Chapter 292: [Unswerving Devotion] A Love Story
Lifting her skirt, Xu Taotao ran along the street.
Heavy snow drifted down from the sky, yet it failed to impede their steps in the slightest.
Feeling the air of the outside world, the pent-up gloom Xu Taotao had harbored over the past few days vanished completely.
Snowflakes even flew into her eyes, prompting her to blink in an instant; the snowflakes melted into icy water, falling down from her eye sockets.
Xu Taotao couldn’t even tell whether she was weeping or if snow had merely fallen inside.
They didn’t run for long, as both of their physical endurance ran quite poor.
By the time they halted, both were panting heavily in gasps, yet upon exchanging glances, both inevitably surfaced identical smiles.
Xu Taotao intentionally exhaled a puff of white vapor into the air, her smile radiant as she said, “Although it’s so exhausting, running feels so wonderful!”
Bai Cha watched her with gentle warmth, a strange, peculiar sensation rising in her heart once more.
In truth, the only way she could conceive to achieve a merger between the two was to have Xu Taotao voluntarily sacrifice herself.
Supposing Xu Taotao were indeed herself—and even if she weren’t—acquiring her power ought to serve as her own combat strength.
Yet she hesitated deeply.
Perhaps because the other party bore her own face, it always instilled a touch of peculiar sensation within her.
Yet simultaneously, she held full clarity that under another possibility—where Xu Taotao shared zero actual relation to her, and all of this was merely an illusion constructed by that female ghost leveraging Bai Cha herself—she would definitely have to kill Xu Taotao.
In truth, what genuinely stoked her vigilance was her unwillingness to harbor suspicion toward the young girl before her.
This unfamiliar sense of trust brought her profound unease, in truth.
Snapping back to her senses rapidly, Bai Cha cast her gaze in the direction of Biyi Tower.
“Have you been over there?”
Xu Taotao gazed at that towering, magnificent structure as well.
“I have never stepped inside. I heard only true lovers can enter. My parents went there before, and they claimed it was a paradise on earth inside.”
“Supposedly the City Lord resides right there. He and his wife are extraordinarily affectionate and devoted to each other, and it was precisely to commemorate their love that he had Biyi Tower constructed.”
Xu Taotao’s face displayed half envy and half confusion.
Envy because every single person in this world sang praises of love. If one could possess a share of love, it could practically be deemed extraordinarily fortunate—even reaching a degree where it could be passed down through the ages.
From ancient times to the present, works singing praises of love were numerous beyond count.
Regarding this, Xu Taotao felt it was both right and wrong.
She didn’t deny the beauty of love, and she harbored longings and yearnings as well.
However…
At the very least, there had to be free choice, right?
Xu Taotao suddenly gained a thread of enlightenment: what she truly desired was freedom.
Yet what came after acquiring freedom?
Even as she pondered this, Bai Cha spoke up.
“Then do you know their love story?”
Snapping back to her senses, Xu Taotao said, “Naturally I know! The City Lord and his wife went through untold hardships to end up together. Their families refused to agree at first, and both held other suitors at the time. For instance, the City Lord’s wife’s suitor once hunted them down, and it was the City Lord who shielded her with his own life. Or when the City Lord was once poisoned, and the City Lord’s wife nursed him without even unfastening her robes…”
“Before getting married, they encountered many natural disasters and man-made calamities as well. Word has it they endured knives falling from the sky, earthquakes, and floods, yet they persevered through it all in the end, and their families finally consented to their marriage.”
“So, word has it that only those who have experienced a love journey like the City Lord and his wife can obtain the Fruit of Love inside Biyi Tower.”
Bai Cha raised an eyebrow.
In that case, it seemed the experiences of those several players ought to prove quite rich and eventful.
Just as she had thought—although staying single didn’t guarantee a good outcome, rashly binding together as a team might not yield a good outcome either.
Knives falling from the sky alone sounded utterly outrageous, didn’t it?
Xu Taotao remarked as well, “Although I don’t know why knives would fall from the sky—I feel it might merely be a metaphor, like mountain of daggers and sea of flames.”
Bai Cha cast a glance in the direction of Biyi Tower.
And then, she caught sight of a person standing atop it.
Although the falling snow rendered the sight far from clear, a person dressed in red indeed stood over there.
Holding her by the hand, Bai Cha walked in the direction of Biyi Tower.
“Come, let’s head over to take a look.”
Following along, Xu Taotao asked with a trace of hesitation, “Yet can we step inside?”
“No matter—we can simply claim we are true lovers.” Bai Cha winked at her.
While feeling it might work, Xu Taotao felt a touch worried as well.
“However… it isn’t real… won’t something go wrong?”
“Then do you consider your parents true lovers?”
Bai Cha’s words left Xu Taotao speechless for a moment.
“I heard my mother mention that she and Father went through a deal of hardship before getting together as well. She said both families fiercely opposed their marriage back then, dragging it out for several years. Mother truly couldn’t wait any longer and planned to marry someone else, so Father knelt down to beg her. Mother felt that a man’s knees held gold; his willingness to kneel and beg her proved his love for her was genuine, so she went to plead with her parents alongside him, finally marrying him in the end.”
Pressing her lips together, Xu Taotao continued.
“When Mother spoke of this matter, her face filled with happiness, claiming this was love.”
Bai Cha fell silent.
“That is not love,” she stated faintly. “That is merely self-dramatization. Do you know that when several people face a crisis together, deep bonds develop among them precisely because of those crises?”
“Yet that is not love…”
She had originally wanted to call it the suspension bridge effect, but explaining it might prove somewhat troublesome.
“It is simply because someone played the villain, leading them to feel they were on the exact same front line—feeling deeply touched by each other’s actions while simultaneously feeling extraordinarily impressive themselves. Believing they sacrificed so much for the other party, they assume they must love the other party deeply, and vice versa.”
“Supposing everyone had blessed them and they had zero means to experience all of this, would they still fall in love?”
Xu Taotao held zero answer.
“Yet do those love stories not require enduring tribulations before reaching a fruitful conclusion?” Xu Taotao asked blankly.
Pondering briefly, Bai Cha said, “Then you must look at what kind of tribulation it is. If it is an issue arising between the two individuals, then perhaps it can; but if it is an external force imposed from the outside, it is far from certain…”
Xu Taotao looked thoughtful.
Amidst their conversation, they had already arrived at Biyi Tower.
The main doors had been tightly shut originally, yet the moment they stepped up to the entrance, the doors swung open all at once.
Clutching Bai Cha’s hand tightly, Xu Taotao felt somewhat nervous.
Bai Cha was equally eager to know what would transpire upon stepping back into this place once more.
Holding Xu Taotao by the hand, she walked inside.
Starkly different from her previous entry, the interior proved unexpectedly bustling with activity this time. Nothing could be discerned from the outside—revealing merely a patch of pitch darkness—yet stepping inside unveiled a whole new world.
This place resembled a small-scale marketplace, selling everything imaginable: food, everyday items, toys, and attire.
Xu Taotao’s eyes widened all of a sudden.
Her gaze was drawn to a grass-woven dragonfly whose intricate weaving looked lifelike, its wings even capable of fluttering.
Seeing this, Bai Cha simply accompanied her over to take a look.
She wished to see what the other party intended to pull this time.
