You Just Hate That He Doesn't Love You

The Killing Dao Ancestor’s words exploded beside Bai Qiangu’s ears like a thunderclap.

Yet after hearing them, Bai Qiangu fell silent.

There was no fear or sign of persuasion on her face. She simply stood there quietly, a deep sorrow surfacing in her eyes.

After a long while, she let out a soft sigh. “Being under his control… would actually be better.”

The Killing Dao Ancestor’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”

“I said being under his control would actually be better.” Bai Qiangu’s voice was frighteningly calm, as though she were speaking of something utterly ordinary. “You don’t understand. The current Ye Xuan doesn’t even pay attention to me.”

A bitter smile tugged at her lips. A thin mist of tears clouded her mesmerizing phoenix eyes. “I’d rather he use me. I’d rather he treat me as the sword in his hand. At least then, I could remain by his side. I could still see him smile and hear his voice.”

“But now? He can’t even be bothered to look at me.”

The Killing Dao Ancestor’s expression turned grim. She stared at Bai Qiangu, her eyes filled with disbelief and overwhelming fury.

“You’re the Demon Venerable! The supreme ruler of the demonic path, one who commands the heavens and shakes the universe! You’re the Master of the Wuji Demon Sect, with millions of disciples under your command!”

Her voice suddenly rose, filled with exasperation and anger. “Why would you lower yourself and insist on becoming Ye Xuan’s woman? Have you gone mad?”

Bai Qiangu countered, “Are you happy being the Killing Dao Ancestor?”

The Killing Dao Ancestor froze.

Bai Qiangu’s expression was as indifferent as if she were speaking about someone else’s affairs. “I am also the Master of the Wuji Demon Sect. I fought my way out of a mountain of corpses and sea of blood, killed my own master, slaughtered my fellow disciples, and climbed onto the throne of the Demon Venerable over heaps of bleached bones. I’ve killed no fewer people than you, Dao Ancestor.”

“I’ve seen the deepest darkness in this world, and I’ve tasted the glory of standing at the pinnacle of power.”

She lowered her head slightly and looked at her hands—hands that had once been stained with blood. “But I found it meaningless. Completely meaningless. The taste of power, the thrill of slaughter, the honor of standing above all others…”

“After I met Ye Xuan, all of it became dull and empty.”

“The position of Demon Venerable, revered by countless billions, is still worth less than a single glance from him beneath the peach blossoms.”

The Killing Dao Ancestor’s expression grew even darker. “And you think becoming Ye Xuan’s woman—letting him control your every joy and sorrow—will make you happy?”

“Happy.”

Bai Qiangu answered without hesitation. A nearly fanatical light flickered in her eyes. “Even if it lasts only one day, even if it lasts only an hour, even if all I can do is watch him smile at me, I would still feel happier than I did after being the Demon Venerable for a thousand years. Don’t you understand that feeling, Dao Ancestor?”

She stared directly at the Killing Dao Ancestor. “You refuse to become anyone’s subordinate because you’ve never truly loved someone.”

The Killing Dao Ancestor’s body stiffened slightly.

Bai Qiangu pressed forward, her voice growing sharper. “You hate Fang Yuan, but what is it that you truly hate him for?”

Her voice echoed through the silent guest room, every word striking the Killing Dao Ancestor’s heart like a heavy hammer.

“You don’t hate him for using you, ordering you around, or treating you as a tool for killing!”

“What you hate is… that he never loved you from beginning to end.”

The words were like the sharpest sword, stabbing straight through the Killing Dao Ancestor’s heart.

Her phantom form trembled violently. An unprecedented pain and hatred appeared on her illusory face.

Her killing intent surged wildly, and the temperature throughout the guest room plummeted to freezing. A thin layer of frost even formed across the walls.

“Yes…”

After a long while, the Killing Dao Ancestor finally spoke. Her voice was so hoarse that it was almost unrecognizable, yet it carried a heart-rending sorrow. “I hate Fang Yuan. I hate him more than anything.”

“It isn’t because he used me. It isn’t because he ordered me around. And it isn’t because he destroyed my Dao heart and reduced me from the lofty Killing Dao Ancestor to an obedient dog.”

Her voice trembled faintly, carrying pain suppressed for countless epochs. “It’s because he never loved me from beginning to end. Every bit of tenderness, every smile, every sweet word he gave me was nothing more than a means of controlling me.”

“And I… I loved him with all my heart. I wanted nothing more than to tear out my own heart and place it before him.”

She raised her head and looked at Bai Qiangu.

At that moment, the Killing Dao Ancestor, who had once looked down upon all living beings, actually had a glimmer of tears in her eyes. “Do you know what the saddest part is? Even though I know he never loved me, even though I know I was nothing more than a chess piece he could discard at any moment…”

“I still can’t forget him. Throughout these countless epochs, I’ve hated him every day. I’ve cursed him every day. But on the other side of that hatred, I still love him just as deeply.”

“So you were right.” The Killing Dao Ancestor gave a desolate smile. “What I hate isn’t that he used me. What I hate is simply that he doesn’t love me.”

The guest room fell into a prolonged silence.

At that moment, the two women—both standing at the pinnacle, both ruthless and merciless, both trapped by love—felt a shared sorrow, as though they were kindred spirits suffering the same fate.

Bai Qiangu gazed quietly at the Killing Dao Ancestor. The hostility and displeasure in her eyes had already vanished.

In their place was deep understanding and sympathy.

She knew that every word the Killing Dao Ancestor had spoken came from the bottom of her heart. And those words were precisely the feelings Bai Qiangu herself had been unable to voice.

Did she hate Ye Xuan?

No. She did not hate him in the slightest.

She only hated that Ye Xuan did not love her.

She only hated herself for being unable to win his love.

“So…”

Bai Qiangu’s voice was low and resolute, like a decree that could never be revoked. “Ye Xuan is mine. No matter what happens, I will have him. Regardless of the price I must pay, how many people I must kill, or how many years I must wait, I will make him fall in love with me again.”

Her eyes became utterly fanatical, carrying a madness that made the heart tremble. “Even if he makes me his concubine. Even if he makes me kneel before him. Even if he wants me to give up my position as Demon Venerable and become a powerless mortal. I would accept it all willingly.”

The Killing Dao Ancestor looked at her stubborn, deluded expression, both furious and helpless. “You’re completely insane.”

“Perhaps I am.” Bai Qiangu smiled indifferently. “But so what? In this life, there is nothing I, Bai Qiangu, cannot obtain. If I can’t have something, then I’ll destroy it. But I can’t bear to destroy Ye Xuan. So I have no choice but to obtain him.”

The Killing Dao Ancestor remained silent for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh. “Fine. Since you’re determined, I won’t stop you. But… remember this: there must be some connection between Ye Xuan and Fang Yuan.”

“That aura is simply too similar. If you insist on obtaining him, you must be prepared to be completely manipulated in the palm of his hand.”

“I’m ready.” Bai Qiangu’s voice was as calm as still water. “From the moment I fell in love with him, I was already prepared.”

She turned and walked over to the window, gazing out at the night sky above the Sword God Palace. The stars filled her enchanting eyes, flickering with an almost pathological obsession.

“Ye Xuan, I love you.”