Chapter 22: I Really Am a Bad Person-Meu Deus, Ancião, quantas ex-namoradas você ainda tem?(Yi Chenxi)

Chapter 22: I Am Truly a Bad Person

At the mere mention of the name "Little Mantou," the red-clad woman’s composure shattered. She lunged toward Chen Ping'an. As a powerhouse of the Divine Void Realm, she crossed the distance in an instant, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

"Brother Chong, am I dreaming? You’re actually alive!" Hong Yun sobbed uncontrollably. For all these years, the only thing that had kept her going was the drive to avenge Brother Chong.

"That scrawny little girl from back then has really grown up," Chen Ping'an murmured. "Little Mantou" had merely been a playful nickname, but times had changed. The once-scrawny girl had undergone a staggering transformation; her current figure was so formidable it nearly left him breathless.

"Brother Chong, I’m not a little mantou anymore," Hong Yun said through her tears, laughing softly as she recalled sweet memories, a shy blush coloring her face. Years ago, she had been as flat as a board, but time had sculpted her into something far more mountainous. Her heartache over missing Brother Chong had led her to compensate with intense cultivation, resulting in her current, impressive physique.

"Hong Yun, what has happened between you and Blue Phoenix?" After they parted, Chen Ping'an looked at the woman lying on the ground and asked with a frown. Centuries ago, Hong Yun had been Blue Phoenix’s servant, possessing only a modest cultivation level in the Divine Treasury Realm. Back then, the mistress and servant had been as close as sisters; how had they come to such a state of mutual destruction?

"Cough, cough..." Blue Phoenix struggled to stand, her hair disheveled, her clothes in tatters, and blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. "You! You killed my Life-Gu!" Swaying unsteadily, she lunged at Hong Yun again.

Hong Yun didn't strike back; she simply smiled sweetly. "Brother Chong, Blue Phoenix has lost most of her memories. Now that we are together, no one can ever stand in our way again..."

Chen Ping'an coughed. What was this? He and Hong Yun had shared a perfectly innocent master-servant relationship. How had this girl convinced herself that she was his former lover over the course of these centuries? This forced intimacy left him feeling quite uncomfortable.

"Hong Yun, actually, I am a scumbag..." Just as Chen Ping'an was attempting to paint himself as an irredeemable cad, Blue Phoenix’s spirit suddenly flickered as if something had clicked. She grabbed his arm. "Brother Chong is mine," she asserted stubbornly.

Facing this declaration of ownership, Hong Yun remained unperturbed. She took two steps forward, a faint sneer in her eyes. "Blue Phoenix, you still remember Brother Chong? It seems your memory isn't entirely gone..."

Chen Ping'an interjected, "She’s ill. Say less."

Hong Yun’s expression darkened. "She is indeed ill. Brother Chong, do you know that when you were involved with her back then, she planted a Life-Gu in you?"

*She planted a Gu in me?* Chen Ping'an was momentarily stunned. He had been a mere mortal back then; how could he have sensed such a sophisticated technique? "It seems... I did feel something," he lied, scratching his head. He didn't want to appear foolish in front of Hong Yun.

"Brother Chong, after she planted the Life-Gu, she wanted to turn you into her personal possession. You must have sensed it, and to escape her control, you threw yourself into the river and perished." As Hong Yun spoke, painful tears streamed down her face, her wails echoing with earth-shattering grief.

The black-clad beauty who had been watching the spectacle from the sidelines was stunned. She had never expected such a melodramatic history between these two sect leaders and this handsome man.

"Cough, cough..." Chen Ping'an coughed again. He hadn't realized that his suicide by river had been interpreted by Hong Yun as a heroic act to break the shackles of fate. His face flushed. It had truly backfired. Because Hong Yun wanted to avenge him, she had unleashed all sorts of measures against Blue Phoenix. Ultimately, the root of this conflict lay with him.

Hong Yun gazed at Chen Ping'an with deep affection, her expression turning remorseful. "Brother Chong, it is fortunate that Blue Phoenix was afflicted with the Seven-Star Soul-Shattering Poison, which caused her to lose her mind. That gave me the opportunity to control her and restrict her cultivation. But because she had also planted a Life-Gu in me, I could only keep her alive, which is why I haven't been able to avenge you sooner!"

*Seven-Star Soul-Shattering Poison!* Chen Ping'an frowned. Fu Hongying had been poisoned by it, and now Blue Phoenix. Two former flames, one after another, struck by the same poison—it made him suspicious. Who was the one poisoning them from the shadows?

"Who poisoned her? Do you have any clues?" Chen Ping'an asked solemnly.

Hong Yun shook her head. "I don't know who she offended to be struck by such a rare poison, but it certainly helped me."

Chen Ping'an looked at Hong Yun, then at Blue Phoenix. "If I recall correctly, you said you wanted to kill her?"

"Brother Chong, over these years, I have collected countless poisons and finally refined a pill capable of killing the Life-Gu. Now that the Gu is dead, there is no need for Blue Phoenix to remain alive," Hong Yun explained with a smile. She felt relieved; after all, the fact that her beloved was still alive was more important than anything else.

"Sigh, forget it. Blue Phoenix has lost her mind, and since I am not dead, let the grudges between you two blow away with the wind..." Chen Ping'an said after a moment of thought.

"Whatever Brother Chong says," Hong Yun replied with a sweet smile.

The black-clad beauty nearby felt a chill. She simply couldn't grasp this display of affection. Although the man was handsome enough to stir her heart, he was merely a low-level cultivator in the Golden Body Realm. How could such a person be worthy of Sect Leader Hong Yun?

"Everything that happened back then was my fault. If I hadn't thrown myself into the river, these misunderstandings wouldn't have occurred..." Chen Ping'an sighed. The urge to "fleece the sheep" took hold of him, and he said with a pained expression, "I am truly a bad person!"

"No, you are a good person," the two women said in unison.

"Ding! 'Good Person Card' activated. Host's cultivation level has increased by one minor stage!"

The system’s voice chimed twice. In an instant, Chen Ping'an’s cultivation leaped from the second level of the Golden Body Realm to the fourth.

Chen Ping'an was baffled. "System, since when did Hong Yun count as one of my former lovers?"

"Back then, Hong Yun harbored a secret crush on you. You had embraced, and there was physical contact, so the system classifies her as one of your former lovers," the system replied.

*Embraced? Physical contact?* Chen Ping'an blinked, a strange look crossing his face. That scrawny girl had indeed loved to hug him back then, but he had only ever seen her as a little sister, harboring no impure thoughts. Unexpectedly, even that was enough for the system to label her a former lover.

Chen Ping'an didn't dwell on it. If she was a former lover, so be it—it had saved him the time of two levels of cultivation. He had to admit, this "Good Person Card" was truly satisfying.