Tome of Troubled Times-Chapter 921: I Am Willing

It was hard to tell whether that damned blind woman was saying yes... or just finding a fancy way to say no.

The space they were in truly lacked most elements. That was why neither of them had used any laws and relied only on martial arts. In an environment like this, the only things unaffected were pure strength and speed.

Constructing such a bare-bones space was not difficult for someone like Zhao Changhe, who could now unleash Restarting Creation. And with Ye Wuming assisting him, it became even easier. But to create a fully realized world—complete with sun, moon, stars, and all elemental forces—was a different story. It might be possible over a long period, allowing it to evolve naturally like the Heavenly Tome’s world or that cave abode world. But to forge such a place in the short term? That was not something they could achieve with their current cultivation.

Even Luo Chuan’s small world, built upon the stolen essence of the Heavenly Tome, as well as the conceptual interplay of black holes and rebirth, was still in its infancy. Its native creatures were all juveniles, and it lacked many fundamentals... and that was something Luo Chuan had been working on since the last era.

If one could succeed in creating such a space fully, they would likely have already reached a realm beyond the Other Shore.

So, when Ye Wuming made her statement, it could be interpreted as, “I accept.” Just as easily, it could be interpreted as, “Wait a few million years and we’ll talk.” She was setting an impossible condition, a veiled rejection.

However, Zhao Changhe did not care which meaning she intended.

The moment someone like Ye Wuming was willing to name her terms, it meant she was no longer the omnipotent player moving pieces on a board, no longer the aloof tome spirit of the Heavenly Tome, and no longer the Night Emperor, surveying all from on high.

Now, she was just a woman, holding fast to her last thread of pride in front of the man who wanted her.

She did not even struggle when he hugged her from behind. Her body was tense, nervous, as if bracing for his hands to start wandering, unsure what she would do if he did.

Zhao Changhe knew exactly what she was thinking. He simply replied, “Very well. Then I’ll begin preparing the betrothal gift.”

He said it seriously but made no move to actually prepare anything. His hand, in fact, began to grow more unrestrained, slipping upward from her waist.

Ye Wuming stopped his hand with a half-amused smile. “And where’s this so-called betrothal gift?”

Zhao Changhe feigned surprise. “We come from Zhao Family Village. When did we ever have a rule that said you had to get married before doing... other things?”

Ye Wuming started to struggle. “Zhao Changhe, you scoundrel!”

“Don’t move.” Zhao Changhe breathed in the scent of her neck and whispered, “The wedding ceremony means we’re married. The gift makes you my fiancée. So when we’re discussing all this, aren’t we technically dating?”

Ye Wuming froze, blinking in confusion.

Dating? That’s... actually not wrong. Only a couple would be haggling over an 88,000 yuan betrothal gift. Reaching this point meant that they had long since past casual interaction.

“If we’re already dating, then a kiss isn’t going too far, is it?” Zhao Changhe continued, lips brushing her neck.

Before she could answer, he was already kissing her swan-like neck.

Ye Wuming stiffened again, trying to pull her neck away, but it was as if that one kiss had drained all the strength from her. Her body turned soft and tingly, and her mind began to blur.

Unlike before, she was at full strength now, and yet she still melted under his kiss.

His hand moved again, creeping steadily upward. She tried to stop him, but her hands had no force left. Inch by inch, he moved onward.

“Zhao Changhe...” she whispered, her voice shaking as his hand brushed the curve of her chest. Her entire body trembled. In a flustered voice, she blurted, “Isn’t this enough for revenge? You’re just humiliating me for having taken you from your family for all these years... Haven’t I paid enough already? Why won’t you let it go...”

Zhao Changhe responded softly, “So those moments of submission before... were they your subconscious trying to repay a debt?”

“You tell me.” Ye Wuming bit her lip. “Do you really think I was helpless back then, that I let you do as you pleased because I couldn’t stop you? I knew exactly what you wanted. I let you have it. That way, we’d be even. So why keep pushing—”

“But Blindie... You clearly gave me a love letter.”

“I...”

“If you truly wanted to walk away, you could’ve done so right after sealing Luo Chuan inside River of Stars. You had no need to accept my challenge, and there was even less of a reason for you to fight me a third time after already being captured twice.” His voice was calm, yet every word pierced like a blade. “From the beginning, your fighting spirit was weak. Tell me, do you really want to win against me?”

Unnoticed, his hand had already taken full possession.

Ye Wuming gasped, her breath uneven, teeth clenched.

“You want me to win, don’t you?” Zhao Changhe murmured. “You’re giving yourself an out, and giving me an excuse.”

As he spoke, his left hand tangled in her hair and gently tugged her head back. There was no force in the motion, but her body reacted instinctively, arching slightly as he leaned in close and kissed her lips.

The entire motion flowed like a prisoner’s surrender—shameful, unwilling, yet complete.

And every word he said locked perfectly into place.

“You tell me,” Zhao Changhe whispered against her lips, barely pulling away. “Are you repaying a debt... or have you fallen for me?”

Even now, Ye Wuming did not know the answer herself.

She was not meant to feel emotions. And yet, if Ye Jiuyou and Piaomiao could learn to feel, then why would she be unable to?

But if those feelings truly existed, when had they begun?

Was it the result of three years spent by his side, the bond forming unnoticed? Was it the moment she realized he desired her and felt her heart skip a beat? Was it when he risked everything with that arrow... or perhaps the quiet harmony of the family they had become, so naturally intertwined?

And if no feelings had been born, then what was this turmoil inside her? What were these days filled with restless thoughts? What was this helplessness in his embrace, unable to resist his kiss? Why was she so desperate to offer them both an out?

“You say I’m humiliating you...” Zhao Changhe sighed, brushing his fingers against her cheek. “But Blindie, while Piaomiao and Jiuyou might love to humiliate you, have I ever done that? I’ve still never truly taken you.”

Ye Wuming finally spoke, her voice hoarse, “You want more.”

“I do,” Zhao Changhe admitted without hesitation. “I want more.”

As he said that, he snapped his fingers.

Tiny lights appeared around them, flickering upward like fireflies, rising higher and higher. Ye Wuming looked up. From afar, it looked like the sky had been lit with a scatter of new stars.

How fake.

She blinked, momentarily dazed, before it dawned on her that this was his so-called betrothal gift.

He had kissed her and groped her, and now he was offering a bride price?

Expressionless, Ye Wuming stared for a moment. “Is this your star-filled sky? It looks more like fireflies to me.”

“The sun, moon, and stars in the Spirit Tribe’s secret realm were all fake,” Zhao Changhe said, smiling faintly. “Yet, that didn’t stop them from thriving. All things begin as illusions and become real. That goes for the world... and for you, too.”

He snapped his fingers again.

A bank of white clouds drifted in, silently gathering beneath their feet.

A sudden breeze rose, lifting strands of Ye Wuming’s hair across her face.

Zhao Changhe scooped her up and sat with her on the drifting clouds, letting the wind carry them wherever it pleased. He asked with a smile, “Is this wind?” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

It was indeed wind, however brief. It was forged from Zhao Changhe’s own spirit qi, not born of nature, and it would not last. But it was wind nonetheless, and the same went for the clouds beneath them.

His wounds were not even bandaged. No one knew how long he could sustain the wind and clouds.

She clearly knew it was fake. And yet, Ye Wuming felt a strange stirring in her chest, and she could only reply with a “Yes.”

Zhao Changhe guided the clouds upward, letting them soar into the heavens. Soon, they approached the edge of the world. With their vision that was capable of piercing illusion, they could already glimpse the true universe beyond the boundary of the little world they were in, where distant stars glimmered across unknowable light-years.

Zhao Changhe asked, “Is that a star?”

Ye Wuming answered, “Yes.”

Zhao Changhe suddenly reached out with his hand.

The distant star streaked across the void, trailing a long tail as it hurtled toward them. Ye Wuming’s eyes glazed over as she watched, captivated by the beauty of the scene.

Stars hung suspended beyond the boundary, their glow faint and cool. It was impossible to feel their warmth from across the divide. They looked less like the sun and more like a moon.

“Is that a moon?”

Ye Wuming gazed upward for a long moment before quietly answering herself, “Yes.”

In the mortal realm, such words were often spoken as sweet nothings. “Even if you wanted the stars in the sky, I’d find a way to bring them down for you.”

He was turning that sentiment into something tangible.

Though everything around her—the stars, the wind, the clouds—was a lie fashioned from illusion, his heart was real.

Ye Wuming’s tense body slowly relaxed, and she leaned back into his embrace, listening to the wind and admiring the moonlight in silence.

He began to move again, balling and passing the qi in his hands. Ye Wuming pursed her lips and sighed softly. “When I ask you for these things, it’s not just to make things difficult for you.”

“There is expectation.” Zhao Changhe spoke for her. “You want me to push further, to truly surpass you.”

Ye Wuming hummed in acknowledgment.

So it was still a step—a rung on a ladder. Surpass me, and you may have me.

But no matter whether he surpassed her or not, the truth was clear in their minds. She had admitted that she was willing.

Ye Wuming sighed again. “Do you really need me to say it out loud? To tear away all the veils?”

Zhao Changhe said nothing.

But Ye Wuming understood perfectly. After a long silence, her voice dropped to a reluctant whisper, “Yes. I am willing.”

Speaking those words was like snapping the taut string in her chest. Her whole being went limp, drained of strength, yet strangely, a lightness washed over her.

He wanted more, and in this moment, he had it all.

Zhao Changhe drew a deep breath and tightened his hold as if to anchor them both more firmly. “Blindie, do you know... when I said you were the boss, I wasn’t talking about that battle just now. I meant this moment.”

Ye Wuming felt the embrace constrict around her and murmured softly, “I know.”

She had always known.

Luo Chuan was the knot binding the Ye sisters together, but Zhao Changhe cared little for that. What he wanted was to conquer Ye Wuming. However, it was not her body that he wanted, but her acknowledgement. Her real acknowledgement.

Perhaps that was the third card he drew at the start. It might not have been a clue about the Night Emperor’s throne, but the near-impossible prize that was the Night Emperor herself.

Having obtained her, this lifetime’s journey into the jianghu reached its end.

Zhao Changhe kissed her lightly, his hand beginning to undo her sash. His movements were slow and tentative, as if testing whether she would resist again. Ye Wuming did not resist. She did not protest that he had not yet surpassed her or given her a proper betrothal gift. Her eyelashes fluttered, and she finally closed her eyes.

Once the words “I am willing” were spoken, all steps vanished. The HP bar was gone. He had beaten the final boss.

Above the clouds, the wind had ceased. The distant star beyond the boundary remained dim and hazy like a moon casting a pale light upon the flawless figure standing atop the clouds.

Her garments loosened, revealing a body pure and radiant beneath the moonlight.

Like Ling Ruoyu, Ye Wuming’s Heavenly Tome body was distinct from her human form. Her original body as the Night Emperor had self-destructed in the last era, so it was long gone. This new human form was crafted to correspond with the new era of humanity but had never fulfilled its purpose.

Now she lay open and exposed atop the clouds, left to be admired by a man.

She was wide open and he could read her like a book.

Ye Wuming’s thoughts spiraled as they often did after writing too much. She now felt half embarrassed, half amused. The Four Idols Cult had been busy copying texts for ages, and now the Heavenly Tome itself was being... copied.

Was his pulling apart her clothes not just like flipping open a book?

Zhao Changhe had no idea what Ye Wuming was imagining. At this moment, his mind was utterly lost, intoxicated by the flawless form before him.

No matter how well Ye Wuming understood him, she could never fully step into his headspace right now. Her godlike figure—both divine and demonic, commanding his entire fate through life’s trials—was now lying obediently before him.

She was no longer forced or resigned, no longer full of excuses or pretending to repay debts. She willingly shed her garments, yielding to his kisses and caresses.

The overwhelming sense of conquest and fulfillment burst through him. It was so intense that even though he had barely done anything, he already felt like he was about to erupt.

Her natural scent was like a potent aphrodisiac, stirring his heart from dream to waking reality.

As he moved, Ye Wuming’s body tensed again, a faint blush blooming under the moonlight. She had no time left to dwell on trivial matters like copying a tome anymore. Biting her lip, she whispered, “Have you played around enough?”

Usually, when a man’s on top, they immediately get on to getting what they want. Who freaking sits to the side like he’s admiring a piece of art? The sheer absurdity of it made Ye Wuming want to scream. Her shame had long since passed the threshold that she even felt like snapping, If you’re going to do it, hurry up already. What’s your damn problem?

I know I already said that I’m willing, but this just doesn’t feel right. Have you lost your mind or something? Is your radio tower disabled?!

But a moment later, her eyes flicked with mischief. In a sultry whisper, she asked, “Brother-in-law... between me and my sister, who’s more tempting?”

Zhao Changhe froze. The next second, his composure shattered. There was no holding back now. He surged forward, seizing her lips in a fierce kiss. “You little witch....”

Ye Wuming closed her eyes again, a trace of exasperation fluttering through her heart.

Who would’ve thought that one day I’d be the one seducing him... provoking him to claim me... Was this part of his scheme too...?

And yet, beneath the helplessness, there was also a strange sense of relief. Perhaps this should’ve happened long ago. She parted her lips, welcoming his hunger, her slender arms wrapping around his broad back. In a muffled breath, she murmured, “Are you... feeling pleased with yourself right now?”

Zhao Changhe stroked her cheek, “Not enough...”

“Then... what would make you more pleased? Like this?” Ye Wuming tightened her hold around his neck, drew his ear close to her lips, and whispered so softly it barely stirred the air, “Please... take me...”

Zhao Changhe froze. He was utterly dazed.

Ye Wuming shut her eyes and whispered, “Here it is. Your conquest, just as you wanted.”