Watching Xiao Yi's behavior from the side, Xiao Yan felt beads of cold sweat seep from his temples. Although he had been wary of that "old ghost" earlier, seeing Xiao Yi "torment" a senior expert like this, especially when they still needed his help, left him feeling rather guilty.
"Say... aren't we... going a little too far? We still need to ask him for help in a bit, after all..."
Xiao Yan's voice was quiet, but in the stillness of the night, it reached the earthenware jar clearly enough. Yao Chen, who had been cursing up a storm inside, froze at these words that seemed to offer him some measure of "defense." Then his fury surged even higher, fiercer than when he had been cursing Xiao Yi.
"Xiao Yan! You traitor who betrayed your master and defiled your lineage! You ungrateful wolf! Now you think to speak up for me? Who colluded with outsiders, betrayed his own school, and reduced me to this?! Well?! You still have the nerve to talk! And to think I once taught you everything I knew, all for that Flame Mantra..."
The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, as though he meant to pour out years of pent-up grievances and resentment all at once. He never realized just how bewildering and incomprehensible his accusations sounded to Xiao Yan outside the jar.
He had forgotten that Xiao Yan was only a boy barely past ten, and that, strictly speaking, they had only just "met." His seething resentment and the pain of betrayal made him unconsciously overlay the Xiao Yan before him with the shadow of the treacherous disciple he hated to the marrow of his bones.
Holding the jar, Xiao Yi listened to Yao Chen's rambling, venomous accusations, then glanced at the bewildered, innocent-looking Xiao Yan beside him and raised an eyebrow.
Yao Chen's words were riddled with holes. Clearly, rage had muddled his mind: he had dragged up old scores and pinned them on the wrong person.
"Say, Elder Yao, aren't you cursing the wrong person?"
Xiao Yi paused, seemingly giving Yao Chen time to react, then shifted his approach. A hint of sharpness entered his previously lighthearted tone.
"From the sound of it, someone close to you betrayed you back then? Otherwise, with your abilities, how could you have ended up with nothing but a wisp of a remnant soul, forced to take refuge in this ring?"
As he spoke, he lightly tapped the cold wall of the jar. Every word from his mouth seemed to carry a strange penetrating power, striking straight at the pain buried deepest in Yao Chen's heart.
"Could you tell us about it? Who exactly reduced you to your current state? Perhaps we could even help you... vent some of that anger?"
Inside the jar, Yao Chen's curses stopped abruptly. Xiao Yi's words were like a perfectly fitted key, unlocking the floodgates of memories he had sealed away long ago. That past too painful to revisit, that betrayal that pierced his heart and stabbed his bones, came surging back like a tide and swallowed him in an instant.
The deathly silence inside the earthenware jar lasted so long that Xiao Yan almost thought Yao Lao had fainted from anger. Just as he grew uneasy and was about to speak up to dissuade Xiao Yi again, a hoarse, weary voice finally emerged from the jar, thick with irritation.
"Hmph... what does my past have to do with juniors like you? Stop trying to pry things out of me!"
Yao Chen's voice remained full of wariness and indignation, but compared with his earlier fury, there seemed to be an indescribable bleakness to it. Clearly, Xiao Yi's words had stirred the painful memories buried deep in his heart.
At this, the teasing smile on Xiao Yi's face did not diminish in the slightest. He said unhurriedly:
"Elder Yao, now you're treating us like strangers. Naturally, I wouldn't dare pry into your sorrows. Speak if you wish; if you don't, we certainly won't force you. It's just that, sometimes, people's eyes are blinded not because they can't see others clearly, but because they refuse to see themselves clearly. To label everyone untrustworthy because of a single betrayal, to view every act of kindness through tinted lenses... wouldn't that make you miss out on so much, and make it easier to... lose sight of your true self again and fall into the same rut?"
Inside the jar, Yao Chen's anger, which had subsided a little, flared up again as though a ladle of boiling oil had been poured over it, burning fiercer than before! He felt as if his lungs would burst with rage! Was this brat saying, in a roundabout way, that he stubbornly refused to see reason? That betrayal had left him unable to distinguish right from wrong?
"Bullshit! You yellow-mouthed brat, still reeking of milk! What do you know?!"
Inside the jar, Yao Chen's soul trembled with anger, his voice turning shrill with utter fury.
"When I roamed unrivaled across the continent, who knows where you were playing in the mud! How dare an ignorant junior like you pass judgment on my character and my heart for the Dao?! Who are you to lecture me?!"
Standing nearby, Xiao Yan stared dumbfounded at Xiao Yi, who was holding the earthenware jar and speaking with effortless confidence, then listened to Yao Lao's furious roars from within. For a moment, his brain struggled to keep up. What had gotten into Xiao Yi today? Had his whole personality changed?
As he remembered it, although Xiao Yi had plenty of sly ideas and often acted unpredictably, didn't he usually deal with this sort of "prisoner" using more... more direct and brutal methods? Threatening to pour a virgin boy's urine into the jar, for instance, or using smoke and fire to force a confession. He had even prepared himself for how he would talk Xiao Yi out of it if he really did such a thing, or perhaps... resort to force...
Yet Xiao Yi's current pose of feigned profundity and patient guidance truly made Xiao Yan's eyes pop. Was this really the same unreliable Xiao Yi who spent his days amusing himself by tormenting others and so often said startling things? His words today actually sounded a little like... those of an enlightened master? Though Yao Lao clearly wasn't buying it.
Xiao Yan scratched his head, filled with confusion. He understood Xiao Yi less and less. Could dealing with a soul like this require a strategy of "winning the battle by attacking the heart"? How had he never noticed Xiao Yi had the makings of such a "man of letters"?
Xiao Yi seemed disinclined to waste any more words on Yao Chen inside the jar. Seeing that he was impervious to persuasion and did nothing but rage, he pursed his lips. His unfathomable expression instantly collapsed, and he returned to his usual devil-may-care manner. He set the jar on the ground to one side, dusted off his hands, and turned toward his courtyard, tossing out a remark.
"All right, all right. Cool down first, old sir, and enjoy being beautiful all by yourself for a while. I'll be right back."
Xiao Yan watched Xiao Yi's retreating back in bewilderment, unsure what mischief he was plotting this time. He had been playing the "life mentor" just a moment ago, so how had his demeanor changed in the blink of an eye? He was about to ask when Xiao Yi soon emerged from his courtyard, which was piled high with all sorts of "junk," huffing and puffing as he pushed out a... a thing that made the corners of Xiao Yan's eyes twitch violently several times.
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