161. A Face Long Forgotten
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"Why did you do this to me...?!!" Fei Yun had asked, making Zhurong Fen scoff.
"...Those who are used often know why, but they hide it in their deepest of hearts for whatever reason.
"In your case, you were such an easy tool because you certainly realized your own worthlessness...!"
"Tool...?" Fei Yun could hardly believe his ears. "Worthless...?!"
"Yes... A brilliantly worthless individual!" Zhurong Fen did not spare him. "Fit only to be used as a tool.
"Back then everyone said my brother was insecure because he was weak, then insecure because of his past, then insecure because he could never measure up to Yin Xiaolong. It went on and on...
"But no one ever realized the true fountain of insecurities was you... And isn't that worse in many ways? You were so insignificant that they couldn't be bothered to notice your own weakness!
"But we did..." She grinned prettily, staring at him like she had done so many times in the past, but her eyes were now completely devoid of love or mercy.
Fei Yun did not recognize these cold eyes which cruelly bore into him.
"Hmph. A cast-away illegitimate prince of low-birth, not even worth mentioning..." Zhurong Fen continued. "Of the famous three friends, Yin Xiaolong was the strongest, and Tianlong, though weak, was at least the Crown Prince...
"You? You had absolutely nothing going for you!
"Once Tianlong became stronger, you became even more obsolete! Not worth the slightest bit of attention, and we recognized it! I realized early on that if I wanted you to do our bidding, all I had to do was inflate your ego in the worst possible way.
"And so, you were suddenly approached by the Sky Princess. The same princess who everyone kept saying was Yin Xiaolong's perfect match. I poured in a bit of flower charm to heighten our initial interactions, but everything that followed was all you...
"You couldn't help yourself from that point! After all, having me would give you a sense of achievement! You could get the same woman worthy of Yin Xiaolong... You accepted my love and affection because you wanted to believe you deserved it!
"But then... I needed to inflate your ego even more, and at the same time, build your desire to protect me. So even a millennia old Grand Immortal suddenly favoured you!
"You acted disgusted, while secretly relishing the fact that you could turn down someone so powerful and beautiful... You could even scorn her for my sake, and that elevated feeling of yours worked wonders!"
She crouched before him. "What confidence made you believe you were ever worth all that attention?" She reached out, lightly tapping his cheek.
"Still, who knew you would suddenly become the Fate Immortal?" She ran a finger along his cheek, down his neck. "The cheap tool I picked up by the roadside actually grew to have an immense use..."
She straightened and waved a hand showing him a vision of how Jin Lan had been planting the Dark-Heart flowers around Fate Villa through the years.
The vision showed how Jin Lan always ensured Fei Yun had fresh wine within reach, and how he tampered with the Fate Mirrors, ensuring no one ever caught the Black Dragon's rampage.
"Hmph! You even joined hands with me to create this wonderful opportunity tonight!" Zhurong Fen finished with a scoff at Fei Yun's horror and disbelief.
Defeated, Fei Yun fell forward on all fours.
'I was foolish...!' He thought as his past actions and crimes bore down on him.
His pure love, held in his heart and cherished over thousands of years, had been this unfaithful monster all along.
Even his motives for loving her so much had now been twisted into this ugly tale of flower charms, ego, and his own inferiority!
His eyes widened when earlier memories of Bailong surfaced, and he collapsed from weakness and utter defeat.
'I was indeed too foolish...!' He thought, recalling how Bailong had first pulled him out of his internal darkness, and his mind called forth every happy memory that followed between them.
'What have I done...?!' He cried.
In the end, he had used his own hands to harm the only real family he had back then, and he had cursed at him, chasing after his death through the years!
'I deserve to die pitifully like this...' He thought.
The desolate City of Yu Shui had seen a ton of bloodshed on this night, but perhaps the most pathetic was that of this Fate Immortal who had indeed shed a lot of blood...
Yet death refused to claim him, and he wheezed pathetically on the muddy ground.
"Hmph. The present you is really too useless." His so-called Love was saying, her expression calmer and colder than the ice that was her core element. "Defeated by a mortal and coming to die here like a dog!"
And with that, she stepped over him and vanished, leaving him for dead...
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Meanwhile, Zhang Luoyin had also experienced the revealing trance, and he instantly halted in his tracks.
Many things had come to light...
The truth behind the Empress and Immortal Jin.
How Tianlong and Fei Yun had been played against him.
And even Zhurong Fen herself...
Thirty thousand years ago, he would never have suspected Zhurong Fen in the slightest, and he now wondered how she had hidden so completely.
She had always worn the character of the pure and innocent, perhaps a bit scheming when it came to chasing him, but otherwise quiet and assuming.
It was only recently that his mind had pointed to Zhurong Fen, especially when he, Kai Zhen, and Old man Bao considered the same questions he had asked Fei Yun earlier.
But though he already suspected her, he was still a bit shaken by just how dirty Zhurong Fen's hands were!
However, there was something more important which tugged his heart from all other matters.
While viewing Zhurong Fen's and the Empress's stars, only one thing held Luoyin's attention...
The appearance of Yan Liwei!
He had seen her face again, and he fell to his knees at present, the thirty thousand year spell finally lifting!
All his past memories of her swirled within him and tears rushed down his chin as the memories finally acquired a face long forgotten!
Naturally he instantly recognised that Yan Liwei and Xu Weiyan were one and the same person!
But hadn't she died back then?
Hadn't her star been destroyed to prevent reincarnation?!
Luoyin did not care how this miracle came to be!
Yan Liwei was alive! And she was one and the same as Xu Weiyan!
This explained everything...
It certainly explained why Zhurong Fen had used her to reach him on Caoyang.
The necklace would force her onto the Lava Sea.
HeiShe would instantly recognized her because of the phoenix feather sealing his powers, and his hatred would make him go crazy.
This hatred made him prevent her from leaving the Lava sea and pushed him to strike beyond the halfway point.
And that would force Liwei in the other direction to evade him, placing her right within Bailong's reach...
It had all been a clever plan!
Zhurong Fen had known that though Bailong wouldn't recognize Liwei, their hearts would draw closer... close enough for Bailong to eventually drop his guard around her.
And as for the Zhan Yin dagger, Zhurong Fen had tampered with it, ensuring the tribulation lightning would target the user instead of the one being stabbed.
And she knew full well that Bailong would protect Liwei with his life!
Zhurong Fen was indeed a master at controling pieces, and Luoyin fought off a wave of hatred and fury!
Instead his mind centered on how her recent bout of wickedness had only brought Xu Weiyan to him, and even his death on Caoyang had landed him right in her life.
Even after he said goodbye to Liwei, things had come full circle and she was one and the same with Xu Weiyan...!
'Fate is indeed scary!' He concluded, rising to his feet and wiping his tears away.
~"Laoying!"~ He reached out through telepathy. ~"Where is Weiwe-?!"~ He caught himself. ~"Where is Yanyan...?"~
There was a brief silence, and then,
~"Hmph! Someone is a little too happy!"~ Yinying replied, an obvious smirk in his voice. ~"I just found her... Your idea worked!"~
Earlier, Before Yinying left him and Fei Yun, Luoyin had sent him an added telepathic message.
~"Sniff out the Little One's aura!"~
~"Good idea!"~ Yinying had nodded, instantly understanding.
Since Weiyan owned the Light Tiger Cub, his aura had been rubbing off on her all this while...
And as the father of the Cub, it was almost too easy for Yinying to sniff out Weiyan, despite the dense demonic pressure within the mist!
~"She's safe over here! Heh! You should come and witness wonders!"~ Yinying finished at present.
Luoyin made to instantly reverse-summon to Yinying, but he halted, noting the state of his appearance.
After his fight with Fei Yun, his robes were torn in places, decorated with dried blood, soot, and dirt, and he himself looked like he had rolled down several mountains, his skin pale from loss of qi, his hair in disarray, and bloodstains on his hands and around his mouth...
Seeing him in this state might worry Yanyan!
Since Weiyan was safe, Luoyin sat in the lotus position and spent a few minutes recovering, absorbing a few pills and herbs.
With a wave of his hand, he was surrounded by his blue aura, and he rose up into the air in a graceful spin, his hair and robes automatically fixing themselves before he gently landed on his feet.
Then he held up two fingers and swiftly reverse-summoned to join Yinying who stood atop a roof, looking down into an utterly ruined courtyard...
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