Year 12424 of the Profound Heavens Era of the human race, which is Year 5479 Before the Demon Immortal Calendar of the demon race. Another time and space.
This was the last meeting between Yue Wuhen and Yun Heng. At that time, Ling Yao was already wanted by the human, demon, and dragon races, and Yun Heng, who had married her, was naturally also on the wanted list.
Peace.
If Yun Heng had not severed ties with the Changsheng Yun family five hundred years before the wanted notices were issued, the entire Changsheng Yun family would likely be unable to enjoy any peace now.
“Brother Yun.”
Yue Wuhen’s voice carried a hint of dissuasion within its cold hardness.
“You know she is of the demon race, why are you so determined to protect her? The deep-seated hatred between humans and demons is not something you alone can resolve.”
The bamboo pavilion where they had agreed to meet was located in the Juechen Continent of the lower three continents, a desolate land even more harsh than Flowing Fire Prefecture.
It was also Yue Wuhen’s hometown.
“Brother Wuhen, you have been slaying demons for thousands of years. Have you ever considered why demons cause chaos?”
“If one day you discover that they are also just one part of the common masses who merely seek warmth and sustenance in this chaotic world… what… would you do?”
Torrential rain poured down.
The two were separated by only a few dozen meters. With their cultivation levels, either one could instantly subdue the other if they so wished.
But neither moved. One raised a cup, and the other clinked cups with him from across the distance.
Wine splashed onto the ground due to the force of the motion, mixing with the rainwater, making it impossible to tell which was the priceless delicacy.
Yue Wuhen drank three cups of Lan Lan’s special brewing starter in succession, remaining silent for a long moment.
“My duty… is to protect the stability of the human territories. Demons are demons, without exception. If I had known back then that she was the remnant orphan of the flood dragon, I would never have offered you my blessings, no matter what.”
One stood for the greater righteousness of the human race, the other for the equality of all living beings.
There was no right or wrong, no high or low. It was simply…
“…Our paths differ.”
Yun Heng said softly, then downed seven cups in a row.
They simply could not work together.
Yue Wuhen took a deep breath, raised his cup, and began to compete with Yun Heng.
After twenty cups of the special brewing starter, even though both were at the peak of the integration stage, their speech began to tremble—this was Lan Lan’s brewing starter.
Even though its potency was reduced, even Yun Wangji at the peak of the mahayana stage dared not drink too much of it, let alone them.
Under normal circumstances, Yun Heng and Yue Wuhen would have already been arm-in-arm by now, chatting about where in the world the two brothers could not go. Then, heads would tilt, legs would stretch out, and they would snore away.
But now, perhaps because the rain outside the pavilion was overly desolate, or because their legs were weak and their hearts ached beyond words, neither took half a step forward.
Yue Wuhen’s voice was almost drowned out by the rain.
He weakly placed his hand on the table. “If one day… you discover… I am not the person you see… would you despise me?”
Yun Heng was also slumped on the table like mud. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but slap the table and burst into laughter.
“A friend! Is one who connects hearts! External appearances? What significance do they hold! Brother Wuhen, you’ve truly asked a question foolish beyond compare, ahahahaha……”
Then, he completely passed out drunk on the wine table.
“But what I yearn for… is no longer just ‘friendship’.”
Lin Xiaoyue opened her eyes from her light rest, a trace of melancholy suddenly flashing within them.
She looked towards Yun Heng, who was still calmly meditating over there, and smiled somewhat helplessly, as if frustrated by his lack of progress.
Ling Yao had left half an incense stick of time ago.
Before leaving, she seemed to have thought about approaching to take a closer look at Yun Heng, but stopped when she was only five steps away.
Lin Xiaoyue didn’t stop her, letting her be pulled away by Shizi, pausing to gaze from afar at this man they both deeply loved.
Finally, the two women looked at each other for a long time. In the end, not a single word was said. One chose to leave, the other chose to stay a while longer before leaving.
Sizzle.
The secret realm entrance, which Lin Xiaoyue had secretly modified to delay, finally bloomed with a faint light at this moment, tearing through the void and revealing itself before everyone.
Lin Xiaoyue flicked her fingers, dispelling the restraints on Jiang Keke.
“In a quarter of an hour, everyone except Ah Heng will wake up.”
Lin Xiaoyue stretched leisurely. “And until Ah Heng finishes his cultivation, no demon beasts will come to disturb this place. When the time comes to explain, just say Weiyang helped protect the cultivation session.”
Jiang Keke, who was flexing her wrists, looked at her and wrinkled her nose.
“…Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell Young Master everything that just happened?”
She truly couldn’t understand the meaning behind Lin Xiaoyue’s “needing an audience.”
And although she didn’t understand things like ten thousand years, time and space, or causality, Jiang Keke could at least tell that both these women really liked Young Master.
That was also why Jiang Keke, after regaining her freedom, didn’t choose to continue attacking Lin Xiaoyue. Of course, she also couldn’t win.
“Go ahead and try.”
Lin Xiaoyue playfully winked at her.
Jiang Keke was stunned.
“Isn’t it just that I wanted to eat scrambled eggs with tomatoes tonight…………??? Isn’t it just that someone named Weiyang helped protect Young Master’s cultivation session just now, and Sister Lin Xiaoyue was also brought by her….??????”
She opened her mouth several times, trying to recount what had just happened, but the words that reached her lips changed extremely naturally into other statements, and they were logically coherent, without any flaws!
Jiang Keke, refusing to believe this was real, took out paper and pen, trying to record it, but it was still futile.
Even when she tried to write individual words and piece them together later, she found that as long as she had the thought of telling the truth, the characters she wrote afterwards also turned into other things!
What… what kind of bizarre technique is this?!?!
“When your cultivation reaches the tribulation transcendence stage, you’ll be able to say it.”
Lin Xiaoyue gave Jiang Keke an encouraging look. She even made a fist at her, as if cheering her on.
Anyway, by that time, everything would already be settled. Whether she said it or not actually didn’t matter.
Jiang Keke rolled her eyes, thinking Lin Xiaoyue was utterly ridiculous and laughable.
She was just a servant with three spiritual roots, what tribulation transcendence stage… she was dreaming.
“Anything you want to ask me? I’ll give you three chances to ask questions.”
Lin Xiaoyue clasped her hands behind her back, slowly walking up to Jiang Keke, smiling charmingly, seemingly in a good mood.
With each step Lin Xiaoyue took forward, Jiang Keke took a step back. Only when her divine sense detected Yun Heng not far behind her did she straighten her posture and step forward to meet her.
“Hmm?”
Jiang Keke met Lin Xiaoyue’s gaze, which held an increasingly thick smile, and suddenly felt a bit unnatural.
She opened her mouth for a long time, but only managed to blurt out a dry question: “Are you good…
“? “
…or bad?”
Lin Xiaoyue blinked, the smile on her face freezing.
She never expected Jiang Keke to ask this question.
Lin Xiaoyue bit her lower lip hard, suppressing the urge to laugh out loud. “Anyway… I’m friends with your Young Master.”
Actually, Jiang Keke also felt Lin Xiaoyue didn’t seem like a bad person.
Although her initial impression on Jiang Keke was strange, Young Master seemed to appreciate her, and she could use the same kind of magic as Young Master… according to the tropes in storybooks, if Young Master was compared to the protagonist, then Lin Xiaoyue would probably be a role like the beauty.
“Then… that so-called demon immortal, is she bad?”
Jiang Keke asked again.
After asking, she immediately felt some regret. After all, Lin Xiaoyue had already trampled the other underfoot and humiliated her. The two sides were clearly opposed. Didn’t that make her question seem stupid?
However, Lin Xiaoyue unexpectedly didn’t answer immediately.
She remained silent for a long time before slowly uttering a few words: “It depends on the situation.”
Personal is personal, public is public.
As someone who had lived ten thousand years longer than Yun Heng, Lin Xiaoyue understood better than him the great achievements Ling Yao would accomplish thereafter.
Judging from the perspective of the common people of later generations, Ling Yao was not only not a villain, but could even be called “sagely and benevolent-hearted.”
But Lin Xiaoyue wasn’t interested in explaining grand principles like “the world isn’t black and white,” “people are complex,” “you can’t judge a good person as evil just because they did something bad,” or “you can’t let a villain become a Buddha upon dropping the butcher’s knife”… to Jiang Keke, because Yun Heng would teach her later anyway.
“One last question. Think carefully before asking.”
Lin Xiaoyue gathered her thoughts and smiled at Jiang Keke again.
Jiang Keke didn’t pay much attention to her earlier strangeness.
She just clasped her hands together, as if having made some great resolution, and then asked, brimming with gossipy curiosity: “Then… who do you think… is more suitable to be the young mistress… you or the Su family’s young lady?”
Silence.
Deathly silence.
Lin Xiaoyue’s eyelids twitched, her face muscles spasmed. No matter how much scheming ability she possessed, she couldn’t comprehend Jiang Keke’s train of thought at this moment.
Was this girl out of her mind?!
“Actually, I think that demon immortal from earlier is also quite suitable. After all, she’s really beautiful… Of course, I’m not putting one down to praise another.”
“You and the Su young lady are also very beautiful, and in different styles… It just so happens Young Master doesn’t really like the marriage arrangement the Patriarch made for him, and it just so happens you’re competing for Young Master, so I was thinking…”
Jiang Keke chattered on non-stop, like a rapid-fire cannon, adding a long string of supplementary remarks about “Young Master is of age, he should find a partner, otherwise this little book boy will be very worried,” leaving Lin Xiaoyue stunned.
“Stop, stop, stop—”
Seeing Jiang Keke was getting carried away, Lin Xiaoyue quickly made a stopping gesture.
She looked at Jiang Keke and said with a bitter smile, “I mean, why does it seem like you’ve never considered yourself as part of the equation from start to finish?”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Jiang Keke was immersed in imagining who the future young mistress might be. Her mind had already sketched out a “three phoenixes playing with a dragon” scene like in storybooks, and she had even started secretly ranking them in her heart based on the personalities she understood.
After all, if Young Master waved his hand and married them all, there definitely needed to be a ranking of who was first and who was second. Otherwise, how would she, this little book boy, serve them then… So she didn’t clearly hear what Lin Xiaoyue asked.
Helpless, Lin Xiaoyue had to repeat it.
“You, you, you… What are you saying!…”
After hearing it clearly, Jiang Keke couldn’t help but blush, retreating repeatedly, nearly falling into Young Master’s arms.
“I’m just a personal book boy… and I promised Young Master I’d be his fist. How can a fist do that kind of thing… And I’ve never had such improper thoughts about Young Master… and, and…”
Her voice grew so soft towards the end that even Jiang Keke herself couldn’t hear what she was saying.
However, no matter how she tried to argue, the image in her mind, for some reason, added a lively and cute little phoenix.
This made Jiang Keke’s heart race while she couldn’t help but frantically apologize to the heavenly dao in her heart, swearing she absolutely wasn’t thinking of overstepping her bounds! Heaven and earth bear witness! The sun and moon bear witness!
Lin Xiaoyue secretly rolled her eyes, thinking to herself that your Young Master even placed the [Causality Looting Formation], such a heaven-defying method of transferring providence, on you. Even if he has no romantic thoughts, it undoubtedly shows how much weight you hold in his heart.
Not to mention… back then, to avenge you, Ah Heng almost slaughtered the entire Yunmeng Prefecture…
Even I and Ling Yao at the time couldn’t stop him. I don’t even dare to imagine what crazy things Ah Heng would do if anyone dared to have designs on you in this life…
It’s just that you, girl, have low self-esteem. Otherwise, if you had pushed Ah Heng down earlier, how would that dead flood dragon have gotten her chance?
Lin Xiaoyue grumbled to herself for a while, but still couldn’t resist reaching out and flicking Jiang Keke’s forehead in frustration.
This master and servant pair, in a certain sense, really are equally dense! Gritting teeth
Jiang Keke yelped in pain.
“But if I must say, Su Zhenxue is more suitable. After all, they are well-matched in social status.”
Not only that, if Yun Heng and Su Zhenxue’s marriage alliance had succeeded in the previous life, perhaps the entire course of the future would have undergone massive changes.
Regarding Su Zhenxue herself, whether in terms of temperament or political acumen, Lin Xiaoyue held her in extremely high regard.
Later, when Yun Wangji became a hands-off manager and transferred most of the authority over Penglai to Su Zhenxue, she and Ling Yao—one in the shadows, one in the open—though they never had any contact, cooperated seamlessly, managing to sweep the conflicts among the three races completely clean.
Lin Xiaoyue didn’t think she was more capable than her.
After all… that was the only person in the history of the cultivation world who dared to refuse the heavenly path, refuse ascension, the future human emperor.
“Huh?”
Jiang Keke was slightly taken aback. “How come there’s someone who doesn’t promote themselves but pushes themselves away…”
Lin Xiaoyue shot her a sidelong glance, and Jiang Keke immediately fell silent.
Alright, although unwilling to admit it, it seemed, perhaps, maybe… she was like that too.
“Alright, three questions asked.”
Lin Xiaoyue waved her hand, summoning a talisman paper, casually igniting it, a relaxed smile on her lips. “The contract is formed. Remember to keep my secret. And put in a few good words for me in front of your Young Master.”
Jiang Keke: ?
“So these three questions were just a trap for this weak, pitiful, and helpless little book boy?! How can you be so selfish!”
In her groggy state, A Xiang woke up.
Her nose twitched. Smelling the familiar scent on Jiang Keke, she couldn’t help but wriggle into her embrace a couple more times, as if wanting to laze in bed.
Jiang Keke held her, her tone quite melancholy.
“Hmm?”
A Xiang was puzzled, looking up at Jiang Keke in confusion.
“Do you think that woman who drew the formation with Young Master earlier… does she smell good?”
Jiang Keke asked.
Nod.
A Xiang nodded, thought for a moment, then added, “As fragrant as Yun Heng.”