Chapter 513 476: Searching for the Truth About Liyuan, Part 2

Even when Shang Miaoyan held something over him and summoned him to attend to her day after day, Pei Yuhang had never felt as suffocated as he did now.

Because back then, his heart had a safe harbor called "Dao Companion."

But it wasn't until today that he realized his safe harbor had long been rigged with a bomb, set to detonate at any moment.

What Pei Yuhang didn't notice was that behind him, beyond the half-closed window lattice, a slender figure stood silently.

It was Ye Liyuan, who was supposed to be fast asleep in bed.

Her waist-length black hair was unbound, and as she stood before the window, its inky strands only served to make her face seem even paler.

Ye Liyuan's hollow eyes, devoid of any light, seemed to be veiled in a thin mist as her gaze followed Pei Yuhang's receding figure.

...

...

The first person Pei Yuhang needed to find was named Wang Zhizhi.

When Pei Yuhang had first arrived at the Dao Sect, she had pursued him fervently.

Lu Ruoxi had warned him many times that this Wang Zhizhi was fickle and promiscuous, driven only by his looks, and that he must not fall for her tricks.

Later, for reasons unknown, Wang Zhizhi vanished from his life. The next time he heard her name was when Liyuan casually mentioned that this "Wang Zhizhi" had climbed into some High Tier Cultivator's bed and become his Dao Companion.

Thinking back now, he wondered if it was a coincidence.

Her disappearance happened exactly half a year after Ye Liyuan was accepted by his Master and became his junior sister.

If her never appearing before him again was truly connected to Liyuan...

...then Pei Yuhang felt he might be able to find a clue from her.

Pei Yuhang's Sword Control was incredibly swift, and he quickly found Wang Zhizhi's cave residence.

He'd heard she had divorced her Dao Companion a few years ago and taken a good portion of the assets. This very cave residence had belonged to her former Dao Companion.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK—

Pei Yuhang knocked on the door.

"Coming~ Young Master Dong, are you here to see me so early today? Aren't you afraid that tigress at home will find out?"

The cloyingly sweet voice coming from inside the residence made Pei Yuhang's scalp tingle.

As the door opened, Pei Yuhang saw a seductive woman dressed in a pink, sheer negligee.

Her hair was slightly messy in its bun, with a few lazy strands of black hair falling along her neck. Her lips were crimson, and the corners of her eyes still held the lingering flush of passion.

It was none other than Wang Zhizhi.

However, compared to the Wang Zhizhi in Pei Yuhang's memory, she now had noticeable wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and on her forehead.

No amount of makeup could hide the fact that she was aging due to her low Cultivation and dwindling lifespan.

"Palace… Palace Master Pei?!"

When Wang Zhizhi got a clear look at the White-clothed Sword Immortal standing outside her door, the seductive smile on her face froze instantly.

Her eyes widened as if she thought she were dreaming. Her crimson lips parted slightly, and her breath caught for a moment.

But just a breath later, Wang Zhizhi quickly composed herself, a coquettish smile returning to her eyes and lips as if her earlier shock had never happened.

"Oh, my! What brings Palace Master Pei to my humble abode so suddenly?"

She chuckled lightly, covering her lips. Her voice became even more seductive and gentle. "I haven't even had a chance to properly dress myself. It's so rude of me to receive Princess Pei looking like this~"

As for the "Young Master Dong" she had mentioned at first, Wang Zhizhi didn't say another word, as if it had just been a meaningless joke.

As she spoke, she reached out to take Pei Yuhang's wrist, her fingertips faintly tracing a hook in his palm.

"For Palace Master Pei to visit so suddenly, is there something you need my help with?"

Pei Yuhang let her pull him inside by the arm, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

Her skin was warm and smooth to the touch, yet it made a trace of discomfort rise in his heart.

Pei Yuhang impassively pulled his hand back and subtly brushed his fingertips against his cuff, as if trying to wipe away the sticky sensation.

'If he could, he'd love to lather his hands with soap and wash them thoroughly right now.'

"Fellow Daoist Wang, it has been a long time."

Pei Yuhang's tone was flat, but his gaze swept inconspicuously around the room—

blue smoke curling from an incense burner, scattered silk stockings, undergarments, and a dress, and a half-empty cup of wine on the small table.

When Wang Zhizhi saw Pei Yuhang sizing up her room, a bashful blush crept onto her face, and she quickly moved to block his view.

"Palace Master Pei, you jest. I see you every day..."

Her fingertips brushed lightly over her collarbone, her voice low and soft. "I just never thought that I would be able to see you in the flesh in my lifetime.

You are still just as you were back then... an unparalleled young master. Just looking at you makes my heart tremble~"

She unabashedly admitted to collecting many portraits of Pei Yuhang, even confessing that she spent her nights gazing at them to ease the lonely ache of her longing.

As she spoke, Wang Zhizhi's eyes were fixed on Pei Yuhang's handsome face, her gaze filled with undisguised obsession and desire.

Pei Yuhang's Adam's apple bobbed as he forcefully suppressed the wave of nausea rising within him.

He patiently made small talk with Wang Zhizhi, trying to steer the conversation to the real topic.

However, whenever he tried to subtly probe, mentioning the first time she met Liyuan or asking for her opinion of Liyuan, Wang Zhizhi's eyes would flicker strangely. Or she would change the subject with a coquettish laugh.

Seeing Wang Zhizhi about to get up to make tea—and heaven knows what sort of nasty little ingredients the woman might add to it—Pei Yuhang decided to cut straight to the chase and asked coldly:

"Fellow Daoist Wang, did you and Liyuan have some sort of conflict back then?"

The moment Pei Yuhang's voice fell.

SPLASH—

Wang Zhizhi's hand, which held a cup, trembled violently, and the water splashed onto her sexy pink gauze dress, spreading into a dark stain.

Wang Zhizhi's expression darkened visibly, becoming grim and strained. Her once-gentle eyes constricted abruptly, glinting with a terrified, watery light.

Her fingertips unconsciously dug into the rim of the cup, her knuckles turning white from the force, as if she were trapped in a nightmare.

Pei Yuhang noticed Wang Zhizhi's back instantly stiffen and her chest heave rapidly. Thinking she was worried he had come with ill intent, he quickly leaned forward and soothed her in a gentle voice:

"Fellow Daoist Wang, whatever conflict happened between you two, it's all in the past.

I didn't come here to do anything to you. I just want to understand what happened back then..."

But Wang Zhizhi just shook her head violently, a few loose strands of hair sticking to her temples, which were slick with cold sweat.

As she abruptly stood up, she knocked over a nearby wine jar, and the sound of shattering porcelain was especially jarring in the silent room.

"Palace Master Pei, I have no conflict with your Dao Companion... I'm very happy you came to visit, Zhizhi is... but you are a married man, after all. You should come less often to the home of a ruined woman like me, lest it start rumors."

Wang Zhizhi's voice sounded as if it were squeezed through her teeth, and her lips trembled so much she could barely form a complete sentence. "I have some urgent matters to attend to now. Please, Palace Master Pei, you should leave."

"Fellow Daoist Wang!"

Seeing Wang Zhizhi about to leave, Pei Yuhang also stood up. He took a step forward to question her further, but he saw that she had already scrambled around the table and was running toward the door with frantic, unsteady steps.

"Damn it..."

Watching her stumbling figure disappear out the door, Pei Yuhang cursed under his breath and clenched his fists.

With Pei Yuhang's power, there were ten thousand ways he could have restrained Wang Zhizhi and gotten all the information he wanted.

But there was no need to do that anymore... because Wang Zhizhi's evasion and silence were, in themselves, an answer.

But...

Pei Yuhang still refused to believe it.

He couldn't completely doubt the Dao Companion who had stood by him through thick and thin for decades, all because of the attitude of one person, Wang Zhizhi.

He wanted to give himself—and Liyuan—more of a chance.

"I have to find more people, to piece together the complete puzzle of the past!"

"I have to clear Liyuan's name!"

Pei Yuhang immediately mounted his sword and flew toward the location of the next person from his past.

But as the White-clothed Sword Immortal soared through the sky, rushing to his destination, he didn't notice that deep in the forest below, a pair of hollow eyes was silently watching him.