This matter was a long story.
Over the past sixty years, Shi Luoyi had deliberately forgotten Bian Lingyu's name, and had also forgotten his appearance.
All she vaguely remembered was his exceptional appearance, elegant and cold, much like his name, shining as bright as the moon in the vast sky.
Shi Luoyi was young, naive and reckless with a proud and lofty heart. She harbored intense resentment towards Bian Qingxuan but had never considered harming her brother, Bian Lingyu.
At that time, she was pressed by Bian Qingxuan in every way, and she did missions by herself, often with injuries all over her body, but also being ridiculed and taunted behind her back.
One day, she was bullied by the cultivators of other sects, who saw her alone and mistook her for a weak cultivator from a minor sect. They coveted her beauty and plotted against her. Shi Luoyi, with her inexperienced skills and means , barely escaped from the secret realm in a mess, poisoned by an aphrodisiac. When she stumbled back to the sect, her arm had a large slash, yet strangely, no one bothered to inquire about her condition.
Her fellow disciples, who once treated her kindly, now gossiped about her.
"I told you that she has bad luck, you should stay away from her."
"Whenever we go out with Junior Sister, we always end up with a pile of treasures. There were also a few times when we completed sect missions without having even to lift a finger."
"Junior Sister is such a good person, she's always making things difficult for her. I saw Junior Sister worrying about her last time, and invited her to join us, but she rejected it with a cold face, and said that Junior Sister was being hypocritical."
"Ai, our junior sister is truly kind. Despite her nastiness, the junior sister never holds a grudge."
"Who says not? Luckily she didn't follow, or else she would have caused us a bunch of trouble again."
No matter how strong Shi Luoyi was, she was only a young cultivator who had just reached adulthood. Tears welled in her eyes, her teeth were clenched, her grievances and anger were intertwined, causing her body to tremble slightly.
She straightened her back, unwilling to show weakness, pretending that she didn't care. She only wanted to find Wei Changyuan; if they didn't care about her, that was fine—Senior Brother Changyuan would surely feel sorry for her!
But when she arrived at the apricot grove, she saw Wei Changyuan personally teaching swordsmanship to Bian Qingxuan.
The apricot blossoms were fluttering, the sun was shining brightly, and the white-clad girl and the black-clad man formed a picturesque scene.
Shi Luoyi saw something very familiar in Wei Changyuan's eyes.
That was something that once belonged only to Shi Luoyi, concentration and passion.
Shi Luoyi's gaze shifted downward, and she caught sight of the spiritual jade pendant hanging from Bian Qingxuan's waist, and her heart suddenly felt empty. The Wei family was a large clan in the cultivation world, and as offsprings were precious in the cultivation world, the Wei Clan would forge a Spirit Jade for every descendant born.
Crafted by the world's finest craftsmen, the spiritual jade flowed like water with hidden swimming fish inside. It was a token of love from the Wei family scion to their Dao companion upon reaching adulthood.
And this token was now hanging around Bian Qingxuan's waist.
Blood suddenly welled up in her throat. Shi Luoyi, in a trance, recalled a distant past when, under flickering candlelight, Wei Changyuan bore punishment on her behalf. He endured a beating, shielding her, and knelt in the ancestral hall as a consequence, and she blamed herself so much that she couldn't stop crying. Wei Changyuan sighed helplessly, handing her the spiritual jade token to play with, saying that when she grew a little older, he would give it to her.
At that time, she was innocent and oblivious of its meaning, but now, understanding has come too late.
Her arm throbbed with pain, and fresh blood spilled from her lips.
Shi Luoyi forgot how she left in a daze.
That day as the apricot blossoms rain fell, amidst endless suppression and agony, she gave birth to her heart demon.
A voice tempted and manipulated her: "Wei Changyuan hurt your heart; why don't you also hurt his heart in return? Why is it that in matters of love, it's always the woman who suffers more deeply? Make him taste the pain you feel today."
Yes, why?
Her eyes turned bloodshot as she kicked open the courtyard door of an outer disciple, breaking through the protective formation set by Bian Qingxuan, and seized the mortal boy inside…
Shi Luoyi recognized him as Bian Lingyu, Bian Qingxuan's elder brother who had no cultivation roots and was only able to stay in the sect due to his sister's plea.
The phrase "love me, love my dog" held true for her. She hated Bian Lingyu as much as she hated Bian Qingxuan. But she had always been proud, let alone using him to torture Bian Qingxuan, she didn't even bother to share her gaze with this mortal.
However, why shouldn't people be despicable?
Always wearing an innocent and pitiful face, Bian Qingxuan effortlessly plunged her life into the abyss again and again.
Since there was a way to make Bian Qingxuan suffer, then why not do it? They all called her vicious and despicable, so why not live up to that reputation!
Under the control of her inner demons, she thought resentfully and expectantly, Bian Qingxuan, Wei Changyuan, will you regret what happened today someday?
"......"
The young man's gaze swept over her disheveled hair, dirty cheeks, and finally landed on the wound on her arm. Frowning slightly, he said, "Shi Luoyi, get out."
When Shi Luoyi heard this, her inner demons were in a frenzy and her eyes turned even redder. "What right does a mere mortal like you have to oppose me?"
What happened later? Shi Luoyi covered her forehead – it was all too confusing.
Can't recall, it's unbearable to recall.
Shi Luoyi didn't know whether they regretted it or not. She only knew that she regretted it.
Because she could never forget the young man's eyes later on, his resistance at the beginning and his repeated attempts to stop her. Until it was too late and Bian Qingxuan barged in, Bian Lingyu suddenly understood something, and closed his eyes with cold indifference, telling them all to get lost.
Shi Luoyi's inner demon still lingered, and she couldn't feel his pain. She curled her lips into a smile, taking pleasure in the embarrassment and breakdown of this brother and sister pair.
It was only on the second day after that incident, after Shi Luoyi's inner demon was suppressed and her spiritual consciousness restored to clarity, she began to feel afraid and regretful.
Even Bian Qingxuan falling ill for two months due to anger didn't bring joy to Shi Luoyi.
Shi Luoyi had lost her mother when she was young, and her father had raised her with great care. Since Shi Huan's deep slumber, Shi Luoyi's situation deteriorated, especially as her inner demon emerged. Moreover, no one has ever succeeded in eradicating the inner demon once it was born and each occurrence was more severe than the last. Unless she abolished her cultivation and innate talent with cultivation root, and became a useless person destined for an early death.
Otherwise she was doomed to walk the path of killing and evil.
When she was young, she was extremely scared. She didn't want to be deposed, nor did she want her father's reputation to be ruined because of her. With no one to help her, she could only explore ways to eliminate her inner demon on her own.
Her inner demon emerged because of the oppression from Wei Changyuan and Bian Qingxuan, so she desperately hoped Wei Changyuan would change his mind and that she could surpass Bian Qingxuan. As long as her inner demon didn't act up a second time, perhaps she could eliminate it?
Caught up in her own struggles and unbearable pain, under the influence of the inner demon, she became increasingly evil and cold-hearted, so how could she still care about Bian Lingyu?
Later on, during the decades of fleeing all the way, Shi Luoyi rarely, ever thought of him a few times.
During these moments, she would close her crimson eyes, cover her ears, and try to be more indifferent.
She told herself over and over again that those who are close to red are red and those who are close to ink are black. How could Bian Qingxuan's brother possibly be a good person?
As time passed, she grew more indifferent. Having fallen into demonic cultivation, she cared even less: he was just a mortal, perhaps long since died of old age. Last she heard from a few cultivators that he was doing well on the Mingyou Mountain - that was enough.
She thought: he must have forgotten me by now, or probably feeling glad - after all, I'm now like a drowned dog now, so he of all people should be the happiest. I'll let him be happy.
These comforting words brought some effect. Later, as a demon cultivator, she successfully evaded the matter and stopped thinking about Bian Lingyu.
Because of her deliberate forgetfulness, from then on, she thought of every blade of grass and tree of the Buye (Perpetual Bliss / Ever Radiant) Mountain more than she thought about Bian Lingyu.
And now, returning to sixty years ago, while many things had yet to happen, some had already unfolded.
She calculated in her mind and realized that the incident between them happened just three months ago.
Shi Luoyi simply wanted to vomit a mouthful of blood.
Dog old heaven, do you truly have no eyes, why did you let me come back to life?
And if you truly opened your eyes and gave me a chance to redo things, why not sooner - even just three months earlier would have sufficed.
What was she going to do in this situation? The demon in her heart had already taken root and was irreparable. It seemed she was destined to fall into the demonic state for life. Bian Lingyu had already been humiliated by her and could not be reversed.
Now that Bian Lingyu had come to her door – should she kneel and kowtow to the person outside the door!
She didn't know what to do, but Huixiang was very skillful. Seeing Shi Luoyi stunned silent, she thought that she was rendered speechless by anger. In the end, her heart ached for her own people so she hastily said, "Miss, don't be angry. Huixiang will drive him away."
Shi Luoyi closed her eyes resignedly and said, "Wait, help me up, and open the door for him."
Looking at her, Huixiang, with some concern, advised, "Miss, although in the mortal world it is said that one person's mistake can implicate the entire family, but Bian Lingyu is not an immortal after all. Don't blame everything Bian Qingxuan did onto him. Our sect has rules - cultivators cannot arbitrarily kill mortals."
"..." Shi Luoyi felt that it was hard to explain in words, alas, Huixiang understood my young self so well.
Recognizing once again her failure in dealing with people, she sighed, "I promise not to do anything to him."
Thinking of something, her body trembled slightly. Feeling awkward, she added, "Um... Huixiang, bring that screen over to block this area. You go out first; I have something to say to him."
Block it, give me a moment.
Although Huixiang didn't believe her, she still did as she was told.
The screen separated the two worlds, and that door was slowly opened. Huixiang took one step and turned back three times, not quite at ease. As a kind and loyal spirit, Huixiang was both afraid that her seriously injured miss would be angered and sickened by the teenager, and also afraid that her miss might kill the young man.
Naturally, Fennel didn't know what her young lady had done to Bian Lingyu three months ago that was "worse than a beast", and so far, only the parties involved plus one other person, Bian Qingxuan, knew about it.
Huixiang naturally didn't know that her miss had done something "worse than beasts" to Bian Lingyu three months ago. So far, only the parties directly involved and Bian Qingxuan knew of that incident.
Shi Luoyi sat upright, her mood was very complicated.
Bian Lingyu was Bian Qingxuan's elder brother. No matter what, she could not have any good feelings towards him, in fact, she had always disliked him.
Yet, the guilt from the past made it difficult for her to speak ill of him.
Accompanied by the sound of creaking wheels of the wheelchair, the figure of the young man on the screen gradually became clearer like a canvas.
Bian Lingyu's appearance could not be seen clearly behind the screen, yet it overlapped with her vague memories.
Shi Luoyi vaguely remembered that in her previous life, she didn't see Bian Lingyu at this time as she was still upset and aggrieved over Wei Changyuan hurting her. She let Huixiang drive Bian Lingyu away.
In this life, Shi Luoyi made a different choice. She secretly observed him from behind the screen, guessing why Bian Lingyu had come.
She had never shown him a pleasant expression, and the feeling was mutual. Especially after what happened three months ago.
Shi Luoyi was wary of being deceived by Bian Qingxuan and kept her distance from Bian Lingyu as well. If it weren't for the incident triggered by her heart demon losing control that time, there was no way she would ever say one more kind word to Bian Lingyu. The entire Mingyou Mountain knew how deeply Bian Qingxuan loved her brother, and this deep brother and sister affection made her feel bad just thinking about it.
Even though the whole world felt that she had been wrong all her life, she firmly believed that her intuition had not been wrong. Her current predicament was undeniably connected to Bian Qingxuan.
Bian Qingxuan had a hidden malice towards her.
Looking behind the screen, unsure of Bian Lingyu's intentions, she scrutinized him – had Bian Qingxuan sent him to threaten her?
Had he noticed her heart demon?
On the other end, Bian Lingyu pushed his wheelchair inside, immediately noticing the intentionally placed screen.
Last night, Shi Luoyi did not return to the sect, and the mountain was aglow with torches as the disciples searched for her all night.
The outer disciple who was in the same courtyard as Bian Lingyu complained, ''What's the point of looking for her? She's always causing trouble. Moreover, it's so late and cold outside, isn't she torturing people?"
Another said, "Exactly, Daojun Shi Huan can't wake up. Who still cares about this willful little princess."
Bian Qingxuan sent a ten-year-old outer disciple to take care of Bian Lingyu. Remembering Bian Qingxuan's instructions, he quickly chased away the chatty disciples, "Go, go farther away if you're going to talk!"
The younger disciple sneaked a glance at Bian Lingyu. Finding him expressionless, he felt a little uneasy in his heart.
Later, seeing that Bian Lingyu didn't ask any questions, the young disciple breathed a sigh of relief.
The outer courtyard was as cold as the mortal realm. Snow fell all night, and when the disciple went in to add more firewood, he found Bian Lingyu sitting quietly by the bed, staring out of the window into the pitch-black sky, lost in thought.
As dawn approached, Bian Lingyu took two things and headed out.
The young disciple, alert, quickly asked, "Young Master, where are you going?"
Bian Lingyu glanced at him, and the little disciple fell silent. He stammered, trying to explain, "Senior sister Bian said your health isn't good, and it's cold outside, so try to not go out."
However, in the heavy snow, that figure pushed the wheelchair and gradually disappeared into the distance.
The young disciple chased after him and said in panic, "Well, then I'll send you there."
"No need, let go."
The little disciple was inexplicably afraid of him, and reluctantly loosened the wheelchair. He watched as Bian Lingyu struggled with the wheelchair and disappeared into the snow by himself.
The young disciple stomped his feet, just by looking at the direction he realized it was not good. He hurriedly scurried off to inform Senior Sister Bian!
By the time Bian Lingyu arrived at Shi Luoyi's courtyard, his upper body was completely soaked by the snow. It was so cold that he almost lost consciousness.
On the way, he heard someone say that Shi Luoyi had been found by Senior Brother Wei.
Bian Lingyu pinched the things in his hand and lowered his long eyelashes that were as black as crow feathers, in the end he still went up and knocked on the door.
The door did not open for a long time, and the sound of a screen being moved came from inside.
Huixiang opened the door, giving him a sympathetic and worried look before leaving silently.
A screen, separating the two worlds.
Coldly observing, he could vaguely see a slender figure sitting behind the screen, and a shallow sense of resentment rose in his heart.
Eight parts directed towards himself, two parts towards Shi Luoyi.
At first, neither of them spoke.
In the weird atmosphere, the girl was the first to be unable to bear the atmosphere, and finally spoke, "Why are you looking for me?"
Her voice was slightly hoarse, usually it was as delicate as pearls falling on a jade plate, but today her tone was much lower. However, it was not difficult to hear the vigilance and probing in her words.
Bian Lingyu closed his eyes and threw the two items she had sent him the other day onto the ground, saying in a cold voice, "This is all you have got to humiliate people?"
With those words, a Ruyi lock along with a hundred-year blood Lingzhi were thrown onto the floor in front of the folding screen.
"You can't beat Bian Qingxuan because you're useless. Whatever you and she want to do is none of my concern. But if you try to provoke me again with these methods, one of us will die for sure."
His tone was calm, but it carried a faint hint of lingering coldness.
His heart was as it had always been as he had never held expectations for Shi Luoyi.
The locks fell crisply, accompanied by the boy's cruel and cold words, causing Shi Luoyi to slightly widen her eyes.
She had lived this long, and she had rarely heard anyone directly tell her that if she dared to provoke him again, one of them would die first.
It reminded her of that day when facing Bian Qingxuan; how he had similarly told her to get lost.
Not only her but both of them were told to get lost together.
"Speak!"
Shi Luoyi, accustomed to dealing with polite conversations with the hint of green tea, and was not used to such cold words. She dryly responded, "Oh... um."
Shi Luoyi lowered her gaze, looking at the fallen Ruyi lock and the Blood Lingzhi that was almost crushed. That strange, subtle tingling feeling on her scalp came again.
At this moment, there was only one thought left in her mind: How did she dare provoke someone as fierce as Bian Lingyu three months ago?
...How did she dare? And how did she succeed?
Even though Bian Lingyu resisted, he did not kill her at that time. Still wanting to kill her afterwards, wasn't sparing her life when he could have, already shown mercy on his part?