The Truth of the Past

Early the next morning, as the sky grew faintly bright.

Ye Yage appeared punctually at the Listening Rain Pavilion.

She seemed to have caught amnesia, not mentioning a single word about the near-devastating humiliation from last night.

She still wore a white dress so plain it was almost drab, her hair pinned up high, putting on the airs of a gentle and considerate junior martial sister.

Ye Xuan also tacitly played along with this performance.

The two sat by the stone table in the courtyard, with several obscure ancient tomes on array formations placed between them.

"Senior martial brother, the node of this Spirit Locking Array requires divine sense as a guide. If your mind is even slightly unsteady, you will suffer a backlash."

Ye Qingcheng pointed at the runes on the scroll, her voice soft as she explained with careful patience.

Her expression was focused, as if this was the only thing left in the world.

However, Ye Xuan keenly noticed that her hands were trembling.

Although it was extremely faint, there was an unconcealable, subtle quiver when her fingertips touched the pages.

Ye Xuan looked at her, a trace of amusement flashing in his eyes.

He knew very well in his heart that this female emperor, who was once an all-powerful figure at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence realm, was now strong in appearance but hollow inside.

Although her cultivation realm was still there, her Dao heart was already riddled with holes.

The curse he planted right before his death in his previous life was an inner demon she could never overcome.

As long as she saw Ye Xuan's face, she would remember her past betrayal and the tragic sight of him marching resolutely to his death.

This bone-deep self-loathing left her with less than a tenth of her cultivation base.

The reason she had begged for his affection so humbly last night, even going so far as to offer herself to his bed, was not only due to her twisted love, but mostly because she wanted to repair her shattered Dao heart through dual cultivation.

Only by obtaining Ye Xuan's forgiveness, only by possessing him once more.

Could her inner demon be dispelled and her cultivation restored.

"Senior martial brother... are you listening?"

Ye Qingcheng noticed Ye Xuan's distraction. She carefully raised her head, her eyes somewhat panicked. "Is my explanation too boring?"

Ye Xuan withdrew his gaze, a half-smile curling the corners of his lips. He didn't answer her question but instead asked abruptly:

"Junior martial sister, I saw that when you were explaining this array just now, your aura was somewhat chaotic, and your mind didn't seem very peaceful. Did you... remember something?"

Ye Qingcheng stiffened all over.

This was a probe.

A naked probe.

She bit her lower lip, the fingers gripping the scroll turning white from the force.

"I..." She opened her mouth, wanting to deny it.

But Ye Xuan nodded first, as if muttering to himself, "True, being this close, it's inevitable to have a reaction."

"A reaction?" Ye Qingcheng blanked, her heart suddenly rising to her throat. "Senior martial brother... reacted to what?"

Ye Xuan rubbed his temples, his brows tightly furrowed, showing an expression of both confusion and pain, as if deeply troubled:

"I don't know why, but the closer you are to me, some... bizarre memory fragments inexplicably surface in my mind."

"Fragments?"

Ye Qingcheng's breathing instantly quickened, her pupils violently contracting.

Could it be... could it be that senior martial brother is awakening his memories of his past life?

If he remembered those beautiful times from their past life, would he forgive her? Would he turn back into that Ye Xuan whose eyes were filled only with her?

"Senior martial brother..." Her voice trembled, her body involuntarily leaning forward as she asked eagerly, "What... what did you see?"

Ye Xuan did not answer immediately.

He slowly closed his eyes, a trace of disgust and a cold sneer surfacing on his face. His voice became icy and hollow, as if recounting a nightmare:

"I saw a grand hall. Resplendent and magnificent."

The color on Ye Qingcheng's face instantly drained away, as if she had plunged into an ice cave.

That place... she wouldn't forget it even in death.

Ye Xuan ignored her reaction, continuing to describe in that indifferent tone:

"I saw myself, wearing a tattered gray robe, kneeling on the ground like a dog, crying and begging a woman to speak."

"And that woman..."

Ye Xuan suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze piercing toward Ye Qingcheng like a sharp sword, his voice abruptly turning chillingly cold. "That woman looks exactly like you. She was wearing a gorgeous brocade robe, standing in the center of the hall, surrounded by four men."

"There were four men: one carrying a sword on his back, one holding a fan, one like a brute bull, and another with an arrogant face."

"I saw myself crying and shouting, Qingcheng, say something! We are husband and wife, we don't need anyone else!"

"But that woman..."

A highly mocking arc curled at the corner of Ye Xuan's mouth. Imitating the demeanor of the woman in his memory, he slowly lowered his head. "She just kept her head down, not saying a word. Finally, she said, This disciple... obeys the elders' arrangements."

As Ye Xuan's last word fell, the scroll in Ye Qingcheng's hands dropped to the ground with a smack.

It was as if all the bones had been pulled from her body. She slumped weakly onto the stone stool, trembling violently all over, her teeth chattering and making clicking sounds.

This scene was a nightmare that she hadn't been able to shake off for five hundred years.

It was the beginning of her sins, and also the starting point of her break with Ye Xuan.

"Senior martial brother..."

Her tears surged out wildly, instantly soaking her clothes.

She wanted to grab Ye Xuan's hand, but was coldly avoided by him.

Ye Xuan looked at her, his eyes indifferent. "What I recalled are these uncomfortable scenes. Junior martial sister, can you tell me what this means?"

"No... it's not... it's not what you think..."

Ye Qingcheng broke down.

"The scene senior martial brother saw is exactly my past life! But I had my own bitter difficulties!"

She shouted hoarsely, her voice becoming sharp and raspy due to extreme grievance. "It's just that I tried to explain these difficulties so many times in our past life, but you refused to listen! You just turned and walked away, you never gave me a chance to explain!"

Ye Xuan leaned back against his chair, looking at the tear-streaked woman in front of him. He smiled faintly, his tone as relaxed as if he were discussing the weather:

"Don't get so agitated, junior martial sister. This might just be a hallucination, or a dream. No need to take it seriously."

"No! This is real!"

Ye Qingcheng suddenly stood up, her hands propped on the stone table, her body leaning forward. She stared fixedly at Ye Xuan, her tears rolling down like pearls from a broken string.

"I know you hold a grudge, I know you hate me! But you have no idea what the situation was like back then!"

She trembled all over, her nails scratching harsh sounds against the stone table, as if she wanted to pour out all the grievances she had accumulated for hundreds of years:

"At that time, the Grand Elder threatened me! He said that if I didn't agree, if I didn't accept the four core disciples as Dao companions, he would capture you! He would cripple your cultivation, throw you into the Corpse Refining Hall, and treat you as the lowest form of human cauldron! He would make you wish for death but unable to die!"

Ye Qingcheng cried so hard she couldn't catch her breath, her chest heaving violently, like a drowning person struggling desperately:

"That day... my heart hurt more than death! I watched you kneeling there, watched you crying and shouting. I wanted to rush over and hold you, I wanted to tell you we might as well die together!"

"But I couldn't... If I died, what would happen to you? You didn't even have the ability to protect yourself!"

"I could only agree! I could only swallow my shattered teeth and bear it in silence!"

"From that moment on, my heart held nothing but revenge! I wanted to take revenge on the Grand Elder, revenge on those four beasts, revenge on this cold and cruel world!"

"Later, I killed them all! I extracted the Grand Elder's soul and refined it, lighting him as a sky lantern to burn for a hundred years! I chopped those four men into meat paste and fed them to the dogs! Everyone who had even touched the hem of my clothes, I slaughtered them all!"

"I did all of this... all for you! Senior Brother!"

As she finished speaking, she could no longer hold on. Her legs gave way, and she threw herself directly into Ye Xuan's embrace.

"Sob sob sob..."

She hugged Ye Xuan's waist tightly, buried her face in his chest, and cried her heart out.

Five hundred years had passed.

For hundreds of years, she had borne the infamy of being a slut and a traitor, borne Ye Xuan's hatred, licking her wounds alone in the dead of every night.

She felt so deeply wronged.

She was clearly the one who had sacrificed the most, the one who had not hesitated to sully herself to protect her husband.

Why was it met with hundreds of years of blame from her husband?

Why did he refuse to forgive her even until his death?

"Senior Brother... believe me... please believe me..."

Ye Xuan let her hold him, not pushing her away.

He raised his hand and gently stroked Ye Qingcheng's trembling back, his movements as gentle as if soothing an injured kitten.

"So that's how it is..."

He sighed softly, his tone full of pity and sudden realization, "I misunderstood you."

Ye Qingcheng's crying suddenly paused, then became even more intense.

He believed it!

Senior Brother finally believed it!

At this moment, she felt her riddled heart finally receive a trace of salvation.

"In that case, you have suffered, Qingcheng."

Ye Xuan's voice was so gentle it could almost drip water. "You actually endured so much for me... it must have been so hard on you."

Ye Qingcheng nodded desperately in his arms, crying so hard her body convulsed, like a child who had finally found a parent to complain to, wanting to cry out all her grievances.

However.

Just as she thought her suffering had finally come to an end and she could finally receive her Senior Brother's love.

The hand gently stroking her head suddenly stopped.

Immediately after, a cold, impatient, and even slightly disgusted voice came from above:

"Junior Sister, are you ever going to finish crying?"

Ye Qingcheng stiffened, her cries abruptly stopping.

She looked up blankly, teardrops still hanging on her face, the tip of her nose red, looking pitiful and lovely.

What caught her eyes was Ye Xuan's instantly changed face.

The previous gentleness, pity, and empathy had all vanished. Replaced by a face full of coldness and alienation, even frowning, as if looking at an unreasonable madwoman.

"Se... Senior Brother?" Ye Qingcheng's mind went blank, completely unable to keep up with Ye Xuan's pace.

Ye Xuan gently pushed her, signaling her to get away.

"I think I understand now."

Ye Xuan patted his lapel that was wet with her tears, his tone as flat as if making a concluding statement: "You are my lover from my past life, you were forced to turn your coat to save me, so you came to find me to rekindle our past romance. Is that right?"

"Yes!" Ye Qingcheng nodded hastily, like a good baby waiting for praise, looking at him with hopeful eyes: "Senior Brother, it's really like that! I have never betrayed you!"

"Never betrayed me..."

Ye Xuan chewed over these words and suddenly let out a sneer.

He stood up, looking down from above at Ye Qingcheng who was kneeling on the ground, his eyes full of playfulness and scrutiny.

"This story sounds truly touching."

"But..."

Ye Xuan changed his tone, the corner of his mouth hooking into a malicious arc, "I don't believe a word of it."