Chapter 1268: Lone Star of Disaster
With only Yun Che and Mo Li left in the bedchamber, and Cai Zhi gone, the atmosphere turned somewhat strange.
"Hoo," Yun Che let out a long breath. "Mo Li, did you do this to protect me?"
Mo Li was definitely not someone who would act recklessly, much less be capricious about Cai Zhi's lifelong matter. So although Yun Che was completely baffled, he didn't feel a strong resistance.
"Hmph!" Mo Li turned her small face away. "Don't flatter yourself. You and Cai Zhi have exchanged tokens of faith, bowed to heaven and earth, and are now husband and wife. Since it's already a fact, you're not allowed to ask anymore. In the future… you'll understand."
"Of course I know you wouldn't harm me or Cai Zhi, but… this is too strange! This is a major life event! How could anyone accept it so easily?"
"Hard to accept?" Mo Li glanced sideways at Yun Che and snorted again. "I can't see any sign of that from you! Hmph! You get the advantage and then act innocent."
"Ahem." Yun Che's face flushed. He argued, "Of course I'm fine. If this is truly your wish, I wouldn't mind marrying even an old sow if it were your sister. But for Cai Zhi… it must be quite serious."
"Oh?" Mo Li laughed coldly. "Then I'll go catch an old sow right now."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Yun Che's legs went weak. He frantically reached out and grabbed Mo Li's arm. "Fine, fine. I won't ask why you did this. But how are we supposed to explain this to your father… uh, Xing Shendi?"
"Cai Zhi has no father," Mo Li said coldly. "There's no need to explain to that old villain. He's unworthy!"
Every time she mentioned "old villain," Mo Li's aura turned icy, and her entire body almost reflexively radiated a bone-piercing hatred… even killing intent.
Her hatred for Xing Juekong had long been etched into her bones. Perhaps it could never be resolved in this lifetime.
"And even if he finds out, he won't say anything."
Yun Che was startled. "Why?"
"Don't ask about that." Mo Li didn't answer directly. Instead, she changed the subject. "Remember what I said before. You must treat Cai Zhi as well as you treat any of your other women—not a single bit of favoritism allowed. Otherwise… I won't let you off!"
"Alright." Yun Che smiled and agreed. "I'll treat Cai Zhi as well as I treat Mo Li."
He thought saying this would earn him Mo Li's tsundere glare or maybe even a kick, but to his surprise, Mo Li didn't retort. Instead, she was silent for a while before saying with extreme seriousness, "Good. Remember your words."
"Huh?" Yun Che blinked, looking at Mo Li with suspicion. "You're acting really strange today."
"Where am I strange?" Mo Li gave a light snort, but she turned her gaze away, unwilling to meet Yun Che's eyes. She firmly changed the topic. "Whether you're willing or not, you and Cai Zhi have already bowed to heaven and earth, exchanged tokens, and had her mother, aunt, and me as witnesses. You two are now husband and wife! You… what's your impression of Cai Zhi?"
Yun Che thought for a moment and said, "I haven't spent much time with Cai Zhi, but I have two particularly strong impressions of her."
"What two?"
"One is that she values you more than herself—much more." Yun Che looked at Mo Li with special seriousness.
In Heiya Realm, after recognizing his identity, she had secretly helped him in various ways… She had been excited to call "Brother-in-law" to a person of extremely low origin and cultivation… She had been overjoyed to see him in Xing Shen Realm… She had unreservedly taught him the Celestial Wolf Prison God Scripture, which should have belonged only to her… And she had obediently submitted to the marriage that Mo Li had forced upon her, despite her grievance…
Everything, everything told Yun Che that Cai Zhi held an extremely important place in her heart.
"…" Mo Li bit her lip lightly. "And the other?"
"And the other is…" Yun Che's eyes flickered. "She's far from being the innocent, naive, worldly innocent she appears to be. On the contrary… she's extremely clever and very good at hiding herself."
Mo Li turned her gaze, a hint of surprise on her face. "Why do you think that?"
"In Heiya Realm, I always thought she was some spoiled little princess from a big family, all kinds of nonsense and cluelessness… But now when I recall what she said and did back then, almost every word and action was a highly targeted probe."
"The first time she called me 'brother-in-law,' she had already fully confirmed my identity."
"And in Heiya Realm, I can say she led me around by the nose." Yun Che wore a helpless expression. "There are very few people in this life who can lead me around like that. But she wasn't deliberately mocking me—she was testing your feelings for me."
"Probably satisfied with the results of her test, she finally helped me find the 'Nine-Star Buddha God Jade' and even gave me a Void Stone as a bonus."
Compared to Yun Che, Wu Guike had been tormented and manipulated by Cai Zhi to the point of wishing for death…
But when she was in front of Mo Li, Yun Che saw no trace of scheming or cunning. She was just a tender young girl, completely open, without any guard or reservation, and unwilling to offer any resistance.
Perhaps there was even a hint of carefulness—not wanting to make her elder sister the least bit angry.
"You're right," Mo Li said, closing her eyes slightly, her voice much softer. "Cai Zhi is indeed very clever and good at hiding herself. But she wasn't born that way—it's a form of self-protection."
"Self-protection?" Yun Che was puzzled. "She was born as the little princess of Xing Shen Realm, and now she's the Tianlangxing Shen. I think… she's almost the person in the world who least needs self-protection."
Mo Li shook her head, her gaze dim. "Xing Shen Realm is far less pure than you see… All king realms are like that."
Yun Che: "…"
Her gaze turning in the direction Cai Zhi had left, Mo Li said slowly, "In our Xing Shen Realm, we believe in the power of the stars. We believe that every living person has a corresponding star."
"When Cai Zhi was born one month early, that old villain had the old geeks in the Council of Elders calculate Cai Zhi's corresponding star. The result was…"
"A lone star of disaster that brings endless calamity."
Yun Che shook his head. "How can you believe such things? I never believe that fate is predetermined. At the level of Xing Shen Realm, they should believe even less."
"No, they do." Mo Li continued. "And what happened afterward only confirmed the words 'lone star of disaster.'"
Yun Che: "…!?"
"At Cai Zhi's birth, she took all of her mother's vital energy, causing her aunt to pass away from exhaustion. That old villain and everyone in Xing Shen City became even more convinced that she was a 'lone star of disaster.' They all rejected her, refused to approach her, and abandoned her in that derelict bedchamber to let her fend for herself. If not for my elder brother carrying her back and my mother taking her in, she would have followed her aunt in death long ago."
"How can such a thing happen?" Yun Che's brows furrowed deeply. "Even if Xing Shendi believed in such things, Cai Zhi is his own daughter. How could he… allow a newborn baby to fend for herself?"
Mo Li let out a sarcastic cold laugh and continued, "Not long after they brought Cai Zhi back, my mother was captured by Yue Shen Realm and died by suicide. Later, my elder brother was killed by Qianye Ying'er, leaving us. After that, I was ambushed in Nan Shen Domain, and everyone thought I was dead…"
"After her birth mother, the only three people in the world who were kind to her met misfortune one after another—even star gods couldn't escape. Everyone believed it was all because of Cai Zhi, because she was a lone star of disaster that brought calamity to those around her… Even she herself believed it."
"…" A heavy pressure suddenly filled Yun Che's heart.
To cause the death of one's birth mother at the very start of life, to be rejected and loathed by everyone from the beginning of existence, and then to have everyone who was kind to her meet misfortune one after another… Even with his own experiences, he couldn't imagine the mental weight and torment that would be.
Especially since she was such a tender young girl.
"After my mother and elder brother left one after another, Cai Zhi fell into a nightmare of self-blame and self-hatred. She believed those disasters were all caused by her. During that time, if I hadn't been by her side, she might have already collapsed mentally."
"Cai Zhi was only six years old then."
"Later, I happened to hear news of the Evil God's inheritance appearing in Nan Shen Domain, so I went there alone. Although I had already inherited the Tiansha Divine Power by then, I desperately craved even stronger power—to avenge my mother and brother, and also to take Cai Zhi away from Xing Shen Realm forever."
But these were only part of the reasons. Another important reason, Mo Li would never tell Yun Che.
"But although I managed to seize the 'Evil God's Indestructible Blood,' I was ambushed and poisoned with Godslayer Desolation Poison. To give me no chance to detoxify, my ambushers chased me for a very, very long way… Although I escaped the pursuit, the poison had already seeped into my soul. After that, everyone thought I was dead. Even I didn't believe I could survive."
She glanced at Yun Che, then looked away. She had never imagined that would be the turning point of her fate—because she met Yun Che.
Likewise, it was also the turning point of Yun Che's fate—because he met Mo Li.
"I didn't dare imagine how Cai Zhi spent that time after news of my death reached Xing Shen Realm. During my time in Tian Xuan Continent, Cai Zhi was the only thing I worried about in Xing Shen Realm. My reason for following Yu Luo back to Xing Shen Realm was also primarily because of Cai Zhi."
The other important reason was naturally Yun Che, because if she hadn't left, Yun Che—and even the entire Lan Ji Star—would have faced catastrophic destruction.
"Four years ago, when I returned to Xing Shen Realm, Cai Zhi had already inherited the divine power of the Tianlangxing Shen. The old geeks in the Council of Elders also said her star fate had changed from 'lone star of disaster' to 'Celestial Wolf Star,' and naturally Cai Zhi's status was completely different from before—from being loathed by everyone to being feared by the world."
Hearing this, the pressure in Yun Che's heart finally eased slightly. He had never imagined, nor could he possibly imagine, that the girl with such a unique way of thinking, so mischievous, with eyes as pure as a sprite's, and seemingly always smiling, had once walked through such a nightmare.
"The divine power of the Tianlangxing Shen is widely acknowledged as the strongest among the twelve star gods, and also the hardest to find a successor for. Back then, my elder brother was able to gain the approval of the Celestial Wolf's divine power because of his extremely high talent and insight in the Way of Xuan."
"And Cai Zhi… her talent in the Way of Xuan is quite ordinary. Yet at the age of twelve, she was actively acknowledged by the Celestial Wolf's divine power, achieving near-perfect compatibility. Do you know why?"
Yun Che lowered his brows in thought, then suddenly his heart jolted. "Could it be… resentment?"
Cai Zhi had told him just today that the Tianlangxing Shen was also known as the God of Resentment, and the Celestial Wolf Prison God Scripture was born from obsession and resentment. The stronger the resentment, the more powerful the scripture.
"…" Mo Li nodded slightly, the movement very light but carrying an extremely heavy oppression. "After receiving news of my death, Cai Zhi completely sealed herself in resentment—resentment toward the entire world… and resentment toward herself."
In Yun Che's soul, the sword formula of the Celestial Wolf's Seventh Sword suddenly flashed:
Earth groans, heaven wounds, only hatred is heartless.
Only hatred…
"This sword has nothing to do with 'talent' or 'insight.' Even if you think about it for ten thousand years, you'll never comprehend it! Someone as stupid as you will never have that 'trigger' appear for you. Understand!"
"I don't want you to have such a trigger. My sister wants it even less… Anyway! Stop wasting your energy thinking about it. You'd be better off practicing the first five swords!"
"…" Yun Che closed his eyes. When Cai Zhi said those words, she was lively and spirited. But now thinking back, behind those words, every single character carried a weight that ordinary people couldn't imagine.
Mo Li looked at Yun Che, her voice slowly seeping into the depths of his soul. "There has always been an abyss in Cai Zhi's heart. You are now Cai Zhi's husband. It is your responsibility… to make sure she never falls into that abyss!"
If it's you, you can definitely do it… Mo Li murmured in her heart.
"…Alright." Yun Che nodded lightly.
One word, but a lifetime's promise.