To continue investing oneself in something despite being unable to find any reason to support it was to delude oneself… and to hurt everyone else around you.

So Yun Che exhaled deeply before saying, “You are right, Meiyin. I’ve been thinking about that on my way over, and even now I can’t find a single reason to explain it. It is as you say. My subconscious already knew that I was just deluding myself, but I just can’t…”

“It’s okay. It really is okay,” Shui Meiyin consoled him smilingly. “Who knows, maybe this experience will actually help you overcome your trauma faster?”

“Yeah.” This time, it was Yun Che who nodded strongly. His gaze also looked a lot more stable than before.

“So… is Wuxin in the Snow Song Realm right now?” Shui Meiyin changed the subject tactfully. “Assuming that you just ran off without warning, she must be really worried right now.”

Yun Che thought for a second before answering, “She’ll be fine with Xuanyin watching over her. Anyway, I’m going to visit father-in-law right now.”

“Eh?” Shui Meiyin exclaimed in surprise.

Yun Che smiled. “It’s about time father-in-law gets his final treatment. I may as well make it so the trip is not a complete waste of time, right?”

“Okay!” Shui Meiyin beamed.

…………

Shui Qianheng sat on the floor with his eyes closed and his face flushed.

Sitting on the opposite side of him was Yun Che, circulating streams of light profound energy around his whole body and through his fingertip.

A long time ago, he had thought that the damage he suffered was completely irreversible. In reality, they were healing under the power of Yun Che’s Divine Miracle of Life right now.

After today’s treatment, even his powers would return to their prime in the very near future.

Although he had already passed down his title to Shui Yingyue, he was the commanding enforcer of the entire Eastern Divine Region right now.

It was way cooler than being the Glazed Light Realm King!

For the past two years, he couldn’t help but lament that sometimes, having one great son-in-law was way better than having many sons. At the very least, he definitely hadn’t pampered his daughter for nothing!

Four hours passed, and the final treatment was reaching its end. Visible traces of excitement started flashing across Shui Qianheng’s features as he felt the awakening power in his profound veins. His reaction was perfectly understandable.

Shui Meiyin had been guarding by her father and her husband’s side throughout the process, although she had spent most of that time watching Yun Che with a besotted expression on her face.

It was at this moment a loud woman’s voice rang from outside the door:

“Yinyin! Come out and follow mommy somewhere, will you!?”

There was only one person in the entire Glazed Light Realm who could act like this at the heart of the Glazed Light Realm. She was the concubine who would rather die than become the queen mother, and the birth mother of Shui Yingyue and Shui Meiyin:

Cheng Wanxiao!

“Ah!” Shui Meiyin rose to her feet in a hurry and tiptoed her way toward the exit because she didn’t want to disturb either Yun Che or her father. When she was outside the door, she finally whispered, “Where are we going, mom? Big Brother Yun Che is still inside.”

Cheng Wanxiao moved closer to her daughter’s ear before whispering sneakily, “Your older sister is about to come home. We gotta make room for her, understand?”

Not only did Shui Meiyin understand immediately, she even pulled her mother away in excitement and said, “Ooh, we gotta leave now before she sees us!”

“Slow down. We can go after I send her a message.”

The sound transmission was done in no time. The mother and daughter exchanged knowing smiles with each other before leaving shoulder-to-shoulder. They didn’t inform anyone about their departure.

Back in the room, Yun Che suddenly opened his eyes and withdrew the light profound energy.

“It’s done,” He declared with a confident smile. “Your profound veins are completely fine now, father-in-law. Your profound energy should return to normal in three months to half a year.”

No one knew about his profound veins better than Shui Qianheng himself, so of course he knew that Yun Che’s declaration was absolutely true. He pushed down the urge to whoop like crazy before booming out a laugh,”Hahahaha! With the Great Emperor of the God Realm as my son-in-law, it doesn’t really matter if my powers recover or not!” 

Yun Che swept the area with his spiritual perception but couldn’t find Shui Meiyin nearby.

“By the way, weren’t you heading north with Little Wuxin? Why did you come back so suddenly?” Shui Qianheng asked.

He didn’t believe that Yun Che had come back specifically to treat him.

Yun Che replied, “To be honest with you, it’s because I’ve run into a couple of difficult conundrums.”

“Difficult conundrums?” Shui Qianheng looked puzzled. “What is left in this universe that can puzzle Emperor Yun so?”

“Now that I think about it, there is something that I would like to consult you about, father-in-law, about.” Yun Che’s tone and expression were so casual that it was almost as if the matter was of no importance whatsoever.

“Oh?” Shui Qianheng grew interested.

Without giving Shui Qianheng any explanation whatsoever, Yun Che asked directly, “Seven years ago, on the day the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor left the Primal Chaos, someone delivered an unconscious me to the Glazed Light Realm… did Meiyin watch over me the whole time I was out?”

“But of course.” Shui Qianheng nodded without any hesitation. “You were a ‘vile devil person’ who was being hunted by the entire Primal Chaos at the time. At first, she cried like the heavens had fallen when she saw that you were unconscious. After she recovered, she kept watch and didn’t take even a single step away from you.”

Shui Qianheng shook his head smilingly. “It’s not like I don’t understand her. Considering the circumstances at the time, nothing could’ve removed her from your side.”

“... not even a single step, huh?” Yun Che continued smiling. Looking at him, you would think that he was simply enjoying some small talk and indulging in the little, inconsequential secrets that he didn’t know at the time.

“Yep.” Right as Shui Qianheng was about to nod though, he suddenly paused for a second before breaking into an expression of remembrance. “Actually, I’ve misspoken. Now that I really thought about it, there was a time she vanished somewhere in the middle.”

Yun Che’s eyebrows twitched, but he retained his casual expression and asked, “She did? Where to, and for how long?”

Shui Qianheng tilted his head slightly before answering, “I don’t exactly remember because I was busy laying down the isolation barriers back then, but it couldn’t have been more than half a quarter of an hour though… when I asked her where she went, she ignored me like she hadn’t even heard my question. In fact, she probably hadn’t. You were the only thing in her head at the time.”

“I see.” Yun Che nodded.

“Why are you asking this suddenly?” Shui Qianheng asked. “Is this somehow related to that ‘difficult conundrum’ you speak of?”

“It is just a casual question. You don’t need to overthink it, father-in-law,” Yun Che replied smilingly.

It was at this moment that the door opened to admit a pair of long, beautiful legs wearing a pair of jade shoes that shimmered a gemlike blue and the Glazed Light Fairy Dress. The room suddenly lit up, and Shui Yingyue’s extraordinarily beautiful countenance entered their view.

“You’ve returned, Yingyue,” Shui Qianheng greeted her smilingly.

Shui Yingyue gave her father a nod before looking at Yun Che. “What was your business with me, Emperor Yun?”

Both Shui Qianheng and Yun Che were caught off guard by the question. What business?

However, Shui Qianheng figured out what was going on immediately and kept silent.

A strange gleam also appeared in Yun Che’s eyes after his surprise had passed.

He rose to his feet and shot Shui Yingyue a smile. “I have something that I would like to speak with you alone. If you don’t mind—” 

ALONE?

Shui Qianheng shot to his feet before Yun Che could get another word out and shouted, “I suddenly recall that I’ve forgotten to feed the rocks behind the mountain so I need to leave now before it’s too late no need to say goodbye have a nice chat!”

BANG!!

Shui Qianheng was gone right as he slammed the door shut. He even applied a sound isolation barrier for them.

Yun Che: “...”

Shui Yingyue: “...”

Their surroundings turned silent. They stared at each other for a moment.

When it finally clicked in Shui Yingyue’s mind that they were locking gazes with each other, alone and in the same room, her heart immediately began to quicken a little. She forced herself to calm down and asked again, “So, what instructions do you have for me, Emperor Yun? Please, don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“No—excuse me, I mean no, it’s not an instruction.”

Surprisingly, the usually unflappable Emperor Yun looked a bit nervous.

“I just wanted to ask about… you know… last time?”

His stuttering words and slightly shifty gaze were all clear signs that he was nervous. It immediately chipped away at Shui Yingyue’s own calm.

“What mother-in-law said last time… what… what are your thoughts about it?”

Yun Che then stared straight into Shui Yingyue’s eyes as if finishing those words had finally freed him from his nervousness.

What he said and his piercing gaze caused Shui Yingyue’s heart to skip a beat. Her own eyes became as shifty as Yun Che’s were earlier.

She obviously knew what he meant.

It was impossible not to when Cheng Wanxiao couldn’t speak three sentences without bringing it up every time Yun Che visited.

In fact, it was starting to look like she would nag them both for the rest of her life unless they did exactly as she wished.

“Mother has lectured me on many things. I’m… not sure what you’re referring to, Emperor Yun.” At this point, Shui Yingyue couldn’t even claim that her reactions were natural anymore. “Please clarify, Emperor Yun.”

“...” Yun Che looked a bit disappointed, but the corners of his lips quickly curled into a smirk. Then, both his gaze and his words grew invasive. “Do you really not understand what I’m talking about?”

While speaking, he stepped closer and closer to Shui Yingyue.

They were standing very close to each other to begin with. Shui Yingyue was unable to react in time before Yun Che had gotten right in front of her.

She opened her lips to say something… but his manly scent right at the tip of her nose robbed her of whatever words she was going to say.

She was one of the Four God Children of the Eastern Divine Region before she became the Glazed Light Realm King. Some time after that, she even became the older sister-in-law of Emperor Yun himself. There had never been an unglamorous moment in Shui Yingyue’s life. One might even say that she was currently enjoying some of the highest positions available in the God Realm right now.

However, she was as pure as a piece of blank paper in regards to romance.

She had no idea how to react in this situation, much less deal with it accordingly.

She was as powerless as a baby rabbit under Yun Che’s shadow, aura and gaze.

Her back suddenly hit something hard. She had no idea that she had backed herself into a corner until then.

“Very well. If you won’t say it, then I will.”

The soft, gentle voice felt like a tangible thing playing away at her heartstrings. It was only now Shui Yingyue realized that his eyes were just inches away from her, and his breath was almost brushing against her cheeks.

“You…”

If he was anyone else, she would’ve stabbed them with the Jade Rivulet Sword before they even came within ten steps of her.

But he was Yun Che, and his aura, his eyes, his… everything about him tore away at her resistances and invaded her soul itself.

She was scared when he said “if you won’t say it, then I will”, but she couldn’t deny feeling a great deal of expectation as well. However, instead of saying the words, his lips kept moving ever closer to her own...

Her brain lost the ability to think. She couldn’t muster even the slightest bit of resistance in her body. She somehow managed to turn her head slightly to one side, but what did it matter? Her heartbeat was rocketing off the charts, and her eyes closed involuntarily when her senses became too much to bear.

It was at this moment a purple gleam suddenly shone in his warm eyes. 

It slipped right through Shui Yingyue’s glabella and into her soul.

It was the Profound Handle Soul Search!

Shui Yingyue immediately froze like a statue. Her shut eyes slowly opened, but there was none of the radiance from a moment ago.

Not wasting even a second, Yun Che asked as quickly as he could, “Seven years ago, on the day the Heaven Smiting Devil Emperor left the Primal Chaos, was Meiyin guarding me the whole time I was unconscious in the Glazed Light Realm?”

The soul of a Divine Master was immeasurably powerful. Although Yun Che’s profound energy and soul energy were absolutely superior to Shui Yingyue’s, there was still no way he could’ve soul-searched her normally.

That was why he had employed this most despicable method.

Shui Yingyue wasn’t guarded against him to begin with, and the moves he put on her had put her in one of, if not the most disarrayed, positions she had been in in her life… That was why the profound art had ultimately succeeded.

Even so, he only had an extremely short amount of time to question her before she broke free.

Shui Yingyue opened her mouth and answered in a wooden tone, “Meiyin… was guarding you… the whole time.”

“She never left my side for even an instant, did she?” Yun Che asked again.

Shui Yingyue’s pupils started trembling unnaturally. Her soul was already starting to struggle against the profound art. “Not… even… an instant.”

The answer froze Yun Che’s expression completely.

Lying was impossible while the Profound Handle Soul Search was active.

“...” A very short pause later, his mind clinging onto the last straw of hope like his very life depended on it, he asked one last question in a weak voice, “Did Meiyin ask you and your father... to answer that she was gone for a short moment… if there came a day I asked you this specific question?”

The struggle in Shui Yingyue’s eyes were reaching a breaking point, but she still managed to squeeze out a slightly garbled, “Yes.”

“...” Yun Che’s mind dissolved into white thunder.

“Gg… ah!!”

Shui Yingyue finally broke out of the trance.

Leaning against the wall and pressing a hand to her forehand, she stared at Yun Che in panic and asked, “What… what did you do to me?”

“...” He didn’t give her an answer.

Eyes unfocused and complexion deathly pale, he turned away and slowly made toward the exit with stiff, powerless footsteps.

He looked like a soulless zombie.