The moment those seemingly joking words drifted over in that slow, frivolous tone, Xu Yuan immediately fixed his gaze on Tianye’s smiling, radiant face, yet he could not detect the slightest trace of jest in her moon-bright eyes.
Was this woman serious?
Why?
He had imagined countless ways Tianye might respond to their plea for help, but he had never expected her to answer like this.
Xu Yuan suddenly felt as though his mind could not keep up.
When a person with normal logic made a decision, there was always a traceable reason behind it.
Perhaps out of emotion, perhaps out of interest, or perhaps simply due to temperament.
Xu Yuan truly could not understand Tianye’s motive.
If it were emotion, if winning over a Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion were as easy as exchanging a few sweet nothings, a husband’s word would have been absolute law long ago—why would he still be locked in this back-and-forth tug-of-war with Tianyan?
If it were interest, that was even more impossible.
After all, he had just revealed his identity.
He was the unseen source of everything in the future, while Tianyan was the Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion from that era. As a fellow Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, there was no way Tianye would guard against Tianyan just to keep him in check.
Following that line of thought...
If Tianyan died here, it meant that he, this "calamity upon the realm," would be left completely unchecked, and the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion would likely face catastrophe.
At this thought, Xu Yuan suddenly froze, drawing in a sharp breath.
Good news: Tianye hadn’t suffered a mental breakdown.
Bad news: Tianye had turned into a total troll, just living for the chaos.
Meeting Xu Yuan’s gaze, Tianye deliberately accentuated her shapely curves, though her originally charming, flirtatious voice took on a faint note of boredom.
“What’s the matter? You look like you don’t understand me at all. Aren’t we bosom friends?”
“Phew...”
Exhaling a breath of turbid air, Xu Yuan maintained his persona as her kindred spirit and asked in a low voice, “No, I’m just a little surprised. Surprised that you don’t care in the slightest whether the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion of later generations lives or dies.”
“*Pfft.*”
Tianye leaned forward slightly with a soft giggle, looking up into Xu Yuan’s eyes. “If I truly cared about the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, I wouldn’t have concealed my true talent to avoid becoming ‘Tianyan’ in the first place.”
Xu Yuan glanced at Tianyan not far away. “Then why target her?”
“Because you seem interesting, while she’s boring. I don’t like her,” Tianye said nonchalantly. “She’s just like me, yet she loves putting on the airs of a senior. Who could possibly like a woman like that?”
“What if she apologizes to you?”
“An insincere apology? I don’t want it.”
“...”
*Well, figures. It really was because of that.*
Hearing this, Xu Yuan finally understood Tianye’s train of thought.
To be fair, the only flaw in Tianyan’s temperament was that her pride made her put on high airs.
Unless it was someone or something that piqued her interest, she was almost always cold and aloof. Over the past seven years, Xu Yuan had handled all the socializing for the people and situations they encountered.
Yet considering Tianyan’s beauty, talent, status, and the environment she grew up in, developing such a personality was only natural—one could even call her quite humble.
To put it simply, if Xu Yuan had talent like Tianyan’s, the person he would want to flaunt it in front of wouldn’t be Xu Changge, but that old man of his back in Di’an City.
The demonic nature Tianye displayed clashed naturally with Tianyan’s haughty demeanor.
Tianye’s impression of Tianyan was probably along the lines of: *What right do you have to share the same title as me?*
Add to that the revelation that this entire world was an illusion, which awakened her chaotic streak, and things had naturally escalated to this point.
As he pondered, Xu Yuan suddenly felt a tug at his hem.
Looking back, he saw Tianye blinking her alluring eyes at him, her voice clear and sweet: “Brother Xu Yuan, my patience is quite limited, you know.”
His thoughts racing,
Xu Yuan curved his lips into a smile and murmured, “What do I gain from doing this? Even if there are no other ties between us, Tianyan is my dearest companion, someone who has shared life and death with me for seven years.”
Tianye tilted her head in thought, her eyes curving in a smile. “Mmh... Although my current strength might not be as great as hers, when it comes to helping you escape, whatever she can do, I can do too. And what she can’t do, I can do as well.
“Besides, you want to find a way to break the illusion, don’t you? Tianye can help you with that using the resources of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion~”
Here, Tianye paused, her tone laced with temptation.
“Brother Xu Yuan, what is there left to consider?
“You said it yourself—you’re the unseen source of your era. No matter how you look at it, letting this Tianyan die in this illusion ought to serve your interests best, shouldn’t it?
“Of course, if you want other intelligence regarding the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, Tianye can tell you everything without holding back. After all, I’ve already been dead for twenty thousand years.”
“...”
Her voice fell, and silence followed.
Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, his breath quickening just a fraction.
Tianye wasn’t wrong.
And every single condition she offered hit right where it mattered most to him.
If mutual trust could be established, Tianye would undoubtedly make a far better partner than Tianyan.
Suddenly, Xu Yuan looked back at Tianyan, an unusual glint in his eyes.
It seemed like reluctance, like hesitation, or perhaps like reminiscence...
Seeing that look, the maiden in her fairy-like dress felt her heart tremble involuntarily.
Countless scenes from the past instinctively surfaced in her mind.
To keep the two of them alive, Xu Yuan had used those who admired him, framed those who had shown them kindness, and even personally ended the lives of people with whom mutual feelings had begun to bloom.
Yet now, the partnership formed by the two of them seemed to be fracturing because of the existence of a substitute named Tianye.
He seemed to have found a better option...
His cold blood, his rationality, his nearly emotionless decisions when it came to major matters—would they... lead him to abandon her?
A suffocating tightness rose unbidden in her chest, making it hard to breathe.
The cold wind swept through the tall forest, fluttering the immaculate hems of the three figures.
Tightening her fists slightly beneath her sleeves, Tianyan parted her red lips, wanting to say something, but in the end, she remained silent.
Her gaze remained calm. She did not speak or try to dissuade him; she merely stared quietly at him over there.
They... were enemies to begin with. These past seven years had merely been a transaction. Whatever choice he made was his own business...
Going back to being enemies wasn’t bad either. She had long wanted to kill this infuriating bastard with her own hands anyway!
The silence hung like a flickering oil lamp, cold, stern, and still.
“Heh.”
Xu Yuan suddenly let out a soft chuckle.
“Tianye, I’m quite curious. What makes me, Xu Changtian, worthy of so much effort from you? And how am I supposed to trust you?”
He hadn't refused; he had relented...
Watching his back, Tianyan felt an inexplicable sourness spread through her chest, making the white mist of her breath tremble slightly.
Tianye’s eyes widened slightly, and she broke into a breathtaking, radiant smile.
“That’s simple. I’ll teach you a secret technique.”
“A restriction?” Xu Yuan reacted quickly.
“You could say that.” Tianye fluttered her vivid, alluring eyes, a faint, lingering excitement playing at the corners of her lips. “It’s called the Lock of Shared Life. It connects the intent-soul origins of two people. If one dies, while it won’t kill the other, it will drive them completely mad.”
“Let me look over the technique first to verify whether it’s genuine.”
“Of course.”
As Tianye spoke, she casually handed over a jade slip.
Holding the Charm God tree seed he had taken out earlier in one hand, Xu Yuan took the slip with the other. Just as he was about to examine it—
“Xu Changtian...”
The young woman’s voice struggled to maintain its composure, refusing to let anyone hear the slightest tremor. “...Have you made your choice?”
Xu Yuan paused, looking up at her familiar golden eyes, and smiled casually.
“No rush. I still need to verify this secret technique.”
As he spoke, Xu Yuan casually addressed Tianye while inspecting the jade slip: “You might want to consider subduing Tianyan first. She’s injured, so she probably can’t use any powerful spells right now.”
Hearing this, Tianye curled her lips and glanced back at Tianyan, drawing out her words in a singsong voice: “My~ Brother Changtian, you really are heartless. Look at Little Tianyan, her eyes are all red. Don’t tell me she’s about to cry—”
“*Spurt!*”
Blood burst into the air, blooming like gorgeous, scarlet equinox flowers.
With one hand clutching the Charm God tree seed, Xu Yuan drove his other hand straight into Tianye’s chest, whispering tenderly from the bottom of his heart:
“Yeah... she looks like she's about to cry. What an idiot.”
Chapter 403