Chapter 96

Chapter 96: I Only Want Her to Have Me in Her Heart!

***

In a room devoid of sunlight, mold and stench intertwined, suffocating beyond measure.

A man lay on the cold ground, his chest rising and falling weakly, life and death uncertain.

His long hair was like a tangled mess of weeds, knotted with dust and dried blood, stuck to his sweat-drenched forehead.

His complexion was dark with purple undertones, like unwashable mud covering his face.

The Daoist robe on his body had been torn into strips of rags, stained with filth and unidentifiable marks, its original appearance unrecognizable.

His feet were tightly locked with black iron shackles, the metal embedded into his flesh, creating purple-red blood marks.

“Elder Feng, I want to die so badly.”

Ye Fan’s eyes were hollow, his voice hoarse as sandpaper grinding, carrying barely audible murmurs.

These days of torment had long drained his strength and will.

Those humiliations and tortures clung to him like parasites, gnawing at him day and night.

He had never imagined that someone like him, who had bedded countless women and lived in boundless glory, would fall to such a state.

His former high spirits had been crushed by reality, leaving only wounds and regret covering his entire body.

He had once planned to sell Lin Muyu to such a place.

Unexpectedly, he himself had been sold to this kind of place.

“Don’t lose heart, there’s still a chance!”

Elder Feng’s voice echoed in his sea of consciousness, but his tone no longer carried the despair from when Ye Fan had lost his vital essence.

He hadn’t expected that Ye Fan’s constitution would also be effective on men!

Though much weaker than its effect on women, it still counted as not losing hope.

“I don’t want this chance anymore, I want to die!”

Ye Fan was like a lit firecracker, suddenly raising his head, his eyes bloodshot, his roar filled with complete despair.

He naturally knew what that chance was, but it required exchanging endless pain and humiliation.

The physical agony, the inner humiliation, drowned him like a tide, he could no longer endure it.

“Die my ass!”

Elder Feng’s voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a snort.

“Have you forgotten your hatred? Forgotten your grand ambition to reach the peak? If you can’t even bear this little suffering, what talk is there of revenge or the great Dao?”

He painted grand dreams in Ye Fan’s ear.

Ye Fan’s pain was irrelevant to him; he only needed Ye Fan to stay alive and grow stronger, only then would he have hope of resurrection.

Ye Fan’s roar stopped abruptly, the room fell into deathly silence, leaving only his heavy breathing.

Indeed, if there was hope, who would willingly choose death?

Death could escape the pain, but where would hatred and ambition go?

He clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palms until blood seeped out without him noticing.

Towering hatred churned in the depths of his eyes. Once he escaped, he would make everyone who had harmed him pay the price in blood!

Su Wanqing, Lin Muyu, Ji Jiaying… none of them would escape!

He would make them taste the agony of imprisonment and torment, making their lives worse than death!

And the enemy clan and Hehuan Sect, all would be completely destroyed!

“Oh~ my little darling, have you missed me these past few days?”

A greasy voice broke the deathly silence, like an oil-soaked needle piercing the eardrums.

A round-faced little fatty swayed as he walked in, his face mostly covered by a full beard.

Those eerie small eyes, combined with his round build, were particularly terrifying.

He was the founder of Hehuan Sect’s Yang-Absorbing Yang-Supplementing technique, notorious for his cruel and perverted nature.

“You… don’t come over!”

Ye Fan looked like he’d seen a ghost, his pupils suddenly contracting, his face deathly pale.

His body frantically retreated, his back pressed against the wall with nowhere to go, his screams filled with ultimate terror.

Here, what he feared most was this seemingly harmless yet cruelly ruthless little fatty.

“Oh my, we’ve grown distant after just a few days apart.”

The little fatty shook the medicine bottle in his hand, his tone carrying hair-raising “tenderness.”

“Come, eat these 10 Chrysanthemum-Protection Pills, or you’ll really suffer later~”

…

In the elegant pavilion by the lake, copper bells chimed softly in the wind.

Blue porcelain tea sets were arranged on the stone table, steam from the Longjing tea curling upward, but the tea fragrance couldn’t dispel the oppressive atmosphere.

Su Wanqing and Qingyao sat facing each other, both having complex emotions in their eyes.

Qingyao had encountered Su Wanqing while returning to the pharmacy.

At that time, Su Wanqing was walking on the path, the dejection and confusion on her face something Qingyao had never seen before.

After careful questioning, she learned about her conversation with Lin Muyu and pulled her to the pavilion to chat.

“Wanqing, what do you plan to do next?”

Qingyao lifted her teacup, blew away the floating foam, her gaze falling on Su Wanqing’s tense profile, her tone carrying worry.

“She… she wants to sever all karmic ties, but I still have her things…”

Su Wanqing took a deep breath, her voice carrying a slight tremor.

Those things were the only remaining connection; she couldn’t bear to let them go.

“And then? If she comes to ask for them, will you return them?”

Qingyao put down her teacup, her knuckles tapping the table surface.

“I… I don’t know.”

Su Wanqing lowered her eyes, her eyelashes casting dim shadows, her face full of dejected bewilderment.

Just thinking about completely severing the connection made her chest feel painfully stuffy.

“Wanqing, have you… truly fallen for her?”

Qingyao leaned forward slightly, her tone serious.

“I… I don’t know…”

Su Wanqing’s eyes flickered, avoiding eye contact.

She couldn’t clearly explain her feelings toward Lin Muyu; she only knew that thinking about her made her panic.

This somewhat surprised Qingyao. She had thought Su Wanqing must have truly fallen in love, never expecting her to still be uncertain.

“Hmm?”

“I really don’t know what it means to like someone.”

Su Wanqing’s voice was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz, her cheeks faintly red.

The former ice-cold beauty, now a Golden Core stage great cultivator, seemed like a confused girl experiencing first love.

Hesitating in matters of emotion.

“But I don’t want to leave her… I want to take responsibility, to make up for my mistakes!”

Though her voice was weak, it carried determination.

Past injuries were like shackles; she only wanted to do something to repay them.

“Isn’t that what liking someone means?”

Qingyao shook her head helplessly. The person involved was blind to the obvious, Su Wanqing’s feelings for Lin Muyu had long been extraordinary.

“Perhaps… I suppose so…”

Su Wanqing murmured to herself, unable to clearly define this emotion.

“But have you considered whether there’s still room to win her back now?”

Qingyao suddenly changed the subject, her tone serious, directly addressing what she dared not think about.

This question was like a boulder crashing into Su Wanqing’s heart lake.

She opened her mouth but couldn’t make a sound.

Indeed, was there still room to win her back?

Those injuries she had personally inflicted had already carved an unfathomably deep chasm between them.

The first three times, she had been the cruel abuser, wantonly trampling on Lin Muyu’s body and spirit.

This time, she had nearly caused Lin Muyu to leave this world in agony.

That Lin Muyu hadn’t punished her was already merciful, how could she possibly be given a chance to make amends?

“It’s me who wronged her…”

Su Wanqing’s voice choked with emotion, carrying the weight of tremendous guilt.

She lowered her head, her long hair covering her cheeks, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

Seeing her like this, Qingyao sighed:

“Some debts can’t be repaid just because you want to, especially debts of the heart.”

Su Wanqing remained silent, her gaze falling on the lake surface.

Wind brushed across the water, stirring up fine ripples, much like her currently chaotic emotions.

She remembered the last look Lin Muyu had given her, there was no hatred in it, only tired detachment, which panicked her more than any scolding could.

“I don’t want to sever the connection with her…”

After a long while, she finally spoke softly, her voice carrying a trace of humble pleading.

“Even if… even if it’s just watching her from afar.”

Qingyao said nothing more; she was also slowly pondering various matters.

The wind outside the pavilion gradually grew stronger, causing the willow branches to sway chaotically and the copper bells to chime.

Su Wanqing knew that with Lin Muyu’s current attitude, she wanted to completely sever their connection.

But her goal was simply to remain in Lin Muyu’s world, even if just as a blurred shadow, she would be willing.

Under this extreme guilt, Su Wanqing spoke words that greatly shocked Qingyao.

“As long as she has me in her heart, even if it’s just a small part, even if she’s with someone else, I wouldn’t mind.”

Su Wanqing’s voice was very soft, yet it exploded like thunder in Qingyao’s ears.

“? Wanqing, you…?”