Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 900: A Monk Who Can Take the Temple for a Run

Because Zhao Changhe had not taken advantage of her condition, the lack of direct contact meant the witchcraft’s reaction toward him had not been pushed to its limit. Ye Wuming, though her body burned with lust, was not completely defenseless. She was quietly resisting, methodically gathering her strength, preparing to strike him hard the moment he dared pounce.

And then he said that. Her already-struggling CPU simply gave her the good old BSoD.

Instead of making a move on her during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, he’s talking about that? Three letters and six protocols? What the hell is he on about?

After a long silence, Ye Wuming finally spoke, incredulous: “You... want to formally propose to me?”

Zhao Changhe replied, half exasperated, “My feelings for you are common knowledge. Did you really think I wanted to force you or anything like that? If you believe this can be resolved through a proper betrothal, then of course I’ll do it.”

Is that so...? If I truly believed it could be resolved that way, would he actually go through with it?

No, this isn’t right.

Her thoughts were a mess, and desire caused her body to be as hot as a flame. She no longer knew what she was even thinking. Everything about this conversation and this moment felt wrong. It was as if she had stepped into someone else’s story, but she could not figure out where exactly the problem lay.

While she was still lost in that haze, Zhao Changhe added, “But... Blindie...”

Ye Wuming gave up trying to form a coherent sentence. Breathing heavily, she simply looked up at him.

“The whole world may think they know how I feel about you, but maybe they’ve all got it wrong, and you as well.” Zhao Changhe lifted her chin. “Do you really believe that all I ever felt for you was just lust?”

This bastard’s actually grabbing my chin!

Ye Wuming clenched her teeth in silence, forcibly suppressing the spell’s effects. Her gaze burned defiantly into Zhao Changhe’s, clearly conveying her thoughts.

Isn’t that exactly what it is? Isn’t it? Even if it’s not pure lust, it’s at least the desire to conquer, isn’t it? You think I don’t know you? Why else would you be this close to me? Your breath is literally on my face. You’re touching my chin like we’re in some brothel. What do you think this is?

Zhao Changhe read the look in her eyes and sighed. “Do you really think I would’ve risked my life to protect you and put myself in a thirty-year slumber just for that?”

Ye Wuming’s eyes flickered.

Zhao Changhe said softly, “Or do you believe I just did it to ruin your plans? Do you think that I always had a death wish, and simply used the chance to discard my old life and start again?”

Ye Wuming finally spoke, “Is that not the case?”

“Right... That’s what you think. That’s why you’ve never said a word about that arrow.” He pinched her chin harder, and his tone turned cold. “Is it me you look down on... or yourself?”

The spell’s effect on Ye Wuming was fading. Her clarity and strength were returning rapidly. Her hand, silent and steady, had already begun to gather power. She was just waiting for the moment to strike.

But when she heard that last line, her hand froze in place.

“Three years we’ve known each other, and you were breathing on the nape of my neck every day,” Zhao Changhe said, voice low and sharp. “You think that meant nothing? Yet every time we fought side by side, you saw it as nothing more than a means to an end. That’s how you are—aloof, cold, untouchable. But I’m not like that. I’m not Ye Wuming.”

Ye Wuming stared at him in stunned silence.

What does that even mean? Is he seriously saying... that there’s more to it than desire?

Is he seriously saying he has feelings for me? What kind of joke is this? Is he thinking that sweet talk will work on me? Does he really think I’m Jiuyou?

“In this foreign land, I had no one who shared my background, no one who shared my vocabulary, no one who got my jokes. When I first arrived, Chichi and I supported each other, but even she couldn’t fully understand me... The only two who truly could... were you and Old Xia. See, I had my differences with Old Xia. In another world, we’d probably be enemies. But I could never bring myself to fight him. He felt the same. In his eyes, everyone else was just an NPC; only the two of us weren’t. So if even Old Xia could see it, what about me? Do you know what it’s like to speak with someone using words, jokes, thoughts that only the two of us could ever understand?”

Ye Wuming continued to stare, dumbfounded.

“You were the one who made it this way... But after Old Xia left, you were all I had left. No matter how angry I was at you, I could never just sit back and watch you die.” As Zhao Changhe reached this point, he finally let go of her chin. “To put it in those dumb domineering CEO novels’ words, you owe me. And without my permission, you’re not allowed to die.”

Ye Wuming’s face was turned away, and her thoughts were a tangled mess.

That chin-raising gesture should have been insulting, yet she was not angry. That line about domineering CEO tropes should have been ridiculous, yet she could not laugh at it.

The aftereffects of the witchcraft still lingered, stirring both her body and mind. And with every word he spoke, the ripple deepened.

“Three years we spent together. You may not care for it, but I do. We’ve fought side by side, and though you might see that as mere routine, I see it as much more than that. You may have never provided me any more than three lines of guidance, but you still did teach me. Where I stand today, I owe much to your guidance,” said Zhao Changhe calmly. “I don’t know if there’s love or not, but I do know that what’s between us isn’t something that can be reduced to just lust or desire.”

Ye Wuming still said nothing.

However, Zhao Changhe could tell that her silence was not because lust or desire had burned her senseless. It was because most of her attention was focused on dispelling the witchcraft’s lingering effects, and she could not be bothered to waste energy forming a coherent reply.

What he did not realize was that Ye Wuming had already regained much of her clarity. The witchcraft’s hold was barely a shadow now, hardly affecting her thoughts at all.

And yet, she still didn’t respond.

That in itself said a lot.

Zhao Changhe did not press the point, choosing instead to treat her silence as acquiescence or confusion, and continued, “You say you want the three letters and six protocols. But what am I supposed to give you as a gift? I don’t even know what you lack, or what I can offer. The title of Night Emperor? It was yours to begin with, and mine only by accident. The Heavenly Dao? That’s already you. Even the ring on my hand was once yours. I have nothing to give you. If I have anything, it’s that I can help you fulfill your lifelong ambition. I can help you finish what two entire eras of preparation set in motion. When that day comes, if offering the world as the bride price counts, then so be it. You decide what it means.”

Ye Wuming looked like she was about to say something, then her expression abruptly shifted.

A subtle tremor rippled through the Night Palace as though time and space had been jostled.

Zhao Changhe’s face darkened, and he sprang upright. “He actually found us... Could it be that your weakened state caused a breach in the dimensional veil?”

The world of the Heavenly Tome was hidden deep within the void, a realm Ye Wuming had painstakingly veiled. Even the original Heavenly Dao had never been able to pinpoint it from the outside. He could only attempt to seize River of Stars from within and breach the world by force.

But Ye Wuming was one with the Heavenly Tome. If she grew weak, even for a moment, that concealment could falter, and a brief leak might occur.

That was why no one had dared antagonize Ye Wuming before the final battle. If a fight broke out too early, they risked letting outside enemies slip in through the cracks.

No one had expected mere moments of arousal and distraction to open that window.

Normally, such a fleeting lapse would not matter. The Heavenly Dao was not omniscient, and He had no way to detect a blip in an infinite cosmos.

If even something like that led to exposure, then what if the two of them really did go all the way? If a session that lasted an hour or more under such fiery conditions were to take place, what then? Did that then mean they could not even make love safely?

Ye Wuming looked up solemnly and shook her head. “That little slip wouldn’t have caused a leak. It’s just... unfortunate timing. Tell the others not to blame themselves.”

Zhao Changhe raised an eyebrow. You’re being awfully decent for someone who just got ambushed...

Ye Wuming gave a faint, mocking smile. “Maybe I should be thanking Him. He just saved me from whatever else you were about to try, riding the momentum.”

Zhao Changhe scowled. “Have you gone mad? You’re still cracking jokes right now?”

Ye Wuming tilted her head skyward, a faint frown emerging on her face. She did not know why the Heavenly Dao had chosen to appear now. No one was prepared for this. Zhao Changhe had only just glimpsed the threshold of the Other Shore, and none of the grudges or internal conflicts had been resolved. This was hardly the time for a final confrontation.

In truth, the reason was quite simple. Two days ago, the “family of three” had gone out to collect otherworldly materials to reforge Dragon Bird. On their way back, they had been intercepted by a cultivator. In the resulting clash, Ye Wuming had forcibly shattered a spatial passage, and that sudden surge of destructive force had caught the attention of the nearby original Heavenly Dao. And ever since then, He had been lurking, constantly searching.

For Zhao Changhe and the others, finding the Heavenly Dao was about knowing the enemy and learning His position. But for the Heavenly Dao, locating the Heavenly Tome’s world was everything. It was His one chance for total victory. He knew better than anyone that the Ye sisters stood just short of the threshold.

Once they fused and broke through to the Other Shore, this world would have nothing more to do with Him. He would be irrelevant. Worse yet, they might even be able to turn the tables.

He had scoured this region of void for two full days. And now, at the most inopportune moment for them, He found it. Without hesitation, the Heavenly Dao tore open the veil, crashing into the world of the Heavenly Tome, dragging Ye Wuming back from the edge of emotional surrender just in time to spark the third battle against the Heavenly Dao in two eras.

The Night Palace’s qi veins and the Heavenly Tome’s world linked together. Then, the Night Palace shook, and all its defenses activated automatically, converging into a brilliant beam of light that shot toward the Heavenly Dao.

Bang!

The Heavenly Dao met it with a casual punch. The light scattered. And from the tear in the void, the faint outline of a book-shaped world emerged, its shell shimmering across the dark expanse of space.

The three realms trembled. Ye Jiuyou stared upward in disbelief. “Did we... trigger this?”

There was no time to ponder. She immediately summoned the corpse puppet made from the Spirit Tribe’s land and launched herself into the battle.

However, before she could even reach the front, a figure had already flown out from the Night Palace, gripping a saber in both hands, striking toward the breach from beyond the world of the Heavenly Tome.

This was the third battle against the Heavenly Dao. But for Zhao Changhe, it was the first time he was facing the Heavenly Dao directly. It was also the first time he laid eyes on what the Heavenly Dao truly looked like.

To his surprise, the Heavenly Dao had a handsome face as smooth as jade and rich, red lips. He was undoubtedly a very handsome man, pretty even. But He was massive. He was so massive that the entire world in front of him was no bigger than his face. It looked as if a planet would fit neatly in the palm of his hand.

A stray thought flashed through Zhao Changhe’s mind: We’ve always called him the “Heavenly Dao,” but perhaps he’s just a cultivator who roams the universe. He’s probably got an actual name, though I’ve no idea what it is...

The second thought that crossed Zhao Changhe’s mind was: The world within the Heavenly Tome is a self-contained world. It’s fundamentally no different from the space inside a storage ring. Inside a storage ring, there might be several mu of land, but from looking at the ring from the outside, it would be nothing but an accessory on one’s finger.

It was likely the same for the Heavenly Tome. From outside, it was just an ordinary-sized book. This meant that when those inside looked at those outside, it was as if they were ants peering up at giants.

That thought flickered past in a heartbeat.

In the next moment, Zhao Changhe’s saber had already cleaved past the boundary of the world.

A long, clean hand met the edge of the saber head-on, aiming to crush both man and weapon alike. In front of that enormous palm, Zhao Changhe’s massive saber looked no more than a sewing needle.

A soft, mocking laugh accompanied the blow. “You really thought it was that arrow of yours that forced me back, last time?”

The saber and palm had not even connected before a terrifying clash of energy erupted in the space between. Dragon Bird’s sharp, void-piercing energy carved into the Heavenly Dao’s power like a spear through silk, its momentum thunderous and unstoppable.

The Heavenly Dao let out a surprised, “Oh?” The palm flipped, shifting from a direct block to pressing along the saber’s flat side. Clearly, he had not expected this attack to be so fierce.

A sewing needle could prick a hand.

Zhao Changhe had no time to enjoy the satisfaction of landing a face-slap-worthy reversal. A terrifying pressure surged through the saber’s side. The blood and qi throughout his entire body surged violently, nearly bursting from within. He grunted and staggered backward.

But then, a slender, jade-like hand reached from beside him and caught the follow-up blow.

Bang!

Both parties recoiled slightly.

Zhao Changhe turned to glance at her, his expression slightly odd.

So... you do have strength left. Good thing I didn’t try anything earlier. If I did, I’m afraid I might have gotten myself killed on the spot.

But Ye Wuming had only held her ground by borrowing the world’s power. Even now, she was in poor condition. Just this one clash left blood trickling from the corner of her lips. At the same time, the entire world trembled—earthquakes and tsunamis erupting in an instant.

The Heavenly Dao froze mid-retreat, then burst into manic laughter. “Ye Wuming... Haha, you’re actually flushed with lust? Were you just rolling around with that man? You, of all people? Hahahahaha...”

He laughed so hard that he forgot to keep attacking. Clearly, this was the greatest amusement he’d had in centuries. Watching Ye Wuming be in such heated desire, how could he resist?

Ye Wuming ignored him completely, snatching Zhao Changhe’s wrist before he could surge forward again, transmitting a thought directly to his mind, “We’re stronger now than we were thirty years ago. What once required a masterstroke of planning can now be done outright. Have Ruoyu use River of Stars to construct a spatial barrier. You, Jiuyou, and Piaomiao seal the remaining three sides. I just need one instant.”

“And then what? Are you going to detonate yourself again?”

Ye Wuming remained deadpan, but her logic was ironclad. “What else do you propose? This isn’t the time for a final battle. Thanks to your interference, the situation’s already turned worse. If I no longer have the resolve to die, what’s even the point of fighting? Quit whining. Just do what I tell you.”

“Was everything I said earlier in vain?” Zhao Changhe sneered. “I told you, your life belongs to me. Without my permission, you don’t get to die.”

“You f—” Ye Wuming actually started to curse. This idiot was simply deranged!

But with the Heavenly Dao’s next punch already crashing down on them, she did not have time to argue with him. She dragged him with her as they fell back into the world.

Suddenly, a colossal figure appeared before them. Ye Jiuyou had brought her corpse puppet to the boundary of the world. The corpse puppet’s mountain-sized fist met the Heavenly Dao’s blow head-on, shaking the entire veil.

At the same time, Ling Ruoyu, wielding River of Stars, appeared at the flank.

River of Stars cut across space, showing no mercy to even the corpse puppet’s hand and splitting the void in two. A separate realm shimmered into being, neatly severing the Heavenly Dao from the Heavenly Tome’s world.

Ye Wuming cried out, “It won’t hold long. He’ll tear through it in seconds! Ruoyu, come back now!”

Ling Ruoyu, obedient as ever, turned to look at her and withdrew back into the world.

But then, a voice cut through the air, “Is that so?”

Ruoyu and Ye Jiuyou had retreated, but Zhao Changhe had broken out of the world, stepping outside of it.

Everyone watched, stunned, as his body began to expand—or perhaps, more accurately, the Heavenly Tome’s world began to shrink in contrast.

From outside, Zhao Changhe now saw the Heavenly Dao as no larger than an ordinary man. In fact, the other party was not even taller than himself.

So that’s all there is to the mysteries within and beyond the boundary of the world.

Zhao Changhe snorted. Without hesitation, he reached out, grabbed the floating Heavenly Tome, and stuffed it into his robe.

The Heavenly Dao’s jaw dropped.

Ye Wuming’s jaw dropped.

“The fuck are you all gawking at? Are we not allowed to run just because he’s managed to find us? Of course we can run! I’ll keep running as long as I can. As for you, you damned blind woman, patch yourself up while you have the chance! As for the rest of you, with all that witchcraft you prepared, if a single hair from her head could send her into heat, then with this guy standing right here with his very body and demonic soul, don’t tell me you’re still just going to try tracing him! What the hell are you tracing?! He’s right here! Try a new spell or something! Hurry! Your husband can’t hold him off forever!”

In the vastness of space, a lone man fled with a saber on his back and a book in his arms, racing across the stars toward who knew where.

Behind him, a furious man gave chase, roaring, “Zhao Changhe! When I catch you, I will tear you to pieces!”