The Unspoken Promise

The carved nanmu bed creaked softly, rocking rhythmically.

“Enough!”

From within the pink silk curtains, a slightly annoyed voice murmured.

The alluring woman lifted her head, her seductive eyes like silken threads. Her limbs, however, clung to the man’s body like an octopus, and a faint tremor laced the sweet, alluring sound that escaped her throat.

“My lord—”

“If this continues, your body won’t be able to bear it.”

The man met her gaze, issuing a warning.

“My lord commanded your concubine to attend to you, but surely you haven’t had your fill yet—”

The woman’s eyes shimmered, her voice a plaintive plea. “Moreover, your concubine also desires a child.”

“My lord has already said that your concubine must forge her own path. I merely thought, perhaps, with a child, my path might become smoother in the future?”

“Hmph—”

The man let out a scoff, as if disdainful of the woman’s affected falsehoods. He reached out, gently caressing her delicate, damp skin.

“You want a child? Very well.”

The woman suddenly became aware, attempting to struggle. Yet, she found the strength she had painstakingly gathered crumbled under the man’s gentle touch. The accumulated fatigue erupted instantly.

Every muscle, every bone in her entire body, softened completely.

“Let me take over, then.”

“Yang Xuan, you cheated—mmph…”

The commotion on the bed finally began to subside.

Bai Yuan opened her eyes, feeling a profound weariness throughout her entire body. Every muscle, every bone, seemed to have been hollowed out, leaving her without a shred of strength.

But this had little to do with Yang Xuan. She had been the one to initiate it, almost draining her last reserves of energy, while the man, in contrast, had been remarkably gentle afterwards.

She understood what had transpired earlier—the anger, guilt, and even self-abandonment that came with the man exposing her innermost thoughts. These emotions, mixed with a hint of gratitude for his insight, had coalesced.

Fueled by the lingering effects of alcohol, she had simply thrown caution to the wind and unleashed it all. The result was that rather unseemly display.

Mmph…

Well, even with her current thick skin, recalling those words now truly made her blush. Her heart throbbed with shame, and she instinctively rolled over, only to unexpectedly come face to face with the man.

Meeting his deep, profound eyes, Bai Yuan was about to avert her gaze. Yet, a thought stirred within her, and she stubbornly turned back, meeting his stare. Her expression even held a hint of provocation.

“My lord, did you find it satisfying?”

After their recent wild abandon, her bottom line had been pushed even lower. She was more uninhibited, and her skin had grown even greater.

“…”

After a moment of silence, the man was the first to look away. “I, for one, think that if you continue like this, you will soon get your wish.”

Get her wish?

Mmph… Bai Yuan understood what Yang Xuan meant. Becoming pregnant and giving birth held no particular significance for Bai Yuan, having already experienced it once.

Especially since Yang Xuan had visited far more frequently this year than last; pregnancy was only a matter of time. She was mentally prepared. The only question was, would it still be Ling Yun this time?

As this thought crossed her mind, she continued her brazen provocation.

“My lord, if you were to have another son, would you not be happy?”

“How do you know it would be a son?”

The man, however, seized upon the flaw in her words.

“Don’t you men all think that way?”

Bai Yuan retorted lazily, deftly tossing the question back to him.

“No, I prefer daughters.”

Yang Xuan’s eyelids drooped, his voice a low rumble. “Boys are too noisy; girls are quieter. Beside, sons take after their mothers, as stubborn as you are. They’d only be another trouble for me.”

Stubborn?

Hmph, in her memory, that little fellow Ling Yun had been incredibly well-behaved. Bai Yuan shifted her position, recalling that chubby little bundle of joy.

Alas, she had eventually lost sight of him. When they met again, he was the enraged youth—his temper and gaze carved from the very same mold as this man in his younger days, not at all like her.

“Of course, if they inherited your aptitude, then it might just barely pass.”

After a slight pause, the man looked up at her again. He hesitated briefly before adding.

An aptitude like hers? That would truly be a disaster. Had she not been utterly exhausted, Bai Yuan would have spat at the man—how could he curse his own son like that?

The first half of her life relied on the system, her latter half on becoming ‘blackened.’ The one time she relied on herself, she not only achieved nothing but went astray. She had finally created a genuinely powerful technique, only for it to be a self-detonation method usable only once.

So, as for aptitude, there was no need to mention it; it only brought tears. She thought, disgruntled, wanting to say more, but an irresistible wave of drowsiness washed over her.

Fortunately, that boy Ling Yun only resembled her in his face. His eventual ability to surpass his many siblings and step onto the final battlefield was most likely due to this man.

She could only pray that this man’s genes were strong.

Bai Yuan yawned, then slowly closed her eyes.

A light, rhythmic breathing reached his ears; the woman beside him had fallen asleep.

Yang Xuan leaned down, watching her quietly. The woman’s sleeping face was as serene as an infant’s, utterly without guard.

“Ling Yun…”

She turned over, revealing half of her smooth body from beneath the covers, while mumbling indistinctly, a satisfied smile gracing her lips. Unless one listened carefully, it would be difficult to discern what she had just said.

What a terrible sleeper.

Yang Xuan raised a hand, gently smoothing the woman’s damp dark hair. Then, he lightly caressed her skin, as soft as silk, from her smooth shoulder all the way down to her slender neck.

Just a gentle squeeze…

Perhaps sensing something, the woman’s body twitched, but she ultimately did not awaken.

Yang Xuan’s palm gently moved downwards.

Not bad. Although she ate simply at home, by supplementing her meals outside daily, she had put on a good amount of flesh; it felt quite comfortable to the touch. At least… it was much better than her previous stick-thin appearance.

She had felt like a bag of bones when he held her.

He involuntarily recalled that broken body he had held in his arms. He could feel then how that body was constantly being cut and shredded by sword qi, and even though he continuously poured True Qi into it, it had no effect.

He knew very well that such a taste… was more painful than death by a thousand cuts. Yet, that proud, stubborn, and malicious woman had not uttered a single sound.

Did he hate her? Naturally… he did.

The mountains and rivers shattered, their homeland lost, demonic stench everywhere, a landscape of desolation. The people were displaced, some losing their minds and becoming demonic puppets and pawns, others simply turning into blood sacrifices in the mouths of demons. The divine land wept, the four directions mourned.

Comrades-in-arms shed their blood across the sky, beloved friends and family withered by his side—all of this was her doing. It would not change with her final sword strike. And this was merely due to his two moments of soft-heartedness in the past.

His mistakes, he would rectify himself. The Bloody Butcher Rakshasa would surely die by his sword. This blood oath still echoed in his ears. Yet, when that broken body trembled in his arms at the very end, he, surprisingly, still softened.

Instead of the satisfaction of avenging a great hatred, a profound sorrow permeated him. Even though he tried his best to suppress it, that emotion stubbornly seeped from the depths of his heart. He detested this feeling.

He felt that this was a betrayal of so many fallen comrades, a desecration of his years of unwavering resolve. So, after everything came to an end, he burned her corpse to ashes and scattered them on that final battlefield.

Ground to dust and scattered to the winds. This had also been her own wish.

“Yang Xuan, do you think it’s still not too late for me to turn back now?”

“After I die, burn me, then scatter my ashes anywhere. Just pretend I never came into this world…”

Hah…

This woman, she actually felt regret, felt guilt, and wished that none of it had ever happened? He sneered through gritted teeth, but he couldn’t deny that, at a certain moment, a flicker of that thought had indeed existed.

“Father, if… Mother could live another life, would she… be a good person?”

His son’s low, confused voice echoed in his ears again. At the time, he hadn’t answered—because he didn’t know the answer. After all, everything was in the past and could not be undone.

However, now, he finally had the opportunity to slowly verify it. He used the excuse that Ling Yun was innocent to convince himself to give her one last chance. He would watch carefully, to see if this woman could truly be a good person.

To see if she truly deserved for him to let go of the hatred in his heart. No need to rush, slowly. This time, he had a lifetime to reach a conclusion.

Yang Xuan withdrew his gaze, slowly reaching out to tuck the blanket around the woman.