Chapter 327: Is it so Hard to Believe?

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Night fell many hours ago, yet some people still loiter outside the Divine Frozen Palace’s estate.

Pathetic though it may be, they hope to catch a glimpse of the women who live there. Such is nothing unusual. Many people camp at the bottom of the frozen peaks where the Divine Frozen Palace is located. Sometimes, they will stay there for several months. One person even stayed multiple years there. Some say he ended up marrying a woman of the Divine Frozen Palace. Others say he died in the cold.

Regardless, compared to braving the cold, it is far safer to watch the Crimson Cloud Tournament. For most, watching the ladies of the Divine Frozen Palace from afar is more than enough. However, there are always some who wish to go further. They will write letters. They will send exorbitant gifts. They will sing and make impassioned declarations at their door.

It is all useless, of course. The gates will remain closed no matter what.

Tonight, someone goes over the walls.

The person hides their presence well, but that does not mean they go unnoticed. Meng Yue frowns but ultimately decides that spending time with her disciple is more important. Shao Zhilan looks to the east and smirks. However, that is as far as her reaction goes. There is no need for her to do more.

Bai Lianshi is already there.

The first among the Five Fairies stands alone in the courtyard. A veil covers her face, and a beam of moonlight falls over her body, bathing her in ethereal light. Harsh blue eyes inspect her surroundings as her face twists with casual disdain.

“I did not expect this from you,” Bai Lianshi says, her voice cold. “Then again, there are many things I never expected from you, Feng Shang.”

The air shimmers, and previously empty space twists to reveal Lord Feng Shang of the Eternal Flame Clan. Bai Lianshi can tell it is not the real Feng Shang at a glance. Nevertheless, it is undoubtedly Lord Feng Shang’s soul fragment in front of her. There is no way she, of all people, could fail to recognize it.

“Many things have happened. Many things have changed,” Feng Shang of the Eternal Flame Clan says. His golden eyes meet Bai Lianshi’s blue ones for a second that stretches into eternity.

Bai Lianshi looks away.

“Have things changed so much that you’d intrude where you are not wanted like a common thief?” Bai Lianshi asks harshly. “This is not the Eternal Flame Clan.”

“If my presence offends you, then dismiss me. One wave of your hand is all it would take to do away with this soul fragment. However, you have not done so,” Feng Shang points out. “Forgive my temerity, but I will assume that means you approve of my visit.”

“Approve?” Bai Lianshi scoffs. Frost appears over the grass. “What about you is worth approving? You are a failure who could not become Patriarch despite your many advantages, a traitor who deceived his wife and sired a child with another woman. The great and honorable Feng Shang? What a joke that was!”

“As usual, you are completely right, Lady Bai Lianshi,” Feng Shang says. Despite the insults thrown at him, he speaks softly. “However, you already knew I was someone willing to betray his wife.”

Bai Lianshi flinches.

Despite her best wishes, her mind looks back to a much simpler time many years ago. She and Meng Yue had been in the Dead Plains when they encountered Feng Shang and his brother. An incident involving a relic ended with Feng Shang and her trapped in a different spatial realm. Feng Gui and Meng Yue tried their best to free them, but their efforts were in vain. All anyone could do was wait until the technique ran its course, leaving Feng Shang and Bai Lianshi as each other’s only company for many months.

It would not have been unusual if anything had happened between them. Most would expect it to. Yet, despite being alone with one of the most beautiful women on the continent, the honorable Feng Shang never thought about betraying his betrothed. That is how the story is told among the upper echelons of the Eternal Flame Clan and the Divine Frozen Palace.

That story is a lie.

Lord Feng Shang considered it. He wanted it. They both wanted it. How could they not? They were young, attractive, and talented beyond comparison. A more perfect match could not exist. They had been so very close to it.

And at the very last moment, Feng Shang stepped back.

He forever regretted it.

“Yes, I suppose I know that,” Bai Lianshi says, crossing her arms. “However, now I look back on my memories and wonder how much I can trust them. You said so many sweet words, yet they were nothing but lies.”

Feng Shang looks at her sharply. “Is that what you think?”

“Am I supposed to think differently after your actions? You gave a child to someone no better than a common whore,” Bai Lianshi retorts. “Am I supposed to be glad you hold me in the same esteem?”

“You never came,” Feng Shang says. “I waited for you, and you never came.”

For a moment, Bai Lianshi looks taken aback. She remembers Feng Shang’s words as the spatial realm unraveled, a last desperate attempt to hold on to a bond that was already breaking.

“Meet me at the Seven-Colored Valley as the third month dies. I’ll be waiting!”

“I… I admired you too much. I did not want to be the reason you betrayed your vows.” Her soft words are immediately covered by a scoff. “What a fool I was!”

“I kept waiting for you,” Lord Feng Shang says. “Every year, I waited for you.”

“What? No, that cannot be possible,” Bai Lianshi says, her voice quivering slightly. “It has been…”

“Every year,” Feng Shang repeats, his voice thick with emotion. “Waiting to catch a glimpse of you. I knew there was no reason for you to think of showing, yet I kept making a fool of myself beyond reason, hoping against hope. Every year, I kept doing it.”

He sighs.

“One time, when I was returning from that trip, I stopped at a branch of the Eternal Flame Clan. That woman was there,” Feng Shang says. “She offered, and I sought to fill myself. It was a mistake, obviously, yet it gave me a daughter.”

“That’s why?!” Bai Lianshi asks. “You mean to tell me all these years you have been…No, you cannot expect me to believe that!”

Feng Shang smiles sadly.

“Is it so hard to believe that I am a bigger fool than my brother?” Feng Shang asks. He shakes his head. “No matter, the time for this is long past. I did not come here to discuss my countless mistakes. I am here for my daughter. She will fight your disciple in the round of four.”

“What of it?”

“Do not have her killed,” Feng Shang says. “Anyone can see Xiao Shuang of the Divine Frozen Palace is stronger, so that is all I ask. Do not kill her.”

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“The girl is not my disciple. She is Meng Yue’s. You are speaking to the wrong person…”

Bai Lianshi trails off. Her eyes are wide behind her veil.

Feng Shang is kowtowing.

His knees and forehead are both touching the floor. Bai Lianshi tells herself this is just a soul fragment, but it does not make the sight before her any less significant. The proud and dignified Feng Shang, who allowed the disciples under his watch to die in the previous Crimson Cloud Tournament, is bowing for the sake of someone else.

“I have made many mistakes and wronged several people. However, I beg you for my daughter’s sake, Lady Bai Lianshi of the Divine Frozen Palace-”

“Stand up!” Bai Lianshi interrupts him, angry. “Stand up right away, you foolish, foolish man! Someone like you does not belong on his knees!”

Feng Shang does not move. Bai Lianshi grits her teeth.

“Do you really think I’d be so low?! Your daughter will not die! Is that what you wish to hear? Fine! I swear by my name. Your daughter will not be killed in this tournament!”

Feng Shang finally lifts his head. There is a smile there.

“Thank you. Though the years have passed, I once again see that your outward beauty is only surpassed by the beauty of your soul.”

For all the times Bai Lianshi has complained about Meng Yue’s violent tendencies, there is nothing she wants more at that moment than to kick Feng Shang’s face.

And yet, to her utmost shame, she cannot help how her heart skips a beat at his words.

“Damn you.”