CH 61

A Heart of Stone

"It's time... merge the demonic compulsion into him."

A low demonic voice with a compelling tone resounded in Ning Zhiyu's head.

The demonic compulsion wrapped in small clusters of red flames slowly floated upwards from Ning Zhiyu's brow, stopping just out of his reach. Ning Zhiyu's dark eyes reflected the fire that should not exist in the human world, and his eyes struggled.

"Let the demonic compulsion get close to his brow, and it will pour itself into his mind."

"Hurry up, right away, Yan Yuan is yours..."

In between the demon's earnest enticement, Ning Zhiyu slowly stretched out his hand as if possessed by the demon. The flame seemed to have life, leaping and adsorbing itself to his hand, carrying a burning temperature.

"You promised me that you would not harm A'Yuan..."

"That's natural."

"You promised."

"This honourable one has always been true to his word."

After hearing this, Ning Zhiyu closed his eyes as if he had made up his mind about something, and when he opened them again, there was no longer much struggle under his eyes. He turned sideways to look at Yan Yuan's face which was close to him, and his gaze was sad.

“A'Yuan..."

"I'm sorry... I can't lose you..."

Tears fell from his eyes, and the palm of his hand approached Yan Yuan's forehead little by little, and indeed, just as the demon had said, the flame autonomously burrowed into Yan Yuan's brow and disappeared in a flash.

Ning Zhiyu quickly withdrew his hand and looked at Yan Yuan with nervousness and anxiety. The latter was still sleeping soundly, unaware and not looking uncomfortable in any way.

"Well done."

"Next, you just need to, little by little, entice Yan Yuan to dig out Xuan Long's heart..."

Ning Zhiyu knew that it was a foolish thing to have his nose led by a demon, but what else could he do other than that? Yan Yuan's love for Xuan Long was a foregone conclusion. Even if he found a cultivator to drive this demon away, what could he do?

The only thing he could do was to let go.

He knew that he would be deep in the mud.

From this moment on, there would be no turning back for him...

"What should I do?"

To avoid alarming Yan Yuan, Ning Zhiyu did not dare to make a sound. The demon was able to pry into his mind, and whatever he wanted to say, the demon could immediately know, and from beginning to end, man and demon were communicating in this silent manner.

"It is very simple, you will secretly pour out the medicine when it comes, and if you do not take the dragon scales for a few days, your condition will deteriorate sharply and you will be unconscious."

“Yan Yuan, who loves you as much as he does, will think of a way to save you."

"No need for you to say it, he will have the idea to take the dragon heart..."

“The dragon's inner elixir… is it true that it can also reshape your physical body?" Previously, during Ning Zhiyu's drowsiness, he vaguely heard the imperial doctor mention it to Yan Yuan.

"Inner elixir? Heh, it was used on Yan Yuan a long time ago." The demon sneered.

He could feel that strong dragon breath in Yan Yuan's body, what else could it be but an inner elixir? It was unclear why Xuan Long's inner elixir had been given to Yan Yuan, but it was simply as if the Heavens were helping him.

"Without the inner elixir, Xuan Long is no different from a mortal, so if Yan Yuan were to fight him, it would be easy to take him on. Otherwise, what makes you think that a mere mortal can dig out the heart of a dragon?"

As Ning Zhiyu's mind was very delicate, he soon learnt from the demon's words that he had not been honest with him. Since Xuan Long was no different from a mortal, and according to what he had said before, he had the ability to kill Yan Yuan, then how difficult would it be to dig out Xuan Long's heart?

The demon should be unable to leave him, that's why he needed to lend him a hand to achieve his goal.

But none of that mattered... they were merely using each other.

As long as he could keep Yan Yuan by his side, the rest didn't matter... Ning Zhiyu closed his eyes and the hall was as quiet as before, as if nothing had happened.

The next morning, Yan Yuan woke up, but did not get up immediately. He was clearly anxious to go back to Xuan Long last night, but today he was a bit reluctant to leave Ning Zhiyu. The two of them were lying face to face, and Ning Zhiyu's slender hand was on Yan Yuan's face, looking apprehensive.

“A'Yuan..."

Yan Yuan: "Hmm?"

Ning Zhiyu: "If I were to say, me and Xuan Long, you can only choose one of the two... would you choose me?"

Yan Yuan's heart did not feel resentful: “Why are you asking this unprovoked all of a sudden?"

Ning Zhiyu shook his head and turned his back in a panic: "It's nothing, if you don't want to say it, then forget it."

Yan Yuan pressed himself against him from behind and wrapped his arms around his waist, saying softly, "I will choose you. The only reason I treat him well is because of you."

"Really?..." Ning Zhiyu smiled.

"Mm."

The demonic compulsion was indeed magical. Yan Yuan became more and more attached to Ning Zhiyu, who spent most of the next few days in Luanfeng Hall.

As the Empress regained his favour, the rumours in the palace gradually dissipated.

People's hearts are hard to gauge, and the Emperor's heart is even harder to gauge, so no one would suspect that someone had played a part in this. Even Yan Yuan himself was unaware of it. He was controlled by the demonic compulsion, and when he saw Ning Zhiyu, he could not help but feel happy, and when he saw him sad, he felt sad with him.

He was happy with what he was happy about and sad about what he was sad about.

As for his fondness for Xuan Long, it was fading.

As the demon said, excluding Ning Zhiyu, the rest of the living beings will become insignificant...

Yan Yuan usually did not think much of Xuan Long, only when it came to Ning Zhiyu's illness would he think of that dragon and remember that Xuan Long seemed to be very ill.

But he couldn't find a reason to visit him. Yan Yuan felt that he had come to his senses, that he should have made a clear distinction between what was more important and what was less important. Although the demonic compulsion did not erase his memory, it was able to erase Yan Yuan's emotions while not making him feel weird in the slightest.

Just like a puppet controlled by evil magic, he will not find out that he is a puppet.

Two days later, Ning Zhiyu vomited blood and fell into a coma. After the imperial doctor's diagnosis, he concluded that the dragon scales could no longer suppress his condition. Yan Yuan couldn’t hold back and returned to Qiankun Palace.

Draped in an ink-coloured outer robe, Xuan Long sat at the purple and gold table, holding a paintbrush to colour the little wooden figure. The wooden figure had a delicate face, an imperial crown on his head, and a bright yellow dragon robe. He was only halfway through applying the yellow paint when the door was suddenly pushed open.

He used to have a keen sense of hearing and could hear footsteps from a distance, but now he can only detect them when they are close, and his reaction was particularly slow. The wooden figure had been carved earlier, and Xuan Long knew that Yan Yuan would not care for it, so he did not intend to give it to him. However, as he was bored in the hall all day, he could not help but find something to do. 

Subconsciously, he tried to hide the wooden figure in his sleeve, but it fell to the ground in a panic.

When he bent down to pick it up, Yan Yuan had already come in. There were colourful paints on the table, and the smell was not particularly pleasant.

"What are you doing?"

Xuan Long sat up and tightened his grip on the wooden figure in his hand, not speaking.

Yan Yuan sat down on the stool next to him, saw what he was holding, and said with some disgust, "Why are you still fiddling with this wooden man? I thought I said I didn't want it. Could this be the birthday gift you will give me?"

Xuan Long shook his head and put the wooden man into his sleeve, the paint had not yet dried and had soiled his hands, so presumably the clothes were not spared either.

Yan Yuan was suddenly a little distracted for some unknown reason.

Xuan Long had really lost weight, the cheekbones on the unmasked half of his face were slightly raised, but he was still handsome, and his originally pale pink lips were bloodless.

Yan Yuan's eyes lingered on his face: "Have you been feeling better these days? There should not be anything really wrong, right?..."

"Hmm." Xuan Long responded calmly.

Yan Yuan was relieved to see that he was at least able to get out of bed, "I was worried before that you would die, but it seems that I really over-thought it. It's good that you're alright."

"No need to worry." Xuan Long whispered back.

As a normal human being, it was normal to feel guilty towards one's benefactor, and since Xuan Long had saved his life and Ning Zhiyu's life, he was Yan Yuan's benefactor.

Yan Yuan looked at him and a strong guilt welled up in his heart, but that guilt would not be heavier than his obsession with Ning Zhiyu. So Yan Yuan stretched out his hand and, in his usual way, gently took Xuan Long's hand and said in a charming manner, “A'Po, tomorrow is my birthday. I want a special birthday gift, can you give it to me?...."

Xuan Long lifted his head to look at him, “Tell me."

As long as he could give it, it would be fine.

"Inner elixir." Yan Yuan tried to suppress the urgency and pain under his eyes. "I want the inner elixir. A'Yu is dying..."

Xuan Long was silent for a moment and lowered his eyes, "There is nothing I can do to help."

The corners of Yan Yuan's eyes reddened as he changed back to his old self, as if Ning Zhiyu was his life and Xuan Long was a straw that could be trampled on no matter what, "Would you just be merciful? Even if you can still live without your inner elixir, he will die without it. Consider it for my sake, you help me, you help me..."

Xuan Long's hand bones were squeezed raw, and he bowed his head, his long hair hanging down in front of him covering most of his face, hidden in the shadows so that his expression could not be seen.

"A'Yuan... I can't do it.” His voice was still low, as if nothing could stir his emotions.

Yan Yuan softened his voice to coax him, "Why can't you do it? You can. As long as you help me, I can promise you anything... Okay?"

"By giving up ten thousand years of Taoism, you can still spend the rest of your life with me. Although I don't love you as deeply as A'Yu, I will treat you well.

Xuan Long was silent.

Although he already knew that Yan Yuan would not feel more for him than that man, it still made him sad to hear him begging for that man. However, he would never show his sadness.

Yan Yuan waited anxiously, and his anger suddenly flared up. He shook off his hand and stood up, his expression so cold that he was not the same person as before: "You just don't want to help! They say that dragons and snakes are one family, I can see that you are just as cold-blooded as a snake, and you are stubborn and hard-hearted!"

Xuan Long did not want to argue with him, so he silently got up and walked towards the bed.

No one had ever dared to turn a deaf ear to his words, so Yan Yuan chased after him with a few steps and pushed Xuan Long from behind: "Say something!"

Xuan Long's legs were weak and his body lost balance, stumbling a few steps before falling to the ground. Cold sweat instantly emerged and he covered his stomach, it was as if a knife had gouged through his abdomen, and his face was pale.

Yan Yuan did not expect that he could push him down with such a push. He momentarily panicked and bent down to help him: “A'Po..."

Xuan Long's breathing was heavy, and he endured the pain to pull his hand back, curling his lips into a smile.

“En."

"You're right."

"I am as cold-blooded as a snake... and hard-hearted."

"In the future, you must not ask me... I will not give up my ten thousand years of Taoism and hand over my inner elixir."

"I will not save him..."