All The Female Disciples Want To Kill Me-Chapter 711 - 389: Li Er, I’m Sorry, I Have Never Truly Understood You. _1

Author's Note: Chapter 386 should be released tomorrow.

On the imperial road, approaching Xia Shui Pass, a rare white horse walked slowly. On its back were a beautiful pair: Su Bei and Mo Li.

Along the way, refugees dragging young and old could be seen everywhere. Each one was sallow and emaciated, their clothes in tatters. Children cried weakly, while old women, their eyes dry from weeping, stumbled along. Their faces were numb, like walking corpses.

Mounds of earth without tombstones lined the roadside, marking where victims of starvation had been hastily buried by their kin. Some bodies were left unburied, decaying in the open air.

This was the first time Su Bei had witnessed such a devastating scene.

Under a large locust tree, a white-haired old man tremblingly waved his walking stick, trying to drive away several burly men.

Behind him was a young woman in threadbare clothes, nursing a child. Her emaciated body could not produce a drop of milk, and the infant in her arms breathed faintly...

Mo Li dismounted, beheaded the burly men with a sweep of her longsword, and left behind a single pancake—barely enough for two.

The old man, his eyes numb, mechanically muttered his thanks while devouring the pancake. Then, with the woman following, he shakily made his way towards Xia Shui Pass.

...

The white horse drank from a stream by the roadside while Mo Li wiped blood from her longsword. Su Bei hugged her from behind, kissed her brow, and asked softly,

"Why didn't you give that old man earlier some food and silver?"

Mo Li tilted her head back, gently bit Su Bei's lower lip, then sheathed her longsword. Pressing her cheek firmly against Su Bei's chest, she said calmly,

"As they are, they might still make it to Xia Shui Pass alive."

"If we had given them food and silver, in this chaotic world, they wouldn't have survived an hour."

...

Su Bei shuddered, then buried his face in her hair, inhaling her faint fragrance.

Deep down, she was still the same person, just as in her previous life—always ready to draw her sword for justice. Compared to the detachment of cultivators, she leaned more towards chivalry, the path of an immortal knight-errant.

Su Bei knew she had guided him along this path, showing him all this, for a specific reason.

But the three kings' standoff had lasted for centuries; how could he possibly change it overnight?

He looked at the woman in his arms, his expression complex and his eyes flickering, as he asked softly,

"This is what you wanted your teacher to see, isn't it?"

"For hundreds of years, you've seldom been at the Sword Sect. Have you been doing these things all along?"

...

She had abducted him, claiming they were going to West State. With her speed, they could have arrived in days. Yet, she had let their mount carry them slowly along the official road.

Su Bei had anticipated that the Ji kings would bring considerable turmoil to the Eastern Country and had mentally prepared himself.

But seeing this world of widespread lamentation, where life was as cheap as dirt, where the displaced survived on tree bark and grass roots, some even resorting to exchanging their children to eat... Su Bei was profoundly shaken.

"Mm," Mo Li nodded.

Su Bei had rarely seen her like this. Her expression held no trace of its usual sickliness; her silver eyes shone like stars:

"Teacher, you and I are different. No matter what I, your disciple, do, I will never bear the moral authority of the Eastern Country, nor will I cause any significant ripples. But you, Teacher, are different."

"You, Teacher, are Ji Nanjue's man, and the one who ended the bloody calamity three hundred years ago. You hold a lofty status in both the Mortal World and the Cultivation World. It is only right and proper that you should be the one to end this turmoil caused by the Ji kings."

...

Su Bei gazed at her tenderly. For a moment, he nearly lost himself in her lake-like silver eyes. Then he sighed, the corners of his mouth curving into a bitter smile:

"But I... I only have ten years of lifespan left, and even my cultivation..."

"No."

Mo Li gently stroked Su Bei's cheek. Her touch was soft, yet carried a trace of coolness. Her silver eyes were unusually resolute:

"I have traveled throughout all Twenty-One Provinces and finally discovered a place in West State called the Three Lifetimes River of Forgetfulness."

"Beneath that place flows an underground river connected to the River of Time in the Inverted Heaven. In it lives a type of fish called the Three Lifetimes Fish."

"Eating this fish can extend one's lifespan. Though the effect is extremely faint, consuming it in large quantities could ensure your lifespan, Teacher, will not diminish."

"However, the Three Lifetimes River of Forgetfulness is occupied by cultivators from the Western Wasteland, and ordinary Qi Cultivators from the Twenty-One Provinces cannot get near it. I once tried to force my way in, but unfortunately, I failed..."

...

Su Bei reached out and took her small, cool hand, gazing blankly at the woman of exceptional grace before him.

Her silver hair fluttered in the autumn wind, her step-sway glinting with the orange glow of the setting sun.

Su Bei admitted to himself that he had always misjudged her in this life.

But only now did Su Bei realize he had been wrong, terribly wrong.

Xiao Ruoching came from an ordinary family, Sword Maiden from poor and humble origins, and Li Zijun was a bona fide second-generation Immortal.

Only Mo Li was different.

Mo Li hailed from the Mo Family, one of the four great clans of the Eastern Country. She didn't draw a clear line between the Mortal and Immortal Worlds. Her perspective encompassed the entire world, and she saw more than just cultivators.

"Why are we going to Xia Shui Pass?" Su Bei interrupted her again, calmed himself, and asked.

"There's a ferry dock there. Taking a boat down the Cang River, we can reach Northern Border Pass, which is at the junction of the Western Wasteland and the Northern Sea. Beyond Northern Border Pass, another 120,000 li southwest will take us to West State."

"That's the fastest way to reach West State..."

Su Bei stared at her unblinkingly, his eyes reflecting her entire image.

In the past, his mind had been preoccupied, and he hadn't truly seen Mo Li's exceptional nature. Today, however, it was as if he were seeing her for the first time—so breathtakingly beautiful.

"Li Er," Su Bei said suddenly, looking at Mo Li who was speaking so earnestly.

"Mm?" Mo Li frowned, looking at Su Bei with slight annoyance. This is the second time he's interrupted me.

"I'm sorry."

He didn't know what else to say.

At Su Bei's words, Mo Li paused. The hand stroking his cheek stilled, then slowly drew away. She looked at him, her eyes filled with a complex emotion.

"What do you have to be sorry about?"

She pointed to her own chest, a hint of a carefree smile on her lips:

"If you mean that sword strike back then, I already paid you back in South City three hundred years ago. Though I haven't completely forgiven you yet... but..."

Su Bei pressed a finger to her lips, gazing into her eyes, and said softly,

"I mean it. I'm sorry."

"I, your teacher, have never truly tried to understand you."

...