Chapter 40: How Pale He Is

Yun Zhao held Qi Yan’s increasingly cold hands, asking with concern, "A-Yan, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Qi Yan replied in a hoarse voice. "You all tidy up this place; I want to be alone for a while."

Yun Zhao was worried about him.

Qi Yan forced himself to suppress his fear and offered her a smile. "I’m truly fine."

After a moment's thought, he whispered to her, "Zhao-Zhao, could you walk with me for a bit?"

Yun Zhao looked toward the others. Bai Lingxiao said gently, "We’ll handle things here. You two go ahead."

After they left, Gu Dinghan said in a low voice, "Is this his inner demon? It really needs to be resolved as soon as possible."

Bai Lingxiao glanced at the two figures disappearing into the woods and murmured, "I hope Zhao-Zhao can help him."

The two walked aimlessly through the forest. Yun Zhao said nothing, simply keeping him company in silence. She knew that what Qi Yan needed was not consolation, but presence.

Stopping under a towering ancient tree, Qi Yan suddenly halted. The dense canopy blocked out the sky, preventing even a sliver of sunlight from reaching the ground. Standing there, Qi Yan seemed like the only person left in the world.

"Are we not going any further?"

Yun Zhao naturally took his hand. "It’s a bit dark here."

Qi Yan said nothing, silently loosening his collar. Large patches of porcelain-white skin were exposed. Yun Zhao’s subconscious first thought was: *Good heavens, how is he paler than me? It’s truly enviable!* Her second thought was to reach out and touch it—it must feel wonderful... *Ugh, what am I thinking!*

Yun Zhao straightened her expression and began to adjust his clothes, saying sternly, "We’re outside, what if someone sees us?"

Qi Yan: "..."

He was left speechless by her suggestive remark, and the gloom in his heart was largely washed away. "...That’s not what I meant." *What is this girl thinking?* He decided that as soon as they returned, he would confiscate all the romance novels she had been reading!

Yun Zhao realized what he meant when she saw the wounds on his chest. They were not ordinary sword or whip marks, but...

"Bite marks?" she asked, bewildered.

Don't blame her for having a mind filled with scandalous thoughts; the presence of bite marks on his body made it hard for her not to jump to conclusions. Could it be that Song Zhiyuan hated Qi Yan so much that he had personally bitten his flesh?

"Yes," Qi Yan answered dully. "To be precise, they are dog bite marks."

Yun Zhao was stunned. No wonder Qi Yan had reacted that way when facing the wild dog earlier. Once bitten, twice shy—let alone the dense, overlapping scars on Qi Yan’s body, suggesting he had been bitten countless times.

Yun Zhao hesitated. She wanted to ask about what happened back then and find a way to comfort him, as this had clearly become an inner demon, which was detrimental to his cultivation. But she feared touching a raw nerve.

As she struggled with her thoughts, Qi Yan smiled faintly and began to tell her of the past. "When I was young, I couldn't control the shift between my beast form and human form. I often couldn't stop myself from transforming."

"Song Zhiyuan saw it once and wanted to know who was stronger: five-year-old me, or a wild dog that had been starved for three days."

"The prize was three steamed buns. I hadn't eaten for days, and my mother was senile, so I was the only one who could go out to find food for us..."

Yun Zhao bit her lower lip, her eyes filled with heartache. Regardless of whether Qi Yan would become the villain who brought chaos to the world in the future, he was innocent in his childhood. When Qi Yan was five, Song Zhiyuan was only a year older. They say people are born good, but she felt that human nature was inherently cruel. Otherwise, how could a mere child conceive such a vicious way to torture another?

Perhaps noticing her grim expression, Qi Yan tried to tease her. "Guess who won in the end?"

Yun Zhao rolled her eyes at him. "You clearly aren't hurting anymore if you have the energy to ask me that."

Qi Yan rarely tugged at her sleeve, his tone carrying a hint of coquettishness. "Just guess."

Yun Zhao sighed. Looking at him like this, she ventured, "You won?"

Qi Yan’s face fell.

Yun Zhao understood. *Oh, he lost.*

Qi Yan played with his fingers, looking aggrieved. "I... I couldn't snatch them away."

"And I got bitten." His voice rose slightly, as if this were some kind of achievement.

Yun Zhao: "..."

"Keep your voice down," she poked the scar on his chest. "Is that something to be proud of?"

To her surprise, Qi Yan suddenly gasped, his face instantly turning pale.

Yun Zhao was startled. "What—what’s wrong?"

"It’s nothing," Qi Yan offered a weak smile. "He scattered poison powder on my wounds. They healed, but they still ache whenever they're touched."

Yun Zhao hurriedly withdrew her hand, looking at him helplessly. "Is there an antidote? Should I ask the martial uncle..."

"No need." Qi Yan raised a hand, his face deathly pale, yet he was still smiling. "I’m used to it. I just need a moment to steady myself."

Those two sentences made Yun Zhao want to curse that bastard Song Zhiyuan. After listening for a while, Qi Yan reached out to stroke her hair. "Actually, I don't blame him. In the end, it was my mother and I who ruined his family. It was only right that he bullied me, and humiliated my mother..."

He couldn't finish the sentence. Yun Zhao knew what he meant—he believed that his and his mother’s appearance had shattered the once-happy home of Song Zhiyuan. Song’s father had abandoned his wife for Qi Yan’s mother, leading to the wife's tragic death and the loss of Song Zhiyuan’s home.

But only Yun Zhao knew the truth: that wasn't how it happened. Qi Yan’s mother had been tricked into the marriage by Song’s father. This was something Qi Yan discovered at the very end of the plot, when Song’s father, desperate to save his own life after Song Zhiyuan killed his son, confessed the truth in hopes of mercy.

But how could Qi Yan show mercy? He hadn't even decided how to punish the man when the world collapsed, and the story came to an abrupt end.

Looking at the troubled Qi Yan, Yun Zhao racked her brains. "Qi Yan, I don't think your mother was that kind of person."

"Think about it—your talent is so extraordinary; it must be inherited from your mother. She must have held a high status in the demon clan."

"A woman like that—how could she possibly fall for a man who already had a family? There must have been plenty of better men."

"Perhaps your mother was naive to the ways of the world and was deceived by a malicious, lustful man."

Yun Zhao’s logic was a bit forced, as she wasn't there and shouldn't have known the context, but everything she said was her own speculation.

Qi Yan muttered, "Could that really be true?"

Yun Zhao nodded vigorously. "Everything we've heard is just the Song family's side of the story. They’re biased toward their own. Why don't we go to the Song family and investigate? We might just find the truth!"

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. The Song family resided in the Demon-Subduing City, which wasn't far away. Once they arrived, she could use her knowledge from the plot to help Qi Yan and his mother seek justice. Her mission was clear: right the wrongs, tear down the scumbag, and rid the world of a menace!