My Arch-Nemesis Cried and Begged Me Not to Die 68p1

Chapter 68 Part 1: …He found me.

After the woman left, the Vermilion Bird’s divinity once again melted through space. Yan Jingyu had no choice but to dive back in.

This time, he arrived at Jiuyi Mountain. At this moment, Jiuyi Mountain was filled with the songs of birds and the fragrance of flowers, the water shimmering. A newly sprouted lotus flower was lazily stretching its branches and leaves.

The branches of the divine wood covered a vast area, and the Qiwu flower vines hung on them, moving slightly with the wind. The fine sunlight seemed to have been dyed a light green amidst the lushness. The chirping little phoenixes flapped around, messing up the Qiwu flower vines.

The adult, transformed phoenix clan lived in another palace. The pale green glazed tiles were filled with the characteristics of the phoenix clan everywhere. The cubs walked into the academy in an orderly manner, receiving the discipline of the elders.

This is… more than four hundred years ago?

A faint cry suddenly came from a low house. Yan Jingyu hid his figure and quickly left the towering palace. His footsteps landed in a remote corner. He saw a wooden shed built in the bushes, and inside, a woman holding a baby, smiling tiredly.

There were little phoenixes secretly peeking around, their voices small. “She really gave birth to a human cub.”

“Phoenix cubs don’t cry like that.”

“The elder said that humans are all bad. She gave birth to a bad thing. She is also a bad phoenix.”

Feng Wanqing’s expression was tired and pale, but she suddenly turned her head to look at a certain place. A snake-like green vine suddenly shot out from that place and fiercely rolled towards several little phoenix demons, scaring them into fleeing in all directions, chattering, “Feng Wanqing is killing phoenixes!! She’s a traitor to the clan!!!!”

Feng Wanqing lowered her head, gently pressing her forehead against the baby’s cheek, a hint of comfort in her expression, completely ignoring the opinions of others.

Back then, Liao Chen had summed up her image in a few words. At this moment, Yan Jingyu looked at the dilapidated nest in front of him, and the words of the little phoenix demons, and finally understood what she had been through back then.

She had been driven out of the phoenix clan’s residence…

No wonder she would want to steal the Spirit-Nurturing Jade.

But where was Liao Chen’s father?

Although she was raising the child alone, Feng Wanqing did not show any grievance or resentment. To Yan Jingyu’s surprise, Liao Chen was actually very well-behaved as a child, and his cries were also soft. Yan Jingyu still remembered when his mother mentioned him, when he cried as a child, he would cry with all his might, as if he were going to overturn the rafters.

But the infant Liao Chen cried like a little cat or puppy, and was always easily coaxed.

Feng Wanqing would occasionally go to the phoenix clan for meetings. Whenever this happened, Liao Chen would be left at home alone, but there would be a shadow-recording pearl beside him, so that Feng Wanqing could observe his situation through a small sound-and-image mirror.

It was worth mentioning that not long after Liao Chen was born, Feng Wanqing had gotten a small wooden house from somewhere to replace the originally dilapidated nest. And when Yan Jingyu looked closely, this small house was actually quite similar to the one Liao Chen had lived in with him when they entered the mortal world later.

He figured that that house was also built by Liao Chen according to his memory, but it was later changed beyond recognition by Yan Jingyu.

He squatted by little Liao Chen’s cradle and waved his finger in front of the other. The other was immediately drawn by the sight, his small fingers reaching for him, “ah, ah,” trying to grab his finger.

Yan Jingyu couldn’t help but laugh. He flicked his soft, springy little chin, and thinking that this fellow would grow up to be such a ferocious great demon in the future, he couldn’t help but sigh…

He couldn’t help but open his mouth and nibble on his face.

The little fellow’s cheek was sucked by him, but he only blinked his big, grape-like eyes. Not until Yan Jingyu reluctantly let go was he still grinning at him with his toothless little mouth.

It’s killing me… Yan Jingyu still wanted to rub him again, but there was a sound at the door, so he had to quickly hide his figure.

Yan Jingyu felt like a pervert. He watched Liao Chen grow up day by day, and thinking of the great catastrophe that the phoenix clan would experience when the other was three years old, he felt a little anxious, even though it was something that had already happened.

And he soon discovered that although he could see the past and the future, he could not completely control the fate that had already happened as he pleased. He could only make slight alternations in extremely small moments. For example, when other children wanted to bully Liao Chen, he could turn the very harsh words the other wanted to say into something less aggressive. He could also make them miss when some children were throwing stones at the window to scare Liao Chen, who was at home alone.

Every time he tried to change a slightly larger fate, he would instantly return to the pillar of the Heavenly Dao and see the runes of cause and effect. This meant that if he wanted to change these things, he had to pry at cause and effect, and prying at cause and effect would also cause instability in time, and time would in turn cause another law to change, and at the same time, it would affect the fate of countless people.

Because he was not sure what price he would have to pay for exchanging laws, Yan Jingyu did not try it easily.

And as the time Yan Jingyu stared at Liao Chen grew longer and longer, for some reason, he found that the Vermilion Bird’s divinity beside him seemed to be slightly restless. The cluster of Li Fire suddenly burned through space again, inviting him to the next time point.

Yan Jingyu had no choice but to reluctantly bid farewell to the infant Liao Chen.

This time, as soon as he opened his eyes, he was filled with the sight of flames burning everywhere, the roar of ferocious beasts, the wails of mounts, and the sound of collapsing houses and screaming little phoenixes all around.

This was the great catastrophe that the phoenix clan had experienced.

Yan Jingyu immediately used teleportation and quickly searched for Liao Chen’s traces in the chaotic battle. But the Vermilion Bird’s divinity quickly melted through space again. Before Yan Jingyu could react, it had fiercely swallowed him in.

Yan Jingyu was stunned.

When he reappeared, all the wails had disappeared. The Vermilion Bird’s divinity stopped beside him, quiet and still.

“…Liao Chen?” he asked the divinity with hesitation. The fact that it had fled from there so eagerly just now, did it mean that the part of Liao Chen’s consciousness remaining in the divinity was fluctuating?

Clearly, when he had spoken of it back then, it had been an understatement. But that was his last meeting with his mother. How could he really cover it up with an understatement?

Liao Chen always dissected him to the bone, but never said a word about his own affairs. The only time he had mentioned it was to comfort him.

Yan Jingyu reached out his hand, and the divinity gently landed in his palm. Yan Jingyu’s fingers stroked the flames above, his lips slightly pursed.

So all of this was your deeply hidden secret.

I should have thought of it long ago. You are always alone, so insecure… You finally merged with the divinity, and even gave me your physical body.

Unfortunately, the part of Liao Chen’s physical body had also been reduced to ashes under the divine tribulation. Only these divinities barely existed.

Good thing it’s just hidden… at least there’s still a chance to find him.

Yan Jingyu looked left and right and found that he was currently in a valley, in the middle of nowhere, with wild grass growing wantonly. Only on a mountain peak ahead was there a faint firelight.

“You lied to me! You villain, you actually lied to me—!”

A voice that was still tender, yet hoarse and angry, came. Yan Jingyu’s divine sense instantly saw the mountaintop. He leaped up and saw a crowd of tens of thousands of people holding torches high, cheering.

And in the middle, a young half-demon with blood-stained wings, constantly trying to break through the prison, but was constantly being pierced by the Flame-Sealing Thousand-Thorn Grass wrapped around it, letting out roars.

“You lied to me—!” he roared. “The human race lied to me! Why did you lie to me!!!”

He looked to be only five or six years old, his voice hoarse and unbearable. The Flame-Sealing Thousand-Thorn Grass on the prison was slowly shrinking, making the space for him to struggle smaller and smaller. Someone let out a light laugh. “The leader of our Xinghuo Alliance is about to break through to the Formless Realm. Your soul can be used to resist the heavenly thunder. You can struggle all you want. Every time you use your spiritual energy, the Flame-Sealing Thousand-Thorn Grass will shrink by an inch. The more you move, the tighter it will twist.”

“Why are you reminding him of these things?” another person interjected. “The Flame-Sealing Thousand-Thorn Grass has to crush his physical body anyway. Otherwise, how can the soul be extracted?”

Someone started to act, and someone congratulated each other, but he was still confused. “Why do you want to draw my soul… didn’t you say you were going to take me to find my mother? Why…”

He looked to be only five or six years old, but in fact, when he was sealed in the jade, he was only three.

He had finally managed to escape from the Spirit-Nurturing Jade, but was accidentally bumped into by a cultivator at the foot of the mountain. The person asked him if he was hungry, if he wanted something to eat, and also promised to take him to find his mother after he was full.

But when he followed the other to this place, he was suddenly thrown into a cage wrapped with Flame-Sealing Thousand-Thorn Grass. The phoenix demon’s bloodline bared its teeth and claws in front of its natural enemy, eagerly revealing its true form, but was instantly pierced and covered in wounds.

Yan Jingyu, through his figure, saw his past. He reflexively took a step forward, but suddenly found that his heels were fixed in place, his surroundings instantly wrapped in numerous runes. Yan Jingyu heard a voice from within the pillar of the Heavenly Dao: “Are you going to act?”

“Of course I’m going to act!”

The runes slightly scattered, and an endless stream of fate’s tributaries appeared before his eyes. Yan Jingyu saw the ten tributaries of fate extending from Liao Chen’s side.

Without exception, all were death.

“…I can help Feng Wanqing, why can’t I help him?”

He had not yet gotten an answer, but he already had the answer. Because it was inevitable that Feng Wanqing would escape from Kunlun Mountain. He had just let her escape in advance. But at this moment, Liao Chen was certain to die. If he really wanted to interfere, he had to pry at cause and effect, and use his own laws to contend with cause and effect and time.

“You still don’t understand.” The voice from above the pillar was magnificent. “The reason you suffered for another one hundred and thirty-three years was because he recklessly reversed time and space to extend your life. Otherwise, you would have already returned to the Heavenly Dao.”

“We helped you come back to give you a chance to break the cycle of reincarnation. Little Heavenly Mandate, don’t you want to return to the pillar? You can leave now. Otherwise, dragging this physical body, you will never be able to return to the Heavenly Dao.”

“…Break the cycle of reincarnation?” Yan Jingyu said, “But he was able to save me, wasn’t it because I didn’t let things be at this moment? If it is a cycle of reincarnation, does it mean that the me of endless time and space has already made endless same choices?”

There was a moment of silence around them. A voice said, “That one hundred and thirty-three years is the fruit of this moment. Have you forgotten how you fell from the moon in the clouds to the mud on the ground? You are the heavenly mandate itself. You should not have suffered those hardships. It was he who recklessly reversed time and space and made you suffer all the hardships of the world.”

“Your divinity came first. You had already comprehended the Dao long ago, and already possessed a divine quality. Your physical body and soul-lamp are just a cage to you, a burden.”

“You were clearly already a god, yet you were trapped in a human’s physical body, making yourself neither human nor god, which is why you have stirred up these bitter fruits. Little Heavenly Mandate, come back. Let go of these obsessions and be with us.”

“I have already comprehended the Dao.” Yan Jingyu reached out his hand, and Du Fang condensed in his palm again. “My Dao is Yan Jingyu’s Dao, not the Dao of the Heavenly Mandate.”

To let go of obsession is to let go of oneself. For these one hundred and thirty-three years, he had been dominated by the laws of the Heavenly Mandate. He could always understand this, understand that. He was used to looking at the world, at everyone, from a macroscopic perspective. He never blamed, never resented, never hated.

It was Liao Chen’s ‘parting’ that had awakened him. He had finally felt again what it was like to panic. But this time was different from back then. He finally had the capital to take that step and fight with the rules. He had once been the Immortal Lord Dufang, had once been the young master of the Yan Clan, had once been the most perfect existence in everyone’s hearts. But from now on, he was just Yan Jingyu.

His figure was suspended in the air, and countless runes scattered at his side, its golden light brilliant.

“If the cycle of reincarnation does not cease, then my thoughts will remain as they were.”

“Neither human, nor god, nor immortal, so what? Since it is my fate, not to mention one hundred and thirty-three years, even if it were ten thousand one hundred and thirty-three years, I would still be willing.”

“I am not here to break this cycle of reincarnation…”

From the age of fourteen, he and Liao Chen had determined to kill each other in this life. But he had not expected that after more than a hundred years, the bond between him and Liao Chen was actually something that had been destined long ago.

More than a hundred years of life and death intertwined, arch-nemesis difficult to part, confidants difficult to separate.

You and I have fought for so many years. How could I just watch you die here?

…I am not here to break this cycle of reincarnation. I am here to stand side by side with you and walk out of this cycle of reincarnation together.

The tributaries of fate were still slowly flowing. Among Liao Chen’s ten tributaries of fate, one suddenly appeared out of thin air.

The only way to live.

The authority of the Heavenly Mandate spread over the entire mountaintop. Under the absolute suppression of the laws, all the sounds disappeared. The shape of the flamboyant torches also began to flow exceptionally slowly. Time and space were both relatively still because of this, and the water droplets dripping in the cave also seemed to have stopped.

The young half-demon’s whole body had already been pierced by the Flame-Sealing Thousand-Thorn Grass. The sharp thorns were embedded in his body, and on his face, arms, and waist, they had all carved out a ravine as thick as a child’s arm.

Yan Jingyu stopped in front of him.

The little youth’s expression was ferocious. For a moment, Yan Jingyu didn’t know how to start. The thorny grass was embedded too deep, and the intact good flesh was made to look like it shouldn’t exist.

Yan Jingyu’s fingers trembled. He slowly placed his thumb on the side of his slender neck. The Flame-Sealing Thousand-Thorn Grass was embedded too deep. Only here could he barely find a place to start.

…How could I not care about him? How could I bear not to care about him?

Back then, when you saw me being bullied by Ruan Qingwan, did you also feel this way… so you, under the suppression of so many rules, were still constantly hitting.

You hated the one who hurt me to the bone.

It was also at this moment that Yan Jingyu suddenly remembered that the Xinghuo Alliance was the predecessor of the Huanxing Hall.

Mo Dong had said that the demons who had a grudge would definitely take revenge after they grew up. It was just that the demon race’s revenge might be several hundred years later, so in the eyes of many people, it seemed as if they were causing trouble for no reason.

If it were one hundred and thirty-three years ago, Yan Jingyu would still have his own position. No matter what difficulties the other had, he was a human, and he should protect the human race.

Of course, he was not blaming his past self. He just suddenly felt… such a small child, Liao Chen had also once been such a small child…

He must have been in a lot of pain, but his frowning action had also become slow under the authority of the Heavenly Mandate. Yan Jingyu’s lips moved slightly, and he gritted his teeth and held the Flame-Sealing Thousand-Thorn Grass tightly.