I, the transmigrated villain, please wait, gentle master.

Chapter 232 You Clearly Love Me

“I know what bothers you… I killed so many people in my past life, you must hate me to death.”

"But in this second life, aren't they all still alive and well? I swear, I've changed for the better, I won't kill indiscriminately anymore..."

"Look at me, I haven't even stepped on a single ant along the way... Who the hell is as compassionate as me?!"

Li Tingyun got carried away and coughed to bring the conversation back on track: "Anyway, I've really changed. I abide by the law and my record is clean."

"Stop talking nonsense..." Mei Shiyu felt a headache coming on.

Li Tingyun asked, "Then what will it take for you to believe me?"

Mei Shiyu said, "What does this have to do with whether I believe you or not? Just because I believe you've turned over a new leaf doesn't mean I have to... I have to agree to be your friend, your confidant, or even... your lover?!"

Li Tingyun apologized to him: "I was too hasty in confessing my feelings to you so early, but I just couldn't help saying it. I don't expect you to give me an answer today, but I will wait until the day you agree to me."

Mei Shiyu: "Can't I refuse?"

Li Tingyun: "Okay. Then I'll wait for you to change your mind."

Mei Shiyu: "..."

That devil is hard to deal with, that bastard Li Tingyun.

Do you know that I cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness?

"know."

"Do you know that those who are ruthless but fall in love are destined to face a tribulation of love?"

"Then kill me to prove your path."

"Do you still think I could kill you, that I could bring myself to do it?!"

Mei Shiyu raised her voice, seemingly on the verge of collapse, and questioned him.

Li Tingyun laughed and said, "Immortal Venerable, you've given yourself away. We must have had an affair in our past life!"

Mei Shiyu said, "I can't communicate with you... Can't you be normal?!"

"I'm just talking to you normally!"

Li Tingyun looked at him with a deep gaze, "If I weren't normal, I would have kissed you long ago."

"..."

kiss.

Mei Shiyu suddenly remembered that ambiguous kiss at the River of Oblivion.

Could it be that back then, Li Tingyun...

"Do you really have absolutely no feelings for me?"

"..."

"Ask yourself honestly."

"..."

Mei Shiyu remained silent throughout.

Li Tingyun decisively cupped his cheeks.

I placed a kiss on his forehead.

A slightly offensive, yet cherished kiss, lighter than a feather's touch, landed on the striking red mark on his forehead, and was gone in an instant.

Mei Shiyu closed her eyes.

The body trembled slightly.

There was no rejection, no resistance, no struggle.

"...It seems I was a coward in my past life."

Li Tingyun said in a low voice.

"You clearly love me too."

"But you're too slow-witted, you're a blockhead."

"If I don't tell you, you won't admit it."

Mei Shiyu kept shaking his head, "We are both men, this, this goes against morality, and even if... even if... we won't have a good outcome... Don't talk about this anymore..."

He said "it goes against morality" and "we will not have a good outcome," instead of "I don't want to," "I am unwilling," or "I have no feelings for you." He couldn't say things against his conscience; he couldn't lie.

Li Tingyun embraced him, "But one can't simply give up on having something just because one is afraid of losing it, that would be such a pity."

"If it really comes to that, you won't have to lift a finger. I will willingly be reduced to ashes and my soul will dissipate for you."

If in the previous life in the book, Mei Shiyu couldn't escape the predetermined ending of his soul being scattered under the control of the plot and the manipulation of fate, then this time, it's his turn. He will no longer be manipulated by anyone and accidentally kill the person he loves.

"Stop talking, stop talking... Let me think about it, let me think about it..."

Mei Shiyu broke free from his embrace.

I've never encountered such a difficult problem in my two lifetimes.

That bastard Li Tingyun... It's him again, always him!

It left me feeling utterly helpless and with no way out.

After a long silence, Mei Shiyu replied, "Let's talk about this when you've remembered everything."

"……it is good."

Li Tingyun knew perfectly well that it was truly remarkable that Mei Shiyu could make such a concession in such a short time.

If he keeps arguing and making a scene, he'll get slapped.

"Then do you still recognize me?"

"You still recognize Yuanbao as your disciple?"

Li Tingyun turned around and posed another difficult question to Mei Shiyu.

Hearing this, Mei Shiyu got angry. "Haven't you teased me enough yet?"

A bitter feeling welled up inside her, and she scoffed, "If Yuanbao really were a dog, I would have accepted him, but who knew he wasn't?"

Li Tingyun shamelessly said, "He can be... woof woof."

"...You're going to drive me crazy."

"How dare you."

Li Tingyun hummed softly, "I know I was wrong."

"Alright, alright, stop acting up!"

"Oh."

Will you... ever become a child again in the future?

Mei Shiyu felt a little regretful, because he had never seen what Yuanbao looked like when he was young.

Li Tingyun said, "Perhaps. Who knows when the merit book will be updated?"

Mei Shiyu asked, "Then... do you still want to become a child again?"

"How could that be?! What's so great about being a little kid? I'm powerless to do anything, it's so frustrating."

"At first, I didn't dare to show you my true face, for fear that you would recognize me and stab me to death with a sword, so I lied to you all the way."

"Now that you know who I am, if I change back, you definitely won't care about me anymore, and I'll just be wandering around."

"Every day I have to worry about my enemies coming to my door, tearing me to pieces, hacking me to pieces..."

Li doesn't pretend to be docile; he just plays the victim. He readily accepts good advice. How fitting!

"Who said I don't care about you anymore?" Mei Shiyu couldn't stand such words and interrupted him, "You still want to go wandering? Is wandering something fun? With your troublemaking nature, you might get beaten to death before your enemies even come knocking on your door."

Li Tingyun raised an eyebrow. "I knew it, you couldn't leave me."

"..." Mei Shiyu ignored his words. "Actually, a genius like you, even if you went back to your childhood, wouldn't be 'helpless at everything.' You at least have..."

Wait! He suddenly remembered something.

"Li Tingyun, how could you have a mixed spiritual root?!"

He clearly remembered that when he tested Yuanbao's spiritual root, the crystal was dull and colorless.

"I can't really say for sure. It must have been stolen when I was very young..." Li Tingyun patted his head. "I can't remember the specifics, but it's probably related to the Spirit Root Hunters Group."

Mei Shiyu sighed, "If I had known this would happen, I should have kept Si Wuxie here... But even though you don't remember your childhood, someone else surely does..."

"Who?"

"What do you think?"

Of course, it's another gold ingot.

Mei Shiyu briefly recounted what happened at Wanren Peak back then to him.

He omitted the details of his past grievances with his senior brother, but Li Tingyun wasn't so easily fooled. "I don't remember those things from back then, but it's not like I have absolutely no recollection of them..."

"I was clearly pushed off the cliff, and that person even stabbed me. I saw his face, and it looked exactly like yours?!"

"Who is he? Why is he doing this kind of thing with your face on his back? He deserves to die! Did you make enemies in the Dao Xuan Sect?"

"Did you find him and kill him???"

Mei Shiyu's gaze lingered slightly on his face. "Don't you suspect that person was me?"

Li Tingyun's face was gloomy: "At the time, I definitely thought that person was you, otherwise how could I have been caught off guard and framed? Now that I think about it, I was so stupid to mistake you for someone else. I deserved to fall to my death."

Mei Shiyu: "..." That's not what I meant.

But he roughly understood Li Tingyun's peculiar thought process.

This person is reclusive and isolated from the world. Despite being so wary, he always goes alone and is all by himself. Touching the restrictions of the Taiji Hall means certain death... but there are many exceptions for him.

When exactly did it start?

Before that kiss in the River of Oblivion...

Did Li Tingyun already have those kinds of feelings for him?

“You kept everything from me in your past life—your background, your experiences, and your…relationships. I thought we were fairly familiar with each other, but when it comes to your past, I know nothing.”

"If there's something I never tell you, it's probably not a good thing. Maybe if I told you, you'd dislike me even more."

"But if you don't tell me, how am I supposed to understand you? I don't even know you as a person, so how can I... respond to you?"

Mei Shiyu's straightforwardness was unexpected. Li Tingyun said gently, "Okay, I understand. I won't hide anything from you from now on. I'll tell you anything that comes up."

"You never keep your word."

"The person I was in the past is not the person I am now. We need to look at things from a developmental perspective... I've changed everything now! I'm completely obedient! Really!"

Mei Shiyu smiled slightly, but there was something she didn't say to him explicitly—

Actually, even if you love to talk nonsense, I'll still believe you to some extent.

Li Tingyun has always been an "exception" to him.