Chapter 69 Little Grass, you are essential to my lifelong happiness.

(69)

Chu Li wasn't a very smart person, but she was someone who would keep learning until she got the answers she wanted.

She carefully observed Erlong's expression and found that there was no fear in his eyes, only anger.

The reason for that anger was unknown, but it must have been related to his life or death.

He wasn't afraid of her blood; he was just pretending that he couldn't touch it.

At least it's true that he can't hurt her; otherwise, given Erlong's character, she would have been skewered like Gu Ye long ago.

Chu Li narrowed her eyes and forcefully shook off his hand that was holding her. "You just said that if you want to blame someone, blame Shang Liuyu. It was he who sealed you away."

Erlong looked at her with a cold smile, "What do you want to say?"

"I want to ask, if you were truly sealed away by him, then how did the Woman of Yin die?"

Chu Li had long found it strange that Shang Liuyu and the Heavenly Yin Woman had clearly died together, yet in her dream, there was a woman with a blurred face beside Shang Liuyu.

That woman must be the daughter of Heavenly Yin, but why did she die?

Shang Liuyu sealed the E'long within his body. Even if he were to die, in theory, the Heavenly Yin Maiden would not die with him. Shang Xinglan had also sealed the E'long within his body before, and Chu Li did not die either.

The dragon could not harm the woman of the moon, so she was not killed by him, but rather... committed suicide.

Upon hearing her words, Erlong's expression changed almost imperceptibly. He said indifferently, "Why should I tell you? I'm not killing you because I want you to live, to witness Shang Xinglan and the child die in front of you. Wouldn't that be more interesting?"

Chu Li's face darkened, and his hand gripping the dagger trembled slightly.

"You've truly had a miserable life. Sold by your stepmother, abandoned by your adoptive parents, and just when you finally started to live a good life, you had to watch your husband and child die before your eyes. There's nothing you can do about it; it's your fate to be born into this world of suffering." Erlong smiled at her, but every word was like a knife to the heart. "No matter how hard you struggle, it's useless. This is your destiny, Chu Li, or should I call you Qin Xiaocao?"

Chu Li's pupils contracted sharply for a moment as she looked at him in disbelief.

"Qin is the surname of a beauty, but you are called Little Grass. You will be a blade of grass that is trampled and bullied by everyone your whole life. Who would cherish a blade of grass?"

That was her name, her real name, which she herself could hardly remember. She had never told anyone this extremely perfunctory name, and even recalling it made her feel nauseous.

Chu Li hated Qin Xiaocao. She hated the name, and she hated herself when she was called Qin Xiaocao—weak, helpless, and kicked around at will.

It felt like someone had stabbed a hole in my heart, and blood was flowing out.

Her eyes were red and she couldn't help but raise her hand to wipe them.

Erlong still had no intention of letting her go, and sneered, "You think you're different and superior just because you're born under the Yin Heavenly Destiny? On the contrary, the so-called Yin Heavenly Daughter is just someone who happened to be born on a good day. She's a far cry from the real Yin Heavenly Daughter from a thousand years ago. Look at yourself, you don't even have a bit of magic power. You're just an ordinary mortal with no redeeming qualities... you're even a beggar."

He seemed to find it ridiculous, looking Chu Li up and down. Seeing her tears, he felt particularly pleased. "The Heavenly Yin Maiden of a thousand years ago was far superior to you. She not only understood the secrets of heaven but could even change her fate. You couldn't catch up to that ability, which was comparable to the Heavenly Dao, even if you put eight lifetimes together. You still dream of being a hero and a savior. You are really too fanciful and extremely stupid!"

He had never dared to resent the Heavenly Yin Woman before, because that woman was so powerful that she seemed inhuman, more like an embodiment of the Heavenly Dao in the mortal realm. Moreover, if Shang Liuyu hadn't brought that woman here, he wouldn't have been sealed away, so naturally he hated Shang Liuyu.

But seeing Chu Li like this now, he actually felt incredibly comfortable. So what if she was a woman of the Yin Heaven? After a thousand years of reincarnation, she had long lost all her power and had become a street rat that everyone wanted to kill.

Seeing that she was still crying, Erlong walked past her with disdain and said in a low voice, "Little grass, why were you born into this world? If you had frozen to death in the snow, perhaps you would have been happier in your next life."

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my chest.

Erlong paused for a moment, then slowly looked at the chest pierced by the dagger.

"My name is Chu Li."

She suddenly pulled out the dagger and said coldly, "The Chu in Achu, the Li in dawn, never called Little Grass."

Erlong turned to look at her, his eyes filled with a dark and angry light. "You can't deny it or erase the facts. You are a lowly beggar who will be trampled underfoot your whole life."

"Is that so?" Chu Li sneered. "Then aren't you even as good as a beggar? You can't hurt me, is it because the great Heavenly Yin Maiden from a thousand years ago changed your fate to that of the Heavenly Yin Maiden? Erlong, you've let slip again."

Erlong's expression changed drastically. Enraged, he grabbed the dagger, letting the tip slice through his flesh. He then grinned maliciously, "You think I can't hurt you? Wrong. Of course I can hurt you. I can break your arms and legs, chop off all four limbs, and make you neither human nor ghost!"

Chu Li's breathing hitched slightly. She tried to pull the knife out, but her throat was grabbed.

"Let me see which hand I should cut off first?" Erlong gripped her throat, slowly drawing his longsword from his waist. "How about your right hand?"

Chu Li retorted defiantly, "Go ahead and chop. My body is weak. After you finish chopping, I will bleed to death. If an ancient evil spirit dies with me, then my life in the mortal world will not have been in vain!"

Veins bulged on Erlong's forehead as he said hatefully, "Then I'll cut off your fingers and peel off your skin, that way you won't die."

Chu Liyun chuckled nonchalantly, "Whatever. As long as I don't die, I will definitely kill you. I will haunt you like a ghost, making sure you never have a moment of peace, and I will be bound to you in every reincarnation."

Looking at the faint smile on her lips, Erlong momentarily hallucinated the terrifying woman from a thousand years ago.

“Erlong, I will never let you go. Even if I can’t kill you, my descendants will definitely kill you. You’d better live long enough so that this pain will last even longer.”

The resentment and anger that had been dormant for a thousand years surged into his heart. Erlong trembled and gripped Chu Li tightly. Just as he was about to pierce her body with his long sword, he suddenly heard a thunderous sound that shook the universe.

Their movements suddenly stopped, and the two looked up at the sky at the same time. The thunderclouds had gathered to an enormous size, almost covering the entire sky.

A new lightning tribulation is about to strike, and this lightning is even more terrifying than the last one.

Erlong paused for a moment, then cursed under his breath, picked up Chu Li, and leaped onto the roof.

"What, weren't you going to skin me alive, pull out my tendons, and chop off my fingers?" Chu Li still had the mind to mock him. "Don't run away. Why don't you throw me under the lightning tribulation and let me undergo the tribulation with my husband? Being struck by lightning and dying will definitely be more painful."

Erlong's face was as dark as ink. He gritted his teeth and said, "Shut up."

"I won't." Chu Li bit him hard, until his arm bled. "Once my husband ascends to immortality, you're dead. I really don't know what you're still struggling for."

"Him? Ascend to immortality?" Erlong seemed to have heard an extremely funny joke. "He doesn't even have half of Shang Liuyu's talent. If Shang Liuyu couldn't do it, Shang Xinglan couldn't either."

Chu Li chuckled, "You fool, you'd better hope he succeeds. I signed a Heavenly Marriage Contract with him. If he fails to transcend the tribulation, I will also be struck dead by lightning."

Upon hearing this, Erlong closed his eyes and pinched her face. "Don't worry, your husband can't bear to see you die. He will protect you well and bear all the lightning tribulations himself."

Chu Li suddenly fell silent. Er Long was right. Shang Xinglan had said he would never let her get hurt, so he would definitely hold out until all the lightning tribulations struck him before he died...

No, if we do that, the dragon will definitely take advantage of his weakness and kill him.

There seems to be only one way to get rid of the Evil Dragon and allow Shang Xinglan to transcend tribulation and ascend to immortality.

She paused for a moment, then looked in the direction of the ancestral hall.

So that's how it is. Only if she dies to shield Shang Xinglan from the tribulation lightning will the Calamity Dragon disappear, and Shang Xinglan can successfully ascend. This is the mission of the Heavenly Yin Maiden.

This is something only she can do.

"Let me go!" Chu Li suddenly began to struggle. She tried her best to get rid of Erlong, but he held her tightly.

Erlong sneered, "You think I'm Shang Xinglan, that I can just let go like that?"

Just as she was wondering what to do, she suddenly heard a soft panting sound behind her.

"Let her go."

Both Erlong and Chu Li were stunned. They turned around and saw Gu Ye standing on the roof ridge, his body covered in blood, holding a long sword that gleamed with a cold white light.

He's still alive!

Chu Li's breathing hitched slightly, and she instinctively cried out, "Gu Ye, save me!"

Gu Ye wiped the blood from his face, his eyes flashing with a sinister red, his voice hoarse, "I know, of course I'm here to save you."

Having not experienced the feeling of being on the verge of death for so long, he was extremely unhappy. He was severely injured by the lightning tribulation and then defeated by this damned evil creature who took advantage of his weakness. His body was in excruciating pain, and he felt as if he had lost all feeling in his internal organs.

And that fool Shang Jinyue was even parasitized by the E'long; he's utterly useless.

For the sake of that bottle of Rejuvenation Pill, he could barely leave Shang Jinyue with a complete corpse.

He rushed towards Erlong, his blade slashing through the air, carrying a vast and boundless demonic aura. Erlong had no choice but to release Chu Li and raise his hand to deal with his longsword.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Chu Li escaped from the rooftop and ran towards the ancestral hall without looking back.

Don't die, no one should die.

She will succeed; don't die until she succeeds.

The distance from the ancestral hall to the east courtyard was far. She didn't know how long she had run, but she felt that her breath was tainted with the smell of blood, and her chest and ribs ached. Finally, before she was completely exhausted, she saw Shang Xinglan's figure.

He kept his eyes tightly closed, seemingly shielding his five senses in order to prepare for the tribulation, and was completely unaware of Chu Li's approach.

Chu Li struggled to climb down from the roof, slowly waded through the icy pool water, and walked to his side.

He didn't open his eyes to look at her, as if he were asleep.

Thunder rumbled in waves, growing ever closer, sending shivers down one's spine.

Chu Li lowered her eyelashes and gently reached out to hug Shang Xinglan.

My body is so cold, my skin is so cold. It must be so painful to endure the lightning tribulation alone.

The tighter she hugged him, the more inexplicably at peace she felt.

People don't think about what happens after they die when they are healthy and alive; perhaps only those who are about to die do think about it.

Chu Li recalled the day her stepmother sold her. She was stuffed into a sack and placed with other sacks of rice on an oxcart, bouncing around, not knowing what she would face. She also recalled being abandoned time and time again afterward, walking in the rainy night and vowing to live well.

She didn't want to live a dramatic life, nor did she want to live a life that others envied. She just wanted to live a good life, without hunger or cold, without being looked down upon, and without being abandoned by anyone.

This simple, ordinary life was what she had always wanted.

Fate always seemed to be playing tricks on her; a simple, peaceful life was the hardest to come by. She thought of so many people: her stepmother, her adoptive father, the woman who later took her in, and the old man…

She didn't feel pitiful or miserable; on the contrary, she felt she was living a remarkably good life.

If anyone were in her situation, how many could have done better than her?

Even as a beggar, she could still feed herself and support herself by feigning pitifulness and stealing.

Getting married was the most special little episode in her life. She liked this episode. Shang Xinglan and Yinyin were gifts from God to her, to reward her for living such a hard life, for gritting her teeth and not giving up. It was a gift she deserved.

She had begun to like this cold world; it was where her home was, and where her beloved was.

Every choice in life is made by oneself, and destiny is changed because of one's choices.

Chu Li decided to change her fate. She didn't want to live a simple and ordinary life. She wanted to live a happy life, like others, where she could eat delicious food, wear warm and beautiful clothes, be loved and cared for, and love and care for others in the same way.

The more love you give her, the more boldly she will reciprocate.

So Shang Xinglan, ascend! You are essential to my happiness for the rest of my life. This time, it's my turn to protect you.