Chapter 97: You’d Do Anything?

Chapter 97: I'll Do Anything?

"A Lian, that person..." During the break, He Ci walked over and carefully asked Shen Lian, "He didn't cause any trouble, did he?"

Shen Lian snapped out of his thoughts. "Nothing. Don't worry."

He Ci paused. "Nothing seemed off about him either?"

That question made Shen Lian think of Yan Huaixuan's eyes. For some reason, he also felt Yan Huaixuan had changed somehow.

He Ci was astonished. "After all those bolts of Heavenly Thunder, he still survived."

What kind of terrifying being was he?

Shen Lian shook his head. "I don't know either."

But Shen Lian himself wasn't sure what exactly he was answering to.

"So what are we gonna do now?" He Ci frowned. "We can't just let him keep clinging to you like this."

Shen Lian shook his head. "Let's put that aside for now."

"Mm."

When Shen Lian returned, Yan Huaixuan was standing in the courtyard. "You're back."

Shen Lian sneered. "Haven't you been tailing me this whole time? Why act like you're just now noticing I'm back?"

Yan Huaixuan pursed his lips.

Shen Lian looked at him and was suddenly overcome with irritation.

He thought, since they were already over, why keep dragging it out?

Hadn't Yan Huaixuan been the decisive one back then? Why was he being so wishy-washy now?

Shen Lian could've just ignored him.

But what the system had said was a stark reminder that Shen Lian owed Yan Huaixuan a lot.

And to make things worse, Yan Huaixuan was still the Savior.

Shen Lian's head was splitting, while Yan Huaixuan was over there cooking, completely clueless.

Could everything from the past just be wiped away by Yan Huaixuan saying, "I knew nothing, I was born not knowing what love is"?

Yan Huaixuan had figured Shen Lian would just walk right past him this time.

But to his surprise, Shen Lian stopped right in front of him.

Yan Huaixuan paused, then immediately recalled Shen Lian's rule about staying three meters away.

Yan Huaixuan stepped back, bewildered. "A Lian?"

Shen Lian's face was expressionless as he stepped closer, forcing Yan Huaixuan to back up again.

Until Yan Huaixuan was backed into a corner, and Shen Lian stood right before him.

All Yan Huaixuan had to do was lower his head to pull the man in front of him into his arms.

But reason held him back.

Meanwhile, Shen Lian watched this man—far more powerful and unfathomable than him—retreat step by step until he was cornered.

His immaculate robes quickly got dust on them from the floor.

Just like Yan Huaixuan himself, who had stepped down from his high pedestal.

Shen Lian stepped forward again, but there was only the wall behind Yan Huaixuan.

By now, Shen Lian was practically pressed up against Yan Huaixuan.

Yan Huaixuan's lashes drooped, his Adam's apple bobbing as he inhaled Shen Lian's scent.

Shen Lian suddenly lifted his hand and pressed it against Yan Huaixuan's chest.

Yan Huaixuan went rigid, a flicker of confusion surfacing in his frost-colored eyes as he simply looked at Shen Lian.

That was when Shen Lian spoke, his fingers trailing over Yan Huaixuan's chest. "What exactly do you want? Just say it outright."

Shen Lian's expression was cold. "If you just regret not getting to fuck me, we can go inside and do it right now."

"After that, just leave me alone, alright?"

Shen Lian looked up, staring at Yan Huaixuan. "Hm?"

But when Yan Huaixuan heard that, the confusion in his eyes slowly turned pitch-black. He stared straight at Shen Lian. "You think I came back to you for something like that?"

Shen Lian said flatly, "What else? You're the one who said you had zero feelings for me."

A bitter pang shot through Yan Huaixuan's heart. He knew that no matter what Shen Lian said, he'd never trust him again.

But who was there to blame? No one but himself.

Once bitten, twice shy.

After being deceived once, Shen Lian had completely walled off his heart.

The old Shen Lian had been bright and sunny—it was Yan Huaixuan who had made him like this.

Yan Huaixuan said in a low voice, "What if I said I just want to make things right?"

"If you really want to make it up to me, you shouldn't be bothering me. You should go back to being the peerless genius you were," Shen Lian said calmly. "Instead of haunting me like a ghost."

Yan Huaixuan seized Shen Lian's hand. "But I can't."

"I'm the one who turned you into this," Yan Huaixuan said, his hand softly brushing Shen Lian's cheek, his voice laced with bitterness. "You used to smile all the time, but now you almost never do."

Shen Lian paused.

"That day in Floating Cloud City, the streets were full of laughter and joy. He Ci and that Peacock were messing around beside you, but you alone stood apart—you didn't fit in with all those lights."

"I keep thinking, if none of this had happened, with your personality, you'd have had tons of friends. Your cultivation talent was amazing too—just as good as mine."

Yan Huaixuan paused, then spoke slowly, each word cutting into his own heart like a knife.

"Maybe we would've been an ordinary immortal couple. Maybe we would've cultivated together, traveled the world, and ascended together. Even if we never ascended, it wouldn't have mattered—we'd have grown old together."

"I dream of this scene every night, but a single wrong choice led to such an earth-shattering outcome."

It drove him to madness, becoming an obsession he could never shake off.

He'd originally thought he and Shen Lian had no chance, but he knew Shen Lian was searching for him.

He figured maybe Shen Lian still had a shred of their old love left.

Yan Huaixuan grabbed Shen Lian's hand, pulled him into his arms, and held him tight.

Once, he couldn't understand why some cultivators would let love get in the way of their cultivation.

But when it came to himself, he realized feelings were the most unfathomable, unpredictable thing in the world.

Shen Lian pressed his lips into a thin line and said coldly, "No matter what I want to do, you'd agree?"

"Yes."

Shen Lian smirked slightly. "Fine, but I'm not into being the bottom anymore. I want to top. Let me do it once, and I'll give you this chance."

He wondered if the lofty Yan Huaixuan would really stoop so low.

Or maybe Yan Huaixuan was just all talk.

Yan Huaixuan looked down, meeting his gaze. "Is this what you want?"

When he asked this, Shen Lian relaxed into a smile instead.

He knew he had guessed right; Yan Huaixuan had ulterior motives.

Shen Lian said with a grin, "Right, if you're not willing, then just—"

Before he could even say "get lost," Yan Huaixuan lowered his gaze and said, "Fine."

"What?" Shen Lian was taken aback, thinking he had misheard, and stared blankly at Yan Huaixuan.

Yan Huaixuan caressed his cheek. "Didn't I tell you? You can do anything to me. Come."

Before Shen Lian knew it, he found himself in a room with Yan Huaixuan.