Fang Liās compassionate gaze fell on Shui Yao. The number one problem of cannon fodder characters was that they couldnāt differentiate whether their opponents were strong or weak.
As a high-level master at peak Soul Formation stage and someone with a rare innate Dao physique, even if Xie Huai was currently imprisoned and his cultivation temporarily sealed, he was still more than a match for a little spirit who hadnāt even reached Foundation Building and relied on his looks to get by.
Shui Yai cupped his wrist and sat on the ground, his face pale from the pain, his expression full of disbelief.
Internal squabbling was strictly forbidden in the demon lordās rear court, so even if there were disagreements, everyone at least pretended to get along on the surface. Yet this person dared to act so boldly right in front of His Excellencyā¦ā¦
Shui Yao lowered his eyes, an insidious look flashing past his eyes. Fine then, this was the perfect chance to eliminate him!
From the very moment heād seen Xie Huai, heād felt an intense feeling of crisis.
Shui Yao turned and crawled toward Fang Li on his knees, his eyes full of tears, looking delicate and pitiable as he choked out, āYour Excellency, not only does he not heed Your Excellency, he even dared to attack someone in public. Your Excellency, please pass judgment!ā
Xie Huai wouldnāt take pity on the fairer sex, but Fang Li would. Unable to bear seeing a beauty injured like this, he said with a tender expression, āDonāt cry.ā
Shui Yao looked at Fang Liās face in a daze, unable to help a moment of stupefaction. His Excellencyās normally cold and tyrannical face was currently tinged with gentle compassion, and even his voice had a hint of something that made one flusterā¦ā¦ His heartbeat started to pick up. For His Excellency to treat him so specially, could, could it beā¦ā¦?
After comforting the beauty, Fang Li turned to look at Xie Huai.
Xie Huai had already put down the stone in his hand and was looking back at him with a tranquil expression. His unfathomably dark eyes held not a single ripple, cool and indifferent as the day theyād first met, as if he didnāt care in the least about what might happen nextā¦ā¦
The corners of Fang Liās mouth lifted slightly as he dragged out his words. āAs for himāā
Shui Yao and the onlookers all around them held their breaths. Shui Yao was so excited he began to faintly tremble, just waiting for His Excellency to order his execution!
The others also thought this would be the case. Previously, there had also been those whoād raised a fuss in front of His Excellency. His Excellency hadnāt bothered to ask what had happened or who had been in the wrong before tossing both parties together into the Fallen Star Sea to feed the fish. From then on, everyone become much more restrained. Even if they squabbled, they didnāt dare go overboard; at the very least, they wouldnāt dare squabble around His Excellency.
His Excellencyās dignity was inviolable. Not only did this person lack manners, he had even injured someone in front of His Excellency. He was certain to die without an intact corpse, and even flogging his soul or refining his spirit wouldnāt be overboard!
Fang Li hooked his lips, saying in a slow voice, āTonight, bring him into this lordās rooms.ā
The crowd: āā¦ā¦???ā
Shui Yaoās face was sluggish. Meekly, he said, āYour, Your Excellency, this isā¦ā¦ā
Fang Li smiled faintly, lowering his eyes. āSeeing as heās seeking death, this lord will refuse his wish and make him suffer a fate worse than death instead. Are you satisfied?ā
Shui Yao immediately choked. He forced a smile, saying, āā¦ā¦ V-very satisfied.ā If he dared to be unsatisfied, the one to die would be him.
Having successfully appeased the victim by force, Fang Li left with a toss of his sleeve, pleased.
Seeing Fang Li leave after throwing down that last sentence, the System finally put down its worries.
According to the original script, at this point, Xie Huai had been gravely injured, all of his bones and muscles torn apart. Although his life had been spared, heād still been more dead than alive, and he certainly wouldnāt have been able to snap Shui Yaoās wrist, so this scene hadnāt occurred in the original story.
The hostās alterations to the script had caused discrepancies to arise here, but luckily, the host was adaptable enough and had still managed to act it out to the end.
Fang Li ambled back to his own living quarters, but he was thinking about something else.
As the widely revered Yuyi-jun who cut down demons to defend justice and punished the strong to protect the weak, guarding all the people under the heavens with his sword, Xie Huaiās good name was spread throughout the realm. Everyone said that he was a noble and benevolent gentleman. Reasonably speaking, someone like that shouldnāt stoop to lashing out against a weakling.
Yet he hadnāt had the slightest bit of pity or compassion when snapping Shui Yaoās wrist. Heād only been so calm as if looking at nothing at all, to the point that Fang Li thoughtā¦ā¦ if Shui Yao had dared to get one step closer, it wouldnāt have been his wrist that had been snapped, but his neck.
Such a merciless, cold-blooded existence didnāt quite seem to match up with the noble and benevolent gentleman from the rumors.
Thinking on it further, though, Fang Li came to a realization. It wasnāt a problem with Xie Huaiās character profileā¦ā¦ it was that he himself hadnāt adapted enough to this world.
This world was divided into the righteous and demonic paths, justice and evil at odds since the dawn of time, and the righteous and demonic paths had always clashed like fire and water. Xie Huai could treat mortals with tolerance and forgiveness, could stretch out his hand to aid the weak, could walk through hell and high water for the sake of the common peopleā¦ā¦ But the nefarious demons werenāt within the realm of his protection. Not only would he not show tolerance, he even sought to exterminate as many as he could.
In this world, āfacing your demonsā wasnāt just a metaphor, but a blood-soaked reality.
In his eyes, Shui Yao wasnāt a weakling, but an apostate who had sunk into depravity alongside himself, the wicked devil.
The ghosts and demons who died to Yuyi-junās Snow Blue Sword werenāt categorized into weak or strong.
Besides, Shui Yao couldnāt be counted as a benevolent spirit to begin withā¦ā¦
Fang Li lowered his eyes and looked at his hands. His hands were pale as snow, but though they looked clean, who knew how many lives theyād taken? No matter who they were or what the reasonā¦ā¦ as long as someone chose to fall to the demonic path, they should shoulder the responsibility of their choice.
To the righteous and the common people, Xie Huai was naturally a kind and benevolent hero, but to demons like them, he was a cold-blooded, merciless god of death.
After all, killing them also counted as doing a good deedāeliminating evil for the common folk.
Cutting down demons to defend justiceā¦ā¦
It was precisely this ācutting down demons to defend justiceā that was Xie Huaiās most steadfast resolution from start to finish.
At this thought, Fang Li felt like he had a better grasp on things. Even if he threw the game a little and just casually did the mission, it shouldnāt affect the key parts of the plot. Yan Suiās previous actions alone were enough for Xie Huai to kill him ten thousand times over.
If he were someone to worry and waver, then he wouldnāt be that stone-hearted Xie Huai from the original story.
Moreover, by now heād even captured him to become a plaything. With that kind of disgrace on top of the blood feud with his sect, calling them enemies who couldnāt both live under the same sky wouldnāt be overboard. There was no fear that Xie Huai might be swayed.
Fang Li leisurely strolled back. He saw Wu Yimei in the distance, standing by beside his door, clearly waiting for him, looking like he had matters to report.
Wu Yimei had the same deferential manner as always, lowering his eyes and relaying in a restrained voice, āFollowing orders, Right Adjutant Du Meng attacked the other cultivation sects in Linxian province. Due to Your Excellencyās might, after Cloudbank Keepās surrender, the other cultivation sects in Linxian did not resist and surrendered in succession. Within the next few days, the Right Adjutant will lead the Zenith Sky Creed division back to the mountain.ā
Fang Li nodded. Du Meng was one of Yan Suiās main love rivals in the book; it looked like the show was about to heat up.
After concluding the matter of Du Meng, Wu Yimei reported some of the more important events in the past three months. In the past three months, the demonic cultivators under him had presented two hundred and eighty thousand spirit stones, but since constructing Hollow Ridgeās protective array required vast amounts of spirit stones and resources, there wasnāt much of a surplus.
There was also how many casualties the demonic cultivators had suffered recently, how many righteous cultivators theyād killed, how many theyād taken prisoner, and so on.
Fang Li listened inattentively, not paying it much mind. He said indifferently, āIāll leave these matters up to you.ā
His Excellency had always been like this, uninterested in anything. Wu Yimei sighed furtively. With how big Hollow Ridge was, if it wasnāt managed carefully, there were too many hidden dangers that could ariseā¦ā¦ If His Excellency didnāt manage them, then it could only be left up to him.
After finishing his report, Wu Yimeiās expression shifted slightly. He hesitated for a moment but still finally asked, āThis subordinate heard that Your Excellency went to the rear court today, and even ordered Yuyi-jun to attend to your bed?ā
Fang Li raised his eyes. āCorrect.ā
Wu Yimei tightly pursed his lips. He shouldnāt have asked something like this, shouldnāt concern himself with something like this, but that person was Xie Huaiā¦ā¦ His Excellency was really going toā¦ā¦
How could Fang Li not understand Wu Yimeiās worries? He could only be worrying that he was addled by lust and was going to say good-bye to his soul amidst the flowerbedsā¦ā¦ Just like a devoted court official fretting over a muddle-headed monarch.
Fang Li thought for a while, finally letting out a light sigh and slowly saying to Wu Yimei, āYou neednāt worry. This lord has his reasons for keeping Xie Huai.ā
Wu Yimei looked dazedly at the person in front of him. Fang Liās eyes were clear and tranquil, his expression steady. He didnāt have the least bit of impropriety when mentioning Xie Huai, even less so the appearance of sinking into desire. Wu Yimei suddenly thought, could it be that His Excellencyās actions werenāt because of Xie Huai, but some other plans?
Wu Yimei responded after a delay, āYour Excellency, this isā¦ā¦ā
Fang Liās tone was unhurried as he said profoundly, āDonāt ask any further. You merely need to know that this lord is only revealing this to you because this lord trusts you the most.ā
Trusts, trusts the mostā¦ā¦?
Wu Yimeiās expression couldnāt help but appear overcome.
This was the second time His Excellency had told him he was trusted. Although heād said so last time at Cloudbank Keepā¦ā¦ it had constantly felt unreal in his heart. But today, this feeling could not be more clear. His Excellency truly trusted him, and he was even willing to confide in him.
Wu Yimei closed his eyes. He had followed this person for a whole ten years, solely because in his most desperate time, this person had reached out a hand to himā¦ā¦
But was he doing this to repay the favor of saving his life?
He wasnāt really; most likely, it was only because heād had nowhere to go back then. Heād been so lowly that he could have been trampled underfoot at any time, and it was this person who had given him a goal, given him hope, and so he had stayed like this by his side, accompanying him step by step as they walked out of the mud. By now, ten years had passedā¦ā¦ Cutting through the thorns that blocked this personās path had become a habit already.
But Wu Yimei had always been very clear that this person had no feelings, nor would he give him anything he shouldnāt have, and he himself had never thought of wanting anything else, because he didnāt need it, either.
The two of them were actually cut from the same cloth. They had crawled out of the depths of hell, discarding all of the feelings that made one human, living like walking corpses.
But it turned out that at some point while he was unaware, he had already obtained far more than heād ever imagined, and this person wasnāt truly devoid of emotion. So, was this the feeling of being trustedā¦ā¦?
And as for himself, it seemed like it wasnāt that he truly didnāt careā¦ā¦
Wu Yimei clenched his fist.
For someone like him, the word ātrustā was too much of a luxury, making it all the more precious.
Fang Li spoke again. āYou must remember not to treat Xie Huai too severely, and donāt provoke him, either, in case you ruin this lordās plans.ā
Wu Yimei said heavily, āYes, this subordinate understands.ā
As expected, His Excellency hadnāt been bewitched by Xie Huaiās looks, but was devising some strategy. If this was the case, he could rest easyā¦ā¦ It was only that he didnāt know exactly what kind of scheme this was. Wu Yimei pondered it over a hundred times without gaining clarity, but seeing that His Excellency trusted him this much, if he was still tactless enough to keep asking, wouldnāt that be disappointing His Excellencyās trust?
Having successfully bluffed past Wu Yimei, Fang Li nodded with a smile. āYou may leave.ā
Watching Wu Yimei depart, Fang Li pressed a hand to his forehead. Starting from earlier, the System had been raising a ruckus in his mind nonstop, making his skull throb.
ć The System was endlessly worried: Host, what are you doing? Why are you telling Wu Yimei not to act against Xie Huai? These lines arenāt in the script! ć Wu Yimei was an important evil cannon fodder. If he didnāt act against Xie Huai, how were they going to follow the rest of the script?
ć Fang Li said leisurely: Thereās plenty of things that arenāt written in the script, this one wonāt tip the scale. Or is it that when thereās nothing written in the script, Iām just supposed to do nothing and go to sleep? ć
ć The System said anxiously: Is that the key point here? ć Sleeping all day would be better than this!
But Fang Li was no longer paying attention to the System. He closed his eyes, and Yan Suiās past with Wu Yimei swept through his consciousness piece by piece like fleeting shadows.
The young boy that Yan Sui had pulled out of the mountain of corpses back then had no sense of right or wrong. He wasnāt considered human, nor was he considered spirit. He was an outsider with nowhere he could fit in, and only Yan Sui had been willing to shelter himā¦ā¦ Relying on his dedication and tenacity, heād followed Yan Sui over mountains of corpses and seas of blood. No matter what the reason, heād never once done anything to let Yan Sui down. Even his opposition to Xie Huai at the end had been out of loyalty to Yan Sui.
Wu Yimei was indeed cold-blooded, deceitful, a killer of countless lives, and someone whose death wasnāt enough to pay for his crimes in the eyes of righteous cultivators, but Fang Li thought he only lacked someone who could guide himā¦ā¦ If someone could give him a pull, not letting him continue to slip, he wasnāt beyond help.
But Yan Sui couldnāt give him theseā¦ā¦ In Yan Suiās eyes, Wu Yimei was merely a convenient underling, no more than that.
In the book, Wu Yimei was nothing more than an unimportant cannon fodder. Even without him, Fang Li could follow the script to the end. As long as Wu Yimei didnāt act against Xie Huai, maybeā¦ā¦ he wouldnāt end up like that.
Fang Li wanted to give him a pull. Maybe it wasnāt too late.
The System found that it couldnāt persuade the host, nor could it manage the host. Fearing that the host would grow displeased and decide not to act out the important scene that night, it could only shut up.
Fang Li was delighted with the peace and quiet and began to idly peruse. He picked up a book to examine; there was a considerable collection of books in this palace, but none of them showed any traces of having been flipped through. Evidently, Yan Sui didnāt read much, but Fang Li read with gusto. He hadnāt imagined that a mere world from a book could be detailed to his extent.
What difference was there from reality?
It would be quite a pity if it all disappeared, Fang Li thought.
Time passed quickly. By the time the sky darkened, the demonic servants had lit the lanterns, and the night pearls in the room had begun to emit soft light. Fang Li knew it was time to see Xie Huai.
The scene today was a hundred percent critical. It was after having taken Xie Huai tonight that Yan Sui began to spiral out of control, sinking into a lifestyle where if he wasnāt enjoying the birds and the bees, then he was enjoying the bees and the birdsā¦ā¦
The pet lovers who attended in bed were all sent to a side palace. Fang Li strolled over leisurely and saw a brightly lit room.
That must be where Xie Huai was.
Fang Li composed himself and pushed open the door, entering. The room was suffused with warmth, colliding with the chilly night hair. On a daybed across from the door, behind a curtain of flowing gauze, was a vague silhouette. Fang Li closed the door behind him, cutting off the chill of the outside world, and stepped toward the divan.
He didnāt feel much embarrassment, righteously lifting open the gauze and lowering his eyes to look at the person lying before him.
The other party was also awake, and in a split second, their eyes met.
Xie Huai was in a set of clean and simple white robes. His black eyes were long and narrow and deeply profound, his fine hair spread across the bed, handsome and elegant as a deity and seemingly unprofanable. Even though he was the one being looked down upon from aboveā¦ā¦ it was as if the one being trampled wasnāt him. On the contrary, he gave off the feeling of being too lofty to reach.
Fang Li, who had read the original text, wasnāt too surprised. If he hadnāt had a temperament that stood out from the crowd and transcended the mundane, how could he have attracted someone like Yan Sui?
Yan Sui didnāt fear death either, and he had seen his share of people who didnāt fear death. There were plenty of righteous cultivators who killed themselves the moment they were captured, trumpeting it as preserving their integrity or fearlessly facing deathā¦ā¦ But wasnāt taking oneās own life so easily also a kind of cowardice?
Death was never the most terrifying thingā¦ā¦ the most terrifying thing, was living to face it all.
What attracted Yan Sui to Xie Huai, what Fang Li admired about Xie Huai, was that he would never seek death.
Only by living was there hope.
Even if the living world might be more like hell than death itself.
Fang Li lowered his eyes, rearranging his robes to sit in front of the low table set near the daybed.
An exquisite bronze fretwork incense burner was placed on the table.
Fang Li lightly grasped the incense burner in one hand, and within a few moments, the burner became hot as a flatiron, and the incense charcoal buried within the ashes began to burn. Fang Li lifted his sleeves and picked up a porcelain scoop, collecting a spoonful of powder from a china bottle nearby and pouring it onto a mica chip, then lightly placed it into the burner.
When the incense smoke began to billow up thickly, Fang Li was satisfied, propping his forehead against his arm to look at the person on the bed.
Looking confident and poised, without a care.
Appreciating beauty was the nature of humankind, and Fang Li was no exception. Even the most dazzling celebrity from his world couldnāt measure up to a fraction of Xie Huai.
But Xie Huaiās beauty wasnāt soft; on the contrary, it was fierce as freezing ice, with a feeling of lofty, unreachable distance, making everyone aware that approaching him would only hurt, yet making you unable to resist reaching out to touch, even if you would be cut apart and drenched in bloodā¦ā¦
He should have been a god residing in the highest reaches of heaven, yet heād been yanked down into the mortal world to plummet into hell with Yan Suiā¦ā¦
Yan Suiās possessiveness was deranged. Not a single thing that he did to Xie Huai was forgivable. In his place, he would also want to personally kill the other party, Fang Li thought somewhat absentlyā¦ā¦
Such a beautiful person did indeed have a deadly attractiveness, easily leading one to slip upā¦ā¦ Fortunately, he wasnāt into men, and Xie Huai also wasnāt into men.
Since they were both straight men, interacting like this couldnāt be considered awkward.
The fragrant mist saturated the room, making one intoxicated. The ambience was fine, but the System started to have its suspicions. How come the host still hadnāt done anything?
ć The System hinted tactfully: Host, are you about to start? I can excuse myself. Us systems are very professional, we definitely wonāt intrude on our hostsā privacy. ć
ć Fang Li: Thatās not really necessary. ć
ć The System turned pale with shock: ā¦ā¦ ć This was its first time meeting such a bold host who was even willing to be watched. It couldnāt be that it was some kind of X hobby? But in the end, should it watch or not, no way, but it was actually kind of curiousā¦ā¦ No, no way, it was a System with integrity, it couldnāt watch this sort of thing!
Just as the System was struggling with its dilemma, Fang Li suddenly stood up and walked toward the daybed. At some point, Xie Huai had closed his eyes. Asleep, the beauty lost a touch of his frigidity and that aura that drove away strangers.
ć Fang Li sighed: He really is a peerless beauty, unmatched in the world. But do you know what the biggest challenge of this is? ć
ć The System was a beat late: Yourā¦ your conscience? ćIt was a little embarrassed that it was making the host do something like this. It was understandable that the host was reluctant, but the script had to be followedā¦ā¦
ć Fang Li: Nope. ć
ć System: ā¦ā¦? ćWhat did that mean? Was the host saying he had no conscience???
ć Fang Li: The biggest challenge is that getting a straight guy to force another straight guyā¦ā¦ I canāt get it up. ć
ć System: ā¦ā¦ ć
Fang Li lowered his eyes and fixed his gaze on the person in front of him, the corner of his mouth lifting imperceptibly. The incense made from a thousand year old devilās trumpet could knock out even a Void Refining stage cultivator. For Xie Huai to endure through a full incense stickās worth of time, heād almost thought that it didnāt have any effect on him.
Fang Li leaned over towards Xie Huai and, reaching out his hand, opened the lapel of his robes. And just around his neck, he pinched out a purple mark.