Was it you that night?
Chapter 161 - 159: Agony Beyond Bearing

Chapter 161: Chapter 159: Agony Beyond Bearing

"Master, on the day you were injured, were you also severely ill?" Yan Changsheng ultimately couldn’t help but ask.

Upon recalling the events of that day, Shen Qinghe smiled silently, "Let’s not talk about the past; it’s meaningless."

She lifted her foot to leave, but Yan Changsheng blocked her way, "Qinghe, I want to know how you were able to cultivate. Did Mr. Wuya help you?"

He had heard that Mr. Wuya was Qinghe’s benefactor.

He also remembered that after he brought Nan Sheng back to the Sky Pole Sect, he was confined in the Nether Pool for a month for having injured his Master; during that time, he had not seen Qinghe.

Latterly, his attention had been focused on Nan Sheng, leaving no spare focus to care for others, and Qinghe was one of those others.

Shen Qinghe looked at the familiar male face before her, somewhat puzzled, "If you know that there’s no point in discussing the past, why are you still so persistent about it?"

Yan Changsheng stubbornly sought the answer, "I just want to know if it was Mr. Wuya who saved you, how you were able to cultivate, you were clearly ill at the time..."

When Shen Qinghe heard this, she interrupted him, "Since you insist on knowing, I’ll tell you. The day you brought Nan Sheng back to the Sky Pole Sect should have been the anniversary of my death. If not for Mr. Wuya, I would have died that day. Nan Sheng was originally a mortal, but she took an Immortal Pill, hence she had the chance to cultivate. Actually, I am the same as her; my body was that of a mortal’s and incapable of cultivation. It was Mr. Wuya who made me consume an Immortal Pill, and that’s why I survived."

No sooner had her words fallen than she saw Yan Changsheng’s expression – it was a mixture of laughing and crying, "So it was like this, it truly was like this..."

He had told himself that there was still a chance for redemption, yet after hearing Qinghe’s words, he felt that on the very day he brought Nan Sheng back to the Sky Pole Sect, it was impossible for him to return to Qinghe’s side.

"What do you mean by ’it really was like this’?" Shen Qinghe did not understand.

And what was the meaning behind this heart-wrenching expression on Yan Changsheng’s face?

She was unaware of the depth of emotion between herself and Yan Changsheng. In the past, he might have considered her a friend, but this friendship had crumbled before his love for Nan Sheng; otherwise, the unspeakable events that followed would never have occurred.

Yan Changsheng looked at Shen Qinghe with a distraught and desolate gaze.

Although she was right before him, he knew he could never touch her again.

"Qinghe, can I be your brother?" Yan Changsheng’s eyes suddenly blazed with fervor.

Shen Qinghe frowned, finding Yan Changsheng’s expression rather ferocious; she abruptly remembered that he was the male protagonist of the book, a character who could turn dark and go mad.

Had the recent strain between Yan Changsheng and Nan Sheng set him on a path to darkness?

Wishing not to provoke Yan Changsheng, she carefully stepped back two paces without a trace and cautiously replied, "I already have an elder sister, Second Senior Brother should look for someone else to be a brother to. Perhaps Second Senior Brother could have a proper discussion with Nan Sheng. Even if you can’t be lovers, there’s no need to become enemies."

If Yan Changsheng really wished to be a brother, he could go and be Nan Sheng’s elder brother; she did not need him to.

Yan Changsheng, not blind, of course, noticed Qinghe’s guarded look and movements. There was nothing more ironic than this – he had deluded himself into thinking he could be by her side in another capacity.

Shen Qinghe felt that Yan Changsheng’s face looked somewhat twisted; devoid of further desire to engage, she left with her Spirit Controlling Artifact, not looking back.

She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but the air seemed to thin out for a moment, reminiscent of the day when Shen Zhiyao met with trouble.

But in the blink of an eye, everything returned to normal.

She looked back at the direction of Shaonian Tower and returned to the Simple Residence Courtyard at her swiftest speed.

Shen Zhiyao was waiting for her, "Where did you run off to in such a short time?"

"I went to find Yan Changsheng," Shen Qinghe did not conceal the truth.

Shen Zhiyao was taken aback, "Did you go to find Yan Changsheng because of my injury?"

"I always feel like he knows something, and even thought maybe he was the one who saved elder sister. I asked him, but he flatly denied it," Shen Qinghe’s brow furrowed slightly, "Maybe I’m just overthinking it."

"If it was him who saved me, why wouldn’t he admit it? But my condition was indeed terrible at the time, I felt like I couldn’t make it, and that moment I thought I wouldn’t be able to wait for you," Shen Zhiyao recalled the situation, still able to feel that sense of powerlessness as life ebbed away.

Shen Qinghe remembered that in the original text, Yan Changsheng had succumbed to the demons, and he also had an ominous ability to deal with many powerful beings with higher cultivation bases than his, with many demons and powerful beings with higher cultivation bases inexplicably dying at his hands.

Unfortunately, she only knew some of the main events of the book; she had not managed to see the ending of the original text before awakening from her enlightened state, therefore she didn’t know what kinds of abilities Yan Changsheng truly possessed, and how he later came to control the Demon Realm.

Although Yan Changsheng denied it, she still suspected that elder sister’s escape from death was due to Yan Changsheng’s intervention.

"By the way, he asked if he could be my brother earlier, and he looked very odd, not quite normal," Shen Qinghe recalled Yan Changsheng’s expression, finding it very eerie.

Shen Zhiyao said with sarcasm, "He wants to be your brother, as if he is worthy. Even if it was him who saved me, don’t pay attention to him if he tries to use that to coerce you."

Shen Qinghe naturally had no objections.

The two sisters chatted intimately for a while, and Shen Zhiyao, brimming with excitement, asked, "Nan Sheng wouldn’t just be hit by the Black Rope and have her Golden Core shattered, becoming a cripple, right?"

Shen Qinghe thought Shen Zhiyao was being too naive and reminded her, "Has elder sister forgotten that she is the Fated Female Protagonist in the book? As the Fated Female Protagonist, how could she possibly become a cripple?"

Even if Nan Sheng’s Golden Core was really shattered, she would definitely make a comeback.

Regardless, the future between her and Nan Sheng was bound to be a life-and-death struggle!

That night, An Lu and Rong Yu finished their menial work and were about to return to the Disciples’ Courtyard to rest. Little did they know, as they were flying back, their Spirit Sword, as if struck by something, suddenly went out of control, flinging both of them from the skies.

They plummeted straight to the ground, and quite coincidentally, they fell into a deep pit.

Luckily they were Cultivators, and although disheveled, they did not hurt their bones or muscles.

They originally wanted to fly out of the pit, but then several huge stones began to tumble down from above. The two hurriedly sliced the boulders with their Spirit Swords, but the stones kept falling endlessly, and many hit them, causing their heads to bleed profusely.

What was most terrifying was that these stones seemed to have a will of their own, as if they had turned into spirits, and even fought back against them...

The next day, before dawn, two Female Cultivators came by the place and found An Lu and Rong Yu barely alive on the ground.

They rushed forward to help An Lu and Rong Yu, asking what had happened.

With serious injuries and speaking weakly, An Lu related the events of the previous night.

Yet the two Female Cultivators looked at her with odd expressions - one of them with the surname Chang spoke, "Could you have remembered wrong? There is no pit here, nor any large rocks."