Ye Tinglan and Lu Xingzhou listened in stunned silence.

Initially, they both felt she was being self-pitying or even morally manipulative. No one asked her to break her legs; how was Lu Xingzhou supposed to face this, especially with their wedding so soon? It felt like she was just creating more trouble.

But her words seemed to imply something else entirely.

Besides, current medical treatments and drugs were far superior to the past, and with timely treatment, a full recovery was likely. There didn’t seem to be any basis for moral manipulation, so it truly wasn’t what they thought.

For a moment, neither of them knew how to respond. Lu Xingzhou silently set her bones, applied medicine, splinted her leg, and bandaged it. He then used Bishui Dichan to soothe it and finally gave her a pill. “Thankfully, it’s just a break, not shattered… As long as you don’t mess with it further, you’ll be able to walk simply in three days. But for combat, you’ll need at least ten days to half a month of recovery, the longer the better.”

Yuan Muyu didn’t act up and obediently swallowed the pill. “Understood.”

Lu Xingzhou stood up, sighing with a headache. “Self-harm is a very childish act… I don’t need you to punish yourself, nor do I need your empathy. I just want a normal relationship, and… I hope everyone can be well.”

Yuan Muyu’s gaze softened. “You don’t hate me?”

Lu Xingzhou remained expressionless.

He had felt some hatred after being kidnapped and nearly raped, but it dissipated with her self-inflicted leg breaks, or rather, he was left with little emotion beyond “holy cow.”

So perhaps doing something utterly shocking had its uses.

Moreover, it would have been quite difficult to get an explanation from her regarding the incident. Now, she had given it herself, leaving him at a loss for words.

Just as an awkward silence settled, Ye Tinglan’s body finally flew in urgently, kicking open the secret chamber door, and her divine descent merged with her.

Actions that were difficult to perform as a non-corporeal divine descent were now possible.

Ye Tinglan’s willow-like eyebrows furrowed, and she swung her palm, giving her sister a resounding slap. “When will you ever grow up!”

Yuan Muyu didn’t block it and took the full force of the blow. Her head was knocked to the side, blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and a clear handprint appeared on her fair face.

Ye Tinglan wanted to hit her again, but Lu Xingzhou quickly embraced her around the waist. “That’s enough, that’s enough.”

Ye Tinglan continued to kick. “I was too lenient with your discipline back then, raising such a scoundrel!”

Lu Xingzhou inexplicably recalled the sight of Xiao Bai Mao being held and kicked by Ye Tinglan; the figures of master and disciple overlapped. Despite the inappropriate timing, he couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What are you laughing at?” Ye Tinglan’s aggression turned to him, and she stomped on his foot fiercely. “Are you feeling sorry for her?”

How was he supposed to answer that? Lu Xingzhou could only say, “My dear wife, please calm down. It’s not worth ruining your health.”

Ye Tinglan’s tone was sarcastic. “What health could I ruin? I’m not the one who’s pregnant.”

Lu Xingzhou: “?”

“And who are you calling your wife? Long Qinghuang isn’t here, what are you shouting?”

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

“Get out!” Ye Tinglan pushed him towards the door. “My sister and I need to talk. Go wherever you want, you troublemaker!”

“Hey, hey, hey…” Poor Lu Xingzhou, who had broken through to the first rank and terrified everyone, was still utterly powerless before these women. He was directly pushed out the door, which then slammed shut and locked him outside.

Silence fell in the secret chamber. Yuan Muyu tilted her head, watching her sister’s outburst, her expression quite strange.

She had never seen Ye Tinglan like this, not even imagined it, throughout her life.

But this Ye Tinglan felt alive, whereas the sister she had known since childhood seemed like a mere label.

“What are you looking at?” Ye Tinglan tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, resuming her composed demeanor, and said expressionlessly, “What, you don’t even recognize me?”

Yuan Muyu chuckled. “Indeed… I feel like I don’t.”

“Do you want me to slap you a few more times to help you recognize me?”

Yuan Muyu didn’t answer this time.

Ye Tinglan fell silent. Yuan Muyu had always been an extreme and stubborn person since childhood. In the past, let alone that slap, even such a question would have led to a heated argument. But today, she meekly took the slap and said nothing when asked, as if she would accept another beating.

They were sisters after all. If Yuan Muyu had been confrontational, Ye Tinglan would likely have been even more enraged. But this meekness actually extinguished Ye Tinglan’s anger. After a long pause, she stiffly asked, “Does it hurt?”

“Are you asking about your slap or my broken legs?”

“Nonsense, of course the legs! What’s there to ask about your nasty face? If it didn’t hurt, why would I have slapped you?”

Yuan Muyu: “…If my legs didn’t hurt, why would I have broken them?”

The sisters stared at each other for a long time before Ye Tinglan sighed. “Xingzhou is rational and articulate, and he’s probably said enough to you. I won’t say more, lest you complain that my ‘motherly’ lecturing is annoying.”

Yuan Muyu said, “So what do you want to say?”

“I want to say, if even my few words of lecturing annoy you, aren’t the things you’re doing now even more annoying?”

Yuan Muyu lowered her eyes to her legs and whispered, “I won’t anymore. At least… I’ll try to think about what he wants.”

Ye Tinglan’s intended words caught in her throat.

Yuan Muyu smiled and suddenly asked, “Have I always been bad at seeing things from others’ perspectives since I was little?”

Ye Tinglan said, “You and I have many similar temperaments… The biggest difference is that you rarely consider others’ feelings, while I, on the contrary, worry too much. Looking back on these years, both you and I were at fault in our disputes.”

Yuan Muyu glanced at Ye Tinglan again… This was the first time Ye Tinglan had admitted fault to her, even if she said both were at fault.

Ye Tinglan continued, “Actually, with your superficial personality, taking the path of cutting off emotions would be quite suitable. To freely express yourself might even lead you higher. However, that kind of cultivation is true demonic cultivation, making one increasingly selfish and cruel, which then conflicts with your inherent nature.”

Yuan Muyu “hmm”-ed.

Things are relative. Compared to ordinary people, Yuan Muyu was indeed self-centered and rarely considered others. But compared to the demands of absolute detachment and ruthlessness, she was far from it.

If she were truly a Yama King who only thought of herself and abandoned all familial ties, perhaps this path would have been smooth. Unfortunately, at her core, she was not.

Whether by genetic inheritance or early family and sect education, she was fundamentally emotional. Apart from Lu Xingzhou’s matter, there were many other examples. For instance, despite being determined to oppose Tianyao Shengdi, when it came to actual combat, she would only injure, not kill, simply unable to strike the fatal blow.

Another example: after Shen Tang showed her protection and kindness, even when Shen Tang later learned her identity and became cold, Yuan Muyu’s attitude towards Shen Tang remained good.

Ji Wenchuan and others were still willing to assist her and hadn’t been disheartened by the Lu Xingzhou incident, also because she had shown great kindness to them.

People are complex; it’s difficult to be extreme, and even harder to truly know oneself. The path that seems suitable on the surface often requires hitting rock bottom to realize it’s not suitable at all.

By the time one realizes, an irreparable price has already been paid.

Ye Tinglan said, “When I first met Xingzhou, I was quite annoyed with him. It was because you were just extreme, not yet on the path of demonic cultivation, and I felt he was leading you down that road. Your temperament was only a hair’s breadth away from demonic cultivation; if you truly fell into that path, it would be over…”

Yuan Muyu seemed lost in thought. “Then what?”

“Later, I gradually realized that it was precisely his presence that kept you from completely entering demonic cultivation. And what you initially wanted to sever, what you thought was an obstacle to your path, was actually a tether preventing you from becoming a demon.”

Yuan Muyu: “…”

It seemed to be true.

“So, Ye Fuyao!” Ye Tinglan’s voice rose an octave. “You’re quite something. What can tether you from becoming a demon is a man, but you, sister, don’t care at all!”

Yuan Muyu: “?”

You talked all that for this?

Why should I care about a sister who maliciously live-streamed her intimate moments with my man?

But again, this kind of sister felt so vibrant…

Yuan Muyu stared at her blankly for a long time, then suddenly said, “If you had always been like this, instead of being so poised and formal, I might not have argued with you so much.”

Ye Tinglan hesitated. “Are you… masochistic? When I talk sense to you, you get annoyed, but when I slap you and scold you a bit, you feel a connection, is that it?”

Yuan Muyu scoffed. “It’s just because you seem human now. You say I’m a hair’s breadth from becoming a demon, and I say you’re a hair’s breadth from becoming a divine monument. It’s mutual.”

Ye Tinglan looked her up and down. “Too bad you still don’t seem very human. I’m warning you, he’s getting married on the fifth. If you dare cause trouble again, I’ll beat you to death!”

Yuan Muyu was silent for a moment. “I won’t.”

Ye Tinglan was suspicious. “After all, you arranged the marriage. I don’t believe you don’t want to play the role of the elder and have Shen Tang and the others kowtow and serve you tea.”

Yuan Muyu’s expression was very strange. This thought process, you must have considered it yourself, right?

Ye Tinglan turned her head.

Yuan Muyu said, “My legs are broken. I can’t let the capital’s nobles and people like Huanhua Jianpai and Lingtian Ge know. So, from the moment I broke my legs, it was decided I wouldn’t attend the wedding. As for kowtowing and serving tea, you might find some mischievous pleasure in it, but for me, it would be a slow torture.”

This time, Ye Tinglan was truly surprised. This was starting to sound a bit more human.

Yuan Muyu added, “I won’t give up the power of Yanluo Dian, but that might no longer be related to my path of cultivation. The new emperor has some issues, and signs of the ancient world have appeared. This power might be useful in the future.”

“Do you mean you’re leaving?”

“Yes, if the wedding is slow torture for me, what benefit is there in my participation? When I return this time, I will reorganize my cultivation and clarify what Xingzhou said, what it is that I truly love.” Yuan Muyu wheeled her chair out the door. “When I understand, we’ll meet again.”

The door opened, and Lu Xingzhou, who had been pacing anxiously outside, truly couldn’t eavesdrop on the conversation these two women didn’t want him to hear.

Yuan Muyu wheeled past him and whispered, “Shen Tang said she couldn’t stand being in a wheelchair for a year, and I think she said too much… I couldn’t stand it just wheeling from inside the room to outside.”

Lu Xingzhou watched her retreating back, wondering if he should remind her that she could fly.