Gains and Losses, Ambitions and Desires (Part 2)

Frankly speaking, Yu Ci had felt rather secretly pleased. Leaving Jian Ziyu aside, Madam Huanyong had also softened her tone. With both of them lowering themselves and letting him choose as he pleased, no matter how one looked at it, it benefited him. Though he had held the initiative all along, such an ideal situation still lay beyond his expectations. For no reason, he sensed something and looked toward Jian Ziyu, only to see her expression serene and indifferent. If Madam Huanyong had continued what she was saying just now, it would surely have been something like, "If there is me, there can be no her." He did not believe Jian Ziyu could not have guessed it, yet such composure had already exceeded the limits of the human heart! Yu Ci had wanted to probe the boundary where her form and spirit met, to discover the truth, and he had indeed done so, but found nothing for the moment. It was then that, within the cluster of flames at the center of Jizhen Palace, there seemed to come a crackling burst of sparks. It had been an utterly ordinary sound, yet Yu Ci suddenly snapped awake. It was here! Even though Madam Huanyong and her disciple had occupied most of his attention, a thread of his mind had remained fixed there throughout. To Yu Ci, the ordinary sound of dancing flames struck like a peal of thunder, and the thoughts muddled by that master-disciple pair's entanglement instantly became clear once more. In truth, there was no need for him to fret over what they were thinking. He only needed to see the final result. He still could not quite see through Jian Ziyu, but with Madam Huanyong, the clouds had parted and the sun shone through. The soft explosions of