My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion
Chapter 122 - 103: Who Are We Really Working With?

Chapter 122: Chapter 103: Who Are We Really Working With?

No matter how Lin Wanxiao answers—whether it is yes or no—Lin Yan will die here.

If I must kill someone, I’ll do it openly. Chen Yi refused to resort to those despicable, duplicitous tactics of pretending to be noble and innocent while secretly striking from the shadows.

Moreover, Lin Yan deserved to die countless times over. The Lin Party had plagued the imperial court for years, and Cabinet Elder Lin was obsessed with cultivating the mystical arts, leaving all major and minor affairs to Lin Yan. The filthy deals and sordid entanglements that followed were beyond imagination.

As for how all this would impact Lin Wanguan, it wasn’t that Chen Yi didn’t care. It’s just that, weighing the pros and cons, leaving her a shadow in broad daylight was infinitely better than deceiving her and trifling with her emotions.

A heart broken as Ruo Shang, may recover as boundless strength.

Kicking aside Lin Yan’s corpse, Chen Yi wiped the blood off his blade, then sheathed it.

Blood flowed across the ground, merging into the hidden currents beneath.

Cabinet Elder Lin ascended to immortality but was shattered and killed, losing his Golden Body. His son, Lin Yan—the Lin Family Head—died within the underground palace. When the Tushan Clan receded once more into slumber and returned to the Capital City, the Lin Party would disband like monkeys scattering from a fallen tree.

Glancing at the unconscious Lin Family Young Lady lying there, Chen Yi exhaled deeply. Truth be told, he could have easily made degrading and filthy remarks about her in front of Lin Yan, indulging his own vengeful desires.

But doing so wouldn’t merely humiliate Lin Yan—it would also be an affront to the young lady.

Chen Yi, by nature, understood compassion. He had never been in the habit of insulting women in front of outsiders.

Once Lin Wanxiao had fainted, Min Ning, avoiding suspicion, handed her over to Yin Weiyin.

Yin Weiyin accepted her, but inwardly mocked her: She still doesn’t realize that I know she’s a woman.

The Donkey-Head Crown Prince stared at Chen Yi. Seeing him remain silent for so long made him feel agitated.

After a long pause, Chen Yi finally turned his head, quietly fixing his gaze upon him.

The Donkey-Head Crown Prince felt an eerie chill, like a premonition arising from the void, whispering that whatever Chen Yi was about to say would bring him to the brink of collapse.

That gaze—both profound and tranquil.

It was as though Chen Yi knew exactly what he wanted, understood the secrets buried deep within himself.

"Do you realize... Nuwa’s entrails can only transform into divinity?"

The Donkey-Head Crown Prince froze, staring at Chen Yi, then laughed after a lengthy silence:

"Don’t try to fool me. The Nine Tails is proof of royalty! Besides, she left those words on the wall: ’Even with a woman’s body, one shall reign over the kingdom!’ This was personally inscribed by the Tushan Clan—I can feel it!"

Chen Yi said nothing.

Unable to contain himself, the Donkey-Head Crown Prince angrily demanded:

"Where is she?!"

Still expressionless, Chen Yi replied:

"You’ve surely searched for the legend of Maitreya’s reincarnation, sought the tales of the Pure Light Heavenly Girl, and the Dharma King, but those are all wrong—all lies, aren’t they?

So then, you chose to believe another story—that she is the Nine-Tailed Fox, the entrails of Nuwa..."

Chen Yi’s words seemed to strike at a vital nerve, prompting the Donkey-Head Crown Prince’s ugly donkey face to flush red, his violet-gold helmet trembling visibly.

Yet he could not act against Chen Yi, only glare at him with eyes like a vengeful ghost.

And Chen Yi’s next words made the Crown Prince erupt outright.

"Regrettable, this legend is false as well."

The purple shadow of Xu Ying flickered, and crosswinds suddenly surged across the riverbanks, slowing the creek’s flow. Blood pooled on the ground rippled as the Donkey-Head Crown Prince lunged at Chen Yi with his claw.

But mid-air, he froze.

From the shadows, the Tushan Clan stepped forward, raising a hand. Under the influence of some invisible force, the claw halted just three or four inches before Chen Yi’s body.

"Why—why, Mother..."

The Donkey-Head Crown Prince’s eyes widened, then shrank abruptly.

For he heard the words:

"Because you are not my son."

Empress An spoke coldly,

"He is."

As the words fell, the Donkey-Head Crown Prince’s eyes widened. He felt something squeezing against his chest, crashing and ricocheting within, like it would detonate at any moment. The pent-up grievances suffocated him, stealing his next breath.

He let out a beast-like growl, pain rending his soul as if his heart were ripped apart. At long last, his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground.

"You should’ve realized this long ago. Both myths were false—the first served as Wu Zhao’s claim to the throne, while the second...was nothing but folk rumors twisted over generations. You simply refused to accept the truth."

Chen Yi said indifferently.

The Donkey-Head Crown Prince dry-heaved, red-eyed with wild fury. He raised his claws, madly tearing at his grotesque donkey face—the very face that had led to his exile from Chang’an City.

"She’s neither the Wheel-Turning King nor the Nine-Tailed Fox; she’s merely human."

Chen Yi calmly revealed the truth.

The Donkey-Head Crown Prince surged forward once more, but with the slightest frown from Empress An, his body was sent flying sideways, crashing heavily into the ground and creating a shallow crater.

The cold words reverberated in his mind, and the Donkey-Head Crown Prince shivered uncontrollably, his heart convulsing violently. His face was streaked with blood, leaving him in utter disarray.

Yes, he should’ve known; he should’ve predicted it. She wasn’t the Wheel-Turning King; none of the monks recognized her as such. It took him an eternity to accept it, so he kept searching—kept searching for her soul. The folk whispered she was the Nine-Tailed Fox, Nuwa’s entrails, so he arrived here, deep within the underground palace, clinging to disbelief. He refused to believe she wasn’t a demon!

"If...if she’s human..."

The Donkey-Head Crown Prince raspingly bellowed in anguish,

"If she’s human...

then why was I born a demon?!"

She abandoned him, cast him out of the palace. He had created countless excuses for her, telling himself day after day that she was a Great Demon—surely a Great Demon!—and sending him away was merely to keep her demonic lineage hidden. Comforted by the lies, he waited patiently in that wooden city, dreaming of the day she would declare to the world he was her son, the Crown Prince of the Tang Empire. It was the fantasy of a child over a millennium ago, now shattered by Chen Yi.

Chen Yi silently watched this scene unfold.

Trembling, the Donkey-Head Crown Prince clawed his way out of the shallow pit. Then, he heard the words:

"Donkey-Head Crown Prince, don’t you wish for her...to rise from the dead?"

The Donkey-Head Crown Prince stiffly raised his head.

"Don’t you want to ask her yourself why she abandoned you and sent you out of the palace?"

Chen Yi asked with a smile.

First, break his spirit; then discuss collaboration.

"What...are you saying?"

The Donkey-Head Crown Prince rasped.

"First, you must find either her soul or her reincarnation."

"And what then? Even if you find her, she won’t retain her original memories. She’ll no longer be the same person!"

The Donkey-Head Crown Prince roared hoarsely.

Chen Yi chuckled lightly,

"The snake transforms into a fish; Zhu Xiu, the ancient progenitor of Xia, rose anew after death."

The Donkey-Head Crown Prince froze in place, his clenched fist relaxing slowly.

"Tushan Clan—she preserved her memories from that era precisely because of Zhu Xiu’s method. If you can find her soul or reincarnation, you too can use the same method...to bring her back from the dead."

Chen Yi’s words caused the Donkey-Head Crown Prince’s eyes to widen further. He stared at Chen Yi with ravenous desperation.

"Now, the opportunity lies before you,"

Chen Yi said in a steady, persuasive tone:

"All you need to do is tell me exactly who you’re working with."