Solid Evidence Proves She Is a Player

The days of cultivation were dull and filled with despair.

Ye Xuan sat in the drafty wooden hut of the handyman quarters, trying to guide the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body.

However, his five-element mixed spiritual root was like a sieve with five holes. As soon as the spiritual energy entered, it slipped away in all directions, making it impossible to condense into an effective circulatory cycle within his meridians.

"Damn it!"

For seven consecutive days, his cultivation had not advanced an inch.

"Am I really just trash?"

Ye Xuan opened his eyes and smiled bitterly in helplessness.

Without that heaven-defying Five Elements Chaos Sutra, having a five-element spiritual root truly made it impossible to move a single step in the cultivation world.

At this speed, let alone Foundation Establishment, it would be a question whether he could break through to the third level of Qi Condensation before dying of old age.

Sighing, he decided to go to work.

As a handyman on Lengyue Peak, Ye Xuan's daily routine was dull and heavy:

Wake up at the crack of dawn to fetch water from the spiritual spring and irrigate the herb garden on the back mountain.

Sweep fallen leaves in the afternoon, wipe the stone tables and benches in the courtyard, and feed several bad-tempered spiritual cranes in the evening.

However, what sent chills down his spine was never the heavy labor, but a certain gaze.

No matter what he was doing or which corner of Lengyue Peak he was in, he could always feel a pair of eyes watching him.

Whenever Ye Xuan looked up, he would always see a figure in a black dress looking at him. Her gaze was not sharp; instead, it carried a gentleness that made Ye Xuan's hair stand on end.

This gentleness was like looking at a lost and found puppy, cautious, yet full of a suffocating desire for control.

"Ye Xuan, are you tired?"

Just as Ye Xuan put down the heavy water buckets and was about to wipe his sweat, a pristine white silk handkerchief with a faint fragrance was handed in front of his eyes.

Xia Lengyue had appeared behind him at some unknown point, walking silently like a ghost.

Ye Xuan's heart suddenly tightened. He instinctively took a step back, cupped his hands, bowed his head, and said with trepidation, "Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister. My status is lowly, and I dare not trouble you."

Saying that, he haphazardly wiped his face with his coarse cloth sleeve.

Xia Lengyue's hand froze in mid-air. A gloomy dark glint flashed deep in her eyes, but it disappeared in an instant.

"Your sleeve is too rough; it will chafe your face," she said softly, her tone carrying a hint of unquestionable stubbornness.

Ye Xuan gave a dry laugh. "This disciple has thick and rough skin, not that precious."

Xia Lengyue did not insist further. She just withdrew her hand, her gaze lingering on his handsome face, as if looking through this face at a distant old friend.

"Is there still no progress in your cultivation?" she suddenly asked.

Ye Xuan pulled a bitter face and sighed. "To reply to Senior Sister, I have a useless five-element spiritual root, so sensing spiritual energy is inherently difficult. Over the past half month, no matter how hard I try, spiritual energy is like water in a funnel; it just cannot be retained."

Listening to his complaints, Xia Lengyue did not show a look of disdain. Instead, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, revealing a very faint smile.

"It does not matter," she said softly. "Being a bit slower... is quite nice."

Slower, so you won't leave me so early.

Slower, so you can only depend on me and go nowhere else.

Ye Xuan could not understand the hidden meaning behind her words; he just felt that this comfort sounded weird.

Emboldened, he decided to probe into Xia Lengyue's background.

"Senior Sister is so talented and stunningly beautiful, and takes such good care of me. I am truly overwhelmed by the favor."

Ye Xuan pretended to be honest and gossipy, scratching his head. "If I may be so bold to ask, is Senior Sister married?"

The faint smile on Xia Lengyue's face slowly disappeared, replaced by a bottomless, gloomy coldness.

She stared fixedly at Ye Xuan, her eyes churning with dark emotions like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

Ye Xuan's heart beat wildly. Just when he thought he had said the wrong thing, Xia Lengyue spoke.

"In the past, yes."

Her voice was very light, as if afraid of disturbing something. "The family I was born into is a clan named the Xia family. And there... I once had a husband."

Ye Xuan swallowed a mouthful of saliva, forcibly controlling his facial expressions, and feigned surprise. "Ah? Senior Sister has actually been married? Then... then your husband must also be a dragon among men, right?"

"A dragon among men?"

Xia Lengyue laughed self-deprecatingly, her eyes reddening slightly. "No, in the eyes of the world, he was trash. He had no background, cowardly and incompetent."

Ye Xuan: "..."

Isn't this me? This is definitely me!

Xia Lengyue suddenly took a step forward, closing in on Ye Xuan.

The fragrance on her body, mixed with a cold coercion, made Ye Xuan almost breathless.

Her eyes suddenly became extremely excited, even carrying a hint of frantic expectation, as she stared dead into Ye Xuan's eyes:

"Why do you ask this? Ye Xuan... did you, perhaps, remember something?"

Her voice was trembling, and her hand unconsciously grabbed Ye Xuan's sleeve, her nails almost digging into his flesh.

Looking at her eyes full of madness, the alarm bells in Ye Xuan's heart rang at the highest level.

I cannot admit it!

I absolutely cannot admit it!

According to the game's setting, although Xia Lengyue was remorseful, her love was twisted.

If she knew I had recovered my past life's memories but refused to acknowledge them, given her current mental state, she might just turn me into a human swine and lock me by her side forever!

Thus, Ye Xuan put on a look of bewilderment and panic. "Remember what? Senior Sister, I was just asking casually. If I have offended you, please punish me!"

The light in Xia Lengyue's eyes instantly extinguished.

"Is that so... you don't remember." She let go of his hand, her body swaying slightly.

"It makes sense. After drinking the soup of Meng Po, all past lives are forgotten. How could you remember those painful things..."

She muttered to herself, then took a deep breath. When she looked at Ye Xuan again, her eyes had returned to calmness, only with an added touch of paranoia.

"For some reason, I feel very close to you when I see you. You look very much like that old friend of mine."

"That is this junior brother's honor," Ye Xuan bowed and scraped.

Xia Lengyue took a brocade pouch from her storage bag and stuffed it into Ye Xuan's hands. "Inside are fifty low-grade spirit stones and a few bottles of Qi Gathering Pills. Take them; they will help with your cultivation."

Fifty low-grade spirit stones!

In the Azure Cloud Sect, where an outer sect handyman could only receive one spirit stone a month, this was simply a massive fortune.

Ye Xuan hurriedly declined. "Senior Sister, this is too precious. This disciple cannot accept it..."

"If I give it to you, take it."

Xia Lengyue interrupted him, her tone turning cold and tough. "I do not like others refusing me. Especially you."

Ye Xuan had no choice but to take it with both hands, putting on a look of extreme gratitude. "Thank you for your great kindness, Senior Sister! Ye Xuan could never repay you even if I worked as a horse or an ox!"

Seeing his humble and submissive appearance, Xia Lengyue did not feel annoyed like before; instead, she felt incredibly reassured.

"You are still the same as before..." A sickly smile curled up at the corners of her mouth. "Submissive and timid. But this is good too."

Only like this, you won't rush out to your death to protect me like in your past life.

Only like this, you can only hide under my wings and be my personal trash husband.

A trace of deep exhaustion flashed through Xia Lengyue's eyes. She reached out, wanting to rub Ye Xuan's head, but ultimately settled for a pat on his shoulder.

"Ye Xuan, remember this."

"The men of this world are all fickle, cowardly creatures who cling to life and fear death. Bai Yujing and Zhao Wuji are no exception."

"Only you are different."

Only you are willing to die for me.

As Ye Xuan listened to her words, especially upon hearing those two familiar names slip from her lips, cold sweat completely drenched his clothes.

He let out a dry laugh. "Senior Sister must be joking. How could I possibly compare to big shots like them?"

Despite what he said, his mind was in a state of absolute panic.

It was confirmed.

This was the deranged Xia Lengyue from the post-game!

Good heavens, you have got to be messing with me!