"Master, I'll trouble you with this kid."
Yan Ruyu nodded.
Zhao Shuning's expression softened slightly. It was good that she still had her master by her side. In this world, only her master had the power to erase a person's memory.
She left again. This time, she returned to her own room.
Ji Qinglin looked at Yan Ruyu and said with a smile, "Emperor Venerable, Sister Ling is back, right?"
"Yes."
Ji Qinglin, who had been holding his breath, finally let out a long sigh of relief and smiled brightly.
"It's so good that Sister Ling is back."
"I'll help you erase your memory."
"Okay. Thank you, Emperor Venerable."
Actually, this wasn't the first time Yan Ruyu had erased someone's memory.
More than a decade ago, when Ye Ling was still alive and hadn't become the empress yet, she had brought five badly - wounded children to him.
Yan Ruyu remembered very clearly that there was a little boy named Dongfang Yuxi among them. His face was unrecognizable at that time, and there were numerous places on his body that had been defiled.
Ji Qinglin and Xia Wanning weren't in a much better state. All the bones in their bodies had been shattered by spiritual power.
Was it a vendetta or something else? Yan Ruyu didn't ask.
At that time, Ye Ling was kneeling on the ground.
"Master, I beg you. Save these five children."
With just one glance, Yan Ruyu could imagine what kind of torture these children had endured.
"Okay."
It was Ye Ling who had saved them and asked Yan Ruyu to erase their painful and hell - like memories.
So when Zhao Shuning brought Ji Qinglin before him and saw Zhao Shuning's eyes, Yan Ruyu knew what she was going to do.
Ning'er's temper still hadn't changed.
Whether she was Ye Ling or now Zhao Shuning, in her heart, she always put others first. Maybe she hadn't even realized this herself.
After Xia Wanning left the pavilion, she went to the riverside alone.
The evening breeze was gentle and cool.
However, Xia Wanning's heart was out of tune with this beautiful scenery.
Suddenly, a black - clothed man with a small ape hanging on his arm appeared beside her.
"Elder Xia, you're here."
Xia Wanning wiped away her tears and turned around. "Our deal is over. What are you doing here now?"
"Over? No, it's far from over. What? Are you regretting cooperating with us, Elder Xia?"
"So what if I am?"
The strange black - clothed man grinned, showing his sinister white teeth.
There were numerous scars on his arm.
"Elder Xia, don't you forget that if it weren't for that woman, you would be the most respected elder of our Divine Sect now. She let you down. She kept you by her side like a puppet. She was afraid of your threat to her. All that she has suffered is well - deserved."
"Stop talking."
Xia Wanning hugged her head and squatted down in pain.
"No, you have to remember these. Now, our Divine Sect is sealed. Without a hundred years, we can't get out of the seal. Elder Xia, we, the descendants of the Divine Sect who are wandering outside, are your real kin. Do you understand?"
"Was the memory I showed you back then fake? That was you, and it was her, Ye Ling, who stripped away your memory and took away everything that should have belonged to you."
"If she wasn't guilty, why did she take away your previous memory?"
"Elder Xia, you should wake up."
"The one who should have ascended to the position of the empress was you. It was that woman who was jealous of you, so she kindly adopted you and made you bow and scrape to her. Originally, all of this was yours, including Emperor Venerable Yan Ruyu."
Emperor Venerable Yan Ruyu?
Just thinking of this man who was like a celestial being, Xia Wanning's heart began to ache involuntarily.
Yes, she hated.
Why? Why was there only Ye Ling in the Emperor Venerable's eyes?
Clearly, she should have been the one to ascend to the throne, and clearly he should have been only her master.
Xia Wanning slowly stood up. There was no more painful struggle in her eyes.
Back then, since she had chosen to betray Ye Ling, chosen to push Ye Ling into hell on Ye Ling's twenty - second birthday, removed all the soldiers, and transferred all the great generals who could help Ye Ling out of the Eastern Ze Wilderness, leaving Ye Ling in a desperate situation.
All of this was done by her.
Since she had taken this step and deceived everyone, now she had no room for regret.
Ye Ling was dead. Now, only she, Xia Wanning, was worthy of the Emperor Venerable.
"Tell me. What do you want from me this time?"
"We're very grateful for the low - level alchemists the sect provided for our Divine Sect before. However, in the next few decades, we're afraid we won't be able to enter the Ghost Domain. The Divine Throne asked me to tell you that in these years, please cultivate alchemist talents for him. When he breaks through the barrier, he will surely do his best to help you ascend to the throne of the empress."
"In this Nine Provinces Continent, once you become the empress, Yan Ruyu, the millennium imperial teacher, will be your master. By then, won't everything you want become easy?"
"I understand. You can go. Hide well. The Emperor Venerable has been in the capital recently. You people wandering outside had better not act rashly. If there's the slightest sign of trouble, without waiting for the Emperor Venerable to take action, I'll get rid of you first to prevent you from harming me."
The black - clothed man let out a strange laugh.
"Elder Xia truly lives up to her name. I've been taught."
The woman in front of him looked gentle.
Her autumn - colored eyes were full of tenderness. No one knew what kind of vicious thoughts were hidden beneath her appearance.
Xia Wanning was really good at acting.
She had deceived everyone. However, Xia Wanning never thought that the people she had deceived were the ones who truly regarded her as kin, while those evil cults she believed in were the ones who had really pushed her into hell when she was a child.
All the things she did on the surface were for the sake of the people in the Eastern Ze Wilderness.
Even Ji Qinglin only thought that Xia Wanning was a little resentful of Ye Ling because she liked the Emperor Venerable. He could never have imagined.
The murderer who persecuted the alchemists and whom he tried his best to catch every time was actually the gentle green - clothed woman he had liked since childhood.
Xia Wanning was delicate - minded, thought a great deal, and had good talent. However, because of others' instigation and some baseless evidence, she had abandoned Ye Ling, who had raised her for many years and done her best for her.
She thought that Ye Ling was kind to her only because Ye Ling felt guilty.
Because it was Ye Ling who had taken away everything that should have belonged to her.
In that case, all the things she did later were just taking back what belonged to her.