Chapter 782 - 0441 Crime (2-in-1)_2

"Tsk." Zhu Pingniang pursed her lips, "You know Yun Qian loves sweets, but you don’t know what Chang’an likes to eat?"

"Junior Brother prefers spicy food," Wen Li said calmly.

"..." Zhu Pingniang.

Alright.

She underestimated Wen Li.

Zhu Pingniang admitted that she needed to take Wen Li’s feelings for Xu Chang’an more seriously. That kind of emotion... is definitely not superficial or born of mere attraction.

She took a deep breath and asked.

"So, what is it that you don’t want him to know?"

Wen Li lowered her head, then looked up after a moment, seriously saying, "Sometimes I feel... Xiaohua is very cunning."

"Xiaohua?" Zhu Pingniang was puzzled, "She’s merely a part of your Divine Soul that’s of the Demon Race. She’s just a child now, without the Demon Race’s legacy. What’s so cunning about her?"

Wen Li looked at her own white, delicate hands without speaking.

She seemed to be able to smell the disgusting blood stains and congealed scabs on them.

These things could never be washed away.

Zhu Pingniang saw the ripples in Wen Li’s eyes and suddenly understood what Wen Li wanted to hide.

Half-Demon.

She didn’t want Xu Chang’an to know that she was once a Half-Demon.

Indeed.

With Wen Li’s character, if she hadn’t deliberately concealed it, how could Xu Chang’an not know that the little Li Hua who was close to him all day was actually "a piece of flesh fallen from Wen Li’s body"?

Thinking of this, Zhu Pingniang could guess what Wen Li meant by Xiaohua being "cunning."

Clearly she and Xiaohua were one entity.

A person who was originally one, even if separated, everything had to be divided in half.

Talent, physique, and even lifespan must be separated.

Even without the Demon Race’s legacy, Xiaohua opened up her powers earlier than Xu Chang’an, who practiced diligently all day... she bore Wen Li’s cultivation talent.

So, Wen Li’s talent now isn’t complete; it’s split.

But... if talent is divided, physique is divided, lifespan is divided, then... what about sins?

The sin from being a weapon, slaughtering enemy soldiers on the battlefield mercilessly, was not shared with Xiaohua at all, and Wen Li bore it all alone.

In reality, Wen Li became a weapon, lost her reason on the battlefield... it was all because of the demon side of her.

But after separation, all the sins weren’t borne by Xiaohua, not even a bit; they all remained with her...

This is unfair.

If Wen Li and Xiaohua are now separate entities, this situation is indeed very unfair.

But there’s no way, Xiaohua is just a newborn child now, what does it know about sin...

She doesn’t understand, but Wen Li does.

Xiaohua, being of the Demon Race, now has four clean, small paws and can unreservedly lie in Xu Chang’an’s arms...

If this isn’t cunning, what is?

"..." Zhu Pingniang sighed as she looked at Wen Li’s silent demeanor.

Ah Li... is jealous of the demon side of herself.

Jealous of why it can restart its life.

So...

This is why Wen Li wants to abandon Sword Dao and start anew?

"Ah Li, I thought... these worldly matters should have been brushed aside by you long ago." Zhu Pingniang sighed, "I didn’t expect you to be so naive."

"Master Aunt, I have killed many people," Wen Li lifted her head.

"So what?" Zhu Pingniang looked at her, "Has Chang’an killed fewer people? How many bandits around here have died... don’t you know?"

Xu Chang’an cleansed the surrounding area for Yun Qian’s safety; Wen Li should be more than aware of this.

"It’s not the same." Wen Li shook her head lightly, speaking calmly, "Junior Brother kills those who are evil, won’t stain his hands."

But she’s different.

She killed those ordinary people who had no ability to resist against Half-Demons and could only follow orders.

Even though those people trembled in fear in front of her, they still stood up to protect the land behind them.

Yet she was still on the side of evil.

Wen Li stared at her hands.

Ironically, despite this, after regaining her sanity with Zhu Pingniang’s help, her greatest pursuit was "peaceful Chang’an"...

Truly sarcastic.

Wen Li wouldn’t shy away from what she’s done... but, if it’s about her other half, about Xiaohua who is clearly a part of her, it’s human nature to envy and even be jealous of its ignorance.

Wen Li: "..."

As a weapon once possessed by a small nation, and used her Half-Demon nature to invade... Wen Li had lost count.

So, she is the evil person.

The innocent blood on her hands is something that cannot be washed away.

So, in Wen Li’s mind, in the presence of such a gentle and kind Junior Brother... she doesn’t want him to know her past.

"Naive." Zhu Pingniang curled her lips.

She didn’t expect such small matters could also make Wen Li jealous.

Faced with Zhu Pingniang, Wen Li’s thoughts had to be described as very naive, but upon considering Wen Li’s young age... it seemed understandable.

She lightly hummed, "Turns out even you would escape, I thought you could truly face everything without hesitation."

"Escape..." Wen Li was puzzled.

"I misspoke," Zhu Pingniang acknowledged her mistake and apologized immediately.

Escape?

Wen Li isn’t escaping.

Precisely because she’s fully burdened with sin, precisely because she hasn’t forgotten or escaped, she has these thoughts.

If she truly escaped, Wen Li just needed to consider herself no longer a Half-Demon, but a reborn "human" and wouldn’t need to care about these past events.

"I’ve suddenly thought that escaping at times isn’t so bad." Zhu Pingniang shrugged, "Now, those past events have nothing to do with you anymore. Even if you want to compensate, there’s no way to do so, why not relax a bit."

"..." Wen Li didn’t speak.

Zhu Pingniang sighed lightly.

So, this girl’s feelings for Xu Chang’an are complicated. Would it be because she considers herself evil, and Xu Chang’an good, that...

In front of him, she can’t lift her head?

There’s a sense that this naive thought could actually occur in Wen Li.

"Ah Li, you are not an evil person," Zhu Pingniang reminded her.

"I know," Wen Li nodded.

She is certainly not an evil person.

She is the Senior Sister of Muyu Peak, a cultivator of Chaoyun Sect.

"So... what about telling these things to Chang’an?" Zhu Pingniang smiled, "Who knows, Chang’an might give you a different answer."

In Wen Li’s somewhat dazed expression, Zhu Pingniang spread her hands, "That kid doesn’t resent the Demon Race and treats Half-Demons the same."

Just think of his attitude toward Ah Qing.

Zhu Pingniang believed that Xu Chang’an could easily help Wen Li untie this small knot.

"Junior Brother... I know, I’ll ask him," Wen Li nodded.

"Forget it, pretend I didn’t say that," Zhu Pingniang suddenly retracted her idea.

Wen Li: "?"

"Don’t ask him. Yes... it’s best not to let him know, it has nothing to do with him, right?" Zhu Pingniang laughed awkwardly.

"...Mm." Wen Li nodded under Zhu Pingniang’s pressure.

"Phew."

Zhu Pingniang felt a little fearful.

Almost forgot.

Xu Chang’an is indeed useful, but if he helps Wen Li... without doubt, this act will only make Wen Li like Xu Chang’an even more.

Resolving the knot is a small affair, but if attachment turns into love, then it’s a big problem.

So, there’s no need to trouble Xu Chang’an with helping Wen Li.

Such things, with time passing, will naturally allow Wen Li to slowly come to terms.

"Sister knows now, you’re a complicated girl," Zhu Pingniang stretched lazily, speaking slowly under Wen Li’s gaze, "But... I still don’t see much promise in you."

To put it bluntly.

Think of Xu Chang’an and Yun Qian, this couple.

Years of intertwined bonds, one raising the other who then begins to care for the first, and then they ’eloped’ to Beisang City, such emotions are plain yet akin to a cup of fermented wine.

For Xu Chang’an, his life until now has been woven with "Yun Qian’s" name, only then can it truly be said as a loving relationship, can it not?