“It’s just me, isn’t it?” said the young man Lorie had locked in place.
She blinked and turned towards Ye Zichen. “You two know each other?”
After leaving the valley and following Ye Zichen for so long, she was no longer the same blank slate as before. Even though she still had a simple nature, she was at least able to pick up hints from conversations.
For instance, that judging from Ye Zichen and this guy’s words, it seemed that they knew each other.
“I know him. You can let him go,” said Ye Zichen with a nod. She smiled apologetically at the youth, then stepped to the side.
“Lil’ Lorie, you can leave. I’d like to chat with him alone for a while.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding obediently as she left the room. As she left, she smiled apologetically once more.
She closed the door.
The room was still and silent. After a long while, Ye Zichen retracted his gaze, then tapped on the other side of the table.
“Take a seat.”
The youth didn’t refuse. He sat with a smile.
“What are you doing here?” asked Ye Zichen the instant he sat down, voice carrying hints of emnity. “Aren’t you supposed to be an old man? Why did you suddenly become so young?”
“Surprised? To cultivators, aren’t appearances easy to change? I came here to see you, so of course I’d like to use my former appearance. Doesn’t that seem friendlier, somehow?”
He simply smiled calmly in response to Ye Zichen’s hostility and even reached and grabbed the kettle to pour himself a glass of water, completely at ease.
“Hey, I truly never would have predicted that you’d become Emperor Ye of the Immortal Region. Furthermore, if I’m not mistaken, that girl just now was actually a medicine king. They’re rather difficult to obtain. Who would’ve guessed you’d become this accomplished?”
“What did you come here for?” said Ye Zichen, knitting his brows.
The youth didn’t respond and instead kept on dodging the question.
“Zichen, wouldn’t you agree…. Back when we were still in the Modern Realm, we never would’ve dreamed that all this would happen. What we’ve experienced, well, doesn’t it seem like something you’d only see in a novel? Who’d’ve thought….”
“What the hell did you come here for?” By now, Ye Zichen was visibly agitated.
“How long has it been since we’ve spoken face to face? Back when we were at school….”
Bang.
Ye Zichen suddenly slammed the table, eyes glinting with animosity as he faced the youth.
“Don’t even try bringing up school in front of me! Su Yiyun, the moment you chose to join the demons, our brotherly affections were severed forever. What the hell did you come here for?”
Silence.
A full fifteen minutes passed. Neither Ye Zichen nor Su Yiyun spoke. They simply looked at each other.
Ye Zichen’s eyes burned with fury, while Su Yiyun’s eyes were like deep pools.
“You’re still so hot-tempered,” said Su Yiyun, finally breaking the long silence. He placed his glass of water back on the table and sighed. “Back when we were still in school, you were the same way, no matter….”
“I said, quit bringing up the past,” said Ye Zichen coldly. “What the hell did you come here for? Our former friendship is the only reason I didn’t attack you back at the city lord’s manor. Didn’t you take Black Dragon back to the demon race? Why did you appear in Maple City, and why did you show up here?”
To tell the truth, it felt quite odd.
In truth, Ye Zichen’s affection for Su Yiyun still lived on deep within his heart. On numerous occasions, he’d thought to himself that, as soon as he had a chance to talk to Su Yiyun one on one, he’d ask him why he’d joined the demons.
But now that his chance had truly arrived and Su Yiyun was sitting right in front of him, and it was just the two of them, the words just wouldn’t come out. Everything he managed to say was carried a sense of extreme distant.
On the other side of the table, Su Yiyun bit his lip. He smiled and said questioningly, “it hasn’t been easy to come and see you. Does it really have to be like this?”
“Of course I didn’t want it to be this way either,” thought Ye Zichen inwardly, but his mouth was….
At least, that’s what he thought on the inside, but what he said was….
“I am Emperor Ye of the Immortal Region, and you are the commander-in-chief of the demon army, as well as the demon race’s formation grandmaster. Everything I do is to wipe out the demon race and protect the territory of the Three Realms. On the other hand, everything you do is to help the demon race destroy us and steal our territory. Under these conditions, do you really expect me to waste words reminiscing with you?”
“Why not?” refuted Su Yiyun. “Given how good our former relationship was?”
“Enough.”
Ye Zichen could endure no longer. His face darkened as he roared, “the past is the past, but we’ve both changed. Our values and beliefs are too different. I’m only letting you sit there now because of the last remaining shreds of my former affection for you. Hurry up and tell me your goal, then leave and I’ll pretend you never came.”
Still resting on his leg, his hands trembled and his facial muscles quivered.
Su Yiyun did his utmost to get his emotions under control, then plastered a smile onto his face.
“Since you don’t want to chat,” he said, “let’s just skip it.”
“It’s better that way,” said Ye Zichen, looking ahead intently. “Go on then, why did you come here? You were hiding in my room earlier, but not even I could sense you. What, could it be Black Dragon sent you here to assassinate me?”
“Him?” asked Su Yin, a hint of contempt flashing through his eyes. “He has no right to order me around.”
“That’s true. Back at the city lord’s manor, you chastised him without any regard for his image at all. It seems you’ve done quite well for yourself amongst the demons,” said Ye Zichen, applauding and smiling mockingly. “I have you to say, you’re quite capable!”
Su Yiyun only smiled but said nothing, so Ye Zichen spoke again. “But you still haven’t told me why you’re here.”
“My goal is quite simple; I made it quite clear that my main reason for coming here was just that it’s been a long time since we last saw each other. I wanted to come and have a chat, but you seem quite opposed to the idea,” said Su Yiyun, shrugging helplessly.
“I already told you,” said Ye Zichen with a cold smile. “We stand on opposite sides now. There’s nothing worth discussing.”
“Since you said your main purpose was to come and chat, then you must have a secondary goal. Go on, say it.”
“A secondary goal?” Su Yiyun glanced at Ye Zichen and shrugged. “My secondary goal is to tell you….”
“What?”
“In three days, our demon race will start our invasion of the Three Realms.”
“A declaration of war?” Ye Zichen’s eyebrows shot up.
“I suppose so,” said Su Yiyin, not denying this interpretation. “My trip to the city lord’s manner could be considered leaving you my calling card. See you on the battlefield in three days’ time!”
