Chapter 32: Trying Hard to Stick Together
Sang Ying suddenly felt a little flustered and shrank her legs. "W-what's wrong?"
"nothing."
The young man stared at her with his dark eyes for two seconds, then lowered his eyelids, put her shoes on, and put them down. He then took the bundle of cloth from her hand and put it away.
"I've finished soaking in the hot spring, now I'm taking my junior sister home."
Sang Ying: ?
"Can you leave a secret realm once you've entered it?"
"This secret realm is not an unguarded one; it belongs to Yaochi. Any cultivator who enters and does not wish to continue exploring can leave at any time through the exit within the secret realm."
Sang Ying clenched her sleeves. "I suddenly remembered that the luminous pearl by my bedside at home has dimmed a bit. I'll just have to look for a new one in the secret realm."
The young man stood behind her, combing his long hair with a small jade comb.
"Is there anything else you're missing?"
Sang Ying's mind raced, and she rattled off a long string of nonsensical things. After she finished speaking, she took a deep breath and said, "So I won't go back yet; I'll stay a little longer."
Xie Lingyu tucked the pearl hairpin into her hair and replied calmly, "I've remembered all of that. The secret realm is dangerous; Junior Sister, you don't need to stay."
Sang Ying raised her head, wanting to try again, but met his dark eyes, which reflected the quiet moon and her face, his gaze calm.
She immediately fell silent.
Xie Lingyu had always spoiled her since she was a child, and he never objected to her doing whatever she asked. In her eyes, he was particularly easy to bully.
She always thought this person was a good-natured blockhead, but in fact he could get angry too.
He first found out when she secretly went down the mountain to pick up cold noodles without telling him. He got angry and ignored her for several days after returning to the sect. Finally, he only spoke to her after she said that she would definitely take him with her next time.
His attitude was exceptionally firm whenever it concerned her safety. After their marriage, he forbade her from going out alone and insisted that she always wear a cold expression. He set up layers of formations and restrictions in the house, and she was not allowed to leave the house unless he was in the cultivation world.
Sang Ying swallowed back the words she was about to say, gave a soft hum, and reached out to him, "Xie Lingyu, carry me on your back."
The tall and handsome young man naturally squatted down in front of her, just like in those years when he was still at Minghua Mountain.
Sang Ying watched, paused, and slowly leaned over to hook her arms around his neck, resting her head on his broad, warm back. She felt a sudden pang of sadness; not long ago, she had thought that the back-to-back moment in that illusion would be the last time in her life, never expecting things to turn out this way.
It's somewhat unbelievable.
But it doesn't feel bad.
The young man seemed to have thought of that time as well, and asked softly, "So back then, was my junior sister thinking of cutting ties with me?"
Sang Ying snorted, "Then what am I supposed to do? Am I really supposed to be a bad woman who ruins your relationship?"
"My junior sister didn't even ask me a question before sentencing me to death?"
Sang Ying opened her mouth as if to bite his neck, but then she remembered that if she left a mark, he would say she was clingy and ruin her reputation, so she quickly stopped, grinding her teeth: "You still say that? You don't come back every day, how am I supposed to ask? There are only more and more rumors circulating outside."
Xie Lingyu pursed his lips slightly. He dared not show himself in front of her because he already vaguely knew that she wanted to divorce him and did not know how to face her.
After all, this marriage was only started because of the difficulties at the time, and she wanted to end it, so he had no excuse to stop her.
Sang Ying lay on his back, breathing softly, and asked in a low voice, "Xie Lingyu, do you really not like Shen Ying?"
"dislike."
The young man lifted the person on his back a little higher, and said in a light and indifferent tone, "What I like is a junior sister who is strong enough to walk but still chooses to be lazy and asks someone to carry her."
Sang Ying's ears turned red, and she grabbed his clothes, "You said you would take responsibility yourself, I didn't force you."
"Yes, I'd love to."
The young man's expression remained calm. "After all, who wouldn't be happy to do something for a reward? What conditions does Junior Sister plan to offer this time?"
Sang Ying's eyes widened, knowing he was referring to the time she had asked him for help not long ago. "You're charging me for carrying you? Xie Lingyu, you're just asking for a pittance!"
The young man chuckled, "Raising prices on the spot is a basic business practice. My junior sister is also a businesswoman, so she knows this all too well, doesn't she?"
Yesterday, when he revealed his true nature, he let slip some information about her business dealings. Sang Ying wasn't too surprised; he had been observing her so closely, so it wasn't surprising that he knew about her involvement in the business guild.
She gritted her teeth, "Xie Lingyu, you've gone astray!"
They had reached the exit as they were talking. The young man put her down and glanced at her with his dark eyes: "If I had known that I could get my junior sister by going astray, I wouldn't have had to pretend to be a gentleman for so long."
Sang Ying: "..."
That damn perverted dragon!
The exit was guarded by fairies from Yaochi. Xie Lingyu gave Sang Ying her jade token, which the fairy took and looked at Sang Ying, "Come with me, Miss Sang."
Sang Ying no longer considered staying in the secret realm. She thought that since Xie Lingyu had said so, it wouldn't hurt for her to trust him a little.
Connecting the secret realm to reality was a path paved with lotus leaves along a river. The surroundings were bizarre and wonderful. She followed the fairy and walked to the end, but the scene was not the Jade Pool. Instead, she found herself in an unfamiliar place.
The surroundings were filled with a gloomy and cold atmosphere, with broken walls and withered trees. Sang Ying also sensed a powerful restrictive aura, making this place look particularly ominous.
Her expression immediately turned serious, and she looked warily at the guiding fairy. "Who are you?"
In the secret realm of Yaochi, someone actually dared to impersonate a fairy from Yaochi?
The guiding fairy turned around, and a familiar voice rang out, "Hey, hey, hey, don't rush to throw the talisman, Miss Sang, it's me."
Sang Ying was stunned, looking at the fairy's changed face and figure, which had transformed into a familiar face, "...Chen Ying?"
Shen Ying nodded. "That's right. Don't be nervous. I just wanted to talk to you about something, nothing else."
Sang Ying always felt a sense of familiarity with Shen Ying, especially when she looked into her eyes.
Despite the rumors surrounding her and Xie Lingyu, Sang Ying didn't dislike her. If the rumors were true, and Shen Ying had helped her clear demonic energy in the demon realm, Sang Ying herself, honestly, knew she couldn't have been so kind in healing her rival.
If the rumors are just fabricated gossip, then they have even less to do with Shen Ying.
A strange intuition told Sang Ying that she wasn't a bad person.
She put away the talisman and asked her softly, "Miss Chen, what's the story behind the rumors about you and Xie Lingyu?"
Shen Ying blinked, pulled out a thick stack of Xuan paper from her bosom, and flipped through it: "Which rumor are you talking about? Is it this 'Three Lives Three Worlds Immortal Love' or this 'Bone-Deep Love: The Cold Sword Lord Falls in Love with Me', or this recently popular 'What, I'm Actually the Immortal Venerable's White Moonlight?!'?"
Sang Ying slowly typed out a question mark.
Sang Ying looked at the papers in her hand: "...What are these?"
"Oh, the rumor I wrote. I was afraid one version wouldn't be popular, so I wrote several versions, and they've been quite successful. It seems I have a talent for writing storybooks."
Sang Ying: "..."
My intuition was a bit too hasty.
Sang Ying frowned slightly, puzzled, realizing that Shen Ying had fabricated and spread these rumors. Why would she spread such falsehoods? Wouldn't Xie Lingyu's explanation expose the lie? What was the point?
What are you trying to achieve by spreading these things outside?
Seemingly sensing her thoughts, Shen Ying smiled and said, "How is it useless? Isn't it very useful?"
As he spoke, he took out a small mirror and looked at her. A clear red mark was imprinted on her neck in the mirror.
Sang Ying was stunned for a moment, then quickly covered her neck and blushed. That hateful Xie Lingyu actually left a kiss mark here, which couldn't even be covered by her collar.
But what Shen Ying meant... was her goal to bring her and Xie Lingyu together?
So, it was only after she learned about the rumors about her "white moonlight" that she considered divorcing Xie Lingyu. It was because of this that Xie Lingyu revealed his true nature and confessed to her that he had been coveting her for a long time.
If this incident hadn't been the catalyst, her relationship with Xie Lingyu would still be the same as before, awkward and unchanged.
Shen Ying put away the small mirror, called Tuan Yuntuan to sit on it, rested her chin on her hand and looked at her, saying in a low voice, "In order to make sure you heard and believed me, I pretended to be asleep in the Water Moon Mirror Flower for a few days. During that time, I also squatted in the corners and talked to people every day. My lips were almost worn out."
Sang Ying: "...That's a lot of hard work."
Therefore, the memory she obtained in the Water Moon Mirror Flower was also transmitted to her by her; it was all fabricated by her.
But she still didn't understand, "We're complete strangers, why are you helping us like this?"
Shen Ying calmly replied, "Just an ordinary, kind-hearted fairy from Yaochi."
She patted the cloud beside her and said, "Aren't you tired of standing there talking? Come sit down with me for a while."
"..."
Sang Ying paused for two seconds, then sat down beside her. The clouds were soft and fluffy, and Shen Ying leaned back lazily, even yawning.
"Didn't we meet two years ago? I already knew about your situation back then. I didn't expect you two to still be acting so awkwardly after two years. It made me anxious, so I just lent you a hand."
Sang Ying remained silent, never expecting that the Holy Maiden of Yaochi also had a love for gossip.
However, when she thought about how even the prominent figures in the group looked like this, she felt relieved.
"So what do you want to say to me?" The reason she came to the Yaochi Secret Realm today was because of that memory. Obviously, it was Shen Ying's doing, just to get her to come here.
Shen Ying rested her chin on her hand: "Do you know your husband is insane?"
Sang Ying: ?
She was a little confused. "What do you mean?"
Shen Ying: "Over the years, he has been giving you medicine with his blood as a medicinal ingredient to nourish your body."
Sang Ying nodded: "I know that. Will this harm his cultivation?"
Shen Ying shook her finger: "No, that's not important at all. What's wrong with a grown man cultivating a little longer for his wife? What's important is that his blood is addictive, and he'll never be able to live without it. Once it's cut off, he'll suffer unimaginable pain every day."
Sang Ying was stunned. Before she could say anything, Shen Ying continued, "Of course, you two are together now, so these are minor issues."
"What I really want to say is that the main purpose of him nourishing your body with blood for so many years is to let your body adapt."
Sang Ying was puzzled: "Adapt to what?"
"Adapting to the transplanted dragon vein."
Shen Ying looked at her with her chin in her hands, "He plans to use an ancient secret method to replace your meridians with his dragon veins, so that you will have the talent for cultivation and will not be as weak as you are now, with a lifespan of only a hundred years."
"You're better now, but he's finished. A dragon that loses its dragon vein won't die, but it can forget about cultivating again."
Sang Ying was stunned. Xie Lingyu actually planned to do such a thing?
Shen Ying looked at her quietly: "But I have a way to stop him. Do you want to hear it?"
Sang Ying frowned deeply: "How can I trust you?"
Shen Ying pointed to the dark, restricted area in the distance: "That's the forbidden zone of the Yaochi Secret Realm. He made a deal with me to get the key to pass through. He came here this time to get the last key item, and then we can take action."
Before he could finish speaking, a familiar white figure appeared in the distance and entered the restricted area.
Shen Ying shrugged: "See?"
Sang Ying glanced at her: "Since you want to stop him, why don't you give him the key back?"
"The Jade Pool Secret Realm opens only once every hundred years. By the time it opens again, you'll be an old lady. This is his only chance. Even if I don't give it to him, he'll find another way to get in. Besides, it's a fool not to take advantage of a business opportunity."
Shen Ying pulled out a large bag of spirit stones and stuffed it into her hand, saying, "This is your husband's secret stash of money. Here, take it. Now you believe me, right?"
In fact, when Shen Ying told Sang Ying about Xie Lingyu's plans, Sang Ying already believed that he was truly capable of doing such a thing.
But when she saw so many spirit stones, Sang Ying couldn't help but grind her teeth.
That bastard Xie Lingyu! No wonder he looked down on those two hundred yuan pocket money; he was hiding some money away!
Shen Ying was very perceptive and took out a washboard made of a century-old piece of black iron and handed it to her.
"Friendly price, 500 spirit stones."
Sang Ying deftly handed her spirit stones, "Hundred-year-old black iron isn't very sturdy. Do you have any that are a thousand or ten thousand years old?"
“We have both.” Shen Ying hesitated, “However, ten-thousand-year-old black iron is a rare item, while what we have here is all genuine and of high quality, so the price might be a bit higher…”
Sang Ying took out a black card from the Chamber of Commerce. "I'll buy it."
"Okay!"
Sang Ying tried to calm down for a while, but she still couldn't stop being angry.
Xie Lingyu is such a fool. Does he think this will make her happy? Does he think she would like the cultivation talent that came at his expense?
I'm angry, but I still need to think about how to stop him.
Just verbal persuasion... Sang Ying didn't think he would listen to her. He was always very firm on these matters, so she could only force him to give up through actions.
But how can we get him to give up?
Shen Ying, who was sitting next to her, had started eating pastries at some point. Sang Ying looked and saw that they were the pastries from Wufangzhai that Xie Lingyu had bought for her when she took out her card earlier.
Seeing her look over, Shen Ying froze, stuffed a mouthful into her mouth, wiped the residue from the corner of her mouth, and choked, speaking indistinctly but with a serious expression: "The quality of Wufangzhai's new flavors has always been inconsistent. I'm testing the poison for you."
Sang Ying: "..."
Sang Ying silently took out a bottle of juice, poured a large glass, and handed it to her.
Shen Ying added two ice cubes to the glass, downed a glass of juice in one gulp, and let out a satisfied sigh. "Actually, stopping him is simple; you just need to cultivate a fire-attribute spiritual root."
"The Azure Dragon belongs to the water element. If he tries to forcibly transplant the dragon vein, your body won't be able to handle it, and you might even explode and die. He's mindful of you, so naturally he won't go crazy again."
Sang Ying thought it was a feasible idea. Given Xie Lingyu's personality, even if they tried to stop him in other ways, he would find another way.
but……
"You should know that I don't have spiritual roots."
"That's why I'm here to help you."
While eating the cake, Shen Ying held onto her wrist and made two "mmm" sounds. "It's already taking shape, not bad, not bad."
Hearing her words and recalling the fire elemental energy she had encountered at the hot spring not long ago, Sang Ying suddenly understood, "It was when you were in the demon realm last time..."
Sang Ying looked at her, and the idea of creating a spiritual root out of thin air was something she had never heard of in the cultivation world. "Does the cultivation world have such a secret technique?"
Shen Ying shushed her, "It's an ancient secret technique from Yaochi that I discovered by chance, so keep your voice down."
In reality, Yaochi doesn't have such a secret technique. If it did, Yaochi would have been invincible in the cultivation world long ago.
This incredible ability comes from the system's cheat code.
By having close contact with Xie Lingyu, the object of her affections, she could cultivate the spiritual root she desired. She detached this advantage and gave it to Sang Ying when she treated Xie Lingyu in the demon realm.
Shen Ying blurred this part, only saying that it was a secret technique, and that she could use water-type spiritual power to activate fire-type spiritual power when she was in close contact with Xie Lingyu.
Sang Ying seemed to be deep in thought, then suddenly narrowed her eyes: "So you drugged me, didn't you? On that jade pendant."
"Cough cough cough..."
Shen Ying looked away guiltily, "The process isn't important. Look, the result is good. The spiritual root has taken shape."
Sang Ying then admitted that she had been bewitched into asking Xie Lingyu to do such a thing, realizing she had indeed been controlled by the drug. She hadn't touched the identity jade token; only Xie Lingyu had taken it.
Logically, there shouldn't have been any problem, but Xie Lingyu still applied medicine to her wound. He washed his hands carefully before applying the medicine, but it still affected her, which means that Shen Ying must have used a lot of medicine.
Sang Ying stared at her intently.
Shen Ying felt increasingly guilty under her gaze. "That was also to help you. With your awkward personalities, if you had just waited for him and you to cultivate your spiritual roots, the dragon vein would have been replaced long ago."
Sang Ying: "..."
Damn it, she couldn't deny those words.
Shen Ying, with a milk puff pastry in her mouth, put her arm around her shoulder: "So all you have to do is stay close to him and work hard to cultivate your fire spirit root before he gets what he wants! Sis, simple, right?"
Simple... my ass!
Sang Ying covered her face. Xie Lingyu had just sent her out of the secret realm, and she had turned around and come back. How she should explain this to him was a problem.
"He's already gone far away, how can I find him?"
"No problem, I've already found someone to help you." Shen Ying turned her face to look at him, and there was a young man, Xu Baishen.
Alone and looking anxious, he entered the forbidden secret realm as if searching for something.
"Go in and go with him. You don't need to worry about the rest. Go."
Shen Ying gently pushed her shoulder, and Sang Ying seemed to pass through some kind of water mirror, passing through the restriction at the edge of the forbidden zone in the blink of an eye.
The surrounding scenery suddenly changed. What appeared to be a dilapidated ruin under the cover of night from the outside was now bathed in sunshine, with spring grass just beginning to sprout. Looking around, the edge of the barrier was nowhere to be seen.
Xu Baishen, who was not far away, noticed her coming in, turned around, and looked at her.
Sang Ying felt inexplicably embarrassed and was about to say something when he frowned and asked, "Who are you?"
Sang Ying was taken aback.
Xu Baishen doesn't recognize her? Did Shen Ying change her appearance?
There was a lake nearby, and Sang Ying looked at the lake, clearly seeing that she was still the same as before.
As she was wondering, a white sword light flashed, and Xu Baishen opposite her had already drawn his sword and attacked her.
Sang Ying hurriedly made a talisman to deal with the situation, but Xu Baishen was a Golden Core cultivator, while Sang Ying had not even reached the Foundation Establishment stage. How could she possibly defeat him? The talisman shattered in an instant.
Just as the sword tip was about to sever her throat, the protective scales on Sang Ying's neck suddenly shone brightly, deflecting his sword.
Xu Bai looked at her with disgust, as if she were someone he deeply hated, and then drew his sword to attack again.
Sang Ying gritted her teeth. He was too eager to seize the position of sect leader. He actually made his move while still in Yaochi's territory. Wasn't he afraid of being discovered?
Even with the protection of the Heart-Protecting Scale, Sang Ying was completely unable to deal with a peak Golden Core expert. She was overwhelmed and soon became breathless and covered in sweat.
In a casual glance, they suddenly saw a young man in white standing not far away, looking at the two of them with an indifferent expression.
It was Xie Lingyu.
Sang Ying was stunned; judging from his appearance, he must have been standing there for a while.
Xie Lingyu just stood by and watched her fall into danger, a mere bystander?
...
Outside the restricted area, Shen Ying sat in the cloud, munching on pastries and watching the show with great interest, her eyes burning with interest.
This state of love and hate being reversed is indeed something special.
Um.
Looks like this kid's going to be in for a good beating when he gets home.
...
Sang Ying couldn't believe it. Xie Lingyu would just stand by and watch her get beaten up?
She thought it was a fake Xie Lingyu, but the sword spirit Luo Qing was right there on his sword, along with various other details, so it was definitely the real Xie Lingyu.
She called out to him, "Xie Lingyu!"
The young man glanced at her indifferently, ignoring her. His gaze instead fell on the jade heart-protecting scale in front of her, and he frowned slightly.
Sang Ying continued calling, "Xie Lingyu, what's wrong with you? Don't you recognize me?"
The young man still didn't reply, so his sword spirit spoke up: "Who are you? How do you know the boss?"
The illusory little fat dragon sword spirit looked at her with hostility: "You're so good-looking, you're obviously not a good person. How come you have the boss's protective scale on you? Tell me, did you steal it while the boss was asleep and not paying attention?"
"What a despicable woman! How could she do such a thing to the boss!"
Sang Ying was taken aback. Luo Qing was like this too?
Xu Baishen on the other side showed no restraint, his sword moves were fierce, and every strike was a killing move aimed directly at vital points.
Sang Ying wasn't stupid. It was true that Xu Baishen was vying with her for the position of sect leader, but he wouldn't use such a foolish method as killing the former sect leader's daughter in Yaochi. That would ruin his reputation for eternity.
She had figured it out from the strange behavior of the two of them and Luo Qing. There must be something wrong with this Yaochi Forbidden Zone. Perhaps it could change a person's memory or personality. That's why Xie Lingyu watched her being beaten.
But even though I understand the logic, I can't control my emotions.
Having long been accustomed to being protected by Xie Lingyu, who had been indulging and pampering her not long ago, she was now being treated so coldly. A sense of grievance and an indescribable bitterness and anger welled up in her heart.
Sang Ying felt a lump in her throat and a tightness in her chest.
The sword before him was aimed straight at his heart, unstoppable.
Sang Ying sniffed and shouted angrily, "Xie Lingyu! If you keep standing there watching this show, we're getting a divorce! I don't want you..."
"Zheng—!"
The jade sword lightly blocked the sword strike, the blade scraping against it producing a piercing clang and sparks flying.
Sang Ying was struck by the sword energy and fell backward, suddenly leaning into a cool embrace filled with the rich scent of sandalwood.
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It's not angsty at all, just some playful banter between young couples. [doge emoji with rose in hand]
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