Tome of Troubled Times
Chapter 814 (1): Preliminary Cooperation Test

Chapter 814 (1): Preliminary Cooperation Test

Now that the cat was out of the bag for good, Zhao Changhe clamped his mouth shut and turned his head to silently admire the snowy landscape around them.

Ye Jiuyou shot him a sidelong glance. “Was it a good view?”

Zhao Changhe remained silent.

Ye Jiuyou suddenly grabbed him by the collar. “Say something! Aren’t you usually all glib and talkative? Did the Frost Chi get your damn tongue?”

Zhao Changhe tucked his hands into his sleeves, still turned away. “I... guessed. Just a guess, that’s all.”

“Guessed? There are no dark creatures born in this era’s Underworld, so you never could’ve seen any. How the hell could you have guessed?!” In a fit of anger, Ye Jiuyou slammed her palm into Zhao Changhe’s chest.

Zhao Changhe, knowing he was in the wrong, did not dodge and took the blow squarely.

Even though Ye Jiuyou had not used her full strength, the gap in their raw power was undeniable. The strike still forced a trail of blood from the corner of Zhao Changhe’s lips. He let out a muffled grunt but said nothing.

“Why aren’t you fighting back?!”

“Why didn’t you go for the kill? Sorry for being blunt, but that amount of power makes this fight seem more like a lovers’ quarrel.”

Ye Jiuyou’s anger flared. “Do you really think I won’t do anything to you just because we’re planning to work together against Ye Wuming?”

Zhao Changhe gave a half-smile. “That might’ve been the case before. But I know you weren’t thinking of that when you struck.”

Ye Jiuyou glared daggers at him, chest rising and falling in fury.

Zhao Changhe glanced at her. “Even a demon god who doesn’t need to breathe is huffing with rage. I have to let you vent somehow. How else are we supposed to work together?”

“Let me vent?” Ye Jiuyou sneered. “Fine. Gouge your eyes out.”

Zhao Changhe replied, “And you say you’re capable of wantonness? Come on, we’re discussing the truth of the self here. Let’s not get sidetracked by such trivial details...”

Before Ye Jiuyou could respond, he quickly continued, “Did you know that, when I traced your origin, I found that you weren’t one of the primordial demon gods who existed at the dawn of creation?”

Ye Jiuyou froze. That one sentence was enough to derail her entire train of thought. “Impossible! I was born of the void itself as the embodiment of chaos and annihilation. How could such a fundamental law be something born later? Besides, nobody gave birth to me, and nobody created me. I have no parents. I existed alongside Ye Wuming from the very beginning as her counterpart.”

“Is it possible,” Zhao Changhe said slowly, “that you’re Ye Wuming’s severed evil... or rather, her severed negative self?”

“Absolutely not.” Ye Jiuyou’s denial was resolute. “If that were true, I would know. A separation or severing like that isn’t something that can be hidden. The memories and understanding from before the severing would be shared. Had that happened, I would know that I am Ye Wuming.”

Zhao Changhe’s brow furrowed deeply.

Ye Jiuyou tilted her head. “What exactly did you see?”

“The karma surrounding your origin. It felt as if some immensely powerful being was deliberately blocking others from seeing it. It was all a blur... Was it Ye Wuming? But I was still able to see her when you two fought, which means she isn’t beyond my reach. So why can’t I see anything about your birth? And if she is the one concealing it, then why? What’s so unspeakable about it that it needs to be hidden?”

Ye Jiuyou suddenly stood up and began pacing back and forth.

Clearly, even she could not make sense of what Zhao Changhe had uncovered through tracing her karma.

Zhao Changhe tilted his head, watching her pace, and could not help but comment, “Hey, are you really one of the most supreme demon gods? Because I swear, when it comes to understanding these deeper mysteries, you seem leagues behind your sister.”

Ye Jiuyou stopped and gave a cold, mocking smile. “Some secrets have little to do with cultivation and everything to do with status. Status widens your perspective. Ye Wuming was the Empress chosen by the heavens. She was ruler over the four seasons, the five elements, life and death. She’d naturally know far more than anyone else in existence. I couldn’t take her place, so I was left with managing the Underworld. Naturally, what I know can’t compare.”

Zhao Changhe said, “So what you’re saying is, even if you once raised the fires of demonic chaos and did all the villainous things imaginable, it was only ever aimed at her. But to her... you might not even have been the real enemy.”

Ye Jiuyou’s eyebrows arched sharply in clear displeasure.

Zhao Changhe quickly added, “I didn’t mean it like that. She does care about you. I’ve encountered many ancient demon gods, but only when Underworld Guide appeared—that is, when you were clearly behind the scenes—did she show any kind of concern. I’ve never seen her like that. And she only ever personally stepped in to suppress you. Not even the Sword Emperor or Lie got that kind of attention.”

Ye Jiuyou’s expression softened slightly. “Your karmic insights have been actually helpful in my pursuit of truth. Now that you’re telling me these things, I’m starting to wonder if the Mirror of Illusion and Reality didn’t underperform because the item is fake, but because I don’t even truly understand where I come from. Perhaps I’ve been looking in the wrong direction all along...”

Zhao Changhe nodded. “That’s exactly what I was getting at. Anyway, what I did just now drained me too much. My soul can’t handle much more at the moment. But if you’re willing to let me see the page of time and space again over the next several days, I might be able to uncover something new.”

Ye Jiuyou suddenly grabbed him by the collar again. “You just want to see me bathe again, don’t you?!”

And just like that, the hard-earned shift in conversation was undone. Zhao Changhe could only seal his lips once more.

It really did feel like if Ye Jiuyou wanted him to trace her karma, it was basically the same as inviting him to watch her bathe. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? No matter what came out of his mouth, it would sound like he was trying to be cheeky.

Though to be fair, seeing her bathe had genuinely been an accident. It was not like every important karmic thread involved nudity. But then again... Now that he thought about it, back when he traced karma through the Qinghe Sword, had he not also seen Piaomiao bathing?

At the time, he thought Piaomiao was just some long-dead demon god and had not given it a second thought. But now that there was an apparent connection between them, what the hell was he supposed to do?

The fuck kind of karma is this? Wait, no, the real problem is you! Damn demon goddesses! Can’t you just NOT do important things while you’re bathing? Is it really just because there’s nothing else to do while you’re soaking?

Zhao Changhe held it in for a long while before finally deciding he had nothing to lose but his life. “Do you... often handle important matters while you’re bathing? Like sending messages or arranging tasks, or maybe even killing people across vast distances? If it’s just occasional, maybe it’s no big deal... but if it’s frequent...”

Ye Jiuyou also held back for a long moment, then finally muttered two words, “Well... yes....”

Well, yes. Who would’ve fucking thought. It really was because there was nothing else to do while soaking.

In all fairness, it made sense logistically. Since they had the ability to transmit messages across thousands of li or strike down foes with a sword from afar, why not relax while doing that? It was just like how modern people could not help but scroll on their phones while sitting on the toilet. Both Piaomiao and Ye Jiuyou had fallen into the classic SNS trap.

And if he ever tried tracing Ye Wuming’s karma... he might stumble into the same kind of pitfall.

The two of them stared at each other in stiff silence for a while before Ye Jiuyou finally spoke, her expression blank. “I don’t need you to trace anything. Your fate with the page of time and space ends here. As for the page you’re supposed to give me, give me the page of karma as well. I’ll take a look at it myself.”

Zhao Changhe silently took out the page of karma and laid it next to the page of illusion and reality, offering them both for her to examine.

Ye Jiuyou lightly ran her fingers across the two pages, feeling for resonance. She did not immediately try to seize them. After all, at her level of cultivation, simply coming into contact with the Heavenly Tome allowed her to glean its principles. Actually owning it was not crucial. There was no need for her to start a conflict with Zhao Changhe over it.

But it did not take long for her expression to shift, going pale, then dark.

To her, the pages were as useless as scraps of paper. Completely inert. There was no doubt in her mind that this had to be Ye Wuming’s handiwork. She firmly believed that it was a deliberate sabotage meant to keep her in the dark.

The pages of the Heavenly Tome that Zhao Changhe carried were his technically, but in truth, they belonged to Ye Wuming. That was why Zhao Changhe had never been able to use them to their full potential. Both of them were aware of it, and now, that fact was once again confirmed.

As the one physically in possession of them, Zhao Changhe still had access to their basic functions. Ye Wuming could not stop him from using them for fundamental insights or rudimentary teaching, just as she could not stop him from using them to clean his lightsaber, as one does.

But if Ye Jiuyou wanted to access their insights? She would have to take the pages from Zhao Changhe’s hands and become their new holder. And that was one of the core conflicts between them: If she ever tried to take them by force, their alliance would collapse immediately. Ye Wuming knew this and was clearly unbothered by it. She was betting on the inevitability of their falling out.

Zhao Changhe watched her expression closely and after careful deliberation, he asked, “...Not working, is it?”

Ye Jiuyou wrestled down the urge to slap him to death and snatch the pages then and there. She said coolly, “Ye Wuming is trying to provoke conflict between us. I refuse to play into her hands, no matter how badly I want them.”

Zhao Changhe was silent for a moment, then suddenly flashed a radiant smile. “Isn’t it simple, then? If you want them and I don’t give them to you, then yes, we’ll clash. But what if I do? Where’s the conflict in that?”

Without another word, Zhao Changhe tossed both pages over to her, appearing utterly unconcerned.

Ye Jiuyou caught them, stunned. “What...”

“I’ve never been greedy about possessing the whole Heavenly Tome. For me, having it isn’t even necessarily a good thing. Like I said before, the reason I wouldn’t give the pages to you was simply that I didn’t want to help nurture a calamity. But now that I’ve already agreed to let you study these two pages, I should see it through. Cooperation ought to look like cooperation. Besides...”

“Besides what?”

“You restrained yourself from taking them by force out of respect for our alliance. I can’t respond to that with anything less.”

Ye Jiuyou felt something strange stir within her. She said nothing, choosing instead to silently begin her study.

But moments later, she shook her head. “It’s no use. These pages are under Ye Wuming’s complete control. Even if they’re thrown into another dimension, they still belong to her. She wouldn’t leave such an obvious loophole.”

She hesitated for a while, clearly torn between stuffing the pages into her own robe or returning them. After a bit of internal struggle, she handed them back. “You’d better take them. Leaving them with me might invite unnecessary complications.”

“Alright.” Zhao Changhe shrugged and took them back without fuss, slipping them naturally into his storage ring.

For a moment, the air between them quieted. Both of them felt like something had subtly changed between them, though it was hard to define what.