Chapter 105: You’ve Softened Toward Me, Haven’t You?

Chapter 105: You've Softened Toward Me, Haven't You?

The inner demon's eyes widened, and it immediately began jumping up and down frantically, "Yan Huaixuan, what are you doing? Take your hand off me!"

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Yan Huaixuan's lips, hidden from Shen Lian's view. His voice was hoarse, "It's nothing."

Despite saying that, blood once again seeped from the corner of Yan Huaixuan's lips.

Shen Lian's gaze sharpened. In a panic, he tried to wipe the blood from Yan Huaixuan's lips, but no matter what he did, it kept flowing.

"Yan Huaixuan?" Shen Lian, without thinking, channeled all his spiritual power into Yan Huaixuan.

But it was like there was a hole inside Yan Huaixuan, and the power just kept draining out.

Thinking the inner demon was again clinging to Yan Huaixuan's soul, Shen Lian quickly found a Nine-Turn Soul-Stabilizing Pill and was about to feed it to him.

But Yan Huaixuan furrowed his brows slightly, his eyes half-lidded, appearing to have fainted.

Shen Lian's hand hung in mid-air. He hadn't even gotten the pill in his mouth, and he was already out cold?

Shen Lian's brows furrowed hard. He had no choice but to pinch Yan Huaixuan's jaw, intending to force open his lips.

But Yan Huaixuan's jaw was clenched so tight he couldn't get them apart.

Why did this scene feel so familiar to Shen Lian?

Seeing this, the inner demon's eyes widened, but it quickly gritted its teeth, "Yan Huaixuan, you've learned to play pretend too? Let me out."

Yan Huaixuan was unfazed, "I told you, what he said to you before was merely playing along."

Ling Yun glanced from Yan Huaixuan to the inner demon.

Why did these two now feel like...

The inner demon sneered, "Yan Huaixuan, stop tooting your own horn. He's only doing this because you're the savior of the Primordial Realm."

Yan Huaixuan said flatly, "So what if it is? Since he has the whole world in his heart, he'd want to see you even less."

The inner demon froze.

But soon, it retorted, "Bullshit! Only you can save the world? I can too."

Ling Yun: "?"

"Let me out, and I'll do a better job than you!"

But Yan Huaixuan once again severed the inner demon's connection to the outside.

The inner demon narrowed its gaze, then suddenly let out a cold laugh. It immediately withdrew all its power.

Yan Huaixuan was using it to play the victim for Shen Lian, huh?

Fine. Then it would pull back and see how Yan Huaixuan could keep pretending.

Meanwhile, Shen Lian paused for a second. He'd thought about dissolving the pill in water and feeding it to him, like he had with He Ci before.

But soon, he noticed something was wrong.

He noticed that the turbulent energy inside Yan Huaixuan had completely vanished, and his pulse pattern had returned to normal.

But why was Yan Huaixuan still not waking up?

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes and moved in close to Yan Huaixuan's face.

The man's eyes were still shut tight, his face pale, with no sign of anything wrong.

Shen Lian dropped his eyes, inching closer and closer to Yan Huaixuan, and whispered softly, "A Xuan."

The moment those two words left his lips, Shen Lian clearly felt Yan Huaixuan's chest rise and fall.

Now he was absolutely sure. He twitched the corner of his mouth and continued, "A Xuan, I've realized I might still have a soft spot for you. Don't die on me."

"A Xuan, I miss you so much. If you'd just hug me right now, I'd forgive you for everything."

He braced his hand on Yan Huaixuan's chest, his voice pleading, "A Xuan."

Yan Huaixuan remained still. Shen Lian lifted his head, his lips grazing Yan Huaixuan's.

Not quite a kiss, but enough to feel the other person there.

Shen Lian seemed as if he couldn't help himself as he pried open Yan Huaixuan's lips.

Murmuring against his lips, "A Xuan."

A second later, Shen Lian broke away from Yan Huaixuan and swung his hand at Yan Huaixuan's face, "Yan Huaixuan, weren't you out cold? I've never seen someone who's fainted kiss back with tongue."

He'd just been testing him, and sure enough, Yan Huaixuan's tongue instinctively responded.

Yan Huaixuan opened his eyes, and even though he'd been caught, his face stayed calm.

Instead, he caught Shen Lian's hand and pulled him down onto the bed.

"What are you doing? Get off me," Shen Lian shoved at him with his hands.

Yan Huaixuan watched Shen Lian, thinking back to what Shen Lian had said to the inner demon.

A flicker passed through his eyes, "I heard you just now. You said you still have feelings for me."

Yan Huaixuan said with certainty.

Shen Lian let out a frustrated laugh, "That was just to test you."

With that, Shen Lian stared at Yan Huaixuan, "Yan Huaixuan, you've gotten bold, haven't you? Now you're putting on a show too?"

But this time, Yan Huaixuan didn't just give in without limits like before.

Instead, he locked his arm around Shen Lian's waist, "If I hadn't faked it, how would you have let your feelings slip so easily?"

Yan Huaixuan leaned closer to Shen Lian, "And how would I have known you haven't gotten over me?"

Shen Lian's eyes went wide, "Are you being so ridiculous?"

Anyone could tell those words were just a test, so why did Yan Huaixuan take them seriously?

Under Shen Lian's disbelieving stare, Yan Huaixuan enunciated each word, "You're just saying one thing while meaning another."

"You say you don't care about me and use the Primordial Realm as an excuse, but really it's just so you can care for me without feeling guilty."

Shen Lian couldn't believe Yan Huaixuan could be this shameless, "Fine, say what you want."

He channeled his spiritual power and shoved Yan Huaixuan away.

This time, Yan Huaixuan released him and stood behind Shen Lian. "Back then, I was the same. I used my position as an examiner for the Tianheng Sect as an excuse to keep pestering you."

"Honestly, I just couldn't swallow my pride, and I wanted an excuse to get closer to you."

Shen Lian paused mid-step, then said without looking back, "Who asked you to say all that? What you say has nothing to do with me."

"I'm not like you. I don't go back for seconds. A man I've thrown away, I don't want."

Yan Huaixuan grabbed his wrist. "Is that so? Then why did you catch me the second I fell?"

He admitted that at first, he'd only meant to deliberately mess with the inner demon.

But Yan Huaixuan hadn't expected Shen Lian to catch him right away. Even before he pretended to faint, he hadn't missed the flicker of panic in Shen Lian's eyes.

Just like he had been back then.

Was Shen Lian only doing this for the Primordial Realm, or was there something else he wouldn't admit?

Shen Lian's fingertips curled slightly. He turned around with a sneer. "What are you getting at? You deliberately pretended to faint just to test me—I haven't settled that score with you yet!"

Yan Huaixuan's eyes flickered. With a raise of his hand, Shen Lian found himself helplessly falling back into Yan Huaixuan's embrace.

Yan Huaixuan lowered his gaze. "A Lian, you have feelings too—you're just unwilling to admit it, aren't you?"

"You're talking nonsense," Shen Lian started, "I was just—"

"The Primordial Realm," Yan Huaixuan could recite that line in his sleep by now. His gaze fell on Shen Lian's brows and eyes. If it had been before, perhaps he would have believed it, but after what just happened, a glimmer of hope had stirred in his heart.

True or false, Yan Huaixuan still didn't want to give up.

"You've softened toward me, haven't you?"

He inched closer to Shen Lian, his gaze tracing over Shen Lian's face.

When he noticed that Shen Lian no longer reacted with resistance like before, but instead pressed his lips together, a hint of a smile crept into Yan Huaixuan's eyes.