On the day of the duel, Ren Shuhan woke up early and had someone carve a tombstone for Jian Ci.
Accompanied by Ah Lu, who helped with the procurement: “…”
What kind of grudge was this?
Luckily, he had sided with Miss Wen at the beginning!
Later, Ren Shuhan had someone check out a plot of land for the grave, nestled against the mountains and by the water, with a nice view. They erected the tombstone, dug the grave, planted peach and plum saplings behind it, placed a bunch of flowers in front of it, and poured a pot of good wine.
Ah Lu: “…”
Was there even a grudge to begin with?
Why was it so complicated!
Ren Shuhan then went to the agreed-upon location, at the foot of Jade Pavilion Mountain.
Not only were people from Jade Pavilion Mountain and the Jiang residence present, but also some formidable immortals from the Five Cities and Twelve Towers, acting as protectors for Jiang Zhixi.
However, there were no other members from Cold Mountain Sect, only “Jian Ci”.
Jian Ci didn’t pay much attention to this matter because he only cared about the plot. To him, everyone else was just extras in the story, so he naturally didn’t realize what was going on. He didn’t know that Cold Mountain had been turned against him by Ren Shuhan long ago, suspecting his true identity.
Jiang Zhixi spoke first to the crowd: “Today was originally to settle a private grievance between Miss Wen and Jian Ci. Since Miss Wen is a member of our Jade Pavilion Mountain and also a disciple of Master Ren, and since Master Ren has returned, it is only right for Master Ren to take over.”
Wen Xin added: “This person impersonated my master’s own master and was exposed by me. Unable to defeat me, he became angry and bore a grudge against me. Today, with my master here, it is confirmed that this person is an impostor. I hope everyone can bear witness to this.”
Ren Shuhan then spoke: “My master passed away long ago, and I have already identified his identity. His name is Yu Xi, a fraudster in the Jianghu. That’s why he couldn’t match my disciple’s skill and has repeatedly provoked the Jiang residence. Now, I am using this life-and-death duel to clear my master’s name. Please enlighten me.”
Yu Xi was dumbfounded.
He didn’t understand. His mind was in chaos. His intuition told him he should…
Escape.
But Ren Shuhan didn’t give him a chance to escape. With just two moves of his sword, he ended Yu Xi’s life.
In that instant, many scenes flashed before Yu Xi’s eyes.
Ren Shuhan’s indifferent attitude, Jiang Zhixi’s disdainful gaze, Wen Xin’s expressionless face, and even the face of that little supporting character, Jiang Qingyue… He didn’t have time to see them clearly.
Yu Xi didn’t even struggle because Ren Shuhan was too strong.
This was the setting he wanted. He wanted a person like this to fall in love with him, be obsessed with him, and grovel at his feet. He had never thought he would die at this person’s hands.
Why?
Yu Xi didn’t understand.
Was it because he gave Ren Shuhan the freedom of this role? Once the script was gone, did this man no longer have any feelings for him? And just for the sake of the Jiang residence, he wanted to kill him?
Doesn’t he love me?
Why?
I’m so…
I’m so fond of him.
For the first time, Yu Xi admitted to himself, as if another self in his innermost being bowed its head.
He’s my ideal type.
He’s a character generated by the system for me.
Was it because I didn’t tell him? I never said I loved him, and during the time we were apart, I never did anything to show that I loved him. But if I don’t say it, does he not see it?
Right, Yu Xi thought again. It seemed that Ren Shuhan’s setting was actually a bit emotionally dense.
This kind of personality flaw would make him even more charming. Many protagonists in books were set up like this because as long as they were emotionally dense, they wouldn’t notice anyone else besides themselves. They would only focus on themselves, making countless double standards, hurting others who loved them, in order to prove that they belonged to one person and were deeply in love.
With his emotional density, he would also make a few harmless mistakes, such as ignoring his own feelings, making friends with other scheming men and women, so once he encountered someone like himself with a cold personality, without clear communication, it would create a reason for the chase of the wife into the crematorium.
He must suffer, he must be heartbroken, he must regret his actions.
He would go crazy for him, tire himself out for him, and risk his life for him.
So, did I deviate from the script?
Then let’s do it again, Yu Xi thought. Die in the book and nothing will happen in the main world. Let’s do it again, I must, I must, I must make him taste the bitterness of pursuing his wife, make him understand what a terrible mistake he made in his past life.
After being reborn, Yu Xi decided that he didn’t want to love him anymore. He would live only for himself.
Let this man suffer the agony of being pierced by a thousand arrows, and it would be difficult to alleviate his hatred.
This was Yu Xi’s final thought before his death.
These hysterical inner thoughts, one after another, were all relayed to Ren Shuhan by the system.
However, Ren Shuhan didn’t sense his struggle, only feeling annoyed.
Ah, how could this person be so sure that I would fall in love with him?
There was a sentence that Ren Shuhan had repeated to him several times before he transmigrated: Why do you think I would love you?
To be honest, Ren Shuhan admitted that he wasn’t a good person either.
In his previous life, even though Jiang Qingyue had become a complete demon lord according to Yu Xi’s arrangement, he couldn’t bring himself to kill Jiang Qingyue because he couldn’t bear to.
So even if he really fell in love with Yu Xi, perhaps even if Yu Xi did something as unethical as transmigrating, it wouldn’t end up like this.
Unfortunately, he truly had no feelings for Yu Xi.
To put it arrogantly, what right did Yu Xi have?
This was the most puzzling thing for Ren Shuhan. Was it because of your good looks?
Sorry, good-looking people were everywhere. You’re not Miss Universe, so where does this confidence come from?
Because of your personality…
Forget it, not hitting you is the greatest kindness I can show you.
Because of the relationship between us?
There really wasn’t any!
There’s no such thing as unconditional love in this world. This person never understood such a simple truth. It’s truly a strange being.
Ren Shuhan silently cut off his throat.
Yu Xi still had his eyes open.
Even until the last moment, he never thought about the possibility that “the person who killed him didn’t love him at all.”
Jiang Zhixi frowned, observing Yu Xi’s expression all the while, guessing some of his thoughts, revealing a look of disgust involuntarily.
Jiang Zhixi thought they might truly be master and disciple since Ren Shuhan was too familiar with his martial arts. This man must have some dirty thoughts about his disciple. It was said that when he took Ren Shuhan in, Ren Shuhan was still a child, so it wasn’t surprising that Ren Shuhan wanted to kill him.
And although Ren Shuhan was crushed by Yu Xi, it was clear that his strength was above Jiang Zhixi’s.
He probably bore hostility toward me because of Ren Shuhan, so he wanted to strike first while I was off guard, to kill me… Jiang Zhixi felt a shiver down her spine. This person was truly despicable.
“Did you really defeat him two years ago?” she asked Wen Xin, who was standing beside her.
“Yes,” Wen Xin frowned as well, “but seeing how much his skills have improved, maybe he’s been dabbling in some shady techniques in the past two years.”
“In that case, we should thank Master Ren even more,” Jiang Zhixi sighed, “Otherwise, I might have fallen to this thing’s hands. Just thinking about it makes me sick.”
Jiang Qingyue also watched the scene, but his gaze was fixed only on Ren Shuhan.
With Yu Xi’s death, he immediately stepped forward, grasping Ren Shuhan’s hand that wasn’t holding the sword.
“It’s all in the past,” he said gently. “You don’t have to think about it anymore.”
Ren Shuhan “Hmm.”
The atmosphere wasn’t suitable for pleasantries, so the onlookers dispersed quickly.
Yu Xi died silently, without anyone searching for him or grieving for him. It was as if he had never existed, just like the extras he had scorned in the kind of script he despised.
Ren Shuhan took Jian Ci’s body away, coming to the prepared grave beforehand, using the system’s remote retrieval to store the golden core that had already been taken out of him, closing his eyelids with his hands, and burying the body in the soil.
He poured wine at the grave, introduced Jiang Qingyue to Jian Ci, and had no other words to say.
“Next time there’s time, I’ll bring him back to see you,” Ren Shuhan stood up and walked away. “Take care.”
Jiang Qingyue waved to the tombstone, “Master, goodbye. I will take care of Shuhan for you.”
Ren Shuhan looked down, smiling as he looked at him.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Qingyue touched his own face, somewhat shyly saying, “I should take care of you for him after I’ve used his golden core, right?”
His innocent blinking eyes were very cute, and Ren Shuhan couldn’t help but be charmed by this gentle and beautiful person every time he saw him like this.
“Seems like it’s the first time you’ve called me like this,” Ren Shuhan put his arm around his shoulder, pulling him into an embrace.
“Oh,” Jiang Qingyue thought for a moment, “then I’ll call you big brother. It does sound a bit strange.”
Ren Shuhan pinched his earlobe and led him outside the city, “No, calling me whatever you want is fine.”
Really? Jiang Qingyue was very skeptical.
The two fell silent for a while. Jiang Qingyue wanted to comfort him but didn’t know what to say until Ren Shuhan asked, “Where do you want to go next? Big brother will take you there.”
Although he said he would agree to anything, he called himself big brother. Jiang Qingyue found it amusing and deliberately teased him, “I want to go to the beach in the south, darling.”
Ren Shuhan lightly tapped his arm, saying, “I suddenly remembered, you’re still in the Foundation Establishment stage now. Cultivation is important. Why bother about playing…”
Jiang Qingyue pushed him with a laugh.
In the end, they went south, traveling all over the mortal world.
In their true life, they hadn’t yet had a honeymoon, and their previous honeymoons were somewhat incomplete. This time, they finally had unlimited time to spend with each other.
Under the morning sun, two figures gradually faded away, and their laughter faded away as well.
“We should also go back to the interstellar world to see Mom and Dad,” Jiang Qingyue counted their future life, “After the world is unfrozen, our data has been extracted. They must miss us a lot.”
“Yes,” Ren Shuhan rubbed his head, “And we should visit your colleagues at the research institute…”
“Right, we wouldn’t have our happiness now without them~”
“We should thank everyone properly…”
“Really super grateful >///_