Chapter 54: Do you, like me, or not?
Liao Chen, with a straight face, took out the clothes Yan Jingyu had bought for Yin Shi and stuffed them back into his own Qiankun Pouch.
He only left him the one he was wearing.
Then he ordered him to start the fire. Yin Shi looked at him with a baffled expression. As he sat in front of the stove, he said in his heart, “By treating me like this, aren’t you just torturing yourself?”
“I can’t be the only one to suffer.” Liao Chen frowned, glanced at the shadow-recording pearl again, and said, “Why did it have to be chicken?”
In the end, what was served was a bowl of Chinese cabbage and mushroom stewed with ginseng soup, placed next to Mo Xia’s chicken and mushroom stewed with ginseng soup.
Liao Chen glanced at Yan Jingyu. He was sitting by the window, resting his forehead on his hand and writing something. His divine sense swept over and found that he was actually writing a supplementary part to the Heavenly Mandate art.
During this time, Yan Jingyu would often do these things. Liao Chen vaguely realized that he must be feeling that his time was short, and therefore wanted to record all the things in his mind. Some time ago, he had also found the complete set of the Flowing Clouds and Flying Catkins cultivation technique in the other’s storage ring. Some of the insights in it were completely different from his youth.
What made Liao Chen feel strange was that the closer Yan Jingyu got to death, the more he seemed to see through the Heavenly Mandate art. Even though no one had deliberately told him, he seemed to have unconsciously spied on a part that the rules did not allow him to know.
He slowly walked over, his gaze falling on the other’s brush: What the Heavenly Mandate art spies on is the ultimate mystery of the universe. At the beginning of heaven and earth, when the primordial chaos was not yet judged, from nothingness came something, and from something came all things.
Know that all living beings in the vast heavens and earth are like dust, yet even dust contains the opportunity for creation. For the source of life is not uniquely endowed by heaven and earth, but in fact, in the depths of chaos, a wisp of spiritual opportunity broke through the endless primordial chaos. Although it is confined to a physical form, it is connected to the great void…
The track of fate is not set in stone and difficult to move…
His gaze quickly swept down: To think that the rules are set by heaven, but in fact, the rules depend on people to exist. The source of the rules is actually cast from illusion. The world says that the rules are the guiding principles of heaven and earth, and set the order of the universe. But in the end, they are just illusions…
Those words appeared faintly in his eyes, like the golden mark that had been carved in his eyes before, emitting wisps of golden light.
He subconsciously looked up.
Piercing through layers of thunderclouds, at a gallop, the highest pillar of the Heavenly Dao seemed to hang down from the endless sky above. The inscriptions on it were complex, and the golden mark flowed. On the pillar were connected dozens of chains. These chains hung down high, spreading out in all directions, shackling thirty-six rule thrones. And on these thrones were one after another shadow, restlessly stirring.
Their gazes all looked straight ahead, at the only throne that was not shackled by chains. On that seat was also a flashing golden mark inscription. For every word Yan Jingyu wrote below, a word would be added on it. The golden light flowed, its energy boundless.
Yan Jingyu’s brush moved like a dragon, writing extremely fast: “Observe the beginning of the primordial chaos, the beginning of chaos, and there were no rules. The yin and yang harmonized, giving birth to all things, purely following nature, each suiting its own nature…”
Liao Chen grabbed his hand. Yan Jingyu suddenly came back to his senses and looked up at him.
“You, what are you writing?”
“…” Yan Jingyu pulled his hand back and looked at his own words. The golden mark above had already disappeared. He reacted for a moment. “Aren’t I recording the way of formations? I promised Mo Dong a while ago. I’ll teach him as much as I know.”
He did not know what he had written unconsciously.
No wonder there was no reaction from above.
He pulled Yan Jingyu up. “Come and eat.”
Yan Jingyu remembered that he was still angry with him and immediately struggled free, going to get a brush again. Liao Chen directly bent down and picked him up. Yan Jingyu’s body was in the air, and he was shocked. “What are you doing?!”
Liao Chen had already carried him to the table, placed him on a chair, and then moved the chair closer to the table. “Didn’t you say last time that you wanted me to cook for you? Now I’ve done it. You have a taste.”
As he spoke, he served him a bowl of Chinese cabbage and mushroom stewed with ginseng soup.
Yan Jingyu glanced at it and frowned. Liao Chen met his gaze and also frowned, saying with forbearance, “I followed Mo Xia’s method one-to-one. You should at least have a bite.”
Yan Jingyu looked at the bowl of Chinese cabbage soup again. “One-to-one?”
“That’s right.” Liao Chen said, “I just replaced the chicken with Chinese cabbage. Nothing else has changed.”
Yan Jingyu met his gaze again. Liao Chen’s brow furrowed tighter and tighter. He felt that his attitude had already been lowered very much, but Yan Jingyu was still…
“Yan Jingyu, I’m warning you. Don’t be ungrateful. I’ve already done what you asked me to do. If you’re still angry, then it’s your problem.”
Yan Jingyu’s face darkened again. Liao Chen continued, “You also appreciate Mo Xia’s cooking. This Lord is just trying his hand today. If you are well-behaved, I can learn something else in the future. If you, hmm…”
His expression suddenly twisted, because Yan Jingyu had directly pinched his thigh hard.
He glared at Yan Jingyu, his gaze confused and pained, and also in disbelief.
Yan Jingyu withdrew his hand. “I don’t like you talking to me like this.”
“…” Liao Chen nodded, placed his hand on the leg he had twisted, and pursed his lips. “Who do you like, Yin Shi? What’s so good about him, cowering behind you all day?!”
“You’ve been staring at us?”
“What’s wrong with me staring at you?” Liao Chen said, unable to bear it any longer. “Don’t you forget what our relationship is. I didn’t force you that day. You were the one who pulled me into bed! Wasn’t it just a joke with an illusion after we were done? And you can be angry for three days. I’ve never seen you have such a big temper before?!”
It would have been better if he hadn’t mentioned this matter. As soon as he mentioned it, Yan Jingyu’s face became even uglier.
Liao Chen said coldly, “What, you feel that you’ve been slept with by me, and you’re not balanced in your heart? Or do you think that as long as you throw yourself at me, you can immediately climb on top of my head?”
Yan Jingyu clenched his fingers.
He stared at Liao Chen. The embarrassment he had experienced that night, which he had tried so hard to forget, once again uncontrollably surged up.
He felt more and more that he must have misunderstood. Just as Liao Chen himself had said, demonic beasts had no feelings. All their actions were just for the sake of reproduction. The ridiculous thing was that he had thought that things were different between him and Liao Chen…
He had thought that after that night, Liao Chen would care about him, not the kind of care for an arch-nemesis, but that kind of… unreserved care, just like when he knew he was about to die, that kind of single-minded, instinctive care.
But he suddenly discovered again that even though Liao Chen had once tried to cross one hundred and thirty-three years, even though he had once chased after him and spun around… none of it could represent that Liao Chen really had feelings for him. He was always a person who would not stop until he achieved his goal. Perhaps it was really just for the so-called competition.
This made Yan Jingyu feel a strong sense of shame again.
He had misunderstood.
In the end, the reason for the misunderstanding was not because of Liao Chen, but because of himself…
This was just one-sided, just unbearable, just unspeakable…
Liao Chen looked at his gradually reddening eyes, paused for a moment, and subconsciously softened his voice again. “I did as you said…”
Yan Jingyu turned and walked out, taking two steps out of the door, his steps becoming faster and faster, and also more and more wretched.
He was already a dying man, and had long known that he was a dying man. In fact, he had long had a premonition. He had tried hard to be on guard, tried hard to resist, tried hard to tell himself not to confuse Liao Chen with other people. They were arch-nemesis, and would always only be arch-nemesis…
Liao Chen wanted to kill him, and he also wanted to kill Liao Chen. This was the only connection between them, and also the only bond between them.
No matter what, do not try to change this matter.
See, even if he has done so much for you, it’s not the kind of meaning you think.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the way he had ordered Liao Chen that day, wanting to pressure him to cook for him, was also very outrageous… How could I be so self-righteous?
This made his whole person feel as if he were in a sea of fire, with lava scorching him from all sides. He came to the riverbank near the village and sat down by the stream in early winter. The wind blowing over the stream brought a cool water vapor, which landed on his cheeks with a thin chill, but it still couldn’t extinguish the burning heat that had surfaced all over his body from shame.
He picked up a cold stone and held it in his palm, his palms overlapping, his eyes lowered as he gazed at the other pebbles at his feet.
A sound came from beside him. Yan Jingyu did not turn his head, but just maintained the same posture, quietly feeling the coldness of the stone.
The heat in his palm could not warm the stone, but was instead quickly pierced by the coldness of the stone.
Yan Jingyu’s heart gradually calmed down.
Liao Chen squatted down beside him and turned his head to look at his expression. Before he could speak, he heard him say, “What is the way to save me?”
“…Not angry anymore?”
Yan Jingyu looked at him quietly, then clenched the stone in his hand again, and said calmly, “There’s nothing to be angry about. You’re right. I was being self-righteous, thinking that if I threw myself at you once, you would be different to me.”
Liao Chen reacted for a moment, subconsciously sensing a crisis, and said quickly, “I was already different to you.”
Yan Jingyu just looked at him with an expressionless face. “What is the way to save me?”
Liao Chen looked at him, moved a stone over, and sat down beside him. “I said the wrong thing just now. I didn’t mean that. Don’t be really angry with me, okay?”
Yan Jingyu pursed his lips. The suppressed emotions welled up again. He glared at Liao Chen with restraint. “What on earth do you want?”
“I’m fine with anything.” Liao Chen looked at him. “Don’t be sad because of my words. I was wrong, okay?”
Yan Jingyu: “…”
His lips trembled. He looked at Liao Chen with an incredible expression. He held the stone and said slowly, “Liao Chen, what on earth do you take me for?”
“I… didn’t I promise you that I would kill you in the future? It’s just that my demonic nature needs you now…”
His figure suddenly leaned back, because Yan Jingyu had suddenly taken out a curved blade and slashed it directly at his neck. Liao Chen’s back went cold. Before he could ask, Yan Jingyu had already moved in, stabbing, thrusting, chopping, and hacking, each move extremely fierce. Liao Chen sat on the stone and defended for a few rounds, then finally pressed a palm on the ground and pulled his body away from him.
Yan Jingyu stood by the stone, his eyes filled with killing intent. Liao Chen touched the torn clothes on his chest and frowned. “You’re crazy…”
“What, you said you were going to kill me just now, but now you don’t dare to come?”
“Even if I kill you, I can’t possibly do it now. What’s the difference between this and taking advantage of someone’s weakness?!”
“Taking advantage of someone’s weakness?” Yan Jingyu laughed. “Liao Chen, what do you think you are? You’re just a little higher in cultivation than me. Have you forgotten that compared to me, you are just a whetstone? Even if I’m about to die, as long as I’m willing, I can still drag you with me to be buried.”
Liao Chen stared at him for a while. “Yan Jingyu, are you done yet?”
“Who on earth is not done?!” Yan Jingyu said, “Liao Chen, why did you risk falling from your realm to go back and save me? Why were you so desperate because I died? Why did you chase me around in the Suixing Hall saying those ambiguous things, but then threw me into the wilderness after that kind of thing? Why did you seem not to care about me at all one moment, and then let Yin Shi come to find me the next…
“Why did you save me, and why did you do so much for me? Are you really trying to kill me, or do you have some other purpose?
“You’ve made me a mess, but you yourself seem to be completely unaffected. Liao Chen, I’m about to die, but I’m not some puppet that you can knead and shape at will, summon and dismiss at will! It’s not like you feel your demonic nature is relapsing today, and I have to accompany you to do that kind of thing, and then when you’ve suppressed your demonic nature, you want me to immediately return to the state of an arch-nemesis. I am a person, I am not some mechanical doll. If you push me this way, I can go this way. If you push me that way, I can immediately go that way. I have consciousness, and I will also want to confirm what you are thinking. I don’t want to sway back and forth like this, seemingly endlessly. You shake me again and again, and then you force me back to a safe distance. What on earth do you take me for? Have you thought it through?!”
Liao Chen stared at him blankly, his eyes flickering back and forth. “I…”
“You keep saying you want to kill me. Since you want to kill me, then come on!!” Yan Jingyu took a step forward. Liao Chen subconsciously retreated. He heard him say, “Don’t make up any excuses for the future. If you want to fight with me, there is actually another way. Even if I can’t return to my peak, even if I can’t enter the immortal path, you can completely cripple all your cultivation! If you turn yourself into a mortal, can’t you fight with me fair and square?!”
“Of course I can’t…”
“What can’t you do?” Yan Jingyu said, “If you want to fight with me, you have a thousand ways. You can also get another cultivation body, a Phoenix-Beginning stage cultivation body. It should be very simple for you. Won’t that also satisfy you?!”
“I, you, you…”
Yan Jingyu stopped his steps. He looked at Liao Chen. “I can die, or I can live. I can accept your kindness, and I can also accept that you are destined to kill me. I could have been muddle-headed, pretending that nothing mattered… telling myself that at least I should think more about the living, that I can’t do everything according to my own will…”
“I originally didn’t care, Liao Chen. I was originally still thinking that I shouldn’t do this. After all, you can still live for a long, long time, while I am already about to die… I only have eight months left. I hope that it’s best if no one in this world can remember me, best if no one is pained by my departure…”
“But Liao Chen, I really want to be selfish this once.” Yan Jingyu said, “Just take it as you deserve it. Anyway, you’re not a good thing either.”
He looked at Liao Chen and said slowly, “I want you to give me an answer.”
“Do you, like me, or not?”
