"At this rate, this is gonna take a few more days." Feeling internal energy strands in his body, Yang Ze exhaled a mouthful of air. With those two heaven-defying talents, the day when he would be able to escape this place wouldn’t be too far off.
Thinking about the free life he would have after leaving this place, Yang Ze unconsciously let out a gentle smile, though under the skin mask, it looked eerie and ugly.
Stretching his body, he walked out of the room. Looking at the bright moon and the sky full of stars, he was in a daze. His ti in this world wasn’t that long, but it felt like an eternity had passed. From joining the Lin family to coming here... everything felt like a distant dream.
Looking at the unfamiliar starry sky, Yang Ze was confused. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do or what he wanted to do. What if tomorrow, the Duality sect frees them? Where was he going to go? What was he going to do? Was he supposed to go with them? Or was he supposed to stay in this sect?
For a mont, he felt like a caged bird inside a small, dark room. Even if the cage was broken, he wouldn’t be able to truly escape.
"What are you thinking about?" Just when he was deep in thought, a familiar yet unfamiliar voice startled him awake.
"You!?" Turning around in panic, Yang Ze looked at the person he wanted to see the least.
"What are you doing here?"
"Am I not welcod in my own house?" With a smile, Cang Yue slowly walked towards him before standing beside him as she too looked at the sky.
"Pretty... Isn’t it?"
Looking at the woman beside him, Yang Ze narrowed his eyes in wariness. This was perhaps the most unpredictable and dangerous woman he had ever t. He didn’t ease just because she was standing beside him with a gentle smile on her face. God knows how many people this seemingly harmless-looking woman had killed. One tiny mistake, and he would be the next person on the list.
"It is." Whatever her reason might be, Yang Ze didn’t want to think too much about it. With his puny strength, it was impossible to go against her, so he might as well talk normally without holding anything back. The worst possible outco would be his death, but he had moved beyond that fear.
The two of them looked at the starry sky in silence for a long ti.
It wasn’t until a few more minutes had passed that Cang Yue broke the silence.
"We got off on the wrong foot." With the sa gentle smile, she spoke further. "Let make it right."
Turning around, she looked at the man in front of her before whispering in a soft tone.
"I am Cang Yue, the current saintess of the Duality Sect."
’I know.’ Yang Ze complained in his heart, but didn’t show any expression on his face other than surprise.
"....."
"....."
"Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?" Looking at the man who was standing there in silence, Cang Yue snorted in displeasure. She almost patted him once again, but stopped at the last mont. After all, she was here to play a different role.
"?" Yang Ze pointed towards his face while looking at Cang Yue as if in disbelief. He didn’t know what ga she was playing, but decided to just play along.
"I am Yang Ze."
After speaking his na, Yang Ze went silent again.
Witnessing the awkwardness between them, Cang Yue’s lips twitched in response before she shook her head.
"Let’s sit down. I want to talk to you." Pulling his hand like an elder sister next door, Cang Yue sat on the grass, followed by Yang Ze, who didn’t struggle.
As the two of them sat there for a while, Cang Yue broke the silence once again.
"So... Before joining the Lin family, what did you use to do?"
"...." Yang Ze didn’t think too much before replying in a flat tone.
"Gambling."
"..." The smile on Cang Yue’s face never diminished, but from the rapid heaving of her chest, one could see her anger.
"I.. I see." She forced a small laugh before speaking again.
"Then... what are your plans for the future?"
This ti, Yang Ze didn’t give an answer but turned his head towards her and gazed deeply in her eyes. After a few seconds, he just let out a helpless sigh.
"What are you doing?"
Unlike before, when he had fear in his voice, this ti his voice was rather calm. Without the fear of death, he didn’t need to talk to her in a flattering way.
"What do you an?" Cang Yue raised an eyebrow, pretending not to understand his question.
"Oh, co on." This ti, Yang Ze did not hold anything back. He could have just played her ga, but he didn’t want to waste another second with her. Right now, he just wanted to be left alone.
At the mont, his mind was overwheld with thoughts of Earth and his previous life, as well as uncertainty about his future. Talking with her and playing her ga was the last thing he wanted to do.
"Let’s be honest, you aren’t here because you wanted to know about . Just spill it out... whatever you want to know and leave."
"I am tired."
"....." Listening to his words, the smile on Cang Yue’s face faded, and her face returned to her previous expressionless state. She couldn’t help but take a deep look at the man beside her. She didn’t know why or how, but the man had changed from their last eting. Earlier, he used to be like an obedient dog who would wag his tail when asked, but now... now he was like a wild horse.
But the more he acted this way, the more it piqued her interest. Now, she wanted to break him even more. To have him constantly growling under her skirt and licking her feet. As she thought about it, a slight smile ran across her face again. But unlike before, it was from the bottom of her heart.
"I just wanted to get to know you better." Cang Yue spoke in a soft voice. "I can understand those two entering the sect to rescue Lin Wan. But what about you? Is it because of love?"
Yang Ze didn’t know how to answer this question. He couldn’t simply say that he followed them out of fear for his life, could he?
"Sothing like that." Yang Ze just shrugged in response.
"I don’t believe it." This ti, Cang Yue spoke her true thoughts. "I don’t think Lin Wan and you are lovers. When I told her about the three of you being caught, she only asked about her two sisters, not you."
"Makes wonder if it is a one-sided love!"
"...." Yang Ze didn’t answer her, but he was getting increasingly annoyed.
"Whatever you think."
"Oh!?" This ti, Cang Yue thought for a long ti before slowly inching closer to him till their shoulders t.
Yang Ze, who was still gazing at the stars, felt a shiver run down his spine when Cang Yue’s shoulder touched his. For a mont, he didn’t know how to react.
"Forget about those won for a while; how about we talk about sothing else?"
"What?" For a mont, Yang Ze wanted to turn around and head directly inside. He was getting more and more irritated.
"Tell about your life before you beca a slave to the Lin family. I want to know more about you."
"..." This ti, Yang Ze went silent for a long ti as he gazed deeply at the stars. He didn’t want to speak to soone like her... an unfamiliar person.
But wasn’t it the perfect opportunity too? In this world, who could understand his pain? Who could understand what he was going through? Talking with a complete stranger might not help, but at least it would ease his burden. He didn’t think that a woman like her would just run around, publishing about his life everywhere. Perhaps she would have already forgotten about it by tomorrow morning. Perhaps, she might get bored and leave mid-way.
With these thoughts in his mind, Yang Ze let out a relieved smile.
Cang Yue, on the other hand, thought he didn’t want to talk about it. It was understandable; after all, almost everyone who beca a slave did so because of a foolish mistake or a cri they had committed. Anyone would feel embarrassed by their past actions, so it was natural for the other party not to want to talk about it.
And just when she was about to change the topic, Yang Ze’s words stopped her.
"You see, I actually ca from a distant place." Looking at the stars, his voice was extrely gentle and soothing.
"It is a very different place from this. There are no cultivators there, and ordinary people live their lives freely."
"There is no fear of suddenly getting killed by a powerful cultivator or demonic beasts slaughtering people. All in all, it is a peaceful place."
"The children there didn’t need to worry about food or clothing. Not only that, but every child gets free education."
Cang Yue didn’t interrupt him, but quietly listened. Just like she ntioned, she didn’t know a single thing about the man beside her, so listening to him, ntioning a utopia, she was entranced. She too couldn’t help but imagine a place like that.
"But of course... we had our fair share of troubles." Taking a deep breath, Yang Ze thought about the innurable things that plagued Earth, but ultimately decided not to dwell in it.
"Take , for example." This ti, Cang Yue could feel his voice tremble montarily.
"We were a happy family of four. Other than , there were my younger sister, my mother and my father. We weren’t wealthy, but we were truly happy."
"We didn’t have to worry about food, clothing or a place to live."
"Everything was perfect. Everything was going well. That is, until I lost my father."
Speaking till here, Yang Ze let out a deep breath as he closed his eyes. Even though he acted perfectly normal, one could see his eyelashes trembling.
"I didn’t even have ti to react. I didn’t know what happened or how... Everything was so chaotic, so unreal that I felt like it was a dream."
"And after that..."
"It was the beginning of my nightmares."
With a mocking laugh, Yang Ze forced a smile upon his face.
"My mother got into drinking and gambling. And my sister... well."
"Both of them blad for my father’s death."
"With my mother’s gambling and drinking problem, and my sister’s unruly nature, we were soon out of money."
"So... at the age of thirteen, I left school and began to work odd jobs. I worked in restaurants, I worked in construction, I worked cleaning gutters.... I did everything that I could."
"But it was never enough... It was never truly enough."
"One thing led to another and then..."
"Then I found myself in the Yuyang city."
Speaking till here, Yang Ze went quiet for a long ti. There were a lot of things he wanted to say... he wanted to tell about how his mother used to hit him with an iron rod when he couldn’t bring in enough money. He wanted to talk about how her sister often forced him to serve her adult ’Friends’ for extra cash. He wanted to talk about how he often slept outside his house in the cold.
He wanted to leave that hellish place, but every ti he thought about that, the figure of his father would flash past his eyes, and the happy mories would overwhelm him. Perhaps, in a sense, he too blad it all upon himself. Perhaps he wanted to be like his father, taking care of the family. He was so overwheld with the feeling of guilt and wanting to provide that he never once thought about himself.
There were so many things he wanted to say, but in the end, it all turned into a helpless sigh.
"What happened then?" Cang Yue was truly captivated by his story. Not because she took pity on him, but because she was entranced by his pain and suffering.
"....." Yang Ze just let out a soft chuckle before shaking his head.
"That would be a story for another ti."
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