Tainted Heart | Cultivation World Series 3 (BL)

C H A P T E R 4 8

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Chapter 48

Lian Ren stared blankly at the empty shell of his shogun. His heart continued to throb as he stared at the lying body. Instead of a deep sense of longing and love, he felt as if his body was slapping him for the past sins that he had committed. The torment, the humiliation, and the suffering that Shao Ling experienced in his grasp, Lian Ren vividly remembered it all.

Despite the flashback of his wrongdoings, Lian Ren still walked forward to the body lying in an open coffin. The shallow and compressed light coming from the center of the ceiling that illuminates Shao Ling's body makes it even more lonely as it is placed at the center of the large and empty basement.

Lian Ren's hands trembled from refraining himself to embrace and touch the body. Even if he wanted to, he knew to himself that he didn't deserve to touch the body, knowing that he had done many unforgivable deeds to it. Just reminiscing about it pains him even more, so even when it's hard, Lian Ren tries not to.

Later on, after staring at the body, he laughed at himself. With a lingering sneer, he whispered to himself, "This is just a dimension made by a divine being. Why am I still like this, torturing myself about the past?"

He closed his eyes. Right now, he wanted to hear his Shizun's voice; even if he would usually sound irritated and angry to him, he would accept it and say no words. He wanted to experience Shao Ling knocking him over the wall as he almost died from the impact. He wanted to see his Shizun running away whenever he was embarrassed, while he tried to chase after him and calm him down.

"You don't have to torture yourself in the past anymore," Lian Ren murmured to himself as he opened his eyes and stared at the light in the ceiling. "Focus on Shizun. Care for him, treat him better, make sure he's always in his best health and that he's always uncomfortable. Don't make him mad, and don't humiliate him anymore."

Lian Ren heaved a breath. He widened his palms, and a mist of snow floated at the center of it, circling and floating as it compressed itself into a flower carved from ice. He carefully placed the ice on the body's hand and stepped back. Although it looked like the flower felt cold, he knew that Shao Ling always liked it that way. Because whenever he watches his Shizun from afar when he imprisons him in his grasp every winter, he always hears the same thing that Shao Ling murmurs.

"I love it when it's cold. It makes me feel as if the freezing weather makes me want to live."

He glanced at the body one last time before closing the basement once again and climbing up the palace. The blood-red walls of the palace shone as he swiftly sprinted from place to place on every side of the palace. He spotted three demon guards near the main hall, where the stairs to the upper floor are placed. An icy blue spiritual energy slightly shone as he summoned an ice fairy from his palms. Without a single command, the ice fairies already knew what they were going to do. The sound of a clicking glass resonated throughout the main hall as the ice fairies approached the demon guards, and the guards fell into a trap from distraction.

When the demon guards chased after the fairies, who were flying straight to the exit of the palace, Lian Ren took it as an opportunity to quickly leap on the stairs and climb upwards. He checked the surroundings first to know if there were demon guards nearby but was a bit surprised when the second floor was empty. Lian Ren shrugged at the suspiciousness but still put on his guard, walking silently to the left side of the hallway.

He was about to run as soon as he went to the left side of the hallway, but he stumbled upon a person and fell on top of him. Lian Ren groaned in pain because his forehead seemed to have bumped on the other man's forehead, and he opened his eyes. He was shocked when he saw Shao Ling's pained face lying below him.