Yu Tuan'er listened quietly with wide eyes as Xue Tao, her face streaked with tears, spoke. "I was afraid he would cry. He's always been so strong-willed since childhood. When he cried, my heart felt as though it would shatter... His tears softened me, and I couldn't bring myself to starve or attempt suicide anymore... Later... later..." She exhaled deeply, her gaze gradually steadying. "Later, he held me while crying, and I held him too. He said he wanted to kill me, and also that he wanted to kill my elder cousin. But my elder cousin was already dead, and he harbored deep hatred—hatred for this martial world that had taken my cousin's life. So he vowed to destroy every single person in it... He also said he wanted to wage war against the Liao Kingdom, that he wished to serve in the imperial court, that he despised everyone in the world except me. He believed himself to be a rare genius... I believed every word he said to me was sincere, but I only asked one thing... Every day, I asked him why Zhu Yan hadn’t come to save me. He said Zhu Yan would never come to save me, that he would never allow him to..."
Tears welled up in Yu Tuan'er's eyes. Xue Tao stared at her blankly. "Why are you crying?" Yu Tuan'er wiped her tears and pointed at Wan Yu Yuedan, choking back sobs. "He's crying too. It's not just me who wants to cry." Xue Tao looked at Wan Yu Yuedan, whose eyes shimmered with unshed tears. Lost in thought, he sighed softly.
Xue Tao turned to Lin Bu, whose expression was equally sorrowful. She smiled faintly instead. "Then one day, he released me, but I could no longer walk. My cousin was even more tormented than I was. He wished he could graft his own legs onto me, but before proving it possible, he had to test whether it could be done. So he captured countless young and beautiful women, severed their limbs, and tried to attach them to me. I became the cause of countless deaths, and from then on, I hated him even more. I no longer cared whether my limbs would heal or if Zhu Yan would come to save me. I just didn’t want to see him—I thought it would be better to die." Yu Tuan'er grasped her hand. "You're so pitiful."
Xue Tao whispered, "Those innocent women who died are far more pitiful. What is there to pity about me? I sinned and caused so many deaths. My condition worsened, my limbs trembling uncontrollably. In desperation, my cousin severed my tendons. I already wanted to die, so it didn’t matter whether my tendons were intact or not, but he tortured himself over it every day. Then one day, a stranger came to the manor. I never saw his face, but he gave me a medicine. After taking it, my limbs slowly regained strength, and bit by bit, I could stand again. My cousin was overjoyed, but my heart was dead. I no longer hoped Zhu Yan would come to save me. My mind was filled only with thoughts of my cousin... I hated him for what he did to me, for the endless suffering he caused, but I also feared his failure, feared his death... I wasn’t the same person anymore..." She spoke woodenly. "So I wanted to escape from him. I was afraid that one day, I would willingly choose to stay.""So you escaped through the passage from the water dungeon?" Yu Tuan'er looked at her in astonishment. This petite woman actually possessed such tremendous willpower and courage to escape from a place like Wangting Manor. Xue Tao whispered, "He caught me and brought me back. He was furious—beat me, injured my face. I was glad he ruined my face. I thought maybe he'd stop thinking about me after that, but instead, he went completely mad. He gave me skin from other parts of his body but took the scar from my face and placed it on his own... Haha... He wanted to take on my ugliness for me, but in the end, he became exactly like me... He grew obsessed with his new appearance—wore the dresses I used to wear, styled his hair the way I did, even started applying powder to his face, hahaha... Everyone else feared him, but I knew the torment in his heart. He wanted to kill me, yet couldn't bear to be without me, so he tried to become me. He thought if he turned into me, he wouldn’t miss me after killing me..."
"But he never did kill you," Wan Yu Yuedan said gently. "He loved you." Xue Tao closed her eyes. "He loved me, and he loved himself. He couldn’t love me without loving himself, nor could he love only himself and not me. But I... I couldn’t love him. He was a bad person..." Her voice trembled. "I didn’t want to love him, so I avoided him. He always wanted to kill me but could never bring himself to do it. I thought if I didn’t see him, I wouldn’t think of him, but I did... I thought of him day and night..."
"And then today, Zhu Yan suddenly appeared and rescued you," Wan Yu Yuedan asked softly. "Yet you’re heartbroken?" Xue Tao spoke slowly, "I heard the sounds of him breaking in—one after another, earth-shaking. I recognized his footsteps, that familiar aura and scent... exactly as I’d imagined in the past. My cousin hid himself. He didn’t stop Zhu Yan from taking me away, nor did he demand my death... I... I was disappointed." She clutched the bedding tightly. "I was heartbroken that he neither stopped me nor killed me, just let me go like that. I don’t know if I disappointed him, or if he loved me so much he truly let me leave. Whatever the reason, it hurts. I love him—I no longer love Zhu Yan, I don’t care whether Zhu Yan came to save me or not. I just wanted to stay by my cousin’s side, no matter how many evil deeds he’s done, how many people he’s killed. I wanted to be with him." Her voice was desolate. "I couldn’t lie to Zhu Yan. I told him I didn’t love him anymore, and he struck me with his halberd."
Yu Tuan'er gasped. "How could he do that?" Xue Tao replied softly, "I don’t blame him. That’s just how he is. In his entire life, he’s only ever been kind to me. My betrayal was a betrayal of his whole existence. I’m the one who wronged him." Wan Yu Yuedan sighed. "Didn’t you consider that telling Zhu Yan you no longer loved him would only deepen his hatred for Yu Konghou? He threw you to the ground—where did he go afterward?" Xue Tao’s face paled. "He’ll go after my cousin!" Wan Yu Yuedan’s voice was gentle yet resigned. "He must have returned to Wangting Manor by now. A great battle there is unavoidable. All we can do is wait for the outcome."Xue Tao stared blankly at Wan Yu Yuedan. The power granted by the Purple-Gold Pill was fading bit by bit. When had Zhu Yan ever failed to kill? The halberd wound in her chest had pierced clean through, and blood was slowly seeping out again. Yu Tuan'er kept applying the medicinal ointment from Tang Lici's square jade box to her wound, but Xue Tao's breathing grew increasingly labored, her consciousness slipping away as she fell into unconsciousness once more.
"Will she die?" Yu Tuan'er looked at Xue Tao, feeling deeply saddened.
Wan Yu Yuedan bit his lip. "Perhaps." Yu Tuan'er whispered, "If she hadn't spoken so much, maybe she wouldn't die." Wan Yu Yuedan shook his head and smiled faintly. "Those words were choking her heart. It would have been worse if she hadn't spoken them. For ten years, no one spoke to her except Yu Konghou. She's truly pitiable." Yu Tuan'er wiped her tears again. "I think she's so pitiful. That jade-skinned monster ruined her life, yet she still wanted to stay by his side." Wan Yu Yuedan shook his head once more. "Matters of the heart are hard to explain. Given the choice, I think both Yu Konghou and Zhu Yan would rather not love anyone. Emotions only hinder their martial arts and ambitions." After saying this, he propped his chin on his hand and changed the subject. "Yu Guniang, you grew up in the mountains. Do you know who your parents are?"
Yu Tuan'er mimicked his pose, resting her chin on her hand—Wan Yu Yuedan's wrist was pale and slender, making the gesture look quite elegant. "My mother said she was originally the daughter of the Li Family Bun Shop in the county town. As a child, she learned a bit of martial arts from a master at the local martial arts school. She was also very beautiful and quite famous in the county." She smiled faintly. "As for my father... she said one day he passed through the county and glanced at her bun shop a few times. She took a liking to him—handsome, elegant, with rosy lips and white teeth, full of grace—so she deliberately provoked him, accusing him of stealing her buns." Her smile deepened. "And then my father actually admitted to it. My mother demanded he pay for the buns, but he offered to take her out for drinks instead—and she agreed."
The story sounded suspiciously like a beautiful woman being taken advantage of by a rogue. Lin Bu stifled a laugh, not daring to let it show. Wan Yu Yuedan listened intently. "Your mother must have been very happy that day." Yu Tuan'er grinned. "Of course! That night, my father treated her to drinks, and they... got along very well. Soon after, my mother was pregnant with me." Lin Bu choked on his breath, coughing awkwardly. Wan Yu Yuedan smiled. "Then your father married your mother?" Yu Tuan'er shook her head. "Then my father left. The very next day. My mother never saw him again. She had me out of wedlock, and my grandfather was furious. On top of that, I was born with a strange condition that made me ugly. My mother couldn't stay in the county anymore, so she took me to hide in the mountains. We stayed there for over a decade." The smile on Lin Bu's face froze before fading into gloom. "Your father never came looking for your mother?" Yu Tuan'er shook her head. "My mother said my father was so handsome, he must have met countless women. He probably didn't even remember her. But she never regretted it. She said after meeting him, she could never love another man. If my grandfather had forced her to marry someone else, she would have been heartbroken for life. So even though my father left and never returned, she didn't regret it at all.""What's your father's name?" Wan Yu Yuedan asked softly. Yu Tuan'er shook her head again. "I don't know. Even Mom never asked. She only knew his surname was Yu. Mom said since it was a marriage that couldn't last, what use was there in asking his name? With a name, you'd want to find the person, and finding him might bring even more heartache." She shrugged. "Whatever it was, Mom thought it was fine as long as she felt it was good. She kept one of Dad's clothes and sometimes wore it to pretend to be him for me. I was happy, and she was happy too." Wan Yu Yuedan's eyes curved gently, his smile warm and tender. "Your mother has such a lovely temperament." Yu Tuan'er laughed. "Of course, my mom is very, very good."
The sky gradually brightened. Xue Tao's breathing grew weaker and weaker. Wan Yu Yuedan closed his eyes in feigned sleep, his expression still calm and composed. Yu Tuan'er and Lin Bu, however, were too worried about Xue Tao's injuries and the battle at Wangting Manor to sleep a wink.
OpenNovel