Chapter 4
[What a beautiful boy. And his eyes were so unusual.]
Ye Zhenzen stared, momentarily entranced.
"Third Junior Brother." Ye Qingyao cried out in surprise. Ye Qingchuan, usually as docile as a lamb, now looked like a lion whose territory had been invaded, every hair on his body standing on end.
Third Junior Brother? Wasn't that Ye Qingchuan, the obsessive, unhinged second male lead from the original book?
The male lead and second male lead had met already? Was a showdown coming next?
Ye Zhenzhen cheered silently: How exciting!
Shen Xingyan: I'm so handsome, I'm so handsome, I'm so handsome. Look at me, look at me, look at me.
Ye Zhenzhen: Look at what? Your huge nostrils? QAQ
Chapter 4
In the original book, Ye Qingchuan was the obsessive, unhinged second male lead. Ever since childhood, he had
secretly loved
his Second Senior Sister, Ye Qingyao.
After Ye Qingyao chose to be with Shen Xingyan, his love went unreturned. He tortured himself, went mad, succumbed to demonic corruption, and became the villainous Demon Venerable, changing his name to Ye Mochuan.
Qingchuan became Mochuan, and sorrow flowed like a river.
Yet Ye Qingyao, hopelessly besotted, found no happiness. Shen Xingyan tricked her into becoming his Furnace, tormenting both her body and heart in a tragedy of "Do you love me? Then I'll wipe out your entire sect."
The whole Cloudsky Sect was destroyed, and the power of the Evil Drought Demon was stolen.
On the day Shen Xingyan finally ascended to the position of Immortal Venerable, Ye Qingyao slipped away, her heart turned to ash. Only then did he realize his love for her ran bone-deep. He began desperately trying to win her back, doing everything he could to make up for the harm he had caused.
But it was too late.
Then something even more outrageous happened! The obsessive, unhinged Ye Mochuan abducted Ye Qingyao to the Demon Realm and imprisoned her, determined to force her to love him.
To take Ye Qingyao back, Shen Xingyan launched the Immortal-Demon War against Ye Mochuan. Smoke rose on every side, and the Three Realms descended into chaos. To spare countless lives, the Mary Sue heroine Ye Qingyao took her own life with her sword, ending the slaughter between the immortal and demon realms.
As for Ye Mochuan later going mad, seizing the Five Divine Artifacts to release the Evil Drought Demon in hopes of reviving Ye Qingyao, only to die when it possessed him—that was a story for another time.
Love rivals always saw red when they met.
In the original book, the male lead and second male lead had always been like fire and water. But Ye Zhenzhen's arrival had set off a butterfly effect. Long before the Immortal Sects Grand Tournament, the two were meeting for the first time—and from the very first glance, they were at each other's throats, swords drawn for a showdown.
"Young friend, since I just saved your senior sister and junior sister, please spare this spirit beast." Seeing Ye Qingchuan's hostility, Shen Xingyan hurried forward to stop him.
Young friend?
"Who are you calling young?" The address only fueled Ye Qingchuan's anger. His sword flashed brighter, poised to take the Xingxing's head.
The Xingxing had yet to wake. It lay motionless on the ground, utterly unaware of the danger bearing down on it.
"Don't!" Shen Xingyan stepped forward, pushed Ye Qingchuan's sword aside, and stood in front of the Xingxing. "Little brother, let's talk this through. The Xingxing is actually my contracted spirit beast. It's young and doesn't know any better—it's still a baby. Please find it in your heart to spare it. Whatever wrong it committed, I'll take the punishment as its master."
Ha! He finally admitted it himself. This Xingxing comes from Mount Zhaoyao, all right. We don't have them on Cloudsky Mountain.
This little demon king really has some skill. No wonder he ends up becoming the Demon Venerable.
Ye Zhenzhen watched Ye Qingchuan with interest. This beautiful boy had brains, too.
But Ye Qingchuan gave her a sidelong glance, his expression peculiar.
Oh no. There was something wrong with that look. Could he hear her thoughts now that he was closer? Help! She'd said the wrong thing. She had to fix it, fast!
My Third Senior Brother is amazing! He exposed that scumbag's true colors in an instant.
He really is the hope of our whole sect.
Even her thoughts had to tread carefully around this little demon king. Ye Zhenzhen lamented inwardly: My life is so hard...
Ye Qingchuan gave a soft scoff, as though he hadn't heard her flattery. He pointed his sword at Shen Xingyan again. "What do you mean, it's young and doesn't know any better? That it's still a baby? Does saying that erase what it did? My junior sister is even younger—she's a baby, too. My senior sister is delicate as well. If they'd fallen straight down just now, they could have been killed or crippled. Who would answer for that?"
"Or perhaps the Xingxing wasn't at fault at all. Did you order it to steal my junior sister's shoe so they'd fall from the tree?"
Exactly! Who isn't a baby here?
Shen Xingyan did it on purpose. He set this up to win Senior Sister's heart!
Ye Zhenzhen wanted to applaud with both hands and feet. Ye Qingchuan had said everything she was thinking and dealt that stinking scumbag a crushing blow.
Shen Xingyan: ...
Why wouldn't this kid let it go?
"Little brother, you can eat whatever you like, but you can't say whatever you like. You're so young—how can you assume the worst of someone? My contracted spirit beast is free to do as it pleases. I don't control its every move."
At seventeen, Shen Xingyan stood a good deal taller than Ye Qingchuan. He lifted his chin and straightened his back, trying to overwhelm him through sheer presence.
Ye Qingchuan couldn't have cared less. His gaze was cold as a thin blade, and his sword showed no sign of lowering.
"Contracted spirit beasts have a contract with their masters. If a master orders one east, it wouldn't dare go west. When it stole my junior sister's baby shoe, if you'd told it to return it, it would have done so at once. Why would it have hidden in such a tall tree?"
"You didn't tell it to give the shoe back. Either you deliberately let it do wrong, or you ordered it to do it."
The little demon king lived up to his name. His powers of deduction were flawless.
With his motives laid bare, Shen Xingyan lost his temper. He drew his own sword and pointed it at Ye Qingchuan. "If you want to condemn someone, you can always invent a charge. I clearly saved your senior sister and junior sister just now. I've backed down again and again, yet you keep pressing me with baseless accusations. What are you after?"