Chapter 181: Even If You Heard the Real Story, What Could You Do?
After Bie Yanghong died, Wuqiong Bi became somewhat dazed and vacant.
She sat against the wall, her hair disheveled, holding Bie Yanghong’s remains in her arms, refusing to let anyone approach, let alone touch him.
Chen Changsheng and Xuan Yuan Po stood at the doorway, watching this scene, unsure of what to do.
Both Bie Yanghong and Wuqiong Bi were masters of the Sacred Domain, arguably the most famous couple on the continent.
The entire continent knew that this couple had a very deep bond, but no one understood why their bond was so strong.
More precisely, the whole continent couldn’t fathom why Bie Yanghong treated Wuqiong Bi so well.
The Heavenly Sea Empress had never figured it out back then, nor had Wang Po.
Because they couldn’t understand, they and the rest of the world felt somewhat indignant on Bie Yanghong’s behalf.
Before his death, Bie Yanghong told Chen Changsheng a very simple story, but Chen Changsheng still couldn’t grasp it.
He knew what liking felt like.
He liked Xu Yourong very much, but whether in the Zhou Garden, in the wind and snow of Naihe Bridge, or under the twilight of Saintess Peak—when he liked Xu Yourong so much that no other scenery could fit in his heart besides her—he still couldn’t understand this matter.
“If your wife is extremely good to you, but has a terrible temper and is even a great villain, what would you do?”
He recalled Bie Yanghong’s question.
If Xu Yourong were a great villain, what would he do?
He didn’t know.
He looked into the room.
Wuqiong Bi’s hair draped over her body, the black strands now tinged with gray, her expression utterly defeated and despairing.
Seeing this scene, Chen Changsheng felt a mix of pity and discomfort—in short, his emotions were complicated.
Xuan Yuan Po was a simple person who didn’t dwell on complex matters.
Back when Wuqiong Bi wanted to destroy the National Academy, he was the one closest to death.
Of course, he didn’t like this Daoist nun.
He had spent very little time with Bie Yanghong, but he deeply admired him, wanted to grow close to him, and wished to take him as his master.
But that didn’t change his attitude toward Wuqiong Bi; instead, it made him detest her even more, especially after witnessing those arguments.
The more he liked Bie Yanghong, the more he loathed Wuqiong Bi.
The more beautiful, the uglier.
Positions were indeed relative, as were all things in the world and all emotions.
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Wuqiong Bi lifted her head and looked at Xuan Yuan Po, reading the emotion in his eyes, and asked, “Do you hate me very much?”
Xuan Yuan Po was silent for a moment, then said, “Yes, because I don’t understand why you’re still alive while he’s dead. It’s not fair.”
Wuqiong Bi said coldly, “Good people don’t live long, while the wicked thrive for a thousand years. Don’t you even know that truth?”
Xuan Yuan Po didn’t know how to respond to that and felt even more frustrated.
Chen Changsheng shook his head.
A mocking expression flickered across Wuqiong Bi’s face. “Don’t you all want to know why he was so good to me?”
Xuan Yuan Po’s gaze shifted from the still-steaming buns to Bie Yanghong’s face, thinking about how to snatch the senior’s remains from this madwoman’s grasp, completely ignoring her. Chen Changsheng also said nothing.
Wuqiong Bi sneered, “This is a very old story. If you don’t beg me, I won’t have the energy to recall it.”
“Master Bie already told us, while you were asleep just now.”
Chen Changsheng paused, then said, “If you want to add anything, feel free.”
“He was rescued by my father from the Hundred Child Shop. Back then, he was as thin as a monkey, starving badly, and his throat was injured by an old beggar. I brought out my favorite soup dumplings, but he couldn’t even swallow them. The look of craving and pain on his face—I still can’t forget it to this day. In the end, I tore apart all those dumplings, collected the meat juice into a small bowl, and slowly fed it to him, saving his life.”
Wuqiong Bi’s expression grew somewhat desolate. “Later, he told me that at that moment, he swore to himself over that bowl of meat juice that he would be good to me for the rest of his life, that no matter what I did, he wouldn’t blame me, and that he would always protect me from any danger.”
Chen Changsheng was silent for a moment, then said, “I think he kept that promise.”
“Indeed, he did. My kindness to him wasn’t even one percent of what he gave back to me. I know no one likes me. I know he even took the blame on himself. He’d say that back then, he was stationed incognito at Yonglan Pass for over seventy years, rarely coming home, missing my father’s last moments, and not being there to take care of me when I miscarried, which is why my temperament changed so drastically…”
Wuqiong Bi’s voice suddenly filled with much resentment. “But so what? He said he’d stay with me for a lifetime, and now he’s left early just the same!”
Xuan Yuan Po didn’t understand these words, thinking, the senior died—it’s not like he abandoned you on purpose. How can that be grounds for complaint?
Chen Changsheng understood, and said, “But before he left, he still worried about you.”
“That’s why he said those things, telling me to reform, to listen to you.”
Wuqiong Bi looked at him with a cold smile. “Do you really think I’d be moved by these old stories and suddenly repent?”
Hearing this, Xuan Yuan Po was furious, and Chen Changsheng was speechless, no longer able to figure out what this Daoist nun wanted.
Wuqiong Bi straightened Bie Yanghong, took a bun from the steamer, and began to eat.
The beef and scallion buns were filled with plenty of red oil, no longer scalding hot but not yet solidified.
Two streams of red oil dripped down from the corners of her mouth, like blood, looking somewhat ridiculous, somewhat disgusting, somewhat terrifying.
Wuqiong Bi lowered her head, and neither Chen Changsheng nor Xuan Yuan Po saw the violent emotions gradually brewing in her eyes.
Chen Changsheng was still thinking about what she had just said.
Those debts Bie Yanghong owed her and the family were probably real—so why hadn’t Bie Yanghong mentioned them?
Soon, he understood the reasoning and the sentiment behind it, and felt a sense of bewilderment.
Wuqiong Bi thought Bie Yanghong would reveal those things, showing that he truly owed her and the family, thereby making the world more lenient toward her.
But she didn’t realize that if Bie Yanghong had done that, the world’s perception of her would only have worsened.
Whether it was the initial life-saving grace or the later events, it would all make people think she was leveraging her favors for repayment.
Bie Yanghong’s approach was better. He didn’t bring up any of that; he just told a very simple story.
He simply liked her. She was his wife, and he should protect her.
That way, after he left this world, she could still gain some respect as his wife, and her days would hopefully be a bit easier.
Death was approaching, and in his final moments, Bie Yanghong was still thinking about how to make her life better, and he had done a great deal for that.
This was precisely the sentiment that left Chen Changsheng feeling bewildered.
He vaguely understood the relationship between Bie Yanghong and Wuqiong Bi, still tied to that question.
She liked him, she was good to him, and he liked her too—at least, he had liked her very much before. So what could be done?
Place righteousness above family loyalty?
Su Li hadn’t killed that demon princess. What could Bie Yanghong do about Wuqiong Bi?
Even if the whole world were about to be destroyed, what could be done?
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