This truly caught the two of them completely off guard. They both knew that although Shen Tang’s cultivation was profound enough to reach the heavens, he was nevertheless an utterly ordinary mortal. He had absolutely never ascended to become an immortal.
Gu Mang therefore murmured, “What’s going on…?”
Mo Xi’s brows drew tightly together. He stared at the flowing ball of light and shook his head. “Let’s watch first.”
In the scene, Shen Tang raised his porcelain-jade-colored fingers and gently stroked Wu Yan’s furry forehead. While comforting the little demon, he sent a stream of emerald spiritual energy into the barely breathing Wu Yan. At the same time, the scene within the ball of light slowly pulled farther away, revealing that they were actually on an isolated island.
But that island was not the Bat Island they were currently on. It was another island, one rarely visited by humans.
This island was extremely strange. It was impossible to tell what its climate was like. Flowers and plants grew everywhere, bearing fruit in abundance. Winter’s cold plum blossoms, summer’s lotus flowers, autumn’s sweet osmanthus, spring’s peach and plum blossoms—flowers of every color bloomed across the entire fertile land.
At the very center of the island was a large altar built of enormous stones. There was nothing else on the altar except a cold-jade qin stand, upon which lay an ancient five-stringed qin with a scorched-tail body.
Gu Mang turned his head and asked Mo Xi, “A lot of my memories are still incomplete. Is this island somewhere in Chonghua?”
“No.” Mo Xi stared at the island of blooming flowers. “There is no such island within Chonghua’s territory.”
Gu Mang rubbed his chin. “That’s strange. Lord Shen Tang, a gentleman of great wisdom, appearing alone on an isolated island that isn’t even part of Chonghua’s territory…”
He did not have time to think any further, because Wu Yan paused and began speaking again. Her ethereal voice was filled with endless sighs, melancholy, and a lingering tenderness.
“Perhaps it simply wasn’t my fate to die. Perhaps what the demons have always said is wrong. The immortal on the island discovered me while I was injured, but he had no intention of harming me. Instead, he brought me back to his residence and carefully treated my wounds.”
Inside the ball of light, Shen Tang carried the injured bat to a wooden house on the rocky shore of the island.
Wu Yan said, “I was very badly injured, and because I had just suffered such a great upheaval—Mother, Elder Sister… they both died amid the disputes and fighting. When I was fleeing for my life, I had no time to grieve. But once I had settled down, my heart became unbearably painful, and I cried day and night.
“Fortunately, I still had the immortal big brother on the island to accompany me. Not only was he nothing like the vicious immortals I had known of since childhood, he was also very gentle with me. He often advised and comforted me… Under his care, I finally and slowly recovered my spirits.”
“I stayed there for a very long time. Later, I discovered that the entire island was a moving solitary island. It never remained in one place for long…”
Gu Mang and Mo Xi exchanged a glance.
What kind of island was this? Flowers blooming everywhere while the island itself moved across the sea—it was something they had never heard of before.
Wu Yan said, “The island has springlike weather all year round. It is probably because it is the residence of an immortal, so the spirits of the plants and trees are especially vigorous. But although there are many plants, there are very few living beings capable of speech—because aside from me, there was only the immortal who saved me.
“He was good in every way, but he was simply too mysterious. He would not tell me what kind of divine being he was, and he was even unwilling to tell me his name. I stayed with him for a long time, and all I knew was that his surname was Shen.”
Gu Mang murmured, “So it really was Shen Tang?”
“I had no choice but to call him Immortal Shen.”
Within the ball of light, Wu Yan had recovered some spiritual power and could transform into human form. She sat beside the altar, where the grass grew lush and orioles flew among the flowers. Her tender, slender little legs were still wrapped in bandages, but she paid them no attention. Her bright, expressive eyes followed Shen Tang’s figure the entire time.
“Immortal Shen came to the altar every day to play the qin. Its music was beautiful and enchanting. Whenever the melody reached a winding, stirring passage, phantom petals of crabapple blossoms would drift down from the sky above the island.
“I always thought that was his immortal art. I pestered him to teach me, but he brushed me off, saying that the crabapple blossoms falling on the island had nothing to do with him. Yet whenever I asked what caused them, he would only smile and say nothing more.”
“He looked very beautiful when he smiled. Every day I watched him. As long as he smiled, I felt especially at ease.
“And so, the days passed one after another. Every day, he treated my wounds, and I listened to him play the qin.
“Then one day…” Wu Yan paused. “I suddenly realized that everything in my eyes had changed.”
“Before, what I saw was the sky, flowers and plants, trees, and Immortal Shen. They were all beautiful, and I liked looking at all of them.
“But one day, I discovered that the sky, flowers, plants, and trees were all still there, yet they had suddenly become so insignificant. It was as though all their colors had fallen upon Immortal Shen alone.”
“That was when I realized,” Wu Yan said, “that I had fallen in love with him.”
“He saved my life, treated my wounds, and soothed my pain. He shattered everything I had once believed about immortals…”
When Wu Yan’s spiritual voice reached this point, it sounded just like an ordinary young girl, her tone sweet and delicate, like a crisp fruit hanging from a branch.
“Although he was so mysterious and unwilling to say much, although he was an immortal and I was a demon, I simply liked him. I just had to insist.”
There was another stretch of silence.
“Only, he did not understand my feelings.”
After a while, the pearl-like glow of the ball of light gradually dimmed. In the scene, Wu Yan stood beside the qin stand on the altar, covering her face as tears rolled through the gaps between her fingers.
Obviously, her insistence had not moved Shen Tang.
When Wu Yan’s spiritual voice sounded again, it carried a slight sob.
“Surprised by my advances, he told me that we had only been together for a few months. How could I know what love was?”
“Isn’t love just a feeling? It can be something that grows slowly over time, or it can be something you suddenly understand in an instant.”
“But no matter how I begged him, he rejected me without the slightest hesitation. He even asked me to leave this drifting, unstable immortal island once my injuries had healed.”
“I said that I simply loved him, but he said that we were not on the same path. I then said that I could cultivate the immortal path for his sake, but he said that he was not an immortal.” Wu Yan paused. “Liar.”
“If he wasn’t an immortal, why could he command an island to travel across the sea? If he wasn’t an immortal, why would flowers fall whenever he played the qin?
“I threw these questions at him, but he answered none of them.
“In the end, I simply asked whether he thought I was unattractive. I even told him that whatever kind of woman he liked, I could work hard to change myself into that kind.
“But he only said that his heart was devoted to the Dao and that he had no intention of forming a relationship.”
Gu Mang secretly sighed as he listened.
The Fire Bat clan had rather poor judgment, while demons’ emotions were much stronger than those of humans, almost to the point of being unreasonable. Shen Tang clearly had no feelings for her, yet she insisted on making him give her an explanation. Shen Tang must truly have been worn down by her at the time.
However, “My heart is devoted to the Dao, and I have no intention of forming a relationship” was the rejection excuse most cultivators used. Normally, once those words were spoken, even the most resentful lover would have nothing left to say. Besides, it was not as though she had lost to some romantic rival, so it was at least somewhat easier to accept psychologically.
Sure enough, Wu Yan said, “When I heard him say that, although I was unwilling to accept it, I was still left speechless. Could I really prevent him from cultivating?
“In the end, I had no choice but to leave the immortal island…
“Only, before I left, I acted willfully one more time.”
“I told him, ‘Since you are a gentleman, you must keep your word. You said that you are rejecting me today because your heart is devoted to the Dao and you have no intention of forming a relationship. Then you must not lie to me.’
“He said that he had not deceived me.
“So I asked him to hook pinkies with me. I used the demonic arts of the Fire Bat clan to tie an invisible thread around his little finger. As long as he broke his promise and married someone else in the future, I would be able to sense it.
“Then I would… I would…”
Wu Yan’s voice became confused.
It seemed that even she did not know what she would do if Shen Tang married.
The scene within the ball of light changed again.
This time, it had returned to Bat Island.
Wu Yan said, “Later, I returned to Bat Island. After experiencing countless upheavals, I became the queen of Bat Island.
“But I still thought about him. Every night, I would summon the thread at my fingertip and look at it. As long as the thread was still there, I knew that he had truly kept his promise and had never fallen for anyone else. Deep in my heart, there was still hope.
“So I continued going against the natural order and cultivating the immortal path… I only hoped that one day, when I saw him again, he would be able to see my heart and understand that I had not fallen for him on a whim. I hoped he would change his mind.
“And so I continued cultivating.
“Waiting.”
“Until one day.”
The ball of light suddenly darkened. In the scene, Wu Yan was furiously raging, looking almost insane.
“…One day, I discovered that the thread had broken.”
Gu Mang turned his head in surprise and asked Mo Xi, “Did Shen Tang marry a wife before he died?”
Mo Xi’s swordlike brows were also furrowed. He stared at the ball of light with deep suspicion and shook his head.
“No. He had neither wife nor children.”
“Then did he have any brothers or sisters who looked similar to him?”
“Nor did he.”
“That’s strange.” Gu Mang said, “According to Chonghua’s historical records, he died after sacrificing himself to suppress the demons. No matter how I look at it, that doesn’t match what Wu Yan described.”
His brows furrowed deeper and deeper as he murmured, “And I always feel that Shen Tang’s face is strangely familiar. I feel as though I’ve seen him somewhere before. What exactly is going on with this person?”
While he was pondering, Wu Yan’s spiritual voice continued within the ball of light, like thunder rumbling from within a rain cloud. Her voice slowly changed from sorrowful to twisted, becoming terrifying—
“He got married.”
“He changed his mind about devoting himself to the Dao, but it wasn’t because of me! It was because of someone I didn’t even know!
“What ‘no intention of forming a relationship’… He lied to me!!
“He simply looked down on me because I was a demon while he was an immortal! As long as some suitable immortal woman pursued him, he could nod and accept her! He was lying to me all along!!
“I wish I could rush straight to them and tear that newcomer to pieces, but I don’t even know what that bitch looks like!
“I was the one who came first!!”
Wu Yan’s furious voice echoed in their ears, sharp as claws.
“I was the one who knew him first! He promised me! He was faithless and heartless! He broke his word!!”
“…”
Gu Mang sighed inwardly.
He had originally thought this was a story about a faithless man like Chen Shimei, but after seeing the truth, it clearly was not.
This Fire Bat demon woman had truly gone mad. Shen Tang had never been moved by her feelings. Later, he had been unable to refuse her insistence, but throughout the entire affair, she was the one forcing matters along.
Human emotions had never been something that could be forced, and there had never been any concept of who came first.
Although Shen Tang had once promised her that he would not marry anyone else and had indeed broken that promise, calling him “faithless” was truly too harsh.
“I left the island to search for him, but in this vast world, I had no idea where he and that slut were hiding.
“And because I cultivated the immortal path in defiance of nature, I suffered great damage. Even though I was in the prime of my life, my hair had already turned completely white and I had visibly aged. I had no choice but to rely on Blood Spirit Pills refined from the blood of the Feathered People to maintain my youth and vitality—
“Why?!”
Within the ball of light, Wu Yan had already become a withered old woman covered in wrinkles, raging madly inside the palace.
A maidservant nervously brought her a Blood Spirit Pill. After she swallowed it, it was as though an invisible hand had passed over her entire body. The wrinkles and shriveled skin vanished, her withered face once again becoming breathtakingly alluring.
Her youth could be watered and nourished with forbidden medicine.
Only the innocence in her eyes could never return.
“Mother was right after all. Immortals really do exterminate demons. Some exterminate the body, while others exterminate the heart!
“Liar! Liar…”
“I cannot understand these men of another race… I never want to become entangled with these creatures again.”
After this, Wu Yan fell into a kind of madness resembling an illness.
On one hand, she believed that Shen Tang would change his mind, almost pathologically hoping that she and Shen Tang would meet again.
On the other hand, she developed an intense hatred for men of other races. She issued a prohibition, sealing off the entirety of Bat Island. Whenever a man of another race intruded upon the island, she would force him to swallow a venomous parasite, transform his appearance, and reshape him into Shen Tang’s likeness, then indulge in him and torment him to satisfy her longing.
“This kind of ‘love’—one is enough.”
“I will never repeat the same mistake again…
“Forever and ever…
“Life after life…
“I will never be able to forget him. He deceived me…”
“He deceived me…”
Her voice gradually weakened, like ripples spreading across a lake, circle after circle, until they finally came to rest.
“Liar.”
The ball of light went out.
The thatched hut fell completely silent.
Gu Mang stood up, and a strand of white light scattered into his mind—that was him empathizing with Wu Yan’s spiritual consciousness and gaining an understanding of the situation surrounding Bat Island’s barrier.
After everything was done, Gu Mang said nothing.
Mo Xi, meanwhile, seemed to have developed a headache from the overly intense romantic feelings of the demon clan. Instead of speaking, he raised a finger and repeatedly rubbed the bridge of his nose and the area between his brows.
Sitting on the haystack, Mo Xi said with a headache, “…What in the world is all this…?”
Gu Mang was also somewhat speechless.
He had originally only intended to understand the reason behind Wu Yan’s use of the parasite technique. He had never expected it to uncover the past of the First Gentleman of Chonghua.
So he coughed and said, “The Fire Bat clan tends toward beastlike instincts, so their love and hatred are probably like this: ‘I love you, and I can make countless sacrifices and changes for you. If you still don’t love me after all that, then you’re a heartless bastard.’
“But whether someone likes you or not is something that has always been impossible to force. Isn’t that right?”
Mo Xi: “…Mm.”
Gu Mang looked at Mo Xi’s profile, at his listless expression, and a trace of cruel intent gradually arose in his heart.
He paused, then asked with great interest, “What about you? Have you ever had similar thoughts?”
Mo Xi raised his head, a trace of bewilderment in his dark eyes.
“What?”
Gu Mang looked into his clear, doglike eyes filled with confusion, and he felt somewhat reluctant to hurt him.
But he remembered everything that had happened within the Mirror of Time and knew that Mo Xi becoming entangled with him was absolutely no good.
Therefore, ever since emerging from the mirror, he had occasionally provoked Mo Xi, bullied him a little, deliberately kept his distance, and drawn a clear line between them.
So in the end, he hardened his heart.
He put on that infuriatingly roguish smile, raised his hand, and hooked his fingers beneath Mo Xi’s smooth, well-defined chin.
Gu Mang asked, “What about you? Have you ever resented me like that?”
Perhaps Wu Yan’s rambling had truly left him dizzy, or perhaps Gu Mang’s meaningful question had caught him completely off guard.
Mo Xi actually did not resist.
He allowed Gu Mang to hold his face and lifted his head, staring dazedly at the person standing before him.
“…”
“Have you ever felt that no matter what kind of sacrifice you made, no matter what kind of change you underwent…”
His fingertip slowly slid downward, from the elegant line of Mo Xi’s jaw, along the rise of his Adam’s apple, to his collar, then gradually farther down.
Finally, it came to rest over the left side of Mo Xi’s chest.
“Your senior brother never truly loved you.”
Gu Mang’s fingertip pressed against that spot—the place where he had once personally stabbed Mo Xi.
A faint, mistlike smile rested on his face, but the pad of his finger exerted a little more pressure.
The wound had long since healed, but the hideous scar remained.
Through the clothing, a dull ache seemed to stir beneath Gu Mang’s finger.
Gu Mang planted one foot on the haystack and rested his elbow on his knee, leaning forward to stare at Mo Xi sitting before him. He grinned.
“Marshal Mo, have you ever resented me like she did?”
The confusion in Mo Xi’s eyes vanished amid those words.
Gu Mang was clearly smiling, yet it was as though he had slapped Mo Xi hard across the face.
Mo Xi was pierced by the pain. The strike had come like a blade completely without warning, and the hurt in his eyes almost immediately revealed itself.
He suddenly turned his head away, biting his lip.
Only after a long while did he gather his dignity and turn back to glare fiercely at Gu Mang.
“Shen Tang never said that he loved Wu Yan.”
“So?”
“…But you…” Mo Xi spoke with almost painful difficulty. “You did say it.”
“Did I? …Then let’s say I did.
“But you should understand that things a man says when he is momentarily happy in bed can’t be taken seriously.
“When I used to sleep with those girls, I would say the same things—‘I love you,’ ‘I’ll cherish you,’ ‘You’re the only one.’
“When I was happy, I’d even say I would go up to the heavens and pluck the moon down for them.”
As he spoke, he sighed and reached out to rub the top of Mo Xi’s head.
“Look at you. You’re a grown man. Even the little girls in brothels wouldn’t believe the things you—”
But before he could finish, the hand he had extended was suddenly slapped away by Mo Xi with a sharp smack.