Chapter 1205: Chapter 653: Choose Me or Choose Her (Double Release) (Two More Chapters Coming at Dawn)
Yin Weiyin’s brows slashed coldly together; in her own Immortal Palace, this Prince of Annan actually still dared to spout such狂妄 words.
"How dare you!"
Yin Weiyin had already raised a hand, pressing down at Qin Qingluo through the air,
a surge of pressure several times stronger than before crashed down all at once, as if the gravity of the entire Immortal Palace had suddenly been dumped onto Qin Qingluo alone!
Crack, crack.
The delicate Warm Jade steps beneath Qin Qingluo’s feet gave way in an instant, splitting open with fissures. Her feet sank several inches, and the Mystic Robe Python Robe was crushed tight to her body by the invisible force, outlining lines drawn taut to the extreme.
She let out a muffled groan, both arms that gripped the spear trembling violently, her bones creaking under the strain, as if they might snap at any moment. The shaft of the Purple Electric Gun bent into a terrifying arc.
Yet the defiance burning in her serpent-pupiled eyes only blazed hotter. She clenched her teeth and stood unbowed.
"Heh, these days... in my Prince Mansion..." Qin Qingluo’s voice broke and stuttered under the crushing weight, yet each word stabbed savagely at the place Yin Weiyin cared about most. "He actually never once... thought of you."
Yin Weiyin was so furious she laughed. At last she had witnessed this Princess’s proud spine, and in the same instant understood why even someone as full of methods as Chen Yi had failed to tame this rouge warhorse.
But, that’s fine.
She would lend Chen Yi a hand—she would make Qin Qingluo bow to him from this day on, and also make Chen Yi in turn bow to her, so that even if they left this Immortal Palace, left this world, he would still take her every word as command.
One stone, two birds; one move, two gains.
She slowly moved her hand away. The pressure on Qin Qingluo’s shoulders abruptly lightened, and Qin Qingluo stared at Yin Weiyin with eyes full of wary suspicion.
"Prince, do not let your mind get tangled. I am not truly here to stand against you. I have no interest in petty killing and fighting."
"What exactly do you want?"
"In this place, after all, I am the host and you are the guest. Guests should naturally respect the rules here. Why don’t you and I set a wager: if you win, I will let you all leave as you please; if you lose... better not say just yet—let’s first see if the Prince agrees."
The light in Qin Qingluo’s serpent eyes flickered. Only after a long moment did she give a slight nod.
The Taichua Goddess pressed her lips together in a smile,
and drawled lazily, "Since the Prince is so confident, and cares so much, why not ask Chen Yi’s true heart, and see who he is really devoted to?"
Qin Qingluo’s gaze tightened. She had intended to toss out a "I care not," but the next sentence made her pupils suddenly contract.
"Let’s make it clear first—if the Prince loses, then you’ll have to let him take yin to nourish yang from you."
Yin Weiyin smiled sweetly, enunciating each word:
"At that time, he will take from you first, and then I will take from him."
......
Chen Yi was fixed in place upon the brocade couch in the bedchamber, unable to move so much as his eyeballs.
This immobilization spell was not unfamiliar to him; he’d been frozen by it back in the underworld. At that time Yin Weiyin’s Taoist Skill was still shallow, and he simply hadn’t struggled. But now, within this Heart-Lake-made, wish-fulfilling Immortal Palace of hers, no matter how he strained to break the spell, he could not move an inch.
"Yin Weiyin..."
He bit down on those three syllables so hard his teeth creaked, and yet, strangely, no trace of anger could rise in his heart.
Not only was he not angry, his guts instead twisted soft with ache; merely thinking of that name made his heart itch, stirring up that earliest, primal Ying Yu inside him.
Chen Yi did not panic. After a brief moment of cool-headedness, he reflected that although Great Yin had long been suppressed by him, precisely because of that, the moment she gained the upper hand she would inevitably seek to repay things double, and certainly not with a clean swift cut, but with a dull knife sawing at flesh.
Rivers and mountains may change, but nature does not. No matter how many rounds of chrysanthemum tea he brewed her, with her mountain-dweller temperament, she would still be like this.
Yin Weiyin was precisely this sort of second-rate villain,
He had only just finished grumbling so in his heart when, before long, he couldn’t help tacking on a line: however, many women fell far short of Yin Weiyin.
"..."
In the future she was getting locked in the dark little room for a whole day; he wouldn’t let her rest until he’d tired her completely out!
Letting that thought drift past, Chen Yi gathered his mind and pondered calmly. For the moment he was in grave danger; what mattered most was escaping as soon as possible, not butting heads with Yin Weiyin. After all, no matter how he fantasized, he could never out-fantasize his Great Yin.
Wish-fulfilling...
From what angle should he make his move, and from where should he let his wish take form?
As he was thinking, the door opened without a sound, and two figures stepped in.
Qin Qingluo in Mystic Robe Python Robe, breath slightly quickened, serpent eyes still shadowed with unspent fury and shock; Yin Weiyin in a spotless Sky Blue Palace Dress, walking with unhurried grace, a faint, all-controlling smile resting at her lips.
Chen Yi’s gaze flicked anxiously between the two women’s faces. He wanted to warn them, to speak out and stop them, but his throat felt as if seized by an invisible hand.
"What are you so anxious for?"
Yin Weiyin shot him a sidelong glance and casually pointed a fingertip. Chen Yi at once felt his lips and tongue go numb, completely robbed of speech.
She turned to Qin Qingluo, her voice carrying a strange penetrating quality that went straight to the heart. "Does the Prince not wish to know his true heart? Words are needless. You and I will enter together; one look, and all will be clear."
Qin Qingluo’s gaze was sharp as a blade. She swept a look over the motionless Chen Yi, then let it fall back on Yin Weiyin, and said coldly, "How do we enter?"
"Simple." Yin Weiyin lifted a hand. A thread of faint Immortal Light shot from her fingertip into the space between each of their brows. "To the Heart Lake’s Little World, a single thought is enough."
Enter his Heart Lake?
Chen Yi’s heart gave a jump. He suddenly felt this might be a good opportunity. Ever since he comprehended the Sword Intent World, his Heart Lake had operated like a Little World of its own. Even if Yin Weiyin was nigh a goddess in this realm, once within his Heart Lake, she would by no means be invincible.
Perhaps... there was still room to maneuver there.
In the very next instant of that thought, Yin Weiyin’s and Qin Qingluo’s Three Souls and Seven Spirits burst into his Heart Lake like two utterly different torrents.
.........
The Heart Lake unfolded as the scenic view of Cangwu Peak: Fir rising in dense ranks, a small path winding in from the distance toward this spot, the contours of the mountains stretching outward from here without end.
Chen Yi let out a long breath, as if a heavy weight on his shoulders had finally been set down.
Here, he could at last throw off his shackles and move freely.
The two women’s figures were slowly ascending the path. From afar, the outline of Qin Qingluo’s form entered his sight. Chen Yi drew a deep breath and strode forward.
A glint of light flashed in Qin Qingluo’s wind-eyes as she adjusted her focus.
Chen Yi had barely started walking when, halfway there, he suddenly veered and headed toward Yin Weiyin.
The Taichua Goddess stood tall and unmoving. She shook her head lightly and said with a smile, "Why are you being so familiar with me?"
Chen Yi himself froze for a moment. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Qin Qingluo’s face, gloomy to begin with, sink into an even darker shade.
They came to a spacious clearing, the very spot where Chen Yi usually practiced sword on Yin Sword Mountain. Yin Weiyin glanced around and sighed, "Clear waters and green hills—truly a blessed land of Immortals."
Qin Qingluo also looked around. What spread before her was indeed an uncommon sight, pure and natural. She gave a slight nod, seemingly in agreement.
A sheen of sweat rose faintly at Chen Yi’s temples. Neither woman had ever been to Cangwu Peak; he could hardly tell them where this scene originated. Otherwise, once tensions were inflamed again, matters would spiral completely out of control.
He steadied his mind and quietly dispersed the myriad obsessions of Zhou Yitang that lingered in his Heart Lake, sending them drifting into the distance.
Qin Qingluo’s serpent eyes, sharp as blades, swept over this tranquil world and finally pinned themselves on Chen Yi. Her voice was cold and hard as iron. "How do we discern your true heart? Are we to rely on this illusory landscape?" Her gaze slid over Yin Weiyin, her scorn utterly unmasked. "Or does the Taichua Goddess intend to use your so-called Immortal Magic here again, forcing shoots to grow by wrenching the melon vine?"
Yin Weiyin’s wide sky-blue sleeves fluttered lightly in the pine wind. Her posture was at ease, her smile composed at the corners of her lips.
"Pray be a little patient, Prince. The Heart Lake mirrors the heart. What one thinks and desires has nowhere to hide. Where his heart truly leans will be clear with a single question."
Qin Qingluo snorted coldly. She clearly still harbored doubts about Yin Weiyin’s words, but matters had reached this point; she was even less willing to yield in momentum.
She stepped forward. Her Mystic Robe Python Robe snapped in the pine wind. Though the Purple Electric Gun was not in her hand, the killing edge honed on battlefields flared sharper than any spear-tip, thrusting straight at Chen Yi.
Yin Weiyin also said nothing further, only shook her head slightly and looked over.
As her words fell, the gazes of both women swept toward him in perfect unison.
Chen Yi’s breathing quickened slightly.
Without speaking, the two women seemed to be asking,
Choose me, or choose her.
