Forcing the Aloof Master to Madness - Chapter 53

Wang Xi hadn’t expected Shen Lezhi to find this place. Although she had sensed her aura, Wang Xi was still stunned when Shen Lezhi rushed into her arms.

Shen Lezhi’s soft sobs came from her embrace. Wang Xi incredulously rested her fingers on the other party’s back. Even after touching her, she still stubbornly thought she was in a dream, because only in dreams could she see the person she yearned for day and night.

It wasn’t until a hint of Shen Lezhi’s body temperature reached her fingertips that she finally realized Shen Lezhi was truly here.

She hugged Shen Lezhi tightly, tighter than any time before, her palm resting on the latter’s waist, wishing she could embed the other person into her own body.

She could feel Shen Lezhi’s body faintly trembling from crying, and that weak, trembling whimpering sound ignited a tickle in Wang Xi’s heart.

But she was accustomed to enduring. Restraining the urge to be even more intimate with Shen Lezhi, she only lightly massaged the area around the latter’s waist with her fingers.

Shen Lezhi also felt a tickle. As she cried, her body softened. Unable to bear it, she reached out and grabbed Wang Xi’s hand resting on her waist, pushing Wang Xi back a little, and then awkwardly wiped away her tears.

She couldn’t help herself and hadn’t expected to start crying. Now that the emotional surge had passed, she felt embarrassed.

Rushing into someone’s arms and crying was truly shameful!

Wang Xi did not stop her and took a step back according to Shen Lezhi’s strength.

She had already noticed the numerous injuries on Shen Lezhi’s body, her clothes stained with blood. She couldn’t help but frown slightly, her eyes becoming a little colder: “How did you end up coming here?”

Shen Lezhi thought Wang Xi was displeased that she had come looking for her regardless of her own safety. Feeling a bit wronged, she backed away a little more and dissatisfiedly retorted, “I didn’t listen obediently. Is Shizun going to punish me?”

Although Wang Xi had let go of the person casually, her fingers still touched Shen Lezhi’s side. Hearing the tone of dissatisfaction, she lowered her eyelids. Her clear voice was like clear, cold frost and snow, cold and transparent.

“I won’t punish you,” she replied softly.

Shen Lezhi wasn’t sure if it was her illusion, but she felt Wang Xi’s words sounded somewhat languid and tender.

But how could the cold and aloof Wang Xi be tender?

She looked into Wang Xi’s eyes again, only to see that the snow between the immortal-like person’s brows seemed to have melted, making Shen Lezhi feel a warmth rise in her heart.

She hadn’t seen Wang Xi for a long time. Now, seeing her again, she felt that the other party had changed. But Shen Lezhi couldn’t quite pinpoint where the change was.

Shen Lezhi’s action of rushing into Wang Xi’s arms caused a commotion, which alerted Auntie Hua from the small wooden house nearby. Auntie Hua came out to check, just in time to see Shen Lezhi with red eyes, clinging to Wang Xi and refusing to let go.

“Auntie Hua! It’s really Auntie Hua!” Crying Soul Thread’s excited voice finally brought Shen Lezhi back to her senses. By the time she came to, Crying Soul Thread had already stretched out its vine, supported its body, and ran toward the green-robed woman.

Shen Lezhi looked over, only to see the green-robed woman looking at her, her eyes deep, seemingly wrapped in intense emotion.

It was so intense that Shen Lezhi could clearly sense it even from this distance. The air was permeated with the green-robed woman’s erratic spiritual power.

Crying Soul Thread had already run up to Auntie Hua, but the woman was still staring at Shen Lezhi, not moving an inch. After a long pause, she suddenly walked quickly towards Shen Lezhi.

Shen Lezhi had already sensed the connection between the surrounding wood spirits and Auntie Hua, and a guess was vaguely forming in her mind.

But after all, she wasn’t the original heroine and didn’t have much emotional connection to her biological relatives in this world. So, compared to Auntie Hua’s excitement, Shen Lezhi appeared much calmer.

It wasn’t until Auntie Hua reached her, looked her up and down with uneven breathing, and then cautiously tried to touch her.

After watching her for a long time, she finally held her breath and spoke softly, “Are you… Lezhi?”

Auntie Hua had been separated from Shen Lezhi when she was an infant, so she naturally didn’t know what Shen Lezhi looked like now. She could only rely on the slight similarity in their eyebrows to determine Shen Lezhi’s identity.

Auntie Hua hadn’t expected to have the chance to see Shen Lezhi again in this life. When the grown-up Shen Lezhi appeared before her, she was so shocked that she couldn’t say anything other than ask the question.

So, when Shen Lezhi nodded and confirmed her identity, Auntie Hua still didn’t speak for a long while.

Her breathing merely became uncontrollably shallow, and her whole body started to tremble.

“Master, it really is Auntie Hua.” It was Crying Soul Thread that broke the awkward silence between the two.

Shen Lezhi lightly raised her eyebrows and smiled, “I know.”

She had guessed it, and she had also somewhat guessed the connection between this Auntie Hua and the original heroine.

Both of them could hear Crying Soul Thread’s voice. Crying Soul Thread’s call also brought Auntie Hua back to her senses, and she hurriedly introduced herself to Shen Lezhi.

“Your mother is my biological sister. She entrusted you to me, but I met with an unfortunate accident in the Jadefrost Sect and could no longer protect you or watch you grow up.”

Shen Lezhi listened, but without much emotion. She had only listened to the original heroine’s background story as a tale, and there were no emotional memories in her heart.

Compared to Auntie Hua’s excitement, Shen Lezhi was indeed much calmer. Auntie Hua, seeing her indifferent expression, was slightly disappointed.

But she also clearly understood that this child had grown up without a mother or father, and now suddenly, a person came to tell her she had real family. Even if Shen Lezhi believed it, she probably wouldn’t have any genuine feelings.

“It’s good that you are like this now.” Auntie Hua stopped dwelling on the subject. After merely stating her identity, and seeing that Shen Lezhi was not particularly interested, she collected her emotions and said no more about it.

Then, Wang Xi asked how Shen Lezhi came here. Shen Lezhi spoke of her anxiety after waiting for three months in Canfeng City. After sensing the Linglong Heart, she resolutely decided to find Feng Nianzhen and desperately enter the forbidden area.

Shen Lezhi was still very angry when talking about these things, but she knew that in Wang Xi’s eyes, she didn’t have the strength to help her, and hiding in Canfeng City was the best course of action.

She couldn’t directly say that she wanted to return the Linglong Heart to Wang Xi, as she knew Wang Xi would absolutely refuse now.

“Have you found the truth?” Shen Lezhi asked her.

Wang Xi nodded slightly, then pressed two fingers together and gently touched Shen Lezhi’s brow. Shen Lezhi felt a sudden darkness before her eyes. When she could see the light again, the scene before her had changed dramatically.

“Auntie Hua told me this,” Wang Xi’s clear voice came. With her voice, a figure appeared before them.

It was Wang Xi, yet not Wang Xi.

The appearance was identical, but Shen Lezhi keenly sensed a difference.

The person who looked exactly like Wang Xi was called “Qingshu.” Her spiritual power was very similar to Wang Xi’s, but her weapon was not a long sword.

Shen Lezhi saw her growing up in the Jadefrost Sect, and the Sect Master was her Shizun, who was very strict with her. This Sect Master was not the current one of the Jadefrost Sect but an entirely different person.

Shen Lezhi watched as the life of this woman named Qingshu quickly flashed before her eyes. Qingshu lived for over eight hundred years, barely reaching the Soul Separation stage.

And just as she was about to make a breakthrough, the Sect Master ambushed her right after she had endured the lightning tribulation, killing her and gouging out the Linglong Heart.

Then came others with the Linglong Heart, who looked identical to Wang Xi, called by other names. They were all killed and had their hearts dug out by various means when they reached a certain age.

And each time, it was either the Sect Master of the Jadefrost Sect from different eras who did it personally or the Sect Master’s involvement.

Shen Lezhi knew what this was—the memories of all the Linglong Heart hosts.

She stopped breathing. So the Sect Master of the Jadefrost Sect had been continuously searching for a host for the Linglong Heart, killing the host to extract the heart once they matured?

Why would the other party do this?

No, that’s wrong.

Shen Lezhi shook her head to herself. Where would one find hosts who all looked exactly the same?

Moreover, she herself had the Linglong Heart in her body, so she knew very well that the Linglong Heart would not fully integrate with anyone other than Wang Xi.

She had gained some of the Linglong Heart’s power, but it was far from the deep connection Wang Xi had with it.

So who were these people in the memories who died over and over again?

Shen Lezhi suppressed her confusion and continued watching.

She saw these women, identical to Wang Xi, also begin to realize the Sect Master’s conspiracy. They all started to seek the truth, approaching it step by step.

It was as if the gears of fate were constantly turning. Someone found this forbidden area and the piles of corpse with gouged-out hearts inside.

At that time, the forbidden area was still their grave and did not have Auntie Hua’s restrictions.

And in the memory, the more brutal hunting began when one person, after entering the forbidden area and seeing those skeletons, painfully fell into demonization. Even though she luckily escaped the Jadefrost Sect, she was still chased and killed by other righteous cultivators.

The Sect Master then devised a plan. From then on, every Linglong Heart host would be forced into demonization by various means. Even if they escaped the Sect Master, they would be chased and killed by the righteous path due to the invasion of demonic energy.

The reason no one noticed the recurring appearance of the Linglong Heart was because each host appeared only after an interval of several thousand years. Every Sect Master of the Jadefrost Sect would also carefully dispose of any information about the Linglong Heart, leaving no records behind.

This cycle continued for tens of thousands of years until Auntie Hua broke into the forbidden area.

At that time, the forbidden area had no restrictions. Auntie Hua accidentally trespassed but brought disaster upon herself.

Not only did it harm her, but it also affected her sister who had just given birth to Shen Lezhi. The Sect Master of the Jadefrost Sect discovered the two sisters. Due to Shen Lezhi’s congenital defect, the sister had already exhausted her vital essence and died.

Auntie Hua knew she couldn’t escape safely with Shen Lezhi. She learned the truth about the skeletons in the forbidden area and saw this memory left by some person. Even the Linglong Heart couldn’t escape, so how could she?

Thus, she simply burned her life force during the pursuit, hoping to extend Shen Lezhi’s life.

She left behind a wisp of spiritual consciousness, agreeing to the request of the myriad memory owners to seal this forbidden area, to wait until the Linglong Heart was strong enough to ignore the world’s rules and ignore the seal of this place.

But Auntie Hua held onto hope, only allowing people with the Divine Wood Spirit in their body to enter here. She didn’t hold much hope, yet she still wished for Shen Lezhi to grow into an adult.

“Why did the memory owner seal this place? Didn’t she want the later hosts to know the truth?” Shen Lezhi was a little confused.

“Because they are the Linglong Heart,” Auntie Hua answered Shen Lezhi’s question. “There has never been a ‘host.’ She is the Linglong Heart itself.”

“The current external appearance is the vessel grown by the Linglong Heart’s own will. The Linglong Heart constantly grew and endured tens of thousands of years of being hunted. It finally understood one principle: when its power is weak, knowing the truth is completely unhelpful to itself.” Auntie Hua turned her eyes to Wang Xi, who hadn’t spoken a word.

“Do you know when she reached the Void Return realm in this life?” Auntie Hua asked Shen Lezhi.

Shen Lezhi truly didn’t know this. The original book only introduced Wang Xi as the number one person in the cultivation world, with a cultivation level at the Void Return stage, one foot already in the realm of ascension. However, she ultimately lost her cultivation when she carved out half of her Linglong Heart for her disciple.

Shen Lezhi looked at Wang Xi with confusion, but Wang Xi didn’t answer her at the moment.

It was Auntie Hua who lowered her head, her expression sharp, “Five hundred years. She only took five hundred years to enter the Void Return realm.”

This was an unprecedented talent in the cultivation world, and it was the Linglong Heart’s counterattack after tens of thousands of years of exhaustion.

In just five hundred years, which was merely a few closed-door cultivations for Wang Xi, the Sect Master hadn’t even had time to react, and Wang Xi had already grown to a point where they couldn’t easily kill her.

This was the longest the Linglong Heart had survived.

But Shen Lezhi suddenly realized that Wang Xi still died in the end.

The other party in her previous life died from the original heroine’s betrayal and the Jadefrost Sect’s encirclement and suppression.

So, was the reborn Wang Xi also the Linglong Heart’s attempt to seize this opportunity?

Otherwise, if she waited for the next several thousand years, the Sect Master might become vigilant about the Linglong Heart’s sudden rapid growth, and the Linglong Heart might never have such a chance again.

Shen Lezhi looked up at Wang Xi, her eyes filled with complex emotions. Wang Xi seemed to understand her, and the expression that had chilled due to the memory softened a little.

Knowing that she was merely the Linglong Heart, and knowing all the suffering she had faced since ancient times.

Wang Xi had wondered why she was reborn. In her cognition, the person she hated most in her previous life had already been killed by her own hands. Although she still couldn’t let go of the hatred and suspected there might be a larger conspiracy behind it, it was still considered her revenge exacted.

She thought someone had merely used Shen Lezhi, but she hadn’t anticipated that the truth was this cruel.

Her face was very calm at the moment, but the demonic energy that she had never been able to completely remove from her body was constantly surging.

In reality, her demonic nature had never disappeared. From the moment she fell into demonization in her past life, she had never been free of it for a moment.

She even felt a sense of dissociation, as if the constantly surging hatred was not hers but brought by the Linglong Heart.

But she was the Linglong Heart. Hatred was deeply buried in her flesh and blood. Her instinctive hatred could not be suppressed. She looked toward Shen Lezhi. In front of Shen Lezhi, she revealed the red demonic patterns that she had desperately suppressed all along.

Her demonization was an unstoppable reality. Even if she didn’t want to look like this in front of Shen Lezhi.

She had once hurt Shen Lezhi when she was covered in demonic patterns. Therefore, after letting Shen Lezhi go, Wang Xi had been suppressing it, until now, after learning the truth.

She suddenly didn’t want to suppress it anymore. Shen Lezhi also knew everything. Wang Xi looked at the distressed gaze the other party sent her and suddenly didn’t want to conceal her true self anymore.

The blood-red demonic patterns rapidly crept up on Shen Lezhi’s eyes. In just a few breaths, they covered Wang Xi’s snow-white skin.

Shen Lezhi couldn’t help but tremble when she saw Wang Xi like this. She was indeed afraid of Wang Xi in this state. The unconcealed madness in her eyes was the nightmare she had experienced in Youfang Academy.

Auntie Hua also saw Wang Xi’s demonized state and was startled. She immediately reached out and grabbed Shen Lezhi’s arm, pulling her back two steps.

Wang Xi’s scarlet eyes were fixed tightly on Shen Lezhi. She stood rigidly in place and did not actively approach Shen Lezhi.

However, Auntie Hua’s action of pulling Shen Lezhi back was too obvious. Those two steps away stung Wang Xi’s gaze, making it even more frantic.

But she still didn’t move. She even restrained the icy spiritual power in the air.

Shen Lezhi noticed this and immediately realized that Wang Xi was giving her a choice.

She looked up abruptly at Wang Xi. In her current demonic and ghostly appearance, Wang Xi still made Shen Lezhi feel that intense loneliness and coldness.

She suddenly lowered her head and smiled. She just happened to see her blood-stained clothes. Her stained appearance seemed no better than Wang Xi’s at the moment.

She had come so far, risking her life to find this person, not even caring about life and death. What could possibly stop her now?

What demon, what righteous path? She wasn’t a person who grew up in this world. In modern times, the romance between demon maidens and righteous cultivators was already popular. What did she have to fear?

Shen Lezhi smiled, raised her eyes, and met Wang Xi’s gaze, fearless and resolute.

Wang Xi looked at Shen Lezhi’s welcoming gaze and couldn’t help but think that the other party was always like this. Completely different from the people of the cultivation world. Never indifferent to life, with a sincere flame forever burning in her heart.

Her treasured sun-facing flower, her Fengfeng flower, was the most dazzling existence in her life.

No matter what Wang Xi became, the other party wouldn’t care. Her love seemed to be the purest thing in this world, untainted by any extraneous color.

It encompassed her infinitely.

“Lezhi, come here.” Wang Xi spoke what her heart desired.

If she was destined to fall into hell, then Shen Lezhi must fearlessly accompany her.

She had already given the other party a chance to escape. It was Shen Lezhi who had made this choice now.

Shen Lezhi listened, struggled free of Auntie Hua’s tightly gripping hand, and walked firmly towards Wang Xi.

She did not hesitate at all. She walked right up to Wang Xi, her fingers touching the spreading red pattern.

Wang Xi’s frantic gaze aggressively invaded her eyes, as if to erode and completely possess her.

And the restrained, calm, icy spiritual power from before now surged in, instantly enveloping Shen Lezhi.

Shen Lezhi was scalded by those scarlet eyes, shifting her gaze slightly; she was also tainted by the other party’s unrestrained spiritual power, as if Wang Xi had branded her.

She was powerless to resist and didn’t want to resist. She didn’t retreat an inch, allowing Wang Xi to pull her into her arms at this moment, hugging her tightly, leaving no gap.

Auntie Hua watched, frowned, and finally sighed. She said nothing more, picked up Crying Soul Thread, and left, leaving the two of them alone.

Wang Xi held Shen Lezhi for a long time. No longer suppressing it, her aura became much more violent. She always endured before, even more so when her spiritual power entered Shen Lezhi’s meridians.

But now, Shen Lezhi accepted her, even accepting her appearance completely. She had no reason to restrain and suppress herself anymore. Wang Xi had already sensed Auntie Hua’s departure, so she casually set up a small array around the two of them.

Shen Lezhi didn’t notice until Wang Xi’s spiritual power entered her body more fiercely than ever before.

The other party understood her too well. As soon as the spiritual power entered, its ferocity made Shen Lezhi tremble all over.

Shen Lezhi still had injuries on her body and was in severe pain. Just as she was about to speak to stop Wang Xi from tormenting her this way, her lip was suddenly covered by the other party’s cold lips without any explanation after only one word.

Completely different from the cautious touch last time, Wang Xi kept her eyes open this time, staring intently at her, her scarlet eyes filled with invasive intent.

Combined with her brutal intrusion into Shen Lezhi’s meridians, it made Shen Lezhi feel a flicker of fear.

But even if she was afraid, she couldn’t retreat now. The current Wang Xi would not allow her to escape.

Her lips were already being bitten by Wang Xi. The bite wasn’t hard, but the other party’s teeth were repeatedly grinding against her lower lip, making her feel a difficult-to-endure tingle.

Then, Wang Xi pressed against her. The Demon-Subduing Silk bound her hands, and a piece of cloth covered her eyes. Wang Xi tightly embraced her waist, and those icy fingertips seemed to freeze her even through her clothes.

But while that place was so cold, Shen Lezhi’s body felt like it was on fire.

She couldn’t see anything, but she could completely sense Wang Xi’s erratic breathing in front of her, Wang Xi’s lowered eyes, and the astonishing lust surging in those eyes.