Chapter 403 - 184: Untangling the Threads of Love, The 9 Great Giant Houses: The Qishan Jiang Clan, Breaking the 3 Limits, Wearing the Purple Ribbon

Chapter 403: Chapter 184: Untangling the Threads of Love, The 9 Great Giant Houses: The Qishan Jiang Clan, Breaking the 3 Limits, Wearing the Purple Ribbon

At this, the woman’s smile blossomed like a flower as she tapped the screen lightly.

"I still remember those days on Golden Turtle Island. Ye Luan would always use ’sword practice’ as an excuse to come up the mountain looking for you. She lost to you every single time, yet she insisted on putting on a defiant act. It was obvious she was interested in you, but she had to be so secretive about it. Quite amusing."

Duan Chenzhou’s eyes filled with shock and uncertainty.

"What nonsense are you talking about? How could I not know..."

Xie Fuyao sneered.

"Stop pretending, Duan Chenzhou. You knew everything. Otherwise, would you have spared her life?"

"How can you let another sleep beside your own bed? If she held even a shred of enmity toward you, would you have let her live?"

"Now *that* would be the joke of the century."

"You, your disciple, and your master are all cut from the same cloth. Birds of a feather, as they say. All bad news."

Duan Chenzhou fell completely silent.

"But it doesn’t matter anymore."

"That day, you let me go."

Xie Fuyao’s eyes crinkled with a smile.

"A noble lady of the Xie Clan, a true blue blood, was right there before you, but you refused her. Instead, you prepared a merchant ship for her, and under the cover of night, you used your connection with a Ferry Leader from the Fishing Trade, Qii Zhao, to send me to Cangdu."

"Back then, I thought you still had some conscience. I figured when the time came to exterminate your Celestial Blade Lineage, I could maybe spare your life."

Duan Chenzhou’s lips moved slowly, his expression turning grim.

"Could you stop talking about exterminating my lineage every other sentence? You..."

Seeing that Duan Chenzhou, beholden to her because of the Feathered Immortal Robe, was struggling to suppress a temper he had so far kept in check, Xie Fuyao stood up. Her palace gown swaying, she slowly walked forward.

"When I came to Jiangyin Prefecture, they all said you were dead. But..."

"I didn’t believe it."

The woman’s voice was soft, but her eyes shone like brilliant stars. She suddenly grabbed the lapels of Duan Chenzhou’s robe, forcing him to meet her gaze.

"Back then, you felt your Master was bullying you. After all, your skills were inferior to his, and it wasn’t a very honorable situation, so you sent me away."

"But you never expected that we’d run right into the turmoil at Chaotic Heaven Lake. On top of that, a phantasmal Manifested Saint from the Divine Beings appeared, both crises erupting at once, right there on the East Canghai."

"That night, every single merchant ship that set out met with disaster, without exception."

"You thought you were giving me a path to survival, but you never imagined you were sending me, with my cultivation sealed, to a dead end."

"You really had some nerve. At just the Three Limits, you dared to plunge into the vast East Canghai and actually managed to find me."

"In the process, we even fell into that unopened ’Realm Gate.’ From a great world of the Divine Dao, where its glory shone and its laws were manifest, you brought me back."

"When your master, Wang Xuanyang, found out you were missing, he flew into a rage out of shame. He personally stormed Chaotic Heaven Lake, smashed that den of thieves to pieces, and shattered it completely."

"Everyone, including the Marquis Beicang who came from Cangdu, thought it was your master who quelled the ’Realm Gate’ this time, causing it to dissipate before it could fully form."

"But what none of them knew was..."

"That ’Realm Gate’ actually vanished because of you."

"Over there, you obtained a ’great secret.’"

"That’s why I don’t believe you would die so easily."

Xie Fuyao’s hand slowly tightened its grip, her voice very soft.

"But were you really just feeling guilty?"

"I don’t think a mere sliver of guilt is enough to make someone take such a risk. At least, I wouldn’t."

"If I were you, at the absolute most, I would have done the same as you: send that girl named Xie Fuyao out to sea and let her be responsible for her own life and death from then on."

"I asked you back then, but you wouldn’t admit it. I also told you to switch to cultivating the Xie Clan’s methods and return with me to the Jade Universe Ancestral Land. I am destined to be listed on the ’Giant House Register’ and inherit the Human Immortal Ancestral Blood."

"Hiding away in this tiny place is just holding yourself back, but you refused me."

Xie Fuyao pressed her lips together.

"I have my pride and self-respect, too."

"So I would only ever invite you once."

"This is the second time."

"I used the ’Feathered Immortal Robe’ as bait to lure you out."

"So I’ll ask you one more time, Duan Chenzhou..."

"Will you come with me or not?"

Her hand, still clutching his lapels, kept tightening until the fabric was nearly twisted together.

After a few moments, Duan Chenzhou reached out with a large hand and grasped her fair wrist.

"It’s too tight."

Xie Fuyao loosened her grip slightly, listening quietly as he began to speak slowly.

"You are the successor to the Human Immortal Ancestral Blood, with a limitless future ahead of you. You’re a Female Monarch of a Giant House. Yet you came all this way to this tiny place, did nothing, all for the simple purpose of luring me out..."

"Isn’t that a bit of a waste?"

The man sighed, then flicked his half-empty sleeve.

"Look at me. A middle-aged Martial Artist with a missing arm, a master who’s gone mad and left me with a mountain of debt, and a future that’s precarious at best. How could I possibly be worthy of such high esteem from you?"

"With your status, you could have your pick of anyone. Princes, Nobles, Noble Generals, successors to the Celestial Pillars... anyone."

"So why have you set your sights only on me?"

The picture-perfect woman said nonchalantly,

"Because I, Xie Fuyao, want to."

Duan Chenzhou was left speechless.

"I don’t remember you having this kind of personality before."

Xie Fuyao slowly leaned against the sitting couch beside him, a hint of a smile touching her lips at his words.

"You see? You don’t understand a woman at all. How could you possibly know what she’s thinking, what she’s wishing for?"

"Are you coming with me, or will you continue to waste your life away here in Jiangyin Prefecture?"

"Look, if you keep delaying like this, your disciple is going to surpass you soon. As his master, can you really accept that?"

Xie Fuyao wanted to provoke the competitive spirit the man once had.

This time, however, Duan Chenzhou’s expression barely changed.

Finally, he just let out a soft sigh.

"Of those two choices, I choose neither."