Inner Demons

The life you owed me, you have repaid. The affection you owed me, you have settled with resources.

Ye Xuan spread his hands, making a gesture of being even, and a relaxed smile appeared on his face.

We owe each other nothing, and we will each live our own lives in peace. This is the best ending.

From now on, our paths shall not cross, and let us not judge each other's merits or faults.

That is the greatest respect you can give that man.

The air fell dead silent.

Although Ye Xuan's words were tactful and elegant, anyone who was not a fool could understand their true meaning.

Translated plainly, it meant:

In our past life, you tortured me and made my life a living hell.

In this life, you gave me the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment and saved my life.

Fine, we are even.

The debt is paid, the transaction is over.

From now on, you take your high road, and I will cross my single-log bridge. We will never see each other again until the day we die. Goodbye!

Xia Lengyue stared at him blankly.

The ecstasy on her face faded bit by bit, replaced by a suffocating gloom.

The surrounding temperature plummeted, and even the top-grade spirit jade on the ground began to form a thin layer of black frost.

Owe each other nothing?

Live our own lives in peace?

Xia Lengyue lowered her head, repeatedly chewing over these words.

Suddenly, she laughed out loud.

Heh... hehe...

Her laughter was low, hoarse, and carried a hair-raising neuroticism.

She abruptly raised her head. Those eyes, once full of love, had now turned completely crimson, locking fiercely onto Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan, you really calculated everything perfectly.

You say we are even, and we are just even?

You say we owe each other nothing, and that is it?

She slowly stood up. Even though her body was still weak, the paranoia and madness radiating from her very bones gave Ye Xuan a suffocating sense of oppression.

Your words are not wrong...

Xia Lengyue walked toward Ye Xuan step by step. With every step she took, her blood-red dress fluttered without any wind.

If we were just ordinary passersby, or business partners, handling it this way would indeed be very fair.

But you forgot one premise.

She walked right up to Ye Xuan, close enough to hear his breathing.

She reached out, tightly grabbing Ye Xuan's collar and pulling him toward her.

Her eyes were mad and twisted:

That woman... still loves this man.

Not only does she love him, but she loves him like a madwoman. She loves him to her very bones, loving him so much that even in death she wants to be entangled with him!

That woman has already regretted it. She has tasted enough of what it is like to lose him. Her only purpose for living in this life is to return to that man's side and start over!

Therefore...

Xia Lengyue's voice suddenly rose, becoming sharp and shrill. Her gaze was filled with madness and hostility:

To that woman, the greatest compensation was never any resources or treasures!

It is herself!

It is forcing her entire being, her life, and her love all onto that man!

And the only repayment that man can give her is to accept her! It is to return to her side!

This is the ending! This is the only ending!

What live our own lives in peace? That is an ending for dead people!

As long as I am still alive, do not even think about telling me we owe each other nothing!

Boom!

With her emotional outburst, the entire secret chamber trembled.

Looking at the seemingly crazed Xia Lengyue so close at hand, a deep sense of powerlessness welled up in Ye Xuan's heart, followed closely by a monstrous surge of anger.

Unreasonable!

She was an absolute madwoman through and through!

Talking logic with her? Talking about fairness? It was simply playing the lute to a cow!

In her world, only her love was love, and only her feelings were feelings.

If she said she wanted to compensate you, you had to accept it, and you had to accept it her way—which was selling yourself to her!

This kind of love was too heavy, too selfish, and too disgusting.

The warmth in Ye Xuan's eyes completely vanished.

He did not push Xia Lengyue away; he just let her grip his collar, his tone becoming colder than ever before:

Senior Sister, you are wrong.

Some mistakes... cannot be made up for.

It is like a broken mirror; even if you glue it back together, it is full of cracks.

Some damage, once done, is permanent.

Just because you unilaterally want to start over does not mean the other party has to play along with your performance.

Ye Xuan's words were like sharp knives, accurately piercing into Xia Lengyue's most painful spots.

Xia Lengyue trembled all over, her face turning pale as paper.

She looked at Ye Xuan's cold eyes.

It was true indifference.

No hatred, no love, only weariness and resistance.

This look made her break down even more than the despairing gaze he had given her right before he died in his past life.

No...

Xia Lengyue shook her head, tears welling up again, but this time she did not cry out loud. She just stared at him fixedly, her eyes revealing a desperate stubbornness.

It can be made up for... It definitely can...

Time...

As if grasping at the last straw, her voice was trembling yet firm:

I will use time to make up for it.

Ye Xuan, I know you still blame me now.

It does not matter.

We still have a long time.

You have the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment, and you have a lifespan of five hundred years. We will live for a very, very long time.

I will always stay by your side. If one year is not enough, then ten years; if ten years is not enough, then a hundred years.

I will be completely obedient to you, I will bare my heart to you, and I will make sure you are happy every single day.

I will use the long years to smooth out the scars from those dreams bit by bit.

Until one day... you get used to having me around, you cannot live without me, and you fall in love with me again.

Saying this, a poignant and twisted smile curled at the corners of Xia Lengyue's mouth.

She let go of Ye Xuan's collar and instead gently stroked his face, her fingers icy cold:

So, Junior Brother.

Stop saying things like live our own lives in peace.

Because... even if you run to the ends of the earth, I will definitely drag you back.

I will lock you by my side so you cannot go anywhere.

You are mine.

For all lifetimes, you are mine.

Listening to this affectionate confession that sounded more like a curse, Ye Xuan only felt a chill down his spine and his stomach churning.

Hopeless.

This woman is hopeless.

Ye Xuan looked at her and opened his mouth, wanting to scold her awake or refute her.

But ultimately, thousands of words turned into a deep, helpless sigh.

Sigh...

Ye Xuan closed his eyes and stopped speaking.

He knew that saying more would be useless.

Words are pale in the face of a madman.

Only action could break this suffocating cage.

The secret chamber fell into a deathly silence.

Seeing him stay silent, Xia Lengyue thought he had tacitly agreed or compromised.

Joy filled her heart. Wiping away her tears, she gently took Ye Xuan's hand:

Are you tired?

You just established your foundation, and your realm is not yet stable. Let us head out first; I have prepared a celebration banquet for you.

From now on... we will live on Lengyue Peak and never be separated again.

She pulled Ye Xuan and walked outside.

Ye Xuan obediently followed behind her.

But the hand resting at his side quietly pressed against his lower abdomen.

There, the Ten Thousand Mile Traceless Talisman was slightly heating up.

"By the way, our wedding ceremony is set for the eighth day of next month."

Xia Lengyue said to herself while straightening Ye Xuan's somewhat messy collar, her tone carrying an unquestionable sense of control. "I have already asked the Elder Hall to make the preparations, and invitations will be sent to all the major sects in the Eastern Continent. I want to give you the grandest arrangement, letting everyone know that you are my husband, a man worthy of me, Xia Lengyue."

However, Ye Xuan did not move.

He stood there like a piece of cold ice without any warmth.

"Postpone it."

These few light words instantly dropped the originally passionate atmosphere around them to the freezing point.

Xia Lengyue's hands, which were straightening his collar, suddenly stopped. She slowly raised her head, a trace of astonishment flashing in her eyes, which then turned into a dangerous gloom: "What did you say?"

"I said, postpone the wedding."

Ye Xuan looked straight into her eyes, his gaze calm as water, yet bottomlessly deep.

"Why?" Xia Lengyue's pitch suddenly rose, carrying a sharp questioning tone: "You have already achieved the Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment. Your strength, talent, and status are all sufficient! What other reason is there to postpone it? Could it be... that what you just said about not failing me was all a lie?"

A terrifying pressure faintly erupted from her body. Although she was weak at this moment, the aura belonging to a superior still made the air thick.

If it were the old Ye Xuan, he would probably have been scared into kneeling and begging for mercy long ago.

But the current Ye Xuan possessed the Five Elements Heavenly Dao Foundation in his dantian and hid the Ten Thousand Mile Traceless Talisman in his abdomen. His confidence was vastly different from before.

Instead of stepping back, he took a step forward, his eyes piercingly cold:

"Senior Sister, do you think my current state is suitable for marriage?"

"I said, I have inner demons. Those dreams torture me day and night."

"Whenever I close my eyes, all I see is you torturing me, and I see you laughing at me in another man's arms."

Ye Xuan reached out and pointed to his own heart, a mocking sneer curving the corners of his mouth:

"It is still cold in here."

"If you insist on forcing the ceremony and tying me to you, fine."

"You are strong, and I cannot resist."

"But all you will get is a walking corpse."

"At the ceremony, I will cooperate with you like a puppet. On our wedding night, I will lie there like a dead man."

"Is this what you want?"

Xia Lengyue trembled violently.

Walking corpse... dead man...

These words were like poisonous thorns, viciously piercing into the softest and most fearful place in her heart.

In her previous life, all she got was a corpse.

In this life, was she going to repeat the same mistakes?

"No... I can't..."

The fierce light in Xia Lengyue's eyes instantly dissipated, replaced by endless panic.

She reached out to grab Ye Xuan, but was forced back by his cold glare.

"If you don't agree, then forget it."

Ye Xuan turned around, acting as if he was about to leave, his back resolute. "I will just return this Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment cultivation to you. At worst... I will give you my life as well."

"Don't!"

Xia Lengyue completely broke down.

All her dominance, all her tyranny, instantly crumbled before Ye Xuan's posture of threatening with death.

"I will listen to you! I will listen to you!"

She rushed over and hugged Ye Xuan tightly from behind, pressing her face against his back. Her tears instantly soaked his clothes, and her voice trembled uncontrollably:

"Don't be angry... Junior Brother, please don't be angry..."

"We won't hold it, we won't hold it next month."

"We will wait until you are willing, until you are no longer afraid of me, and then we will hold it... okay?"

"I will listen to whatever you say, as long as you don't ignore me, as long as you don't look at me like that..."

That kind of look was too hurtful.

It was the look reserved for a stranger, or even an enemy. She couldn't bear it, she really couldn't.

Feeling the woman's trembling and subservience behind him, Ye Xuan's heart didn't have the slightest ripple.

In fact, there was even a trace of satisfaction.

As expected, a madman's weakness is her obsession.

The more I act like I don't care and the more I resist, the more humble and obedient she will become.