Chapter 219

Chapter 219. I Do Not Want to Depend on You

Cailin’s pitiful appearance, so delicate and tearful like a startled little deer, instantly stirred Chu Feng’s compassion.

Chu Feng raised his hand, but before he could even touch her, Cailin instinctively trembled. That tiny reaction left his outstretched hand hanging frozen in midair.

Had this woman really become so afraid of him?

At that moment, Chu Feng, who had always feared neither heaven nor earth and had always carried himself with calm ease, suddenly found himself at a complete loss for how to face her.

Just as Chu Feng was wondering how he should comfort Cailin, her muffled voice suddenly came out.

“In truth, I do not even know what meaning there is in my existence here. What am I, really? Perhaps those people are right. I was always a Demon Consort to begin with. In a way, that is the truth. It cannot change what race I belong to.

And besides, since they all call me a Demon Consort, then that is simply the normal way ordinary people would think. I do not know what you truly feel toward me, but I think people’s hearts are always capable of changing...

Perhaps right now, you do not think I pose any danger or threat to you. But if enough time passes, and you grow tired of me, then by that time, I will still be just like what those officials say I am—something you can cast aside like a worn-out shoe.”

Cailin kept her head lowered, her voice broken and intermittent, as though every word had cost her all her strength.

Each word seemed as though it had been gouged straight out of her heart. Yet it had to be said that Cailin understood all of this with painful clarity.

This truly was what most ordinary people would think.

No one could guarantee that they would never change their heart. And indeed, the human heart was the easiest thing of all to change. At this moment, Chu Feng might speak of cherishing and protecting her, but if that day ever really came, he would never alter any of his decisions because of Cailin.

Chu Feng froze for a moment. He had not expected Cailin to have been thinking about so many things.

But as for those questions, Chu Feng knew with certainty that he was not like those ordinary people. He had long since understood the matter between the Human Race and the Ancient Royal Clan.

He also knew very clearly the many entanglements between the two races.

Since he had sincerely chosen to accept Cailin, then in the future, he naturally would not allow this matter to create any division between them.

But Chu Feng simply had no idea how to explain any of this to Cailin. Especially now, with her emotions in such turmoil, whatever more he said would probably have no meaning at all.

And yet, when he looked at those eyes that had once been so bright, so proud, and saw them now filled with all kinds of sorrow—

Chu Feng wet his lips, but still did not know how to speak.

Yet in Cailin’s eyes, Chu Feng’s silence became something else entirely.

Cailin thought that the reason Chu Feng said nothing was because she had struck directly at the truth in his heart.

With that thought, her tears instantly poured down like rain, and she cried even harder.

Her shoulders shook as she sobbed. “Even though you are truly attentive to me now, what if the novelty wears off? What if you grow tired of me? What am I supposed to do then? I think all people are the same. When that day comes, will you become like them too? Will you also call me a demoness? Will you... will you also want to execute me?”

At that point, Cailin suddenly let out a laugh.

“Ha... ha... ha... Why are you not saying anything? Is it because I guessed everything correctly, so you do not dare face your true heart? In truth, I can understand it all. The Human Race and the demon race were never meant to stand together in the first place, so why must you go against everyone’s wishes just to keep me here?”

The more Cailin spoke, the more agitated she became. Her voice trembled violently. If it had not been for the volume of her voice, it would have been almost impossible to hear what she was saying at all. She was like the last flicker of a candle in the wind, swaying beautifully, as though she might go out at any moment.

“I am sorry. I truly do not have the strength, nor the courage, to keep walking this road with you.”

“I am so afraid... I really am so afraid of what will happen when I am left with nowhere to go.”

“I am afraid that I really will become a demoness who brings ruin to the nation and disaster to the people... I do not want to become that kind of demoness either.”

There was not even the slightest falsehood in those words.

In the Ancient Royal Clan, she had at least been the leader of the Heaven-Devouring Python Clan. Even if she had been little more than a puppet, she had still lived every day free from want, clothed and fed, honored and exalted beyond measure.

But now she had become a demoness whom everyone wanted to strike down.

That contrast, that terrible sense of falling from one extreme to another, was truly something Cailin could not bear.

And so, the moment all those chaotic thoughts surged through her mind, she suddenly covered her face. Her sobs came out low and broken, especially clear in the silent night.

There was too much grievance in that crying, too much fear, too much confusion. Before this, Cailin had always cried in suppression, but this time she had completely let go.

Anyone could tell that these were emotions she had repressed for a very, very long time, only now finally erupting all at once.

Chu Feng stood there, looking down at Cailin as she curled up in the corner and wept, watching her trembling shoulders.

Only then did Chu Feng notice that Cailin had actually run out barefoot. After walking so long through the night, her feet were already damp and stained with moisture.

In that instant, Chu Feng’s heart felt as though something had seized it hard.

He had never experienced such a feeling before. This was the first time.

It was an indescribable feeling, something that could not be clearly spoken of, but in any case, it hurt even more than when Chu Feng himself had been wounded before.

Pain.

A pain he had never felt before.

So this was what Cailin had been struggling with all along. She had said she had let it go, but in truth, she had not let it go at all.

She had merely hidden all of those worries away, hidden them somewhere Chu Feng could not see, and borne so much all by herself.

Chu Feng suddenly remembered what she had been like when she first arrived.

Back then, she had been stubborn like a little hedgehog. The way she looked at him was full of vigilance and hostility, even a touch of anger and resentment.

But at the very least, that version of Cailin had never made Chu Feng worry.

She had been so radiant, so proud.

Only now did Chu Feng realize that her thorns had only ever existed to protect the softness of her heart.

It seemed that her heart had already been covered in wounds from the day she lost her Seven-Colored Spiritual Aura.

Chu Feng felt that what he had done was still nowhere near enough.

Cailin continued speaking, her voice growing softer and softer, quieter and quieter, until it almost sounded as though she were speaking only to herself.

“There is actually another reason why I feel I must leave you… By all logic, you mercilessly took away my Seven-Colored Spiritual Aura. That was the most precious thing of all to the Heaven-Devouring Python Clan. I should hate you. I should resent you. But during this time we have spent together, I have come to realize that you have actually been sincere toward me. Human hearts are made of flesh, and I am no exception.”