# Chapter 1912: Lies
"Sister, I'm back!"
"Huh?"
The moment Shui Meiyin landed, she sensed that the atmosphere was extremely wrong.
Shui Yingyue's brows were tightly furrowed, her aura clearly in turmoil. Shui Qianheng stood to one side, his expression heavy.
And around them, there was no longer any trace of Yun Che's presence.
"What happened?" Shui Meiyin asked, a bad feeling suddenly rising in her heart.
"That's what I should be asking you." Shui Yingyue let out a quiet sigh. "What's wrong with Yun Che?"
Shui Meiyin hurried forward and grabbed Shui Yingyue's sleeve. "Sister, answer me first! What exactly happened?"
Shui Yingyue's expression was complicated—confused, worried, and even... angry!
"He... used a rather despicable method to throw my heart into chaos, then took advantage of the moment to use some bizarre technique to capture my soul, after which he asked me a few questions."
"...!!" Shui Meiyin's heart skipped a beat.
"What... questions?" Her voice had weakened by several degrees.
Shui Yingyue's soul power was strong after all. After calming down, she had fully recalled what happened during the brief period her soul was captured: "What he asked was exactly the question you've reminded us about a few times over the past two years... whether I had left during the time he was unconscious."
Shui Meiyin's lips trembled visibly.
"And... how did you answer?" Shui Meiyin asked, somewhat dazed.
She knew about Yun Che's Arcane Firmament Soul-Seizing... she knew that under that state, the person whose soul was captured could not lie.
"I didn't leave... I answered truthfully." Shui Yingyue said. "He finally asked whether you had reminded us to claim that you briefly left. I answered yes as well."
Shui Meiyin: "..."
"He asked me the same question too." Shui Qianheng said in a deep voice. "But I answered, as you had reminded us before, that you briefly left for somewhere unknown... but it seems he didn't believe me."
"Meiyin," looking at his daughter's gradually paling face, Shui Qianheng said sternly, "What exactly does this question relate to? Can't you tell us now? Yingyue said that when he left, he was completely dazed... I simply can't believe there's anything in this world that could turn him into that state."
"..." Shui Meiyin's lips moved. It took a while before she spoke in a very soft voice: "Did he ask... whether I left before he was sent to Liuguang Realm?"
"No." Shui Yingyue answered without any hesitation.
Shui Meiyin's already bloodless face grew another shade paler.
"I understand... I'll go find him first. Don't follow me."
Shui Meiyin left in a daze... exactly the same way Yun Che had looked moments ago.
Shui Qianheng and Shui Yingyue looked at each other, long without speaking.
....
Beneath a tall, withered ancient tree, Yun Che sat quietly, gazing into the distance.
Occasionally, a few scattered dead leaves fell, but before they could approach his body, they were shattered and repelled by his chaotic aura.
Shui Meiyin bit her lip and walked slowly closer. Her feet stepped on the thick layer of dead leaves, making a sound that disturbed the heart.
"Yun Che... brother." She stood beside him, looking at his profile and calling softly.
Yun Che didn't turn his head. He looked ahead and said in a hoarse voice: "All the doubts, all the dissonance—you gave me sufficient explanations for all of them. You didn't hesitate to swear a poisonous oath... and afterward, you gave me a reason I couldn't refute."
"But do you know why I still can't convince myself?"
"Because everything else could be just 'suspicion,' just 'possibility,' but there's one thing I'm absolutely certain you lied about."
"..." Shui Meiyin bit her lip even harder. She knew what Yun Che was talking about... She had even begun to fill in this "loophole" early on, but in the end...
Yun Che continued: "Back then, when you told me everything, you clearly stated that after news came of me falling into a demon and being hunted by the entire realm, you immediately hid it from your father and sister and went to Lan Ji Star, transferring it to the Southern Domain... and then, I, unconscious, was sent to Liuguang Realm."
"But I know that Lan Ji Star simply couldn't have been transferred at that time."
"I... I..." Shui Meiyin looked like she was about to cry. She knew that at this point, any excuse was weak and pale. "The image that Wu Xin recorded with the Shadow Constant Stone was in Liuyun City." Yun Che said slowly—a place he could never mistake: "As a small city in the lower realm, Liuyun City has very strict and frequent day-night cycles."
"Back then, the time of the Calamity Demon Emperor's departure was set by her herself, and she informed me well in advance. I remember it very clearly—it corresponded roughly to the Zi hour of Tian Xuan Continent."
"At that time, Liuyun City was in darkness."
"Later, when the anomaly occurred, I had fallen into a deadly situation the moment the Calamity Demon Emperor left, and was knocked unconscious by Qianying using a Space Stone and teleported away... I was sent to a place where I happened to encounter Luo Changsheng and Huo Poyun traveling together."
"I once saw through Wuyo's Soul Capture the part of Luo Changsheng's memory that was sealed by the Sword Lord, and thus learned that I was saved by Huo Poyun, and knew at what time and in which star region they found me unconscious."
"At Huo Poyun's cultivation level, it would take about an hour to send me at full speed from that star region to Liuguang Realm."
"At that time, Tian Xuan Continent had just entered the Chou hour, and Liuyun City was still in darkness. Even if... Huo Poyun deliberately slowed down by half and took two hours to deliver me, the night in Liuyun City still wouldn't have completely faded."
"If you had moved Lan Ji Star before I was sent to Liuguang Realm, then the anomaly recorded by Wu Xin should have been in darkness."
"But the image in the Shadow Constant Stone was in broad daylight."
The purple light, the seamless passage through the soul-attached barrier, the Heart-Soul Reflection Jade—all the doubts, flaws, and dissonance could be explained, could allow him to believe...
But a confirmed lie could overturn all explanations and belief.
Her pale lips were almost bitten to blood. Shui Meiyin offered no rebuttal.
Even if she tried to argue with some absurd excuse like "maybe Huo Poyun spent two or three hours taking a detour or a nap," it would be useless. Because many things could be concealed, but the time Yun Che was sent to Liuguang Realm was too easy to confirm.
Shui Qianheng knew, Shui Yingyue knew, Huo Poyun knew... if Yun Che wanted, he could even pinpoint it to the exact moment.
"On the way here, I kept trying to convince myself that this lie might just be a slip of the tongue back then, or a momentary confusion of memory... that you actually moved Lan Ji Star after I arrived at Liuguang Realm."
"I even stayed behind to ask your father to confirm this extremely forced notion... and he gave me the answer I wanted: that during my coma, you briefly left."
"But..." Yun Che closed his eyes, his voice deep and slow: "My Meiyin is far too clever, too meticulous. Back then, she knew nothing about Tian Xuan Continent, but in the past two years, she frequently traveled there, familiarizing herself with its various features and history, learning the frequency of its day-night cycles, and knowing that its climate, seasonal changes, and day-night cycles were almost identical to when it was in the east of the Eastern Domain."
"Plus, the things buried deep in your heart would subconsciously keep you on some kind of alert."
"Someone as intelligent as you would very likely discover this flaw at some point. Because the anomaly that occurred when Lan Ji Star was transferred was witnessed by almost everyone in Liuyun City, and they would remember it was during the day... but comparing it to the time you claimed, they would find that it was the middle of the night in Liuyun City."
"If I ever discovered this for some reason, it would be hard for you to explain."
"Even if the possibility was very, very slim, with your personality, you would still... find a way to correct it. For example, quietly shifting the time you transferred Lan Ji Star to the period when I was unconscious."
"So I thought... maybe your father's answer was the result of your correction. So I used Arcane Firmament Soul-Seizing to question your sister."
The result after that, Shui Meiyin already knew.
Back then, when Shui Meiyin told Yun Che everything, she deliberately mentioned that she transferred Lan Ji Star "before" that, to avoid leaving any flaws... because she knew very well that during Yun Che's coma in Liuguang Realm, she never left even once, and Shui Qianheng and Shui Yingyue were always by her side.
Unexpectedly, this became the biggest flaw.
Her later attempt at correction, under Yun Che's Arcane Firmament Soul-Seizing, instead became irrefutable proof of her lie.
"Lan Ji Star couldn't have been transferred before I was sent to Liuguang Realm... During my coma in Liuguang Realm, you never left even once... yet you specifically reminded your father and sister to lie to me if I ever asked..."
Yun Che took a long, ragged breath: "Meiyin, at this point, are you still going to... keep deceiving me?"
Shui Meiyin's petite body slowly crouched beside Yun Che. She hugged his arm, her slender shoulders trembling slightly, unable to speak for a long time.
With the lies she, her sister, and her father had woven exposed, she had no more excuses left... not even the room to play dumb.
Yun Che turned around, gently placing both hands on Shui Meiyin's shoulders: "Tell me, the person who entrusted the Cosmic Thorn and the Heaven-Defying World Scripture to the Calamity Demon Emperor... was Xia Qingyue... right? Tell me!"
Shui Meiyin didn't dare look into Yun Che's eyes. She shook her head vigorously, saying in a voice almost pleading: "Yun Che gege, don't ask anymore, okay... Just treat it all as a dream... She's still that bad woman who wants to kill you... wants to harm you... okay..."
"Kill me... harm me..." Yun Che's voice began to tremble, his face slowly twisting in pain: "She is Qingyue... how could she kill me... how could she harm me..."
He had always clearly remembered that the two times Xia Qingyue tried to kill him—once in front of the Chaos Wall, once outside the destroyed "Lan Ji Star"—she had done something that seemed a bit strange:
She summoned the Purple Que Divine Sword, and gathered an unusually thick Purple Que Divine Light on the blade.
At the time, Xia Qingyue was a powerful Moon Goddess Emperor, while he was only a Divine King. If Xia Qingyue wanted to kill him, it would take but a flick of her finger. She had no need for the Purple Que Divine Sword, let alone gathering such intense Purple Que Divine Power.
At the time, it gave everyone the impression that Xia Qingyue was using this to demonstrate her determination to slay the demon and completely sever ties with Yun Che.
She wanted to use the most resolute power to obliterate him in an instant, leaving no trace.
But...
If she was the master of the Cosmic Thorn...
If... the reason she released such intense Purple Que Divine Light was to conceal the crimson light released by the Cosmic Thorn when it activated its power...
Her goal was that, the moment the purple light of the Purple Que Divine Sword completely enveloped him, she would use the Cosmic Thorn's power to send him away!
The Cosmic Thorn's spatial teleportation was silent and traceless. When the purple light of the Purple Que Divine Power erupted and faded, and Yun Che disappeared, everyone would think he had been reduced to ashes by the Purple Que Divine Power.
He could then, in a state where everyone believed him dead, quietly hide in another space and quietly grow.
Now, recalling the words she said before those two attempts to kill him, they clearly... carried deeper meaning:
....
"Yun Che, you've fallen to this point today, and I too bear some responsibility. But since you are a demon, don't blame me for being heartless. However, considering our past marital bond, I'll make sure you die without any pain... [Not even leaving a corpse]!"
"In the [world after death], think carefully about what you should do in your next life!"
....
"In the [hell after death], will you become a weeping evil ghost, or a vengeful demon god... I'm quite curious. Now then... die!"
....
But at that time, faced with her cold, heartless words, his heart only felt pain and resentment.
And both of her "executions" were interrupted the moment the Purple Que Divine Light fell.
The first time, he was instantly teleported away by Qianye Ying'er, whose slave mark was still unresolved, using a Space Stone.
The second time, he was interrupted by Mu Xuanyin, who was hiding in the shadows.
"Tell me, quickly tell me... is it her?" Yun Che's words gradually became uncontrollable: "She is the master of the Cosmic Thorn... it was her who engraved the Heart-Soul Reflection Jade early on... it was her who transferred Lan Ji Star... it was her... all of it was her, right?"
"I..." Shui Meiyin shook her head, tears falling from her eyes: "No... don't ask anymore... I can't... I can't say... I..."
Everything had clearly settled, so why did that projection appear... and why did it have a momentary flash of Purple Que Divine Light!
The name Xia Qingyue had always been a nightmare in Yun Che's heart and soul that he didn't want to touch.
And it was precisely this nightmare that had never dissipated that, under that fleeting instant of the projection, caused Yun Che to erupt with an intensely terrifying obsession to investigate, igniting one by one the suspicious points that had previously been formless and intangible, not even counting as flaws...
It was faster, more violent, and more thorough than the worst-case scenarios she had ever imagined.
——
[1]: Chapter 1818: The Truth