Liang Ye suddenly felt a chill at his neck, as if something invisible had brushed past. The hair all over his body stood on end in fear. His headache was already unbearable, and with the sudden icy cold that attacked him, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. He staggered back several steps and collapsed to the ground.
Wang Dian, who had bitten nothing but air, looked displeased. He had only briefly felt momentary warmth from Liang Ye’s body—limbs, heart, hands, feet, head… Every time he was about to succeed, he was thwarted by some invisible force.
He was extremely annoyed and stubbornly moved closer.
Liang Ye, in the midst of confusion and cold, seemed to be struck by an invisible force that made him slide backward uncontrollably for quite a distance. His back slammed hard against a nearby willow tree, causing him to groan in pain.
If anyone had been present, they would have witnessed an extremely bizarre scene: a young man with a severe headache staggering and falling to the ground, then seemingly pressed down by something invisible that forced him backward into a tree. His limbs were strangely lifted and dropped by an unseen force, his chin was grabbed and his head shaken twice before dropping limply.
After searching for a while, Wang Dian finally found three smooth copper coins in the pocket over Liang Ye’s heart, securely kept against his body, emanating a familiar yet detestable aura.
When he had been Liang Ye, he didn’t have these three copper coins for protection, nor did he have the malevolent small red birthmark on his chest—which Wang Dian had planted using somewhat unsavory methods to facilitate his return to Liang Ye’s body. But clearly his master Yue Jingming was no pushover. Though unable to determine the origin of the red birthmark, Yue Jingming knew it was nothing good and had given Liang Ye the three copper coins for protection.
Wang Dian felt overwhelming anger and surging jealousy.
He was the real Liang Ye, and the fool before him would ultimately not escape a tragic death. Why couldn’t he replace the other and change his fate?
Wang Dian’s eyes were filled with murderous intent and fury. Ignoring the resistance of the copper coins, he firmly gripped Liang Ye’s neck and snarled, “If I cannot live, you might as well die.”
In his confused state, Liang Ye found breathing increasingly difficult, as if an invisible hand was forcefully squeezing his throat. Yet when he tried to fight back, he could only grasp momentarily cold air, to no avail.
The young man pinned against the willow tree struggled violently, his feet kicking the mud in all directions. Wang Dian smiled slightly, enjoying the other’s near-death suffering, but suddenly released his grip just as Liang Ye was about to lose consciousness.
“How could I bear to kill you? Without you, there is no me.” Wang Dian moved closer to the barely conscious young man’s face and whispered, his fingers gently caressing the other’s warm, living skin. Feeling the gradually reviving vitality, he disregarded the injuries the purple energy and copper coins inflicted on him and bit Liang Ye’s nose tip in anger and jealousy.
Liang Ye was shivering from the cold that permeated the air. He struggled to open his eyes and seemed to see a blood-covered youth with a ferocious expression. The young man’s neck was twisted at an odd angle, with a vivid red begonia flower blooming at his throat. The ethereal fragrance of begonia wrapped around his nose, and through the excruciating pain, he reached out to touch that flower.
“How dare you!” Wang Dian suddenly startled and grabbed Liang Ye’s hand.
The young man’s hand was scorching hot, yet slender and thin, and still trembling uncontrollably from the cold due to Wang Dian’s proximity. The black and purple, terrifying finger marks on his neck clearly indicated what had just happened, yet Liang Ye still fearlessly glared at him and asked, “…A vengeful ghost?”
Wang Dian instantly became ferocious. Being called a vengeful ghost felt like an insult. He suddenly moved closer to Liang Ye, his bloodshot eyes staring straight at him, greedily and helplessly absorbing the vitality from his body. His voice was cold, “How dare you.”
The cold air silently washed over his face. Liang Ye was blurry-eyed but still smiled brightly. In his dazed state, he turned to look at the numerous willow and locust trees around, as well as his broad sword that had just slaughtered countless Black Armored Guards. He muttered with a sneer, “Coming to claim Zhen’s life… are you not afraid of dying more miserably?”
These words successfully triggered Wang Dian’s taboo. An enraged emperor knows no reason, even if the other party is his younger self. “You ignorant fool.”
As soon as the words fell, Liang Ye was lifted and slammed hard against the tree trunk. He immediately felt as if his internal organs had been displaced, and he coughed up a mouthful of foul blood. But before he could finish coughing, his entire body felt as if it were being gnawed by ten thousand ants, making him cry out in pain. Wang Dian watched with satisfaction as the person on the ground curled up in agony. He leisurely passed through his body, even though he could only feel the warmth of a living person for an instant, it gave him a slight comfort.
He tormented the young man until he was half-dead, then grabbed Liang Ye’s hair to force him to look up. His cold gaze swept over Liang Ye’s purple lips and ghostly pale face, and he asked with false kindness. “Didn’t Yue Jingming teach you what reverence means?”
The cold air blew on his face. Perhaps because he had been tortured nearly to death, Liang Ye could now hear the other’s voice. He stared at the bloody, indistinct face of the young man in the darkness and grinned, “If you have the ability, just kill Zhen… If Zhen dies, we’ll both be vengeful ghosts… who knows who would devour whom…”
The arrogant words made Wang Dian laugh. He moved closer to Liang Ye, with the begonia flower on his neck moving closer as well. “Do you know who I am—”
Before he could finish speaking, Liang Ye suddenly bit the begonia flower on his neck. Excruciating pain and overwhelming fear and despair instantly engulfed Wang Dian’s entire body. He violently threw Liang Ye away and roared in anger. “You’re seeking death!!!”
Liang Ye’s lips were stained blood-red by the invisible flower juice. He lay on the ground, his face covered in blood and dirt, and snarled. “It’s you who’s seeking death!”
Wang Dian clutched his neck tightly, but he quickly calmed down from his rage. He walked step by step to Liang Ye, bent down to pull him up, and turned him over repeatedly, searching thoroughly but unable to find a place to bite. He could only swallow hard in disappointment, then threw the young man aside, preparing to leave.
The young man on the ground was breathing with difficulty. The Maple Frost Fall poison was taking effect, and without White Jade Soup, plus being tormented by him for most of the night, he was already unconscious. He curled up into a ball, arching his back, gray and dirty, shivering uncontrollably.
Wang Dian looked at him coldly, but according to his memories of his previous life, the next batch of Black Armored Guards wouldn’t find him and take him back to the palace for two more days. If Liang Ye died here prematurely… he frowned… then the subsequent events would change accordingly.
He snorted impatiently, still hoping he might find a weakness and successfully consume Liang Ye. He carried the young man on his shoulder and, with malicious intent, found a cliff edge and threw him into a small concave area where one slight turn could send him plummeting into the abyss thousands of feet below.
When Liang Ye regained consciousness, the effects of Maple Frost Fall had not yet subsided. He struggled to stay awake through the excruciating pain, but the bottomless abyss at his feet made him wonder if he was dreaming.
The young man with the horrifying face placed his cold hand on Liang Ye’s shoulder, leaning close to his ear to speak. His breath was icy. “Look, one push from me and you’ll die without a trace. Why don’t you die with me?”
The young man swallowed and instinctively moved closer to the cliff wall. However, the ledge was so small that he could only press tightly against Wang Dian, enduring the bone-chilling cold. “…Zhen will kill you.”
“Ha, I’m already dead.” Wang Dian raised his arm and vaguely embraced him. To prevent him from biting the flower on his neck again, he deliberately restrained him from behind. His cold nose traced along the other’s warm neck and ear, watching with amusement as Liang Ye’s ears and neck turned red. He softened his voice to deceive the ignorant young man, “I’m so hungry. Let me have a bite, will you?”
Liang Ye stiffened his back and said coldly, “No.”
The surrounding cold intensified instantly. Liang Ye stared dazedly at the other’s tattered sleeve and the faint golden dragon pattern that could still be discerned, subconsciously realizing it might be an imperial robe. Then he watched as the deathly pale hand slowly moved toward his chest, yet seemed afraid to touch it. The other’s seductive voice sounded again, “Give me something, and I’ll let you go.”
Liang Ye’s breath caught. “Stay away from Zhen.”
Wang Dian laughed out loud, becoming increasingly bold as he pressed against his back, emanating cold air. “I like you very much… give me something… be nice, and I won’t bully you anymore.”
Liang Ye was held stiffly in his arms, unsure whether pain or fear dominated his sensations. He frowned, but suddenly caught that faint begonia fragrance again. The severe headache suddenly seemed to be soothed, making him unconsciously lick his dry lips. “Then come closer to Zhen.”
Wang Dian, thinking his enchantment had worked, moved closer without hesitation, greedily and obsessively savoring the warmth of the other’s body, almost like intimate whispers between lovers. “Alright, give me something.”
Liang Ye was captivated by the begonia fragrance, unconsciously tilting his head back, turning to bite, but Wang Dian held his chin with two pale, cold fingers and said grimly, “You little bastard, what are you trying to do?”
Liang Ye swallowed, his relieved headache making him squint comfortably. He instinctively nuzzled the other’s bloody neck with his nose and mumbled indistinctly, “…You smell good, hungry.”
Wang Dian was extremely irritated. He thought Liang Ye smelled delicious too, but could only watch helplessly without being able to taste him. He was nearly starving. He desperately wanted to successfully replace Liang Ye and become human again, but those three copper coins protected him so securely that he couldn’t get a bite. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly smiled and said, “Give me something, and I’ll let you bite my neck, okay?”
Liang Ye tried to grab his sleeve, but his fingers passed through the tattered golden dragon. He had to settle for holding the other’s cold fingers instead. “…What do you want?”
Wang Dian’s eyes flashed with cunning. “Give me one small copper coin.”
