Seeing this, Ye Yu ignored his own wounds and painfully crawled to Ye Qingqing's side. He took out another small knife and cut open his chest.
Everyone present cried out in alarm, utterly unable to understand what Ye Yu was doing.
Yet Ye Qingxuan understood at that moment. She stared at Ye Yu in disbelief and said in shock, "You can't possibly be..."
Ye Yu did not answer. He merely watched silently as the scene continued.
In the scene, Ye Yu forced a clump of blood out from his heart. It then merged into Ye Qingqing's body, and Ye Qingqing's complexion gradually improved. The surging Devil Qi around her also receded.
Ye Qingshuang trembled all over as she watched this scene. Having followed Cangyun for many years, she naturally knew what that clump of blood was.
It was heart's blood, also known as essence blood—the foundation of the human body.
Once essence blood was lost, the body's functions would rapidly decline. All wounds would heal far more slowly, and the body would become frail enough to topple in a breeze.
Only now did Ye Qingshuang understand why Ye Yu had often fallen ill after returning, why even after she treated him, he had found it difficult to recover quickly.
Ye Qingshuang had originally believed that Ye Yu had staged it all, making up all sorts of excuses to win their sympathy so they would neglect Ye Xuan.
But that was the truth. How could Ye Yu's body possibly recover after losing his essence blood? Not to mention that his body had long been corroded by the Nine Nether Blood Qi. Under that double blow, the fact that Ye Yu had survived at all was already a miracle.
Everyone's gazes toward Ye Yu changed. There was sympathy, but even more than that, admiration.
Who could do such a thing for a half-sibling?
Watching this scene, Ye Yu felt helpless as well. He had truly been foolish back then.
In truth, the Great Yan Royal Family had long known how to save Ye Qingqing. They needed only to use the Blood Guiding Saber to pierce the heart already tainted by devil blood and draw out the devil blood within. Her madness would naturally be cured.
But the heart was the source of a person's life. If it was injured, the consequences would be enormous, let alone having blood drawn from it.
Only if someone was willing to transfuse their own essence blood could Ye Qingqing survive.
And essence blood could not be extracted by external force unless that person gave it willingly.
But who would be willing to offer up their entire future, even their life, for a half-sibling?
So the matter was delayed again and again.
By the time Ye Yu returned from the Nine Nether Blood Spring, the matter still had not been resolved. Only then did Ye Yu devise a plan to lure Ye Qingqing to the Eastern Palace and use his own essence blood to sustain her life.
Unfortunately, in his previous life, this fourth sister had been the one who hated him most.
Because the source of her heart had been damaged, it was already a blessing that Ye Qingqing had kept her life. The cultivation she had painstakingly built up beforehand naturally vanished completely.
For a cultivator to start over was harder than ascending to heaven, and Ye Qingqing herself was not a diligent person.
In the end, Ye Qingqing blamed everything on Ye Yu and would come to vent her anger on him from time to time.
Yet Ye Yu of his previous life had only worried that his fourth sister Ye Qingqing would develop a heart demon because of this. He let her beat and curse him without resisting at all, hoping only to release the resentment buried in her heart as soon as possible.
Just as Ye Yu was laughing at his former self, the scene shifted once more.
A figure rushed in. It was Ye Qingxuan.
In the scene, Ye Yu grinned when he saw Ye Qingxuan and was just about to say something.
But Ye Qingxuan glanced at Ye Qingqing, who had collapsed on the ground, and her expression suddenly turned ugly. Without another word, she sent Ye Yu flying with a palm strike, picked up Ye Qingqing, and hurried away.
Ye Yu alone was left lying on the ground, blood flowing everywhere. In some places, even stark white bone was exposed, a terrifying sight.
At this point, Ye Qingshuang finally released the restriction she had placed and hurriedly put away the Memory Stone.
The people around them immediately sighed in dismay. Quite a few cast apologetic looks at Ye Yu.
They were ashamed for having previously believed Ye Qingxuan's claim that he had colluded with the Devil Race.
Still, they could not be blamed entirely. Who could have imagined that Ye Qingxuan would use the Devil Race to smear Ye Yu?
Thinking of this, the disgust in everyone's eyes as they looked at Ye Qingxuan and the others grew even stronger.
Ye Qingxuan stood frozen in place. Her mind was filled with the look Ye Yu had given her in the scene—warmth, longing, delight.
But now, only coldness remained.
"Well, Second Princess? Where is the evidence you spoke of?" Ye Yu did not have so many thoughts. He sneered mockingly.
Ye Qingxuan's expression changed slightly. Her gaze toward Ye Yu became somewhat complicated, and she murmured, "Why didn't you say anything?"
"If I had said it, would you have believed me? In the end, you probably would have only thought I was seeking credit. Perhaps you would even have believed it was a show I directed and acted in myself to keep my position as heir to the throne?" Ye Yu stroked his chin and said calmly.
Having lived through two lives, if he still could not see through the true faces of these people, then he would truly be an idiot.
"Enough, Second Sister. There's no need to feel guilty toward him. Wasn't this what he should have done? Besides, he did it and chose not to tell anyone. He can only blame himself," Ye Qingshuang said from the side.
"Besides, judging by his character, perhaps he really did arrange all this. Otherwise, why did he have to lure Qingqing to the Eastern Palace before doing it? Wasn't it deliberately to leave an image on the Memory Stone so we would discover it later?"
"Otherwise, after losing his essence blood, how could he have recovered his strength? How could he be standing here now?"
This bizarre argument once again shattered the understanding of everyone around them.
Was she insane? What kind of bizarre train of thought was that?!
Yet Ye Qingxuan took it to heart. Her eyes immediately lit up as she strongly agreed with Ye Qingshuang's judgment, perhaps also wanting to use it to conceal the guilt rising in her heart.
The corners of Ye Yu's mouth twitched as he looked at the two women. He truly had no patience to deal with them, so he turned and walked into Lingyun Pavilion.
But Ye Qingxuan unexpectedly rushed inside a few steps ahead of him. She then showed the people of Lingyun Pavilion a token of the Great Yan Royal Family and said, "I am Ye Qingxuan, the Second Princess of Great Yan. I order you to drive him out!"
The guards exchanged glances. Though they were extremely speechless, they still walked up to Ye Yu and said politely, "Sorry, Mr. Ye. The Great Yan Royal Family is a partner of our Lingyun Pavilion. We must ask you to leave."
"Want to come in? I'll give you a chance. Detoxify me!" Ye Qingxuan sneered.
Ye Yu looked at Ye Qingxuan as though she were an idiot. Then he brushed a hand over his Ring of Holding, and a purple-gold token appeared in his palm.
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