This kiss.
It was as if it had shattered the last line of defense in Mo Yan's heart.
His eyes were first filled with confusion.
Then.
They turned ecstatic.
The power around him became more intense.
He looked up at Yan Ruyu in mid - air, full of provocation.
The frost in Yan Ruyu's eyes was already very obvious.
He gently clenched his fists.
There was a hint of anger on his cold and handsome face.
Seeing this, the Viper stepped forward and softly asked, "Your Majesty, is she the fairy? Is it her?"
Ye Xingchen also took a few steps forward.
"I remember, Sister doesn't look like this."
Song Zhiyi waved the fan in his hand, with a meaningful look of exploration on his face.
"Sister Ling's character wouldn't allow her to do such a thing, unless it was absolutely necessary."
Gu Zhiruo stepped forward and said, "Even if it was an extremely urgent matter, Sister Ling wouldn't do such a thing in front of everyone."
"Unless—"
Everyone looked at Yan Ruyu in unison.
Chu Wen and Chu Nuan stepped forward to confirm and asked, "Your Majesty, she's not the Empress, right?"
Everyone's hearts were in their throats.
They looked at Yan Ruyu.
Their hope at this moment rested entirely on Yan Ruyu.
Yan Ruyu said coldly, "Ning'er looked like this five hundred years ago."
It could be said.
This was her real appearance.
The few people took a few steps back in shock.
So.
What about their previous speculations?
If the woman in the man's arms below was really Sister Ling.
Then her actions that didn't match her character could only mean one thing.
She was willing to be with this man.
So.
She didn't care about others' gazes.
Nor did she care about the Emperor's feelings and dignity.
Yan Ruyu's face was extremely ugly.
There was also a hint of doubt in his eyes.
Facing Mo Yan's blatant provocation, he didn't move. He just looked at the woman in his arms.
So flirtatious.
How could it be her?
Mo Yan then said, "Yan Ruyu, over the past thousand years, all your devotion has been given to this woman, right?"
"But now, you've seen it too."
Mo Yan tightened his embrace.
The woman was once again in his arms.
He buried his nose in her shoulders and took a light sniff, looking completely satisfied.
Mo Yan continued, "You should also see that now she belongs to me, and she's willing to be with me."
"Everything you used to have now belongs to me."
Yan Ruyu still didn't say a word.
Mo Yan went on, "Do you know that more than five hundred years ago, when I watched her walk towards you and witnessed your time together in the cave, I wanted to erase that shameful memory more than once?"
"Look, as long as you're powerful, you don't need to work hard to get what you want. You just need to stand there, and women, power, everything will come to you. Even Yan'er was the same."
Yan Ruyu frowned tightly.
In his memory.
He didn't seem to recognize this man.
"Who are you?"
Mo Yan was stunned.
They had met beside that small bamboo house more than five hundred years ago, yet Yan Ruyu had forgotten?
"I am—"
These two words triggered Yan Ruyu's memory.
He suddenly said,
"It's you."
Mo Yan then realized.
His current appearance was very different from before. It was understandable that Yan Ruyu didn't recognize him at first glance.
But in an instant.
Mo Yan became agitated again.
Yan Ruyu remembered the Mo Yan from five hundred years ago just because of these two words?
Moreover.
This face of his now.
Could it be?
Didn't Yan Ruyu recognize him?
Furious.
Mo Yan took Zhao Shuning's hand and gently protected her in his arms with one hand.
Then he said, "You don't recognize me?"
Yan Ruyu frowned and thought carefully.
"Almost six hundred years ago, I knew you and saw you. It was you who raised her."
"I'm not talking about this," Mo Yan said.
Seeing Mo Yan's almost crazy look.
Yan Ruyu became even more puzzled.
Mo Yan felt even more aggrieved when he saw this.
He had always regarded Yan Ruyu as a rival, an enemy to compete with. But from beginning to end, he didn't even have a place in Yan Ruyu's memory.
This sounded.
How ironic.
How laughable.
"I'm Loulan."
These four words were spoken softly.
Yan Ruyu thought calmly for a while.
Finally, he shook his head.
There were too few people and things he could remember, and most of them were related to Zhao Shuning.
Mo Yan sneered.
"You don't remember me? A thousand years ago, at the Buddhist Pagoda Assembly by the lake, I practiced with you."
A thousand years ago?
There were so many people practicing with him at that time.
Yan Ruyu really had no memory of this man in front of him.
Looking at Yan Ruyu's expression.
Mo Yan knew.
He still didn't remember him.
It was true.
Back then, he was like an ant. How could Yan Ruyu remember him?
"When you ascended, on top of the pagoda, I challenged you."
The wrinkles between Yan Ruyu's eyebrows smoothed out.
With Mo Yan's reminder, he finally remembered something.
Back then.
Not long after he had tamed the Bai Ze.
A young man on top of the pagoda, holding a curved knife, challenged him.
But at that time.
That young man.
Couldn't last more than ten moves in his hands.
He didn't take the young man seriously and just regarded it as an interesting thing during his earthly experience.
"Do you still remember what I said back then?"
"I said that one day, I would surpass you, sit on the highest position, own the most powerful divine beast in the world, and make you remember me deeply in your mind. Yan Ruyu, I will surely fulfill what I've said. You want peace in the Nine Provinces, but I'll be the knife in the darkness and destroy the life you want. Everything you have, I will have too."
"Do you still remember what you said to me back then?"
Yan Ruyu remembered.
Back then, in order to make this young man give up chasing after him.
To let the young man stop living in his shadow.
Yan Ruyu had said.
Let him stop thinking about challenging him. Even if he practiced for a thousand or a hundred years, he wouldn't be his match.
He hoped that he could find a stable place. With his cultivation, he was more than capable of becoming a local overlord.
It turned out.
The Mo Yan back then.
Had such an encounter with Yan Ruyu.
It turned out.
The seeds of hatred and jealousy.
Had been sown in Mo Yan's heart a thousand years ago.
At that time, Yan Ruyu was like a thousand - year - old ice block. No one could get close to him. His talent made everyone look up to him.
In the face of his talent.
No matter how hard the young Loulan tried, he could only look up to him from afar.
Yan Ruyu rarely even talked to Loulan.
Later, he ascended and became the founding ancestor and the imperial teacher that everyone looked up to.
While he himself.
Could only settle down in a place after his failed challenge.
With his own ability, the area under his jurisdiction became wider and wider.
And he named that land after himself.
That was Loulan.
But no matter how hard he tried.
In the end, he was just known as the ancestor of Loulan.
How could he be willing to stop there?
In Mo Yan's eyes, Yan Ruyu's contempt was like a thorn in his heart. As time passed, that thorn went deeper into his bone marrow. Instead of fading away, it was firmly fixed there with the passage of time.
It was like a mark of shame. Every time he thought of Yan Ruyu's cold and indifferent eyes before his ascension.
Mo Yan swore.
One day, he would step on Yan Ruyu's proud and noble head.