My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion
Chapter 116 - 98: Waiting for Someone Oh Yeah

Chapter 116: Chapter 98: Waiting for Someone Oh Yeah

Chen Yi hadn’t fully decided how to deal with Yin Weiyin.

But regardless, since he spared her life, he would make her repay it with principal and interest.

If she behaved herself in the future...

Forget it, he’d leave that for later.

Seeing her trembling with fear now, Chen Yi stopped pressing her and softened his tone. With a hint of reflection, he said:

"The further one cultivates, the harder it becomes to see oneself. It’s like crossing lofty mountains and ridges, only to stand atop and ask: where has the original me gone? The path to immortality is long and treacherous. Buddhism teaches that ’all actions are impermanent, all phenomena are without self, and only thus can one attain nirvana.’ Meanwhile, the Taoists offer the method of ’severing the three corpses to become a saint.’ But if we forget our own selves, what use is the Great Dao then?"

Yin Weiyin raised her face in astonishment, looking at him,

"You actually... understand these things?"

For the first time, she seemed to view this man—whom she had thought of as an ordinary vulgar being—differently.

Chen Yi sneered and replied:

"What else? Become as dense and stupid as you, cultivating yourself into a lifeless stone?"

Yin Weiyin had no response. She shrank slightly into herself.

A moment later, Chen Yi grabbed her hand and pried it apart.

He had to admit, she was delightful—delicate and supple—a beauty in her own right.

In comparison, Yin Tingxue still had a touch of youthful greenness.

The female crown instinctively struggled for a moment, but then heard him say:

"Hm? Forget who’s who again? Want to erase Yin Weiyin from yourself all over?"

Taichua Goddess froze in terror, and once again had no choice but to recall, "I am me."

............

Yin Tingxue felt a rising panic.

She noticed that the expression on the nearby Sword Armor’s face was growing darker and darker.

Half-unconsciously, she tilted her ear to listen, and soon the sound of faint whispers reached her. Yin Tingxue’s lips trembled slightly, her face flushing deep red.

How could he be so... shameless?!

Cold sweat broke out across her body, and the impoverished princess could only inwardly curse Chen Yi twice.

She stood there feeling as though she were sitting on pins and needles, occasionally turning her gaze to Zhou Yitang or lowering her eyes to the floor, her legs trembling as though ready to bolt.

After a long time, she heard a quiet sigh.

"Still... too impatient."

Turning her head, Yin Tingxue saw that Sword Armor’s expression had already returned to calm.

She let out a breath of relief,

"So... how did it go?"

"His lower corpse is not ordinary."

The calm, emotionless voice fell into Yin Tingxue’s ears.

Having read Buddhist scriptures and Taoist texts, she knew that among the three corpses, the lower corpse was the easiest to sever. Many people spent their entire lives untouched by carnal desire, engrossed in the mundane routines of daily toil, and naturally achieved enlightenment; the lower corpse severs itself.

"He’s certainly lascivious..."

Yin Tingxue murmured.

Perhaps it was sympathy for a fellow sufferer, but she felt a trace of pity for Yin Weiyin, who had gone through so much torment.

Would Chen Yi treat Sister Weiyang better in the future?

Yin Tingxue couldn’t stop thinking about it.

She wasn’t sure. She felt that she held some place in Chen Yi’s heart, but it wasn’t much—after all, he hadn’t yet taken her back to Yintai Temple.

As she thought carefully, Yin Tingxue realized that the issue wasn’t Chen Yi but the Princess of Jing.

If Sister Weiyang became just like her... perhaps things would change.

The girl knew to some extent that although he was cruel, deep down he was someone who could soften his stance. If he didn’t soften, she might have a chance to persuade him gently, whispering in his ear, and perhaps he would relent.

"Let’s go."

Zhou Yitang’s voice interrupted Yin Tingxue’s thoughts.

"Go where?"

"Deeper."

Zhou Yitang turned away.

Yu Zhen Yuanjun had obtained what she sought. However, her desires remained unfulfilled.

She had waited a lifetime; in a hundred years’ time, she would be waiting still.

............

Some time later...

"Min Ning is a woman."

Chen Yi whispered in her ear as his lips brushed lightly against it.

Yin Weiyin’s knees weakened, and her legs aching, just having risen to her feet—they buckled again and nearly sent her collapsing back to the floor. Chen Yi instinctively steadied her, allowing her to find her footing.

"Both dragon and phoenix... truly... a woman?"

Yin Weiyin’s lips quivered.

"What else?"

Chen Yi casually played with strands of her hair.

"But the prophecy clearly stated..."

Before she could finish, Chen Yi interrupted in a faint tone:

"Perhaps that prophecy was nothing more than a deliberate fabrication."

Yin Weiyin froze in place, her eyes wide with disbelief.

That prophecy had been spoken by her mentor, Yu Zhen Yuanjun herself.

Her face turned ashen, white as paper.

Chen Yi didn’t care what troubled her thoughts. He released her hair and helped her straighten her clothes. His tone was indifferent as he said:

"Yin Luanhuang, after today, I hope you conduct yourself wisely."

The female crown trembled lightly. She glanced at Chen Yi once, then quickly lowered her head, not even daring to meet his eyes. After a long pause, she whispered bitterly:

"Wisely how? By visiting your residence, month by month?"

"Think it through yourself."

Chen Yi sneered.

"...Every ten days?"

Yin Weiyin stammered hesitantly.

Chen Yi did not respond.

Seeing his reaction, Yin Weiyin finally broke down and yielded. Bowing her head low, she involuntarily choked out:

"Every... every day off."

Off-days for officials of the Great Yu court were numerous compared to prior dynasties—a total of ninety-eight annual days of rest.

Every off-day, she would be required to surrender all the cultivation she had painstakingly worked for, turning it into a gift for him, while she could only scrape for what leaked through the cracks. Even with her steadfast Daoist heart, Yin Weiyin was now utterly crushed.

Chen Yi studied her expression carefully.

Unlike Yin Tingxue, who would secretly bear resentment in her heart, Yin Weiyin had now even lost the courage to hate.

"When you return, dissuade your father... Though then again, he probably doesn’t dare attempt to kill me anymore."

Chen Yi turned his back to her, his thoughts briefly lingering before striding over to where Lin Wanxiao lay fainted on the ground.

Once he scooped the Lin Family Young Lady into his arms, Chen Yi took a cursory glance at her pale face but refrained from any untoward actions.

After all... it was a sage’s moment.

Chen Yi shifted his gaze and saw Anhou standing atop the altar, her hand gently tracing the fractured bronze tripod in a daze.

"Waiting endlessly..."

The Tushan Clan softly sang.

It was an ancient southern tune—a woman waiting for someone who would never return home.

Chen Yi strode toward Anhou, who stood beside the twin dragon bronze tripod.

"Yi’er..."

Feeling his approach, the Tushan Clan didn’t turn back as she spoke.

"It’s me, madam."

Chen Yi hesitated briefly before quietly saying:

"I am not Qi, and you are no longer Tushan Clan..."

Anhou remained silent, staring off into space. Chen Yi couldn’t tell if it was her lost in thought or Tushan Clan’s lingering spirit.

"It doesn’t matter..."

After a long while, she finally spoke, her voice layered with emotions beyond comprehension,

"Just stay with me... and pretend to be my son for a little while longer."

Chen Yi’s eyes quivered, then he gently nodded and replied:

"Alright."

Eventually, he would leave this underground palace, and Tushan Clan would cease to occupy the Great Yu’s Empress Dowager’s body.

"Waiting endlessly, waiting endlessly..."

And in the mural, upon the bronze dragon chariot, Qi—who had already severed his three corpses and attained immortality—had ascended to heaven and would never return to this vast, desolate human world.

North of the Huai River, south of Mount Tushan, the Tushan Clan had once lifted her gaze far into the horizon, singing "Waiting endlessly" as she awaited the return of Dayu. Now in this underground palace, she still gazed far away, still singing. Everything... seemed like a cycle.

"...Waiting endlessly!"

Tushan Clan’s face streamed with tears,

For there will always be mothers in this world, who wait forever for children who will never come home.