On the desolate Bloodthirst Cliff, Yu Ce gradually calmed down, though his sword in hand trembled uncontrollably, dripping with the deep red blood of Shen Tanqi.
Behind him, a surge of murderous intent accompanied a sword attack aimed at him. Yu Ce subtly sidestepped, easily evading the blade.
“How dare you.” The voice behind him was chillingly cold, as if suppressing intense fury. “How dare you kill him?”
Yu Ce raised his eyes to look at the person who had spoken but remained silent.
Seeing his lack of response, Lin Tanjiu’s anger intensified. She reached out and fiercely grabbed Yu Ce’s collar, demanding, “What did he do that made you want to kill him?”
Upon hearing her question, Yu Ce seemed like a soulless shell, indifferent and unmoved.
Seeing him like this, Lin Tanjiu wished she could kick him off the Bloodthirst Cliff. She raised her hand, intending to slap Yu Ce hard in place of the deceased Shen Tanqi.
Yu Ce made no attempt to resist. However, as Lin Tanjiu’s palm descended, it landed on something soft.
That soft thing, like a ball, was knocked away with a whimper when she slapped it.
Lin Tanjiu paused. She hadn’t sensed any presence nearby moments ago. This thing had appeared out of nowhere.
“Ouch… wah wah wah…”
She focused and saw a fluffy yellow chick squirming on the ground.
The chick wriggled on the ground for a while before standing up, indignantly yelling, “Why did you hit me!”
Lin Tanjiu was taken aback. “I… “
The chick seemed in a hurry, paying her no mind, and scuttled over to Yu Ce.
“Yu Ce! Shen Tanqi has something to tell you!”
Shen… Shen Tanqi?
Lin Tanjiu immediately covered her mouth. Wasn’t Shen Tanqi already dead, his body lying right there on the ground?
Could it be his dying words?
She saw a faint glimmer slowly appear in Yu Ce’s eyes, as calm as still water.
The chick fluttered its wings desperately and flew to him, mimicking Shen Tanqi’s tone. “He said he really likes you. You’re in his heart!”
“What?” Lin Tanjiu exclaimed.
She shifted her gaze to Yu Ce, who remained expressionless and calmly replied, “Is that so?”
“Yes, yes!” The chick chirped excitedly. “Oh my, he really likes you a lot! Do you have any message for me to bring back to him? Hurry up, I don’t have much time.”
Lin Tanjiu felt utterly confused now. She glanced at the fallen body of Shen Tanqi—indeed, he was dead, unmistakably so.
A message? To deliver to the underworld?
Upon hearing the chick’s words, Yu Ce remained unmoved, as if he had expected this. He lowered his gaze and said calmly, “Unless he comes back himself to tell me, I won’t believe it.”
Lin Tanjiu finally couldn’t hold back. “How could he come back? You killed him with your own hands!”
The chick in front of her glanced back, and with its back turned towards her, said, “You don’t understand, it’s their little lover’s quarrel!”
Lin Tanjiu: ?
She bit her lip, wanting to ask for clarification desperately, but she could sense the chick had something important to say, so she suppressed her urge.
The chick flew up to Yu Ce, cautiously asking, “Are you really not going to say anything else to him?”
Yu Ce slowly bent down, cradling Shen Tanqi in his arms, and whispered, “Nothing else.”
The chick hesitated for a moment and continued, “Alright then. He also said to take care of Goldfish and Taro Ball, don’t let Goldfish eat too many sweets to protect his teeth, and to be careful when Taro Ball practices swordsmanship, not to hurt himself…”
Upon hearing this, Yu Ce paused slightly. Under the chick’s eager gaze, he murmured softly, “Tell him to come back and take care of it himself, or I won’t listen.”
The chick couldn’t believe it, fluttering back to him and asking again, “Are you serious? Is that all you want to say?”
Yu Ce nodded slightly, saying, “That’s all.”
His hand hidden in his sleeve curled slowly. He held Shen Tanqi tightly, as if cradling a priceless treasure, gently smoothing out the stray hair on Shen Tanqi’s forehead.
Ah Qi.
I am indeed ruthless.
Kissing you before leaving was something I had long planned.
Only by keeping you obsessed with thoughts of me can I make you disregard everything and come back to me.
Don’t blame me. I must have you back.
Yu Ce turned around, ignoring the stunned chick, and softly said to Lin Tanjiu, “You had something to ask, come with me.”
Without waiting for Lin Tanjiu’s response, he leaped off the Bloodthirst Cliff.
Lin Tanjiu stood on the cliff, not immediately following Yu Ce’s footsteps. Instead, she locked eyes with the bewildered chick standing dumbfounded.
“My cousin…”
She wanted to ask, did her cousin really die?
Just now, from what they said, Shen Tanqi seemed to be living well and healthy in another world.
This world… it’s so surreal.
The chick glanced at her, feeling that its visit might actually be worth it. It checked the system time, three minutes left, which should be enough.
“Your cousin is fine, living well. Just think of it as his soul traveling out of his body,” the chick patted its chest confidently. “Trust me, I’ll bring him back. But there’s something I need to ask of you. If Yu Ce collapses mentally, you must help him regain his composure and participate well in the sect grand competition.”
Lin Tanjiu was stunned, the enormity of the information leaving her momentarily speechless.
After a while, she decisively replied, “Alright, I understand.”
The chick’s eyes lit up, almost wanting to give her a round of applause.
Indeed the female lead, with her strong comprehension, wasted no time in understanding.
Before the chick could fully rejoice, Lin Tanjiu’s expression hardened again as she said, “But on one condition: you must tell me when my cousin will return.”
She wouldn’t easily believe the one-sided words of this chick before her. Shen Tanqi’s death was destined to cause a huge uproar. If he was truly dead, the Shen family would spare no effort to find out why. The entire Rongyun Sect would issue a wanted notice, punish Yu Ce according to sect rules, strip him of his cultivation, and possibly exchange life for life.
At that time, Yu Ce would have no way out and face certain death.
Upon hearing her words, the chick pondered for a moment and gave a definite answer, “Seven days, at most seven days.”
Using permissions to send Shen Tanqi back here required continuous trial and error. Shen Tanqi had only three chances. If all three failed, he would never return.
But if he could come back, it would be within seven days.
With the chick’s answer, Lin Tanjiu said skeptically, “Okay, if I don’t see my cousin in seven days, I will personally take Yu Ce to the Shen family.”
She and her cousin were of the same bloodline. If the son of the Shen family was killed, Yu Ce naturally had to be brought back by her for punishment.
“But during these seven days, you can rest assured. Even if Yu Ce refuses to participate in the sect competition, I will force him to go.” Lin Tanjiu sighed lightly, recalling Shen Tanqi’s smile on the sword practice platform that day, feeling a pang of sympathy. “Pass this message to my cousin. If he can really hear it, tell him I will make sure to supervise Yu Ce well and ease his worries.”
The chick nodded heavily. The moment Lin Tanjiu finished speaking, it vanished into thin air.
It’s time had come.
Lin Tanjiu stared at the fading light for a long moment, her gaze complex, and whispered softly, “Cousin, you must come back.”
Turning, she rode her sword down the Bloodthirst Cliff. The miasma of the demonic energy surged up from below, but Lin Tanjiu quickly cast a simple spell to suppress her breath, searching for Yu Ce’s figure.
Soon, she found him in a spacious cave, where a snowy figure caught her eye.
Frowning slightly, Lin Tanjiu didn’t understand why Yu Ce would bring Shen Tanqi’s body here at such a time.
She approached slowly and saw Yu Ce placing Shen Tanqi with utmost care on a soft bed, enveloping his body with icy dragon breath.
“Here…” Lin Tanjiu looked around and suddenly noticed traces of human habitation everywhere: warm fire spirit stones embedded in three sides of the cave walls, tables, chairs, and stools on the ground, a small stove in the corner, and even a… small dog’s nest?
No need for words; anyone could see at a glance that someone had lived here for quite some time.
She seemed to understand something and looked up at Yu Ce, gently asking, “Is this where your and my cousin’s children were born?”
Yu Ce paused briefly in his actions, not turning around, and quietly replied, “Yes.”
After a moment of silence, Lin Tanjiu walked into the lively ‘cabin’ in the cave, running her fingertip over the clean and tidy tabletop, untouched by a speck of dust.
It was evident someone had been cleaning here daily, without rest throughout the year.
“Does cousin know?” Lin Tanjiu lowered her eyes, suddenly feeling tears welling up.
Does Shen Tanqi know that you have always regarded this place as home?
Yu Ce shook his head and said, “There’s nothing to say, so I didn’t tell him.”
He sat quietly by the bedside, placing his blood-stained long sword on the ground, and said, “Daemons cannot choose to die by their own hands. If he doesn’t return, come here.”
Lin Tanjiu looked at him incredulously and said, “You want me to come here to kill you?”
His answer was still gentle,
“Yeah.”
Lin Tanjiu’s breath hitched. At this moment, she understood everything.
The once cold and ruthless young man who wielded his sword to slay demons, now sincerely sought death.
No.
No!
Lin Tanjiu hurried to his side, picked up the sword from his hand, and slowly wiped away the bloodstains, whispering, “Seven days. The chick said, just wait for seven days, cousin will come back.”
Yu Ce nodded. “I know.”
Seeing his absolute resolve, Lin Tanjiu furrowed her brow tightly. “Then why are you still here? Go back immediately and participate in the Sect Grand Competition.”
“I have no desire to win,” Yu Ce lowered his gaze and looked at her slowly. “Nor do I wish to wield a sword.”
“If you keep this up, when he comes back and sees you wasting his efforts, he’ll definitely curse you out!” Lin Tanjiu gritted her teeth and continued, “Go back and participate in the sect grand competition, win it magnificently and honorably. What about the children? Don’t you want to take care of the children?”
Upon hearing this, Yu Ce seemed finally moved. He pursed his lips and suddenly said, “I will take care of them.”
Yu Jin, Yu Yuan, and the unborn Shen Mian. He had promised Ah Qi to take good care of the children until Ah Qi returned.
“Well then, why aren’t you going now?” Lin Tanjiu’s voice softened. “Cousin will definitely come back. You have to believe in him, strive to win the competition, and don’t disappoint his expectations.”
After a long pause, Yu Ce lifted his head and looked at Lin Tanjiu seriously for the first time. He whispered, “Thank you.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Tanjiu was briefly stunned, then sighed softly. She said, “You don’t need to thank me. You should thank yourself.”
If it weren’t for Yu Ce saving her from the demon clan that year, recalling the upright young man who was dedicated to justice, she might have acted impulsively when she saw Yu Ce kill Shen Tanqi.
It was intuition that told her to wait, to wait and clarify things first.
Fortunately, things didn’t turn out as bad as they could have. She would keep things quiet for these seven days before cousin returned. If he didn’t, she would seek justice for him.
Meanwhile, Shen Tanqi, holding the system that brought him back from the fictional world, stepped out of the bathroom.
He opened his phone and dialed a number.
Ring…
“Hey? So you still remember you have a brother?” The voice was lazy yet teasing, but incredibly familiar.
Shen Tanqi took a deep breath, holding back tears. “Brother, I want to see you.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end.
“Wait for me.”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
