Chapter Twelve: The Speaker Means Nothing by It, but the Listener Takes It to Heart
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At that moment, along the winding path through the village, Li Yue'er walked lightly toward the fields, carrying a basket filled with food.
At eighteen, she had blossomed into a graceful young woman with an elegant figure. The vitality of youth radiated from her like the brightest sunlight of spring. Her lovely features, fair skin, and perfectly proportioned curves all displayed the unique charm of a young maiden. As she walked, she truly became a striking and captivating sight, impossible to ignore.
Along the way, whenever the young men of the village caught sight of her, they could not help stopping in their tracks. Their eyes followed her intently, while their imaginations ran wild.
In their hearts, the chance to exchange a few calm words with Li Yue'er—or even merely win a smile from her, blooming like a spring flower—was more precious than any rare treasure.
After all, they knew their own limitations. Li Yue'er was no ordinary girl. Though she usually appeared quiet and well-behaved, once she began to fight, her skill was far beyond anything an ordinary person could imagine—so formidable that it was almost frightening.
Much of that was thanks to her mother’s careful instruction. In her younger years, Mrs. Li had experienced many things and acquired considerable knowledge of self-defense. She understood that human hearts were difficult to fathom, and that it was always better for a girl to possess some ability to protect herself. Thus, she had taught Li Yue'er what she knew, so that the girl could defend herself in times of danger.
After all, there were always people in this world who harbored dark thoughts—people who, unable to obtain what they desired, would rather destroy it. Mrs. Li had no intention of allowing Li Yue'er to fall into such danger.
Looking around the familiar room, Li Ziyuan rose and gazed out the window. The sun was nearing the horizon, and the prey was about to fall into the net.
Having spent the entire previous night awake, Li Ziyuan had set his trap early that morning.
The secret he had whispered to Jiang Yun was this: “My sister Li Yue'er is waiting for you beneath an ancient tree on the rear mountain.”
Those words had filled Jiang Yun with delight.
Li Ziyuan suddenly wondered how he had fainted, but he could not make sense of it. He walked outside.
The sound of stir-frying drifted from the kitchen, and the delicious aroma of food spread into the distance.
Without haste, Li Ziyuan paced back and forth in the courtyard.
“Ziyuan, come carry out the dishes. It’s time to eat.”
The speaker was Li Yue'er, and even the way she addressed Li Ziyuan had changed.
She used to call him Yuan'er. Now she called him Ziyuan. It was enough to show how delicate and attentive her feelings were.
Li Ziyuan nodded and went to the kitchen to help bring out the dishes.
The family of four sat around the table. Li Yue'er placed a leg from the two-headed chicken into Li Ziyuan’s bowl.
“Here, Ziyuan. Your favorite chicken leg.”
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Looking at the chicken leg in his bowl, Li Ziyuan thought that the original owner had eaten this dish so many times without ever tiring of it. Still, the two-headed chicken really was delicious. Would he become addicted to it as well?
Mrs. Li glared at him.
“Young man, you don’t even know how to say thank you. In the past, whenever anything happened, you always asked your Yue'er-jie to help you. ‘Thank you, Yue'er-jie’ was practically a phrase you kept on your lips every day.”
Under his mother’s glare, perhaps oppressed by some instinct born of blood, Li Ziyuan felt a strange shift in his emotions. He looked at Li Yue'er and said, “Thank you, Yue'er.”
Realizing he had addressed her incorrectly, he immediately corrected himself.
“Thank you, Yue'er-jie.”
Li Ziyuan’s soul was twenty-two years old. Suddenly calling an eighteen-year-old girl “older sister” felt extremely awkward.
Yet Li Yue'er had heard that single word—Yue'er—clearly, and it pleased her immensely.
She then took the chicken leg from her father’s bowl and placed it in Li Ziyuan’s.
Mr. Li gave a helpless laugh.
“That was my chicken leg.”
Mrs. Li stuffed the chicken’s rear end into his bowl and said cheerfully, “Here, this one is yours.”
Mr. Li bit down on it.
“My dear two-headed chicken brother, your father does not dislike you.”
His words sent Mrs. Li and Li Yue'er into peals of laughter.
After the meal, Li Ziyuan casually made an excuse about going out for a walk by himself. Fearing that something might happen to him, Mrs. Li secretly instructed Li Yue'er to follow him.
Li Ziyuan went straight to the ancient tree on the rear mountain. By then, however, Jiang Yun had already fallen into a huge pit. It was extremely deep.
Standing outside the pit, Li Ziyuan said casually, “How about I bury you alive?”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yun shook his head like a rattle.
“Li Yuan, I didn’t mean to do it. Please, I beg you, let me go.”
“Of course you didn’t do it by accident. You did it deliberately. That cowardly Li Yuan you knew is already dead. I am Li Ziyuan.”
Li Ziyuan’s unhurried tone sent a chill through Jiang Yun.
Li Ziyuan found the hoe he had hidden beforehand and began shoveling earth, preparing to bury Jiang Yun.
“I beg you, Li Yuan! I truly know I was wrong. Don’t kill me! I shouldn’t have framed you.”
Jiang Yun knelt and pleaded.
Li Ziyuan remained unmoved and continued filling in the pit.
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Hearing those words from her hiding place, Li Yue'er’s initial impulse to intervene vanished instantly. In her eyes, no one was allowed to bully Li Ziyuan. Since Jiang Yun had nearly caused Li Ziyuan’s death, he was unforgivable.
When Jiang Yun saw that the fifteen-year-old boy was serious, he panicked.
“Don’t kill me! I’ll tell you a secret.”
Li Ziyuan stopped shoveling and appeared somewhat interested.
“Oh? Is that so? Let’s hear it. Perhaps I really will spare your life.”
Only after repeatedly confirming that he would not be killed for revealing it did Jiang Yun finally speak.
“You and Li Yue'er aren’t biological siblings.”
The one who grew tense upon hearing this was Li Yue'er, still hidden nearby. She had no idea how Li Ziyuan would react once he learned the truth. Would he distance himself from her? Or would he draw closer?
The matter meant nothing to Li Ziyuan, and his expression remained indifferent. But his next words dealt Jiang Yun a devastating blow.
“I thought it was something important. I knew that when I was eight.”
Li Ziyuan gave a mischievous grin.
“Yue'er often helped me bathe. When I was little, she even slept beside me. Are you jealous? Does it make you angry? Yue'er has seen every part of my body. She’ll take responsibility for me—that’s what she told me herself. And I’ve always regarded Yue'er as my woman.”
As Li Yue'er listened to him say such shameless things, her cheeks grew so hot they could probably have steamed an egg.
The speaker might have meant nothing by his words, but the listener took them deeply to heart.
Seeing Li Ziyuan’s indifferent attitude, Jiang Yun was utterly crushed.
“Time for you to go. There’s no need to keep one’s word with an evil man. Villains don’t honor their promises anyway. Just think of me as a villain who refuses to keep his word.”
With that, Li Ziyuan picked up a stone from the ground and struck Jiang Yun precisely in the leg, leaving him unable to stand.
He then continued shoveling earth into the pit. Jiang Yun could only watch as the boy before him gradually buried him alive.
It was only at the final moment of his life that he believed the truth: this was Li Ziyuan, not Li Yuan.
Li Ziyuan tidied up the scene and then left the burial site.
Li Yue'er followed silently behind him.
Neither of them knew that the burial site was a rare land of yin-corrupted corpses. Beneath the ancient tree, sunlight had failed to reach the ground for countless years, allowing vast quantities of dark energy to gather. Once a corpse was buried there, it would inevitably undergo a corpse transformation.
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