I
“Too late… it’s already too late…”
Chi Lian murmured, unable to resist extending his hand, wanting to encircle her waist.
“I relied on overwhelming resentment and unleashed all my spiritual energy, transforming the blood I once shed in this cave into a corporeal form. I gave everything I had, but even so, I could only trap him. Now that my resentment has dissipated, and only a fraction of my spiritual power remains, how could I possibly match him? I…”
He couldn’t finish his sentence, for Su Yun’s lips had already moved downward, slowly brushing against his own.
Their lips met—hot, searing—a kiss with no barriers this time.
She even extended a hand, taking his right palm and guiding it to her chest.
A fiery sensation burned between them, and Chi Lian could almost hear the sizzling sound of his body and soul being consumed.
“It’s never too late, as long as something has begun.”
Su Yun, seated on his lap, said boldly. She guided his hand downward, their movements bringing them to the edge of her skirt.
“Pity that we cannot coexist in love, but at least we can perish together.”
She murmured on Chi Lian’s lap, her cheek brushing against his ear in a moment of infinite intimacy.
At the same time, she led his right hand step by step, guiding it to the depths of desire.
Chi Lian seemed dazed, but he couldn’t resist the torment. His trembling forefinger gently pressed against her damp flesh, hesitantly stroking with a mix of tenderness and uncertainty.
“But you don’t love me… it was you…”
“It was I who said that I returned only out of helplessness and insecurity. But have you ever thought that the person I once despised so much is, in my despair, my final and only refuge? Isn’t that, in itself, a beginning?”
“Then you don’t need to…”
“To accompany you into oblivion? What do you expect me to do? Beg those Taoists for the chance to reincarnate, only to return to this world again? To taste the same sorrows and separations, to be deceived once more, to have my heart split open and watch as my devotion becomes a cruel joke?”
Chi Lian was silent, lifting his gaze to look at her.
Yes, if the stories of love and loyalty in this world were all lies, then what was there in this pitiful and ridiculous existence worth lingering for?
“After enduring so much blood and tears, we’ve already found each other. To begin is to end—isn’t that good enough?”
Su Yun declared, her voice rising. Her long hair lifted as though defying gravity, and the blood and flesh of Xu Hangsheng smeared on her brow dripped down. Her tears, however, evaporated into nothingness. In a sudden motion, she thrust herself downward, her □ enveloping Chi Lian’s □ as she plunged herself onto him with fierce determination.
“I know what they’re doing.”
A voice suddenly broke the tension. Chi Xue, also in the cave, blurted out a comment.
“Damn!” Ban Xia, who was holding Xuan Ye, couldn’t help but curse again. “You little brat, instead of worrying about whether Ya Jin lives or dies, you have time to watch their ‘scene’? So tell me, what are they doing?”
“Master said that this is fighting,” Chi Xue said, feigning wisdom. “But I know he’s lying. I know they’re performing a ‘dual cultivation’ ritual. I’ve even seen Ya Jin do it before, back in the woods behind the village.”
“With the previous Ya Jin,” he added after a moment, wilting under Ban Xia’s glare.
Ban Xia shot him a sharp look, then glanced down at Xuan Ye’s wounds, growing anxious. “The wounds aren’t large, but why is the blood flowing so heavily? I can’t stop it, and he won’t wake up either.”
“That blood carries a hundred years of resentment,” replied You Huang calmly. “The wounds naturally won’t heal easily. As for whether he wakes up, don’t worry. That rascal won’t die so easily.”
“And what about you, handsome bamboo man?” Ban Xia snapped. “Why are you standing there like a statue? Striking a pose, or acting as a backdrop for their ‘scene’?”
“I’m waiting for that rascal to wake up so I can fight him,” replied You Huang.
“What?”
“You think our esteemed Lord Xuan Ye will simply let that tragic couple die peacefully after he wakes up?”
“They’re already planning to perish together—what else could he possibly do to them?”
“Collect their spirits,” You Huang explained. “Seal them in his blade, then toss them into the Wheel of Reincarnation, condemning their souls to endless suffering. It’s the usual approach of his demigod clan.”
“But those two… they’re a little pitiful, don’t you think?” Ban Xia murmured, her rare compassion surfacing.
“Pitiful?” You Huang snorted, rubbing his nose. “Clearly, you’ve never heard someone’s catchphrase. Oh, perfect timing—he’s awake. He can tell you himself.”
As they spoke, Xuan Ye opened his eyes. Although his face was deathly pale, he pushed himself up and stood.
“In this world, who isn’t a little pitiful?” he said coldly. The usual gentleness in his voice was gone, replaced by the icy tone of one carved from stone. “They may be pitiful, but what about the women they killed? If every sin in this world could be forgiven, what would be the point of judgment?”
And so, they fought.
For what seemed like the umpteenth time, You Huang, unharmed as he was, still lost to the injured Xuan Ye. The only difference this time was that he managed to hold out a little longer.
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