"Oh, what are you doing here?"

Hearing the Forbidden Land Maiden’s words, Jingyue was truly at a loss.

She stammered, "You... How did you..."

"I just came to see you. You make it sound so strange." A sudden voice startled Jingyue.

Only then did she notice that she wasn’t the only one at the door. A man in white had appeared beside her.

She still couldn’t see his face clearly.

Jingyue breathed a sigh of relief. ’So I’ve entered that special state again.’ There hadn’t been any warning, which made her think she had actually seen the Forbidden Land Maiden for real.

Jingyue then moved to the side, afraid of being bumped into.

Just then, the Forbidden Land Maiden giggled and ran to his side. "Haven’t you been busy? Besides, my brother won’t let me go see you."

"Don’t make it sound like I’m restricting your freedom. You’re at a critical stage right now; it’s not a good time for you to be running around." Another person appeared at the door.

"Hmph," the Forbidden Land Maiden snorted coldly and turned her head away.

It seemed she held quite a grudge against her brother.

"Come, sit here," the man in white said, walking over to a chair.

The Forbidden Land Maiden went over and sat down, then looked at the man in white with a smile. "What is it?"

"Our Eldest Young Master Qin has something for you," the man in white said gently, patting the Forbidden Land Maiden’s head.

After speaking, he also sat down to the side.

The Forbidden Land Maiden then looked curiously at Young Master Qin by the door. "Brother, what do you have for me?"

Young Master Qin calmly walked up behind the Forbidden Land Maiden and produced a colorful hairband out of thin air.

The moment this hairband appeared, Jingyue’s pupils contracted.

She had seen this hairband before.

It was so similar, almost identical. No, it was very likely the exact same one.

Jingyue tried her best not to overthink it. ’Nothing is certain yet. I need to see this through to the end before jumping to conclusions.’

The Forbidden Land Maiden asked curiously, "What’s this?"

"A hairband," Young Master Qin said as he straightened the Forbidden Land Maiden’s hair. "It may look like an ordinary hairband, but it’s actually a Protective Treasure.

Since I know you don’t like wearing Magical Treasures, I had it made to look ordinary. With your Cultivation, you won’t be able to detect anything special about it.

So you can wear it without worry."

The man in white also smiled. "Our Brother Qin went to a lot of trouble just to get a Protective Treasure on you."

"Is that so?" the Forbidden Land Maiden pouted. "But I’m already so strong, I don’t really need Magical Treasures."

Young Master Qin replied in his usual flat tone, "This Magical Treasure can withstand three fatal blows from a Tier Nine Peak expert. It’s much more useful than you are."

"It’s that powerful?" the Forbidden Land Maiden asked in surprise.

Tier Nine Peak... and she had only just reached Tier Nine.

"However, it has one critical flaw: it must be worn in your hair. The moment you take it off, it becomes useless," Young Master Qin said.

The Forbidden Land Maiden didn’t seem to mind. She smiled. "Then why don’t you give it to my sister-in-law, Brother?"

Hearing this, Young Master Qin’s hands, which were tying the hairband for the Forbidden Land Maiden, didn’t pause in the slightest, nor did he answer the question.

Instead, it was the man in white who exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Since when does your brother have a partner?"

The Forbidden Land Maiden rolled her eyes. "He doesn’t have one, that’s why he needs to find one! If he looks, he’ll find one. Giving the hairband to his future wife would be so romantic.

Giving it to his little sister is such a waste. There’s no feeling in it at all."

At that moment, for the first time, Jingyue detected a hint of helplessness from this Young Master Qin.

’He raised this sister for nothing.’

The man in white shot the Forbidden Land Maiden a look. He had thought the block of wood was finally showing some sense.

"Wear the hairband properly and don’t take it off, or you won’t get a wedding gift," Young Master Qin said.

"So be it. It’s just a wedding—wait, what? What wedding gift?" The Forbidden Land Maiden was stunned, not quite understanding.

The man in white watched the Forbidden Land Maiden, suppressing a laugh.

Seeing his expression, the Forbidden Land Maiden stomped on his foot. "Hurry up and tell me!"

The man in white dusted off his shoe and said, "Your brother has agreed to our marriage."

"Really?" The Forbidden Land Maiden shot up to her feet in excitement.

Young Master Qin lowered his hands with a sense of resignation. Thankfully, he had already finished tying it.

’A grown daughter can’t be kept at home... and neither can a grown sister.’

The Forbidden Land Maiden said happily, "Is it true, Brother? When can I get married?"

"After we come out of seclusion. Once we’re out, I can arrange the wedding for you," Young Master Qin said.

"Yay! That’s great!" The Forbidden Land Maiden was genuinely overjoyed.

Jingyue could see it clearly.

But... seclusion?

’Is that when the tragedy happened?’

’So, in the end, she never got to marry him?’

Unconsciously, tears streamed down Jingyue’s face. She didn’t know what she was grieving for—perhaps for the Forbidden Land Maiden’s fate, or perhaps for the fates of these two loved ones.

Or perhaps the Forbidden Land Maiden’s emotions were influencing her own.

But one thing was certain: what followed for the Forbidden Land Maiden was filled with almost nothing but regret.

’No wonder she lost her memory.’

’No wonder she forgot so many important things.’

She forgot so much, yet she only remembered that he would return.

’Perhaps that was the only hope she had left.’

She probably didn’t even know that she and that man were already engaged, that they were about to be married, that they were just short that one last little bit of time.

Finally, the scene vanished. Jingyue found herself still standing in front of the door.

Her hand was still gripping the door, but this time, she had no intention of opening it.

Because there was nothing left inside.

Just as she was about to leave, however, the door swung open on its own.

And what came into view was a full set of phoenix robes and a coronet.

Looking at it, Jingyue could almost see the figure of the Forbidden Land Maiden, her face full of joy, embroidering it stitch by stitch for herself and for her husband.

But then the world was thrown into turmoil. With her brother and fiancé in seclusion, she had no choice but to take up her sword, don her armor, and fight in all directions in her brother’s name.

Before she left, she might have gazed upon her finished wedding attire for a long, long time.

The moment she turned away, perhaps she still held onto the hope of returning to be married.

But that one departure lasted a lifetime, an eternity.

This, perhaps, was the story of the Forbidden Land Maiden before her death.

Jingyue wiped her tears and forced herself to calm down, muttering, "Suddenly, I don’t really want her to remember any of this."

They were beautiful memories, but when paired with the ending, it became a melodramatic tragedy, the kind that makes you want to cough up blood from the anguish.

Finally, Jingyue closed the door. She decided to go look elsewhere.

Perhaps there would be a different turn of events somewhere else.

"Still, that hairband... My brother-in-law might really be no ordinary person. But how can that be? I’ve checked all his records.

There’s nothing to suggest he has any connection to Cultivation.

Could he have been hiding it since the day he was born?"

Jingyue didn’t know, but now wasn’t the right time to investigate further.

Finally, she sighed. "No wonder he was so calm when he found out his wife was a Cultivator. No wonder all my guesses were wrong.

It wasn’t that my line of thinking was wrong, but that I was focused on the wrong person from the very beginning.

So, should I tell the little resentful wife?"

After hesitating for a moment, Jingyue smiled.

’Why should I tell her something this interesting?’

Besides, this involves the Forbidden Land Maiden. I can’t just casually spread this information.

She still remembered the initial warning: this must not be told to others.