Could it be that I am the cruel villain?
Chapter 203 - 141 Following_2

Chapter 203: Chapter 141 Following_2

He naturally took it, then adorned his head with the woven flower crown, akin to a royal coronet. The plump and rounded plum blossoms further highlighted the girl’s delicate beauty—with skin like creamy jade, eyes like autumn waters, and lips as if dabbed with vermillion. Such a vision is likely beyond the reach of ordinary folk in all their lives.

Yet some have seen it many times.

"September seventh."

"Next year?"

"No, this year."

Yue Yue was obviously bewildered for a moment, not understanding his meaning, and then her expression turned somewhat odd, "You two are married already?"

"No, we’ve called off the engagement."

Somehow, the girl felt a weight lift off her shoulders, as if relieved.

However, at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel puzzled. Based on the time she has spent with Jiang Feng, she was convinced that he was not the fickle type. On the contrary, he was surely a man of deep emotion and loyalty, especially since many of his subconscious actions reaffirmed her belief that Jiang Feng must have had a childhood sweetheart.

Like when accompanying her shopping, no matter where she went, Jiang Feng would subconsciously stand on the side closer to the buildings. Others might not notice, but she understood the gesture.

It’s because many people had inferior manners, often liking to throw things or pour water out from their windows, which is why he would take the initiative to stand on the side nearer to the buildings. If a carriage approached from afar, he would retreat a step behind, positioning himself closer to the roadway, to shield her from any splashing water.

His control over sweets, and the precision in purchasing them, were also quite notable. Most men don’t fancy sweet treats, yet Jiang Feng had quite the expertise in this area, although he never ate them himself.

Various kinds of handicrafts also seemed effortless to him, like the vine and plum blossom crown on her head and the flower chain in her hands, woven casually by Jiang Feng with a look of helplessness. Moreover, she had also noticed:

Every time Jiang Feng passed by those cosmetic shops, his gaze would linger for a while, as if contemplating something. This fortified her belief in what she perceived in her heart.

"So it’s like that, it was a childhood sweetheart, wasn’t it? Whatever the issue, couldn’t it have been resolved through proper discussion rather than pushing it to the extent of breaking off the engagement? Hmph! Scum!"

"..."

She feigned a pouty expression. Although it was a bit stereotypical, in this era, it seemed that indeed women didn’t have the right to initiate a breakup, unless there were significant differences between the parties or some issue arose in the man’s family.

In general terms, even if it meant marrying a corpse, the wedding had to proceed. Ordinary people hearing about a breakup would naturally assume it was the man’s fault.

Yet, the expression of a certain someone seemed not too pleased.

Not with anger, but rather that of an elder facing their child, revealing a sense of "Why must you bring up the very topic I wish to avoid?".

"Eh, I might have hit a sore spot."

This thought flashed through her mind, and the girl’s expression turned somewhat cautious. After all, she hadn’t really done anything wrong, she was just curious about Jiang Feng’s background.

Some men in her family were already fathers, yet they were not as considerate or caring as Jiang Feng. Thus, she tentatively asked, "Could there be some hidden reason?"

"You already know, yet you still ask."

He uttered these words in a low voice.

Her expression turned awkward, at a loss for what to say next, but upon reflection, she had already asked, so she figured she might as well be straightforward and get a clear answer.

"So... would you mind sharing just a little bit about it?"

"You guess."

He replied tersely. Jiang Feng was not the kind who liked to spill his past to others; he valued his right to privacy greatly.

Otherwise, he would not have been so furious when he first met Yu Ying and realized that she was trying to probe his memories.

Of course, after discovering that she could not look into his memories due to the influence of the Demon Night True Monarch, only able to sense his inner thoughts, he let the matter slide.

Mimicking Yue Yue’s stance, he sprang up and sat beside her, though Jiang Feng always maintained a certain distance—about a foot between them.

He took out a copper mirror to examine it. It was a token given to him by Yu Ying to track her movements. Having traveled for two days, he was likely less than five hundred miles away from her and expected to catch up within two days.

Although he had little concept of the borders, two days of continuous travel should have taken him beyond the bounds of Peak State. The little girl beside him was rather bold, to have followed him all the way here.

Meanwhile, Yue Yue held her chin with one hand, mimicking the pondering look of the elderly in her family, capturing a bit of their essence. Then she said something that nearly made Jiang Feng fall off the tree.

"Could it be... she put this on your head!"

His head sank.

It’s a big, thick, warm green velvet hat.

My heart and lungs almost stopped; I gasped for breath. Just two days ago, I had finished tempering the Spiritual Energy in my Dantian, which was now churning inside me. Even the normally calm Spiritual Energy Lake was bubbling up from the bottom.

Seeing Jiang Feng’s strong reaction, the girl puffed out her proud chest even more. Despite wearing decently thick clothes because of the cold, her impressive body curves couldn’t be hidden.

"If you want to live a decent life, you’ve got to wear some green on your head."

"I knew you couldn’t be heartless. It must have been that woman crossing your line that led you to call off the engagement. Tsk tsk, such a disregard for self-love."

"It’s okay, you have a long future ahead. You’re young; don’t hang yourself on one tree, why pine for one flower alone..."

With an air of wisdom beyond her years, she patted Jiang Feng on the shoulder, posing as a knowing big sister.

"Cough cough, cough cough cough... Can you not make wild guesses!"

He swallowed back the curse words.

"Uh, I guessed wrong?"

"Bullshit! Even if I’m incompetent, I wouldn’t let my fiancée cuckold me!"

But Cen Yueyue just sulkily pouted her lips, muttering under her breath.

"Who knows if you might have some unspeakable Achilles’ heel..."

Punches hardened.

Honestly, if it weren’t for this little miss being kind to me, if it had been anyone else, they would have probably gotten punched by now.

Looking up to the sky, he knew Cen Yueyue was smart. He also knew this girl was deliberately saying such things to provoke him, to get to the truth with a blatant strategy.

"Because she wanted my life. Is that answer okay, ’my dear lady’?"

Giving up resistance.

If he didn’t clear things up, this little ancestor might blurt out even more ridiculous things. Cen Yueyue frowned slightly, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.

She couldn’t comprehend why there would be such a lack of affection and such extreme actions between childhood sweethearts.

"Why is that? Did she not wish to marry you? Was it because her family pressured her extensively, making her resort to trying to kill you?"

He shook his head.

Jiang Feng had thought about this too. A person can lie, but their eyes can’t. Their subconscious behavior doesn’t lie, just like his.

When the knife finally came down, instinct made it stab towards the dry bamboo on the ground.

The young man fell silent amid the snow for a long time, while Cen Yueyue showed her understanding, not rushing him or showing impatience, just quietly waiting. Her large eyes fluttering, it was clear she needed answers.

"No, it was love. A bond of pure affection, mutual and consensual."

These sixteen words were his final bit of defiance.

Cen Yueyue didn’t speak, a rarity. What Jiang Feng chose to share next was not up to her.

"Due to differing ideals and resulting conflicting standpoints, we eventually had a fierce battle, each striking to kill."

"Her family suffered because of me, though I was oblivious, and got dragged into that farce. At the time, I didn’t even know what cultivation was, yet I was caught in the whirlpool of those cultivators."

"If not for my senior sister showing up, I would have probably been dead by now."

Shaking his head, he never thought Yan Yurou was at fault, nor did he blame himself. If there had to be blame, it was on the entity lurking within his own Dantian.

She nodded as if she understood, but at the same time, she felt a sense of regret. She hadn’t expected that the guy had been leading the life of an ordinary person for the past decade.

If this guy had started cultivating at four or five years old like her, it was possible he could have reached the Nascent Soul stage by now, standing on an equal footing with her at the starting line.

Seeing the atmosphere grow heavy, the girl was about to speak words of comfort, but her expression suddenly changed. She turned to look behind her, her almond-shaped eyes instantly filled with authority.

"You sneaky scoundrels, come out!"