Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 806 (1): Tea Party and the Secret of the Icy Abyss

“It’s already been four days since we made the agreement to meet in a month.” Ye Jiuyou sat with her eyes closed, seemingly in meditation, yet her lips curled into a teasing remark. “There’s still no sign of Zhao Changhe anywhere near Kunlun... Has he given up?”

Piaomiao’s brow furrowed. “Why are you so talkative all of a sudden? You’ve barely had a moment of silence in days. You weren’t like this before.”

“I’m talking for little Cui Yuanyang’s sake. Whether you listen or not is none of my concern.” Ye Jiuyou chuckled. “Ask Yangyang herself. After being stuck here for so many days, wouldn’t she appreciate some conversation?”

Piaomiao snorted. “...I can speak with her myself.”

“Alright, alright,” Ye Jiuyou said with amusement. “I was just being considerate, trying to find a topic for you two. Otherwise, with your personality, you’d stay silent for another eight hundred years.”

Piaomiao ignored her and instead whispered to Cui Yuanyang, “Yangyang, your husband is nothing but a scoundrel.”

Cui Yuanyang sat curled up in a corner of her sea of consciousness, hugging her knees, looking pitiful. “Yangyang only hopes Big Brother Zhao doesn’t come. You’ll kill him if he does.”

Ye Jiuyou noticed the faint fluctuations from their souls communicating. Neither of them had made any effort to hide it from her. Perhaps, in this vast and isolated secret realm, it was a way to keep each other company. Hearing Cui Yuanyang’s words, Ye Jiuyou caught the subtle fragrance of intrigue and cast a sideways glance but said nothing.

Over these days, Piaomiao was approaching resurrection more and more, and they shared more and more memories. At the same time, Cui Yuanyang was becoming more adept at the mysteries of the soul. But what was going on in that little head of hers? The first thing she did after mastering the art of soul transformation was to discard the soft armor she had worn when setting out for Hangu Pass and replace it with a fluffy bunny costume.

Now, she sat curled up in a corner, hugging her knees, looking so fragile and pitiful that even Piaomiao could not help but feel her heart melt, wanting nothing more than to cheer her up.

But was she truly pitiful? Yes... but not entirely. Or rather, it was a carefully emphasized act. Perhaps only Xia Chichi and other love rivals knew that this little vixen had a bit of tea ceremony about her. She had been raised in a prestigious aristocratic family, after all. Even Zhao Changhe himself never noticed it; his vision of Yangyang was always one of pure innocence.

The other person who could see through it was Jiuyou. A natural-born villain with a professional eye, she was not adept at playing such games herself, but she could certainly recognize them. Meanwhile, Piaomiao, bound by a natural spirit’s straightforwardness, was completely fooled by Cui Yuanyang. As for Zhao Changhe? Whether he came or not, Cui Yuanyang was already working on her own escape. If he did come, she might even turn the situation into an inside job.

Sure enough, Piaomiao sighed deeply after hearing Cui Yuanyang’s words. “You pour your heart out for him, willing to put yourself in danger just to keep him safe, but I fear he is lost in the comforts of his own world, completely indifferent to your plight.”

Cui Yuanyang shook her head firmly. “That’s not true. Big Brother Zhao is not that kind of person.”

“Perhaps he wasn’t like this before, but now he stands at the top of the Ranking of Heaven, holding power over the entire world. Even the empress is nothing more than his plaything. Do you really think he would still care about a little girl like you? Before, he might have needed your Cui Clan’s influence. But now that he has secured his foothold, does the Cui Clan even hold any meaning to him anymore?”

Cui Yuanyang shook her head firmly. “That’s not possible.”

Piaomiao continued, “And yet he hasn’t even come. Searching for a hidden secret realm in the vastness of Kunlun is no small feat, you know? One month was already a tight timeframe, and he’s wasted four days already. Yangyang, you’re just too kind, too easy to deceive.”

Ye Jiuyou gazed up at the sky.

Whether Cui Yuanyang was truly kind was one matter, and whether she was being deceived was another matter entirely. Even Ye Jiuyou could not say for certain that Zhao Changhe would recklessly risk his life to come alone. In fact, not coming was the reasonable choice.

That said, Piaomiao’s reaction was not entirely about pitying Cui Yuanyang. Part of it was for herself. If, in the future, she truly returned this body to Cui Yuanyang, all the memories would remain. In essence, it would still be her body that Zhao Changhe would be claiming. And Piaomiao had no intention of being claimed. If she were reluctant to return the body, this factor alone accounted for at least ninety-nine percent of her hesitation.

In truth, she was hoping Zhao Changhe would turn out to be an unfaithful scoundrel, causing Cui Yuanyang to lose all faith in men. That way, even if she did return the body, she would not have to worry about that happening.

Cui Yuanyang hesitated before saying, “I... If Big Brother Zhao really doesn’t come, then, big sister... you can just take control of my body. I don’t want to live anymore.”

Piaomiao might have entertained the idea of devouring her and taking control, but with this line, she suddenly lost all interest. Instead, she sighed and comforted her new self. “Don’t worry, Yangyang. If he doesn’t come, I’ll take you to him myself and teach him a lesson.”

Ye Jiuyou fanned the flames, “He’s now the one upon whom the qi veins of the mountains and rivers of the divine land converge on. In theory, that makes him your responsibility as well. As long as he does not lose his virtue, you must protect him.” freeweɓnovel~cѳm

“Does abandoning his wife not count as a loss of virtue? That is a betrayal of virtue.”

Cui Yuanyang sniffled. “You were the one who took his wife away! He didn’t abandon me. I could’ve gone home on my own...”

Piaomiao: “...”

Cui Yuanyang continued crying.

Piaomiao let out a long sigh. “I’ve already told you, once I kill Ye Wuming, I’ll return this body to you. How about this? If Zhao Changhe doesn’t come, that means he’s not worth holding onto. You should divorce him.”

Cui Yuanyang blinked. “And if he does come?”

Piaomiao bit her lower lip and then gritted her teeth. “If he comes, I’ll let you take control of your body for a few days so you can reunite properly with your husband. I won’t interfere.”

Ye Jiuyou also blinked in surprise.

So you’re just going to let yourself be aware of everything while someone else takes your body? Heh. It turns out that you’re the kind one. You’d actually rather suffer silently just to make this little green tea bitch[1] happy.

Cui Yuanyang smiled sweetly. “Big sister, you truly are so kind.”

Piaomiao took a deep breath, then closed her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. He won’t come within a month. In fact, he won’t come at all.”

Before her words had even settled, Ye Jiuyou’s expression shifted slightly. “There’s a spatial disturbance near the Abyss of the Frost Chi. Someone is actually trying to explore it... they must have a death wish.”

Piaomiao, unfamiliar with the significance of this, paused in surprise. “The Frost Chi is here too? Kunlun really is gathering everything under the heavens.”

“Not exactly. It wasn’t originally here. It’s here because of me,” said Ye Jiuyou casually. “Thirty years ago, when I first awakened, my emergence caused a resonance between heaven and earth. Unintentionally, I disturbed the balance of space, shifting the Abyss of the Frost Chi from the desert where it originally lay. In truth, many of the strange spatial anomalies in Kunlun came about like this. Kunlun wasn’t always this crowded.”

Piaomiao nodded without further comment.

For a pinnacle demon god like Jiuyou, the natural resonance of heaven and earth upon her awakening could have easily led to widespread devastation. The fact that all she had caused was a spatial disturbance was already proof of her severely weakened state.

Ye Jiuyou continued, “Since I’d accidentally moved it, I naturally went to take a look. And guess what I found?”

Piaomiao frowned. “Just say it or don’t.”

“Why are you so gentle with Yangyang but so cold to me?” Ye Jiuyou smirked. “I was the one who woke you up. Otherwise, you’d still be trapped in a dream, getting toyed with by men.”

“If you have nothing worth saying, then I suggest you keep your mouth shut.”

Cui Yuanyang quickly interjected, “Big sisters, don’t fight. Big Sister Jiuyou, please tell the story properly.”

“There’s an unusual spiritual force within the Abyss of the Frost Chi, and it doesn’t belong to the Frost Chi,” Ye Jiuyou said with a smile. “At first, I thought it might be connected to Papiyas, but something felt off. The aura there was chaotic, frenzied, and filled with madness. It doesn’t match the abyss’s tranquil nature at all. Nor does it align with the properties of the Frost Chi. There are two possibilities: either some unknown entity infiltrated the abyss, hiding within and corrupting it from within... or the abyss itself exists as a seal to suppress that very thing.”

Piaomiao’s expression darkened. “You mean to say... even you couldn’t determine what it was?”

Cui Yuanyang blinked in surprise.

Who were these two big sisters of hers? They were primordial demon gods of the ancient era, entities that had existed since the dawn of creation. Their knowledge of the ancient heavenly realm, of all manner of demonic and divine entities, was unrivaled. If even Ye Jiuyou could not identify what lay within the abyss, then what could it possibly be?

Ye Jiuyou exhaled slowly and said, “Back then, I had only just awakened. I was terribly weak, and I didn’t dare to delve too deeply. It’s only natural that I failed to identify it at the time. But I’ll be honest: There was a brief moment when I felt an instinctive terror, and that fear lingers even now. Over the years, as I’ve grown stronger and caused plenty of trouble across Kunlun, I’ve still... subconsciously put off dealing with that place.”

Piaomiao frowned and said, “If you can sense someone entering, that means you’re already keeping an eye on it. Are you still unable to discern what’s inside?”

“I’m not actively watching that place. It’s just that Kunlun’s spatial nodes are all within my grasp. If someone passes through one, I can detect the spatial reaction.”

Piaomiao pressed on, “Since that’s the case, can’t you peer into that space? I’d like to take a look myself. Perhaps I can glean something useful.”

Jiuyou nodded. With a wave of her hand, a night-shrouded vision appeared before them. The image rippled like the surface of a tranquil lake before gradually sharpening into clarity. Two figures stood within, locked in conversation.

Inside the sea of consciousness, Cui Yuanyang abruptly leaped to her feet, her fluffy rabbit ears standing straight up.

Piaomiao’s eyes widened in shock.

Zhao Changhe!

1. This is slang for girls who pretend to be sweet and innocent but are in fact manipulative. ☜

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