4039-chapter-28
Chapter 28
The man before her overlapped with the dear friend from a century ago.
Liu Shuang was filled with both joy and melancholy.
Dying beneath the thunder, her only regret and unfulfilled wish were now slowly finding closure.
“Shaoyou, these years… how have you been?”
Liu Shuang had never dared to imagine that Shaoyou was actually the young master of Kunlun.
She had always thought he was a wandering immortal of the ancient peachwood clan.
Seeing Shaoyou again was an immense stroke of fortune for her.
Shaoyou was puzzled.
The last time, she had been unreasonable and seemed eager to rid herself of him, but now her attitude had completely changed.
Thinking she was up to some trick again, he furrowed his brow, his tone carrying a faint chill: “Did the immortal not just see me recently? Why speak as if it’s been ages since we last met?”
This statement was like a bucket of cold water poured over her, waking Liu Shuang from the joy of seeing him again.
The Shaoyou before her looked at her with cold detachment.
His furrowed brows, though subtle, showed he was less than pleased.
His demeanor remained gentle, but Liu Shuang knew him well enough to sense his displeasure.
He didn’t like the person she was now.
Only she retained memories of their past; Shaoyou would not remember her.
Liu Shuang quickly gathered herself.
She did not wish for much—only to make up for the regret of not traveling across mountains and rivers with Shaoyou, sharing wine brewed from blossoms.
All her past regrets could now find fulfillment.
Taking a deep breath, she swiftly assumed the role of Chishui Liushuang.
“Young Master Jimo, I was disrespectful during my last visit to Kunlun. Please do not take it to heart; it was my fault for being rude and overbearing.”
She bent her knees and bowed.
“I hope Young Master Jimo will be magnanimous.”
Shaoyou sat down and gracefully brewed a pot of tea, his movements fluid like flowing clouds.
He glanced at her lightly. “I hold no grudge against the immortal.”
Liu Shuang said, “Then, if the young master forgives me, could we get along well from now on?”
At this, Shaoyou had yet to respond, but the expressions of those present varied.
Bai Yuxiao thought, Oh, so Chishui Liu Shuang has gotten smarter. She even knows how to feign friendliness to borrow the Shennong Cauldron.
Bai Zhuixu, on the other hand, was utterly surprised.
Liu Shuang’s disdain for Jimo Shaoyou and resistance to this marriage were well-known throughout Kong Sang.
Forcing her to apologize was already a feat, but her demeanor now seemed completely different.
There was no tension.
In front of Jimo Shaoyou, Liu Shuang’s attitude was one of respect and admiration, even tinged with affection and… intimacy?
Liu Shuang, affectionate and close with Jimo Shaoyou?
In a corner, Yan Chaosheng, who had been silent, raised his head.
His cold gaze first rested on Liu Shuang, then slowly shifted to Shaoyou.
Yan Chaosheng felt a sense of blockage in his heart.
He couldn’t even explain why.
Back in the peach grove, when Liu Shuang used her spiritual energy to scatter characters, he had been surprised.
While the Bai brothers didn’t notice, he recognized the spell—it was one taught to him in childhood by a wandering immortal.
Though Yan Chaosheng had lost his cultivation, his unusual demon eyes remained.
One glance was enough for him to see the spiritual energy wrapping around the message as it entered Kunlun.
She was bowing her head to that man.
Yan Chaosheng frowned, unable to avoid speculating about Liu Shuang’s intentions.
Among the four who had come to Kunlun, only he was unaware of Liu Shuang’s true purpose.
He thought Kong Sang merely wished to avoid offending Kunlun and had sent their young miss to personally apologize.
That was understandable.
But her first look at Jimo Shaoyou wasn’t one of loathing or reluctance to marry.
When Jimo Shaoyou turned away, she stepped forward, her eyes glowing with a light Yan Chaosheng had never seen before.
He had to admit, from their first encounter at the kunlun gate and later on the Lotus Platform, and even during the journey from Kongsang to Kunlun, not even Bai Zhuixu had drawn such a gaze from her.
He stared hard at Liu Shuang.
Standing so close, nearly leaning into Jimo Shaoyou’s embrace!
Was she really so eager after claiming she didn’t want to marry him?
Yan Chaosheng sneered coldly.
This didn’t look like reluctance—could she be any more obvious?
Not only was she asking how Jimo Shaoyou had been, but now she wanted to “get along well.”
A man and a woman, what exactly did she mean by that?
Indeed, as he had thought earlier, Chishui Liushuang was no different from those hedonistic immortal clans he had encountered before.
This type of immortal… A wave of irritation surged in Yan Chaosheng’s heart.
He had even thought about letting her off after she had learned her lesson!
He scoffed internally, unsure whether his disdain was directed at Liu Shuang or at himself for carrying her back that night.
His thoughts tangled and swirled until they settled into the coldness in his eyes.
By now, Shaoyou had finished brewing the tea.
With a wave of his broad sleeve, tea cups floated to each person’s table.
He said, “If the immortal finds Kunlun to her liking, she is welcome to visit anytime.”
Yan Chaosheng thought, Anyone can tell this is a perfunctory remark. He said she’s welcome to visit Kunlun, not to spend time with him.
Yan Chaosheng cast a mocking glance at Liu Shuang.
She seemed momentarily taken aback but did not appear angry.
Holding the teacup Shaoyou had sent over, she chuckled softly.
“Very well. I shall visit Kunlun often in the future. If I anger Young Master Jimo again, he can send me away at any time.”
Shaoyou was slightly startled, a faint and almost imperceptible smile appearing in his eyes.
Crack.
Yan Chaosheng crushed his teacup in his hand, drawing everyone’s attention.
Without a change in expression, he gathered the fragments.
“I apologize for my rudeness, Young Master Jimo.”
Shaoyou nodded.
“No harm done.”
Yan Chaosheng sneered inwardly.
He must have been blind on the journey to think Chishui Liushuang was merely headstrong and unaware of the harm she caused.
To think she was different from Bai Yuxiao.
He had thought she felt remorse for her actions, enough to heal his wounds on the Lotus Platform.
He had thought she was brave and kind for standing up to Bi Xun in Taichuan City.
He had thought… He had thought she felt something for him…
At this moment, recalling the matter left him both furious and exasperated.
Clearly, she was someone who fell for every person she met.
Her ambiguous relationship with Bai Zhuixu was evident.
Outwardly, she seemed to be at odds with Bai Yuxiao, but if they were truly on bad terms, how could Bai Yuxiao go so far as to cripple his own cultivation to avenge her?
And now, there was the addition of the Jimo young master.
Yan Chaosheng remembered a long-forgotten chapter of his past.
Before joining Kongsang, there had been women who fancied him.
He had always been exceptionally handsome since childhood.
Among the demon clan, beauty was not in short supply.
Their allure often surpassed even that of the immortals—especially among the fox clan, which had produced countless stunning enchantresses still celebrated in mortal folklore.
When Yan Chaosheng shed his childlike appearance and became a youth, the little wolf demon was still alive.
As young wanderers, they traveled from one forest to another.
Along the way, countless female demons surrounded Yan Chaosheng, trying to win his favor.
Yan Chaosheng had never experienced romantic affection.
Having struggled daily to survive and witness the dawn of another day, he was left flustered by the soft bodies pressing against him and the seductive, inviting gazes.
Though embarrassed and at a loss, he couldn’t bring himself to harm them, as they meant no harm to him.
It was the first time in his life that he felt so liked by so many.
As a young man awakening to such emotions, his life as a demon roaming the forests had not yet been colored by aspirations of immortal cultivation.
His companions were still alive, and his heart was not yet as cold as it would become.
He had even fantasized, somewhat naively, that when he grew stronger, he might find a female demon and live a peaceful life.
He believed he could protect her from suffering and hunger and ensure she wouldn’t endure the bullying he had experienced.
In the early days of his bloody and brutal path, all he had longed for was to be loved and to have a home.
Yan Chaosheng had no memories of his birth or earlier years, arriving in this world as a child.
Though he never spoke of it, he sometimes walked alone under the moonlight, envying the other demons who had families to return to.
A certain loneliness and yearning inevitably lingered in his heart.
So when the female demons expressed their affection for him, the young Yan Chaosheng felt both shy and hopeful.
However, this hopeful feeling lasted only two days.
On the third day, no one came to court him.
Yan Chaosheng happened to stumble upon a scene in the woods: the same girl who had previously claimed to admire him was tangled with the little wolf demon among the flowers.
A swath of vibrant blooms lay crushed beneath their bodies.
Yan Chaosheng heard the girl’s ecstatic moans, growing louder and louder, as fragments of their voices reached his ears.
The little wolf demon asked, puzzled, “Didn’t you like our leader?”
The girl giggled.
“Him? Oh, he’s handsome, sure. You’d think he’d be amazing, but he’s just a crippled demon who can’t even transform into his true form.”
The little wolf demon, panting heavily, replied, “Our leader is amazing! You… you shouldn’t say that about him.”
The girl dismissed him, unconcerned.
“I wouldn’t want to bear children with such a defective bloodline. But you… ah… you’re much better…”
Under the clear moonlight, the young Yan Chaosheng clenched his fists tightly and left with an expression of indifference.
That night, his foolish, youthful sentiments were utterly shattered.
From that moment, Yan Chaosheng realized that his inability to transform didn’t just subject him to bullying as a child—it would always make him an object of contempt, no matter how strong he became as an adult.
No matter how much effort he put in, he would always be a crippled demon in the eyes of others.
Unlike the other clans, demons tied physical beauty directly to power.
The stronger the cultivation, the more extraordinary the appearance.
Yan Chaosheng’s strikingly handsome face, unfortunately, did not align with his flawed bloodline and limited power.
Yan Chaosheng bore no grudge against the little wolf demon or the girl.
But from that day on, he kept all female demons at a distance.
Some approached him for his looks, not to bear his offspring but to indulge in fleeting passions.
With a cold sneer, he dismissed them, his earlier shyness and awkwardness replaced by steely indifference.
Thinking back on this now, the incident had occurred so long ago—two centuries? Or three?
In the centuries that followed, he devoted himself solely to gaining power, consumed by his thirst for strength and entry into the immortal path.
He hadn’t spared a thought for those trivial emotions since.
Yan Chaosheng’s expression grew taut.
Yet now, a single Chishui Liushuang had managed to break his composure.
He had actually believed—ridiculously—that she cared about him.
For the first time in centuries, Yan Chaosheng felt the sting of humiliation and rage.
He couldn’t tell whether he was more angered by Liu Shuang’s fickleness or by his own deluded self-importance.
And there she was, still talking to Jimo Shaoyou.
The softness in her voice, the gentle warmth—so this was how she behaved when she wanted to win someone over.
“Jimo Shaoyou, have you ever traveled in the mortal world? Do you know how to make messenger paper cranes from willow leaves?”
“Jimo Shaoyou, in the seventh month of the mortal calendar, one can paddle across lakes to watch lotus maidens pluck seed pods. It’s an enchanting experience.”
“Young Master, Kongsang is also a beautiful place. When you visit someday, I will make sure to host you well.”
Her demeanor here was unlike her respectful reserve in front of Bai Zhuixu, her hostility toward Bai Yuxiao, or the insincere pretense she showed around him.
As she gazed at Jimo Shaoyou from afar, her eyes seemed to be filled with stars, radiating a trust that couldn’t be put into words.
It was as if all her outer defenses had disappeared, revealing her softness for Jimo Shaoyou alone.
Yan Chaosheng silently sneered at the sight.
He hadn’t realized when the sheltered Chi Shui Liushuang, forbidden from leaving Kongsang, had become so worldly and knowledgeable.
Truly… hiding an ugly face while putting on airs even more exaggerated than those of a rabbit demon.
Jimo Shaoyou occasionally responded to her, and her every expression was laced with joy.
Yan Chaosheng didn’t touch his teacup again.
Watching the scene unfold only reminded him of his earlier misplaced feelings, which filled him with boundless irritation.
He could only mock her silently in his mind: an ugly wretch, offending others and now shamelessly clinging to someone else.
As if the Kunlun Young Master would ever fancy her.
At first, even Bai Zhuixu was puzzled, thinking Liu Shuang was stalling for time.
But as their conversation grew more cheerful, and Shaoyou even refilled her tea cup, she didn’t once bring up the matter of the Huanyan bead.
Left with no choice, Bai Zhuixu finally spoke up, “Young Master Jimo, to be honest, we have a favor to ask today.”
Shaoyou replied, “Please speak, Young Master Bai.”
“The Young Miss accidentally swallowed the immortal treasure, the Huanyan bead, and lost her original appearance. Kongsang wishes to borrow Kunlun’s divine artifact, the Shennong Cauldron, to dissolve the bead inside her.”
As his words fell, Yan Chaosheng raised his eyes.
The shame and anger within him subsided considerably upon hearing this.
So Chi Shui Liushuang’s attentiveness was merely to borrow a divine artifact, not because she fancied Jimo Shaoyou?
That explained it.
Given her knack for offending people, it would indeed be difficult for her to request such a favor.
Yan Chaosheng had heard of the Huanyan beadbefore—a bead capable of altering one’s appearance so thoroughly that even the most powerful sages, including Heavenly Lords, couldn’t see through the illusion.
However, once swallowed, the original appearance could never be restored.
So Chishui Liushuang didn’t actually look like this—it was all because of the bead.
What did she originally look like?
Shaoyou sipped his tea, his serene expression unchanged.
While speaking with Liu Shuang earlier, he had been composed, courteous, and occasionally offered a faint smile.
Now, hearing the mention of the Shennong Cauldron, Kunlun’s artifact that safeguarded the immortal realm, his demeanor remained calm and steady.
“As for the Shennong Cauldron, I cannot decide on my own. Allow me to report this to my father and provide young miss Chishui with an answer later. In the meantime, you may stay in Kunlun.”
Bai Zhuixu felt anxious but could only reply, “Thank you, Young Master Jimo.”
Shaoyou nodded and said, “Shatang, show our guests to their quarters.”
A maid in white stepped forward with a cheerful smile, guiding Liushuang and her companions away.
Bai Yuxiao whispered, “Brother, what do you think Jimo Shaoyou means? Will he lend it or not?”
Bai Zhuixu shook his head with a faint smile.
Though he prided himself on being steady, today he realized just how far he was from matching the composure of this Kunlun Young Master.
Bai Zhuixu was about to console Liu Shuang, telling her not to worry and that they would surely win Kunlun’s approval.
“Jimo Shaoyou will lend it,” Liu Shuang suddenly said.
“How can you be so certain?”
Liu Shuang replied, “Though he seems cold, he’s actually a very kind person.”