The person before him never expressed his true emotions. He wanted to stand atop the crowd, uncaring of the cost, always playing the role of a god manipulating the lives of others... He relished the feeling of having the fates of countless people hanging on his fleeting moods... He had many desires—the finest clothes, food, shelter, even servants and women... On this path, he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice a brother’s dignity or life, and if someone surpassed him, he’d choose mutual destruction... How could someone like this die so easily?
Besides... he had thrown himself over him, taking an arrow meant for him.
What exactly goes on in your mind? You’re truly incomprehensible. Even though we grew up together, I’ve never understood what you’re thinking...
Liu Yan slowly exhaled. At Green Peak Cliff, it was the same—he jumped after me, saved my life first, then took my palm strike. And today, it’s the same again... Everyone says you’re scheming and profound, but I think you’re just an idiot, aren’t you? He reached out, tearing open the back of Tang Lici’s robe and pulling out the short arrow embedded deep in his back. Fortunately, the arrow was short, and its trajectory had been off—though it had sunk over two inches into flesh, it hadn’t reached his heart or lungs. Noticing another arrow wound on his left shoulder, Liu Yan froze for a moment before roughly wiping it with torn fabric, only to find Tang Lici’s clothes soaked in water. Turning him over, he saw the injuries from the branches weren’t severe—the branches had been soft and blunt, merely grazing the skin with shallow cuts.
"Cough... cough..." Tang Lici stirred as Liu Yan shook him slightly, suddenly opening his eyes. The moment he awoke, he tried to sit up. "I—" Liu Yan shoved him back coldly. "What’s wrong with you?" Two arrow wounds and a scrape—there was no way injuries like these could reduce Tang Lici to such a state.
"I’m fine." Tang Lici inhaled slowly, still smiling. "I told you... I’d find a way to save you." Liu Yan spat in disdain. "Save me? You said you’d find a way to save Fang Zhou, that you’d find a way to save me—ha... Now Fang Zhou is dead, gone forever, and as for me..." He ripped off his black face veil, revealing his ghastly visage. "Does this look like being saved to you?" Tang Lici pressed a hand to his abdomen, brows deeply furrowed. "There’s always... a way... ugh—" He gritted his teeth. "Your face and legs can still be healed, and as for Fang Zhou—I preserved his genes. Once we return, we can clone him—"
"Nonsense! Even if you clone his body, can you clone him ? His thoughts, his music—can you clone those too? Do you really think you’re a god? You’re just a genetic freak your parents bought with money! Do you actually believe you can—can do anything?" Liu Yan burst into laughter. "Hahaha... Why won’t you admit it? Those you’ve killed stay dead—Fang Zhou is gone and will never come back. Why lie to yourself? Why save me? Does saving me ease your guilt? Or is it because you don’t have the antidote for the Ape-Demon Nine Heart Pill and need me for your grand plans? Do you think this is some display of brotherly love? I’ve never believed a word you say! Because you never speak the truth!""Uh..." Tang Lici shook his head, covering his face with his hand, his voice slightly weak and subdued. "I'm not feeling well. Some things can wait... for another day..." Liu Yan panted a few times, looking him up and down. "What's wrong with you?" Tang Lici closed his eyes and leaned against the tree. "I'm fine." Liu Yan sneered, "Do you really think your modified genes make you an Undying Body?" Though Tang Lici had lost a lot of blood, his face wasn't pale—instead, it was flushed as if drunk. He coughed softly. "I really... don't feel well... Please don't... talk to me for now..." He leaned against the tree, regulating his breathing as his Inner Energy circulated, causing the wound on his back to bleed again. Liu Yan sat nearby watching, then suddenly said after a while, "If you keep this up, you'll die from blood loss before your energy stabilizes." Tang Lici gasped, his right hand clutching the white fabric over his abdomen. "I..." Liu Yan pressed a hand against his stomach and felt something soft pulsing faintly beneath. "What is this?" Tang Lici coughed. "Fang... Zhou's heart. I transplanted it into..." Liu Yan was shocked. "What?" Tang Lici took a quick breath and smiled faintly. "I wanted to heal his heart... then put it back in his body. Without a heart, the Skill Exchange Great Art can temporarily... substitute for one... to keep blood flowing..." Liu Yan snapped, "Nonsense! You're just being delusional and reckless! In a place like this, with no equipment or medicine, you dug out Fang Zhou's heart and still expect him to live? You're insane! And—how did you even transplant his heart into your abdomen? There are no major blood vessels there—how did you connect it? Where did you attach his heart? This is just... just..." His mind went blank, unable to find words to describe Tang Lici's sheer recklessness. "You're gambling with his life and yours!" Tang Lici smiled faintly, opening his eyes, his gaze unfocused. "But... at that time, he was dying... I... I told him I could save him, but I didn’t know how... Neither you nor Zhu Mei could help me... I... I couldn’t just watch him die like that...""So you taught him the Skill Exchange Great Art, then had him transfer his skills to you, and then you dug out his heart and buried it in your own belly..." Liu Yan's entire body trembled. "What have you been doing? You—you—" Tang Lici's gaze gradually grew distant. "I took his money because I needed to keep him alive. I needed martial arts skills, an Ice Coffin, medicine, money... I also hated being penniless... For these things, Zhu Mei once came back and slashed me with a knife... Hah..." Liu Yan angrily retorted, "If I had known about these absurd things back then, I would have slashed you too—maybe ten or eight times. I can't even fathom what you've been doing... Fang Zhou's life is a life, but yours isn't? One death among the four of us wasn't enough—did you want two?" Tang Lici laughed, raising his fingers as if to touch something, then slowly lowering them again. "Hearing you say these things makes me feel... that you haven't changed at all... not one bit..." Liu Yan sneered. "You don't just enjoy deceiving others—you enjoy deceiving yourself too." After a pause, he asked, "Where did you attach Fang Zhou's heart?"
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