Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

Chapter 62 – Ill-fated love

Even when he knew he was looking at an illusion, Yin Hanjiang couldn’t strike Wenren È. Even though he knew he would die soon, Yin Hanjiang still didn’t wish to be unable to see Wenren È, even if he knew it was all false.

Inner demons were a trial because those who were trapped by them didn’t want to escape.

When reading Abusive Romance, Wenren È’s attention had been on Baili Qingmiao, unable to understand why she was willing to offer up her heart for Hè Wenzhao to stomp on.

Yet at this moment, when Yin Hanjiang offered him his own beating heart, the one Wenren È didn’t understand was Hè Wenzhao. Faced with this bared heart, how could Hè Wenzhao betray her, hurt her, and make countless demands of her in the name of love? The only reason that he could hurt Baili Qingmiao was Baili Qingmiao’s love for him.

Now, such a heart was placed before Wenren È.

Wenren È brought out the divine blood, gripping it tightly in his hand. Disregarding how he wasn’t dressed, he grabbed Yin Hanjiang’s hand and pressed it to his face.

The invisible barrier that Yin Hanjiang had never been able to cross had been broken by Wenren È.

The last step was up to him.

Wenren È had seen what Yin Hanjiang was like when he wasn’t there. He had been dazzling, impossible to look away from, so much more eye-catching than he had been at Wenren È’s side. Wenren È had also seen Yin Hanjiang’s heart. He knew these feelings weren’t a momentary impulse, but a longing held for a hundred years, which had grown too deep to let go of.

As for Wenren È’s feelings, whether Wenren È could accept Yin Hanjiang like this, whether he could answer such deep emotions, the answer was already obvious.

When Yin Hanjiang kissed him and he didn’t refuse; when Wenren È was happy to watch in secret and allow Yin Hanjiang to command Xuanyuan Sect; when he had been determined to enter the Blood Hell, yet worried about Yin Hanjiang’s mind; when he wanted to give everything good he came across to Yin Hanjiang; when he had first read Abusive Romance, and been unable to accept Yin Hanjiang’s madness, the seeds of those feelings had already been planted in his heart, and blossomed.

Yin Hanjiang was special, and had been from the start. Even back when Wenren È walked past a mass grave and a tiny hand grabbed the hem of his robes, Yin Hanjiang had entered his heart.

Wenren È gripped Yin Hanjiang’s hand, placing a gentle kiss on the palm where it had touched his face. “Yin Hanjiang, this Venerable permits you to love him. Sect Leader Yin, will you permit me to love you?”

Yet he didn’t know that in Yin Hanjiang’s eyes, there were countless Wenren È’s explaining themselves to him, and among them, the real Wenren È looked especially false.

Wenren È assumed that Yin Hanjiang’s inner demons arose from his death and Yin Hanjiang’s longing, and if he revealed his identity, they would be powerless. He didn’t know what the scene in Yin Hanjiang’s eyes looked like and how hollow his actions seemed—compared to Wenren È having survived, it seemed more likely that Yin Hanjiang had fallen further into the inner demons’ clutches, so that, on top of his sight and hearing, even his sense of touch could not be trusted.

“No, no, no! It’s not possible!” Yin Hanjiang wanted to pull his hand away. He shook his head. “You can’t be the Venerable. You’re just an inner demon.”

The words of the Burning Sky Immortal in the second volume of God of Annihilation were far more convincing than the man before him. Yin Hanjiang cocked his head, his eyes dull, appearing completely abnormal as he spoke. “It was what my future self said, in the second volume of the books that the Venerable said recorded fate itself. He said the Venerable is dead, and there’s no way he could love me either, because the one he loves is…”

He couldn’t say the words “Baili Qingmiao”. He didn’t want to think about her.

“I do!” Seeing that Yin Hanjiang believed the books more than him, Wenren È brought out Abusive Romance and the first and third volumes of God of Annihilation. “You saw me obtain these books with your own eyes. An inner demon couldn’t bring out a book you’ve never read before. Open them and see for yourself. The plot has already changed. Fate can be changed!”

Wenren È also brought out an ordinary dark blue robe and put it on. He clutched the divine blood tight in one hand, hooking Yin Hanjiang’s waist with the other so that he couldn’t escape.

If Wenren È wanted something, he wouldn’t give the other party the chance to refuse.

He was more certain than ever that the Wenren È in Abusive Romance never loved Baili Qingmiao at all. Could he possibly admire her from a distance, content just to watch her live happily with Hè Wenzhao? That was absurd! Wenren È’s love would always be selfish. If he couldn’t have the object of his desires, then he would rather burn everything to the ground than back off quietly.

“Yin Hanjiang, it was me who drank wine with you that day at the spiritual spring. I’ve heard your feelings.” Wenren È pressed his forehead against Yin Hanjiang’s. “If you like this Venerable, then you’re not allowed to look at any more illusions, you understand?”

“What?!” Yin Hanjiang couldn’t believe it. Since that day, when he had responded to that inner demon, it was no longer an illusion he was seeing, but his Venerable?

He didn’t answer Wenren È, his mind awhirl, feeling as though his skull was splitting open.

He shoved Wenren È aside, clutching his head in both hands. It was as if he was being torn into pieces.

One of them was telling him, just believe, just believe in what’s before your eyes and be happy, even if it might be a lie, believe that your Venerable loves you. Another was saying, how could Wenren È love you, he’s always loved Baili Qingmiao, you saw how he gave his life to protect her at the Blood Hell. Yet another said, they’re all illusions, not a single one can be believed.

Seeing Yin Hanjiang’s soul break into pieces, each about to burst from his body, Wenren È didn’t dare push him any further. He sent a stream of chaos energy into Yin Hanjiang’s body in order to stabilize his soul.

He didn’t understand. Yin Hanjiang liked him and he had returned it. An ailment of the heart should be treated from the heart, so if he expressed his feelings, Yin Hanjiang’s turmoil should be resolved and everything should work out, so why did it end up this way?

“Which is real? Which is fake?” Yin Hanjiang’s hair was in disarray, his eyes red, on the verge of madness.

Clutching the divine blood, Wenren È cried, “Yin Hanjiang, look at me! Look at this Venerable!”

Yin Hanjiang calmed down a bit, his gaze falling on Wenren È’s face. He turned his head slightly, seeing the red stone in Wenren È’s hand.

“What’s this?” He put a hand atop the stone.

“The divine blood,” Wenren È answered.

“I’ve seen this stone before.” Yin Hanjiang placed both hands over it, his eyes hazy. “Is it real?” he said in a trembling voice.

“I obtained it in the Blood Hell—”

Before Wenren È had a chance to explain the whole complicated story of the divine blood’s origins, Yin Hanjiang had already confused it with the stone Wenren È had thrown Baili Qingmiao in his memories. “The Venerable will give it to Baili Qingmiao, right?” he said. “The Venerable went to the Blood Hell for it, didn’t he?”

“Not entirely, I—”

“Hahahahahaha…” Before Wenren È could finish speaking, a despairing laugh came from Yin Hanjiang’s mouth, along with a mouthful of blood.

His soul which had nearly shattered slowly merged back together, but not in the form that Wenren È had wanted.

Yin Hanjiang seemed to hear his Venerable say words like “love”, “primordial god”, and “fate” near his ears, but he couldn’t hear clearly. His eyes blurred, a roar filling his ears. What was real?

Oh yeah. His Venerable had said that the words of the books were real.

Yin Hanjiang grabbed the volume of Abusive Romance that Wenren È had left on the ground, flipping it to a random page in the back. He saw the words: “Yin Hanjiang grabbed Baili Qingmiao by the neck, his face twisted with hate. He spat, “If the Venerable died for you, shouldn’t you accompany him?”

In that moment, Yin Hanjiang couldn’t hear anything, and he couldn’t see anything beside those words. He quickly read on, seeing how he failed to kill Baili Qingmiao, how she leapt into the Blood Hell with the divine blood in her hands, regaining her divinity. At the moment she merged with the divine nature, Baili Qingmiao thought that it was thanks to Wenren È giving her this stone at the moment before his death, that she was able to survive.

“Enough!” Seeing that Yin Hanjiang was reading the pages that hadn’t been revised yet, and hadn’t heard a word he said, Wenren È snatched back the book. With a light tap on Yin Hanjiang’s forehead, he sent chaos energy into his body, forcibly suppressing his rampant spiritual energy.

Yin Hanjiang lost consciousness, his brows still knit. Wenren È picked him up and, in a flash, appeared in Zhongli Qian’s room.

“How could this happen?!” Wenren È laid Yin Hanjiang down on Zhongli Qian’s bed.

Zhongli Qian set down the jade slip in his hand. Without asking what had happened, he felt Yin Hanjiang’s pulse, and after a long moment, asked, “Sect Master, how come Sect Leader Yin’s emotional state was suddenly thrown into disarray and he lost the ability to control his power which now reaches the immortal realm, his spiritual energy running wild and his soul nearly being destroyed?”

“This Venerable also wants to know.” Wenren È still held onto Yin Hanjiang. He didn’t understand why things had turned out like this. Wasn’t Yin Hanjiang just suffering from inner demons? If his inner turmoil was resolved, shouldn’t the inner demons vanish? Was this not the source of Yin Hanjiang’s turmoil, after all?

Zhongli Qian was silent for a moment, then took off his blindfold, looking at Wenren È’s face. Ignoring how Baili Qingmiao popped up in his vision, he observed Wenren È’s expression and was dumbfounded. Wenren È was probably unaware of what he looked like right now. He gazed at Yin Hanjiang, his eyes filled with concern, tenderness… and fear.

The Lord of Demons had never feared anything in his life, but at this moment, he feared losing Yin Hanjiang.

“Did you say something to Sect Leader Yin?” Zhongli Qian asked, replacing his blindfold.

“This Venerable… wishes to become cultivation partners with Yin Hanjiang for the rest of our lives.” Wenren È spoke not to Zhongli Qian, but to Yin Hanjiang, but unfortunately the man couldn’t hear him.

Zhongli Qian understood everything. With his usual calm manner, he said, “Sect Master, the first time I met Sect Leader Yin, I saw signs that he was in danger of deviating. I advised him not to desire too strongly, but he answered that he wouldn’t desire.

“I have little knowledge of love, but after reading books and poems for all these years, and after seeing how Miss Baili was ensnared by it, I’ve come to some understanding. The world is filled with those who seek love, and how many of them can refrain from desire?

“Those who can either don’t love strongly enough, or don’t dare to pursue. Which does the Sect Master think Yin Hanjiang is?”

He probably didn’t dare. In these few days of observing Yin Hanjiang, Wenren È had discovered that he seemed to be certain of something—that Wenren È could not possibly love him. If he said he did, it must be an inner demon, the product of his own fantasies, a lie.

“Sect Master, either great joy or great sorrow can both disrupt someone’s composure. Sect Leader Yin has already sustained the pain of losing his beloved, and has never dared to imagine that his Venerable could return his feelings, and is also beset by inner demons. If he were to meet with great joy, it would be like a piece of porcelain going from flames to cold water. Even though the heat would be extinguished, the porcelain would shatter from the shock.”

Yin Hanjiang’s feelings weren’t like Wenren È’s, powerful and unwavering, impossible to shake. He’d only had the courage to say the words hidden in his heart for so many years to an illusion. If it weren’t for the inner demons, and Wenren È had gently guided Yin Hanjiang around, warmed him up gradually, it was possible he could believe it. But he had acted too suddenly.

Heat and cold could counteract each other, but how could anything also withstand such a forceful will?

“Has the Sect Master heard the saying, a desire too deep is not fated to last long? Protector Shu has amused herself in the mortal realm for many years and tasted all it has to offer, so why has she never given her heart to anyone? Because love’s power to harm is too great. Yin Hanjiang has risen in power due to his obsession, but the backlash has become more powerful in turn. The cosmos is heartless and the Dao is dispassionate; the path that will lead one to heaven is the Path of Indifference, not the path of obsession.”

“This Venerable understands. This Venerable was wrong.” He hadn’t considered Yin Hanjiang’s personality and the fragile state of his mind, and hadn’t thought about whether he would be able to accept such information.

Wenren È pressed his lips against Yin Hanjiang’s burning forehead. “But this Venerable will not accept his mistakes.”

He sent a message talisman to Altar Master Shi. “Bring Yao Jiaping to this Venerable!”

Since his heart had been moved, he could no longer let go. Yin Hanjiang must accompany Wenren È, in this world and the next. He wouldn’t allow him to escape in death so easily.