Chapter 163 Inheritance: "Give her to me."
The man turned around. She didn't hide; being all alone, she had nothing to fear.
She confronted him, and the man confessed that he had risked his life to subdue the monster during the plague, and that he had also ordered the monster to kill her fiancé. She had wanted to kill him countless times, but she was too weak to avenge him. The man neither killed her nor spared her.
He made her witness his wedding. It turned out he was not only a cultivator, but also the heir to a prestigious immortal family, about to marry the daughter of another equally powerful family. He made her realize that she was merely a plaything.
But at the same time, she also saw another person, a woman who looked remarkably like her. The moment she saw that person, she understood why, in the plague tent, all the other doctors had failed, but he alone had awakened for her. It wasn't a so-called destined encounter; it was simply because he had mistaken her for someone else.
The woman finally realized that she was not only a plaything, but also a substitute.
It is the vessel that bears the dirty thoughts that a person cannot reveal or vent.
After a long period of endurance, she finally found a chance to escape. She was clever; knowing that mortals were no match for him, she fled into a group of cultivators. She was also lucky; she encountered a kind cultivator who helped her erase her presence. But ultimately, the man never expected her to escape. After all, where could a defenseless, orphaned mortal girl go if she didn't stay by his side?
She could have survived anywhere; she just didn't know she was pregnant.
Making a living alone was not easy, but she was learned and talented, and supported herself by working as a tutor for the daughters of wealthy families. She thought long and hard after learning she was pregnant. She loved children, especially since she had no blood relatives left in the world. This unexpected child was the anchor of her life; otherwise, she would have withered away like a leaf in the wind.
So even though this was a child destined to be disreputable, she still loved him.
She was physically weak and barely survived childbirth. She couldn't find a midwife at night, but fortunately, a monk arrived in time to protect her heart and saved both her lives.
The monk asked her what name she wanted to give the child.
She looked at the lamp in the small house; it was dim and yellow, yet it illuminated the entire room.
"Let's call him Yizhan."
"Like this lamp, it makes people feel that they can still live."
At this point, Wen Yizhan sighed deeply and smiled wryly, "Isn't it ridiculous? Giving her such a name, yet in the end, it still couldn't save her life."
Jiang Yuhu could hear the slight tremor in his voice. She shook her head and said softly, "No, she's right. Senior brother is that kind of person."
Wen Yizhan smiled bitterly and drank the wine in her cup in one gulp. "She said she was right about many things, but she was wrong about one thing."
She hadn't expected the man to still be searching for her. Finally, one day, she dried the calligraphy and paintings a customer had ordered, rolled them up, and delivered them. As soon as she opened the door, she saw the man she had both loved and hated. The man had found her after all. Without resistance, she calmly went with him, taking their child with her.
Before leaving, she found the cultivator and, in front of him, kowtowed three times to her savior, begging him to take the child with him after her death. She was actually a very intelligent person; she knew that cultivators were unrestrained and that even if she begged on her knees, they might not help her, and that men were heartless and would likely renege on their promises later.
So, in front of the cultivator, she stabbed the man with a knife, deliberately provoking him to use his magic to attack her, but the cultivator intervened and stopped her. The cultivator was unrestrained but kind-hearted; seeing the mother and son's predicament, he would definitely help. The man was ruthless but also afraid of the strong; knowing the cultivator's strength, he would have to think twice before disobeying him in the future.
She resorted to a self-inflicted injury to obtain a promise from the monk; this was her last resort. She couldn't escape, but at least her child needed to be free.
She had long known that her days were numbered. Because of her poor health since childhood, she had studied medicine, endured a period of hardship and displacement, and her old ailments remained untreated; childbirth nearly took her life. No matter how resilient she was, she was, after all, just a mortal.
She couldn't leave her child with that cannibalistic family.
"That cultivator, is that Master?"
Jiang Yuhuo felt sad, but Zhang Zhenyang's appearance gave her a glimmer of hope.
Wen Yizhan nodded, "It's Master. After she was taken away, she held on for eight years, but finally passed away. Half a year later, Master came."
"She should be pleased to see her senior brother now; her wish has come true."
Jiang Yuhuo looked at Wen Yizhan. He was nothing like the people from that family. Just as his mother had hoped, he had grown into a very good person.
"But why did you come back, Senior Brother?"
“Li Shichuan took her body away back then. I’ve come back this time to find her and take her away.”
After saying that, Wen Yizhan suddenly turned to her, "Then what about you? Why did you suddenly become a princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty and even make a contract with Li Mengbai?"
He had seen Jiang Yuhuo's original appearance, so he naturally knew that she was not the real princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
After meeting Wen Yizhan, Jiang Yuhuo had long wanted to tell him the truth, and now that he asked, she no longer hid it.
"Senior brother may not know, but the reason I went to Kunlun to learn martial arts was actually to take revenge."
She drank quite a bit of wine on and off, recounting those not-so-complicated past events: the Spirit-Demonic Wood, Jia Yue, the Earth Flame Vine, Li Mengbai... the human emperor she had tried to kill time and again but couldn't, and Jia Qianyang, who was still nowhere to be found, only his aura remained.
"So you're willing to get involved yourself and use the Li family and the Great Zhou to help you get revenge."
Jiang Yuhuo sensed the displeasure in Wen Yizhan's tone. She remained silent for a moment before saying, "Yes. If you want to persuade me to let go, there's no need to say anything more. My mind is made up."
"Even if the marriage alliance involves the Li family, which is like this?"
"Yes, even the Li family."
"As long as he can help the Great Zhou deal with another country, as long as he can command the Li family, right?" Wen Yizhan took a sip of wine, looking at her with drunken eyes, recalling what Li Shichuan had said to him during the day.
“I know that the eldest princess of the Great Zhou is your junior sister, and you care about her a lot.”
"There's no need to hide it anymore. I knew you had feelings for her the moment you stepped into the Li family. It's just that you didn't hide the jealousy and hatred in your eyes when you looked at Meng Bai."
"It must be very unfair that your closest junior sister has to marry the brother you hate the most."
"I can promise you that as long as you are willing to return to the Li family and be included in the family genealogy, I can make you the heir of the Li family and inherit everything from the Li family."
"Of course, this also includes the marriage alliance between the Li family and the Ji family."
"Do you want to see her marry Meng Bai? Ha, Meng Bai does like her, but she doesn't seem to have any romantic feelings for him. She's willing to sacrifice herself for her country, but what about you? Can you just stand by and watch her marry someone she doesn't love?"
“Yes, as long as he can command the Li family.” Jiang Yuhuo repeated, holding her half-empty wine cup and looking at the people coming and going below. The wine that Wen Yizhan brought was strong, and she drank quite a bit. Her head was already a little dizzy, but her eyes remained firm.
"If Master knew, he would probably regret bringing me to Kunlun in the first place," she said self-deprecatingly, laughing lightly. "After years of cultivation, instead of eliminating demons and protecting the righteous path, you want to drag all living beings into an even fiercer war."
"nonsense!"
Wen Yizhan took the wine cup from her hand and scolded in a low voice, "You can't drink anymore!"
Jiang Yuhuo maintained the posture of holding the cup. The drunkenness made her mind extremely slow. She didn't make a fuss when her things were taken away. She just stared blankly at her empty hand.
Wen Yizhan smiled and patted her head.
His junior sister still has such a low alcohol tolerance; she becomes extremely well-behaved when drunk.
He gently flicked her nose. "Silly girl, aren't all the people of every country the same? If you want to protect one side, you must fight against the other. Too often, peace isn't something you ask for, it's something you fight for. Besides, you know what your master did in the mortal world back then, it's no less than what you have to do now."
Jiang Yuhuo was already tipsy. Thinking of her master's past, she couldn't help but smile softly. Her master had single-handedly held off an army of ten thousand men, making him braver than her.
Wen Yizhan drank the rest of her wine in one gulp from the spot where she had already drunk.
“Master, I don’t really want to see the country that person has painstakingly tried to protect perish.”
As soon as he put down his cup, he saw that Jiang Yuhuo had closed his eyes at some point, his head resting on his knees, sleeping silently.
In a daze, Jiang Yuhuo felt herself fall into a safe embrace. She couldn't open her eyes, but she could vaguely hear Wen Yizhan's voice, "You can't sleep like this, you'll fall off."
She only responded once, and then quickly drifted back to sleep.
Wen Yizhan reached out and brushed aside the disheveled hair of the person in her arms, revealing her fair profile. She was sleeping soundly; the tickling sensation from her fingertips only made her eyelashes tremble slightly before she became unresponsive, clearly indicating that she was in an extremely safe and secure environment.
He was engrossed in watching, but his mind was filled with Wen Ruoxin's dying words.
"Zhan'er, don't be a member of the Li family, and don't hate. Just leave. Once your mother is gone, you'll be free."
He was too young then to understand that she was saying goodbye. It wasn't until Wen Ruoxin left that he slowly realized what her words meant.
He has done a very good job all these years.
But what should he do now?
How can I continue to follow my mother's last wishes, and how can I watch my beloved walk alone into the abyss?
The night wind was cold, and he had no answer.
"Give her to me."
A chilling voice suddenly echoed in the night sky.
Wen Yizhan turned her head and saw Li Mengbai with an angry expression. His hair was disheveled and his clothes were messy, obviously he had come out to look for someone as soon as he woke up.
"She's asleep, don't disturb her."
"Then give her back to me!" Li Mengbai lowered his voice, but the ruthlessness in his tone remained undiminished.
Wen Yizhan saw Jiang Yuhuo frown slightly, so he had to put a soundproof barrier on her before carrying her away.
"Don't go!" Li Mengbai caught up instantly, his usually tender and affectionate peach blossom eyes turning red with anger. He reached out to snatch Jiang Yuhuo away. "Give her back to me! She's my fiancée! You're not allowed to touch her!"
Wen Yizhan drew her spirit sword to separate Li Mengbai, her brows furrowed with anger. "You know we're not married yet, nothing is set in stone."
Li Mengbai suddenly looked up. He was incredibly perceptive and almost instantly sensed the unspoken meaning in Wen Yizhan's words. He narrowed his eyes dangerously, "What did the old man say to you? Did he make a promise to you?"
Wen Yizhan remained silent.
Li Mengbai stared intently at him, almost trying to bore a hole through him. "You really do have impure thoughts about her. You want to replace me? Dream on! I'm the one who made the contract with her, she can only be mine! She only recognizes me!"
These words completely enraged Wen Yizhan. He said coldly, "You're overthinking it. She doesn't like you at all. Don't lie to yourself."
After saying this, he carried the person away on his sword. Suddenly, a talisman appeared in the sky, blocking his path. He wielded his spirit sword to slash at it, but as soon as he cleared one, another blocked his way, restricting his movement to a smaller and smaller area.
Behind him, Li Mengbai's eyes were bloodshot, his long hair flying in the air as he unleashed one talisman after another from his fingertips. Wen Yizhan looked at her younger brother and felt he was becoming increasingly unfamiliar with him.
"If she doesn't like me, does she like you? How disgusting!"
"She treats you like a brother, how dare you have such thoughts about her! You really are the offspring of that old bastard and that bitch, even inheriting his disgusting fetishes, huh? Hahahaha... If that bitch Wen Ruoxin knew, do you think she'd be driven mad by you?"
"Do you think she would feel disgusted and vomit like Wen Ruoxin did if she knew about your impure thoughts?"
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