Bitter Medicine Is Hard to Swallow, Honest Advice Grates on the Ear

Bitter medicine is hard to swallow; honest advice grates on the ear.

Ning Rongrong, Qin Ming, Dai Mubai, and the others were laughing uncontrollably. Even Zhu Zhuqing, who rarely smiled, raised a hand to cover her face and hide the upward curve of her lips. The contrast was simply too great—embarrassing in the same way as having Gulu Gulu Rolling Down the Mountain True Lord's dark history exposed. What should have been a majestic qilin had turned into an adorable little ball, much like Ye Qingcang, who was invincible from the moment he appeared yet had such an ordinary nickname.

Yu Xiaogang, on the other hand, was not affected much.

He helped Tang San, who was coughing up blood, to his feet in distress.

Then he glared furiously at Ye Qingcang, who had caused all this. "You must apologize to us! Never mind that your mother and I were once friends who had faced life and death together—even if we had no relationship at all, even if you and Little San were merely two soul masters who had never met before, how could a sparring match warrant such a ruthless hand?"

The moment he heard this, Flender could no longer sit still.

He was bad, stingy, and vain.

He admitted all of that.

But his love for Liu Erlong had always been genuine and unrequited.

The wholehearted kind.

He had never expected Yu Xiaogang to seek out Liu Erlong. Now, he could not make Liu Erlong go back and pretend nothing had happened either. However, as an observer, even if Liu Erlong liked Yu Xiaogang and there was such a complicated love triangle between them, he still felt it necessary to step forward and clear Ye Qingcang's name.

In truth, he had already begun to think of retreating the moment Ye Qingcang warned Yu Xiaogang.

None of them were young anymore.

They had struggled through this world for decades.

Even when he had heard that Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong had been forced to separate, gone looking for Liu Erlong, seen her consumed by obsession and venting her emotions by slaughtering soul beasts, and tried to persuade her—that had all been nineteen years ago. Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong had not seen each other for many years. The same was true of him and Liu Erlong. They all had their own lives now. If Liu Erlong was living well, he truly could not bear to disturb her life again.

When they were young, they had always thought the world was vast. I can make my home anywhere; if I don't like someone, I can beat them up. I'm young, after all. I have the right to act recklessly. In this vast world, could there really be no place for me?

Now that he was no longer young, meeting old friends again and simply chatting and laughing together was actually quite nice. The loyalty of youth had become the resolve not to burden others, the broad-mindedness to bear the consequences alone. It was not that he had become cowardly. Rather, he chose to leave peace and happiness to his former friends. A true friend should not drag an old friend into trouble.

But he could not stop Yu Xiaogang!

And the facts at this moment proved that Ye Qingcang's foresight had been utterly correct!

If they had not come, Liu Erlong would not have been put in such a difficult position!

If they had not come, the rift between mother and son would not have appeared!

Yu Xiaogang had thought too much.

Reality had also worn away all his sharp edges.

Had he not considered that if Ye Qingcang could openly reveal that Xiao Wu was a 100,000-Year Transformed Soul Beast, how could he possibly be some petty villain who schemed behind people's backs?

Would someone who schemed behind your back tell you, "I'm going to scheme behind your back"?

Still, there had been too many new things to see along the way.

Soul Guidance Technology, Stellar Martial Path.

Flower Path, Pavilion in Water.

By the time he and Yu Xiaogang broke into an argument, it was already too late.

Now was the last chance to turn things around.

He had to seize it!

However, just as Flender was thinking all this, Ye Qingcang, who had long laid a trap and was merely waiting for Yu Xiaogang to jump into it, gave Flender no such chance. He directly tied the sack shut, ensuring that Yu Xiaogang could not escape, then looked at Liu Erlong. "Mother, assuming you don't know the truth, do you need me to apologize?"

Liu Erlong looked into Ye Qingcang's determined eyes.

In an instant, she understood what her adopted son meant.

He was asking her: If you knew nothing and had to choose between me and Yu Xiaogang—one or the other—who would you trust?

Would she trust the adopted son she had picked up in the Star Dou Great Forest, who had saved her when she had been consumed by inner demons, whom she had raised with her own hands for more than ten years, and who had never once, in any way, disappointed her?

Or would she trust the companion who had once shared life and death with her, the lover who had been one step away from becoming her husband, yet now felt slightly unfamiliar after more than twenty years apart?

"I..." Liu Erlong hesitated, unable to speak.

However, Ye Qingcang had long expected this reaction.

It was an impossible choice.

Like asking a man sitting with his mother and wife: if we both fell into the water at the same time and you could save only one of us, who would you save first?

If you said, "I'd save my mother..."

You would kneel on the washboard when you got home!

If you said, "I'd save my wife..."

You could enjoy the bamboo shoots and pork from your youth again!

If you said, "I'd save neither..."

Or, "I'd save myself first..."

Congratulations. You would get to enjoy both special treatments at once.

So Ye Qingcang had never posed this question in order for Liu Erlong to answer it!

It was to completely cut off one of Yu Xiaogang's excuses!

"Bitter medicine is hard to swallow; honest advice grates on the ear."

"A son does not despise his mother for being ugly, nor does a dog despise its home for being poor."

"I will not make things difficult for you."

"Even if you are only my adoptive mother."

Among all the answers everyone could have anticipated, Ye Qingcang chose one that surpassed all expectations. He took a jade token from the ring on his thumb—the Jade Seal Machine everyone recognized—opened the recording interface, and handed it to Liu Erlong.

"Violet?" After doing all this, Ye Qingcang waved without turning around. Under Violet's control, a bright screen immediately projected footage of the recent battle onto the hanging curtain. It was impossible to say whether he sounded disappointed or lonely. Though his attitude remained as calm as ever, everyone present seemed to understand the unspoken turmoil in his heart at once. "You won, because I followed the rules of the game."

Ning Rongrong pressed her lips together.

Her gaze toward Yu Xiaogang was filled with disdain.

She could accept Ye Qingcang's defeat, because he was already outstanding. She had even imagined that he might compromise with them, because such an exceptional genius must have his own considerations behind everything he did. What he had said to Yu Xiaogang could not possibly have been merely to satisfy himself verbally. But she could not accept Ye Qingcang acknowledging their shameful victory in such a humiliating way!

Zhu Zhuqing's little face turned cold as well.

Dai Mubai also suddenly fell silent.

Ma Hongjun clenched his fists, but did not act impulsively again.

Oscar, too, lost the respect he had once held for Yu Xiaogang.

As the footage played frame by frame.

Even Tang San's furious words—"Die for me!"—could be heard with perfect clarity.

Liu Erlong's face gradually turned pale without her noticing.

Yu Xiaogang's expression was also extremely ugly.

Only after the footage finished did the recording begin to play.

It plainly laid Yu Xiaogang's contemptible concerns before everyone, especially Ning Rongrong, who had been suspected. The way she looked at Yu Xiaogang was practically fiery, and she gritted her teeth in rage.

"Of course, you can say this was a trap..." Seeing Yu Xiaogang open his mouth, Ye Qingcang cut him off first. He openly admitted everything. "Because it truly was a trap. When I was very young, I understood a principle: people change. Let alone friends who have not seen each other for over twenty years—even after three years apart, a person can become unrecognizable. Without strong medicine, one cannot see a person's true heart. Once this strong medicine was administered, it became as clear as the lines on one's palm who truly treated you well and who approached you for certain purposes. What was damaged was my reputation; what was revealed was the hearts of you and these people. It is a pity you arrived a little too early. Otherwise, I could have tested the hearts of the others as well. You may believe it or not—the choice is yours. I merely did what a son ought to do..."