Bibi Dong's expression changed drastically. She whipped her head around and stared fixedly at An Yi. "How do you know?"
An Yi's expression was calm. "Sea God Island is Bo Saixi's domain, and it's also the Sea God's territory. Do you think I could have left that place without their tacit permission?"
As he spoke, blue light gathered between An Yi's brows. A trident mark shining with blue-gold light slowly emerged, giving off a vast, majestic presence.
Bibi Dong's expression shifted. "You obtained the Sea God Inheritance?"
"No." An Yi shook his head, and the mark between his brows disappeared. "This mark was placed on me by the Sea God's Divine Sense when I quietly left the island."
"If I run into danger, I can draw on this divine sense to strengthen my own power of space. It can even teleport me straight back to Sea God Island."
"Although I lack the key item needed to begin the divine trials, the Sea God is very interested in me. Otherwise, even if Bo Saixi had wanted to give me special treatment, she couldn't have let me stay in the Sea God's Light for ten years."
"The Sea God also knows I'm unwilling to inherit his position. After all, if I really accepted the Sea God Inheritance, Bo Saixi, as the high priestess, would have to sacrifice herself. So he didn't force me."
An Yi looked at Bibi Dong. "This Sea God's Divine Sense on me lets me sense certain other god-level presences. From the first day I returned to Spirit City and saw you, I sensed that stench of the Rakshasa God on you."
Bibi Dong clenched her fists and turned away again, her voice cold and hard. "Give it up? Do you think that's possible?"
"I finally got a chance to control my own fate, and you want me to give it up?"
"I'm not asking you to give up your fate. I'm saying I can help you get something stronger." An Yi stood up. "Besides the Rakshasa God, there's also an Asura God in Slaughter City."
"What Tang Chen accepted was the Asura God's inheritance. I can help you obtain it, as long as you give up Rakshasa."
Bibi Dong turned her head and couldn't help laughing, though the laughter didn't reach her eyes.
"An Yi, sometimes I really don't understand. Why does everything seem so simple to you? How can you say anything so effortlessly?"
The Asura God's inheritance? Could he get it just because he said he'd help?
An Yi stepped forward, closing the distance between them.
"Before, there were many things I wanted to stop, things I wanted to change, but I was powerless."
An Yi's voice took on a suppressed tremor. "You asked me why I'm so good to you? There's another reason."
"I've always regretted it. If I hadn't been so selfish back then, if I'd risked everything to tell you about the future, could I have changed all of this?"
"But I didn't dare!"
"I told you Sea God Island was dangerous, and you didn't believe me! I told you to stay away from Yu Xiaogang, and you told me a child shouldn't butt in on adults' business!"
"I wanted so badly to tell you more, to tell you what would happen in the future, whom you couldn't trust, and what you couldn't do."
"But I was scared! I was afraid you wouldn't believe me, afraid that if I told you, I wouldn't change anything and would only get myself caught up in it!"
"I knew everything, yet I could only watch it all happen, because I was scared. I didn't dare take the risk!"
"Ten years! For the past ten years, I trained every day in the Sea God's Light, losing myself in it. Only by training until I was utterly exhausted could I forget that I was a coward!"
"If only I'd been a little braver back then..."
An Yi took a deep breath, his voice somewhat strained.
"If I'd risked everything back then, even just once, could I have changed all of this?"
"But there are no ifs. The past can't be undone!"
Bibi Dong stared at An Yi as he lost control of his emotions, at the regret in his eyes that seemed ready to swallow him whole. Her expression grew incomparably complicated.
"So you're good to me... because you feel guilty?"
At those words, An Yi suddenly laughed, his smile somewhat cold and fierce.
"Guilty? Why should I feel guilty?"
"I just hate the coward I used to be. I don't want to be a coward anymore!"
After half a month, An Yi finally walked out of Saintess Hall and returned to his little courtyard.
As soon as Qian Renxue heard the news, she hurried over.
She stood at the courtyard gate, looking at An Yi's face, which was still a little pale. Her eyes were full of worry and unease as she called softly, "Teacher, are you all right?"
An Yi went into the stone pavilion and sat down. With a casual gesture, he drew the teapot over, then heat poured from his fingertips as he boiled water to make tea.
"I'm not dying yet."
Qian Renxue walked over to the table, nervously twisting the hem of her clothes between her fingers. "Teacher, are you... are you angry with me?" she asked apprehensively.
An Yi stopped pouring tea and looked up at her, his face full of confusion. "Why would I be angry with you?"
"Qian Xunji was the one who attacked me. What does that have to do with you?"
"He nearly killed me, so of course I'll pay him back. That debt isn't yours to bear."
Qian Renxue's expression froze and her heart tightened. She hurried to defend her father. "Teacher, Dad just acted on impulse. He..."
Clack.
An Yi set his teacup down on the stone table, cutting her off.
"Then if I act on impulse now and go kill Qian Xunji, should he be magnanimous and forgive me too?"
Qian Renxue was struck speechless.
An Yi looked at her, his tone indifferent. "A child should stay out of adults' business. This has nothing to do with you."
"Once I kill him, you're free to come after me for revenge. But if you make a scene with me here and now, I won't need to waste any more words on you."
Qian Renxue bit her lower lip, her eyes gradually reddening. "But Dad said you attacked first."
An Yi picked up his teacup and took a sip. "I attacked first, so it was only right for him to kill me, is that it?"
"If that's what you think, then I hope you remember that logic."
An Yi stared into Qian Renxue's eyes and said each word deliberately. "Last time, I attacked first, so it was only right for him to kill me. Next time, if he attacks me first, then it'll be only right for me to kill him too."
Qian Renxue's expression stiffened, her face turning deathly pale in an instant. She shook her head repeatedly. "I... I didn't mean that..."
"Then what did you mean?" An Yi asked.
"Could it be that Qian Xunji can kill me, but I can't kill him?"
"I don't care what kind of messy traditions your Angel Clan has. That logic doesn't work with me."
Tears welled up in Qian Renxue's eyes, and her voice trembled. "Teacher..."
"If you bring this up again, you don't have to call me teacher anymore." An Yi raised a hand to cut her off.
"I've told you before: I'm not a magnanimous person. On the contrary, I repay the slightest grudge and haggle over every last penny."
"Qian Xunji nearly killed me. I can't let that debt go just because he's your father."
"You can understand it or not."
"But if you keep speaking for him, I can only take it that you've chosen to stand against me and become my enemy."