Chapter 72#

Do Not Meet Again#

Xue Ciling felt that the person in front of him was too much like his puppet. When Yin Yuheng looked over, Xue Ciling suddenly lost his voice.

The same exquisite features, the same gentle water-like gaze… indeed, his puppet was made according to the likeness of the Crown Prince of the Li Dynasty, so naturally they were similar. Xue Ciling looked for reasons in his heart, yet he still felt a faint unease.

And Lu Yan, who was just now at loggerheads with him, was currently being held by Yin Yuheng’s hand, making him become calm. When Lu Yan looked at Xue Ciling again, the joy in his eyes hadn’t even fully receded. Not only was there no longer the aggressive hostility from earlier, but it even made one feel that the night wind of the Three Desolate Mountains had become somewhat lingeringly gentle.

Lu Yan’s mood was so good that it made one jealous.

—On what grounds could Lu Yan fulfill his heart’s desire while he had to lose his redemption? Xue Ciling’s Adam’s apple rolled, and hatred was suppressed bit by bit at the bottom of his heart, his gaze looking at Yin Yuheng: “Crown Prince.”

Yin Yuheng sighed: “City Lord Xue came without notice; why bother.”

A familiar tone.

In an instant, Xue Ciling recalled those years in the City Lord’s Mansion when he watched Yin Yuheng practicing his sword from a distance. The sword wind swept the falling leaves, his figure like a startling swan. Suddenly, the cold light was withdrawn, and Yin Yuheng returned his sword to its sheath, looked back, and called him with a smile: “City Lord.”

But Yin Yuheng did not smile like in Xue Ciling’s memory; he only looked at him: “The person you are looking for is no longer there; please return.”

…No longer there? What did that mean?

Xue Ciling held on with effort and asked with difficulty: “Then where is he?”

As the words left his mouth, Xue Ciling felt a tearing pain in his throat.

“If there is destiny, we will meet; if not, we will part naturally.”

In the night, the warm light of the candles was reflected on Yin Yuheng, giving him a layer of gentle warmth. Xue Ciling could see Yin Yuheng’s calm eyes, looking at him as if looking at an unrelated person.

“No destiny?” Xue Ciling was suddenly terrified, his voice rising sharply, “We’re not without destiny; how can we be without destiny? He likes me, he—he for me—he—”

Yin Yuheng shook his head.

“Until now, what you care about is ‘he likes me,’ not ‘I like him.’ What you want is someone who can give up everything for you, love you completely, and belong to you… but City Lord Xue, such a person needs your sincere heart to be exchanged; missing out means it can’t be retrieved.”

Xue Ciling was stunned on the spot, his lips trembling, his face pale and terrifying. After a long while, he lowered his head: “I know… he will hate me.”

But, Xue Ciling thought, he was willing to give up everything. He could be very humble, returning the like he once owed Yuheng manifold; he could use time to make up for it, only asking for Yuheng to occasionally show him a smile.

“Please,” Xue Ciling for the first time in his life used a pleading tone, lost and dejected, “I am willing to pay ten times the price; I only want…”

But Yin Yuheng interrupted him.

“We owe each other nothing; if we meet, we are but passersby.” Yin Yuheng’s tone was indifferent, “City Lord, there’s no going back.”

Familiar words, it seemed someone had said this to him before… Xue Ciling was suddenly stunned.

His gaze fell blankly on Yin Yuheng’s face, and that deep-rooted sense of familiarity finally gave rise to an unbelievable guess.

“You… are…”

The wind blew from the distant mountains and rivers. Xue Ciling felt dizzy, and his whole person seemed to be fluctuating in the wind.

“You are Yuheng—”

Yin Yuheng looked at him quietly, his eyes like clear glaze.

Xue Ciling said in panic: “Impossible, aren’t you the Crown Prince of the Li Dynasty… you…”

Yin Yuheng lowered his eyes and said: “Thank you, City Lord Xue, for bringing me out of the Ghost River and helping me condense my soul. From now on, there will be no more entanglement.”

Xue Ciling took a step back.

He felt as if he were having a bizarre dream.

Xue Ciling didn’t want to appear too pathetic and subconsciously hooked a distorted smile, yet a tear uncontrollably gathered at the corner of his eye.

“Yin Yuheng… so… so you are…”

Xue Ciling’s mind was a mess, and he could hardly think. His thinking had become a stiff, dull axle that took a long time to move with difficulty.

So it wasn’t some body double. From start to finish, it was only one person.

So that glimpse on the bank of the Ghost River back then was the beginning of their meeting.

So at a time he didn’t even know… he had owned the person he had originally dreamed of.

But… but what was the point of letting him know this now? He no longer cared if his puppet was the Crown Prince of the Li Dynasty. Whether a puppet or a Crown Prince, what he wanted was just the person who reached out his hand to save him on that bright moonlight night.

“No more entanglement…” Xue Ciling murmured, “How can that be? You liked me before, you liked me, you…”

Xue Ciling suddenly realized something and looked blankly at Lu Yan, seeing Lu Yan’s eyes that were similar to his own.

He remembered Yin Yuheng’s special preference for his eyes.

In an instant, Xue Ciling seemed to understand something, and tears finally fell.

“Back then you went to the Ghost River to pick the Flower of the Yellow Springs; was it for Lu Yan?”

Yin Yuheng was somewhat silent and nodded.

“So… hahahaha…” Xue Ciling laughed with red-rimmed eyes, “So, that imitation was me.”

He once treated Yin Yuheng as a body double.

Later, he was wishful, thinking that Yin Yuheng had him in his heart.

So… he was the one who was the counterfeit.

Xue Ciling staggered back a step. Before coming to the Three Desolate Mountains, he had thought about what he would say if he could see his Yuheng again… he would embrace him, apologize, and slowly coax the person back…

Yet it turned out to be all his wishful thinking.

Xue Ciling didn’t pay attention to Lu Yan’s warning gaze; he just looked deeply at Yin Yuheng. He realized clearly that Yin Yuheng did not belong to him and would not belong to him from now on.

That memory of the City Lord’s Mansion was just a dream.

Xue Ciling stood in the night wind, thousands of stars shining on him, yet he was cold all over. He almost wanted to kneel down, yet his last bit of dignity supported him to straighten his back and not plead.

He stood woodenly until Lu Yan’s unbearable sword qi surged toward him, and then he was suddenly startled awake.

No, he was unwilling.

Xue Ciling staggered back and, before using the skill of shrinking the earth to a single step to escape from the Three Desolate Mountains, he looked back deeply at Yin Yuheng. In that glance was a deep obsession and attachment.

— — —

From the Demon tribe to the Demon Realm, one must pass through a snowy plain.

This snowy plain was constantly windswept and snow-covered all year round. The high moon and silver light were like a dream, yet hidden within were terrifying dangers. If one continued into the heart of the snowy plain, the turbulent spiritual energy could even shred the sea of consciousness of an ordinary cultivator.

—Of course, this level was nothing to Li Guanghan. However, Zhu Anning beside him was walking with great difficulty.

Zhu Anning’s spiritual veins were being battered by the turbulent spiritual energy, and the pain was piercing, yet he persisted, pressing his lips together without saying a word. Li Guanghan didn’t look at him, nor did he have any intention of helping him. Xue Ciling stepped with difficulty into the snow, occasionally falling, then silently getting up again.

They stopped beside a pool of amber-like lake water.

This was a ten-thousand-year-old ice lake. Zhu Anning stopped by the lakeside, staring blankly at the lake surface.

Li Guanghan finally turned to look at Zhu Anning and said coldly: “Jump in yourself, or should I throw you down?”

Zhu Anning came back to his senses, paid no attention to Li Guanghan’s words, and showed a faint smile.

“His Highness’s soul has been found… that’s good.”

His senior brother’s soul had already been found; only a healthy body was missing.

Zhu Anning closed his eyes, leaned forward, and fell into the lake water.

The cold was piercing. Although he had already made psychological preparations, Zhu Anning still didn’t expect it to be so cold… so cold it hurt, and after a little while longer, even the pain was too numb to feel, leaving only nearly stagnant blood and nearly frozen bones. Every minute and every second was a torment comparable to being slowly sliced.

And such suffering, Zhu Anning still had to endure for a long time. Until the cold of the pond water went deep into his spiritual veins and refined them to purity—

Zhu Anning had been taking medicine for a long time, and only this last link of refining his spiritual veins remained. Soon, he would be able to return what he had once stolen from his senior brother…

Zhu Anning thought to himself that no matter how much it hurt or how cold it was, he was not afraid. Could it be colder than his senior brother coughing blood in the snow at the National Preceptor’s Mansion? Could it be more painful than his senior brother piercing his heart and veins?

What he owed, he should pay back.

Zhu Anning was even secretly glad. Perhaps he could never make up for everything his senior brother had suffered, but at least he still had a chance to atone.

He was so afraid he had ruined his senior brother’s life. Zhu Anning had not been able to sleep well for a long time, almost waking up in fear every night. He dreamed of his childhood, when his senior brother rescued him from the dungeon and smiled gently at him, yet in the blink of an eye, he closed his eyes in a pool of blood and would never wake up again.

Countless times, Zhu Anning wanted to stop Yin Yuheng’s hand reaching out toward him in the dream—

Why bother saving an ungrateful person who returns kindness with enmity?

It’s coming soon, Zhu Anning comforted himself; once he had returned everything he should, he would never go before his senior brother again to be annoying. If he fortunately remained alive after his spiritual veins were gouged out and his essence and blood were removed, he would find a dark corner and look at his senior brother from a distance, without being annoying.

Just let him rot in the darkness; don’t let his senior brother be involved.