IS Chapter 143

Could a dragon be angered to death?

Would it simply flip its belly and float on the cold pool?

Ye Zhuo lowered his eyes, his fingers resting on Li Yuan’s cheek, watching him.

— How can this person be so impervious to reason!

“You’re deliberately trying to anger me,” Li Yuan said, seizing his wrist, “aren’t you?”

Li Yuan felt he had exhausted all his patience and self-restraint, only to barely manage to speak calmly, “Ye Zhuo, what’s wrong with me? Shouldn’t it be this way?”

Ye Zhuo continued to stare at him.

Indeed, what was wrong?

What Li Yuan said just now seemed to make perfect sense.

He was a sword cultivator, wielding his Life-Bound Sword. He could kill whomever he wished, go wherever he pleased. What was Yun Xiangxi? This was how it should be.

It seemed he had always thought this way before. He himself had always believed so.

— Then why did it feel wrong again?

His eyelashes slowly lowered, then lifted again. Ye Zhuo looked into Li Yuan’s vertical pupils, at the scale mark on his brow, and then up at the dragon horns. Was he not planning to turn back into a human?

Seeing this dragon, he simply felt it was wrong.

Ye Zhuo: “Your going to the Immortal Realm is wrong.”

Li Yuan truly wanted to know how this person could be like this. How could he be like this! Did he want to provoke him to ascend to the Immortal Realm prematurely?

“–What’s wrong with it?”

Even though he had asked it before, he had to ask again. Ye Zhuo disliked repeating himself.

“That way, the sword would be flawed,” Ye Zhuo said, “contrary to my will.”

Li Yuan was truly curious about what Ye Zhuo considered him to be. Did he simply see him as that Life-Bound Sword, that scale he was now so annoyed with?

Li Yuan didn’t know what to call the feeling in his heart. He really wanted to sigh, but he still wanted to hold him. In the end, he pulled Ye Zhuo into his arms and kissed him repeatedly on the forehead, then held him close to his heart. He didn’t know why, but he just liked to keep Ye Zhuo here.

“Heaven’s will is never perfectly fulfilled, Ye Zhuo, you know that.” Li Yuan spoke as he couldn’t help but lower his head to kiss him again. “Look, you’ve remembered, you can say it now. You said you don’t seek perfection, and I don’t seek perfection either. My going to the Immortal Realm isn’t an obsession; your wanting to have it both ways is the obsession. Leaving me behind isn’t your true heart; you want to be with me, that’s your true heart.”

“Being with you in the Immortal Realm, life and death are not fully predictable, not good.” Ye Zhuo slowly said, “Because of you, I have worries in my heart, even worse.”

After these words fell, there was a long silence. Only the water of the cold pool lapped against the snow-covered banks, endlessly echoing. The ink-black fabric of his robes floated half-submerged in the water, the hidden embroidery reflecting no light beneath the surface. In his arms, a splash of red seemed destined to drift forever.

“Ye Zhuo,” Li Yuan’s hoarse voice finally broke the silence, “why are you like this?”

Ye Zhuo wanted to look up. He felt angry too. He wanted to question Li Yuan about what else he could do, what else he wanted him to say.

But Li Yuan seized his hand and placed it on his chest.

“Ye Zhuo,” Li Yuan said.

Ye Zhuo wanted to break free, but Li Yuan held his wrist tightly. So tightly that he could feel the throbbing of his blood flow.

“Actually, pulling out the scale was very painful. I still remember.”

“It hurts now too.” Li Yuan lowered his eyes, complaining. He said, “Ye Zhuo, it turns out the pain is the same.”

Ye Zhuo’s eyelashes trembled. He turned his head away, closing his eyes as if losing strength. His fingers were still being pressed against Li Yuan’s chest. In fact, Ye Zhuo knew where that scar was, on the left side of his human form, over his heart, three and three-tenths inches long.

He closed his eyes, lying against Li Yuan’s chest. He didn’t speak. For a long time.

Until Li Yuan thought he was crying.

“Ye Zhuo.” Li Yuan turned his face towards him. A few snowflakes landed on the person’s brows and lashes, a person as cold and pure as frost and snow, a pair of eyes as cold and pure as frost and snow, the rims and depths faintly red. Li Yuan saw a faint glimmer of water in his eyes.

At that moment, Li Yuan’s heart felt as if another piece had been cut away.

“Ye Zhuo,” he said, “don’t cry, don’t cry.”

The sound of the cold pool never ceased. Li Yuan felt his own heartbeat seemed to never cease either, but with each beat came a constant, excruciating pain in his heart. He knew he shouldn’t look at Ye Zhuo.

He knew that as long as he saw a single tear fall from Ye Zhuo’s eyes, he would agree to anything.

Ye Zhuo didn’t cry. Ye Zhuo just closed his eyes again and buried himself back against Li Yuan’s chest. Their clothes were in disarray, indistinguishable in the water and snow. He listened to Li Yuan’s heartbeat, one beat after another.

What did he want to say after all? It seemed there were still words he hadn’t spoken.

“Li Yuan,” he said.

Li Yuan gently stroked him.

“I don’t want to go to the Immortal Realm,” Ye Zhuo said. He heard his own voice, hoarse too.

“I don’t like the Immortal Realm,” he said, “so I don’t like you going either. I don’t like you staying there, unable to return.”

He actually didn’t like that Immortal Realm where one could enter but not leave, that Immortal Realm that could have secret exchanges with the mortal world, that Immortal Realm that had opened its gates wide to welcome Yun Xiangxi.

“But I must go there. I cannot have a retreat, Li Yuan.”

He slowly returned the grip of Li Yuan’s hand. Li Yuan could feel the jade-like fingers trembling slightly, and Ye Zhuo’s voice too.

“I already have two paths in my heart that I must cultivate. Li Yuan, I don’t want another. Why are you forcing me like this? I don’t want it, I can’t do it.”

Li Yuan breathed in little by little, as if only by doing so could he suppress the surge in his heart, as if only by doing so could he barely manage to speak coherent sentences.

“Then you must separate from me, you will have nothing to do with me anymore, right? What will you do when we are apart?” He stroked Ye Zhuo’s icy cheek little by little. “How much trouble will you cause when you go to the Immortal Realm, how many enemies will you make? What will you do if you can’t handle it? Ye Zhuo, what will you do if you miss me?”

Ye Zhuo said, “Maybe I’ll forget you.”

“What if you can’t forget?”

What if you can’t forget?

Ye Zhuo quietly looked at Li Yuan.

He seemed to have finally finished saying what he wanted to say, saying even the words he didn’t know he wanted to say. So he didn’t have to think anymore.

He just looked calmly into Li Yuan’s eyes.

“If I can’t forget, then I’ll accept it,” Ye Zhuo said, “The mortal world is just a matter of one encounter leading to one separation. No need to be attached, I’ll accept it all.”

So Li Yuan looked calmly at him too.

Li Yuan: “So, it’s just like this between you and me, until the time of separation. Is that right?”

“It’s not ‘just like this’,” Ye Zhuo said.

“Then what is it?”

Ye Zhuo saw Li Yuan’s eyes. He felt he should say something to this dragon. Should he express gratitude? Or apologize? It seemed he had never said either of those words to anyone.

He: “It’s already enough.”

In the next moment, he heard a short laugh.

He saw that the dragon’s pupils were only a slit.

“Is this enough? Ye Zhuo, far from it.” Li Yuan said.

“Just as you said, when the connection is severed, when the bond is broken, life and death are irrelevant.” Li Yuan heard his own voice. “I can’t control you. What about you? What gives you the right to control me?”

As he said this, it was as if he couldn’t see anything in front of him, his rationality was completely gone. Li Yuan almost instinctively dragged Ye Zhuo over. Ye Zhuo struggled again in his arms. It seemed this person really wanted to struggle and escape, but it was impossible.

Li Yuan only felt the excruciating pain in his heart engulf him little by little. Now that the words had been said, he didn’t want to care about anything anymore. He only knew that Ye Zhuo was by his side. Soon he wouldn’t be.

Lotus flowers have no thorns.

But Ye Zhuo was the best at hurting people.

Everyone says the Dao Heart is unique, everyone says the Dao Heart is clear. Who can be unique, who can be clear?

He finally understood what Ye Zhuo wanted to say.

This person was saying that he was his retreat. He was saying that he was about to become one end in his heart.

You’re truly amazing.

So he was going to abandon you. He was even going to sever his own retreat. You once said you wanted to take him to travel the myriad realms, but he never agreed. What was he thinking at that time?

He hurt people, and made them feel that touching him should be so painful. He himself was in pain for Ye Zhuo’s sake, but was Ye Zhuo’s heart just as painful? Ye Zhuo would just never say it, he would only say he had forgotten.

Then give me both portions.

Li Yuan wanted to say, give it all to me, don’t go if you don’t want to. He wanted to say, don’t think, let me think, anything is possible, whatever you want is possible. People can’t get in, but messages can, let them send Yun Xiangxi’s head out to you.

But that was Ye Zhuo’s heart.

Because Ye Zhuo was Ye Zhuo, worldly matters could be settled, but how could the inner demons be extinguished? Ye Zhuo had his own true heart, nothing could change that heart. He himself was the same.

So he was coming to the mortal world, while Ye Zhuo was going to the Immortal Realm.

Li Yuan couldn’t coax people.

He could only drag this person who wanted to struggle and escape like dragging prey, any resistance was useless, it would only make his movements more violent and less like a human.

Then Li Yuan touched Ye Zhuo’s lips. In fact, Ye Zhuo had subconsciously learned to accept him, but Li Yuan didn’t know what he was doing now. Maybe he wanted to kiss him, but the instincts in his body had made the decision before he did.

A thick fog suddenly swirled around them. It seemed he had transferred all the Dragon Scent Guide to Ye Zhuo.

Ye Zhuo gasped sharply, as if inhaling a mouthful of clear water filled with exotic fragrance, he swallowed it subconsciously. The aftertaste filled his five aggregates and six senses. Only then did Ye Zhuo realize that the Dragon Scent Guide could be thicker than fog.

Dragon Scent Guide? What is this…?

Ye Zhuo suddenly widened his eyes, then struggled violently.

In an instant, his heart beat like a drum. He had never been so afraid. He subconsciously went to find Li Yuan. Heaven and earth were blurred, only a vast expanse of white. He couldn’t hear anything, he felt danger, he wanted to find where Li Yuan was.

Li Yuan quietly watched Ye Zhuo tremble and gasp, his beautiful eyes full of mist. This person seemed to see nothing, but was still looking for someone. His jade-like fingers flushed with rouge-like red, groping helplessly on his body, as if to confirm who this was. In the reflection on the water surface, Li Yuan saw his human form and dragon form were both faintly visible. In fact, the Dragon Scent Guide was limited, even at its peak, it would not cause such a violent reaction in others.

But Ye Zhuo was different.

“Ye Zhuo, how can you have nothing to do with me.” Li Yuan said.

“Even in the Immortal Realm, in the Buddhist Realm, in the Demon Realm, in the Realm of Longevity, Ye Zhuo, you will still be holding your Life-Bound Sword.” He said, “You will always be holding the sword made from the Reverse Scale, the sword you consecrated with my heart’s blood.”

Ye Zhuo couldn’t understand what the threatening voice in his ear was saying. He could only gasp rapidly, still looking for Li Yuan. Suddenly, as if seeing something, he opened his eyes in fear, his misty pupils dilating.

But what truly frightened Ye Zhuo was not the look in Li Yuan’s eyes that he had just met.

It was the sensation of hard, cold scales rubbing against his torso and limbs, everywhere, unable to be avoided.

“Dragon Li Yuan.” He used the last shred of clarity to calm his voice, but his voice was trembling. “Li Yuan, you can’t do this.”

Li Yuan played with Ye Zhuo’s shoulders, which were as white as jade.

He saw that this person was afraid.

His face was as white as if it had been quenched in snow, even though his breath was starting to burn. How much Dragon Scent Guide was there? Li Yuan didn’t know.

So afraid, his body was trembling, but he was still trying to endure, still demanding of him.

Even in this state, he was astonishingly beautiful. Like scattering a pool of fallen flowers in the night, like a broken glass lamp, like a frost-covered sword about to snap.

Was he afraid of the dragon form? Didn’t he like dragon horns, like dragon scales?

It wouldn’t be long. Li Yuan slowly looked at his fingers resting on Ye Zhuo’s shoulders. Maybe in the next moment, this person’s fingers would also turn into dragon claws.

It wasn’t enough to embrace Ye Zhuo with a human body, water wasn’t enough either. Ye Zhuo had said it was enough just now. This was truly enough. He had never truly held Ye Zhuo, never truly experienced the sensation of touching this person.

“Do you want a dragon tail, Ye Zhuo?” Li Yuan embraced him from behind, speaking softly into his ear.

Ye Zhuo shook his head violently, but an even stranger sensation came over him. He was entangled, his fingers were lifted, the water separated his fingers, making him hold the cool tail tip of the ink dragon.

Ye Zhuo felt he might be dreaming. He heard his own breathing chaotic and rapid. He had cultivated for so long, how could his breathing be so disordered?

He felt he might die. He shook his head in confusion, he didn’t want a dragon tail. He wanted Li Yuan to save him. He wanted to summon his Life-Bound Sword, he wanted the sword to save him.

Intermittently, he called Li Yuan’s name, but when he looked down into the water, his field of vision was overwhelmingly filled with surging, shimmering, jade-like ink dragon scales.

His Life-Bound Sword.

— Where exactly is this?

For the first time, Ye Zhuo wondered why it had become like this.

He looked at those dark, dangerous dragon scales. His mind was already unclear, but he remembered that this was clearly the appearance of his Life-Bound Sword.

For the first time, he wondered if he had really done something wrong. Otherwise, how could it treat him like this.

— How dare it do this to him!

“Li Yuan,” he heard his own voice, that voice trembling, unrecognizable even to himself. “You scoundrel, Li Yuan.”

“Don’t be afraid, Ye Zhuo.” The dragon said softly in his ear, “Isn’t it good to be a scoundrel? I’ll accompany you, what’s there to fear?”

How could he not be afraid! He didn’t even want to care about the Dragon Scent Guide anymore, he wanted to leave here, he wanted to break free from this dragon. Where was Li Yuan? Why did everything seem to be Li Yuan’s color? Why was the aura of the Life-Bound Sword everywhere?

Ye Zhuo couldn’t even control his limbs himself. The rushing water pushed him. His fingers inexplicably touched a healed old scar. For no reason, he felt he had seen this scar before. How long was it back then?

Three feet, three inches long.

It seemed something was missing here, what was it? Later, he was forced to have his back against that scar. What was he doing here again? Why was Li Yuan’s heartbeat so clear behind him?

Ye Zhuo only wanted to escape. Li Yuan should clearly be by his side, but he couldn’t find him. The sensations coming from his body were completely overwhelming. He simply didn’t know what kind of language could describe them. He had perhaps died in the sea. Those were not sensations a human should have. In one snap of the fingers, there were sixty moments, in one moment, there were three thousand births and destructions, in the mortal world, there were countless tribulations.

“Don’t be afraid,” a voice said to him.

Ye Zhuo felt he would definitely die.

“You won’t die,” a familiar, smiling voice said softly in the depths of his consciousness.

Suddenly it said again, “If you die, it’s not like I won’t accompany you.”

These were the words Li Yuan had said. So in a daze, Ye Zhuo went towards the direction the voice was coming from.

So he went deeper and deeper into the dragon’s embrace.

And the dragon’s pupils always looked at him with a somber, direct gaze, never satiated.

The snow fell harder and harder. There was silence in the sky and on the ground.

Only the ink-black dragon body curled around the slender body of the human race. The person in it seemed powerless to even struggle. A few scattered red clothes covered a section of long, fair white calf, covered with the dense imprints of scales. Like a petal floating in the rapids of the water surface, it was irresistibly swept in, and finally sank down.

To the deepest part of the cold pool.