My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion
Chapter 167 - 147: The Best Person for Her

Chapter 167: Chapter 147: The Best Person for Her

"Speaking to those who should not be spoken to is a mistake."

As the words fell upon her ears, Yin Tingxue suddenly felt an icy chill through her limbs.

At that very moment, she almost had the illusion of a needle piercing her crown, sending a faint numbness across her body.

She panicked and hastily blurted out:

"I misspoke, I misspoke! You can’t... you can’t give birth..."

?

After her words landed, Zhou Yitang asked coldly:

"Are you saying that I can’t?"

As she spoke, Yin Tingxue noticed the one-armed woman unconsciously straightening her back slightly, her figure graceful and alluring under the robe, making the young girl feel a pang of self-consciousness.

"No, no, I misspoke again."

Yin Tingxue clenched her hands and apologized,

"You’re the one who can give birth the most..."

?

Claiming that a renunciate could give birth?

The one-armed woman nearly unsheathed her sword on the spot.

Aside from Chen Yi, this princess was the most infuriating to her. Chen Yi did it intentionally, making it easier to teach him a lesson. But this fox was trickier—all her words seemed to stem from untainted innocence.

Yin Tingxue felt a fleeting pang of unease, but it was brief. Fortunately, Zhou Yitang wasn’t the person she feared the most and wouldn’t pursue such matters.

After a moment of silence, Zhou Yitang asked:

"Why come to me about this?"

Yin Tingxue took a deep breath, fiddled with her skirt hem, and said,

"...He’s forcing me—have a child, or love him..."

"Then love him."

The one-armed woman was always straightforward.

Yin Tingxue quickly shook her head. She did not love him. Back when she lived in the Prince Mansion, she hadn’t feared anyone—no one dared mistreat her—nor would she stir up trouble or harm others. That peaceful life lasted until their household was confiscated, until Chen Yi arrived.

Chen Yi pressed her step by step, like a dull knife slicing flesh. At first, she had resisted several times, but what did it amount to? Nothing. Worse, he took her body, tormenting her daily. The more defiant she was, the crueler he became. At some point, she realized that if she obeyed him completely, the suffering might just be a little less.

But even "a little less suffering" was still suffering. He always pushed her to the edge of despair.

It wasn’t as though he had never treated her well. At least in terms of food and accommodations, he never let her suffer. Occasionally, he might listen to her briefly. But the humiliation he inflicted lingered deeper.

"I don’t love him."

Yin Tingxue muttered.

It wasn’t just not loving—she loathed him with all her being. The world might have women willing to bear a child for someone they abhorred, but scarcely for someone they feared most. And yet, the one she dreaded most was him.

She often fantasized about scenarios—for instance, one day, a woman would stand outside the door, and by simply looking up, she’d see that it was her mother. Her mother would take her home, away from this yard, away from this man, never to see him again... She didn’t even dare dream of revenge, only of never meeting him again.

But it had been a long while since she’d lost her mother.

"Then you have no way out."

Zhou Yitang flatly stated an unforgiving truth.

Yin Tingxue’s face turned pale. Deep down, she knew it as well—she feared him to the bone and understood that even in death, he wouldn’t let her go.

"I know. He said he wouldn’t forgive me, even through ten lifetimes."

Ten lifetimes—she wouldn’t be Yin Tingxue anymore; yet Chen Yi wouldn’t let go. Death wasn’t an escape route, and Yin Tingxue had never considered dying.

All children fear death at some point, and her mother once comforted her fearful heart with tales of reincarnation. As the princess, she found solace in that for a while.

But one day, she realized that if one reincarnates, perhaps they are no longer the same person, and her mother wouldn’t be her mother anymore. At that moment, Yin Tingxue cried her heart out.

If Chen Yi reincarnated into someone else entirely, she couldn’t be happier.

Zhou Yitang noticed the unease flitting across the young girl’s expression. She understood Chen Yi’s obsession far better than the girl did. And obsessed people always demanded someone else to yield. She also knew well that between the two of them, the one to capitulate would never be him—it could only be Yin Tingxue.

Yin Tingxue seemed to sense something, raising her brows to ask:

"Master Zhou, do you have any ideas?"

After deliberation, the one-armed woman calmly responded:

"Try imagining him as the person who treats you the best."

Zhou Yitang always knew who treated her best, which is precisely why she cared about him. Beyond that, she frankly didn’t have much experience in matters like this.

"The person who treats me the best..."

Yin Tingxue could only think of one person, and she shuddered.

"Mother?"

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

"The Demon Sect is actually implicated in the Joyful Sect affair?"

Chen Yi muttered as he flipped through records of interrogations.

Min Ning glanced at the files in his hand and added:

"I was present at the time. Those Demon Sect rogues murmured about grand schemes, cryptic prophecies—mostly claiming that artifacts would shift, the Heavenly Gate would crack, and the Bright Venerable would emerge. They said people wrongly branded them as a demon sect, though in truth they are poised to become the righteous sect."

The Heavenly Gate cracks...

Upon hearing those familiar four words, Chen Yi’s hand involuntarily trembled.

"But... what does this have to do with the Joyful Sect?"

Chen Yi asked again.

"The rogues claimed the extermination of the Joyful Sect was inevitable in the grand scheme, and they were merely taking a share. The mastermind behind it, they said, was the celestial Buddha."

Min Ning recounted these words with deep disdain.

Chen Yi furrowed his brows, quickly scanning through the dossier, before halting abruptly upon seeing four familiar characters.

The characters were "Purity Saintess," and when five more appeared, his complexion paled further.

His fingers subtly trembled as he whispered:

"What does it mean—why do the records mention that the Purity Saintess’s mother died from Flesh Relic Potion?!"

And the strange poison lingering in his own body was also Flesh Relic Potion.

Min Ning hadn’t anticipated such a strong reaction. She quickly explained:

"A Demon Sect elder briefly mentioned it—about how the Princess’s passing stirred rumors in town. She was just past thirty, in the prime of her life, yet succumbed to an illness after merely three years of decline..."

"Take me to her."

Chen Yi slammed the dossier shut and ordered coldly.

Min Ning nodded slightly. Without further words, she turned to lead Chen Yi toward the West Factory’s dungeon.

The guards at the prison, informed of their intentions, promptly guided them. Narrow corridors and a damp atmosphere hung heavy, like murmurs in the air, as though unseen droplets continued to trickle downward.

Chen Yi felt an inexplicable agitation.

"Commander Min, Commander Chen, should I call out for her first?"

The guard inquired, following protocol that forbade them from directly entering areas housing high-profile prisoners.

"Just open the door and take us in."

At Chen Yi’s command, the guard wasted no time finding the key to let them through.

Striding quickly inside, Chen Yi absorbed the eerie silence. As a Fifth Grade Martial Artist, his acute hearing picked up nothing—not even the sound of human breaths, only the persistent drip of water.

At the deepest recess, Chen Yi abruptly stopped before saying anything.

Looking ahead, Elder Luo was seated on the ground, head bowed as if dozing, but dark, viscous blood ran from the corner of her mouth.

At some unknown point, she had bitten her tongue and died by suicide.