Chapter 321: A Lady's Sorrow
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Right." A shadow drifted in. "Has that fellow gone away?"
The person in question was Ji Lingxi, who held a big red apple in her hands.
Yun Yang frowned. "Lingxi, I keep on telling you… You’re a girl, a lady. You must knock first before entering other’s room; there’s no exception here. You must make it a habit or else how are you going to…"
Ji Lingxi’s delicate face scrunched up. "Yun Yang, what is going on? Can’t you stop using this tone? I’m neither your daughter nor your little sister, don’t act like an elder in front of me! Can you? I'm begging you!"
Yun Yang’s tone was helpless as he sighed, "Alright…"
He then lifted in head seriously and said, "Lady Ji, I am honored to meet you! Please, before you enter my room or any other people’s rooms, do…"
Before he finished his words, Ji Lingxi had turned and left. The girl was shaking all over from sheer anger, chomping half of the apple in her hand alongside the core and chewing it viciously.
This log! It serves you right if you remain single all your life!
A knock came from Yun Yang’s door just a little while after Ji Lingxi left.
"Come in," Yun Yang called out.
"Is Young Master Yun occupied?" Yue Rulan entered the room.
Yun Yang stood up hastily and said with respect, "Sister Lan, it’s you. Quick, have seat. Sit, sit."
Behind Yue Rulan, Ji Lingxi watched with pouting lips as Yun Yang welcomed Yue Rulan in politely and even took a bench for Yue Rulan himself before looking at her and said, "Oh, Lingxi’s here too. Do find somewhere to sit."
Ji Lingxi wanted to turn and leave again right as she heard those words. The difference in treatment was simply too jarring!
Is there such a difference in our appearances? Do I look that small and does Sister Lan look that old?!
"Lingxi came over earlier. Did you two have an argument?" Yue Rulan asked with a grimace. She honestly did not understand why Yun Yang was behaving so.
He pampered and catered to Ji Lingxi’s every whim regardless of what it was but the indulgence had belonged to that of an elder and was not at all related to romance. The correlation was more like a pair of parallel lines that would never intersect.
What was happening?
Also, Yue Rulan was Ji Lingxi’s only close friend; her best friend. She was not related to Yun Yang, why was he being so respectful? Like an elder? She was only older than Ji Lingxi by one or two years!
Yun Yang smiled and said, "Nothing much. I just told Lingxi that she must knock before entering someone’s room, just like what Sister Lan did… Sister Lan and Lingxi should address me as Older Cousin Yun or Young Cousin Yun next time when you see me. Even when it’s a personal meeting or even when there are only three of us, such form must be maintained. Our greatest enemy is staying at the inn not far away from us; their cultivation base is too mighty that it’s already exceeded what we could possibly dream of. We have to be careful. Even when the distance is far, they might hear our conversation."
"Just like tonight’s conversation. If they heard even a single line of it, we’d be doomed."
Yun Yang said stringently, "Sister Lan, you understand this, do you not? We can barely defend ourselves now, so we must get used to the new mode of getting along and acknowledge it from the heart."
Yue Rulan answered easily, "Younger Cousin Yun is right, we have to make it a habit!"
Yun Yang shifted his gaze to Ji Lingxi, obviously wary of her temper.
Ji Lingxi felt anger fuming from her core at once, boiling and threatening to spill over. She bit her lips; after a long time, she replied sadly, "Older Cousin Yun is right."
"Good girl!" Yun Yang looked pleased.
His compliment almost made Ji Lingxi explode. She sat down by the bed, almost breaking it. Raising her hand, there was a lush green cucumber. She bit down mercilessly and chewed with puffed cheeks, her eyes glaring at Yun Yang.
It was as if the cucumber was Yun Yang or his flesh. Great Lady Ji was going to tear him into pieces!
"What’s the background of these two people?" Yue Rulan frowned and asked, "Has Younger Cousin Yun discovered?"
Yun Yang collected his thoughts and said, "This Lei Family young lord probably comes from another area… a mysterious place called the Bound of Universe."
Yue Rulan and Ji Lingxi’s gaze froze at once. "Bound of Universe? The people from the upper side?"
Both of them had come from famed families and were no strangers to this name. Although they did not know the extent of the Bound of Universe’s levels and powers, they knew it was nothing trivial – it at least far surpassed the Tianxuan Continent.
"Hush." Yun Yang said, "The reason he finds fault with the both of you is probably to use you all to complete one of the stages of his cultivation method… As for what cultivation method and the strength of it, I didn’t hear him clearly, but it most probably has to do with seven emotions."
"According to my inference, the cultivation method should be an extremely wicked but potent method once it materializes."
Yun Yang analyzed the situation carefully, "The aim of the cultivation is the seven emotions in life. It works by immersing one's self in the emotion then extracting one's self from it before destroying it and entirely annihilating the emotion; even to the point of being emotionless and heartless. Ultimately, it will complete this utterly evil and inhumane cultivation method…"
Yun Yang sighed, "I don’t know the two of you think, but the extent of this cultivation method’s malevolence is the most extreme that I’ve seen throughout my life!"
Yue Rulan and Ji Lingxi came from big families that gave them copious experience and knowledge; they felt their scalp going numb as they heard Yun Yang’s words, knowing the severity of the situation just by what he had said. Yue Rulan’s face went pale as she replied, "What you mean is… that person has taken both of us as cauldrons? To use us to perfect his cultivation method?"
Yun Yang nodded. "That should be so. Otherwise, his previous actions can’t be explained."
Yue Rulan and Ji Lingxi’s expression grew dark as they looked extremely upset.
Cauldrons!
It was a word that every girl in this world hated and loathed the most once they knew its true meaning!
"When he pursued us, without killing nor capturing us – was this part of his cultivation process? To torment us continuously?" Ji Lingxi asked in disbelief.
"Most probably." Yun Yang said, "I was eavesdropping on their conversation and there was a line that said to get the Pure Yin of Chaos and complete a link of Seven Emotions Praxis, one has to physically free and safe, but the mental state has to be broken down upon its inability to endure extreme fear and hopelessness.
Ji Lingxi asked, "What does that mean?"
Yue Rulan sighed. "What else can it mean? We have to be in a free environment, we can’t be controlled. Then they’ll exert pressure continuously so when we completely break down upon the pressure, the basic yin energy of a female will turn chaotic following the breakdown of the mental state. This will be when he strikes. If Younger Cousin Yun didn’t appear at the right time, we might really have been seized!"
Yue Rulan blushed as she spoke, but she could not help gritting her teeth too.
No wonder.
No wonder when the both of them were about to give up and even wished to die, the opposite party slowed down immediately to allow them some buffer and room to rest. Even when they were thinking of giving up recently, they changed their strategy to focus their attacks on the girls’ appearance… In retrospect whether then or now, it was obvious that they wanted to keep tormenting the ladies until they turned insane.
Ji Lingxi said darkly, "How could our families not know this? We’ve been pursued so long, it’s been about two months!"
Yue Rulan’s gaze dimmed as she replied softly, "Lingxi, why are you still longing for our families’ help even until now? We, as daughters of great families, have our fates set as such… From the moment we were born, our lives have been decided."
"In the initial ten to twenty years of our lives, we had the glamour of being ladies, obtaining everything that we want. However, we grew up, and that is when we pay the price for enjoying the luxuries of our previous years."
"If our family needed to maintain their current influence with an arranged marriage, they will sacrifice us in exchange for it; if our family offended someone they shouldn’t and needed buffering, they’ll also use us to exchange and bargain; if our family wanted to advance and become more powerful, they will still use our bodies. All in all, as long as our family desires… the meaning of our existence is basically waiting for a good price or a desperate need!"
Yue Rulan continued speaking softly, "How would our personal wishes be of concern? Those who wish to achieve great things shall not regard petty details – our wishes aren’t even regarded petty, they are simply insignificant…"
"Upon understanding this, I’ve long taken off my rose-colored glasses. Sometimes, I feel like I’m a high-class prostitute who has been boasting of my uniqueness. The core of it is none other than hiking my price and waiting for a suitable price tag… Compared to the girls from regular families, we as the so-called ladies of noble families, are perhaps even worse-off! Regular homes or even poorer families regard their family ties, but to us, those are only wild wishes that can never be reached!"
Yue Rulan’s voice was low, her arrangement of words and logic clear but the indignation scattered within the words was like a simmering volcano that was about to erupt.
"Even if there was already an engagement and a loved one in the picture, when our family is faced with a greater temptation, they can still back out of it."
At this point, Yue Rulan’s eyes were rimmed red with grief.