It was Ye Xishui's fault all along

... I'm really sorry, I'm a bit stuck on the writing. Everyone, please wait until daytime to reread this chapter. I'll add an extra chapter in a few days...

Possessing the Light Phoenix as a hidden Second Martial Soul, and having the surname Yan before joining the Holy Spirit Cult.

This coincidence was far too much of a coincidence, causing a very ominous feeling to rise in Yan Shaozhe's heart.

'It shouldn't be, it shouldn't be~'

Yan Shaozhe forcefully pushed those thoughts aside, pretending to be free of distractions as he continued showing Shao Zhuang around the academy.

"Come, Junior Disciple Brother. Let your senior brother take you to see some other places." With that, Yan Shaozhe, wearing an utterly normal expression, led Shao Zhuang to another location.

But Shao Zhuang had been closely watching Yan Shaozhe's emotional shifts from the very start. With the system's enhancement, there was no way to hide it from him.

No matter how normal Yan Shaozhe appeared now, in truth, his mind was constantly fixated on the movements of the Heavenly Curtain.

'Dean Yan, the thing you least want to think about is the most real thing of all.' Shao Zhuang eagerly anticipated the reaction when Yan Shaozhe's identity was truly exposed.

Ye Xishui's monologue brought one shock after another to the world.

And it was precisely because of this that Shao Zhuang had arranged the order of these three people as he did.

[Later, when I met Xiaoyao again, it was in Shrek City. At that time, I was about to marry Mu En and become his wife.]

[But just then, Old Ghost Zhongli sought me out again, demanding that I must, no matter what, drive a wedge between Xiaoyao and Mu En's bond.]

[Because both Xiaoyao and Mu En were peerless geniuses, destined to become unmatched powerhouses in the future. If they were allowed to continue growing, with their righteous and justice-loving natures, they would become the Holy Spirit Cult's greatest threat.]

[So no matter what, they had to be separated, turned into enemies who would restrain each other. Only then could the Holy Spirit Cult develop more smoothly.]

[Thus, I proposed that plan. Using myself as bait to lure Xiaoyao, making him commit a mistake and believe he had destroyed everything himself.]

[Without a doubt, the plan succeeded. It plunged the three of us into endless pain and mutual torment, severing the bonds between us.]

[But in truth, only Mu En and Xiaoyao truly suffered. Because from start to finish, I knew exactly what I was doing. Everything was orchestrated by me. After all, I was the Holy Spirit Cult's Saintess, naturally standing on the opposite side from them!]

"Pfft!~" Under the assault of rage and grief, Long Xiaoyao, a Limit Douluo, actually spat a mouthful of blood from his lips.

It was clear just how devastating learning the truth of this matter was for him.

He had thought he already knew the so-called truth, but never expected that the truth behind it was far more complicated than he had imagined.

Even the destructive power of that truth far exceeded his expectations, inflicting deep emotional wounds on him.

The anger that had just barely subsided instantly flared up again, burning hotter and hotter.

The thing he had felt most guilty about his entire life turned out to be nothing but a carefully laid trap!

And Ye Xishui, who constantly claimed to love him, had calmly used fabricated lies to deceive him and exploit him.

The familiar name "Xishui" was now replaced by her full name, laced with his boundless fury.

No matter what, Long Xiaoyao would never accept such a fact.

His earlier intention to stop and find Ye Xishui had completely changed. No matter what, he had to find her himself!

Even though the Heavenly Curtain had already begun exposing Ye Xishui's monologue, Long Xiaoyao couldn't wait a single moment longer.

Because, alive, he wanted to see her; dead, he wanted to see her corpse!

Long Xiaoyao's current state of mind was very understandable.

Why was it that, compared to Mu En, Long Xiaoyao had never been able to move on, remaining trapped all this time?

Wasn't it largely because, in his own mind, he was the one who had caused the three of them to suffer?

If not for his mistake, that situation would never have occurred, and everyone wouldn't have ended up in tragedy.

So, within his love for Ye Xishui, Long Xiaoyao also carried guilt and a desire for atonement.

That was the key issue preventing him from escaping this emotional tribulation.

Previously, Ye Xishui had used lies to deceive Long Xiaoyao, trapping him for his entire life, making him willingly submit to her control and work for the Holy Spirit Cult.

But the moment the truth was laid bare, all that previous guilt and desire for atonement became the perfect fuel for his rage, driving him completely mad.

In the original story, Long Xiaoyao only learned the truth from Ye Xishui's lips when he was on the verge of death, bombarded by the Sun Moon Empire's traps.

At that time, he was undoubtedly furious, but his physical condition left him powerless, turning that rage into a profound sense of helplessness.

He lacked the strength to demand answers and could only let Ye Xishui slowly reveal the truth of everything.

But now it was different. Long Xiaoyao was still a Limit Douluo in his prime, still one of the strongest humans on this continent.

So he was fully capable of confronting Ye Xishui, of venting the emotions he had accumulated over more than two hundred years of being kept in the dark.

[After that, I left, vanishing from the world's sight, returning to the Holy Spirit Cult I knew so well. I knew I had broken Mu En and Xiaoyao's hearts, but I had no regrets. Because I understood that if the plan failed, Old Ghost Zhongli would stop at nothing to kill them both.]

[Xiaoyao was the one I loved; Mu En was my good elder brother. How could I not know the kindness they showed me? To keep them from being hunted by the Holy Spirit Cult, to let them live, I had no choice but to do this.]

"What a tangled fate!" Inside the Star Luo Imperial Palace, Xuan Zi couldn't help but sigh.

He never imagined that the events of those years past hid such a bizarre truth behind them.

[Though I did hurt Xiaoyao deeply, I, Ye Xishui, have never wronged him. Because a few months after returning to the Holy Spirit Cult, I was shocked to discover I was pregnant. That's right, I was carrying Xiaoyao's child.]

[After much deliberation, I decided to give birth to the child. But due to my identity, I entrusted the child to a family for adoption. I hoped that child would grow up healthy and happy, and even wished they wouldn't become a Soul Master at all, just living as an ordinary person.]

[And that child took the surname I had before joining the Holy Spirit Cult—Yan.]

The exposure from the Heavenly Curtain made Yan Shaozhe, who was currently showing Shao Zhuang around the Inner Court at Shrek Academy, feel his eyelid twitch.