Chapter 159 The Returnee Deserves to Die! Why did that bastard have to show up...?
Jiang Yuhuo wasn't quite sure, so she thought she should ask him.
When she asked him such a blunt question, Jia Yue met her gaze. They lay side by side, facing each other, and her dark, clear eyes were fixed on him, demanding an answer, demanding a response about seduction.
At that moment, he didn't know who was tempting whom.
Jia Yue held Jiang Yuhuo's hand, guiding it upwards until it rested against her cheek. He gently rubbed his cheek against her palm, exhaling a cool breath, "So, what about you? Have I seduced you?"
Jiang Yuhuo was momentarily stunned; she hadn't considered this question.
Is there? Perhaps a little, otherwise why couldn't she take her eyes and hands off his face?
But this should only be because he transcends the superficial appearances of ordinary people; it is something that no one can escape—the appreciation of beautiful things.
She nodded, then shook her head, and finally spoke, "It's just because of how you look..."
Jia Yue looked at her slightly bewildered eyes and couldn't help but smile. His Xiao Jiang had always been an honest and good boy, and it was good that she liked him.
But is it really just because of his appearance? Can people's hearts really be divided so clearly?
He kissed her slightly furrowed brow, his cool, soft lips trying to smooth out the knot in her skin.
"Then look at me more often..." he murmured softly, as if sighing.
I looked at him every day, until I etched his face into my heart, until I felt a possessive desire for him, unable to tolerate anyone else coveting him, until I wanted to mark him, to completely possess him...
Jiang Yuhuo felt a slight warmth in his heart and immediately realized that things couldn't continue like this.
He wasn't like this before, why... has he become a bewitching enchantress...?
Is it because of the mermaid pearl? Because the mermaid pearl is on her, it feels close to her, just like a beast is close to another beast that has been touched by the same aura.
But they are human beings, living within rules and systems.
"Jia Yue, you've crossed the line."
She only used her breath for treatment; she had already made a contract with someone else, and they shouldn't have any further intimacy.
Jiang Yuhuo closed her eyes and heard her own cold voice; the kiss on her brow stopped.
She heard his apologetic voice, "I'm sorry... I was too greedy."
As the merman spoke, if Jiang Yuhuo opened her eyes, she would see the unrepentant look in his deep blue eyes.
His gaze was fixed on her tense face, calm yet greedy, like a monstrous beast in the sea capable of swallowing a person whole. The beast wanted to lick open her eyelids and ask her: Why won't you look at him? Why don't you call him "Little Sea" anymore? Why don't you look at whose image truly resides in your heart?
But he knew he couldn't do that. Forcing her would only push her further away. He had learned his lesson from the past and needed to give her enough time and be more patient.
Jia Yue moved away from her brow and her gaze fell on the knot marks between her fingers.
He could wait patiently, but would she give him more time?
*
In the dark and enclosed forbidden room, only the sound of the water clock dripping could be heard.
Li Mengbai lay on the cold ground, counting down the time until dawn.
His body was curled up in a ball, the pain like thousands of poisonous needles piercing his bones—this was the punishment for defying his family's will.
When he returned to the Li family and Manager Feng told him that Li Shichuan was waiting for him at Wuliang Hall, he knew what was about to happen.
Wuliang Hall is the ancestral hall of the Li family, where the ancestral tablets are enshrined. Also enshrined here is the Li family patriarch's decree. That decree controls everyone listed in the Li family genealogy. A drop of blood on the genealogy grants entry into the family, allowing them to enjoy all the celestial offerings of the Li family, while simultaneously placing the power of life and death in the hands of the highest-ranking member of the clan.
The head of the household can punish those who disobey, and whether the punishment is death or fine is entirely up to the officer in charge.
Li Shichuan won't let him die, but he'll make him wish he were dead.
In the brightly lit Wuliang Hall, Li Shichuan stood beneath the memorial tablet, his handsome eyes filled with disgust. "Why did you kill him?"
Li Mengbai knew who he was talking about: Li Changshui, his father's good younger brother, his second uncle.
He scoffed, "A complete idiot, why does Father insist on keeping him alive? To continue disgracing the Li family...?"
Before he could finish speaking, Li Mengbai felt a tremor emanating from within his spiritual sea. He involuntarily knelt down, his knees slamming heavily onto the ground. The constraints within his bloodline tightened instantly within his spiritual sea; if compressed even slightly more, it might be destroyed.
“I told you, don’t hold grudges against your family.” Li Shichuan looked at his pain without any emotion, and said coldly, “If you still can’t remember me, I can only etch my name into your soul.”
"So, do you know you were wrong?"
Li Mengbai was drenched in cold sweat. He was in so much pain that he couldn't even lift his head, but he suddenly laughed. "Where did I go wrong? Was my puppet not decent enough? Heh, that kind of trash might not even be as good as my puppet."
Li Shichuan narrowed his eyes dangerously, and then Li Mengbai let out a muffled groan, clutching his head and collapsing to the ground in pain. "How long do you intend to hide this? You killed Changshui to cover up the fact that you gave the Earth Flame Vine to someone else. One vine is nothing, but you knew Changshui would come to sue me. You didn't want me to notice that person, did you?"
Li Mengbai kept his eyes closed and didn't speak.
"But unfortunately, I saw her both times."
twice……
Li Mengbai suddenly opened his eyes, his lowered gaze filled with murderous intent. This was the second time Jiang Yuhuo had come to the Li family, and he recognized her.
"I didn't expect you to have already colluded with the Ji family so early on, using the Li family's power to try and monopolize the Ji family's divine essence. You've got a good plan." Li Shichuan walked down the steps, his ink-black robes hanging in front of Li Mengbai. "You think you can kill me just because you have the divine essence? How naive."
"As long as I am the head of the Li family, you will always be under my control. The marriage alliance is between the Li family and the Divine Breath can only belong to the Li family."
Li Mengbai endured the pain, but inwardly he felt relieved, thinking that he was only doing it for the sake of the divine breath.
But Li Shichuan added at the end, "The day of the ancestral worship is approaching. Behave yourselves these days. Otherwise, I can't guarantee that the Ji family member will be alright. She will marry into the Li family sooner or later, and I don't mind letting her experience the Li family's rules in advance."
At that moment, Li Mengbai really wanted to kill him!
The forbidden chamber was just behind the Boundless Hall, separated by only a wall, yet they were two different worlds. Pitch black and airtight, it was where those punished by the patriarch were imprisoned. In the past, he would rather have everyone see his pained and wretched appearance than be locked up there, but now he was no longer so afraid of the dark; he had Jiang Yuhuo.
No one can touch his fire.
It's Chen Shi (7-9 AM).
With the punishment period imposed by the head of the family over, Li Mengbai walked out of the forbidden room.
His steps were unsteady and his face was pale. It took him a lot of effort to put a spiritual medicine into his mouth. The pain in his spiritual sea meant that the medicine had very limited effect.
He could actually use that thing; it could stop all pain instantly, but she didn't like the smell, so he didn't use it.
He'll be fine as long as he goes back to her.
He didn't go home all night. Would she worry about him? Probably not. But even if she only thought of him for a moment, he would be happy.
But he still remembered that he couldn't go to see her like this.
In her presence, he should appear beautiful and radiant.
After bathing and burning incense, Li Mengbai was about to head to Qingwu Mountain. Before he even left the inner chamber, he met Li Yanluo, Li Shichuan's beloved younger sister and his aunt, in the corridor.
The newcomer wore a green silk dress, with fair skin and black hair. However, the dress was loose, revealing bruises and discoloration on her skin.
She was surrounded by a group of handsome young men. One of them, a tall and dashing young man, was holding her in his arms. Her head rested on his chest, her brows furrowed with languor, still carrying the scent of last night's passion.
Li Mengbai raised an eyebrow, already used to her behavior.
When Li Yanluo saw him, her bright peach blossom eyes widened as if she had come to life, and she had her male concubine carry her to Li Mengbai.
"Where are you going, my dear nephew?" Her gaze swept over Li Mengbai's face, and she suddenly smiled and said, "You still look so radiant after staying up all night at Wuliang Hall. Your aunt is truly envious."
Li Mengbai chuckled, "Why should Aunt be envious? If Aunt is willing, she can simply tell Father and move into Wuliang Hall without any problem. She will surely be able to stay young forever."
This is a curse wishing her death.
Li Yanluo chuckled, not angry at all. "Mengbai, you're joking. Wuliang Hall is a place for worshipping ancestors; how could your aunt possibly live there?" Her eyes flickered. "But Mengbai, you've just gotten engaged. Did you offer sacrifices to your ancestors last night? Such a wonderful marriage will surely please your ancestors. Your aunt is also very happy, so I sent you a generous gift. I wonder if you and that princess like it?"
She looked up at the void and laughed, with the innocence of a young girl, "Ah, so many magical beasts are celebrating for you! Mengbai, you've raised them for so long, it must have all been for this moment. How lively..."
He already knew it was Li Yanluo who did this when they were in the cave. Hearing her say it herself, Li Mengbai was not surprised and his smile remained unchanged. "Auntie is so thoughtful." He glanced at the young men surrounding Li Yanluo. "Auntie is so busy with her affairs, yet she still found time to celebrate for her nephew. She must have made a great breakthrough in her cultivation. I am happy for you, Auntie."
Li Yanluo's spiritual veins had already been damaged by Gongsun Chan, so how could she possibly make any breakthroughs? It was just that he had taken away her power as revenge. He deliberately poked at her sore spot, and sure enough, Li Yanluo's face turned cold. "Don't be happy for your aunt, be happy for yourself. Zhan'er will also be participating in this ancestral worship ceremony. I heard that he came to the house this morning."
Seeing Li Mengbai's expression change instantly, Li Yanluo smiled with great pleasure. She covered her mouth and pretended to be surprised, saying, "So Mengbai didn't know? Well, it's not your fault. You were in Wuliang Hall last night and didn't know about the news from Bixiao."
"Really? Why didn't you inform me before you came back, brother? I, as your younger brother, would have prepared a warm welcome." Li Mengbai said through gritted teeth, his face grim. "Where has my brother gone now?"
“Where else could he go?” A hint of disgust flashed in Li Yanluo’s eyes. “It can’t be the place where that dead man raised him.”
Seeing the sudden malice in the person before her, Li Mengbai understood. If Gongsun Chan was second among the women Li Yanluo hated most in the world, then Wen Ruoxin, the mother of that bastard, would definitely be number one.
Li Shichuan took Wen Ruoxin as his concubine, but dared not keep her in the Li family. Instead, he built a small courtyard for her and her son at the foot of Qingwu Mountain.
Wen Yizhan doesn't consider himself a member of the Li family, and indeed he isn't; he's not even registered in the Li family genealogy. After leaving as a teenager, he never returned to the Li family. Even when he went back to Yanling, he would only visit his home at the foot of Qingwu Mountain.
If they don't acknowledge their ancestry, why come back to worship them?
Li Mengbai felt a surge of unease and agitation.
Why did that bastard have to come back at this time? He hasn't had a chance to explain everything to Jiang Yuhuo yet. What if she runs into him?
He would never forget the scene in Luoyue City where Jiang Yuhuo hugged that bitch and said she would protect him. Thinking about it now, he wanted nothing more than to kill her!
She values that bastard so much; what if she finds out what he did to her? What if she mistakenly thinks he's with her to get revenge on that bastard?
He didn't deny that he had once harbored such thoughts towards her, wanting to snatch her away from that bastard, wanting to see him suffer because of losing her. But he had long since dismissed that idea. He only hoped that Jiang Yuhuo would never know about his relationship with Wen Yizhan, fearing that it would cause even the slightest rift in their relationship.
He knew Jiang Yuhuo's personality; if she doubted his motives, she wouldn't forgive him even if he hadn't hurt Wen Yizhan.
Damn it! Why did that bastard have to come back now?!
Li Mengbai hurriedly walked out, and in no time he had thought of countless ways to prevent them from seeing each other.
That's right, he needed to take Jiang Yuhuo away first; perhaps they should return to Xidu City. Anywhere, anywhere, was fine, as long as they couldn't meet, at least not before he had clearly explained his feelings to her.
He was flustered and didn't even see Jingzhe and her group waiting under the corridor when he passed by the front hall.
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