My Nemesis Won’t Let Go After I Broke His Heart - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“Ding-ling-ling—”

A melodious and crisp bell tone awakened Gu Yanzhou’s consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, looking at the nothingness before him.

There was a faint movement at the warm spot in his embrace. He pressed his palm against it, but he could not feel the familiar protrusion.

He felt a bit anxious, wanting to find the object hidden in his clothes, but as he groped with his hands again, he discovered that something seemed to be wrapped around his wrists.

This thing sucked his strength dry, making it difficult for him to move any further.

A dense fragrance lunged into his nose, and the void of darkness before his eyes gradually dissipated. His long-blurred consciousness was completely awakened at this moment, and he struggled to force his eyes open.

Peach-pink ‘moon-shadow’ gauze brushed against his cheeks with the breeze, leaving leaping shadows of light upon his body.

He tilted his head to let the light gauze blocking his vision slide off, and only then did he see the scene before him clearly.

He was currently lying on a bed—more accurately, he was tied to a bed. His hands were pressed above his head, tightly bound by something, while his feet were suspended by light gauze from the end of the bed.

He wanted to break free from the restraints on his body, but struggling for a long time only caused the red-gauze-covered bed frame to emit a few “creaks.”

He sighed and gave up the struggle, turning his head to look elsewhere.

He saw a person seemingly sprawled inside the door?

Green robes, silver thread, peony patterns… someone from the Qingning Sect?

“Ahem, ahem…” That person coughed painfully a few times, then struggled to crawl up from the ground.

Helessly, his arms lacked the strength to support him, causing him to slide and fall flat on the ground. He managed to roll over with great effort, coughing violently as he lay on the floor.

Only then did Gu Yanzhou see the person’s face; it was a green and tender youth who had clearly not yet reached the age of crown.

“Ding-ling—” The familiar bell sound rang out again from the youth’s hand.

Gu Yanzhou’s eyes trembled slightly as he stared fixedly at the familiar object in the youth’s palm.

That’s right, it was his Heart-Clearing Bell.

His heart could no longer remain calm, and the strength in his hands grew.

“Yo, being this restless?” A coarse, low voice echoed in the cramped space.

Gu Yanzhou turned his head to find the source of the voice and saw a fat man dressed as a wealthy merchant, using his foot to test whether the youth was conscious.

Seeing that the youth had no power to resist, he stepped on the youth’s palm with satisfaction before leaving.

During this, he kicked away the Heart-Clearing Bell from the youth’s palm.

The fat man rubbed his hands together, approaching Gu Yanzhou with a face full of lewd smiles, saying as he walked: “Those Qingning Sect people are really in the way, but little treasure, I’ve kept you waiting.”

He sat sideways on the edge of the bed, pinching Gu Yanzhou’s chin with his fat fingers. After letting out a “tsk tsk” of admiration, he continued: “Little beauty, follow me, and you won’t have to be a ‘Beast Slave’ with a cheap life anymore.”

The fat man’s other hand was also restless, already groping toward Gu Yanzhou’s waist.

“Beast Slave? Who are you? How could you be raising Beast Slaves?”

The expression on Gu Yanzhou’s face grew increasingly solemn. Ever since he had leveled the demonic beast dens in the No-Man’s Land, where in this world would there still be youths required to fight with demonic beasts?

“Beast Slave” was exactly the unpleasant name the world gave to these youths.

The fat man was slightly stunned, and the movement of his hands stopped.

He looked at Gu Yanzhou with curiosity, saying with a hint of playfulness: “Since that demon from the No-Man’s Land died, no one cares about this sort of thing anymore.”

“Except…” He turned his head toward the youth behind him who had still not given up struggling, “for these busybodies.”

A glint flashed in the fat man’s cunning eyes, as if something had piqued his interest.

He pulled a gold ingot from his robes, dangling it before Gu Yanzhou’s eyes as he played with it, saying: “In this underground gambling house, many wealthy people like to watch fights between demonic beasts and humans. I am happy to open a gambling house to earn this money; what’s wrong with that?”

He used the gold ingot in his hand to continuously rub Gu Yanzhou’s cheek, his laughter so forced that the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes exploded.

“Little beauty, your face is smooth and flawless. If I threw you into a demonic beast’s cage, I’m afraid it would be scratched up. I can’t bear that,” he continued laughing. “Just follow your big brother, and I guarantee you’ll have no worries about food or clothing.”

“Urgh…”

Gu Yanzhou couldn’t help but tilt his head and dry heave, then turned to stare at the fat man with interest, saying: “You know how to use fragrance, don’t you?”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, continuing: “Mili Fragrance, and also…”

He opened his eyes. “Aphrodisiac poison.”

The fat man suddenly became excited. “Little beauty, you really know your stuff. Come on, let big brother love you properly…” He puckered his two fleshy lips, intending to press them against Gu Yanzhou.

“Don’t be in such a hurry,” a wisp of golden light flashed through Gu Yanzhou’s eyes, one that was not easily detected. As if in an instant, these pitch-black pupils were stained with gold. “Then do you know that in front of a Witch-Moon Butterfly, these things are completely beneath notice?”

As his voice fell, the fat man’s lips remained suspended in mid-air.

His expression turned panicked, as if he had seen something terrifying. Bean-sized beads of sweat slid down his cheeks from his temples, yet he could not move a single part of his body.

“Untie me,” Gu Yanzhou issued a command.

The fat man twisted his head extremely unnaturally, and his limbs moved with uncoordinated motions.

Gu Yanzhou sat on the edge of the bed and stretched his arms, turning his head to look at the fat man who was waiting beside him, shivering.

A sense of disgust welled up in his heart, and he kicked the man over with one foot. Then, straightening his clothes, he walked straight toward the youth by the door.

He had just taken one step when he was blocked by a Witch-Moon Butterfly that appeared out of thin air.

The entirely purple-red Witch-Moon Butterfly was currently scattering light-colored powder in front of him, flapping its wings vigorously as it circled incessantly before his eyes.

Gu Yanzhou tilted his head and caught her in his hand. As his palm closed, the Witch-Moon Butterfly also transformed into purple-red powder and vanished.

He opened his palm, seeing a trace of residual dust-light in his palm, and murmured: “It really has been a long time.”

Memories of the past flooded his mind. He didn’t understand how an evil person like him could be qualified to live once more.

He spread both palms before his eyes and let out a helpless, low laugh.

The age of this body was about the same as when he first entered the demonic beast dens.

Equally a Beast Slave, equally trapped in a desperate situation.

The only difference was that he had hardened his heart to survive, while the soul of this body’s owner had dissipated for some unknown reason.

He bent down to pick up the Heart-Clearing Bell from the ground, carefully wiping away the dust.

Then he placed it into his robes, the place where he had hidden it for countless years.

His withdrawn hand touched the upper left side of his chest. The smooth skin, however, triggered one of the worst memories of his previous life.

He remembered there should be a pit here, a blood-pit stabbed out by that man. The pain of that day—he still remembered it even now.

“Forget it,” he waved his hand, as if he had already reconciled with himself.

Blame it on the fact that he committed too many evils in his previous life and was ultimately killed by that Immortal Lord Fu Yun to uphold justice. The demon has dissipated, and the world is at peace; that is for the best.

Gu Yanzhou stopped thinking about these difficult-to-understand principles and continued walking toward the side of the young Qingning Sect cultivator.

He slowly squatted down, reaching out a hand to test the youth’s breath.

The breathing was steady; there shouldn’t be any major problems. He reached out to summon the Witch-Moon Butterfly, letting her flutter a few times in front of the youth’s nose.

“Achoo—” The youth suddenly snapped his eyes open, staring at Gu Yanzhou in a bit of a daze. “You… what are you doing?”

“Ah?” Gu Yanzhou pretended to shout in a high voice, scratching his head as he stood up.

He leaned all of his reactions toward what a youth of this body should possess, determined to conceal his identity and use this youth’s status to live his life over again.

He glanced sideways at the Witch-Moon Butterfly resting on his left shoulder, not worried at all that the youth would see anything strange.

After all, the world only knew that the demon of the No-Man’s Land possessed the God-Slaying weapon, the Phoenix Bone, but they did not know he had also refined an evil spirit called the Witch-Moon Butterfly.

The youth scrambled up from the ground, patting the dust off his clothes before beginning to bow toward Gu Yanzhou. “Thank you, hero, for saving my life. I am a cultivator of the Qingning Sect, and my master is…”

“That’s enough,” Gu Yanzhou interrupted him. “It doesn’t count as thanks; I didn’t save you.” He spread his hands. “I’m just an ordinary person.”

“Alright,” the youth still bowed in salute. “Then thank you regardless.”

The youth paused, appearing slightly hesitant. “Might I ask your esteemed name?”

Gu Yanzhou propped up his chin, thinking carefully. In his previous life, the world had bestowed upon him the infamous name “Lord Nameless,” and they only knew him as Gu Ye; they truly rarely mentioned his courtesy name. Aside from his parents, not a third person knew his courtesy name was Yanzhou.

He spoke it out boldly and confidently: “My name is Gu Yanzhou. And you? Kiddo?”

“This one is He Sijun of the Qingning Sect,” the youth cupped his hands in salute once more.

“Good. Since we are both safe and sound, let us go our separate ways. Farewell!” He cupped his hands in a gesture, bypassing He Sijun to push open the door.

“Wait,” He Sijun grabbed Gu Yanzhou’s sleeve, saying with some difficulty: “Please, brother, return the Heart-Clearing Bell to me. I cannot be without it.”

Not good, Gu Yanzhou thought to himself; this kid is actually quite difficult to deal with.

However, he did not want to return it. After all, from beginning to end, this Heart-Clearing Bell was his, Gu Yanzhou’s, property.

“I don’t have it,” Gu Yanzhou shook off the youth’s hand, pushed open the door, and left quickly. He didn’t feel like he was being a rogue; on the contrary, he was happy because he had found this familiar object.

But before he had gone far, he stopped in his tracks under the corridor, looking back in disbelief.

This stench was too familiar—so much so that he hadn’t reacted yet to whether it was emanating from his own body or drifting out from nearby.

However, how could there be demonic energy in this underground gambling house!

Gu Yanzhou walked back in disbelief, step by step, to the place he had just left.

At the doorway, the youth, whose entire body was enveloped in black mist, was already losing his mind, clutching his head and rolling on the ground in agony.

His eyeballs were turbid, and he slammed his head against the threshold again and again.

His forehead was already a gory red, yet he still did not stop.

Gu Yanzhou froze on the spot. He reached out his hand wanting to pull the youth up, but as soon as his fingers touched the black mist, he felt that burning sensation that had accompanied him for many years.

In the past, he still had a body full of cultivation to protect him, but now he was merely an ordinary mortal body; therefore, this burning sensation was even more intense.

Coming right after was a wave of nausea from the churning in his stomach.

In his previous life, he had spent a lifetime gathering and refining demonic energy in the No-Man’s Land, yet he still hadn’t found a way to dispel this thing. In the end, having no other choice, he used his own body to house the demonic energy scattered across various lands, only then barely managing to control it.

Therefore, if he wanted to save this youth, he could only use the old method from before.

The black mist surrounding He Sijun suddenly turned direction as if endowed with consciousness, rushing into the space between Gu Yanzhou’s eyebrows.

The massive force of the impact made it hard for him to stand steady; he retreated two steps and was tripped by the threshold behind him.

His entire person fell straight backward…

It’s over. This fall will likely turn me into an idiot.

Although he thought so in his heart, his body was unable to make any reaction.

This demonic energy was bizarre to the extreme and possessed powerful strength; this youth’s body was simply unable to contend with it.

The expected thud of hitting the ground delayed in coming. Gu Yanzhou only felt that his back was against something soft.

It seemed someone had caught him just as he was about to hit the ground.

With great difficulty, he snatched back a bit of control over his body, stiffly turning his neck to look diagonally upward.

This single look was no small matter—cold sweat instantly broke out over Gu Yanzhou’s body!

He roared in his heart: “To hell with my life! Why is it him! The arch-enemy who pierced my heart with a single sword in my last life!”

He Qingyuan!