The cold tone, something that had never come from her own mouth before, caused Qian Yu’s expression to stiffen.
She hadn’t intended to say that.
It wasn’t rational at all!
It wasn’t that Nalan Yunyan didn’t want to come out; she simply hadn’t seen what was happening.
Now that she had seen it, she would naturally step in to stop it, just as she had rescued her from Tang Qiurou’s hands in the past.
Qian Yu knew all of this clearly, yet looking at the high-and-mighty young woman before her, she still couldn’t help but snap at her.
She only hoped the other woman wouldn’t get angry and attack her.
She had heard that after being killed in an Illusionary Realm, one would return to reality.
Qian Yu, who had just finished venting, hadn’t had enough fun yet.
However, the expected rage from being offended did not appear.
After being bitingly rebuked by Qian Yu, Nalan Yunyan actually fell into an eerie silence.
After a long while, she finally spoke a single sentence:
“I will discipline Tang Qiurou for you later. I only hope that if you encounter such a thing again in the future, you can remain calm and seek help from the Sect Rules or the Hall of Law Enforcement.”
‘When you ask me to slash Gu Qinghan’s face later, why won’t you think about the Hall of Law Enforcement intervening then?’
Qian Yu desperately wanted to retort with that, but out of rationality, she remained silent and released Tang Qiurou.
Then, she soon faced Nalan Yunyan’s questioning:
“Very well, Qian Yu. I need an explanation from you. Why did you choose to surrender, yet break your promise and fail to arrive? Have you betrayed me?”
‘Because I like you.’
Qian Yu had already solved this particular problem once before.
She understood just how much destructive power her cute appearance had when she spoke those words with a bashful, fidgety demeanor.
But now…
“Because I never wanted to surrender to you in the first place! Why didn’t you ask if I was willing before you questioned me?”
She had originally intended to let the matter rest, but the other woman’s tone was once again that of a high-and-mighty interrogation.
Qian Yu clicked her tongue, suddenly feeling unwilling to endure it any longer.
It was one thing to put on an act in reality, but now that she was in an Illusionary Realm, why should she go against her heart and pretend to be that timid, cowardly, and stupid girl!
She looked up and stared straight at Nalan Yunyan, using a cold tone she had never used in her entire life as she said:
“I only agreed because Tang Qiurou forced me with a sword. If I hadn’t agreed, she would have killed me. Now that I refuse, you don’t first discipline your subordinate for her overbearing ways, but instead come to lecture me. Breaking a promise makes me a traitor, and not arriving makes me insincere. Are you going to tell me next that silence is cowardice, and not speaking is a deliberate attempt to provoke your impatience?”
Qian Yu had figured it out—this was her Illusionary Realm.
Why should Nalan Yunyan be as overbearing and haughty as she was in reality?
Just because she had been slightly silent due to her memories, the other woman’s pressure became so impatient it felt as if she wanted to kill her.
Why was her patience so thin?
If she hadn’t come up with that spontaneous confession method to buy time back then, she probably would have been tossed to Tang Qiurou to be dealt with at will—she might not even be alive!
Qian Yu’s words grew increasingly cold.
Her small, cute appearance clashing with such a sharp tone caused the entire courtyard to fall into a dead silence.
Even the evening breeze seemed to hold its breath.
Only the low, suppressed chuckle of Tang Qiurou, mixed with pain from under the wall, was exceptionally clear.
Was this lowly Half-Yao insane?
How dared she speak to Senior Sister Nalan in such a tone?
Did she really think she was invincible just because she had landed a few hits?
The original fear and shock were instantly replaced by a twisted sense of pleasure.
Tang Qiurou clutched her swollen cheek and aching abdomen while watching Nalan Yunyan’s reaction out of the corner of her eye.
She knew this young lady’s arrogant nature better than anyone.
Having accompanied her for more than ten years, she usually had to be cautious herself.
With this Half-Yao being so disrespectful, it would be a light punishment even if Nalan Yunyan killed her on the spot.
Tang Qiurou was ready at a moment’s notice to provide instruments of torture that would make Qian Yu wish for death.
However, the expected thunderous rage did not descend.
Just like her silence after Qian Yu’s first question, Nalan Yunyan continued to stand there without speaking even in the face of these offensive words.
“In other words, your surrender to me was entirely fake? It was nothing more than a temporary measure forced upon you by Tang Qiurou?”
Nalan Yunyan’s voice didn’t betray much emotion, yet it was deeper than any previous question, as if she were suppressing something.
“Of course.”
Qian Yu tilted her chin up, deliberately making her tone sound even more contemptuous and indifferent.
“To tell you the truth, even if I do anything to get close to you or show concern for you in the future, it will all be a temporary measure. You must never be moved by it, My Lady. Otherwise, I’ll have to waste my effort continuing to perform ‘caring’ for you~”
“Alright, now that you know, hit me,” Qian Yu said, waving her hand nonchalantly.
Now that she had finished venting her emotions, it didn’t matter if the other woman struck her.
However, it still didn’t happen.
This proud young lady actually did nothing at all…
After simply saying “I understand,” she left with Tang Qiurou.
‘What’s going on?’
Qian Yu blinked.
Her words just now were actually half-true and half-false.
For instance, Qian Yu remembered the gratitude she felt when Nalan Yunyan had later faced off against the sect at Cloud-Weave Star Venerable’s place just to get her out.
Her later willingness to share half of her Sacred Body with the woman was also sincere.
However, the beginning of that twisted relationship—the source of Nalan Yunyan’s “special” focus on her—was itself a castle in the air built upon carefully designed deception and pretense.
So, if possible, even within an Illusionary Realm, Qian Yu didn’t want to start that relationship born of lies and full of calculations again.
It was too exhausting.
The real her was just a lazy fox who only thought about eating well, sleeping well, reading some casual books, and ideally being left alone by everyone.
She had no desire to guess the whims of a favored daughter of heaven, and even less interest in playing a role that required constant attention to someone else’s emotions and painstaking flattery.
But why wasn’t Nalan Yunyan angry?
Why wasn’t she furious?
This was a proud young lady whose Dao Heart had almost shattered and who had nearly broken down on the spot just because she lost once to Gu Qinghan.
After being so offended just now, she actually just left.
It didn’t make sense.
Vaguely, Qian Yu even saw the other woman stumble twice as she walked away.
But that was probably an illusion.
Qian Yu felt that perhaps the Ancient Saint who constructed this Illusionary Realm had read too many romance novels during their life.
Upon seeing a young lady character, they had molded her into the classic trope—
“Because no one has ever dared to speak to her like that before, after being yelled at a few times, she didn’t know what to do and even developed strange feelings.”
It seemed the so-called Ancient Saint was only so-so.
Scratching her head, Qian Yu tossed the matter of Nalan Yunyan aside.
She didn’t have the time to pay attention to the emotions of a character in an illusion; it was better to find a way out as soon as possible.
“Hmm… maybe I should try suicide?”
After attempting various other methods to no avail, Qian Yu suddenly pulled a dagger from under the bed and slashed it across her wrist.
The cold blade brought a familiar, sharp sting.
Immediately afterward, warm liquid rushed out, dripping onto the old wooden floor and blooming into dark red flowers.
Qian Yu didn’t even flinch; she just looked down calmly.
Having been beaten since she was a child—whipped, hit with stones, pushed into icy streams, and having her head slammed against stone steps—she had long since grown accustomed to this level of pain.
She wouldn’t have hesitated even in reality, let alone in an illusion.
It wasn’t until this sense of pain was gradually enveloped by the shadow of death that the numb Qian Yu finally felt a bit of delayed realization.
‘Wait, I’m almost dead and the illusion hasn’t wavered at all? Is it this realistic?’
‘Do I have to go straight for the throat? Although slitting my wrists is more elegant, it doesn’t matter.’
Raising an eyebrow, Qian Yu ignored the dizziness caused by the blood loss. She picked up the dagger and thrust it toward her neck.
“Stupid disciple! Stop! Do you want to die?”
In the next moment, a voice engraved in the deepest part of her memory suddenly stopped her.
The figure of a woman in white appeared before Qian Yu, knocking the dagger from her hand.
“Master?! You’re not dead?”