Chapter 199 Chapter 199 "That's all."

Pain is a vast ocean, and Zhu Yan's consciousness is a small boat floating in it, ready to capsize at any time.

He originally thought that just as the storm swallowed the ship, his life would also end in the tossing of the huge waves.

Suddenly, a ray of light appeared in the distance.

The light was dim at first, but soon it gradually spread and silently drove away the pitch-black darkness.

A fragrance from flowers, along with the diffusion of light, lingered in his nose.

So refreshing and fragrant.

So familiar.

…

Zhu Yan struggled to lift his eyelids, and his scattered vision focused for a long time. The thin shadow of the curtain hanging above his head slowly came into his eyes.

It was a piece of precious yarn produced by the entire mermaid tribe. On the side close to the wall, there was an embroidered phoenix with intricate gold and colorful patterns.

Currently, in the Three Pure Ones Heaven, there is only one person who can use this pattern.

This is Jiu Zhao's bedroom.

He was actually lying on her bed.

Realizing this, Zhu Yan's eyes widened and a huge sense of trance instantly overwhelmed him.

Am I still... alive?

Shouldn’t his soul be shattered by the thunder punishment on the Changshengtai...?

The painful memories he had experienced not long ago flooded back into his mind. Just as Zhu Yan was trying to figure out what was wrong with them, a female voice came from the bedside. Her tone was cold and she didn't show any surprise at his "resurrection": "Since you're awake, why don't you say anything?

"Could it be that those thunderbolts struck you dumb?"

He turned his head with difficulty following the sound, and the numbness he felt when he was motionless suddenly faded away, and his body faithfully responded to the tearing and burning pain left by the thunder punishment.

Zhu Yan gasped, but his eyes were fixed on Jiu Zhao.

Like a ghost born and raised in darkness, suddenly encountering a light that he has never seen before in his life.

Jiu Zhao felt uncomfortable being stared at, and continued calmly, "Don't act like you've seen a ghost. The blood bond between you and me hasn't been broken yet. With my power protecting your heart and soul, even the Nine Heavens Thunder Punishment won't take your life. You'll only be seriously injured."

His overly long eyelashes covered his lower eyelid. After trembling for two breaths, Zhu Yan finally spoke, a hoarse voice squeezed out from between his teeth: "Emperor, why did you save me?"

Could it be that the cold words spoken in front of the Changsheng Platform were only to shut up the other gods?

She still has feelings for him...?

Even though he repeatedly told himself not to be so sentimental, the moment this thought came to his mind, the young man, whose heart was already devastated by his father's death, could not help but feel a faint hope.

He stared at Jiu Zhao's dark pupils without blinking, hoping to find some emotion in them.

Jiu Zhao didn't dodge in time.

She allowed Zhu Yan to greedily observe all the changes in her expression before she said:

"I have said that Lan Qi and Fu Xu have reached their limit. If you betray me a third time, you will surely die.

“However, without you, I wouldn’t be where I am today, possessing both Yin and Yang Fires and becoming the master of both gods and demons.

"Therefore, your death penalty can be spared. I will allow you to live."

Is that all?

Upon hearing Jiu Zhao's words about handling matters impartially and offsetting merits and demerits, Zhu Yan's throat twitched and bitterness rushed to his eyes.

However, Jiu Zhao had no time to care about his emotions.

She stood up from the bedside stool with her arms folded, looking down at him from above: "I wanted to spare you, but you pleaded for the guilty minister Chong Li in front of the Changsheng Platform, and contradicted me like that. The decree to sentence you to death has been issued, and all the immortals have witnessed it. There is no reason to change my order from one day to the next.

"From now on, you can no longer walk the world under the name Zhu Yan, and there will be no place for you in the Three Pure Ones.

"I will heal your injuries, but you will have nothing but your life.

"After you recover from your injuries, whether you return to the Burning Sea or descend into the Yunsheng World, you must hide your identity and live in seclusion."

These casual words presented Zhu Yan with two only options, two paths he had to choose. Jiu Zhao paused, giving him a few breaths to digest the information, then changed the subject, saying coldly, "If your identity is revealed and reported to me, I will show no mercy. You will still be doomed."

If he had to choose, he would have nothing left and only half his life would be wasted. What would be worth cherishing?

As his extreme determination to die subsided, Zhu Yan remembered that he still had another responsibility on his shoulders.

"What about the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan?"

He asked in a low voice, "...If I'm not here, how will the Emperor deal with my people?"

“You don’t need to worry about this.

"The punishment ends here with you and Chongli. I will not vent my anger on others."

Jiu Zhao answered decisively, pondering for a moment before speaking his true feelings, as if making a final promise. "Meng Chu has been completely transformed. I have observed him for several days. After a thousand years of training in the turbulent Three Pure Heavens, his behavior is now measured and he can be trusted."

Zhu Yan closed his eyes and understood.

Meng Chu is also a member of the Nine-tailed Fox clan and has legitimate bloodline.

It is expected that most of the tribesmen will not have any objection to him becoming the new leader.

However, having witnessed his father leading the entire clan in rebellion, leaving himself and his mother's clan to die in Sanqingtian, Meng Chu's heart is deeply broken. Even if he wants to take the throne, he will be separated from his clansmen and it will be difficult to restore the former united situation.

The Nine-tailed Fox Clan will not be completely wiped out, but it is probably impossible for them to regain their strength, which is second only to the Phoenix Clan.

Taking measures to check and balance the division is the calmest and most thorough way for Jiu Zhao to deal with the situation after fully weighing the pros and cons.

She gave him a way to live, but took away everything from him:

Identity, status, tribe, future... and any possibility of staying by her side.

Zhu Yan raised the corners of his mouth, trying to laugh at himself.

The lines of her lips trembled for a while, and then a smile appeared that was uglier than crying.

But Jiu Zhao did not let him go so easily.

“And this thing.”

The unspoken meaning in her words forced Zhu Yan to open his eyes.

A ball of fluff as white as snow lay in her palm, its pure and flawless color shining against the pale white light, stinging Zhu Yan's eyes.

That was his first born tail.

It was his nascent tail that he cut off himself in order to gain Jiu Zhao's trust and gave to her as a token of his oath.

The so-called oath certificate is also a lie.

His father values ​​him and secretly takes all the treasures of the fox clan. Seeing that Jiu Zhao is still hurt by the old love after he has tried every means and their relationship is progressing slowly, he relies on the secret method of saving his life after the tail is cut off and takes a gamble to win her hesitation and trust.

Although he would not turn back into his original fox form and find it difficult to practice, he would be seriously injured and lose half his life if his primordial tail was destroyed.

The first few decades of betraying Jiu Zhao and forcing myself to harden my heart.

Zhu Yan thought countless times that since he had wronged someone, it was only right to sacrifice half of his life as compensation.

With this thought in mind, he waited and waited.

I waited for the news that Jiu Zhao was imprisoned for killing his father, but he still did not receive the punishment he deserved.

Looking at the fox tail that looked like new, Zhu Yan's thin lips opened and closed several times, but he still couldn't ask "why".

Jiu Zhao's attention was also drawn to the object in his palm: "Lan Qi and the two God Kings rebelled in Taolin. After the great battle, Sanqingtian lost two realms, my father was poisoned and dying, Yingluo died, and you dealt me ​​the heaviest blow.

"If I were still a naive goddess sheltered under the wings of Father God, I would probably be so angry that I would vomit blood, so angry that I would cry uncontrollably, so angry that I would stay in Changxi Palace for thousands of years until no one mentioned the embarrassing incident of me being deceived by a man for the third time.

“But I have no one behind me. Even if the devil has taken hold of me and I am lost and helpless, I still have to maintain the stability of Sanqingtian and do my best to maintain the overall situation.

“Countless times, I have looked at it with hatred, but I have not taken the initiative to destroy it.

“I guess since you gave me your lifeline, you must have a way to protect yourself, and destroying it will not help.

"I even told myself that if the day ever comes, I will kill you with my own hands."

Compared to Zhu Yan, who was listening and had an increasingly pale face, Jiu Zhao was actually smiling when he said this.

She placed her hand on it, her fingertips gently touching the soft fur, as if brushing past a period of unbearable and unforgettable years:

“Now, I’m relieved.

"Love and hate, after all, take too much effort.

"I still have countless urgent matters to attend to, so there is no point in wasting my energy on you.

"So, Yan Lang, we are even."

"No……"

Zhu Yan struggled to get up, but fell back onto the bed due to the severe pain. He could only stare at the tail with tears in his eyes.

Tears streamed down my face.

"No, that's not the case—

"How can you forgive, how can you forget, forget me——

"I would rather you hate me, cut me into pieces, mix my flesh and blood with wine and drink it—

"Jiuzhao, Jiuzhao, you must never let me go!!"

He wanted to repent, to beg for mercy, to sob and beg, asking them not to return his things.

But all the words seemed ridiculously pale in front of Jiu Zhao's eyes, which were completely calm and no longer had any waves.

She forgave him.

It also means that she has decided to let go completely and erase him from her world and memory.

This realization was more painful to Zhu Yan than being punished by thunder.

Why not let him die on the Changshengtai?

Why should he be brought back to life and then suffer another fate worse than death?

Now, apart from this life she gave him, which was nothing, what did he have left?

There is nothing more despair than this.

An extreme despair suddenly gripped Zhu Yan tightly.

Just as Jiuyu put the newborn tail into his hand, he suddenly raised his hand——

Instead of taking it, he used up all his remaining magic power and struck hard!

Whoosh whoosh——

Three golden arrows released from his palm pierced through the fox tail at the head, middle and end.

Suffering a fatal blow, blood soaked the fur, and the originally fluffy and lovely appearance gradually lost its color and withered.

Zhu Yanyi suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood in this sudden change.

Immediately afterwards, his hair and eyebrows turned from black to white, and his body quickly shrank, degenerating from a slender human form into a fox form with all four limbs on the ground.

…

Finally, the dissipated evil spirit disappeared.

Jiu Zhao's outstretched hand stopped in mid-air, and on the bed at the end of his sight, there was only a weak white fox.

Its narrow and long fox eyes were half-raised as it looked up at Jiu Zhao from below. There was only a desire for life in its eyes, without a trace of human love and reluctance.

Don't want to be forgotten by Jiu Zhao.

Zhu Yan simply used the most decisive way to forget her first.

“Yo yo…”

The white fox called out softly twice and curled up its limbs to show its weakness and harmlessness. Out of the beast's keen intuition and a vague and inexplicable attachment, it quickly determined that the beautiful woman in front of it would determine its future destiny.

Jiu Zhao was stunned by the young man's self-destruction, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses.

The bedroom was completely silent; she could only hear her own heavy breathing.

A beautiful, white-furred fox with no ability to defend itself.

No matter whether one enters the Burning Sea or the Yunsheng World, he will soon be caught by hunters and skinned and his tendons taken out.

My mind couldn't help but picture those bloody scenes.

The silent clenching of her fists made Jiu Zhao realize that she couldn't be completely indifferent after all.

…

"That's all."

She took a deep breath.

He stretched out his arms, picked up the white fox, and placed it in the spacious golden cage where Olaf lived.