Chapter 461: Ye Liyou Confesses, Ye Linyuan is Heartbroken!
Ye Liyou's eyes, cold and clear, glanced at the pale-faced woman, then swept over the trembling crowd, and she calmly said:
"A piece of advice: conserve your strength now, find food and water, and use the plane's radio to seek rescue from passing ships."
As her words fell, Ye Liyou turned and walked away, her crimson dress a stark slash of color against the island's verdant greens. She moved with purpose, heading towards the distant, smoldering volcano. A dense forest stood between her and the peak, a place where sustenance—and survival—could be found.
Having cheated death, Ye Liyou had no intention of letting her second chance go to waste. A new, fierce determination burned within her, eclipsing the cold indifference she usually wore like armor.
"Senior," she murmured to the empty air, her voice a soft, private vow carried on the sea breeze, "perhaps it's a blessing from the heavens, but our fate hasn't been severed. When we return to Modu, Liyou will confess to you." Her red lips parted slightly, the words tasting of both promise and trepidation.
A hint of a smile touched Shen Anyu's eyes as he watched her retreating form. He then turned his attention back to the survivors. The initial shock had worn off, replaced by a low, buzzing murmur that was quickly escalating into frightened chatter and hushed accusations. Some shot venomous glares at the path Ye Liyou had taken.
His eyes, deep as a starless night, seemed to ripple. An unseen pulse of power emanated from him, a subtle yet profound surge of spiritual energy—a minor spell that was child's play for a Qi Refining cultivator.
For the huddled passengers, the world warped for a fraction of a second. A crushing pressure descended, making the air thick and hard to breathe. The ambient sounds of the waves and wind seemed to muffle, replaced by a high-pitched hum that pierced their skulls. Their gazes were drawn, against their will, to the impossibly handsome young man standing apart from them. His eyes were no longer just eyes; they were twin vortexes, pulling at their consciousness, unspooling the threads of their recent memories.
The last few days became a chaotic blur. They remembered the sudden, violent lurch of the plane, the terrifying screams, the sickening drop. But the woman in red? The fight in the sky? The man who had caused the explosion? All of it dissolved into a hazy dread. They blinked, a collective wave of vertigo washing over them. They were on an island, survivors of a crash. That was all they knew. The crucial details, the ones that would expose Ye Liyou, had been surgically excised from their minds.
Shen Anyu sneered internally. He could hear the undercurrent of their thoughts even before he wiped them—the cowardly instinct to blame the woman who had fought back instead of the terrorist who had attacked. 'Why don't they blame the man from Ash who actually blew up the plane?'
'Because they're afraid,' he concluded with cold certainty. 'They fear the true culprit, so they direct their pathetic rage at the one who stood against him.'
In his view, Ye Liyou's destruction of the Ash Organization's branch was a good deed. Her only flaw was her sentimentality. She hadn't been thorough enough, hadn't eliminated the problem at its root, allowing the leader, Ash, to escape and plot this revenge.
'Eliminating the root is a virtue,' Shen Anyu mused, a dangerous glint in his eyes. 'I'll have to properly educate Liyou on this matter in the future.'
She was, despite her cold façade, too soft-hearted. Not ruthless enough for this world. If it had been him, and someone had dared to chatter at him with such disrespect, they would have lost more than just their hair.
Putting the insignificant mortals out of his mind, Shen Anyu turned his gaze toward the horizon. During his brief flight, he'd noticed this island was situated along a shipping lane. It was remote, yes, but a vessel would surely pass within a few days. They wouldn't die here.
With the loose ends neatly tied up, he vanished, moving silently in the direction Ye Liyou had gone. His Supernatural Skill, Love Infinite Teleportation, was a trump card of the highest order. It was not something to be revealed lightly, not even to a wife he trusted.
After all, the only secret that remains a secret is one known by a single person.
Besides, Shen Anyu already had a perfect plan in mind—a way to appear before her openly, a scenario designed to skyrocket her favorability and plunder a massive amount of destiny value.
...
Several hours later, night had fallen like a thick, velvet shroud.
Deep within the forest, in a small clearing near the base of the volcano, Ye Liyou sat before a roaring bonfire. A freshly caught fish, skewered on a sharpened stick, sizzled over the flames, its skin crisping to a golden brown.
The warm, dancing light softened the sharp, cold lines of her face. Her phoenix eyes, usually so keen and piercing, were now gentle, reflecting the flickering fire. They swirled with a mix of longing and a deep, gnawing anxiety.
"I wonder if Senior is single," she whispered, the question a fragile thing in the vast, dark jungle. "What if... what if he already has a wife?"
She bit her lower lip, her pearly teeth pressing into the soft flesh. This was her greatest fear. Senior was so perfect—unmatched in martial arts, devastatingly handsome, and underneath it all, a man of deep kindness and thoughtfulness.
Even in… 'that kind of thing'… his performance had been utterly overwhelming.
A hot blush crept up her neck, painting her cheeks a shade of crimson that rivaled her dress. She remembered the heat of his body, the strength in his arms, the way he had completely dominated her senses. She patted her warm cheeks, trying to cool the sudden fire that had ignited within her.
"A man as wonderful as Senior must be adored by many women," she reasoned, her voice gaining a sliver of its usual resolve. "But as long as he isn't married, I will fight for him. I'll fight until the very end."
This brush with death had been a crucible, burning away all her hesitation and uncertainty. It had clarified her feelings with brutal, obvious force. She loved him. It was as simple and as terrifying as that.
Suddenly, her entire body went rigid. Her phoenix eyes snapped sharp, her gaze piercing the thick shadows to the southeast. The assassin's instincts, honed over a lifetime of blood and battle, screamed a warning.
"Who's there?" she called out, her voice dropping to a frigid, dangerous tone.
She didn't move to attack immediately. Her first thought was that it might be one of the other survivors, perhaps lost and seeking help. They had been implicated because of her; if their request wasn't excessive, she felt a duty to assist them.
But as a figure stepped out from the oppressive darkness and into the golden circle of firelight, Ye Liyou froze. The air left her lungs in a silent gasp. Her phoenix eyes widened, disbelief warring with a dizzying, impossible hope. She felt as if she were trapped in a dream, her mind utterly unable to process the man standing before her.
"Senior??" The name was a breath, a question, a prayer. How could he be here? How was this possible?
"I've been watching you, from the shadows," Shen Anyu began, his voice raspy, laced with a carefully crafted exhaustion. His usually impeccable suit was slightly rumpled, and his brow was furrowed with a weariness that seemed bone-deep. His peach blossom eyes, however, burned with an intense, searing light as he looked at her. They seemed to gaze at the very air around her with an overwhelming adoration, so profound it was almost painful to witness.
"When I learned your plane had gone down, my heart burned with anxiety. I immediately rushed here, following the flight path. I crossed three thousand li of open sea, searching... and finally," his voice trembled, cracking with emotion, "I finally found you."
He took a step closer, his gaze sweeping over her, checking for injuries, his relief so potent it was a physical force. "You're still alive. That's... truly wonderful."
'Traversing three thousand li across the sea?'
The words struck Ye Liyou like a lightning bolt. She stared at the man before her, at the deep exhaustion etched into his features, the raw, unfiltered relief in his eyes. Something deep within her heart, a wall of ice she had spent a lifetime building, shattered into a million pieces.
[Ding! Detected Destined Heroine Ye Liyou's favorability +5, plundered +15,000 destiny value!]
[Ding! Child of Destiny Ye Linyuan missed the hero saving the beauty, plundered +99,999 destiny value!]
[Ding! Child of Destiny Ye Linyuan's emotional line severed, plundered +600,000 destiny value!]
...
On the other side of the world, in Jiangjing Manor, Villa Number Two.
"Finally... finally finished my homework! Damn you, Shen Anyu!"
Ye Linyuan shoved a stack of textbooks aside and stretched dramatically, letting out a long sigh of relief as he stared at the dark night outside his window. A moment later, a gloomy expression clouded his features.
"No, this can't go on," he muttered, frustration simmering in his gut. "How am I supposed to cultivate with Shen Anyu burying me in tutoring and homework every single day? How can I ever find a way to break this curse?"
His fists clenched. "As soon as I find Third Senior Sister's whereabouts, I'm leaving this place. Immediately." He paced his room, his mind racing. "The Martial God Hall has been quiet lately... maybe I can go look for Eldest Senior Sister."
He paused, a flicker of a different emotion crossing his face as he thought of his martial sisters.
"Speaking of which," he mused, "the senior sisters I've met so far are all even more beautiful than Eldest Senior Sister's photos. Second Senior Sister Liu Ruyan is so languid and charming, absolutely captivating. Fifth Sister Zhong Lingyin is fresh, beautiful, and so delicate. And Seventh Sister Yang Luoluo is just bursting with cute energy."
"Damn Shen Anyu!"
The thought brought him crashing back to reality, and he started cursing again.
His languid, charming, and captivating Second Senior Sister Liu Ruyan was now Shen Anyu's girlfriend. The image of her in that shameful fox-girl maid outfit, serving that bastard, made his heart feel like it was bleeding.
Fifth Sister Zhong Lingyin and Seventh Sister Yang Luoluo were also far too close to Shen Anyu for his comfort. Although, Fifth Sister, the Heavenly Queen of music, supposedly had a boyfriend—the Jade Prince. They had even announced their relationship after co-writing a song, a move so popular it had crashed Weibo.
But the one Ye Linyuan truly despised was Shen Anyu. The man paraded his happiness in front of him daily while simultaneously crushing him under a mountain of high-intensity tutoring. He was simply inhuman.
"When my strength recovers, I swear I'll find a way to separate Shen Anyu and Second Senior Sister," Ye Linyuan snorted coldly. "Second Senior Sister is mine."
All seven of his goddess-like senior sisters were his destined wives. How could he possibly allow another man to lay a single finger on them?
Hiss—
A sudden, sharp pain lanced through his chest. Ye Linyuan's face turned deathly pale as he gasped, clutching at his heart. It felt as if an icy hand had reached inside him and given it a vicious, twisting squeeze. The sensation vanished as quickly as it came, leaving him breathless and shaken.
"It's happening again?" he whispered, a mix of surprise and uncertainty in his eyes. "Could it be... the curse?"
...
Back on the mysterious island, by the bonfire.
Looking at Shen Anyu, whose face was a mask of exhaustion from his supposed journey of three thousand li across the sea just to find her, Ye Liyou was completely and utterly moved. All her defenses crumbled to dust. Like a homing bird returning to its forest, she threw herself into his embrace. The cold, aloof assassin proactively tilted her head up and offered him a passionate, desperate kiss.
"Senior," she breathed against his lips, her voice thick with emotion, "I love you..."
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