“Qian Yu, do you know? When I awakened my Sacred Body back then, I was stuck at the initial stage and couldn’t progress at all.
In a fit of rage, my mother broke my limbs, destroyed my meridians, and threw me into the Demonic Domain.
She told me if I didn’t fully awaken, I would die there.”
Time passed, and after all that commotion, the morning sun gradually turned into high noon.
Nalan Yunyan’s brilliant golden hair shimmered even more intensely under the midday light.
As the finger of blame pointed directly at Tang Qiurou, the Little Green Tea finally buckled under the immense psychological pressure and chose to confess her crimes.
The girl had many wicked schemes, but these little tricks were far too immature for a kind Fox like Qian Yu, who had spent her life weaving calculations into her very bones.
Whether or not to deal with her simply depended on if Qian Yu felt like it.
Even without today’s incident, she could have found other ways to play Tang Qiurou to death.
She could have even made the girl feel grateful to her and think of her as a good person before she died.
Qian Yu was quite proud of this, but her earlier attempt to persuade Tang Qiurou to confess hadn’t been entirely without sincerity.
It wasn’t out of kindness, but because of Nalan Yunyan.
After listening to Tang Qiurou’s tearful confession, the high-and-mighty young lady said nothing and showed no expression.
Treating it as nothing more than a trivial matter, she sent a Communication Talisman and had someone take Tang Qiurou away.
However, once the surroundings fell into a deathly silence, and even Gu Qinghan — who was the worst at reading the room — knew it was best to leave, Nalan Yunyan suddenly sat down on a large rock in front of Qian Yu’s door and began to mutter to herself.
“I thought I was going to die in the Demonic Domain. It was Tang Qiurou and Xiao Ya. It was the two of them. After they found out what happened to me, they abandoned everything at the Luoxia Immortal Sect and desperately rushed into the Demonic Domain. Step by step, they carried me out of that place of death on their backs. We were only in our early 10s back then! They didn’t even have the cultivation of the 1st Realm. Yet, for my sake, they dared to run into the Demonic Domain to carry me out. That day, I swore that as long as I had a bite of food to eat in the future, they would always have a bowl of soup to drink. But why…”
Nalan Yunyan didn’t continue.
This young lady always gave off an air of arrogance and strength.
In a fit of temper, she even dared to bomb the gates of the Cloud-Weave Star Venerable.
But at this moment, while speaking of these things, she finally revealed the lonely expression a girl her age should have.
She knew about Tang Qiurou’s embezzlement.
She also knew that Tang Qiurou’s true nature was no longer as pure as it appeared on the surface.
But why did she have to kill Xiao Ya?
They had shared trials and tribulations back then.
Three people huddled around a single flame, three people sharing a single piece of beast meat; they had even made it out of the dangerous Demonic Domain together.
Why had everything changed now that she had become the Young Clan Head and possessed resources 1,000 times greater than before?
Nalan Yunyan didn’t understand.
She kept her head lowered, letting out a self-deprecating laugh from time to time, yet she refused to shed a single tear.
She remained as radiant and proud as her Sacred Body.
Qian Yu sat beside her, saying nothing, only listening quietly.
This was why she had hoped Tang Qiurou would confess on her own earlier.
Once the girl’s actions were exposed, Nalan Yunyan was bound to be hit hard like this.
Unfortunately, it hadn’t worked.
The girl hadn’t appreciated Qian Yu’s well-meaning intentions and had successfully troubled this seemingly powerful, blonde young lady.
As a girl who had her limbs broken and was thrown into a death zone by her own mother, Nalan Yunyan was likely very lonely deep down.
That was why she enjoyed being the boss and being surrounded like a star among moons.
It was a pity that time could change many people.
The two who had accompanied her from the beginning were both gone now.
Qian Yu offered no comment.
She simply went into the small house, brought out a wine jug left behind by her Shizun, and handed it over.
“Want a drink?”
“Wait, Boss, you’re an adult, right?”
“What do you think?!” Nalan snapped.
‘Who do you think looks like a child? If it weren’t for your tall ears, you’d probably be a shorty.’
Nalan Yunyan, whose mood had been growing more desolate, was provoked by Qian Yu’s question.
She snatched the wine jug and gulped it down.
The crystal-clear liquid spilled from the corners of her mouth and soaked the ground.
Her crude drinking manner made Qian Yu’s eyelids twitch.
Qian Yu had never actually drunk the stuff herself, but she remembered her Shizun frequently urging her to drink it. It probably wasn’t very strong.
A moment later…
“Speak! What exactly were you doing at Gu Qinghan’s place last night? Why didn’t you come back all night!”
In front of the small house, the blonde girl grabbed Qian Yu’s collar, her eyes hazy with intoxication and her face flushed red.
“Boss, sober up,” Qian Yu said.
The Little Half-Demon watched as she was gradually lifted off the ground.
Her feet dangling, she flailed her legs, her eyes wide with shock.
‘Didn’t Shizun say this was home-brewed and not strong?’
‘How did she get drunk in one gulp?’
Qian Yu was usually a master of calculation and disguise.
Even while comforting Nalan Yunyan earlier, her heart had barely felt a ripple.
But now, looking at the drunk young lady before her, she felt a little panicked.
No matter how much one could calculate, there was no reasoning with a drunkard.
“I am perfectly sober!”
Qian Yu’s struggling only made Nalan Yunyan’s voice louder.
She muttered, “You liar! You’re not following me sincerely at all. When you hugged me, your heart never once sped up!”
“It’s beating fast now! It’s beating fast now!”
Qian Yu didn’t know what kind of wine her Shizun had left behind, but the scent of alcohol mixed with Nalan Yunyan’s breath was enough to make her start feeling a bit lightheaded as well.
Her large ears drooped, and her voice couldn’t help but take on a bit of a whimper.
‘Isn’t this Nalan Yunyan the easiest to coax? How could she check my heartbeat in a situation like that?’
‘Besides, I clearly tried to make my heart beat faster on purpose.’
“Do you think it’s useful to speed up your heart — after — you’ve already hugged me?!”
As if hearing Qian Yu’s inner thoughts, Nalan Yunyan’s voice grew even angrier.
“Don’t you just want me to trust you so you can get benefits from me, only to betray me in the end just like Tang Qiurou? In that case, I might as well finish you off right now!”
“I didn’t…”
Qian Yu’s struggling grew more intense.
But in Nalan Yunyan’s hands, her small frame was like a toy.
The more she moved, the more aggressive the other girl became.
“Don’t you dare say you didn’t! I’m the boss; you’re not allowed to talk back.”
Just as she had seen through Tang Qiurou, Nalan Yunyan had long known that Qian Yu’s words and heart didn’t match.
It was just that she was too lonely.
Qian Yu’s two hugs had, to some extent, filled something she had been missing since birth, so she had simply pretended not to know.
But now, fueled by alcohol and her already low mood, Nalan Yunyan poured out everything she had been hiding in her heart.
There was even a trace of grievance in her angry eyes.
Who knew how much her heartstrings had been tugged when Qian Yu hugged her for the first time?
And who knew how indescribably complicated it was to choose to deceive herself after realizing that even this silly Fox’s racing heartbeat was a fake?
“Did you think you were a good actor? Let me tell you, this young lady is no fool! I’m not a blockhead like Gu Qinghan! I was just pretending not to know! Just pretending! Just like how I already knew Tang Qiurou hurt Xiao Ya but still refused to believe it!”
By the end, Nalan Yunyan was almost screaming.
Qian Yu was pinned firmly against the wall.
It took a long time before she was finally set down.
She gasped for air, saying nothing.
Her heart had been calm when she comforted Nalan Yunyan, and it had remained calm when she listened to the girl’s desolation.
She could understand it, but the excessive amount of calculation wrapped around her heart made it impossible for her to truly empathize.
But now, looking at the blonde girl’s eyes filled with grievance and rage, her heart — which was far more tranquil than Gu Qinghan’s — actually skipped a beat for the first time.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
She thought she had seen through Nalan Yunyan: arrogant, impulsive, craving to be followed, and hiding a loneliness born from being hurt by her closest kin.
She had approached her, hugged her, and faked her heartbeat, calculating the pros, cons, and reactions every step of the way.
She felt she held the end of the string and could easily pull on the young lady’s emotions.
But now, that string had suddenly gained warmth and had even burned her in return.
‘And isn’t this supposed to be Tang Qiurou’s reckoning?
Why does it feel like I’m the one being reckoned with?’