“Did you know? My original surname was Shangguan…”
Qian Rongzhi dazedly gazed at the rippling moonlight in the lake as if her soul had crossed through time and returned to a very, very distant past, where all that remained now was an empty husk.
Lin Xuan smiled. “Shangguan Rongzhi does seem to sound a little better.”
However, as she slowly told him about the past that she had buried away, Lin Xuan gradually could not smile anymore. He had no idea what to say.
He was a man of two lives, having experienced various dangers. Even slaughter and death no longer meant anything to him, but when the deepest pains of a person, the bone-deep sense of shame that also happened to be unmentionable, was described by the exact person who had suffered it all, even he found it chilling.
He could not help but think about his two lives. Compared to her experiences, it could all be described as smooth sailing. Even his greatest mistake was committed when his memories had not been awakened, during the period when he was called Chu Tian. But even Chu Tian spent most of his life in arrogance, complacency, and heartlessness.
Qian Rongzhi’s voice was strangely calm as if she was describing the experiences of someone else altogether.
Lin Xuan could not help but develop a sense of pity, but he immediately eliminated this thought, recovering the pride of a “celestial”.
There are plenty of pitiful people in the world, but just how many of them become a demoness like her? Since life is so painful, why don’t you just die a little sooner, instead of making problems for others? How dare you get in the way of my mission, such that I still can’t report back to the Dragon province even now. Damn you! Qian Rongzhi, oh Qian Rongzhi, if I don’t lead you around like a dog before torturing you to death, I’ll never be satisfied!
However, an expression of sorrow and pity filled his face. He interrupted her, reluctant to see her continue. “Rongzhi, don’t say anything more.”
Qian Rongzhi’s shoulders shivered, and she looked back slowly. Her face was sorrowful and miserable. “Lin Xuan, I’ve never mentioned this to anyone before, so please let me continue, alright? I want you to learn about my actual past, but if you’re tired of listening, then just go! Forget anything ever happened here.”
“Alright then. Please continue!” Lin Xuan said helplessly.
After his change in disposition, he no longer found her to be particularly pitiful. Instead, he was filled with a sense of cruel pleasure. Digging open her old scars and making her bleed could only be regarded as a part of his revenge.
Qian Rongzhi told him everything in a single breath. By then, her face was already covered in tears. She asked in a daze, “Am I a monster?”
Yes, you’re a monster, a twisted, crazy monster! To think that you can even mention these details. You have no sense of shame!
That was what Lin Xuan thought. He took a step forward and said tenderly, “No, you’re not. None of this was your fault! The people from the Qian family deserved to die, but since you’ve already gotten your revenge, why don’t you let go of it? Your master wasn’t trying to torture you. She tried to make you turn back!”
“Can I really still turn back?” Qian Rongzhi was in a daze. As she looked at her hands, her gaze became determined again. “No, I can’t turn back anymore. If I turn back, then I have nothing. All I can do now is continue down this path. Sometimes, I feel like I am destined to suffer in this life. If that really is the case, how can I escape the arrangements of fate?”
“You don’t have nothing. You still have me. I will stay by your side forever!”
Qian Rongzhi was touched. “Really? After hearing all of this from me…”
“Really. I, Lin Xuan, swear to the heavens that I will stay by your side forever!”
The intangible will of the heavens that flowed silently in the World of the Nine Heavens obviously would not take note of such empty words, but she was like a woman submerged in love. She seemed smitten, throwing herself at her lover without any hesitation.
Lin Xuan hesitated for a split second, but he still spread his arms resolutely. This was a heaven-sent opportunity!
Even feeble children could kill adults that were caught off-guard, not to mention the fact that their disparity in strength was not that great.
He could not afford to drag out the matter of the Heaven Climbing Vine any further. The Dragon province was searching for him urgently. If he wanted to set foot in the imperial court of the Dragon province gloriously, he had to do it.
When they embraced each other firmly, Lin Xuan felt pain, but he could endure it with his willpower. Qian Rongzhi’s hoarse, apologetic voice rang out from beside his ear, “Sorry. I’m trying my best to suppress it.”
Lin Xuan said sincerely, “You’ve already given me the best thing I could ever want. So what about this little bit of pain?” He considered just how he would subdue her, such that he did not kill her immediately.
“Really? I will give you even more, much more!” Qian Rongzhi murmured. She brought her red lips to Lin Xuan’s neck and kissed away.
At this precise moment, a cloud just happened to shroud the moonlight. The atmosphere spread with the darkness.
Lin Xuan recalled the past that she had mentioned and felt disgusted, but the disgust was replaced with shock very soon. Pain more than ten times, a hundred times worse suddenly surged into his soul.
Abruptly, he widened his eyes as he produced a meaningless gurgle from his mouth. Even a Reincarnated Celestial could not simply brush aside the suffering of hell, not to mention her almost-maddening way of cultivation. Hundreds and thousands of hell snakes lived in her body, and it was not just to borrow the power of hell. She could be described as a living hell.
“This is the best thing that I have. Do you like it? Don’t worry, I will completely satisfy you.”
Before anyone had noticed, Qian Rongzhi’s eyes had become a pair of cold snake eyes. The hell snakes slithered across her face. Even her lips and tongue were entwined with venomous snakes, hissing as they flicked their tongues.
Lin Xuan’s face sank as veins bulged. He squeezed out a name from between his teeth. “Rongzhi!”
He still refused to believe that his identity had been exposed. He was certain his disguise had been perfect and flawless. From Chu Tian to Lin Xuan, he had truly become an entirely different person. No matter how cautious Qian Rongzhi was, it was impossible for her to find any clues! So just what had gone wrong? Or was she still testing him?
“Chu Tian!”
Qian Rongzhi’s voice was filled with excitement, embracing him firmly as if she wanted to dig into his body with her arms. The hell snakes slithered into his body, eating away at his soul.
“Did you know? I hate it most when others pity me. Am I really that pitiful? I will make them a hundred times, a thousand times more pitiful than me. Fortunately, I’m not that cruel of a person. At least I won’t pity them. Alright, I’ve already given you enough. It’s time for you to give me some too.”
A vine extended out, plunging straight into Chu Tian’s dantian.
Chu Tian tried his best to gather his concentration. “Release me, or I’ll make you perish with me!”
“Sure! I can’t wait for it.”
Qian Rongzhi pulled him in even more tightly, like a great python trying to swallow an elephant. Even if it would burst apart to its death, it refused to let go of the prey in its mouth.
“You madwoman!”
Chu Tian was filled with regret. He should have sought help from the imperial court a long time ago without being caught up over his pride as a celestial.
At this moment, the Heaven Climbing Vine pierced the dantian, but it was empty, without the existence of a golden core.
A smear of violet light lit up on his forehead. A small, violet person that resembled an infant shot off as a streak of violet light.
The cultivation method he practised was the Heavenly Tome of Violet Manor from the Myriad Heavenly Tomes. He opened a violet manor in him instead of condensing a golden core, so he possessed the various abilities of a Soul Nascence cultivator after just the second heavenly tribulation. He mainly chose this cultivation method to deal with Qian Rongzhi, but he never expected he would have to use an escape technique akin to soul projection right from the beginning.
Qian Rongzhi let go of Chu Tian’s body that had been sucked dry by the Heaven Climbing Vine. She smiled gently. “Coward!”
