bullyxtreme Chapter 219 Resentful Encounter: Jade Lock and Golden Shackles (8)
Chapter 219 Resentful Encounter: Jade Lock and Golden Shackles (8)
Unlike last time, when he slept for three months, this time Mei Shiyu woke up after only two or three days of being drunk.
During this time, he still had a vague memory of being held in someone's arms, with someone stroking his back gently, like petting a cat.
His back was absolutely not to be touched by anyone, but he felt very comfortable being touched at that time. His drowsy mind couldn't remember anything except this wonderful feeling. He wondered if his early awakening was related to those few touches.
Perhaps he was awakened by that person using spiritual power...
The person... Mei Shiyu suddenly sat up with a start, fully awake. She didn't have time to think about anything or tidy herself up. Her clothes were disheveled, so be it; her hair was messy, so be it. She got out of bed and went straight to the bedroom door!
He pushed open the door and entered the main hall, which was empty and deserted. Suddenly, he heard voices outside the hall and hurriedly ran over. Then, he stopped and thought for a moment before using his magic to quickly tidy himself up.
Just a door away, he heard that familiar yet long-lost, domineering, arrogant, and utterly unreasonable voice issuing commands from outside:
"Speak up, what is it? One person, one sentence each, or get lost."
The first person said, "Palace Master, in the years you've been away, Mei Shiyu has been tyrannical and has been killing our own people all the time. Countless brothers have perished at his hands!"
Li Tingyun responded with an "Oh".
Another person said, "He helps the cultivation world but not us. There aren't enough to go around in the nine provinces of the mortal world. He wiped out most of our outposts in various provinces and even ordered us not to rebuild them!"
Li Tingyun hummed in agreement.
The third person said, "Your Highness, he... he... he even dismissed all the beauties in your harem!"
Li Tingyun: "Huh?"
Upon hearing this, Mei Shiyu lost her temper and immediately opened the door and went out!
How can it be described as "dismissing the harem"? Those women weren't even part of Li Tingyun's "harem" to begin with! This explanation is problematic and outrageous! It's irritating and makes one feel uneasy.
As soon as he went out, he saw Li Tingyun sitting majestically on his exclusive throne, one hand supporting his chin, listening to the complaints with great interest, a cryptic smile playing on his lips.
But when he saw Mei Shiyu push open the door and come out, his "interested" attitude completely disappeared. He stared straight at Mei Shiyu, and his smile became extremely sincere.
Without saying a word, he put down his hand and stood up.
Mei Shiyu hadn't seen him in a long time. Suddenly, seeing his face and their eyes meeting, a lump formed in her throat. She forced back a tremor in her voice, "You, you shouldn't listen to them, their nonsense..."
He said haltingly, "Although they weren't entirely lying, and I did do some things... but the 'disbanding of the harem' is, in fact, completely... fabricated..."
After a long separation, Mei Shiyu was a little flustered, which manifested in her incoherent speech, lack of focus, and obsession with trivial matters.
After he finished speaking, he still looked at Li Tingyun, seemingly forgetting everything, even what he had just said.
He just looked at the person in front of him, and a flood of complex emotions welled up in his heart. Now, not only did his nose feel sore, but his eyes also felt a little dry.
Li Tingyun's smile froze, and he paused, his breath catching in his throat. This look on his face was truly...
The underlings who had been accusing the emperor of corruption and treachery, standing below the steps in front of the palace, felt utterly doomed and that the sky had fallen when they saw this scene!
They were all scratching their heads in frustration: "Holy crap! Why are you acting all wronged first?! How could a lecherous maniac like the Palace Master, who has a penchant for 'fair skin, beautiful faces, and long legs,' possibly stand this?!"
Mei Shiyu has no sense of martial ethics!
With a flick of his sleeve, Li Tingyun silenced the murmurs and whispers below.
No matter who it is, as long as they dare to complain, he will kill them all with a wave of his hand.
He did this as casually and effortlessly as if he were brushing off a speck of dust.
Mei Shiyu's expression changed slightly.
Li Tingyun walked straight toward him.
I didn't think about anything, including his two defenses; I didn't even hear them. It didn't matter to me, it wasn't important.
All Li Tingyun could see and care about was Mei Shiyu!
He felt that the closer he got to Mei Shiyu, the more unsettled he became, as if thunder was raging and something was about to leap out of his chest.
Three or four years is nothing to a cultivator, but he had longed for it day and night for over a thousand days and nights before the day of their reunion arrived. It felt as if a thousand years had passed... It turns out that "a day feels like a year" is a pure and realistic description, not an exaggeration at all.
Li Tingyun strode forward and pulled Mei Shiyu's slightly stiff body into his arms.
She held him tightly, with such force that she felt she wanted to meld him into her very bones.
"It's been a long time..."
I miss you so much.
Did you know that?
Just one hug, how can it stop the pangs of lovesickness?
Li Tingyun fantasized about pulling him into the palace and kissing him against the door—in a moment of passion, he might actually do just that!
He seems quite irrational in many things, doesn't he?
however.
This was the only thing he dared not cross the line about, dared not act impulsively, dared not say: "To hell with it! I don't care about anything anymore!" Because he had to care, he had to care.
All his concerns were focused on this, and all his cherished feelings were placed on Mei Shiyu. How could he dare to gamble recklessly?
Everything he once valued was lost forever due to the cruel tricks of fate. Now it's Mei Shiyu's turn, and he can't afford to gamble with it even if it means death.
So he couldn't do anything. He didn't even say "I miss you" after careful consideration. As he gradually relaxed his arms around Mei Shiyu, he realized that the person in his arms was as stiff as a piece of wood.
Li Tingyun's heart sank, and she asked him, "What's wrong?"
Mei Shiyu avoided answering, saying, "It's nothing."
"Those things they were talking about earlier? It doesn't matter. Do whatever you want, walk your own path, and let others die."
Mei Shiyu said dejectedly, "...It's not this one."
"So, that's Blood Marsh?" That was all Li Tingyun could think of for the time being. "I saw that all the resentment there had dissipated. You did it? That's great. You solved a huge problem for me. I can thank you in any way I want."
“But if you bring this up to question me, I have no defense and nothing to say. I killed the person, I committed the crime, and I admit my mistake. But if it happened again, I would still not show any mercy.”
"Don't say anymore..." Mei Shiyu felt utterly powerless. "I know what kind of person you are, what kind of temperament you have."
"Okay, I won't say anything more." Li Tingyun thought that this was the end of it. She looked down and carefully examined his face. As she looked, she reached out and wanted to touch the conspicuous red mark between his eyebrows.
Mei Shiyu turned her head away.
"Is there anything else?" Li Tingyun suddenly grabbed his chin, forcing him to turn his face, and said in a slightly forceful tone, "Say it all at once."
Mei Shiyu slapped his hand away, frowned, and looked at him with surprise: "...What are you doing?"
Li Tingyun's behavior was very unusual. Although the gesture of pinching his chin was small, it was somewhat offensive to his dignity, carrying a sense of scrutiny, coercion, and even threat. In Mei Shiyu's memory, he had never treated her like this.
Li Tingyun is better at acting recklessly, being domineering, arguing illogically, and even shamelessly infuriating people, but she almost never uses physical coercion or verbal commands like this.
Therefore, Mei Shiyu found him strange and was a little surprised.
Li Tingyun also realized something was wrong, so he coughed dramatically, put his hands behind his back, and hid them there.
His fingers curled up, he clenched his fist, pinched his palm, and silently warned himself that it was best not to make a move.
Especially during the plum rain season.
He's getting increasingly mentally unstable. He always acts first and then realizes what he just did.
For example, when he came out of the Demon Abyss, the first person to greet him was the Ghost King Xue Shi.
But he misjudged and killed him.
Because I was really curious whether he was a human or a ghost.
So, if you're going to kill someone, just kill them and destroy the evidence.
They just wanted to see if the other party could "come back to life".
Only after killing them did I realize it was unnecessary.
He didn't need to resort to such a deadly move...
Whether he's a human or a ghost, what does it have to do with him?
Li Tingyun subconsciously took a few steps to the side, distancing himself slightly from Mei Shiyu. Since Mei Shiyu didn't want to talk to him at all, he had no choice but to start a new conversation. He was sure Mei Shiyu would pick up on his words:
"On my way back, I heard a strange story. There is a famous ancient ferry crossing called Fengling Ferry, south of the Taihang Mountains and north of the Yellow River. When I passed by there, I saw many people releasing lanterns into the river. When I asked, I learned that it was the Ghost Festival..."
"According to local custom, this day is also their 'River Lantern Festival,' so they hold something like... the River Bend Lantern Festival? I can't remember exactly, but it's on the fifteenth of July, when people release lanterns into the river, either to mourn the dead or to pray for blessings..."
That night, the river lanterns gathered like stars, forming a white ribbon, as if the Milky Way had fallen from the heavens.
The lanterns drifted downstream with the water, and gradually, one after another, most of them sank to the bottom.
Li Tingyun asked, "What's the point of this? Is the purpose of releasing the lantern just to make it sink in the water? That's just a waste of breath."
An old man selling lanterns by the river shouted, "Hey young man, watch your words! Watch your words! This is a good thing, an excellent omen!"
This means that they were taken away by the ghost messengers of the underworld.
The lanterns are all inscribed with words, and it's easy to guess what they say. It's a way for the descendants to mourn the deceased and for the living to pray for the dead. The words written on the lantern paper are naturally something like, "So-and-so was a great philanthropist in life, did something in such-and-such place, performed a great act of righteousness, and we beg that he be spared the torments of hell and be reborn into a good family in the next life," and so on...
When the Kings of Hell see the words on the lanterns, they will summon the judges to record these people's deeds in the Book of Merit. Naturally, they will be spared from suffering and be able to be reincarnated. Isn't that a good thing?
Li Tingyun thought this was pure nonsense!
No one knows better than him what the underworld is like, or what kind of people the King of Hell and his ghost messengers are. All this talk of "releasing lanterns" and "accumulating merit" is utter nonsense! How can anyone in the human world believe such absurd claims and even create such ridiculous customs?!
But by some strange twist of fate, he exchanged a gleaming gold ingot for the most beautiful lantern that the old man had made by hand.
He even asked someone for a wolf-hair brush, and wrote on it: "Mei Shiyu, a truly good person in the world, may he... be safe and sound year after year."
He didn't care about showing off his literary skills; he thought it was all useless. He quickly finished writing a simple sentence, and suddenly a voice full of admiration came from beside him: "Wow! What beautiful handwriting! Young man, can you write one for me too?"
This exclamation attracted a crowd of onlookers, who all said, "What beautiful handwriting!" Among ordinary people, few have been to school, few can read, and even fewer can write. Right next to the old man and his pile of lanterns, there was a poor scholar who had set up a book-writing stall.
Li Tingyun borrowed the pen from him.
Why should I care about your nonsense?!
He scoffed.
Turn around.
"Tell me! What should I write?"
That night, he usurped the writing business that didn't belong to him, acting arrogantly and domineeringly.
His arrogance lay in the fact that he didn't want a single penny; in fact, he even gave the poor scholar a gold ingot to get rid of him.