What if I don't want to ascend to immortality?

Chapter 42 I Want to Sing Myself to You
"How are you? Did you feel anything?" Sitting on the edge of the research institute's rooftop, Meng Qingtong swung her dangling legs and asked Han Jie softly.

Han Jie sat next to her, gazing at the distant Dongding, and slowly shook his head.

The research institute's rooftop is actually more deserving of the name "Guan Ding Lou" (Viewing Tower). The only problem is that those who can enter the building have neither the interest nor the time to go up to the rooftop to enjoy the view, and those who have the time and inclination mostly don't go up.

Han Jie was an exception, of course. That afternoon, he could go wherever he wanted at the Second Academy Research Institute. When he went up to the rooftop to enjoy the view, the deputy director would personally come and open the door with the key.

His skill amazed the audience, and his artistry overshadowed everyone else.

Simply solving problems and incidentally teaching introductory knowledge of spiritual projection would be enough to establish his future position in the research institute.

Just as Zhang Fuling said, with such a complete and systematic theoretical support, this breakthrough alone is enough for Han Jie to travel around various spiritual academies to teach for a fee and head straight for financial freedom.

Therefore, all the additional conditions that Meng Qingtong raised in the director's office were passed without any obstacles and were confirmed in writing on the spot.

Knowing that Han Jie wasn't as obsessed with wealth as she was, her main focus was naturally on honor and influence.

Because Han Jie suddenly changed his mind and planned to take the opportunity to visit the Spirit Science Academy, Meng Qingtong had no choice but to overturn her original plan, which focused more on practical benefits, and help him change it to pursuing a low-key approach and quickly making a name for himself within a small circle.

Based on Han Jie's performance that afternoon, even if he offered to back down, no one would dare to accept the offer.

A pie falling from the sky is so big it could kill someone.

"Qingtong."

"what's wrong?"

"What Director Zhang kept beating around the bush about was something he wanted to give you, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Probably. Old men who do research tend to be a bit straightforward. Old Dong from the Third Hospital is the same way. He couldn't poach you, so he came to poach me, offering such 'what kind of conditions'? Even if he offered me the position, I wouldn't dare to take it. If one's virtue doesn't match one's position, one will inevitably suffer the consequences."

Han Jie had gotten used to her occasional attempts to murder her Chinese teacher and was too lazy to say anything to correct her.

Unexpectedly, she tilted her head and said with a smile, "Hey, this time I deliberately showed you a flaw, why aren't you correcting me? I was waiting for you to say it was a disaster so I could argue with you. Planting rice seedlings and transplanting rice seedlings are the same thing."

Han Jie curled his lips and immediately searched for a reply that suited his taste, then tossed it to her: "Phonetic puns will get you fined."

She pouted, "Senior Han, you learn new things way too fast. At this rate, I'll be laid off in a few months."

“No.” Han Jie gazed at her and said softly, “There is still much you can teach me.”

He abruptly changed the subject and asked, "Qingtong, if one day you could condense your intense emotions and feelings into a Heart Sword Form, what would you choose?"

Meng Qingtong's feet, which were dangling in the air, were hooked together and swayed gently back and forth. "Isn't your question too general? What are the prerequisites? What factors should I consider when making a choice? Ah... I don't mean to say I'm willing to learn, I just want to take your question seriously."

"Hmm... Theoretically, anything related to one's feelings can be used. Happiness is fine, sadness is fine too. If you want the finished Heart Sword to be stronger, then the materials you choose need to have a large and important place in your heart. They also need to be... stable and pure, because the power of the Heart Sword is affected by your emotions. For example, on my journey to slay demons, my will gradually became unwavering, and my past confusion vanished, which greatly affected my Heart Sword's misty aura, weakening its power. But after coming here, it recovered quite a bit."

Meng Qingtong's eyelashes fluttered, and she asked softly, "I remember... you told me you had nine Heart Swords. Could you tell me roughly what you refined in each one?"

"Actually, you can get a general idea just by listening to the names. Gray Resentment, Dark Melancholy, Crimson Fury, Dead Water, Misty Clouds, Desolate, Weeping Blood, Night Sorrow, and the strongest one—Great Hatred."

Meng Qingtong chewed on it carefully, her expression somewhat saddened, "They're all heart swords like this..."

Han Jie said calmly, "Isn't it a perfect match to extract the accumulated wisdom of people's hearts and use it as a weapon to kill the evil that originates from people's hearts?"

"You've started misusing idioms too." She thought for a moment, gazing at the mountain-like outline of the Demon-Suppressing Cauldron, and said, "I can't choose right now. My emotions are often not pure enough. I just know that what I show can help me get what I want. A petty, calculating girl like me probably can't forge any kind of Heart Sword Form."

"Try being stingy?"

"If I could actually make this, I'd slash your clothes a couple of times first. You're so annoying."

"I thought they were going to poke me a couple of times."

"Tch, how could I bear to?"

Han Jie was taken aback and turned to look at her.

This time, she didn't look away, but met his gaze openly, though her face was still slightly flushed.

At times like these, silence allows ambiguity to fester rapidly.

Logically, Meng Qingtong should have said something.

But she didn't. She just looked at Han Jie gently, as if she wanted to pass on some healing power to him.

Unfamiliar territory always makes one feel a little apprehensive. Han Jie cleared his throat and asked, "So, if you had the chance to freely choose your Heart Sword Form, what would you want to refine?"

"Love." Meng Qingtong quickly gave her answer this time. "I still believe that love is stronger than hate. Ordinary love is stronger than ordinary hate, and extreme love is stronger than extreme hate. Since I am given the freedom to choose, I will of course choose the strongest one."

"I..." He started to say, but didn't continue, and his face showed some hesitation.

Meng Qingtong interrupted him, saying lightly, "It's alright. Since the Heart Sword comes from the heart, it must originate from the power that one believes in. Everyone believes in different things, so everyone's Heart Sword is different, right?"

"Correct."

"If one day your state of mind changes, can you still forge a new Heart Sword Form?" She looked directly at Han Jie and asked very seriously.

"If things really have changed, I think it's possible." Han Jie wasn't quite sure, and his answer lacked confidence.

In his quest for revenge, he exhausted all his resources, almost emptying his pockets.

If his soul was a furnace of unparalleled talent in those years, as time flowed by, all that remained inside was fine ashes.

Meng Qingtong suddenly reached out her hand.

Her hands were small and thin, with slender knuckles, and were a bit whiter than her skin. They weren't very soft and had a thin layer of calluses.

His hands were large, broad, and hard, with prominent veins and ligaments. The backs of his hands were several shades darker than hers, but still not considered dark-skinned for a man.

The small hand gently covered the large hand; they had no resemblance whatsoever, yet they were strangely harmonious.

This time, Meng Qingtong did not launch into a lengthy speech.

She simply gazed into Han Jie's eyes, opening the window of her soul, letting that clear and pure warmth gradually permeate his parched heart, and then, very softly and gently, uttered six words.

"It's definitely possible, believe me."

For some reason, upon hearing these words, Han Jie's mind conjured up a hazy image: a young girl bent over and stood beside a dry well, laboriously pouring water into it with a large bucket. Beads of sweat dripped from her forehead, and in the blink of an eye, a small flower bloomed on the cracked bottom of the well.

"Sigh, looks like I won't make it to the second class either. I'll ask for another day off." Meng Qingtong gently patted the back of his hand, then casually left, taking out her phone. "How come when my own familiar face becomes the teacher, I'm missing even more classes? At least let me graduate smoothly..."

Han Jie laughed, "You don't look like the type to succeed academically." She was stunned for a moment, and said with lingering fear, "Luckily I have spiritual arts. If I were in a school that only offered academic subjects, I don't know how I would have managed to get a diploma. I feel like God has secretly cursed my brain."

"You're too calculating and unwilling to use your brain on things you think are useless," Han Jie said with seven parts seriousness. "Many things need to be learned first. How can you know if you're interested if you don't try them at all?"

"When you have time." Knowing what he was trying to persuade her of, Meng Qingtong's attitude had softened considerably. She placed her hands on the edge of the rooftop, leaned back slightly, and looked at the dazzling golden lines outlined by the sunlight on the silhouette of Dongding. She said softly, "I want to do so many things. If I'm too greedy, I won't be able to do anything. I'm a very stingy person. I want to hold on tightly to everything I can grasp first."

“Alright,” Han Jie nodded thoughtfully, “I’ll start tutoring you tonight. I’ll tutor you in both spiritual arts and academic subjects.”

"Huh? Why have you suddenly turned into a strict tutor?"

"Let me help you hold onto your graduation certificate tightly. I'll also take this opportunity to find out what I'll be teaching later."

"You're not going to go and teach the academic subjects I'm taking, are you? That area isn't under the direct jurisdiction of the Second Academy, so they won't pay you. Besides, what can you teach, except for Chinese?"

“I can teach any subject.” He casually browsed through the mountain of junk in his mind and felt relieved. There were plenty of online courses available, “whether it’s calculus, high-energy physics, or moral education and health education.”

Meng Qingtong rolled her eyes. "Can you teach me something I want to learn?"

"You can choose whatever you want to learn, and I'll teach you that."

"Then you decide what you want to eat tonight. You're not allowed to say anything, it's all up to me. I'll decide. I'll order after you order."

"Then... teriyaki chicken."

"Okay, advanced spirit rune technique."

"Stir-fried green beans with pork, the kind with a little bit of tomato."

"The method to soothe the soul and stabilize the spirit requires you to prepare a version to teach everyone. Don't add anything to it without my permission."

"Let's have garlic-flavored lettuce."

"Okay, then give me some extra help with math. I'm pretty good at geometry, but terrible at algebra."

As they talked, they looked at each other and laughed, their laughter growing even more hearty.

Then, as if by telepathy, one shook his head and sighed, while the other smiled and spoke, both saying the same two words.

"fool."

After looking at each other for a while, Meng Qingtong turned her face slightly away and said, "Shall I sing you a song? It's the tune I hummed once before, the one you said was quite nice. Actually, it has lyrics, but I couldn't remember them at the time. Later, I looked them up, memorized them, and learned to sing it."

Han Jie smiled and nodded.

When I listen to her humming casually when she's in the mood, her voice is crisp and sweet, and her singing is much better than the dancing she showed during the last time she sang.

Meng Qingtong pinched her throat and rubbed it, then carefully cleared her throat. She thought about the lyrics for a moment and felt that it wouldn't be right without the accompaniment. So she took out her phone, found the song, played it, and placed it between the two of them.

"I know you're exhausted, yet you're still chasing after the perfection you desire. All the chaos and distractions are tiring you out, and you can't find the comfort you crave most..."

It's no longer a casual humming.

"...I want to take you to hear the gentle breeze, and accompany you to drink your first cup of milk tea. I'll fly with you to the ends of the earth, and cook you a dish that tastes like home..."

Her clear voice was deliberately lowered, sounding gentle and warm in the soothing melody.

"...Let's go see the blue sky together, travel together no matter how far, overcome all the hardships and difficulties together, and linger together in this world..."

In the chorus, the melody suddenly rises and the tempo speeds up slightly, as if the unspoken thoughts are tinged with shyness, nervousness, and trepidation.

"...We cried together, laughed together, played around together, sang together, danced together, went crazy together, understood the bitterness and sweetness of life together, and witnessed what fate is."

The second chorus softens, and then, amidst a beautiful interlude that sounds like a soft murmur, Meng Qingtong looks at Han Jie and smiles.

“I know you don’t want this, but you still have so many responsibilities to bear. You stumble and fall, always getting hurt, and you can’t find a place where you can rest…”

As the second part of the song began, a cool breeze blew past her. She flicked her ponytail, and her hair, along with her singing, fluttered in the wind.

"...I want to take you through the streets and alleys, to hide with you in a paradise where we won't be disturbed. Through the changing times, I'll always be by your side, lighting up the night for you..."

The final "bright" note rose with an upward cadence, continuing the chorus with a repetition.

Then, the chorus repeats until it gradually stops as the melody fades away.

"Does it sound good?" Meng Qingtong put away her phone, not looking at him, and asked with her head slightly lowered.

"Hmm." Not wanting to leave any possibility of being seen as perfunctory, Han Jie said slowly, "It sounds very good, really."

"Thank you," she said earnestly with a smile.

"Why are you thanking me for singing such a beautiful song? I should be thanking you."

"Anyway, thank you." She didn't explain much, but her smiling face turned away, and her eyes held a hint of something indescribable.

Only at times like these would Han Jie suddenly realize that she was still a young girl under eighteen, at the sensitive and sentimental age.

"This song is really nice, what's it called? I'll save it to my phone."

"I won't tell you. If you want to hear it, just ask me, and I'll sing it for you." Meng Qingtong's smile returned to its familiar playfulness. "If you eat my cooking, you have to listen to my singing. That's how domineering I am as a female CEO."

"What will you do if you get tired?"

“Then sing it in your mind. It won’t strain your voice… Oh no, no, I can’t sing it for you like that.” She suddenly blushed. “I don’t mind the effort, I’ll just sing it for you directly. Just sing it directly.”

What? Are you afraid of revealing some strange little thoughts while chanting in your mind?

Han Jie smiled and shook his head, his mind already searching through the mass of consciousness.

There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to find a song unless it's a new song created after he came out of seclusion.

"Let's go home." She turned and jumped off the rooftop railing. "I'm waiting for you to tutor me after dinner, so don't dawdle, Teacher Han."

"Okay, let's go now." Han Jie quickly followed, the smile on his lips not yet obvious, but the joy in his heart was almost overflowing from his eyes.

He has already found the name of the song—"This is how I like you".

(End of this chapter)