Ye Yingying (4)
That night, Yun Yanqiu sat at his desk, the candlelight casting a golden glow on the Rakshasa Jade, dividing his solemn profile into two distinct realms of light and shadow. The white jade gleamed warmly in his palm, yet it could not illuminate the melancholy in his eyes.
Just as he was engrossed in reading, a knock on the door suddenly sounded. He put the jade into his bosom and opened the door, as a strong smell of alcohol hit him, making him frown.
"Senior Yun~" Ye Yingying leaned against the door frame, her cheeks flushed, her eyes misty as she smiled foolishly at him.
Yun Yanqiu was slightly confused, not understanding what she was up to: "Where did you find the wine?"
“In that… deserted courtyard…” she mumbled, swaying and nearly falling. Yun Yanqiu reached out to steady her, touching her burning wrist—she had drunk the strong liquor Zhao Huai Ren had given her. The liquor was extremely potent; three cups would be enough to knock out a strong man.
"I have something to tell you." Ye Yingying hiccuped.
"What can only be said while drinking?" He suppressed the smell of alcohol and helped the person to their feet.
"I can't say it without drinking it." Her soft, sweet voice brushed against my heart like a feather. Yun Yanqiu's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and in the candlelight, I could see his earlobes gradually turning crimson: "Speak, what is it?"
But Ye Yingying just stared at him, her watery eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight. That gaze was so intense that it caused a light sweat to bead on the back of his neck: "Will you tell me or not?"
Ye Yingying narrowed her eyes slightly, then suddenly leaned closer, the smell of alcohol mixed with her feminine fragrance wafting towards her: "If I die, you won't become possessed by a demon, will you?"
"...Huh?" Yun Yanqiu hadn't even reacted when that soft body fell into her arms. She buried her burning cheeks in his chest, her voice muffled, "I want to be with you forever... I'll follow you wherever you go... No one has ever treated me this well..."
“You…” Yun Yanqiu looked at her burying her face in his chest and talking to herself, and hesitated to speak.
"That old man only knows how to boss me around... I didn't know I could live like this..." Ye Yingying's fingertips unconsciously tightened around his clothes, as if grasping at a lifeline. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her ear against his chest to hear his rapidly beating heartbeat, "I really like you so much... I don't want to make you sad..."
Yun Yanqiu's breath hitched, and he cupped her flushed cheeks in his hands. Candle wax dripped down, casting gentle ripples in his eyes: "Is this truly true?"
"Mmm." Her voice trembled, and she gently rubbed her palm against his.
"You didn't forget after you sobered up, did you?"
"How could that be?" She pouted, feigning anger, and then rubbed her hand against Yun Yanqiu's palm. "I'm not that kind of person..."
Yun Yanqiu was slightly taken aback, then couldn't help but smile. His arched eyebrows and eyes, like bright, clear crescent moons, were incredibly beautiful. Ye Yingying gazed at his upturned lips, her eyes wide with longing, and unconsciously reached out to hook her arms around Yun Yanqiu's neck. Yun Yanqiu's breath brushed against the top of her head, and her last remaining hesitation suddenly became insignificant. Even though they were in an illusion, at least for this moment, the feeling was undeniably real. Her breath, carrying the scent of wine, brushed against Yun Yanqiu's lips, and Ye Yingying murmured indistinctly. The words disappeared between their pressed lips, leaving only a silent, tender moment.
The scent of pine needles mingled with the aroma of wine, spreading between their lips and teeth. Ye Yingying awkwardly nibbled at his lower lip, like a greedy little animal, desperately seeking more. Yun Yanqiu was in no hurry, gently cradling the back of her head, patiently responding to her movements. Ye Yingying suddenly felt that this kiss was like warm wine, endlessly sweet, the more she tasted, the more intoxicated she became. For a moment, she forgot to breathe, feeling dizzy, even the last vestige of clarity dissipating in his burning embrace.
"Yingying." In the midst of their tender moments, he whispered her name in her ear, his breath coming in sharp, clear gasps. "How about we stay here forever?"
Ye Yingying was dizzy and couldn't answer in the surging waves. She clung tightly to Yun Yanqiu's shoulders and back, using all her strength to resist the surging waves, afraid that a moment's distraction would cause her to be swept away by the giant waves.
But Yun Yanqiu wouldn't give up, repeatedly calling her name, as if he wouldn't stop until he got an answer. Ye Yingying couldn't withstand his persistent questioning and could only nod repeatedly in agreement. She thought that would calm him down, but unexpectedly, Yun Yanqiu went even further, making Ye Yingying even more dizzy.
As morning light streamed through the window, Ye Yingying frowned, her head throbbing from a hangover. She rubbed her temples and curled up, instinctively seeking warmth as a chill brushed her shoulders, but froze when she touched a warm patch of skin. She opened her eyes shakily and saw Yun Yanqiu's sleeping face so close, his long eyelashes casting butterfly-wing-like shadows in the morning light, his arm around her waist rising and falling gently with his breath.
Ye Yingying sat up, her body aching, her gaze clear as she traced the outline of the person beside her. The trajectory of her memory was repeating itself as expected. She gently moved the arm around her waist and bent down to pick up the scattered clothes. Suddenly, she caught sight of the translucent white jade—the Rakshasa Jade—lying quietly among the messy folds of her clothes, gleaming in the soft morning light.
That was something she had always dreamed of; a habitual longing drove her to reach out her hand—
"Take it." A soft sigh sounded behind her. Ye Yingying turned around abruptly and saw that Yun Yanqiu had sat up at some point, his black hair cascading over his shoulders like a waterfall. He straightened his loose collar and reached out to brush the stray hairs from her forehead: "It's yours."
"Is it okay...?" Her heart pounded like a drum, and her voice was as soft as falling snow.
Yun Yanqiu chuckled softly, leaning down to plant a light, fleeting kiss on her forehead. Ye Yingying touched the lingering warmth of his skin, her heart skipping a beat, speechless. Seeing the concern in his eyes, she quickly smiled, "Then I'll be going now, don't miss me too much." With that, she swiftly put on her clothes, tucked the white jade into her bosom, and suddenly leaned in to plant a resounding kiss on his cheek: "You must wait for me!"
Before he could respond, Ye Yingying turned and ran out, leaving Yun Yanqiu sitting stiffly on the couch, his hand outstretched. He walked helplessly to the door, gazing at the empty snowscape, and sighed softly, "I'll trust you one last time..."
Ye Yingying ran wildly through the snow, the icy snowflakes scraping against her ankles, but unable to extinguish the burning passion surging in her heart. The ancient pines of Xuanming Mountain rushed past, the snow on their branches rustling off, raising a misty snow fog behind her.
As she passed through the barrier, she suddenly staggered and fell to her knees. The seals in her sea of consciousness shattered layer by layer, and fragmented memories pierced her mind like sharp shards of ice—the Ghost Calculator's withered claw-like hand gripped her neck, and he roared at her with a ferocious expression: "You ungrateful thing! I shouldn't have let you live in the first place!"
The suffocating feeling in her memory was so real it sent shivers down her spine. Ye Yingying was startled, a tearing pain shooting through her mind. She curled up in the snow, her lips bleeding from being bitten, yet she couldn't stop trembling.
"Die!" The roar from her memory made her eardrums ache. She steadied herself, enduring the excruciating pain, and continued her unsteady journey.
The mountain path was gradually replaced by a dark, dense forest, the decaying leaves making a sticky sound underfoot. Ye Yingying leaned against an ancient tree, panting, her fingers digging deeply into the trunk. The roar of the Ghost Calculator still echoed in her ears, and the tremor in her heart grew more intense with the increasingly clear memories.
Large beads of sweat rolled down Ye Yingying's forehead, her breath coming in gasps of exhaustion. Just as her mind was reeling from the memories, a deep sigh escaped her lips: "Now no one will get in my way anymore..."
As the words fell, my mind finally returned to silence—
Ye Yingying took a deep breath and slowly lowered her arm, her fingernails filled with wood chips and bloodstains. She continued walking towards the summit, the mist of Michen Mountain coiling around her like venomous snakes. The closer she got to the top, the more pungent the sulfur smell became, mixed with a nauseating stench of burning flesh.
She dragged herself to the door of the weapon-refining room. The red light seeping from the crack in the door cast a long, distorted shadow of hers. Ye Yingying trembled as she pushed open the door, a wave of heat hitting her face. The hunched figure of the Ghost Calculator swayed before the furnace, slowly turning around at the sound. His face was expressionless, his cloudy eyes showing no emotion even when he saw the piece of white jade in her hand.
"No wonder you wanted to kill me." Ye Yingying glared at him and sneered, "You had a shady plan all along, and the biggest obstacle to that plan was Yun Yanqiu. Since you couldn't kill him, you took advantage of his depression over Li Zhoubai's death to imprison him under the guise of purifying the Rakshasa Jade."
"Sending me to retrieve the jade is just a pretext to continue monitoring him. Right, you cunning schemer?"
The strategist's gaze suddenly sharpened, and the crackling fire in the furnace illuminated his pale face.
"I didn't know about your past with Li Zhoubai and the others before, so I couldn't understand why you were like this..." Ye Yingying paused, a provocative smile playing on her lips, "I should thank you, if it weren't for the illusion you created, I'm afraid I would never have seen through the truth in my life."
"So?" the fortune teller suddenly spoke, his hoarse voice like sandpaper scraping against rotten wood. "What have you figured out?"
“By retrieving the Rakshasa Jade, I actually lifted the restrictions on Yunyan Hill. You were afraid that your plan would be exposed and all your centuries of scheming would be in vain, so you decided to kill me.” She pressed on, the eerie blue flames in her eyes growing stronger. “But after killing you, you regretted it—because you knew that I was a divine soul born of true fire, and the annihilation of my physical body was merely a shedding of my skin. As long as the true fire does not go out, I will not die.”
"So you simply scattered my soul fire, letting it drift between heaven and earth." Her words were like knives, cleaving through the pervasive sulfurous mist. "As long as the flames do not reunite, my memories will forever remain fragmented. And Yun Yanqiu, preoccupied with reviving me, naturally has no time to hinder your plans."
"Even if I reclaim the flames, it will still take hundreds or thousands of years for them to completely merge again. This time will be enough for you to complete your grand plan."
"But you cunning strategist, you've calculated everything, but did you ever foresee—" a blinding blue flame suddenly flashed in her eyes, "that the illusion you created would awaken my memories ahead of time, allowing me to return at this exact moment to seek revenge on you?"
The Ghost Calculator's facial muscles suddenly twitched, and the furnace fire cast a flickering shadow in his turbid pupils. His withered, claw-like fingers slowly closed, and a sinister, venomous light finally flashed in his eyes: "Indeed, I underestimated you, Soulfire."
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