Chapter 58

He's so heartless.

Pei Xueyan stood up and said, "I am neither your wife nor your spouse, I am neither!"

He walked slowly into the hall with his hands behind his back.

It was completely dark when he took a tinderbox and lit a few candles. In the dim, flickering light, he turned to look at her.

Who is Azheng?

Pei Xueyan rubbed her lower back, saying with some pain, "Who do you think it is? It's naturally me."

"Did I ever treat you like this before?"

"What?" She didn't react in time and asked instinctively.

He turned back, his gaze falling on the flickering candlelight, and replied casually, "It's nothing."

After a moment of silence, Jiang Qiye explained, "I possess your master's cultivation level, you know that, right?"

Not only her master, but also her elixir.

Pei Xueyan knew the answer in her heart, but she pretended to be confused: "I don't know. Why did my master give you his cultivation? Did he want you to be his disciple?"

Jiang Qiye patiently explained in a gentler tone, "I can spare your cultivation; you can become a disciple of my Qing Sect."

"???"

Pei Xueyan was full of question marks. What was this lunatic doing now?

“In any case, you are already my wife, and your cultivation comes entirely from the Qing Sect. Therefore, you should naturally join my Qing Sect.”

Pei Xueyan retorted defiantly, "And what about you? My master is a demon, and I am a demon too. You are the greatest demon in the world. What are you pretending to be, a virtuous gentleman?"

Jiang Qiye probably never expected her to be so blunt and sarcastic, and for a moment he was speechless.

After a pause, he argued, "I was forced to accept it, so it doesn't count."

"You were forced, but did you think I would have done it willingly? You clearly transferred your cultivation to me on purpose."

"Impossible!" Jiang Qiye said firmly. "Why would I pass it on to you for no reason?"

He knew this woman was full of lies, and he wouldn't believe that he would easily pass on his cultivation to a woman, even if she were his wife.

Hearing his words, Pei Xueyan didn't get angry but laughed instead. His expression of utter disbelief was so cute.

You don't believe me?

Jiang Qiye shook his head without hesitation: "I don't believe it. I would never do such a thing."

"What do you mean you would never do? Do you mean you would never like me, or that you would never give your cultivation to an outsider?"

"None of them."

Pei Xueyan chuckled and sat down on the meditation cushion he usually sat on, looking up at him from above: "You're right, I did lie to you. I lied to you into marrying me, and I lied to you into giving me your cultivation."

"What about the mental cultivation method?"

Pei Xueyan spread her hands innocently and said, "Of course we lied together."

He hesitated for a moment, then asked again, "How did you lie?"

At this moment, he couldn't help but imagine the scene in his mind: this girl had probably learned Ye Xiuluo's bewitching methods.

Just like how Ye Xiuluo targeted Chen Luobai back then.

But he is not Chen Luobai, and he could not be easily deceived.

Therefore, neither getting married nor secretly passing on her cultivation could have been something he did voluntarily.

His attempt to entice her to become his disciple is merely a delaying tactic.

Once she joined the Qingzong Sect, they immediately detained her and imprisoned her for life.

There will never be another Ye Xiuluo in the world.

Pei Xueyan didn't answer directly, but tilted her head to look at him, a hint of slyness in her eyes: "Guess?"

Jiang Qiye's tone turned serious, and he didn't press further: "Go and rest in your room. If you dare to cause trouble again, I will set up a barrier outside your room so you can't go anywhere."

"You hurt my face when you were acting crazy just now. Look, it's scarred now. Aren't you going to apologize to me?"

Pei Xueyan reached out and touched her cheek. Actually, it was alright; after being washed by the rain, only a thin mark remained.

Jiang Qiye followed her hand to her cheek, where a small scar stood out starkly against her fair and clean skin.

He remained silent for a moment before speaking softly, "It will be fine in a few days."

"You're still the head of the Qingzong Sect, and you call yourself a gentleman. You've been well-versed in the classics and sages since childhood, but you ended up going into qi deviation and hurting people. You didn't even apologize, and you still act all self-righteous. I've seen through your moral standards; they're really not good."

Jiang Qiye: "..."

He looked closely, then condensed a wisp of spiritual energy at his fingertips and casually tapped it onto her cheek.

It vanished instantly, leaving the skin smooth once more.

"alright."

Pei Xueyan subconsciously touched her cheek; it was indeed smooth. She snorted, "Do you often have this kind of attack? Or does it happen every few days...?"

Jiang Qiye pulled her up, sat down directly, closed his eyes, and began to meditate and practice his skills, completely abandoning any intention of speaking to her again.

Pei Xueyan stopped dwelling on the scar and instead quietly squatted down next to Jiang Qiye, gently tugging at his sleeve hanging by his side.

"What's up?"

Jiang Qiye didn't even lift his eyelids; his eyes remained tightly closed.

"I'm so hungry, and my clothes are so torn they're unwearable. Go buy me some new clothes, I want to wear red ones, the brightest kind."

He didn't speak, as if he hadn't heard.

Pei Xueyan wasn't discouraged. She simply sat cross-legged on the edge of the futon, propped her chin up, and stared at his profile. "I'm really hungry. Can you remove the barrier first, and I'll go down the mountain to find something to eat myself?"

"release."

“You used to cook for me, serve me tea and water every day, and hand me handkerchiefs. Now that our love has faded, how could you forget everything?”

These words finally made Jiang Qiye open his eyes, his dark eyes filled with doubt as he looked straight at her.

To confirm whether she was talking nonsense.

"If you don't believe me, you can ask your master, no, your master, to sever our ties of affection and end our marriage, so that you will no longer think of me."

Jiang Qiye didn't believe it at all. "Pei Xueyan, is there a single word of truth in your mouth?"

Pei Xueyan suddenly leaned forward, almost touching his face, and stared at him for a long time with her round eyes before bursting out with laughter: "So funny, so funny!"

She could see it clearly: when he heard about those "past" events, he seemed extremely disgusted with, and even completely unable to accept, the things he had done in the past.

So this is what a straightforward and unambitious person he was.

That's funny. If he knew that he had not only carried her for dozens of miles up the mountain road, but also kissed her forcefully many times when she wasn't paying attention, would he break down on the spot?

Her smile was mysterious, which made Jiang Qiye feel a little uneasy.

"why are you laughing?"

"I laugh at you for not acting like a sect leader at all."

Jiang Qiye wasn't annoyed. He closed his eyes again and said calmly, "I never wanted to be the sect leader. It was only because my master entrusted me with this task before he passed away that I hastily took over. I wasn't prepared at all."

Pei Xueyan's eyes darted around, and she started making up stories to disturb his peace of mind.

She sighed knowingly, "You've been in this Heavenly River Palace for almost two months now, haven't you? You've been locked up here meditating all day long, so how would you know what people outside are saying about you?"

"I don't care."

"You don't care why you captured me? Are you worried about the shame of your wife abandoning you and losing face for the Qing Sect? I never thought that Sect Leader Jiang would care about reputation."

Jiang Qiye opened his eyes again, disturbed by her.

"Miss Pei--"

He had originally intended to say those words, but then he thought they might hurt her.

Pei Xueyan interrupted with a grin: "Calling me 'Miss Pei' again sounds quite nice."

Jiang Qiye: "..."

"I---I--" He stammered for a long time before finally managing to squeeze out a stiff sentence, "How could I possibly like a woman like you, and even marry you? It's utterly absurd!"

Upon hearing this, Pei Xueyan's smile deepened, and she leaned against his leg, laughing so hard she couldn't stand up straight.

"Jiang Qiye, you hypocrite, you scoundrel, I don't even like you." She still couldn't resist provoking him. "But, who told you to keep pestering me like this before? You were always there to forge iron, cook, buy me new clothes, and even go to the back mountain to farm. When I was sick, you climbed a long way up the mountain to get a doctor. When you saw me leaving, you cried and grabbed my hand, begging me not to break up with you!"

Jiang Qiye couldn't stand these words and didn't understand what it meant to cherish women. He was so angered by the disturbance that he flung his sleeve without thinking.

The spiritual energy instantly pushed Pei Xueyan away, and her body slid several feet down the floor.

Already suffering from a back injury, Pei Xueyan was now experiencing new pain, and coupled with the grievances she had endured for days, she could no longer hold back and began to sob softly on the ground.

She had intended to evoke memories of the past in him, but after being treated this way repeatedly, she cried even louder.

Jiang Qiye was stunned when he heard the faint sobbing.

A woman who is usually sharp-tongued would actually cry.

He instinctively tried to pretend he hadn't heard and closed his eyes to meditate again.

After a moment, she was still sobbing softly.

Imagine, even the worst woman would suffer if she were secretly dragged up in a sack and deprived of food all day long. She couldn't fight back or scold them, and being bullied like this would be unbearable.

As a well-mannered disciple trained by his master, he finally stood up and reluctantly walked towards her, bending down to look at the person lying on the ground.

Pei Xueyan lay on the ground, her shoulders trembling, her eyes reddening, crying her eyes out; she looked so beautiful.

Jiang Qiye leaned down to look at her, his tone still cold and hard, devoid of any pity: "What are you doing?"

Upon hearing this, Pei Xueyan slowly turned her head to look at him, then continued to cry.

The sound grew louder, and she cried even harder.

"If you want to cry, go cry in the back room. Don't disturb my cultivation here."

Pei Xueyan slapped Jiang Qiye's chest hard with one hand, the force was not strong, like a cat's paw, and said aggrievedly, "How could you bully me like this? My back is about to break. You, and your master, you are all bullying me."

This is terrible!

The Qingzong Sect certainly doesn't have such a gentle and beautiful woman, whose voice is so soft and delicate.

Jiang Qiye looked down at her reddened eyes, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice unconsciously softened: "Get up, I'll have someone bring you food."

"I don't want to eat the food here. I want to go down the mountain and eat meat."

Seeing her so ungrateful, Jiang Qiye's earlier softening resolve vanished instantly.

He was too lazy to waste any more words on her, and simply raised his hand to set up a protective barrier.

He then turned around and sat back on the futon, closed his eyes, and re-entered a meditative state, ignoring the people outside the barrier.

Pei Xueyan immediately got up and chased after the barrier, slapping her palm on the faintly glowing screen: "I want to eat, I want to eat, hurry up and call someone to bring it to me, I'm starving."

Jiang Qiye closed his eyes, casually conjured a communication talisman with his fingertips, and it transformed into a stream of light and flew out of the hall.

Soon, a disciple brought over food.

Pei Xueyan wiped away her tears as she ate, but the food was truly awful.