Shen Linchuan watched helplessly as the thing that had already fallen into his hands disappeared from his palm. He screamed in panic, “No, no! Give it back to me!!!”
Xi Yu snapped his fingers.
Lu Zhixing and Luo Cheng’an slowly woke up.
Lu Zhixing rubbed his forehead with one hand, looking somewhat dazed.
Luo Cheng’an clutched his neck. “Why does my neck hurt?”
He touched the slightly damp liquid, then stared at it. “Holy shit! Blood!?”
Lu Zhixing frowned slightly. He was the first to get off the bed. Seeing Shen Linchuan acting crazed, he asked in confusion, “What happened?”
Lu Zhixing walked past Shen Linchuan and the bodyguards scattered across the floor and came to Xi Yu’s side.
Luo Cheng’an was like a screaming chicken. “Gege, gege, why is there blood on my neck! Who tried to kill me?!”
The noise was making Xi Yu’s ears hurt. “Stop screaming. You’re not going to die.”
Luo Cheng’an immediately stopped screaming. He climbed off the bed, and when he saw Shen Linchuan, he even reached out to help him up from the floor. “Brother Linchuan, what are you doing here too?”
“Get lost!” Shen Linchuan’s entire body was weak. He tore off the talisman and crawled toward the dagger.
Luo Cheng’an staggered from being pushed and stood there with a blank expression.
Xi Yu rolled his eyes and pointed at his own neck, reminding Luo Cheng’an, “Your neck. He cut you.”
“What!?” Luo Cheng’an was startled. He immediately jumped to Xi Yu’s side as fast as he could and hooked his arm around Xi Yu’s, looking somewhat frightened. “He was the one who tied us up?”
Lu Zhixing sneered inwardly at Luo Cheng’an for asking a question when he obviously already knew the answer.
“That’s not all.” Xi Yu honestly scared Luo Cheng’an. “He used you two to threaten me into handing over the—Golden Jade Bracelet. He said that if I didn’t give it to him, he’d kill you.”
Luo Cheng’an predictably followed up, “And then?”
“Then of course I had to give it to him.” Xi Yu hooked an arm around Luo Cheng’an’s and Lu Zhixing’s necks on either side. “I told him that you two are my dearest friends, my brothers, so he absolutely mustn’t hurt you.”
“Ge~” Luo Cheng’an’s eyes filled with tears of emotion.
Lu Zhixing chuckled lightly and pulled out his phone.
【Alipay: One million yuan received—】
The sweetest sound in the world!
Xi Yu immediately pushed Luo Cheng’an aside and grabbed Lu Zhixing’s hand. “Brother Lu!”
Lu Zhixing lifted his eyelids and glanced at Luo Cheng’an before leaning close to Xi Yu’s ear and saying softly, “Thank you for saving me, Yu-bao.”
Xi Yu scratched his head. “Ah, it’s nothing. It’s what I should do.”
Luo Cheng’an stomped his feet angrily. “Showing off your wealth! You’re showing off your wealth!”
Xi Yu put on a fake smile. “If you want to show off, you have to be rich first.”
Luo Cheng’an had money too, but it was all pocket money Shen Qing had given him. The money he had earned from acting had all been used to suppress negative publicity.
Naturally, though, he didn’t have as much liquid cash as Lu Zhixing.
But he refused to lose face. He immediately reached for his phone, intending to transfer money to Xi Yu.
Seeing this, Shen Linchuan grabbed the dagger and charged straight at Luo Cheng’an.
Xi Yu sighed, pulled out a talisman, and Shen Linchuan immediately collapsed to the ground. This time, he didn’t even have the strength to pick up the dagger.
Shen Linchuan knew that the situation was already hopeless, but he was unwilling—so unwilling.
If he couldn’t get it today, it would be difficult to make another move next time.
And his Xiaoman couldn’t wait until next time.
“Xi Yu!” Shen Linchuan leaned against the wall and struggled to stand. “Give me the Golden Jade Bracelet!”
“This was originally mine. I lost it a long time ago, and it means a great deal to me.” Xi Yu shook his head. “So I’m sorry, but I can’t give it to you.”
Liuyun was his first magical artifact. Even though its power wasn’t as great as Zhuo Huazhi’s, it was the thing that had accompanied him the longest.
And only with Liuyun could half of his spiritual power be fully brought out, giving him enough strength to summon Zhuo Huazhi.
He absolutely could not let it fall into someone else’s hands.
Shen Linchuan’s face was deathly pale. He could barely stand, yet he still tried to negotiate with Xi Yu. “I’m only borrowing it for a while. Once my wife gets better, I’ll return it to you. I won’t use it for long.”
He really wouldn’t use it for long. Xi Yu believed that much.
Liuyun could heal the soul. At most, that demon would recover within a year.
But…
Xi Yu looked at Shen Linchuan. After all, they had once appeared on a variety show together. Shen Linchuan wasn’t actually a bad person. He had simply become consumed by madness for the sake of that demon.
Xi Yu still reminded Shen Linchuan once more, “Her injuries were caused by punishment from Heaven’s law. Even if I gave you Liuyun and her soul were temporarily repaired, she stole another person’s destiny. As long as the real Liu Tanghuan hasn’t returned to her rightful place, she will continue to suffer heavenly punishment until her soul is completely destroyed.”
Among the Three Realms, Heaven’s law exists to maintain balance.
If he used spiritual power to harm someone and Heaven’s law detected it, punishment would descend. That was why whenever he used his spiritual power, he made sure it wouldn’t harm anyone. Most of the time, he used talismans instead, allowing him to avoid Heaven’s law’s surveillance.
If demons caused trouble in the mortal world, they would naturally be punished as well. Otherwise, mortals who couldn’t even defend themselves would have been slaughtered by demons long ago.
The demon beside Shen Linchuan had openly occupied someone else’s destiny, causing the real Liu Tanghuan to lose one of her souls and become insane.
That was already harming another person.
Xi Yu looked at Shen Linchuan, whose face was as pale as paper and filled with fear and unease. “And it’s not just her. After spending so much time with a demon, don’t you feel that your body has been getting weaker and weaker? Shen Linchuan, you should make the right choice.”
“The right choice? Easy for you to say.” Shen Linchuan let out a cold laugh. “You tell me—what is the right choice?”
“Is it the choice of letting myself be burdened by a debt of gratitude, being taught from childhood that I had to protect Liu Tanghuan, that I couldn’t interact with any other girl, and being beaten and scolded whenever I got even slightly close to someone else?”
“Or is it the right choice to accept my fate and marry Liu Tanghuan, only to be mocked and ridiculed by a man who was worse than an animal, becoming the laughingstock of the entire A City?”
“Or perhaps it’s the right choice to have Liu Tanghuan run away on the day of our engagement, while I was forced to forgive her and marry a woman whose heart was filled with someone else, a woman who regarded me as dirt!”
“Xi Yu, you tell me—what is the right choice?” Shen Linchuan suddenly burst into laughter, tears slipping from the corners of his eyes. “You guessed correctly. Liu Tanghuan was the one I threw into Qingliang Village! Since she chose Qian Xiaohu and ran away, she should never have come back!”
“Qian Xiaohu abused her, but that was the path she chose! I told her Qian Xiaohu wasn’t a good person. Although I married her because I owed her a debt of gratitude, even if I didn’t love her, I would have respected her. I would have had only her for the rest of my life. But what about her? She thought the deal Qian Xiaohu ruined was something I had done, cursed at me and despised me.”
“You can’t save someone who insists on walking into death. She deserved the consequences of her own actions. I never wanted to care about her in the first place. If I hadn’t been afraid that Xiaoman would find out she regretted it and develop the idea of returning her identity to Liu Tanghuan, I wouldn’t even have sent Qian Xiaohu to prison.”
“Liu Tanghuan did so many outrageous things. Isn’t what happened to her what she deserved? My wife may be a demon, but she’s innocent and kind. Why is Heaven’s law so unfair? Why does it have to take her away from me?!”
“Why!!!”
…………………….
Shen Linchuan’s every word was soaked in anguish, and Xi Yu fell silent.
Luo Cheng’an stared blankly at Shen Linchuan. The wound on his neck had already stopped bleeding.
Lu Zhixing watched coldly from the sidelines. Having spent many years in the Divine Realm, he knew that humans and demons followed different paths.
Demons had long lifespans, while humans had only a few decades.
Now, that demon was not only together with a human, she had also occupied someone else’s destiny.
She had disrupted the order of the mortal world.
Everyone’s fate was already written in the Book of Destiny. The appearance of demons would disrupt that order.
Only when the order was disrupted would Heaven’s law notice.
After a long while, Xi Yu finally spoke.
“It wasn’t Heaven’s law that harmed her. It was you.”
Xi Yu stared intently at Shen Linchuan. “If you’re willing to let go, she can survive. You are the one who harmed her.”
It was Shen Linchuan who refused to let go. As long as he brought the real Liu Tanghuan back, all the difficulties would naturally be resolved.
That demon wouldn’t die.
Shen Linchuan’s crazed expression suddenly froze. His lips trembled as though he couldn’t accept it. He repeated Xi Yu’s words.
“It was me… who harmed her?”
“It was me who harmed her—”
Shen Linchuan collapsed weakly onto the floor. “You’re right. I harmed her… I was the one who forced her to stay… It was me…”
“It wasn’t him who harmed me.”
A gentle, melodious woman’s voice came from the doorway.
Everyone turned toward the sound.
A woman wearing a qipao slowly walked in. Her hair was loosely gathered with a jade hairpin, with a few strands falling beside her temples, framing her face perfectly. Her movements were delicate and graceful, like a willow swaying in the breeze, yet there was also a hint of resilience in her.
Xi Yu watched as the woman helped Shen Linchuan up from the floor.
So she was a cat demon.
Even though she looked completely normal, Xi Yu could see countless cracks running through her, like a demon core that could shatter at any moment.
Her injuries were this severe. No wonder Shen Linchuan had been so desperate.
Shen Linchuan was dazed and confused, but the moment he saw the woman, he suddenly became anxious.
“Xiaoman… Who let you come out? Your body…”
Xiaoman shook her head and spoke gently. “I’m fine, Linchuan. Don’t keep making the same mistake.”
As she spoke, she turned to Xi Yu. “Mr. Xi, could you remove the restriction on my husband?”
As though afraid Xi Yu would refuse, she spoke a little faster. “He won’t attack again, because I’m here.”
Xi Yu wasn’t afraid that Shen Linchuan would attack again.
Xiaoman wasn’t his match, and Shen Linchuan was even less of a threat.
Xi Yu removed the restriction and studied the woman’s face.
She looked completely different from Liu Tanghuan in Qingliang Village.
It wasn’t the same face at all.
This was the cat demon’s true appearance.
Shen Linchuan recognized her. Naturally, he had seen this face before as well.
“Mr. Xi, my name is Xiaoman. I’m a cat demon.”
Xiaoman gave Xi Yu a gentle smile. “Linchuan offended you because of me. I hope you won’t blame him.”
“You’re dying,” Xi Yu said.
“Yes.” Xiaoman smiled. She knew her own condition. She couldn’t hold on much longer.