“I’ve been reborn, reborn to a time before we ever met. In this life, I will definitely not repeat the same mistakes…”
“Young master Yun, what kind of tacky storybook plot are you writing this time?”
Year 1145 of the Demon immortal calendar, Mochou mountain.
A little book boy, carrying various bags, grumbled at the scholar who was swaying his head beside her.
“Grown-up business, kids shouldn’t butt in.”
Yun Heng, dressed as a scholar, smiled and rubbed the little book boy’s head. “When you’re a bit older, you’ll understand… never mind, you probably still won’t.”
“Hmph.”
The little book boy, named Jiang Keke, rolled her eyes, not bothering to argue with her “eldest” young master.
She looked up at the scorching sun. “Young master Yun, how much further do we have to go?”
The two had been traveling since the curfew last night. At least twelve hours had passed, yet Jiang Keke still didn’t know their destination.
“I don’t know.”
Yun Heng gave a long stretch and turned to look at a distant road. “Anyway, we’ll go as far as we can. It wouldn’t be fun if some Cheng Yaojin came out of nowhere and ruined the mood.”
At the end of that road was a cliff. Beside the cliff was a pavilion, and beside the pavilion was a dying willow tree.
Even after 10,000 years, Yun Heng still remembered it—it was the pavilion where he had picked up Ling Yao.
Not only that, Yun Heng remembered the time clearly as well—tomorrow at 9:45 AM. Ling Yao, covered in blood and barely able to breathe, would be there, preparing for a life-and-death struggle against her enemies.
“What, are you being chased by your little lover?” Jiang Keke pouted.
Seeing Yun Heng’s “I’m so tired, so exhausted, I want to rest” expression made her blood boil. She was the poor book boy carrying all the luggage!
“Not currently, though maybe in the future.”
Withdrawing his gaze, Yun Heng rubbed his chin. ‘My sixth sense has always been quite accurate.’
Although his memories of his past life only went as far as being sacrificed by Ling Yao, Yun Heng could be said to be the person who understood her best.
He understood why she had backstabbed him—it stemmed from the primal instinct of a flood dragon to devour providence to become a dragon, a curse engraved in her bloodline.
It was precisely because he understood that his heart had grown cold. This was a tragedy determined from the beginning that he could never reverse, no matter how hard he tried.
He could also guess that she might regret it many years later and then cause a series of headache-inducing troubles.
However, just as a professor of criminal psychology could understand a criminal but wouldn’t necessarily pity, empathize with, or forgive them, Yun Heng had no interest in hearing his ex-wife’s confessions even if the worst happened.
As for revenge or kicking someone when they were down?
It was a waste of time and energy, and even more unnecessary.
As a transmigrator who had spent over 10,000 years in the cultivation world, Yun Heng had long ago become indifferent to such things.
Living this life again, Yun Heng only wanted to live freely in the human realm as he pleased. It would be compensation for the beautiful scenery he had missed in his previous life while focusing on cultivating Ling Yao.
“Oh my, since when did our great Young master Yun have romantic debts elsewhere? If your fiancee finds out, won’t she tell your father to skin you alive?”
Jiang Keke continued her sarcasm.
She expected Yun Heng to snap back immediately, but to her surprise, the nonchalant fellow suddenly froze.
“Fiancee? Er… I still have that kind of classic and tacky trouble?”
Yun Heng scratched his head and thought for a long time before finally capturing a small snippet from the dusty corners of his memory.
‘If I’m being reborn, why didn’t it come with my memories as a youth? It’s like doing a half-baked job, so irresponsible…’
‘Never mind. To be able to bring a half-immortal whose soul was destroyed back to life, the powerful figure who sent me back must have paid a heavy price. These small bugs are acceptable.’
The good news was that although Yun Heng hadn’t recovered all his memories, his golden finger remained.
Thus, Yun Heng turned to look at his cute but brainless little book boy and called out extremely gently, “Keke—”
Hearing her name, Jiang Keke suddenly shuddered. She felt as if hundreds of thousands of ants were crawling all over her, scaring her so much she almost dropped Yun Heng’s luggage.
“If you want money, I don’t have any! But you can take my life!”
Jiang Keke jumped far away, staring intently at Yun Heng, afraid this guy was going to borrow money from her again to squander it in some shady place.
She knew her master all too well.
Ever since she was tricked by him into “running away from home,” Jiang Keke hadn’t had three normal meals a day.
Any money they earned through hard work would surely vanish the next day while she was asleep!
Most hateful of all, even if she slept with the money jar tucked into her clothes, this demonic young master would actually strip her clothes and take the money. He was… he was worse than a beast!
As if thinking of some unpleasant imagery, Jiang Keke’s cheeks suddenly turned red. Yun Heng blinked twice in confusion.
However, he didn’t care what this 16-year-old child was thinking. He took two steps forward and continued in a soft voice, “Good child, look into my eyes.”
Jiang Keke wanted to close her eyes, but her cultivation was two or three levels lower than Yun Heng’s. Her reaction speed was naturally inferior.
The next second, Jiang Keke froze on the spot like a wooden puppet.
One,
two,
three…
Three seconds later, Jiang Keke returned to normal.
“Good child, I’ll buy you candied haws in two days.”
Gently patting Jiang Keke’s head, Yun Heng chuckled, turned around, and continued walking leisurely.
“You’re making me so mad! Can you stop using that weird daoist technique! I’m a girl, doing this is really…”
Because she wasn’t very educated, Jiang Keke couldn’t think of the right words for a moment. By the time she finally did, Yun Heng had already vanished without a trace.
The poor book boy could only howl in frustration on the spot, then wipe her tears and jog to catch up.
But although Yun Heng was somewhat wicked, he had one virtue—he would wait for people.
Every time Jiang Keke was moved to tears by him, she only had to walk ten or twenty steps in any direction, and she would definitely see Yun Heng’s back.
Looking at Yun Heng standing still and gazing into the distance, Jiang Keke puffed out her cheeks. Just as she was about to ignore him and walk past, she suddenly felt her body lighten.
Then, she was actually being carried on Yun Heng’s back!
“This should be the last time I use that move on you. Don’t worry, I won’t use it again.”
With a slightly pale face, Yun Heng smiled. “As an apology, you should rest well for a while.”
What Jiang Keke called a “daoist technique,” if described using words from his previous-previous life, was the “hypnosis” that countless people coveted.
The good news was that this thing lasted three seconds on anyone. The bad news was that even when Yun Heng was on the verge of becoming a god, it still only lasted three seconds.
Besides controlling people, Yun Heng’s hypnosis had an additional harmless effect: “memory extraction.”
Although at his current level of cultivation, he could only extract surface-level thoughts, thanks to his personal book boy Jiang Keke, Yun Heng had obtained most of the memories he wanted regarding his youth.
And he had finally found his first goal after rebirth, besides staying away from Ling Yao.
“…If you can’t carry me, then don’t. With your kidney-deficient scholar physique, can you stop trying to be a hero?”
Looking at Yun Heng’s trembling legs, Jiang Keke didn’t know whether to laugh or not.
Her young master was bad in many ways, but his heart wasn’t one of them.
Her young master was good in many ways, but his health wasn’t one of them.
Yun Heng: “…Why don’t you try saying that to me again in 10,000 years?”
“Then I’ll take that as a blessing.”
Jiang Keke jumped down from Yun Heng’s back, put the luggage back on her own, and hummed. “I actually do want to live for 10,000 years.”
Seeing that Jiang Keke’s mood seemed to have improved a bit, Yun Heng smiled faintly.
He couldn’t speak for other things, but in this life, at least, she wouldn’t die.