Chapter 32: They, aren’t they arch-nemesis?
Yan Jingyu followed behind Liao Chen dejectedly.
Of course, he knew that the people of the Demonic Domain wished they could get rid of him. After all, it wasn’t just Liao Chen whose plans he had ruined back then. When Chi Yuan punished Liao Chen, he didn’t know if he would also punish those people.
To be fair, he didn’t have any direct hatred for the Demon Realm. But because of their different positions, there were bound to be many disputes. Whether he had killed someone because of this… that was really too normal.
Just like how he had destroyed the Heaven-Devouring Cauldron, saved those imprisoned young girls, and prevented more people from dying for alchemy, but had left a terrible evil spirit in the Demonic Domain. So many people had died because of him in the past hundred years… Did he feel guilty? Not really, but he did have some regrets. But if you asked him if he regretted it, his answer would definitely be no.
He was a person of the immortal sects, who cultivated the path of the common people. He had his own Dao to follow. As long as a person showed their position, they would inevitably harm the position of the other party. His mother had personally told him this when he entered the world.
“In this world, every side has its hardships, and every side has its persistence. All living beings are hateful, pitiful, fearful, killable, and salvageable.” He still remembered the slender white fingers that had landed on his shoulder, gentle, but powerful. “A-Yu, when you enter the world, you must cultivate your heart more. You can often have compassion, but you must not be indecisive.”
Yan Jingyu had been a perceptive child since he was young. He sometimes even thought, I cultivate the path of the common people, but am I really cultivating the path of the common people? If in the end, it’s just for my own immortal ascension, then where is the equality in this path of all beings? I wish to save one side, but that one side is saving me even more.
I have left an endless clear name in the world, often sitting on a high platform, quietly watching the suffering. In the end, I am just a selfish, sanctimonious hypocritical immortal.
But what is a true immortal?
In those years, he had chewed on a fruit pastry, leaning against the wall of the Yan estate, his hazy eyes half-open, his cheeks puffed out as he chewed, trying to discern the blazing sun in the sky, searching for the so-called path of a true immortal.
Now, a hundred years had passed, and he still did not understand what a true immortal was.
Is one an immortal just because their cultivation is high? Is one an immortal just because they have ascended to the Forgetfulness Platform? The Grand Ancestor had ascended to the Forgetfulness Platform for a thousand years, and only occasionally descended to Hutian to leave a few words. The world was full of his good name.
In the future, do I also have to become such an immortal?
Yan Jingyu’s thoughts jumped quickly. He soon thought again, there is no future. He couldn’t even reach the true immortal in the eyes of the world, let alone the hazy path he was exploring himself.
“You have nothing to say?” The person in front of him suddenly stopped. If it weren’t for the fact that Yan Jingyu wasn’t following too closely, he would have probably run right into him. He took a slight step back. Liao Chen had already turned around, his eyes cold.
“…Hmm?”
Yan Jingyu was a little slow to react. He realized that Liao Chen was angry again, but he hadn’t fully understood what the other was angry about.
“The romantic debt you incurred yourself back then. Now, so many years have passed, and Wolf Qiong is still waiting for you. He even knows you are not a woman, yet he still wants to fulfill the marriage contract with you. You have nothing to say?”
“…” Yan Jingyu scratched his head, hesitated for a moment, and said, “Didn’t you say you were going to betroth me to him?”
“So what?!”
Liao Chen was glaring at him.
Yan Jingyu took another step back. He pursed his lips. “It doesn’t matter. It’s the same everywhere. Wolf Qiong is also easy to handle. I won’t have a bad time in the wolf clan.”
Liao Chen took a step forward. Yan Jingyu subconsciously took another step back. He found that Liao Chen’s face was very ugly. For a moment, he was a little baffled…
He had actually taken Liao Chen’s words from that day to heart. In the end, he had indeed developed some affection for Liao Chen because he had been good to him. Coupled with the matter of Jiuyi Mountain, he also felt guilty towards Liao Chen and had always wanted to make it up to him, and also hoped to get a little closer to him.
But he had almost forgotten that the two of them were arch-nemesis, and that Liao Chen was already a Demon God. At any time, he was the master of this relationship. He didn’t need to feel guilty towards him, and he didn’t need it either…
“You, you want to go to the wolf clan and marry Wolf Qiong?!”
Liao Chen spoke again. Yan Jingyu subconsciously shook his head, then nodded. “I will do as you arrange.”
“Don’t you have any opinion of your own?!”
“You don’t need me to have an opinion either.” Yan Jingyu said, “I took it upon myself to help you subdue the blood beast. Didn’t you dislike it? Didn’t you say that I can only eke out a living under your hand now? If you want to arrange for me to go to the wolf clan, I will go. Anyway, the wolf clan is also your subordinate. What’s the difference?”
“You…” Liao Chen said with difficulty, “I said I would send you to get married.”
“If I get married, then I get married.” Yan Jingyu said, “Just take it as retribution for my deception back then. Everything is up to you.”
He looked at Liao Chen. The latter’s eyes flickered, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t. “If you don’t like him, you can also refuse.”
Yan Jingyu was stunned for a moment, then smiled frankly. “I don’t like him.”
Liao Chen’s expression seemed to soften a little. He grunted in acknowledgement, turned and continued forward. “I was just deliberately trying to make you angry. How come you didn’t fall for it at all…”
Yan Jingyu obediently followed beside him, looking at his relaxed profile, and smiled slightly.
Liao Chen immediately turned again. “What are you smiling at?”
“Nothing.”
“Speak clearly.”
“…” Yan Jingyu had no choice. “Do you want me to be submissive, or do you want me to continue to oppose you?”
“I…” His eyes shifted. After a long moment, he said, “I want you to be the same as before, free and at ease, doing whatever you want.”
“Really?”
“Of course it’s true.” After Liao Chen finished speaking, he turned again. “I want to see the real you.”
Yan Jingyu quietly followed beside him, then looked at his expression again to confirm. He suddenly grinned, stretched out his hands, and poked his waist back and forth. Liao Chen, caught off guard, moved away and turned his face to glare at him.
Yan Jingyu immediately stopped his movements, carefully put his hands behind his back, and the smile in his eyes also hesitantly withdrew.
“…” Liao Chen relaxed his expression and continued to walk towards the Suixing Hall.
Yan Jingyu followed lightly and poked him again. Liao Chen slapped his hand. Yan Jingyu observed his expression, then poked him again. Liao Chen cast an annoyed glance at him. “When can you be a little more well-behaved?”
Yan Jingyu was completely relieved. A radiant smile suddenly appeared in his eyes. He chased after him and poked him repeatedly—
“Yan Jingyu—!”
“You actually call me by this name?!” The two of them’s footprints left a messy trail in the snow. Yan Jingyu said, “You just like me to oppose you. You should have said so earlier! I also like to oppose you!”
“If you continue like this, I’m going to fight back…”
“You fight, you fight, you fight, you fight… Ah, Liao Xiao Mei, you’re cheating!”
Yan Jingyu’s neck was suddenly wrapped in a handful of broken snow by his spiritual energy. He shivered from the cold, and at the same time, he grabbed some snow and threw it at him, shouting, “If you have the guts, don’t use spiritual energy.”
“Spiritual energy is my ability.”
The two of them chased and threw snow at each other on the snowfield. Liao Chen showed him no mercy at all. Yan Jingyu was hit in the face several times and had no room to fight back. Anger gradually rose from his heart, and he suddenly pounced on him. “I’m going to kill you—!”
Liao Chen could use snow to hit him, but he couldn’t do anything about his physical fight. He went to grab Yan Jingyu’s hand, but Yan Jingyu suddenly lifted his leg and swept at him forcefully. He didn’t manage to knock him down, but he fell down himself. Before he fell, he unwillingly grabbed a handful of Liao Chen’s hair. The hairpin on the latter’s head immediately fell off, and he also fell on top of him from the pain.
He reflexively propped his hands on his sides, thus narrowly avoiding the tragedy of face-to-face collision.
Yan Jingyu’s head, eyelashes, and the collar of his neck were almost all covered with broken snow. He looked as if he had been buried in snow. The sun was warm today. He lay in the snow, and the sun made it a little difficult for him to open his eyes. His eyelashes kept trembling, and he couldn’t see the Liao Chen on top of him clearly at all.
But Liao Chen could clearly see every inch of his face.
His long, dark eyelashes, his slightly parted lips, his warm, porcelain-white skin like suet, and the eyes that were constantly flashing and shimmering because of the fragments of sunlight scattered in them.
His thumb gently brushed aside the long hair at his temples and lightly pinched his soft earlobe.
Yan Jingyu tilted his head to adjust his line of sight, avoiding the sunlight. The side of his neck was elongated, revealing his exquisite clavicle.
He squinted his eyes to look at Liao Chen.
The initial exposure made him see a faint halo of light. By the time he could finally see the other clearly, he only saw him let out a light laugh. “You can’t even stand still. So stupid.”
“Get off me!”
Their chests were pressed together. Liao Chen could clearly feel his heart, which was constantly jumping due to the exercise. He gazed at the person under him, his eyes darkening slightly. He restrainedly propped himself up. “Useless thing.”
Just as he stood up, Yan Jingyu suddenly wrapped his legs around one of his legs, then suddenly twisted his waist. Amidst the flying snow, he propped his palms on the ground and directly twisted the Liao Chen who had just stood up to the ground. He himself flipped over and stood up, waving his hand to roll up a large patch of snow and burying Liao Chen with it.
Liao Chen closed his eyes.
The cold snow smashed on his face and drilled into his neck, seeming to temporarily extinguish the heat in his body. He turned his head to look. In the sunlight, his eyes were also a little difficult to open, but he only saw that person with his back to the blazing sun, laughing so hard he was bent over. “Idiot! Liao Chen, even if I’ve become a waste, you’re still no match for me!!!”
Not far away, Mo Dong and Mo Xia crossed their arms and looked over.
Mo Xia’s expression was confused. “They, aren’t they arch-nemesis?”
Mo Dong: “…They are.”
Wolf Qiong clutched his chest, panting, and stood with them, saying in a daze, “Did the Lord just say he was going to betroth him to me?”
Mo Xia looked at him, her mouth slightly open, but she couldn’t find the words.
Mo Dong also looked at him and said slowly, “I think you can rest now.”
He quickly turned and walked towards the academy, his steps becoming lighter and lighter. “That formation today was a bit interesting. Logically speaking, a thunder-inducing formation is a thunder-inducing formation, and a thunder-exploding formation is a thunder-exploding formation. How can it both induce thunder and explode? A thunder explosion should be able to exert its strongest power only after being tempered with high-intensity spiritual energy… But that formation used very little spiritual energy and exerted the same power as an ordinary thunder-exploding talisman!”
Mo Xia hurriedly followed behind him, took out a sound-recording pearl, and recorded all his ramblings, at the same time saying with full concentration, “What have you discovered now? We agreed that I’m the last Taotie and you’re the last Nine-Tails, and we have to help each other. You’re not allowed to hide it from me and secretly advance on your own!”
“I just discovered…” Mo Dong glanced at her and said with deep meaning, “that perhaps in the future, the Lord will allow us to get close to Yan Jingyu.”
“Ah?” Mo Xia said, “Haven’t I been getting close to him all this time?”
“You don’t understand.” Mo Xia quickened her pace and soon turned into a nine-tailed fox and ran ahead. “I’m going to get a book. I’ll go to the Suixing Hall later to ask Yan Jingyu clearly. What on earth is the mystery in that formation?”
Mo Xia also immediately transformed into her original form and followed. “I’m going too!”
Wolf Qiong was already injured and really couldn’t catch up to the two of them. He could only shout after them, “Why are you telling me to rest?!”
The two of them tidied up the broken snow on their bodies in the back hall. Yan Jingyu was still trying to dig into his collar, but was blocked by his hand. “It’s all melted.”
“Alright.” Yan Jingyu then patted himself. Liao Chen’s gaze suddenly fell on the food box on the side. “Why didn’t you eat the food?”
“Oh, I forgot to eat. I was a little worried that the five major tribes would bully you… I’ll eat it now.”
He came to the table. Unexpectedly, Liao Chen also followed and sat quietly opposite him.
Yan Jingyu’s eyes curved. He quickly set the dishes and also took out the Wenjun Lüyi. “Have a cup.”
“I don’t drink.”
“Why?” Yan Jingyu said, “Just one mouthful. Not even one mouthful?”
“No.”
“…” Yan Jingyu had no choice but to pour himself a cup. Liao Chen poured himself a cup of water and clinked it with his. “Is this okay?”
Yan Jingyu became happy again. “Will we eat every meal together in the future?”
Liao Chen: “…Mm.”
“Later, I’ll help you sort out your Qiankun Pouch and classify it. It’ll be more convenient for you to find things in the future.”
“Alright.”
“And this room, you have to live in it. Don’t put everything in a bag. It makes it so I can’t find anything when I’m looking for it… But those hair accessories picked up from corpses should be thrown away. It’s really not good to put them in a drawer.”
“Are you afraid of the dead?”
Yan Jingyu moved the wine cup from his lips and said with a straight face, “Private territory. The dead are not allowed.”
Liao Chen thought for a moment, then waved his hand to put the things in the dressing table drawer back into the Qiankun Pouch. He then took out a white jade ring with gold tracings and a formation diagram carved inside. “This is for you.”
Yan Jingyu was stunned. “Hmm?”
“The things here are too messy. See if there’s anything you can use in your daily life. You can put it in this jade ring. Later, I’ll go out with you to buy some clean things.”
Yan Jingyu tilted his head, reached out his hand directly, and said casually, “How’s the space? If I forget to bring the feather jade one day, can I still open it?”
“It’s enough for you to use. I’ve put a special mark on it. As long as it’s you, you can open it.”
He glanced at the other’s outstretched finger, paused for a moment, and said, “Which finger do you want to wear it on?”
“Whichever fits.”
“This one can be adjusted according to the size of your finger.”
Yan Jingyu smiled, curled up his other fingers, leaving only his index finger. “This one.”
Liao Chen put the storage ring on it. “Where do you want to go for a walk?”
“Are there any good things in the Demonic Domain?”
“Of course it can’t compare to Hutian.” Liao Chen said, “If you want to go, we can also teleport there.”
“No need. We’ll just take a casual stroll around our doorstep. I still have to help you sort out your Qiankun Pouch.”
“…Mm.”
