Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 477 Sisters
Ye Tinglan and Lu Xingzhou were both dumbfounded.

Originally, I thought she was just being self-righteous and even morally manipulating people. Nobody wanted her to break her leg, so how was Lu Xingzhou supposed to face her if she broke it? They were about to get married, and this only added to their troubles.

But it seems that's not what he meant.

Besides, the level of treatment and medications are now vastly different from what they used to be, and treatment is so timely that it's easy to get cured. There doesn't seem to be anything to morally blackmail, so that's really not what I meant.

For a moment, neither of them knew how to respond to her. Lu Xingzhou silently set her bones, applied medicine, splinted and bandaged her up, cleaned her hair with clear water, and finally fed her a pill: "Fortunately, it was only broken and not shattered... As long as you don't continue to act recklessly, you can walk easily in three days. But if you want to use it for combat, you need to recuperate for at least ten days to half a month, the longer the better."

Yuan Muyu didn't cause any trouble and obediently swallowed the pill: "I understand."

Lu Xingzhou stood up and sighed with a headache: "Self-harm is a very childish behavior... I don't need you to punish yourself, nor do I need any empathy. I just want a normal relationship, and... I hope everyone can be well."

Yuan Muyu's gaze softened: "You don't hate me?"

Lu Xingzhou remained expressionless.

I did feel some hatred when I was kidnapped and attempted to be raped, but that hatred disappeared after I cut off my own legs. Or rather, I have almost no other emotions except for "Holy shit".

So doing something that leaves people speechless seems to have its uses.

Besides, I originally wanted her to give me an explanation for what happened, which was quite difficult. Now that she's given it to me herself, I don't even know how to respond.

Just as things were getting a little awkward, Ye Tinglan's body finally flew over in a flurry, kicked open the door to the secret room, and returned to his place as a divine being.

The actions that were originally difficult to perform due to the lack of a physical form of the deity are now feasible.

Ye Tinglan's eyebrows furrowed, and she raised her hand, delivering a resounding slap to her younger sister: "When will you grow up!"

Yuan Muyu had no chance to defend herself and took the blow squarely. Her head was knocked to the side, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and a clear handprint appeared on her fair face.

Ye Tinglan wanted to hit him again, but Lu Xingzhou quickly grabbed her around the waist and said, "Never mind, never mind."

Ye Tinglan's foot continued to kick: "I didn't discipline you enough back then, and you've raised such a scoundrel!"

Lu Xingzhou inexplicably recalled the image of Little White Hair being kicked around by Ye Tinglan, and the figures of the master and disciple overlapped in that moment. Despite the inappropriate scene, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What are you laughing at?" Ye Tinglan turned her attack on him, stomping on his foot viciously: "Feeling sorry for him?"

How could Lu Xingzhou respond to that? He could only say, "Wife, calm down. It's not worth getting yourself sick from getting angry."

Ye Tinglan said sarcastically, "What harm could I possibly do to my health? I'm not the one who's pregnant."

Lu Xingzhou: “?”

"And who's your wife? Long Qinghuang isn't here, what are you shouting for?"

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

"Get out!" Ye Tinglan pushed him towards the door. "We sisters have something to say. Go wherever you want. You're such a troublemaker!"

"Hey hey hey..." Poor Lu Xingzhou, who had broken through to the first rank and shocked everyone, still had no power to resist these women. He was pushed out the door and locked outside with a "bang".

The secret room fell silent. Yuan Muyu tilted her head and watched her sister's madness, her expression quite strange.

She had never seen Ye Tinglan like this before, not even in her wildest dreams.

Yet Ye Tinglan feels alive, while her sister, whom she has known since childhood, is merely a label.

"What are you looking at?" Ye Tinglan tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, regaining her composure, and said expressionlessly, "What, you don't even recognize me?"

Yuan Muyu chuckled: "Indeed... I don't feel like I know him."

"Should I slap you a few more times to teach you a lesson?"

Yuan Muyu did not answer this time.

Ye Tinglan fell silent. Yuan Muyu had always been extreme and stubborn since childhood. Normally, let alone that slap, she would argue back even if you just asked her a question. But today, she actually obediently took the slap and didn't say anything when asked, as if she would accept another beating.

After all, they were sisters. If Yuan Muyu had been confrontational, Ye Tinglan would have been even more furious. But Yuan Muyu's honest demeanor actually calmed Ye Tinglan down. After a long while, she asked stiffly, "Does it hurt?"

Are you asking about that slap or the broken leg?

"Of course it's my leg! What's the point of asking with that sour face of yours? Why would I have pulled it out if it didn't hurt?"

Yuan Muyu: "...Why would I break my leg if it didn't hurt?"

The two sisters stared at each other for a long time before Ye Tinglan sighed, "Xingzhou is rational and clear-headed, and he's also eloquent. He's probably already explained enough to you, so I won't say anything more, lest you say I'm being a nagging mother and annoying you."

Yuan Muyu asked, "So what do you want to say?"

“I want to say, if you get annoyed even when I lecture you a few times, then what you’re doing now is even more annoying, isn’t it?” Yuan Muyu lowered her eyes and looked at her legs, and said softly, “It won’t happen again. At least… I will try my best to think about what he wants.”

This choked Ye Tinglan to her words.

Yuan Muyu smiled and suddenly asked, "Have I always been bad at putting myself in other people's shoes?"

Ye Tinglan said, "You and I have many similarities in temperament... The biggest difference is that you rarely care about other people's affairs, while I am the opposite, I care too much. Looking back over the years, we were both wrong in our disputes."

Yuan Muyu glanced at Ye Tinglan again... This was also the first time Ye Tinglan admitted her mistakes in front of her, although she said that both of them were at fault.

Ye Tinglan continued, "Actually, given your outward personality, the path of severing ties is quite suitable for you. By focusing solely on self-expression, you might even reach greater heights. However, that kind of cultivation is a true demonic path, which would make you increasingly selfish and cruel, thus conflicting with your nature."

Yuan Muyu hummed in agreement.

Everything is relative. Compared to ordinary people, Yuan Muyu is indeed self-centered and rarely considers others; but compared to the demand for ruthlessness and indifference, she is far from sufficient.

If she were truly a Yama who only cared about herself and disregarded even her own family, this path might have been very smooth for her. Unfortunately, she wasn't that kind of person at heart.

Whether due to genetics or her upbringing in her family and sect, she is fundamentally a person who values ​​relationships. Leaving aside the matter of Lu Xingzhou, there are many other examples of this. For instance, although she was determined to oppose the Tianyao Holy Land, when the battle actually broke out, she only injured but did not kill, unable to bring herself to do so.

For example, after Shen Tang showed her protection and kindness, even though Shen Tang later became indifferent after learning her identity, she still treated Shen Tang very well.

Ji Wenchuan and others were still willing to assist her, and their loyalty was not shaken by the Lu Xingzhou incident, because she had also been very kind to Ji Wenchuan and others.

Humans are complex; it's difficult to be extreme, and it's even harder to truly understand oneself. A path that seems suitable on the surface often leads to painful setbacks before one realizes it's fundamentally unsuitable.

By the time you realize it, you've already paid a price that's hard to undo.

Ye Tinglan said, "When I first met Xingzhou, I was actually quite annoyed with him. It was because you were originally just extreme, not yet on the path of demonic cultivation, that I felt he was the one who led you down that path. Your temperament is only a few lines away from the demonic path; if you really fall into that trap, you're finished..."

Yuan Muyu was somewhat lost in thought: "And then?"

"Later, I gradually realized that it was precisely because he was by your side that you were not completely corrupted by evil. What you wanted to sever back then, what you thought were obstacles on the path to enlightenment, were actually entanglements that led you to evil."

Yuan Muyu: "..."

seems like it.

"So, Ye Fuyao!" Ye Tinglan's voice rose eight octaves: "You're something else. The only thing that can entangle you in your demonic path is a man, and you don't care at all!"

Yuan Muyu: "?"

You've been rambling on for so long, is this all you wanted to say?

Why should I care about a woman who maliciously livestreams herself moaning during sex with my man?

But as I said before, this kind of sister is so vibrant...

Yuan Muyu stared at her blankly for a long time, then suddenly said, "If you had always been like this, instead of putting on airs, I probably wouldn't have argued with you so much."

Ye Tinglan hesitated for a moment: "What you call... being a jerk? I try to reason with you, and you get annoyed. I slap you and yell at you, and you think that shows affection, right?"

Yuan Muyu scoffed: "It's just because you look human now. You say I'm a few lines away from becoming a demon, and I'll say you're a few lines away from becoming a divine tablet. We're even."

Ye Tinglan looked her up and down a few times: "It's a pity you're still not quite human. I'm warning you, if you dare to cause trouble again on the fifth day of the new year when he gets married, I'll beat you to death!"

Yuan Muyu was silent for a moment: "No, it won't happen."

Ye Tinglan said suspiciously, "After all, you were the one who arranged the marriage. I don't believe you don't want to play the role of the elder and have Shen Tang and the others kowtow to you and serve you tea."

Yuan Muyu looked very strange. "Your thought process is something you came up with yourself, isn't it?"
Ye Tinglan tilted her head.

Yuan Muyu said, "My leg is broken, and I can't let the dignitaries of the capital and the likes of the Huanhua Sword Sect and Lingtian Pavilion know about it. So, from the moment I broke my leg, I decided not to attend this wedding. You might find the so-called kowtowing and serving tea a little bit of perverse pleasure, but for me, it's like being slowly sliced ​​to death."

Ye Tinglan was genuinely surprised this time; it was starting to look more like a person.

Yuan Muyu added, "I will not give up the power of the Yama Palace, but that may no longer be relevant to the path of cultivation. The new emperor has some problems, and clues about the ancient realm have already appeared. We will need to utilize this power in the future."

"You mean you're leaving?"

“Yes, since the wedding is like torture for me, what good will it do me to participate? When I return, I will reorganize my cultivation and clarify what Xingzhou said, and what I truly love.” Yuan Muyu wheeled herself out the door: “When I have figured it out, we will meet again.”

The door opened, and Lu Xingzhou paced back and forth outside. He really couldn't eavesdrop on the conversation that the two women didn't want anyone to hear.

Yuan Muyu passed by him and whispered, "Shen Tang said she couldn't stand sitting in a wheelchair for a year, but I think that's an exaggeration... I couldn't stand it when I went from inside the house to outside."

Lu Xingzhou watched her retreating figure, wondering if he should remind her that she could fly.

(End of this chapter)