QT: The Rescue Of The Miserable Bigshots
Chapter 200 - 7.30

Chapter 200: 7.30

Jiang Jiamian frowned slightly and focused his mind once more, trying to sense the power within him. He felt it growing steadily, spreading through his body until it became obvious and immense.

He stepped out of bed quietly and made his way out of the Golden Palace. At the high entrance, he paused, overlooking the vast expanse of the Demon Domain. Lifting his gaze to the sky, he noticed the sunlight, still present, but dimmed slightly, as if dulled by the very nature of the Demon Realm.

Should he leave?

While Lou Yan still slept... was he really going to leave the Golden Palace just to find Fang Qi and force him to stay away from Lou Yan?

But...

Jiang Jiamian turned his head with a calm, indifferent expression. His gaze lingered on the dark Golden Palace behind him. He drew a few deep breaths of the cool air outside the palace doors before slowly turning back.

Just as he had when he first stepped out, he moved lightly through the vast main hall, circling around to the chambers.

He had just walked to the bed and was about to bend over to take off his boots and lie down in bed for a while when he saw Lou Yan, still asleep, unconsciously reaching toward the spot where he had been lying.

Then, as if startled by the emptiness, Lou Yan’s eyes snapped open. He sat up quickly, disoriented for a breath or two, until he saw him.

When he saw Jiang Jiamian standing there, a quiet sigh slipped from his lips. His expression softened with visible relief, "You were gone..." He paused, then asked gently, "Where did you go?"

For a moment, he thought Jiang Jiamian had escaped and run away.

Jiang Jiamian pointed in the direction of the outside of the hall and said, "Go out and take a breath."

Lou Yan slowly moved to the edge of the bed and grabbed Jiang Jiamian’s wrist tightly, "It was my mistake. I didn’t tie the soul-binding rope around your ankle after you fell asleep last night."

Jiang Jiamian: "..."

Jiang Jiamian let out a soft sigh, lowering his gaze to Lou Yan, who wore that guarded and prickly expression. He couldn’t help himself and reached out, gently brushing Lou Yan’s cheek again, "Lou Yan, you really don’t have to be so defensive all the time. If I wanted to leave, I would’ve done it while you were still asleep, when you wouldn’t even know I was gone."

Lou Yan’s body trembled slightly. Then, without warning, he raised his arms and wrapped them tightly around Jiang Jiamian’s waist. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he pressed his face against Jiang Jiamian’s chest, lowering his head in silent sorrow.

Time passed slowly.

So slowly that Jiang Jiamian felt as though the Golden Palace itself had fallen into stillness. Only the faint sound of Lou Yan’s breathing reminded him they were still here. His legs had gone slightly numb by the time he finally felt Lou Yan begin to relax.

Then, Lou Yan looked up.

The tears welled up in his narrow and delicate eyes, scorching straight through Jiang Jiamian’s heart.

"Do you know how many times I’ve imagined what things would be like now... if we hadn’t missed each other back then?"

Jiang Jiamian sighed, "It’s my fault. I pushed you deeper into this hell. Neither of us could have imagined how it would turn out... if."

Lou Yan stood up, his eyes searching Jiang Jiamian’s, filled with an unspoken question. He looked at him with quiet intensity, waiting, "Then... is it too late for us now?"

Jiang Jiamian met his gaze, his expression softening. He nodded and extended a hand toward Lou Yan, "It’s not too late."

Without hesitation, Lou Yan grabbed his hand tightly, "The past eight hundred years have shaped us like this..." Then he said with a voice thick with emotion. "But fortunately, we still have countless years ahead of us. This time, even if you try to run, I won’t let you go."

"Okay."

Jiang Jiamian’s heart was rarely soft.

Although... part of it was definitely due to the other person’s face.

After all, for someone like him, who appreciated beauty, if an ugly person had said the same thing, he definitely wouldn’t have been so soft-hearted.

"But..." Jiang Jiamian looked at his pale face and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"But what?" Lou Yan’s heart skipped a beat, his anxiety rising again.

"But... can you tell me what exactly you’ve done behind my back?" Jiang Jiamian lightly tapped his own cheek, smirking. "Look at how sick you look. I, the victim, woke up this morning, but you couldn’t. Anyone who didn’t know us would think I did something to you last night, not the other way around."

Lou Yan’s eyes flickered quickly before he asked softly, "How do you feel? About your body?"

Jiang Jiamian closed his eyes for a moment, then spoke frankly, "There’s a strange, unknown force growing rapidly inside me. It’s expanding."

"That’s good." Lou Yan seemed relieved.

"So what did you do?"

Jiang Jiamian had no intention of letting this matter drop just yet.

Lou Yan raised the corners of his lips slightly and chuckled, "Didn’t I tell you the answer when I met Immortal Jiang a few days ago? Unfortunately, both then and now, you think that I was maliciously taking revenge on you, and didn’t take my words to heart."

"What?"

Jiang Jiamian froze for a second, caught off guard.

Then, almost instinctively, his mind started working. He traced back through every conversation, every detail, every word Lou Yan had spoken since he brought him to the Golden Palace.

Lou Yan shook his head with exaggerated disappointment, "Same old story. Noble people always forget things. Whether it’s good or bad, they just never seem to remember."

Jiang Jiamian: "..."

Please cut the sarcasm, thank you.

"Just tell me. What did you do?" Jiang Jiamian’s patience gradually wore thin.

Lou Yan was truly someone who loved beating around the bush and keeping people in suspense.

Seeing that he was getting anxious, Lou Yan could not help but chuckle and pulled him into his arms, "Okay, okay, I’ll tell you. Didn’t I say before that you have to break something before you can build it up?"

"Huh!?"

Jiang Jiamian’s mouth twitched, "You mean, breaking my spiritual bones and destroying my cultivation?"

But what the hell is this break and then rebuild? Isn’t that Lou Yan’s malicious mockery?

He remembered this.

He pretended to say that he had made no progress in cultivation for many years, and that maybe if all his spiritual bones and cultivation were destroyed, then he would be able to break through the next realm.

Naturally, he took it as malicious sarcasm and ill intentions.

"That’s it."

When Lou Yan’s pale cheeks lifted in a faint smile, there was a fragile, haunting beauty in it, so delicate it made people ache just looking at him.

It seems that as long as he has such a beautiful face, no one would blame him even if he did something heinous.

"In these eight hundred years, I’ve tested your limits more than once. The reason your cultivation has stagnated... is because of the technique you practice. It’s powerful, but reaching its highest level is even more difficult."

Lou Yan said seriously.

Jiang Jiamian’s eyes narrowed. Of course.

After all, the original owner of this body wasn’t the protagonist.

He was just a carefully placed stepping stone - a tragic necessity in the script.

Deliberately written to ’die at the hands of the villain, stirring the male protagonist’s hatred’.

Naturally, his cultivation technique had to come with hidden flaws. The kind that made his eventual downfall and ending up being killed by the Demon Lord feel reasonable.

The flaw in the original owner’s cultivation was that his strength would become violent every hundred years, causing his cultivation to become unstable.

It was enough to block him permanently on the path to reach the height of ascension.

Jiang Jiamian had already tasted the bitterness of this power and technique.

It was because of this very flaw in his cultivation that he had missed his chance to bring Lou Yan to his side early on.

"So? What exactly did you do?" Jiang Jiamian asked.

Lou Yan curved his lips into a faint smile, "Have you forgotten? I have an ethereal body. If you practice dual cultivation with me, you will definitely benefit."

"That can’t be the case!"

Jiang Jiamian frowned, "Tell me, what did you do?"

"I didn’t do anything... I practiced a kind of magic technique. It’s unstoppable, but only the ethereal body can practice it. It cannot be restricted and has a powerful devouring force." He met Jiang Jiamian’s gaze, his voice softening slightly, "So... I had no choice but to destroy your spiritual bones."

"Then, treat yourself as a cauldron, and transfer all the magic power in your body to me during the dual cultivation!?"

Before Lou Yan finished speaking, Jiang Jiamian had already figured it out quickly.

This fool!

God knows, Jiang Jiamian had seen that vicious look on Lou Yan’s face before, as if he wanted to skin him alive. But who could have imagined? This fool had been secretly plotting all along, planning to destroy and then rebuild his cultivation from the very beginning.

Shouldn’t he hate him?

Shouldn’t he blame him?

It’s normal to blame and hate him.

Jiang Jiamian already knew it, so he accepted it.

Jiang Jiamian stared at Lou Yan’s beautiful face, at the pitiful look in his eyes, at the quiet warmth of his intentions, and in that moment, something inside him snapped.

All the careful control, the cold detachment of his bullshit perosnality, he threw it all aside.

Without a second thought, he raised his hand and placed it firmly on Lou Yan’s shoulder.

Lou Yan froze for a brief moment, his expression lost in confusion, but before he could react, Jiang Jiamian exerted just a little force, pushing him back toward the bed behind him. The heat from the sheets still lingered, not yet gone, when Lou Yan had just left.

The power in Jiang Jiamian’s body was growing, but Lou Yan was like a bucket that had just been emptied.

The result of this push is predictable.

The weak Lou Yan barely resisted as Jiang Jiamian easily pushed him down onto the bed.

Leaning over him, Jiang Jiamian’s expression softened into a gentle smile, almost playful, "Little beauty, I can’t control myself when you are like this!"

Lou Yan: "..."

Is this guy crazy!?