Chapter 115: I Hate You Hanging Around Her
Shen Mi hurriedly forced a smile, his hands trembling slightly, but he tried his best to appear natural: "How could that be? You must have mistaken me!"
Her voice carried an excessive lightness, as if she was using laughter to mask the panic in her heart.
Blade's gaze was sharp as he stared at her, his tone deep: "Stop lying, Chen Mi. I'm asking you—who are you following? Tell me now."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an irresistible sense of pressure, causing Shen Mi's heart to tighten and her breath to catch in her throat for a moment.
Her smile froze, her throat felt dry as if something was blocking it, her fingers unconsciously clenched the hem of her clothes, and her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would jump out of her chest.
No! I said no!
Ren's gaze darkened slightly, as if he could see through her deepest thoughts. His voice was low, cold, and powerful: "Chen Mi, stop deceiving yourself. Do you think I can't see through you? I've been observing you for more than just a day or two."
His tone drew closer, the coldness seeping into her skin and raising goosebumps.
"Do you really think nobody knows where you've been these past few days? If you really have nothing to hide, why were you so scared when I asked you? Why do you take such a long detour home every day after get off work?"
Shen Mi froze, his breath caught in his throat, and he could barely utter a sound.
"...You were following me?!"
"You're only realizing it now? Aren't you a bit too slow?" Blade showed no remorse, his tone even colder. "So, in other words, you admit you're pursuing someone?"
Shen Mi chuckled twice, pretending not to hear, and casually looked away.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Ren's lips curled into a cold smile, and he deliberately softened his tone: "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. Then I'll ask you another way—"
He took a step closer, his gaze so intense it seemed he wanted to devour her whole. "Why are you stalking a woman you have absolutely no connection with?"
The air suddenly froze.
Shen Mi froze, looking up at him in disbelief. She thought she had misheard, even tilting her head as if doubting that the absurd statement she had just heard was merely a hallucination.
"...What are you talking about?" Shen Mi reacted somewhat slowly, her finger instinctively pointing in the direction where the "drunkard" had disappeared. "That wasn't a man—"
The sound stopped abruptly.
A chilling realization exploded in my mind.
She finally remembered why the person looked familiar. A few days ago, when she visited Bai Xuan in the prison, she had brushed past a messenger from the Scorching Heat Palace in the shadows of the corridor. That face—even a fleeting glance wouldn't have been mistaken.
She never expected that even the Ten Kings Division, which maintained the order and stability of the Immortal Ship, would now be eroded by them.
A chill ran down her spine, and she even forgot to breathe.
Ren didn't know what had flashed through her mind, only that Shen Mi's face turned deathly pale in an instant. The expression wasn't one of fear, but rather one of sudden realization, which left Ren bewildered.
"Chen Mi?" he called her softly, his tone tentative.
Shen Mi didn't respond, as if frozen in place, his gaze still fixed on the direction where the "drunkard" had disappeared, his breathing so shallow it was almost inaudible.
Ren squinted and asked her, "What's wrong?"
Shen Mi finally came to her senses and quickly shook her head, hastily covering up, "It's nothing... it was just too dangerous just now, I was scared."
Ren stared at her, his mind full of questions.
Those dark eyes seemed capable of tearing apart any lie, making Shen Mi feel uneasy under their gaze, and she could only try her best to remain calm.
"It's really nothing." She repeated softly again, her head down, her voice so soft that it was swallowed up by the night wind the moment it came out.
The wind at the street corner carried the chill of the night market's fading, gently brushing against her face. Under the streetlights, her face was deathly pale, as if if Ren asked one more question, she might wither and collapse like a dried flower stripped of all life.
"Fine, fine, I won't ask anymore, okay?"
"If there's nothing else, hurry back." Ren looked at her flustered state and didn't press her further about why she was there. As for her strange little actions, as long as they weren't serious, he was willing to turn a blind eye within his tolerance limits. "Don't run around alone again. Next time, there might not be anyone to show up in time to pull you back."
Shen Mi paused for a moment, then replied softly under the cover of darkness, "...I understand, thank you."
But that chill still lingered in my heart like a shadow, refusing to dissipate for a long time.
Illusionary Prison, Dark Prison, Scorching Palace... those names that were originally unrelated now seemed to be connected by an invisible thread, slowly weaving a blurry outline in her mind.
Perhaps—Huanlong's accomplice is Baixuan.
Once the thought popped into her head, it spread like wildfire through her mind.
It seems she'll have to go to the Prison of Imprisonment again.
Watching Shen Mi's retreating figure, Ren turned to the side and coldly said to the shadows to his left and behind:
"Come out, stop hiding. How come I never noticed your voyeuristic tendencies before?"
In the darkness, Dan Heng walked out with his eyes lowered and his face cold, clutching the Chongyuan Pearl, which had not yet transformed into a cloud of energy, between his fingers.
The two stood as if they were destined rivals facing off on a cliff.
One was as calm as ice, the other laughed maniacally. The silent, deserted place was their battlefield.
“If Chen Mi hadn’t almost fallen just now, and you hadn’t almost shown yourself, I really wouldn’t have thought you would have followed us.”
Ren spread his hands, his tone slightly mocking, his eyes fixed on Dan Heng, not wanting to miss the interesting expression that would appear on his face.
"What, suddenly you're following someone? Are you afraid she'll go see someone behind your back, or have you sensed something's wrong?"
He chuckled softly, his tone like poison, every word pressing and threatening.
"I bet you're the former, finally willingly stepping out of that saccharine illusion?"
"What does this have to do with you?" Dan Heng's voice was cold and almost indifferent, but a hint of annoyance flashed in his eyes.
With Shen Mi gone, he no longer needed to pretend.
He loathed it—loathed that this person was always around her, loathed that Blade clung to them like a shadow.
The obsession that had once clung to him so tightly now turned to her, giving him an almost indescribable—repulsive familiarity.
"What exactly do you want to do by following her?"
Ren smiled slightly, his eyes cold and direct.
"Haven't I made myself clear enough?"
He raised his chin, his tone dismissive yet frank, as if declaring some self-evident truth.
"I want to know—how did she do it, how did she get rid of the demonic possession?"
Dan Heng was too lazy to listen to his nonsense anymore. With a flick of his finger, the Chongyuan Pearl instantly transformed into a spear, its blade gleaming with cold light, and pressed against the snow-white neck.
With a gentle push of the gun tip, tiny powder marks bloomed on the skin.
The person forced to raise their head seemed oblivious, instead scrutinizing him with a hint of interest.
"Danheng," Ren chuckled, his tone almost amusement, "not planning to hide this time? Want to have a duel with me?"
“Yes.” Dan Heng’s gaze was as cold as a star. “I don’t want to see you around her anymore—this annoying presence.”
Ren raised an eyebrow, as if he had heard some interesting declaration, and slowly clapped a few times.
"Ambitious, ambitious." He laughed arrogantly and contemptuously. "Back then, when I chased you all the way, you never thought of fighting back. But now? Now that you have someone you care about, things are different."
Ignoring the danger, he let the powder marks grow longer and longer, his tone suddenly lowered, carrying a sharp sarcasm.
"What, have you finally dared to face your own fear?...Danfeng."
"You've called me by the wrong name!" Dan Heng slashed horizontally, his anger blazing as he aimed at his opponent: "I am Dan Heng!"
He dodged to the side, but a mocking smile appeared on his lips.
"Danfeng, Danheng? Aren't they all you?" He spoke with disdain, each word like a needle. "You think changing your name will make you escape the past? Make you pretend to forget everything and start over?"
"dream!"
He approached step by step, the pain from striking the clouds unnoticed, the smile in his eyes turning into a mad obsession.
"I will keep pestering you, pestering Chen Mi... until we are irreconcilable enemies—"
Blade's voice was deep and dangerously hoarse.
"—Until I am no longer a demonic being."
Almost every word Ren said was so absurd it was outrageous.
Since that great chaos, they have become inseparable. Born of the same sins, bound by the same calamity.
He will spend his entire life seeking justice for that crime, and this entanglement is destined to be unsolvable.
From the moment Dan Heng first heard the term "Demon Yin Body," it became an unsolvable game.
"The Demonic Body cannot be dispelled at all." He spoke coldly, his tone as sharp as a knife that could cut through everything, slowly slicing away any remaining hope.
"Are you weaving these absurd lies to deceive yourself or to mislead others? Do you want to make Shen Mi the target of everyone's criticism—just to torment me?"
He looked up, anger bursting from his eyes, chilling him to the bone.
"...You're really despicable."
Looking at the face that was exactly the same as his old friend's, and hearing the words that pierced to the bone, Ren's eyes involuntarily turned bloodshot. He suddenly covered his eyes, trying to hide his momentary vulnerability, and used a burst of ear-piercing maniacal laughter to cover up the loneliness in his heart.
"Hahahahaha—"
“I’m despicable? I am despicable, at least I admit my sins.” Ren looked up, his smile laced with sharp sarcasm. “And you? You received no punishment whatsoever, only the protection of the elders of the Vidyadhara clan, and were hastily reincarnated. Compared to you, my actions can be considered ‘upright and honorable’.”
"I have always made it clear that I want you to atone for your sins."
As he spoke, Ren pulled out a thick wooden stick from somewhere, and with a swift and decisive motion, the top of the stick snapped off in his palm with a crisp, powerful sound, like the embodiment of his long-suppressed emotions bursting forth.
Shen Mi, who had been hiding in a corner for a long time and witnessed the whole thing, was dumbfounded.
She never expected to encounter such a dramatic scene head-on. For a moment, she didn't know what to worry about first: whether her long-held belief that their hidden activities were already known to everyone, or whether to rush forward and stop them from fighting in the next second.
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Author's Note: [Pigeon][Pigeon][Pigeon] Everyone, I'm back! After four days of rest, I feel refreshed!!!
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