Tome of Troubled Times
Chapter 797: Ill Wait For You at Kunlun

Chapter 797: I'll Wait For You at Kunlun

Zhao Changhe stared at Ye Jiuyou with a strange expression while she glared back at him. The atmosphere was undeniably odd.

Technically, the one who had started this mess was Li Boping. And yet, somehow, he suddenly felt like an outsider. His expression grew increasingly peculiar.

His ancestor could annihilate Zhao Changhe in an instant. Granted, this was only a soul fragment, so annihilating it would not mean much. But she had not done that; instead, she had elected to storm in, brimming with fury, only to stand there in a deadlock, making intense eye contact instead of acting. And Zhao Changhe’s hand was still resting on his throat!

After a long pause, Zhao Changhe finally spoke up in a calm tone. “Don’t kill the ordinary people outside.”

Ye Jiuyou responded coolly, “You actually knew that’s what I was thinking?”

Zhao Changhe replied, “It was just a guess... but it’s pointless. Some things aren’t about individuals but represent a greater trend. When that fake Xia Longyuan issued a senseless order to kill Wanzhuang, the decree didn’t even get a chance to spread before the Great Xia’s dragon qi completely crumbled. This is similar. The karma between us is already woven. Killing people now won’t change anything; it will only add unnecessary burdens to your fate.”

Ye Jiuyou chuckled. “You, lecturing me about karmic burdens... No wonder people say you might be the next coming of Buddha. Why don’t you just shave your head and become a monk?”

“I like women.”

“...”

Zhao Changhe’s expression remained utterly composed. “Shall we talk?”

Ye Jiuyou glanced at Li Boping before saying, “Follow me.”

With that, she turned and left through the rear door of the palace.

Li Boping twisted his head to watch them leave, his expression growing even more bizarre. His ancestor had come burning with intent to kill, yet a few words from Zhao Changhe had completely erased that intent.

Ye Jiuyou had her own private courtyard in the area, of course. As they entered, a number of maids and attendants bowed respectfully and respectfully greeted her, “Young Lady, welcome.”

Ye Jiuyou, already in a foul mood, felt her expression tighten at the words. “All of you, get out.”

The maids hesitated, sneaking glances at Zhao Changhe as they hurriedly covered their mouths and scurried away.

Ye Jiuyou slammed her palm against the stone table. “What the hell were those expressions?!”

With a resounding bang, the stone table shattered into fine dust, and the tea set clattered to the ground.

Zhao Changhe chuckled.

Then, he lifted a hand and made a casual gesture. The scattered dust and debris suddenly coalesced, reforming into a solid stone table. The tea set landed neatly atop it, completely undisturbed, as if nothing had happened.

“Eh...” Ye Jiuyou raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “That level of ease... You’ve touched upon the power of origin... Reverting causality?”

“Something like that...”

A gleam of amusement flickered in Ye Jiuyou’s eyes. “Karma seems like a single domain of laws, but to truly wield it, one must master many other laws.”

“I’ve already come to understand that it’s difficult,” Zhao Changhe said as he sat across from her. He reached for the teapot on the table, quietly channeling his energy.

Within moments, the tea inside the pot began to boil in his hand. Zhao Changhe poured a steaming cup for Jiuyou, then another for himself.

The fragrant aroma of tea curled into the air, wisps of steam rising between them.

The atmosphere suddenly grew quiet. On this late spring afternoon, the sounds of birds chirping and the faint scent of blossoms drifted in from outside the courtyard.

Ye Jiuyou studied him with interest for a while before finally picking up her cup, leaning back lazily in her chair. “You don’t seem quite like the Zhao Changhe I know.”

“Right back at you,” Zhao Changhe replied. “The Ye Jiuyou I remember was chaotic and mad, as well as someone who reveled in slaughter and annihilation, disregarding all rules. The last time you ambushed me in that dark alley wasn’t that long ago. Back then, your aura was still steeped in deathly stillness. But now...”

“Now what?”

“You’re much more expressive.” Zhao Changhe hesitated for a moment before adding, “It’s as if I’m speaking to a completely different person.”

“And why do you think this so-called different person has such expressive emotions?” Ye Jiuyou smirked. “Did she have them before?”

Zhao Changhe spoke slowly, “Not at first. But later, she started to change... I once thought she was evolving. But in the end... maybe she never changed at all.”

“Why do you sound upset?” Ye Jiuyou suddenly looked like she had heard the most amusing thing in the world. “Are you upset because she’s not what you imagined?”

Zhao Changhe remained calm. “Yes. Though I always saw her as my adversary, and she knew it well... She should also have known that I was always striving to avoid that outcome, hoping for a way where we could both win. In the end, I was disappointed.”

Ye Jiuyou burst into laughter, leaning forward and backward as she laughed. “Though it seems that you’re talking to me, you’re actually talking to her, aren’t you?”

Zhao Changhe: “...”

Ye Jiuyou giggled. “Hey, don’t you think this is kind of improper? What if I get upset?”

Zhao Changhe said, “You asked about her, and I answered your question. How is that improper?”

“In front of your fiancee, you’re expressing regret over another woman. Isn’t that improper?” Ye Jiuyou teased, her eyes glittering with mischief.

Zhao Changhe shook his head. “You refer to yourself as my fiancee, yet neither of us acknowledges it, so what’s the point of discussing it?”

Ye Jiuyou responded, “Who said I don’t acknowledge it?”

Zhao Changhe rolled his eyes and took a sip of tea, too lazy to engage with her nonsense.

Acknowledging it, my ass. Just a moment ago, you smashed apart a table and scolded your maids for looking at me funny.

Ye Jiuyou then said, “What’s wrong? You kissed my hand and touched my chest. Are you planning to run away without taking responsibility?”

“Pfft—” Zhao Changhe spewed out the tea in his mouth.

“You want Ye Wuming, don’t you?” Ye Jiuyou grinned, watching his reaction with amusement.

Zhao Changhe coughed for a while before asking, “And who’s being improper now?”

“Me,” Ye Jiuyou replied matter-of-factly. “Do I need propriety?”

“...Then there’s nothing to take responsibility for if I touched your chest. You don’t care about these things anyway.”

Ye Jiuyou’s eyes widened and the air fell silent.

Zhao Changhe had come to realize something about Jiuyou. Her unpredictability was not just a quirk but a manifestation of chaos itself. The way her thoughts unpredictably jumped from one to another, as well as her demeanor shifting without warning, was due to her being the embodiment of chaos itself. Trying to anticipate her next move was a fool’s errand. For someone like her, there was no point in maintaining a serious front. If she wanted to act crazy, he could be just as unhinged.

I hadn’t really noticed this before... Is it because Jiuyou appears more logical when the blind woman is around? Who knows...

Ye Jiuyou ground her teeth. “Whether I care or not is my business. Do you have no shame?”

Zhao Changhe replied without hesitation, “None.”

Surprisingly, she did not take any offense to his shamelessness. Instead, she chuckled and asked, “So, are you looking to come under me?”

“Why not the other way around? Since when do you abide by nonsense like seniority or might makes right? Are you copying your sister now?”

Ye Jiuyou blinked twice.

“Let alone you, I wouldn’t even say yes if your sister asked me that,” Zhao Changhe said coolly. “Do you think she doesn’t know I want to take her down? Why would I join her side, placing myself under her then? Even if I did, it’d be to overturn her rule. Are you suggesting the same thing? That I should come under you just to take you down?”

Ye Jiuyou’s blinking intensified. She seemed momentarily at a loss for words, then she suddenly switched topics, “You want to have Ye Wuming? I can help you.”

“You want to defeat Ye Wuming? I can help you.”

Ye Jiuyou smiled and asked, “So is that why you sought me out today?”

“Indeed. We can work together.”

She took a slow sip of tea. “Are you really so naive? You do know that working with me is like bargaining with a tiger, right?”

“I’ve already touched your chest. Taking some risks doesn’t bother me. Or do you want to be the one to take a loss this time? Not that you care, anyway.”

This time, it was Ye Jiuyou who spat out her tea.

She still was not angry. If anything, she found the conversation highly entertaining. It was rare for her to enjoy a verbal exchange this much.

It was wild and chaotic, as well as unrestrained. And yet, it was not crude. Every single one of Zhao Changhe’s words carried his defiant and untamed spirit.

Chaos is not necessarily the opposite of rules. In fact, one could argue that chaos itself is a kind of rule.

What stands in opposition to chaos is order. But what Ye Jiuyou despised was not simply order, but the rigid, artificially imposed frameworks of human society—the chains dictated even by the Heavenly Dao itself. She, the strongest demon god, could be Li Boping’s daughter if she wanted; such things truly meant nothing to her.

When she yelled about someone tampering with her karma, it had not been anger over her karma being tampered with, but rather her disdain for the kind of karma dictated by parental approval or a matchmaker’s arrangement. Such karma had no place in her existence. Yet, detesting it did not mean it could be erased. If everyone believed you were someone’s wife, even if you slaughtered ninety-nine percent of them, the remaining one percent would still believe that all the same.

But a world without order could not sustain civilization. That was why she was a demon, a genuine demon god of a chaotic world, a harbinger of troubled times. She was a natural adversary to someone like Zhao Changhe. And yet, in this moment, she realized that he was not entirely incompatible with her...

At last, she smiled and asked, “So how do you propose we work together?”

Zhao Changhe replied, “I want to know what happened with Piaomiao first.”

“As expected, it’s still about Cui Yuanyang. Were you afraid I’d refuse to answer? Is that why you took such a long, winding path and avoided asking me directly?”

“If I’m not mistaken, Yangyang’s incident happened at the exact time and place of your confrontation with your big sister. You should know everything that transpired there,” Zhao Changhe spoke slowly. “In fact, it’s highly likely that you were the one who awakened Piaomiao. Because if your sister had wanted to do so, she could have done it long ago.”

Ye Jiuyou admitted without hesitation, “You’re right. I was the one who awakened Piaomiao.”

Zhao Changhe’s eyes narrowed. Ye Jiuyou clearly caught the brief flash of fury and killing intent within them.

“You want to kill me.” Ye Jiuyou burst into laughter. “Sitting here, drinking tea with me, talking about cooperation—all while thinking about killing me.”

Zhao Changhe said coolly, “Cui Yuanyang is my wife. She and I met and bonded in the most humble of circumstances.”

Ye Jiuyou smirked. “And am I not your wife now?”

Zhao Changhe: “...”

Ye Jiuyou tilted her head. “Is it because we haven’t slept together yet? Do you want to give it a try?”

Zhao Changhe remained expressionless. “Such things are not interchangeable. Just as your sister cannot replace you.”

A strange light flickered in Ye Jiuyou’s eyes.

To most onlookers, the correct way to phrase this would be that she could never replace Ye Wuming. After all, Ye Wuming had never sought to replace her. Ye Wuming had only ever sought to cast her out. It was her who had tried to replace Ye Wuming, and her who had failed.

But if Zhao Changhe was speaking from his heart, then in his world, no one could replace another, and indeed Ye Wuming could never replace Ye Jiuyou.

Zhao Changhe said, “I’m worried about Yangyang. I don’t have the patience for idle chatter right now. I hope you understand... If you enjoy this kind of conversation, I’ll entertain you another time. But for now, I need to sort things out quickly—assuming, of course, that you truly intend to work with me against your sister.”

Ye Jiuyou met his serious gaze and, for once, refrained from her usual erratic behavior. Slowly, she said, “Did you know that Piaomiao was killed by Ye Wuming back then?”

“I didn’t before. But I guessed it in the meantime.”

“I admit that I’m no match for Ye Wuming. Naturally, I need allies, and Piaomiao is the best one I could ask for. Wasn’t it only logical for me to awaken her?”

“...Yes.” Zhao Changhe remained composed. “I can understand your reasoning. I also see now why Piaomiao was able to awaken even though only the Qinghe Sword was there. Under normal circumstances, that alone should not have been remotely enough, but with your intervention, it became possible... What I want to know now is what happened to Yangyang after you awakened Piaomiao.”

“In theory, a reincarnated soul is a singular entity. When the past self awakens, it merges with the present self, becoming one person with two sets of memories. But in their case, things are different,” Ye Jiuyou explained. “Cui Yuanyang didn’t awaken on her own. She didn’t remember her past life by herself. What actually happened was that I, using my power over life and death, revived the ‘dead’ Piaomiao through her body. It’s similar to how Underworld Guide once awakened Lie, who had been slumbering inside you. Their consciousnesses remain entirely separate; it’s just that Cui Yuanyang is too weak to control her own body.”

“Will she be consumed?”

“If it were anyone else, yes. But they are Piaomiao and Cui Yuanyang, so no, she won’t.”

Zhao Changhe’s expression shifted slightly.

“Piaomiao is the embodiment of the mountains and rivers of the mortal realm, a god of human destiny. You could call her the purest force of righteousness. She only destroys evil, never harming the innocent. And Cui Yuanyang is exceptionally innocent and kind. Piaomiao could never bring herself to override her will or forcibly consume her, even if it means her body will always remain inharmonious, never regaining its peak strength. She simply refuses to do something like that.”

Ye Jiuyou did not mention that she had once tried persuading Piaomiao to go ahead and consume Cui Yuanyang. But Piaomiao had outright refused. And for some reason, Ye Jiuyou had not pushed the matter, nor had she used underhanded means to force the outcome. Looking back on it now... was there a part of her that did not want to completely sever ties with Zhao Changhe?

Zhao Changhe let out a long breath and solemnly said, “Please pass along my thanks to Piaomiao.”

Ye Jiuyou looked at him without responding.

Zhao Changhe added, “And I thank you as well.”

Ye Jiuyou smiled, her interest piqued. “But Piaomiao can’t leave Cui Yuanyang’s body. This isn’t possession but reincarnation. Their souls coexist, bound together. If Piaomiao were to leave, she would sever her very foundation, and it would be no different from suicide. So tell me, what’s your plan? Are you asking Piaomiao to die?”

Zhao Changhe pondered for a moment before asking, “Is there a solution? In theory, we’ve both achieved the ability to create clones. Could she not form a separate body?”

Ye Jiuyou chuckled. “First, you’d have to find a body that is absolutely compatible with her. Second, even if she could create a clone, the soul remains whole—it is not something that can be split. You should understand this. If you wish to divide them without harming either side... well, you’ve asked a question beyond my expertise. That’s something you should ask Ye Wuming.”

Zhao Changhe narrowed his eyes. Is she implying that...?

Ye Jiuyou smiled slyly, making it impossible to tell whether she truly meant what he was thinking. After a moment’s thought, Zhao Changhe asked, “Can I meet Piaomiao?”

Ye Jiuyou sized him up for a while before responding with a smile. “No.”

“Why not?”

“Because, up until now, you’re nothing more than Ye Wuming’s puppet. Do I look like an idiot to you?”

“...I’m not.”

“Heh.”

Zhao Changhe fell silent for a moment before speaking again, “Cooperation requires a foundation of trust. I understand that. You don’t trust me, and I don’t necessarily trust you either. So how do we establish the conditions for mutual trust? Is there something you want me to do?”

Ye Jiuyou smiled. “Give me the Heavenly Tome. Would you?”

Zhao Changhe answered without hesitation, “Absolutely not.”

“Why not? Are you hoarding it for yourself?”

“No. I simply cannot allow a demon god of chaos to wield that much power.”

Ye Jiuyou’s smile faded. She stared at him in silence.

Zhao Changhe met her gaze, calm and unwavering.

This was the fundamental chasm between them. No matter how well they spoke, no matter how much they amused each other, true cooperation was an impossibility. A shallow alliance was the most they could ever achieve. Ye Wuming had no fear of them uniting because she knew they never truly could.

Why had Guanlong never been unified?

Because Ye Jiuyou wanted the divine land to remain fractured. She had actively fostered division in the Central Plains. To Zhao Changhe, that was nothing short of a direct attack on his core beliefs.

They were natural enemies, ideological adversaries whose conflict could never be reconciled. Their relationship would only ever end with one side’s complete destruction or conquest.

After a long stare-down, Ye Jiuyou suddenly laughed again. “Some things are actually quite simple... This so-called cooperation is nothing more than subjugation. You have a part of me within you. Just now, I found that quite delightful. So if I simply conquer you, make you my blade, everything will be settled, won’t it?”

Zhao Changhe responded coolly, “That won’t be easy.”

Ye Jiuyou smirked. “Let me guess... Are you going to say that when that time comes, you’ll turn the tables and overthrow me?”

Zhao Changhe said nothing.

Ye Jiuyou blinked playfully. “The thing is, I want you to overthrow me. You became Ye Wuming’s blade, yet all you want is to take her down, but she won’t let you. If you become my blade, I’ll let you take me down. Doesn’t that sound like a good deal?”

Zhao Changhe did not respond to that. Instead, he said, “When I ask for a serious discussion, you are capable of keeping things orderly. That means you have the ability to be rational. If you can set aside your chaos and bloodlust, perhaps there wouldn’t be such an impassable divide between us. As for who listens to whom, I propose we set a goal.”

Ye Jiuyou’s smile deepened. “That’s simple... You just have to defeat me, on your own.”

Zhao Changhe locked eyes with her.

Ye Jiuyou spoke slowly. “The victor always gets to decide the fate of the loser, whether they submit willingly or not. If you win, I’ll listen to you. If I win, you’ll listen to me. It’s that simple.”

Zhao Changhe said flatly, “Fair enough.”

“I’ll be waiting in Kunlun. If you can make it to me alone, I’ll let you meet Piaomiao. Whatever happens between you two, I won’t interfere. And if you can defeat me, then our cooperation will proceed under your leadership. But if you lose, you’ll be my servant, bound to my will.” Ye Jiuyou stood up and walked toward the courtyard gate. “I have no doubt that, for Cui Yuanyang’s sake, you’ll make it past the first step. As for the second... whether you dare to take it is up to you.”

Zhao Changhe did not move. He simply said, “You didn’t even tell me the exact location.”

“How do I know that telling you isn’t the same as telling Ye Wuming?” Ye Jiuyou chuckled. “I’ve already assured you that Cui Yuanyang is unharmed, and time is not pressing. Finding us is just another way to prove your ability, isn’t it? You’re allowed to use outside help for this part.”

“What are you in such a hurry to leave for? You’re even more pretentious than your sister.”

Ye Jiuyou suddenly halted mid-step, her expression turning strange. After a long pause, she finally said, “I would prefer it if you called her Ye Wuming, and not refer to her as my sister over and over again.”

“I’ll call her whatever I like,” Zhao Changhe replied. “How about passing a message to Yangyang for me?”

“Speak.”

“Tell her not to clash with Piaomiao, to avoid injury or provoking her wrath. Within a month, her Big Brother Zhao will be standing before her.”

Ye Jiuyou burst into laughter. “A month? Even Ye Wuming wouldn’t make such a bold claim. Aren’t you afraid of setting her up for disappointment?”

Zhao Changhe’s voice remained calm, “I wouldn’t say it if I weren’t certain. Or are you planning to bet against me on this as well?”

“Fine... If you really manage to find us within a month, I’ll let you cop a feel—properly, this time.” Ye Jiuyou cast him a teasing glance, her smile playful and mysterious. “I’ll be waiting, my dear fiance~”

Her voice lingered in the air long after she had vanished.