Word Count: 3,133 Words
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Bei Bei knew nothing of the Yin Yang Love Querying Valley, but he understood Ling Bai well enough. With Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and the other women present, Ling Bai would never deceive them. He steadied his mind and answered calmly:
"I have a lover."
"Who is it?"
"Tang Ya."
Bei Bei's voice reached Ling Bai's ears in the same instant. The red-and-white bracelet on his wrist shimmered with a faint light. The Yearning Heartbroken Red was connecting with the Goddess of Love's residual power left behind in the valley, and the link had already begun to bear fruit, allowing Ling Bai to hear words he was never meant to hear.
The tranquil voice paused for a beat.
"Your lover does not seem to be here."
A shadow crossed Bei Bei's face. "No. She's been taken by an evil organization and placed under their control."
"If I could restore her to normal and return her to your side, what would you be willing to give in exchange?"
"Everything I have. As long as I can get Xiao Ya back, you can take whatever you want!" Bei Bei answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Very well. Then castrate yourself."
A pair of scissors materialized in front of him.
Ling Bai's expression turned distinctly odd. Even after ten thousand years had passed, that Little Witch still indulged the same wicked sense of humor. He reached through the spiritual link to the bracelet and asked:
"Yearning Heartbroken Red, is it working yet?"
"What do you take me for?" the Yearning Heartbroken Red shot back indignantly. "I'm a 100,000-year spirit beast, not a God! Someone's been using the Goddess of Love's power for their own ends. I have to awaken her lingering consciousness and convince her to side with me instead. Just be patient!"
While man and flower held their very friendly exchange, Bei Bei had already made his decision. Just as he had said, he was willing to sacrifice anything for Tang Ya. A bit of bodily happiness counted for nothing in comparison!
He gripped the scissors and brought them down.
Snip!
...It didn't cut through!
"Dedication for love. Sincerity, First Round: Pass."
At the critical moment for little Bei Bei's future, the scissors vanished and his manhood was spared!
Bei Bei slumped to the ground, his clothes drenched in sweat. For one terrifying instant, he had truly been ready to trade the happiness of his lower half for Tang Ya's safe return!
The golden light spun again, and this time it came to rest before the Inner Courtyard's Big Senior Sister: Zhang Lexuan.
"Do you have a lover?"
The sudden voice sent a faint ripple through Zhang Lexuan's eyes.
"No."
"Have you ever loved someone?"
"Yes."
Her answer came without a moment's hesitation.
"Who?"
"...Bei Bei."
The instant that name left her lips, her voice reached not only Ling Bai but Bei Bei as well. He shot upright from where he had collapsed, eyes wide with shock.
"Does he love you?" the voice pressed on.
"No."
Zhang Lexuan had long known the answer to that question.
"If he doesn't love you, why do you still love him?"
Zhang Lexuan pressed her lips together. A faint blush rose to her delicate face, but far deeper than that was the conflict and pain lingering in her eyes. The question had torn open the oldest, deepest scar in her heart.
"Elder Mu saved my life. He taught me, guided me, and helped me become a powerful Spirit Master. I once swore an oath: that I would be Bei Bei's child bride, become his wife, and care for him and protect him for the rest of my life.
Later, Bei Bei found a girl he liked. Lost, I went to ask Elder Mu what I should do. He told me to let that vow scatter with the wind. But I'd lived by it for more than ten years. I'd grown used to putting him first in all things...
Habits are hard to change... and love is no different."
Two clear trails of tears slipped down Zhang Lexuan's cheeks. Bei Bei stood silently in his bubble, listening. Every word she spoke retraced the quiet steps of his own boyhood.
He did care for Zhang Lexuan, but that affection was the warmth of family, the reliance of a younger brother on an elder sister, not the love between lovers.
"If he will never love you, are you still willing to sacrifice for him?" the flat voice asked once more.
Zhang Lexuan fell silent for a heartbeat, then raised her hand to wipe the tears from her face. Her answer came firm and unwavering:
"I am."
"True feelings revealed. Selfless love. Sincerity, First Round: Pass."
The voice paused, then added, "Selfless devotion deserves a reward. Second Round: Exempt."
The light barrier rose once more, sealing off Zhang Lexuan's view. In a place that queried the heart, how could her heart ever hope to find peace?
Golden light flashed again. This time the beam rotated for a long while before coming to rest at Ling Qiuxi's position.
She floated upward, suspended amid a dazzling golden radiance.
"Do you have a lover?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"Ling Bai."
The exchange was swift and crisp. Ling Qiuxi's expression remained serene; she trusted Ling Bai without reservation and saw no reason to hide her feelings. Right on cue, Ling Bai's barrier lowered, and he found himself gazing upon her breathtaking face in this world of gold and silver.
"If one day your lover faces a life-or-death crisis, would you be willing to give your life for him?"
Ling Qiuxi's nerves drew taut. Her voice turned razor-cold. "Are you trying to harm him?"
"...Would you be willing to give your life for him? Fail to answer within three counts, and the punishment is death."
Her words had laid its intentions bare, and the voice now carried the faintest note of flustered anger.
"I..."
Ling Qiuxi looked deeply into Ling Bai's eyes. In that single moment, a thousand thoughts churned through her mind. At last, she exhaled slowly, and her gaze cleared:
"I am willing.
If I should die, I trust that he can carry the responsibilities that were mine and guard my family in my place."
Life and death had always been the hardest question for any intelligent being. Yet the Emperor Destiny Beast's love had never left room for retreat. Back when she had barely understood the human world, she had still dared, on a single surge of heartfelt courage, to take human form and chase the call of her heart.
"Love from the depths of the soul. Sincerity, First Round: Pass."
"Do you have a lover?"
The voice now turned to Ling Bai.
"Yes," Ling Bai replied mildly.
"..."
That single, airy word left the voice silent for a long while. High above the clouds, in an ethereal space beyond mortal sight, a woman draped in a nine-colored gown gave a visible shiver. She turned hurriedly to the blue-haired youth at her side, her voice tight with alarm:
"Third Brother, I can't see into this Angel descendant's heart at all! It's as if he's shielded by a power akin to the Yin Yang Love Querying Valley's own. Even the Goddess of Love's power can't pierce his defenses!"
"It doesn't matter. Keep asking. He won't slip free of our grasp in the end."
"Okay."
The nine-colored woman steadied herself and pressed on. "Who is your lover?"
"There are too many. Which one are you asking about?"
Damn it, I really want to hit him!
The woman ground her teeth until the roots of them itched, barely reining in her fury as she pressed on. "Here. In this place. Who are your lovers?"
"Ning Tian, Wu Feng, Ling Qiuxi, Han Ruoruo."
Ling Bai rattled off the names with the smooth ease of a waiter reciting a menu, and the nine-colored woman nearly lost her composure on the spot. It felt as though this Angel brat were trampling all over her hard-earned reputation as the Little Witch. She flicked her hand sharply, hoisting the four women upward and splitting open Wu Feng's bubble.
"Take a good look around you. He says every one of you is his lover."
"Lovers?!"
Wu Feng's eyes lit up in an instant. Lovers, eh? And lovers personally acknowledged by Ling Bai himself, no less! A bright, foolish grin spread across her entire face as her gaze swept eagerly around the platform.
Ning Tian... MY LOVE!
Han Ruoruo... fine, I can endure that.
Wait... Ling Qiuxi...
Wu Feng suddenly couldn't smile anymore!
"You beast!"
She exploded, stamping her feet as fury shook her entire body. Every single time, she had bent over backwards, obediently twisting herself into all sorts of positions to please him. And who would have guessed that a man's greed was a bottomless pit, that his demonic claws had quietly reached for Ling Qiuxi too?!
A scene sprang to life in her mind so vividly it might as well have been witnessed firsthand:
Some pitch-black night, in a room shrouded in darkness, Ling Bai would be lounging there with that infuriatingly wicked smile of his. His voice would drop low and coaxing as he made a request that trampled every bottom line. Ling Qiuxi would stiffen, draw a sharp breath, and refuse him without a hint of hesitation. After all, they were siblings, weren't they?!
But he would pin her down. And while his words would be soft, his hands would be anything but. Ling Qiuxi would struggle at first, then slowly go limp as the realization sank in that resistance was pointless. For the greater good, she would grit her teeth and endure the humiliation, bearing the weight in silence as she let Ling Bai do this and that, until at last she became just another delectable dish on his plate!
"Worse than a beast!!!"
Wu Feng's outrage grew strangely immersive, because whenever Ling Bai really got going with her, he always used the same combination: his voice patiently talked her around while his hands mercilessly teased her. By the time her brain had turned to mush, she had already half-refused, half-yielded, and let herself be led along!
The nine-colored woman stared at her, utterly puzzled. "Isn't your focus a little... off? He admits to having four lovers at once. You don't object? You don't want him all to yourself?"
Unable to pierce Ling Bai's defenses, she had switched her attack to Wu Feng, deliberately emphasizing the words 'four' and 'all to yourself.'
Wu Feng scratched her head. "If I monopolized him, what would happen to Ning Tian? Ideally, it'd be just the two of us, and everyone else would get kicked out!
Heehee, the three of us together. Bai on my left, Tian on my right. I'd be in heaven!"
She basked in that beautiful fantasy for a full three minutes, giggling like an idiot, before finally sobering enough to answer seriously. "As for objections... he's been tormenting me since I was little. I couldn't control him then, and I can't control him now. So long as he doesn't drag random women home to bully Ning Tian, I'll just pretend I don't see anything.
Oh, right, I do have one objection after all!
His thing with Qiuxi absolutely has to stay secret. If word ever gets out, people will gossip about it for the rest of their lives. I don't want them ending up like Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong, dead for ten thousand years and still being pointed at behind their backs."
Ling Bai and the nine-colored woman both fell silent for a beat.
Whoa...
This girl's brain circuitry genuinely isn't normal!
The nine-colored woman massaged her temples and forced her scattered thoughts back into order, her voice emerging low and deliberate:
"He admits that you are his lover, and you yourself admit that you love him. But is he the person you love most?"
Wu Feng's breath caught in her throat. Oh no. She hit the nail right on the head!
Her legs trembled as she managed weakly, "D-Do I really have to answer?"
High up in the clouds, the nine-colored woman finally felt as though she had vented a bit of her own pent-up frustration. A witch-like smile slowly curved across her lips.
"Who is the person you love most? Fail to answer in three counts, and you die."
Wu Feng clung desperately to the valley's rule of speaking only the truth. She squeezed her eyes shut, lifted her chin, and forced the words out through a tight, shaking throat:
"S-Sorry, you bastard... The person I love most... is Ning Tian!"
The nine-colored woman clenched her fist and pumped it once in fierce triumph. At last! She had completed the task her Third Brother had given her, prying Ling Bai's lovers apart piece by piece and paving the way for their next move. She could hardly wait to turn her sights on Ling Bai:
"Your lover loves your other lover. How does that make you feel?"
Ling Bai merely shrugged, his tone perfectly casual. "It's not as if I only found out today. From the moment I accepted Xiao Feng, I accepted everything about her.
Her strengths, her flaws... including her unusual feelings for Xiao Tian.
It's fine. We have endless time ahead of us. We can take things slowly."
The plan ran aground. The explosive falling-out she had anticipated simply never materialized. The nine-colored woman clicked her tongue in genuine surprise and shifted her aim toward Ning Tian:
"Do you have a lover?"
"Yes."
"Is it Ling Bai?"
"Yes."
"What is Wu Feng to you?"
"My closest confidante. My dearest friend."
"I let you hear their conversation just now. Your lover and your best friend are together."
"Mm. I know."
Ning Tian's gaze drifted to Wu Feng. Something complicated and impossible to name flickered in her sapphire-blue eyes, yet her voice remained calm, as though it carried not a single ripple of emotion.
That same calm voice struck Wu Feng like a giant hammer. Her head reeled, her body swayed, and she dropped to her knees. The color drained from her lips at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving them as white as snow.
"They both betrayed you." The nine-colored woman tore the wound wide open. "Do you hate them?"
Ning Tian lowered her head slightly, and her long hair cascaded forward like a waterfall to veil her eyes. Behind that curtain of silk, the depths of those ocean-deep irises held a trace of something lost and bewildered, an expression that almost no one had ever seen cross her face.
"For a time... yes. I hated them."
The quiet words fell like stones into still water. Wu Feng's tears burst free in a flood. Her greatest fear had become reality.
All this time, she had been the one urging Ling Bai to bring Ning Tian into their happy moments. Her small wish for a proper one-husband-one-wife arrangement was only a sliver of the reason. In truth, she had been terrified of Ning Tian's hatred. Wu Feng had planned to bury her head in the sand and hide behind Ling Bai, leaving him to be the one who laid everything bare.
After all, she was the best friend who had stolen the home from within. To Ning Tian, Wu Feng was nothing like Han Ruoruo or Ma Xiaotao. Love and hate were separated by a single thought; the roles of dearest friend and bitterest enemy could swap places in a heartbeat.
Now, hearing Ning Tian admit aloud to hating her, Wu Feng felt as though the sky had collapsed. The happiness she had pictured countless times was being stripped away thread by thread, dissolving like a fleeting illusion, a bubble's shadow at dawn.
"But now... I don't hate them anymore."
Ning Tian's tone shifted, and light rekindled in Wu Feng's eyes. The nine-colored woman spoke in disbelief:
"Why? An emotional betrayal is unforgivable!"
Ning Tian sighed softly and lowered her lashes, hiding the look in her eyes from view.
"Bai-ge. Xiao Feng. I don't know if you can hear my voice.
You two must have truly come together during the exchange program in Mingdu. And I just want to say... you really didn't hide it very well.
Bai-ge, you always used to call Wu Feng by her full name. Then one day, with no reason at all, she suddenly became 'Xiao Feng.'
And Xiao Feng... you'd long shown signs of the feelings you'd been holding back for Bai-ge, but in our daily lives you always restrained yourself, never once leaving my side.
Then, just as suddenly, you began coming with me to the Illustrious Virtue Hall less and less. And every night, the sweetness at the corners of your mouth was something you simply couldn't suppress, no matter how hard you tried.
When I first realized what was happening between you... the pain drove me half-mad. Countless times I pictured myself storming up to the two of you and demanding to know why. Why had you betrayed me? You were the two people I trusted most in this world!
But in the end, I held it in. I poured myself into my spirit guidance studies, little by little I steadied my heart, and slowly... I learned to let it go.
Bai-ge, you're so clever, and you understand me so well. You must have known long ago that I'd figured it out.
May I think of the Emerald Wings and the Beautiful Silk Tulip as your way of making it up to me?"
Ning Tian broke into a smile, but her voice trembled uncontrollably. Ling Bai's expression turned grave.
Let it go?
No. Ning Tian had strangled her own radiant dream with her own two hands.
"Bai-ge, I can't throw away the years we've shared just because of Xiao Feng. I understand that my busyness and my distractions have meant I haven't always been there for you. And around you, there are always so many women of extraordinary talent and exquisite beauty. You can refuse them once, refuse them twice, but keep going like that, and one day the temptation will win.
Rather than it be someone else... let it be Xiao Feng.
Xiao Feng, you don't have to blame yourself. If it hadn't been you, it would have been someone else. And if it had to be someone...
I'd rather it be you.
I'll say something selfish. If a stranger had captured Bai-ge's heart, I'd live in fear that she might one day come to harm me. But you, Xiao Feng... you would never.
In the end, we grew up together. That bond is real.
And besides... I still...
I still hope you can be happy. Even if I have to be the one who pays the price."