Chapter 521 480: After the "Dao Companion" Phantom Shatters (Part 2)

["How dare you still chase after Pei Yuhang! Go die—"]

["Die! Die! Die!!"]

["Die, die..."]

Screams, curses, and crazed laughter blended together, like countless sharp knives stabbing into her eardrums.

Ye Liyuan clapped her hands tightly over her ears, but the voices were like a cancer clinging to her bones, burrowing relentlessly into her mind.

"No... No... What are you saying... I don't understand!!"

"Ah Han, where are you? Please, come save me..."

She curled up on the ground in agony, her fingers digging deep into her hair, her nails nearly piercing her scalp.

Seeing her state, the women in the mist fell eerily silent for a moment before bursting into a fit of distorted giggles.

["She's forgotten! She's forgotten everything! Hehehehe~"]

["The heavenly thunder struck her stupid~"]

...

...

"Brother Pei, you haven't been the only one gathering intelligence on Ye Liyuan lately. I've also been helping you find clues."

"The files on all the people who wanted to get close to you over the years, the ones Ye Liyuan harmed, are all here... Because Ye Liyuan is cautious and rarely acts in the open, many of her victims never even knew she was the one responsible.

Even if they suspected, there was no evidence to accuse her, so those tragic incidents all became cold cases."

After Nangong Jin finished speaking in a cold tone, Pei Yuhang closed his eyes heavily. He set down the gruesome files in his hands and took a deep breath.

Nangong Jin didn't disturb him, choosing to give Pei Yuhang some quiet space to process everything.

A moment later, Pei Yuhang opened his eyes. His handsome features were now drained of color, his gaze a dull, disappointed gray.

"So, you're saying... Liyuan has been deceiving me all this time, right?"

Pei Yuhang spoke, his voice calmer than he'd expected.

Perhaps, after enduring countless wicked women, his ability to accept and adapt had grown stronger than he realized.

So much so that even when faced with the corrupted "truth" about the Dao Companion he loved, cherished, and saw as perfect, he could still maintain a basic level of composure instead of fainting on the spot.

In response to Pei Yuhang's question, Nangong Jin nodded, then shook her head.

"Back then, to win your affection, Ye Liyuan constantly feigned the part of a pure, kind, and beautiful 'little white flower' in front of you, fulfilling all of your fantasies about what a good woman should be.

She showed her best side to you, Brother Pei, while saving her darkest side for her rivals in love.

After eliminating all her competition, she became your Dao Companion."

At this, Nangong Jin paused. Seeing the numb expression on Pei Yuhang's face, she continued:

"However... what comes next is just my own deduction. It may or may not be accurate. It's up to you to judge, Brother Pei... After all, you're the one who has lived with Ye Liyuan the longest and knows her best."

Hearing this, Pei Yuhang gave a self-deprecating smile.

'Lived with her the longest, huh...'

'But I never truly knew her... What I loved was always just a disguised illusion.'

Pei Yuhang closed his eyes, the bitter taste of betrayal rising in his throat.

After he escaped the Saintess Hall of the Yin Yang Sacred Land—that debaucherous cage and thirty-year nightmare.

He had thought meeting Liyuan would be his salvation.

He never expected it was just wishful thinking on his part.

He had merely escaped one cage only to fall into another, more subtle one.

'I've always been a toy for wicked women... I've never experienced "pure love" in the truest sense.'

Meanwhile, Nangong Jin continued to lay out her deductions.

"Brother Pei, after you and Ye Liyuan were married, perhaps she no longer felt a sense of crisis in love, so she no longer needed her dark side to act."

"Ye Liyuan then devoted herself wholeheartedly to playing the part of your good Dao Companion. In order to bury her dark past and completely become the ideal partner in your eyes, she even went so far as to use Magic to alter her own memories.

To become, as much as possible, the perfect Dao Companion for you."

Hearing this, Pei Yuhang's fists clenched even tighter.

"But, while Ye Liyuan is extreme, she isn't a madwoman. She wouldn't completely turn herself into someone else. When an external threat appeared—say, a woman who could threaten her position in your heart...

...that ruthless and insidious Ye Liyuan would awaken. It was a defense mechanism she put in place."

"But... perhaps it was fate. The monstrous evils Ye Liyuan committed eventually brought retribution."

At these words, Pei Yuhang's eyes, previously as still as stagnant water, suddenly trembled.

"You mean the Blood Evil Tribulation Thunder?"

Nangong Jin nodded. Although her expression remained placid, Pei Yuhang could still detect a hint of satisfied glee in her tone.

"That Blood Evil Tribulation Thunder struck Ye Liyuan 'stupid'."

"What do you mean?"

"She lost many of her memories. The 'wicked woman defense mechanism' she had set up for herself was also destroyed by the shock of the Celestial Tribulation.

After the Celestial Tribulation, the memories and personality she was left with were all the ones crafted by the original, wicked Ye Liyuan—the perfect Dao Companion in your eyes, Brother Pei~

Although she might recall some things from the past as her Cultivation recovers and she experiences certain triggers, a shattered plate can't be made whole again.

The Ye Liyuan of today *is* that good woman, that good Dao Companion you always wanted, Brother Pei."

"..."

Pei Yuhang looked up, feeling as though a giant hand had seized his heart, making it difficult to breathe.

He had already resolved to confront Ye Liyuan when he returned, to sever this twisted relationship once and for all.

But Nangong Jin's words were like a dull knife, slowly and cruelly slicing open the resolve he had just built.

His knuckles turned white from clenching his fists, the tips of his fingers digging deep into his palms, yet he felt no pain.

Pei Yuhang stared intently at the still-calm Nangong Jin and murmured, "What are you trying to say?"

"Exactly what it sounds like, Brother Pei."

"Even though I don't like Ye Liyuan—and even wish she would spend the rest of her life repenting in misery...

...I must be responsible for the words I speak to you, Brother Pei. The current Ye Liyuan is not the same as the one from the past.

She *is* the good woman in your heart. Brother Pei, you can choose, right now, to seal away all your memories of the past few days.

And then, you can go back to living a loving and happy life with Ye Liyuan as your Dao Companion."

Pei Yuhang's mind went blank. All the strength seemed to drain from his body in an instant, and he collapsed heavily into the chair behind him.

He closed his eyes in pain and took a deep, shuddering breath.

"...Knowing all the dark things Liyuan has done, how can I deceive myself, pretend I don't know, and continue living peacefully with her?

But... now you're telling me that the Liyuan of this moment isn't that wicked woman... How could I be cruel enough to break things off with her completely?"

Nangong Jin could hear the exhaustion and confusion in Pei Yuhang's voice.

Although she had lost most of her own emotional awareness, seeing Pei Yuhang so pained he looked about to shatter still sent an unfamiliar, sharp pang through her chest.

The sensation was novel, and she unconsciously brought a hand to her chest.

'I don't want to see Brother Pei in such pain. I want him to be happy—'

This realization suddenly surfaced with clarity in the blank ocean of her emotions.

'But what can I do to make him happy?'

Nangong Jin couldn't find an answer.

So, she could only try to solve the problem of her brother's pain as best she could.

"If your head hurts, Brother Pei, let me massage it for you."

Nangong Jin walked behind Pei Yuhang, her slender fingertips lightly touching his temples. Her movements were as gentle as if she were touching fragile glass.

"...It's not a headache. My heart hurts. A massage won't help."

Pei Yuhang shook his head, his voice laced with helplessness.

Nangong Jin tilted her head, and her long, ink-black hair slid from her shoulder.

She blinked in confusion, her thick lashes casting a small shadow beneath her eyes. "Then should I massage your chest, Brother Pei?"

Her fingertips moved slowly downward, landing with a careful, probing touch on Pei Yuhang's heaving chest.

Feeling the ticklish sensation on his chest, Pei Yuhang silently swatted her hand away.

"Junior Sister, you have no emotions right now. You can't understand my pain."

Nangong Jin's hand hovered in mid-air before she slowly pulled it back.

She gazed quietly at Pei Yuhang's profile, and an almost imperceptible flicker of emotion crossed her glass-like eyes.

After a moment, she spoke slowly:

"Since emotions are the root of your suffering, Brother Pei, why don't you cast them aside completely, just like Jin'Er has!"

"Brother Pei, you should cultivate the Forgetfulness Dao with Jin'Er~"

Nangong Jin cupped Pei Yuhang's face in her hands, looked into his gray eyes, and spoke with earnestness.