin.

"Qingyue?"

Qin Hao opened his mouth slightly in disbelief. Wait, when did Qingyue get here? What was his eldest nephew doing? Wasn't this just asking for trouble?

Hearing how Qin Hao addressed Su Qingyue, anger immediately flared up in Jiang Xinyao's heart. She grabbed Qin Hao by the collar and demanded:

"Qin Hao! Who is she?!"