"His obsession was simply to find someone who would treat him sincerely and live a life filled with affection and loyalty."
In the end, Chi Xue sighed and spoke these words, then fell silent for a long time.
Ban Xia lowered her head, also somewhat emotional, and murmured after a long while: "The second woman you loved was Su Yun, right? I just saw her on the street—she's looking for the red-rusted coin to return it. She already regrets it and has realized that the one she truly loves is you!"
Her voice sounded hollow, even she herself could hear the lack of conviction.
As expected, a despairing low laugh drifted from deep within the cave dwelling.
"Love me?" The voice turned sharp: "Do you know how we met? All these years, how have I treated her, and how has she treated me? Love me? Would she love me? What a complete joke..."
The voice grew increasingly desolate toward the end—though it was laughter, it sounded more like weeping.
Nearby, Su Yun covered her face and stumbled to sit down.
How they met, all these years, how he had treated her, and how she had repaid him—everything that was once vague now became vividly clear, flooding her heart.
Many years ago, when Chi Lian's obsession with Su Fu had slightly diminished, he was finally able to leave the cave dwelling briefly during the midnight Yin hour.
He was nothing but a lonely spirit, unsure where to go, and unconsciously drifted back to the Su residence.
Too many years had passed—the Su manor was long gone, and the owner of that courtyard had become Xu Hangsheng.
At first, he would often see Su Yun squatting by the courtyard gate, hugging her knees, foolishly waiting for Xu Hangsheng to return.
Later, he saw her wandering everywhere, frantic and sweating profusely, wearing out her lips borrowing money from people.
She had a small face, delicate enough to hold in one's palm, and like Su Fu, she tended to sweat easily.
"Lend me five hundred taels, I need to save a life," she said when she bumped into him: "I'll give you anything, anything at all!"
"Anything? Then if I want you to accompany me, would that be acceptable?"
"Ye...yes!"
"No matter what I am, you would still accompany me?" Chi Lian at that time was trembling with apprehension, remembering how his previous life had gone wrong due to lack of honesty.
Equally trembling, he showed her half of his true form—a long, damp serpent's tail.
No woman was unafraid of snakes. At that moment, Su Yun screamed and, like others, vanished in an instant.
It all followed reason—after all, he was just a slimy, disgusting snake that no woman could accept.
He wasn't surprised.
What surprised him was the next day, in the same place, he actually saw Su Yun again, watching her with tears in her eyes, trembling all over.
"Can you not reveal your true form when... when I accompany you?" she said, her fingers twisting her clothes anxiously.
"I can."
"I need five hundred taels. They all say... ten of me aren't worth that much."
"You are worth it."
"Alright then! Five hundred taels, I'll sell myself to you!"
Finally, she declared, lifting her small face. That foolish, blind love clouded her heart, making her eyes shine with a terrifying, solitary courage.
True to his word, Chi Lian gave her the five hundred taels to save Xu Hangsheng's life, agreeing to take her away three days later.
Three days later, he came as promised and took her away, though she hadn't actually waited for Xu Hangsheng to return.
At that time, he was overjoyed, thinking he had finally found a woman who accepted his true form.
Thus began the first mistake. The storyteller's tales had never taught him that so-called love could not only not be built on deception but even less could it be bought with money."You knew what kind of man Xu Hangsheng was, didn't you? That's why you never allowed me to leave the cave to search for him all these years, isn't it!"
At this recollection, Su Yun suddenly jolted awake, her voice rising sharply as she took a step toward the cave entrance.
"Yes..." Chi Lian's soft voice echoed from within the cave. "After bringing you back, I grew curious and investigated him. I saw him embracing different women's shoulders, saw him contract venereal diseases. The whole world knew what kind of trash Xu Hangsheng was—everyone except you..."
"Then why didn't you tell me!"
"Because I liked you like this—devoted to one person wholeheartedly, disregarding life and death, just like in the stories. I didn't want to disappoint you." Chi Lian paused for a moment before suddenly emitting that piercing, low laugh again.
"And... I thought if I treated you well enough, you would forget him, like the saying goes: 'Where sincerity reaches, even metal and stone can be split open.'"
Where sincerity reaches, even metal and stone can be split open—such clichés from stories often prove untrue.
But Chi Lian was a snake, one who had been confined to this cave dwelling before understanding the ways of the world.
Those stories he had once fallen in love with became his creed.
He treated her well, in his own self-righteous way.
Wanting to be with her for all eternity, he took her life, then expended half his spiritual power to preserve her soul and reshape her physical form, making her appear eternally youthful.
When she resisted physical contact with him, he didn't touch her, living alone in the rear cave instead.
When she said she wanted to learn the celibacy curse, he taught her, though vaguely aware of her ulterior motives.
Those spiked drinks—though he clearly knew they contained tricks, he would drain them without hesitation.
As she wished, the drugs would take effect, while she had cast the celibacy curse on herself, forcing him to seek release elsewhere.
Those women—because they weren't her, he ended their lives without the slightest hesitation.
He was a snake, sinister and fierce because he understood neither good nor evil, but toward her, he had always been sincere.
Yet ultimately, the storybook ending where sincerity splits metal and stone never came to pass.
She kept thinking of escape, growing increasingly obsessive and deranged by the day, drugging him more and more frequently.
Finally, he met Feng Yi, and because this woman had also sold herself to save her man, that slight resemblance made him bring her back, taking his pleasure with her right before Su Yun's eyes.
If she had shown even a trace of jealousy, a hint of heartbreak, then all these years wouldn't have been wasted.
But she only felt joy—joy at finally gaining her freedom, without the slightest shred of attachment.
In the final reckoning, all he gained was solitude—no one would sacrifice everything for him, no one held any affection or loyalty toward him. His obsession had ultimately been nothing but an illusion.
"Tell me, did you return because you love me? Or out of guilt, or because you found yourself helpless after discovering the truth?"
Chi Lian's voice had regained its calm.
Su Yun raised her hands to cover her face.
"Out of guilt, and because I found myself helpless after discovering the truth," she murmured, without deception.
From the rear cave came Chi Lian's sigh—finally despairing, yet somehow relieved.
"Go." The single word held neither anger nor joy.
Su Yun lifted her head, somewhat dazed, and only after a long pause did she stammer out words.
"Where should I go?" she said, her face deathly pale as she gazed deep into the cave dwelling, looking as helpless as when Chi Lian first saw her. "Where should I go? Other than here with you, where else do I have to go?"The rear cave fell silent, contrary to everyone's expectations. The persistent blood threads that had nearly overflowed the entrance suddenly receded, much like an ebbing tide abruptly revealing a shallow shore.
Meanwhile, Su Yun had already risen, her expression still dazed, and was step by step walking into the cave entrance.
After all these years of companionship, whether in gratitude or resentment, in the end, he remained her only destination.
Chi Lian's soul wavered restlessly within the cave, gradually beginning to linger in hesitation.
Had Xuan Ye not arrived, she would have resigned herself tonight, following the crimson rust back, and he would have become her final refuge.
Could this be considered a beginning?
The answer remained unknown.
Those stories had only taught him love at first sight and unwavering devotion unto death, but never what it meant to be entangled in love and hatred, clinging together in solitude and suffering.
So he hesitated, his hatred fluctuating between intensity and faintness, until his resentment ultimately failed to coalesce. The blood web, driven by spiritual power and resentment, receded section by section, allowing Su Yun to cleave through the waves and approach his side.
By now, most of his spiritual power had dissipated, and he could barely maintain a human form. His eyes half-lifted, uncontrollably flickering with a green glow.
"Starting from this moment, is it too late for us?"
Su Yun's voice was soft as she slowly drew near, her lips as tender as flower petals gently covering his eyelids.
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