Chen Yixin glanced at Wenren Li with mild surprise. Still, considering that Wenren Li was a mighty demonic cultivator at the Soul Transformation stage, it was not strange for him to know such things. Yet from what Chen Yixin understood of him, both Wenren Li’s words and expression revealed utter contempt for this supposed “divine scion from the Upper Realm”—or rather, contempt for Jing Zhihua himself.
Chen Yixin looked down on Jing Zhihua as well, but at present, neither he nor Wenren Li should go too far. Otherwise, they would make enemies of every Soul Transformation cultivator in Taixuan who desperately wished to advance to a higher realm.
In Chen Yixin’s view, “not going too far” meant leaving Jing Zhihua alive. Even if they truly intended to kill him, they would simply have to choose a time when no one would ever discover it. Being hunted by every cultivator in Taixuan for Jing Zhihua’s sake would hardly be worthwhile.
“Jing Zhihua… No, Zhihua was the name I gave A-Hua. Jing Thirteen, remember this: whenever you see A-Li and me in the future, stay far away. Otherwise, next time, I won’t let you off with something as insignificant as kneeling.”
Elio’s Notes: Jing Thirteen is a deliberately impersonal numerical designation. By using it, Chen Yixin strips him of “Zhihua,” the name originally meant for A-Hua.
Jing Zhihua’s face contorted slightly. Chen Yixin truly was heartless. The moment he confirmed Jing Zhihua was not A-Hua, he even took back the name he had given him. “What was I ever supposed to be to you, Chen Yixin?”
A-Hua, A-Hua… Hearing Chen Yixin speak of the A-Hua he had sincerely cherished had always made Jing Zhihua feel deeply repulsed, both in the past and now.
Chen Yixin continued smiling without the slightest darkness appearing on his face, still beautiful enough to dazzle the eyes. He released Wenren Li’s hand and walked toward the kneeling Jing Zhihua. Bending slightly at the waist, he met Jing Zhihua’s gaze.
“I believed you were A-Hua’s reincarnation and protected you wholeheartedly as you grew. You repaid me by exploiting my trust and tampering with my medicine. Tell me, what does that make you? Even an ungrateful wretch would be no worse.”
After speaking, Chen Yixin straightened and kicked Jing Zhihua onto the ground. Of course, he could accomplish that only because Wenren Li cooperated. Chen Yixin turned and smiled at Wenren Li, then faced Jing Zhihua again. The smile disappeared from his face, replaced by cold indifference.
“You are not my A-Hua, so naturally I could never become Dao companions with you. But after raising and protecting you for more than thirty years, I had intended to accept you as my disciple once I formed my Nascent Soul… Fortunately, I never did. Being bitten once by an ungrateful cur like you was more than enough. Why would I dare keep you beside me?”
For an instant, Jing Zhihua looked stunned. He had never known that Chen Yixin had once planned such a thing. He had believed Chen Yixin entirely heartless, prepared to cast him aside the moment he discovered that Jing Zhihua was not A-Hua… But how could the status of master and disciple possibly have been enough?
From the moment he met Chen Yixin at seven years old, Jing Zhihua had been told of his supposed identity from a previous life. Chen Yixin had asked whether he was willing to renew their former bond. How could he possibly have refused the “bond” offered by the youngest Golden Core Perfected Master in the sect?
Once he agreed, he became Chen Yixin’s betrothed Dao companion. He received the finest cultivation methods and medicines, and when he reached Foundation Establishment, Chen Yixin personally guarded him throughout the process. Barely twenty years old, Jing Zhihua successfully established his foundation and became the most talented disciple in Yuding Sect’s history after Chen Yixin himself.
On the one hand, he disdained being treated as a man’s private plaything. On the other, Chen Yixin’s special treatment filled him with an inexplicable pleasure. When he learned that he was supposedly a divine scion from the Upper Realm, someone capable of determining Taixuan’s fate, the delusion that had always lived within his heart began to burn.
Yet Chen Yixin’s reaction was even more decisive than Jing Zhihua had expected: he told him directly that their engagement was over. But why should all the years Jing Zhihua had humbled himself and endured be completely denied merely because he was not some A-Hua?
One wicked thought took root, and every evil followed. When Zhou Yan approached him, the two immediately reached an understanding.
Jing Zhihua had also given Chen Yixin a chance. As long as Chen Yixin was willing to become his male concubine, he could remain at Yuding Sect, kept alive through medicine. Once Jing Zhihua’s cultivation became sufficiently powerful, he might even help Chen Yixin cultivate again one day.
Yet Chen Yixin would rather die. He would rather be sent back to the Zhenhai Chen clan’s little island, have every last scrap of value drained from him by his relatives, and be delivered to the Demon Palace as a male pet than submit to Jing Zhihua.
“Chen Yixin, setting aside whether I was A-Hua or not, did you ever feel anything for me?” Jing Zhihua demanded stubbornly. The moment the question left his mouth, he froze. So this was the source of the unwillingness he felt toward Chen Yixin.
The question was not difficult for Chen Yixin in the slightest. He raised an eyebrow, his expression cold. “Had I not mistaken you for someone else, what do you think you would ever have been worth to me?”
Whatever affection born of caring for Jing Zhihua had once existed had already been exhausted by Jing Zhihua himself. To Chen Yixin, Jing Zhihua was now nothing more than something revolting, even if he truly was a divine scion from the Upper Realm.
“Then what about him? What about him?” Jing Zhihua’s expression twisted even further, destroying every trace of his refined, immortal-like bearing. Chen Yixin had felt nothing for him after more than thirty years, so how much could he possibly feel for Wenren Li, whom he had known for less than one?
Chen Yixin looked at Jing Zhihua with open disgust. “You truly possess none of A-Hua’s character. Even now, you’re still trying to drive A-Li and me apart.”
“I’ll tell you plainly: I love A-Li. A-Hua is my past, while Wenren Li is my present and my future.”
He had loved so deeply it was carved into his bones, suffered until his heart had been torn apart, and nearly died once already. Whether he could let go or not, it was time to do so. It was time to begin again.
Jing Zhihua had once served as consolation that allowed him to continue cultivating. Even if Chen Yixin could no longer love him, simply believing that the person he had once loved was still alive had been enough. But Wenren Li was his true rebirth and new beginning, even if he was not A-Hua.
Wenren Li walked over at an unhurried pace and took Chen Yixin’s left hand. With his other hand, he gently stroked Chen Yixin’s hair before turning toward Jing Zhihua. He extended his hand, and the jade pendant hanging around Jing Zhihua’s neck flew into his palm.
With another wave, Jing Zhihua’s storage pouch landed in his hand as well. “A-Rong, see which things inside belong to you.”
Items flew out one after another. Chen Yixin identified them at a glance and reclaimed every talisman and artifact that had passed through his hands, including several ordinary mortal toys he had once sent to Jing Zhihua.
While they reclaimed Chen Yixin’s belongings, Jing Zhihua and the immobilized Xiao Zhe and others lying nearby said nothing. More precisely, even if they wished to speak, they could not.
Xiao Zhe, however, quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He could see that neither Wenren Li nor Chen Yixin intended to kill Jing Zhihua, which meant Xiao Zhe would not have to bear responsibility for his death on this journey.
“That’s everything.” Chen Yixin lowered his gaze toward Jing Zhihua once more. Jing Zhihua had at least possessed enough sense to keep everything Chen Yixin had given him inside the storage pouch.
Wenren Li nodded, then pointed a finger toward Jing Zhihua. Jing Zhihua coughed up three more mouthfuls of blood as his late Foundation Establishment cultivation fell directly to the early Foundation Establishment stage. “Today, I will reclaim everything A-Rong gave you as well.”
Jing Zhihua continued vomiting blood, while Chen Yixin turned toward Wenren Li with a smile. “Shall we go back?”
“All right.” Wenren Li nodded, took Chen Yixin’s hand, and slowly led him out of the guest courtyard.
They had been gone for a full fifteen minutes before Xiao Zhe, Shen Xiang, and the others regained the ability to move. Xiao Zhe immediately hurried over, helped Jing Zhihua upright, and fed him medicine to treat his injuries. Two or three of the other disciples gathered around as well, while only Shen Xiang and Lin An remained where they were.
Whatever their attitudes might have been, they no longer mattered to Chen Yixin. Jing Zhihua and Zhou Yan had not been the only ones to betray him during this upheaval. Many sect elders had given their tacit approval, and Chen Yixin even suspected that his master, Yun Yazi, who remained in life-or-death seclusion, had known about it.
Perhaps from the very beginning, Yun Yazi had intended to exploit Chen Yixin’s feelings for A-Hua, using him to protect Jing Zhihua’s growth and pave the way for his future. But how could Chen Yixin be so easily used? Every time he encountered Jing Zhihua, he would collect another portion of the debt.
After they left the inn, Wenren Li wrapped an arm around Chen Yixin and flew directly back to their residence. Once they reached the bedchamber, Wenren Li used spiritual power to refine the jade pendant again, cleansing away every trace of Jing Zhihua’s aura, while Chen Yixin stared at him.
Another half hour passed before Chen Yixin finally spoke. “Doesn’t A-Li have anything he wants to ask me?”
Jing Zhihua had cared so much about A-Hua that, logically, Wenren Li should not have remained this calm. Of course, perhaps he was bothered internally but was simply too expressionless to show it, leaving Chen Yixin unable to tell.
Wenren Li raised his eyes toward Chen Yixin, then lowered them again and continued refining the pendant. A flash of blue-white light passed over it before he threaded a dark-green cord through the jade. Reaching out, he drew Chen Yixin closer and placed the pendant around his neck.
“A-Rong must not lose it again.”
The jade pendant had come into existence alongside Chen Yixin at the moment of his birth and held extraordinary meaning for him. He had meant to give it to the person most important to him, but he had given it to the wrong person.
Chen Yixin had followed Xiao Zhe and the others to the inn specifically to recover this jade pendant. Otherwise, before regaining his cultivation, he truly had no desire to see anyone from Yuding Sect, Jing Zhihua included.
Chen Yixin held the pendant and lowered his eyes to inspect it, then looked up at Wenren Li again. Leaning forward, he rested against Wenren Li’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around his waist. “Everything I said before was true. I love A-Li.”
Having loved someone before, Chen Yixin naturally knew what it felt like. He loved Wenren Li, and he was not mistaken about it. It was a feeling he had never possessed toward Jing Zhihua.
“I know,” Wenren Li answered, a trace of hesitation entering his expression. He gently stroked Chen Yixin’s hair, sighed inwardly, and finally continued, “A-Rong, don’t be anxious, and don’t blame yourself. Once we reach the Fentian Nether Abode, I will help you remember everything.”
Wenren Li tilted his head and placed a light kiss on Chen Yixin’s forehead. “We’ll leave tomorrow.”
Merely telling Chen Yixin the truth would not be enough. The most important thing was for Chen Yixin to remember it himself. The moment he recovered those memories would also be the moment the damage to his divine soul was completely healed.
Chen Yixin’s eyelashes trembled lightly before he nodded. “All right.”
Wenren Li lifted Chen Yixin from the cushioned couch and placed him on the bed covered in Woven Cloud, then lay down beside him. He slipped the jade pendant beneath Chen Yixin’s inner robe, but before he could withdraw his hand, Chen Yixin caught it and pressed a light kiss to his lips. Only then did Chen Yixin close his eyes.
Wenren Li lowered his gaze and watched Chen Yixin for a moment before leaning closer and kissing him in return. When he saw the corners of Chen Yixin’s lips slowly curve despite his closed eyes, Wenren Li smiled as well.
Chen Yixin loved and hated without hesitation. That strength of character was also one of the reasons his cultivation had once surpassed that of everyone in his generation.
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