"In any case, I don't think it would be a good idea to kill him," Kong Xun sighed as he spoke, "Demon Venerable Shen should let him go with just a warning."
Jie Fu Lian looked at the mirror and fixed his hair as he subconsciously tried to make himself look as handsome as possible.
"Kong Xun, prepare a room for him."
"Eh?"
Jie Fu Lian smirked as he looked at the Demon King's appearance reflected on the mirror and spoke, "Since he took his time to come here, we can't just let him go back empty-handed."
Kong Xun had no idea what the man was planning but when he saw that wicked smirk on the demon king's face, he couldn't help but feel a little excited as he thought, 'That Hua Tianshu is finally gonna be taught a lesson...!"
"Head back first. I'll meet him today," Jie Fu Lian spoke and Kong Xun obediently nodded and bowed his head in respect as he left the room.
Jie Fu Lian couldn't help but smile a little as he looked at his reflection in the mirror and thought to himself, 'Now that I look closer, this old geezer really doesn't look like an old geezer. Isn't his handsome face wasted on his rotten personality...?'
No matter how many times he saw Shen Fang's face, he still couldn't get used to it.
Back when he was still in his original body, he had never actually seen Shen Fang's real face but he had certainly imagined it to be something unsightly. However, now that he had seen the demon's real face, he couldn't help but admit that this face was quite far from unsightly.
He picked up Changbo and placed the sword by his waist as he got ready to go out and meet his so-called troublesome guest.
He was certainly going to make Hua Tianshu compensate for the eight houses that he had burnt down!
.
.
.
.
'
"I have no money so I can't pay," Hua Tianshu straightforwardly spoke as he bowed his head down, apologizing politely.
Jie Fu Lian didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry as he heard the man's careless words.
No matter how much time had passed, Hua Tianshu really never changed...
He was still just as infuriating as always!
In the past, Jie Fu Lian didn't have the power to teach the boy a lesson, but this time, he certainly had an advantage over the man and hence, he was naturally not going to let Hua Tianshu get away with it!
"Hua Tianshu, if you can't pay with money then pay with your body," Jie Fu Lian smirked as he leaned his head back and glared down at Hua Tianshu.
He wanted to humiliate the man just like how Hua Tianshu had humiliated him when they had first met.
Even though it had been twelve years since then, Jie Fu Lian was still craving for revenge.
Jie Fu Lian's eyes narrowed down on the man with great interest as he mentally thought, 'Do you feel the humiliation now, Hua Tianshu? This was exactly how I had felt back then. How dare you call me a show-off with no backing bone?! Look how things have turned out. It's your turn to suffer. Hua Tianshu, why aren't you speaking? Are you too shocked to speak?'
After a few minutes of silence, Hua Tianshu sighed as he raised his head to look up at the Demon King and spoke, "If that is what you want, i have no objections."
"..." Jie Fu Lian felt as if he had suddenly gone back to that day when they had first met. Once again, with just a single sentence from Hua Tianshu, Jie Fu Lian's brain froze and he fell speechless.
What followed was a few minutes of awkward silence. At least, this time, Hua Tianshu didn't turn around and leave after saying something so shocking.
He looked directly at Jie Fu Lian's face and nobody could guess what was going on inside his mind.
"Demon Venerable Shen, you need to say something," Kong Xun whispered from behind him and helped Jie Fu Lian snap out of it.
"Uh... Boy, do you even know what I mean?" Jie Fu Lian gritted his teeth as he questioned, his voice sounding a bit deeper than usual.
'That's probably it. Perhaps he didn't understand what I meant,' Jie Fu Lian tried to convince himself, however, Hua Tianshu's next words truly made him feel as if he was shocked enough to see his own soul drifting out of this demon king's body.
"Doesn't the Demon King want to make me another one of your concubines? I am not a child. I do understand the implication behind my own words."
Something was wrong...
Something was definitely wrong..!
Very wrong!
Had Hua Tianshu always been such a person?!
As long as Jie Fu Lian had remembered, this man was a cruel cold-hearted inhumane prideful hypocrite!
That Hua Tianshu could actually say such words...?
He could actually give up his pride and ego for compensation?!
There was definitely something wrong with this situation!
"You must think that I'm joking," Jie Fu Lian breathed out, his voice sounding even more pissed off as he continued, "Since you dared to agree, I'll make sure that you compensate me thoroughly!"
Suddenly, Hua Tianshu showed a toothy grin as he nodded his head, "Understood."
"..." Jie Fu Lian felt as if he was about to die all over again.
T-This bastard actually dared to smile in this situation...?!
It was the first time Jie Fu Lian had seen the man smile!
Jie Fu Lian didn't know what he was more angry about. The fact that the man actually dared to smile at his face or that it was the first time he had seen the man smile...?
"Kong Xun, take him to my room!" Jie Fu Lian exclaimed as he stood up.
'Hua Tianshu, you asked for it. Don't blame me for being improper.'
"Yes, Demon Venerable Shen," Kong Xun bowed his head and immediately moved towards Hua Tianshu.
Jie Fu Lian took a few minutes to calm his anger down and went back to his room.
He had never had any improper thoughts towards Hua Tianshu, but at the same time, now that the situation had turned out like this, he felt that the thought wasn't as disgusting as he would have guessed.
If he needed to push the man down on bed in order to complete his revenge, he was more than ready to do it!
"I'll be leaving," Kong Xun spoke as he hastily left the room, giving the two privacy.
Hua Tianshu was sitting on the bed, looking directly at Jie Fu Lian with no hesitation nor regret. For some reason, Jie Fu Lian couldn't help but feel his heart race a little.
He gulped as he mentally thought, 'This isn't bad at all...'
Hua Tianshu had always been quite handsome but now that Jie Fu Lian was looking at him like this, he couldn't help but feel a bit fascinated by the man.
Jie Fu Lian slowly approached Hua Tianshu who was still sitting on the bed and leaned his head down, his eyes fully focused on Hua Tianshu's thin lips that looked a bit too inviting.
"Jie Ming..."
"..." Jie Fu Lian stopped all his movements.
"It's really you, isn't it?" Hua Tianshu showed a very gentle expression as he looked up at the man.
Jie Fu Lian gulped and his mind felt a little blank as he looked back at the man.
"There is no point in denying it," Hua Tianshu added with a small smile, "Jie Ming, I'm glad to see you again."
Jie Fu Lian blinked a few times as he looked back at the man with a dumb expression plastered on his face.
His acting had been perfect. No matter how shocked he had been during their ridiculous conversation, he had still controlled his expressions perfectly and didn't slip up.
In the first place itself, Jie Fu Lian had never been that close to Hua Tianshu so how could this man tell...?!
"Jie Ming, you might not believe me but I'm really happy to see you alive."
Jie Fu Lian didn't know what was happening nor did he know how he was supposed to react, but when he suddenly heard such cheesy words rolling out of Hua Tianshu's smooth tongue, he couldn't help but feel his stomach ache.
He was gonna puke...!
This damn bastard... Had he gone mad during Jie Fu Lian's absence?!
"Hua Tianshu..." Jie Fu Lian muttered after a long pause, "Can I punch you?"
"Go ahead," The man beamed unhesitantly and Jie Fu Lian really punched the man's handsome smiling face.
"Your smile is really annoying," Jie Fu Lian muttered with a sigh as he moved a few steps back and scratched the back of his neck.
"If you don't like it, I'll stop smiling," Hua Tianshu wiped off the blood from the corner of his lips as he spoke.
His cold indifferent expression was back, but Jie Fu Lian wasn't that delighted.
"Are you really Hua Tianshu?"
Hua Tianshu looked to be a little confused by this sudden question but he still nodded his head as he truthfully answered, "I am."
"I don't believe it."
"Eh?"
Jie Fu Lian frowned but said nothing more.
The situation could be summed up in a single sentence: One had a different face and yet, the other was able to easily recognize, while one had the same face but the other totally refused to recognize!
Hua Tianshu, if you had kept your mouth shut, you would have gotten a free kiss. What horrible timing *sigh~*
Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote, comment and support the author by adding this novel to your library!~
Take care and have a great day <3
Jie Fu Lian sighed as he sat down on the floor in front of Hua Tianshu and asked, "Hua Tianshu, just how have I offended you? Why is it that you just won't get off my back even after death?"
"Jie Ming, it's not that I don't want to," Hua Tianshu beamed, looking to be a bit too happy with this weird unexpected situation, "Meeting you again is probably fate."
"Fate?" Jie Fu Lian scoffed as he spat out, "It's surely an ill-fated relationship!"
Hua Tianshu didn't seem to mind such words and simply kept staring at Jie Fu Lian's face like a little child that was looking at its favourite candy.
"Are you really going to keep staring at me like this?" Jie Fu Lian asked with a frown as he pointed out, "It's quite uncomfortable and makes me want to punch you again."
"You can punch me as many times as you want," Hua Tianshu replied without missing a beat.
'Hua Tianshu is into such stuff...?' Jie Fu Lian couldn't help but feel his eyes twitch as he saw this new side of Hua Tianshu.
"Just for your information, I am not into that kind of stuff so don't let your imagination go wild," Hua Tianshu laughed as he spoke, guessing what Jie Fu Lian was thinking, "But if you want to punch me then I'll let you punch me."
"Why?"
"Because it's you," Hua Tianshu slightly tilted his head and beamed.
Jie Fu Lian gulped and felt his heart skip a beat as he looked at the man.
'Had Hua Tianshu really gone crazy or am I the one crazy here?'
Jie Fu Lian abruptly coughed as he awkwardly tried to change the conversation, "In any case, it's quite troublesome that I've been found out by you, but I guess this is also good. If it's really fate then there is no point in avoiding it."
Hua Tianshu simply smiled as he heard this and said nothing.
"Thank you," Jie Fu Lian straightened his back and spoke as he looked back at Hua Tianshu without any hesitation.
"About what?"
"Back when I died..." Jie Fu Lian spoke with a sigh as he remembered the day of his unfortunate death, "You were the only one who believed me. You were willing to stand up for me. You had the courage to stand against everyone else just for my sake."
Hua Tianshu's smile fell down as he heard these words and it seemed that he was also reminded of that unfortunate day.
"Back then, your actions and words made me smile. I had always wanted to thank you for that but I never got the chance to say those words to you," Jie Fu Lian added with a small smile that was filled with a hint of sadness.
"You're right," Hua Tianshu spoke with a hint of pain in his voice, "I was willing to stand by your side that day. I was courageous enough to go up against everyone else just for you. I couldn't solve your problems nor could I clear your name but I still did everything I could to support you. Why wasn't that enough for you? Jie Ming, why did you jump?"
Jie Fu Lian gulped as he heard this and his eyebrows creased together as he corrected the man, "I didn't jump. I tripped. There is a difference."
"..." Hua Tianshu didn't seem to believe him.
"I'm being honest. I really did trip," Jie Fu Lian sighed out as he mentally added, 'It might have been a bit intentional but you don't need to know that.'
"Did it hurt?" Hua Tianshu suddenly asked.
"Huh?"
"When you died... Did it hurt?"
"..." Jie Fu Lian was silent for a few minutes as he heard this question. He would be lying if he said that it didn't hurt, but at the same time, he felt that he couldn't say the truth, fearing that the truth might hurt the man sitting in front of him.
The pain he had felt didn't end with just a single day. He had died slowly and painfully.
The sensation of his soul being torn apart and his body being shredded into pieces... It wasn't really a delightful experience.
If he were to go back to that day, he would certainly not choose to die in the same way again.
That was really the worst death one could ever ask for...
"It was bearable," Jie Fu Lian thinly smiled as he spoke, "It's been eight years now so I really don't remember it well."
That was clearly a lie that even Hua Tianshu could see through, but although the man saw through it, he still refrained from asking any further questions about it.
"Compared to my death, coming back and finding the Yan sect gone was a much more painful experience."
"I'm sorry," Hua Tianshu apologized as he looked down at his hands, "I wasn't able to help them."
"It's not your fault," Jie Fu Lian forced himself to chuckle as he spoke, "It wasn't like you were the one who killed them all."
"..." Hua Tianshu said nothing as he heard this.
In reality, he felt responsible for it as well. Although he wasn't the one who had directly killed them off, he was still guilty of not doing anything to help. He stood by the side and watched, not because he was unable to help but because he truly didn't want to help them.
He despised the Yan sect. He blamed them for the death of Jie Fu Lian and hence, when the Yan Sect was destroyed, he silently watched and even celebrated their demise.
Even now, when he heard about how much the incident broke Jie Fu Lian's heart, he still felt no remorse for what had happened.
If he were to go back in time, he would still choose to stand by and rejoice while the Yan sect perished away.
Those people... There was really nothing good about them. They deserved everything they got.
"Hua Tianshu, there is something that I want to ask you."
"Hmm?"
"Seven years ago... Do you know what happened back then?" Jie Fu Lian looked at Hua Tianshu with an expectant gaze.
"The Yan sect was suspected of demonic cultivation and harboring demons," Hua Tianshu sighed as he truthfully revealed, "The situation escalated very quickly and there were even some rumors about your death being a part of their schemes."
Jie Fu Lian immediately shook his head as he defended, "There is no way such a thing can happen. My death was an unexpected accident and the Yan sect has always been filled with righteous cultivators. Nobody would ever connect them with demonic cultivation. Harboring demons? Just who would believe such absurd accusations?"
Hua Tianshu wanted to say 'everyone believed it' but he refrained himself from stating such brutally honest facts.
"The accusations about you were also absurd, weren't they? But even your father believed it. Even with such prior experience, can you really ask that question?"
Jie Fu Lian coughed and fell silent.
"There was some proof and the investigation was officially headed by the Jin Sect. It happened an year after your death so you can guess how bitter the public reaction was."
"The Jin sect?" Jie Fu Lian suddenly frowned as he repeated and questioned, "How can it be them?"
His father had been quite close to the sect master of the Jin Sect. In fact, they had been so close that his father hadn't looked for trouble with the Jin sect even when Jie Fu Lian had been badly injured in the eternal hell tower!
Their friendship was pretty deep and they knew each other since childhood. They were basically sworn brothers for life!
For the Jin sect to investigate the Yan sect and accuse them of such things... It was truly a bit unbelievable.
The only way the situation would make sense would be if the Yan sect was actually guilty of everything it had been accused with, but Jie Fu Lian, who had grown up in the Yan sect, clearly knew that the accusations weren't true.
"When the investigation ended, the Yan sect was officially proclaimed guilty of all the crimes it had been accused with. Many big names were involved in the case and hence nobody dared to doubt the results of the investigation."
"So then... It was the Jin sect...?" Jie Fu Lian asked with a look of disbelief, "They were the reason behind the destruction of the Yan sect?"
Hua Tianshu slightly shook his head as he corrected, "They weren't merely a reason, they were the main cause. The Jin sect directly targeted the Yan sect. Compared to the strength of the two sects, it was already clear since the beginning who would emerge victorious. It didn't really matter if the accusations were true or not, in the end, it was a war and the Jin sect had already won it."
Jie Fu Lian felt a shiver run down his spine as he muttered, "The Jin sect destroyed the Yan sect...?"
In the end, it had been his father's sworn brother who had betrayed him and killed him...
How can he believe such a thing...?
So who do you think is evil? The Jin Sect or the Yan sect?
Let me know in the comments down below.
Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote, comment and support the author by adding this novel to your library!~
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Take care and have a wonderful day ahead <3
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