Sick Beauty [Rebirth] Chapter 103

Chapter 103 Storm 

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In his dream, white blossoms were drifting across the entire sky. 

Ye Yunlan looked blankly at Chen Weiyuan, who said “he missed him bitterly” in front of him. Blue veins protrude on the back of the hand holding queying sword. 

“Chen Weiyuan, you make me sick.” 

Chen Weiyuan’s expression remained unchanged, then he smiled: “Yunlan, we’ve reunited after a long time, why bother to be so irritable.” 

Ye Yunlan just stared at him coldly, completely guarded. 

The person in front of him was completely different from the Chen Weiyuan he met on Tianchi Mountain two years ago. Being present but physically elsewhere was the principle of the Transcendance Stage. 

And the other party’s casual clothes and gentle smile made him feel strange. 

In his previous life, when the Demon Lord rescued him from the Buddha Tower, he saw Chen Weiyuan for the last time. 

At that time, the other party was standing in the void, wearing a star outfit, holding an astrolabe, and gathering thousands of daoist cultivators to build a Zhou Tian star battle formation to besiege him and the Demon Lord. The Demon Lord ordered a Blood River to come to the world, and Zhou Tian’s star battle formation broke out. Chen Weiyuan went missing. 

After a hundred years, they never met again, until he broke through Void Tracing and managed to pierce himself with the Seven Emotion Needles in his soul. Then, he rushed to the Northern Territory to cut him down, only to hear the news of Chen Weiyuan’s death.

If they didn’t count this life’s encounter in Tianchi Mountain, between them, they hadn’t met up for more than a hundred years. 

However, Chen Weiyuan’s change must’ve been after the Tianchi Mountain conference. 

But how? 

Rebirth was an absurd concept, but now, not only did he have the memories of his past life, Chen Weiyuan also seemed to recall their past lives. 

In this way, was it possible for Shen Shu to in the future… 

Ye Yunlan’s guess shocked himself. He saw Chen Weiyuan raise his hand and wave. Then, there appeared in front of the two of them-a stone table with a wine glass. Chen Weiyuan stooped to pick up the pot of wine being warmed in the snow, walked to the table, and sat down. He poured two glasses. 

“I am sure you must have many questions you want to ask me,” Chen Weiyuan pushed a glass of wine to Ye Yunlan’s direction a little, “It’s better to come over and sit down and talk slowly.” 

Ye Yunlan didn’t move. 

Even though this was a dream, the Seven Emotion Needle did not react during this meeting with Chen Weiyuan . 

The queying sword came out of its sheath, and the sword light pierced through the snow. It was like a meteor valiantly soaring by, and it was in front of Chen Weiyuan instantly! 

Chen Weiyuan did not move either. 

The sword light ran across his body, only to form a black crack. No blood flowed out, and the dream space was slightly distorted. Chen Weiyuan recovered straightaway. 

“You know you can’t hurt me in a dream.” Chen Weiyuan sighed, “Why bother to use a sword; if you hurt your body, what can be done?” 

Ye Yunlan: “You said I can’t hurt you?” 

He pointed at the blade of queying sword that slowly moved by. Chen Weiyuan saw him move, and his eyebrows jumped, “For this dream, I’ve been preparing for a long time. Now the entire Chen family’s ancient formation is tied to my body. If you have to kill me through the dream at any cost, it may not be feasible with the large array as resistance.” 

This was why it took so long for him to use the method of dreaming to meet Ye Yunlan after the Tianchi Mountain dao conference.

No one knew the horrors of the Void Tracing Realm better than him. If Ye Yunlan’s cultivation base was in full bloom like in his previous life, let alone a dream, if he dared to leave Chen Clan’s land for half a mile, Ye Yunlan would have noticed it. Targeting him from thousands of miles away with one sword move, he would be seriously injured. 

His life was calculating Tianji, but he could only calculate his own dead end. 

——He could only knock over the board and play a new game of chess. 

Ye Yunlan said indifferently: “The dignified pavilion master of Tianji is acting as a turtle hiding in its shell?” 

Chen Weiyuan sighed and shook his head: “Wife still blames me for the past and wants to kill me? But I am reluctant to see my wife suffer. Since the Seven Emotion Needles have entered the body, how much have you suffered? Your husband knows and also feels the same pain in his heart.” 

Ye Yunlan: “What’s the matter with you!? Chen Weiyuan, stop claiming you are my husband. Between you and me, we are enemies in life or death, never to end.” 

Chen Weiyuan gave him a steady look, then curved his eyes and smiled.

“When Wife is angry, it resembles red plum blossoms, shining brightly. No wonder you deserve to be the number one beauty in the cultivation world today.” 

He picked up the wine glass on the table and drank from it. His cheeks appeared a little drunk. He murmured: “But I still miss you even more when you wore your mask and called me husband.” He lazily propped his chin, his eyes drooping slightly, “At that time you were very obedient and would listen to what I say. I actually already liked you very much then, but, in the end, I could not withstand fate.” 

“The Great Tribulation of Heaven and Earth will start from the demonic star. Under the Great Tribulation, the people will be thrown into terror. No one wanted to see what would happen at that time. Yunlan, you are the only one. A star born at the same time as the demonic star, capable of destroying it.” 

Ye Yunlan suddenly interrupted: “Enough.” 

He already knew about the dual star.    

He didn’t believe in fate. However, after the death of the Demon Lord in his previous life, his realm soared, and he finally arrived at Void Tracing Realm. All of which made him can’t help but believe it. 

Therefore, in this life, he had never thought of looking for the Demon Lord. After the divine fire ignored him, he only planned to stay in Sky Sect alone and spend the rest of his life alone for this reason. 

He had lived long enough. In this world, he wanted to give success to the person he had not met yet. 

It was not until later that he accepted Shen Shu as a disciple, and to take care of his disciple, did he leave Sky Sect twice. Once to Tianchi Mountain, and once to the Netherworld Secret Realm. 

What he never expected was that the person he could not meet with in this life was his own disciple. 

Fortunately, his life was running out. 

Chen Weiyuan’s plan was destined to be empty. 

“You telling me these things are of no use,” Ye Yunlan said indifferently, “I am just a dying person. Whether it is the catastrophe of the heavens and the earth, or the destiny you said, it has nothing to do with me.” 

What about the Demon Bone of the Primordial Beginning, which is about to be born. Does it have anything to do with you?” Chen Weiyuan put down the wine glass in his hand, asking slowly. 

Ye Yunlan’s eyes tightened. 

Demon Bone of the Primordial Beginning. 

It was an indispensable array item of the Primordial Demon Refining Array! 

When the Demon Lord wanted to marry him, Chen Weiyuan had controlled him to stab the Demon Lord with a poisoned dagger. On the day of the wedding banquet, the dao cultivators took the opportunity to invade the Demon Realm and set up the Primordial Demon Refining Array on Liuming Mountain outside the Demon Palace to kill the Demon Lord. 

The Demon Lord’s physique was special. With cultivating the nine-turn celestial demon body in addition, he was basically immortal. However, in the Primordial Demon Refining Array, he almost died. This was the only way that the human race between heaven and earth could completely eliminate him.

That time, it was he who secretly displaced the Demon Bone and destroyed the formation, so the Demon Lord could take him to escape. Later, he was arrested and tortured in the Buddha Pagoda. His most severe crimes was the incident at Liuming Mountain where the dao cultivators had encircled and suppressed the Demon Lord where he had taken the side of the evil doer and provided aid for the Demon Lord to escape.

If the demon bone of this life was born and was snatched by Chen Weiyuan, the consequences would be disastrous if it was used to deal with Shen Shu in the formation. 

Ye Yunlan: “Where is the demon bone?” 

Chen Weiyuan didn’t answer him immediately but slowly said, “After the Demon Lord’s death, you did not care about the costs you had to pay to collect his remnant soul for him. Thinking about it, you must have valued that person very much. I had always wondered what was so good about him? Domineering temperament, indecisive, and bipolar. He even imprisoned you in his palace and forced you to marry him.” 

Although he was still smiling gently, his brows were gloomy, “After he took you from the Primordial Demon Refining Array, his demon body had deep wounds. You must have suffered a lot from him. So, do you still want to save him again?” 

Ye Yunlan repeated: “Where is the demon bone.” 

Chen Weiyuan sighed, “After half a month, the Northern Territory’s Frost Ocean, Primordial God Ruins. Yunlan, I will wait for you there.” He raised his eyes, “When we meet, if you want to kill or cut off my flesh as punishment, your husband doesn’t mind.” 

Ye Yunlan remembered the birth of the Primordial God Ruins—the matter had shocked the cultivation world. It was no worse than when the secret realm of the Netherworld opened. Inside were all relics from the Primordial Period, and the Demon Bone of the Primordial Beginning was indeed very likely to have been obtained from the God Ruins. 

However, he didn’t believe in Chen Weiyuan’s nonsense of “if you want to kill or cut off my flesh as punishment, your husband doesn’t mind.” Since Chen Weiyuan had sent the invite through this dream, he must be fully prepared.

This was bound to be a Hongmen banquet*.  

* refer to a trap 

To go or not? 

Before he could think about it, he saw white blossoms falling faster and faster around him like snow. The surrounding scenery began to tremble. 

The dream was about to collapse. 

He saw that Chen Weiyuan was pouring a glass of wine for himself and gently touched the other glass that Ye Yunlan hadn’t touched. He raised it to him. 

White blossoms rained on the tips of his hair. 

He smiled slightly: “I hope that after half a month, I can meet Wife in the Northern Territory and drink with you.” 

The dream suddenly shattered. 

Ye Yunlan woke up from his dream. 

He sat upright and looked sideways out the window. 

There was a morning rooster in the distance, but the dusky night had not completely faded away. A few dim stars were faintly visible. 

Shen Shu noticed his movement and sat up. He approached his back, put his arms around his shoulders, and asked in a low voice, “Why did Master wake up so early today?” 

Ye Yunlan raised his hand and pulled Shen Shu’s arm away, saying: ” You said you wanted to go down the mountain today. When will you leave?” 

Shen Shu: “There’s no rush. After having breakfast with Master, I’ll leave.” 

Ye Yunlan: “Is everything packed?” 

Shen Shu leaned on his shoulder and whispered, “Why is Master still treating me like a child? It’s just a month, it’s not very long, I don’t need to pack much. Maybe after Master finishes reading two books, I’ll be back.” 

Ye Yunlan: “…A month.” 

He stopped talking. 

Shen Shu buried his head in his hair. He sniffed the cold fragrance of his body, and suddenly said: “Master, can you not bear me leaving?” 

“…No.” 

Shen Shu: “But I suddenly felt a little reluctant to leave Master here.” He sniffed Ye Yunlan a few more times like a small animal foraging, before saying, “But thinking about it carefully, if I can’t help Master find the way to prolong his life, I’m afraid I will be even more reluctant two months later. So, Master, you must wait for me to come back.” 

Ye Yunlan just looked at the dim stars outside silently. 

Shen Shu got up and arranged his clothes for him. He put on his coat and went out to the backyard to prepare for a morning meal. 

The morning dew was moist.

Ye Yunlan was dreaming all night and was tired, but he didn’t want to sleep anymore. 

He got up and stood by the window, looking at the flowers outside. 

Those flowers were well taken care of by Shen Shu. 

It was the early spring season, and most had already bloomed. The beautiful and soft petals were stretching happily. 

He suddenly remembered that many years ago, young Shen Shu had opened the window and entered the house, carefully holding out a snowcup flower in his hand to him. 

“Master, breakfast is ready, come and eat it.” 

The grown-up boy stood by the door, holding a plate of pastries and smiled at him. 

He turned around. 

“Okay.”

……

After breakfast, Shen Shu cleaned up the dishes. Ye Yunlan was sitting in the study room with a pen, ink, and paper. 

The morning light had gradually lit up. 

The cold light shone in from outside the window, and he lifted the pen, but it didn’t go down for a long time. 

Shen Shu walked in and said. 

“Master, I’m going down the mountain.” 

Ye Yunlan lightly said, “En.”

Shen Shu: “I sealed the prepared meals in the kitchen using the formation method, and the spiritual power inside is enough to preserve it for one month. The spring pool connected by the back mountain was cleaned again yesterday, so you can take a bath without worry. The disciples of the library will come here every three days at 5-7pm. I have already instructed them, and Master can tell them to do what you need.” He repeated yesterday’s instructions carefully, all over again. 

Ye Yunlan: “Okay.” 

Shen Shu: “Then I’m leaving, Master.” 

Ye Yunlan: “Take care.” 

Shen Shu: “Master, too.”

Seeing Shen Shu turning around about to leave, Ye Yunlan suddenly called out, “Shen Shu.” 

Shen Shu turned his head, “Master?” 

Ye Yunlan: “I will play a song to see you off.” 

Shen Shu felt a little bit surprised and happily responded. 

Ye Yunlan got up and took the qin by the wall. Sitting in front of the qin table, with ten slender fingers resting on the strings, he bowed his head and played. 

The sound of the qin lingered.

As always, it was cold and empty. It was like going to an unmanned land, washing away a person’s heart.

But it was slightly different. 

Shen Shu closed his eyes and listened. He felt that the sound of the qin seemed to have something more than when Ye Yunlan had played before. 

He could not tell what it was. 

It was just that suddenly he wanted to hug his master. 

So after finishing the song, he walked around behind his master and hugged him. 

The other party didn’t push him away this time. 

Shen Shu pushed it further and pressed his chest against his master’s back, spraying his hot breath on the other party’s neck. 

He thought of what Ye Yunlan had promised him. When he came back from Demon Abyss, Ye Yunlan would be willing to allow him to heal his injuries and stay with him forever. 

Forever. 

A beautiful vocabulary he hadn’t thought of before. 

Now thinking about it, he felt happy. 

Shen Shu’s blood rushed, and he couldn’t help but open his mouth and bite Ye Yunlan’s shoulder, like a wolf marking his prey. 

“Definitely wait for me to come back,” he said, “Master.” 

Ye Yunlan just felt a slight pain in his shoulder, but Shen Shu had already let go of him.

Staying longer, he didn’t know what he would do. So he picked up the afterglow sword and walked quickly to the door. He took few steps,before turning around again to say goodbye, “Master, take care.” 

Ye Yunlan: “…Take care.” 

The study door closed slowly, and Ye Yunlan raised his hand to caress his shoulder. He paused momentarily at the painful place, then got up to look at the window.

His eyesight was lacking, and he only saw Shen Shu’s figure passing through the boundless sea of ​​flowers. He had already gone to a place he couldn’t see, leaving only a vague outline. In a bit, even the outline was gone. 

Ye Yunlan didn’t close the window. He just walked back to the table and sat down, picked up the pen, and was deep in thought.

Then he wrote on the paper. 

Shen Shu. See the words as if meeting. 

When you read this letter, Master will have gone to the yellow river*. 

* meaning he will be dead

I hope you will not miss me and think about the promise that I have made with you. It is Master’s missed appointment. This matter is Master’s fault. 

…

The wind blew across the window sills, and the wind bell sounded outside the bamboo building. Ye Yunlan wrote the last word, folded the letter paper, put it into the envelope, and pressed it under the inkstone. 

It was almost noon. The sun was at its highest, and the sound of the birds outside the window were endless. 

Ye Yunlan got up and went to the backyard kitchen. He saw a wooden frame with hundreds of dishes neatly arranged on the top. There were dishes, cakes, soups, etc., arranged in different categories. Even the name of the ingredients were marked with bamboo sticks, and then sealed and preserved with the formation method. 

He took the dish from the wooden stand. It still felt warm in his hands. A scent was wafting over his face, and the color was bright, making his index finger move. 

It was sweet and sour mandarin fish, and hibiscus fresh vegetables. 

There was also a bamboo bowl next to it, filled with white rice and a cup of tea. 

He returned to the bamboo building and ate the meal slowly by himself. He was weak and usually didn’t have a big appetite most of the time, but Shen Shu was afraid that he would not eat enough when he was away, so he deliberately cooked more. However, he still chewed slowly. It took a long time for him to eat all of it. 

After tidying up the dishes and chopsticks, he went to the study to read. 

The red sun was inclining to the west. When it was 5-7pm, a disciple from the library came over. 

He was a simple-looking young man and was very respectful towards him. He returned all the books he had to return. He did not borrow any books. The library disciple asked in surprise: “I heard Senior Brother Shen say that you like reading books, why not borrow some more?” 

Ye Yunlan: “For the time being, there is no need. You don’t have to come again for this month.” 

The library disciple was very puzzled, but he still took the books and left. 

When the night darkened, Ye Yunlan went to the bamboo forest in the backyard. 

In the bamboo forest, there was a pool of hot springs. The hot spring water was drawn from the back mountain, and the surrounding spring stones were stacked high, so there was no need to worry about being peeked at. 

Ye Yunlan slowly took off one clothing piece at a time. His black hair spread down, and he stepped into the hot spring. 

The cold moonlight shone on his pale skin, and the sound of running water gurgled in his ears. 

He lowered his head and leaned on a rock, silently watching his reflection in the water. He only saw a pale face and long hair. He felt like a ghost crawling back from the end of the yellow spring with no anger. 

The swelling heat rose, condensing into droplets of water on his eyelashes, then falling into the spring water. It sent circles of ripples. 

At night, he went to bed to sleep peacefully. 

The quilt was cold. After finally falling asleep with great difficulty, there were still nightmares disturbing him at night. 

The past flashed by one after another, while it showered and thundered in his dream. 

When he woke up, the sky was still dark outside the window, and it was raining. 

The patter of rain. The gloomy sky.

He got up and walked to the window. 

Hanging on the window sill was a bamboo basket, and sleeping in the basket was a fluffy golden chick. Ye Yunlan stretched out his hand to caress the fluff on the chick’s body and poked its head. However, the little chick was still motionless, sleeping very sweetly. 

Ye Yunlan contemplated for a while, then took down the bamboo basket. He closed the window sill, locked it, and put the bamboo basket on the wooden shelf in the study. 

He went back to the room to pack some clothes. He brought a few bottles of bigu pills, wrapped it up into a bag, and carried it in his hand. 

He picked up the paper umbrella near the door and went out. 

It was raining outside the window. 

The faint fragrance of flowers floated in the wet air. Holding a paper umbrella, Ye Yunlan walked through the winding path in the sea of ​​flowers and stepped into the green bamboo forest. 

“Where are you going?” 

Suddenly a cold voice sounded. 

Ye Yunlan stopped and saw a man in white-clothed crane cloak quietly watching him in the bamboo forest. 

“How does my affairs affect the Sect Master?” Ye Yunlan asked. 

Qiyun Jun: “You are my Sky Sect disciple, and I am Sky Sect’s sect master, how can it not matter?” His complexion was much paler than what Ye Yunlan had seen before. His qi was unstable, and the surrounding bamboo leaves trembled lightly. Taiqing Du Er Sword hummed soundlessly in his hand. 

Ye Yunlan: “Since Sect Master’s dao heart is unstable, it is best to go into closed door training, why meddle in others business?”

Qiyun Jun said hoarsely : “My dao heart is unstable because of you.” 

Ye Yunlan only said indifferently: “So, what does that have to do with me?” 

Qiyun Jun fell silent: “I owe you a lot. You can tell me what you need. I will help you do it.” 

“You will do it for me?” Ye Yunlan had a cold sneer, “If I want you to imprison yourself for a hundred years, throw away your sword, and abandon your way, would the Sect Master also do it?” 

Qiyun Jun frowned. 

Ye Yunlan: “Since you can’t, there is nothing to say. Sect Lod, excuse me.” 

“You hate me?” Qiyun Jun suddenly said very hoarsely, “…Why.” Although he misidentified the person, he had never hurt Ye Yunlan himself. Although he had forcefully healed him, Ye Yunlan himself had benefited, but he was still so dissatisfied with him. 

This kind of hatred seemed to have come out of nowhere. Long ago, when he first saw Ye Yunlan, he had already noticed it on the other party. 

Ye Yunlan, when he was a young boy, was so close to him before. He would smile at him and call him “brother.” 

What had he gone through to become what it was now?

Qiyun Jun couldn’t understand. 

He only felt his spiritual energy in chaos inside his body. The painful meridians could not be relieved, and blood was dripping from his thin lips, more and more. 

Ye Yunlan looked at the pale man in front of him in a sorry state. He did not answer his question and only said: “You shouldn’t come to see me.” 

Qiyun Jun: “If you don’t come to see you, how do I know where you are going?” 

Ye Yunlan asked back. “Isn’t not knowing better? You had once mentioned dual cultivation to me, but until now, your heartless dao has still not broken. It’s just because you don’t want to break it. Just like how in these twentyish years, you have never recalled that memory because you didn’t want to think of it yourself.”

Qiyun Jun was mute. 

Ye Yunlan: “You have been delayed in the Transcendence Realm for more than two decades, don’t you want to break through? Don’t you want to use me to get through your heart demon calamity, from heartless to sentimental, then from sentiment back to heartless, to reach the perfect state of mind. It’s a good way.” 

“It’s just that I still have something to do, please forgive me, I don’t have time to accompany Sect Master.” 

Qiyun Jun said hoarsely: “It’s not like that, I just…” It’s just, he couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t even distinguish his feelings for Ye Yunlan, whether it was love, pity, desire, or obsession. 

He had never had such complicated emotions. He did not understand. 

Ye Yunlan: “He who cultivates the heartless dao cuts off their emotions, but to talk about the karma of old feelings with others, how ridiculous.” 

With that, he had already stepped past Qiyun Jun.

Qiyun Jun stood there, watching Ye Yunlan’s back, frowning tightly. He suddenly bent over, raised his hand, and grasped his chest. 

Fresh blood-drops dripped down, splashing the ground like red blossoms. 

The Taiqing Du Er sword trembled violently. 

He raised his eyes, watching Ye Yunlan’s back disappear at the end of the bamboo forest. He raised his hand to grasp something, but he didn’t catch anything. 

The qi in his body had become extremely disorderly, and it must be suppressed by closed-door retreat. He could only ride his sword and return to Yuntian Palace. 

…

The sky was drizzling. 

Ye Yunlan walked through the green bamboo forest, then walked through Wendao slope, and finally came to the three thousand long steps outside the Sect gates. 

The long steps were endless, and green hills and mists were in the distance. 

In his previous life, he was dragged down these long steps, and it was the start of his rough life. 

In this life, he only wanted to live a peaceful life. Hence, in these few years, he had only walked out of Sky Sect twice. 

Someone accompanied him the first two times. Now, it was the third time. 

The past passed by like a dream. 

He was holding the queying sword, alone in the wind and rain.

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