Chapter 38 Why Did Ying Turn Evil?

The sun was scorching. Outside the wooden house, a man in brown clothes silently watched the handsome man in green clothes in the courtyard.

The hot wind blew gently, slightly lifting Yang Qing’s black hat veil, revealing his snow-white neck. His dark eyes were tinged with a hint of melancholy.

This man had deep feelings for A Meng. Although he was somewhat scheming, he could complement someone as pure-hearted as A Meng. Perhaps he was Zhang Meng’s soulmate, and could protect Zhang Meng for a lifetime.

This should have been a good thing, but Yang Qing felt gloomy. Perhaps it was because the daughter he had raised for ten years was about to be given away, that he felt unhappy.

“Zhang Meng?” Xu Lu Cha seemed to sense someone outside and hurriedly looked up, his gaze sweeping towards Yang Qing’s hiding place.

There was no one there. The trees rustled in the wind.

It wasn’t her. It was just the sound of the wind.

Xu Lu Cha lowered his eyes in disappointment.

He walked into the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves, and took out a bag of flour from the food cabinet. He poured the flour into a wooden basin, added an appropriate amount of water and stirred, kneading the flour. He pulled the dough into thin, long strips and then threw them into hot soup.

He squatted down again and took out two porcelain bowls from the food cabinet. After a pause, he put one bowl back.

Xu Lu Cha closed the food cabinet. When he brought out the steaming noodles, he seemed to see Zhang Meng sitting at the stone table, smiling and waving at him.

His heart suddenly pounded in his chest, and he rushed forward two steps. But when he looked again, there was no one at the stone table. It was just his imagination.

He sat at the stone table, looking at the fragrant and delicious noodles in front of him, but had no appetite. He knew she wouldn’t come, yet he still cooked for her. He was truly ridiculous.

After cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks, Xu Lu Cha closed the door and went down the mountain.

Back at the Xu residence, Zi Yi hurriedly walked up to him: “Young master, this is a letter from Miss Qin for you. It seems there’s some trouble with the business.”

Xu Lu Cha’s beautiful eyes flashed, and he took the letter. After reading it, his face darkened.

“That old bastard…” Xu Lu Cha gritted his teeth, slamming the letter on the stone table. The tea set on the table trembled slightly.

He pondered for a moment, then beckoned Zi Yi closer and whispered a few words in his ear. Zi Yi’s expression became grave, nodding occasionally.

“Young master, Zi Yi understands. Zi Yi will go find Miss Qin now.”

Xu Lu Cha said coldly, “Don’t let that old bastard find out.”

“Yes.”

…

At night, after bathing, Zhang Meng sat on the edge of the bed, drying her long hair. She put down the towel she was using to dry her hair. The strange pattern on her palm still existed. Zhang Meng looked at the pattern on her palm, not knowing how to feel.

Ying had told her that as long as the pattern existed, he would be her god and would fulfill all her wishes. But only in dreams could Ying fulfill her wishes. For example, he would follow her wishes and bring her fruits, bring her clear water, and help lost children in the mountains find their way home. But in this real world, he couldn’t fulfill her wishes. Because she had silently wished to see Yang Qing, but Yang Qing never appeared.

Perhaps they weren’t in the same world, and his powers couldn’t reach this world. Or perhaps Ying was just a god she had imagined, and their meeting and acquaintance were just products of her dreams. But if Ying was really a god she had imagined, how could she explain the pattern on her hand?

Zhang Meng unfolded the portrait of the Demon Gate. The man in the painting had white hair and red eyes, with an extremely beautiful face. His features were identical to Ying’s. If Ying grew up, he would probably look like this.

Every time Zhang Meng looked at the portrait of the Demon Gate, she had a strange feeling of melancholy. No matter how good her mood was before looking at the painting, as soon as she saw this portrait, her mood would always become low and melancholic.

Perhaps it was because the man in the painting exuded despair and lifelessness.

Zhang Meng blew out the oil lamp, lay down on the bed, and closed her eyes.

“Ying?”

Zhang Meng walked into the cave and saw that everything in the cave was neatly arranged, but she didn’t see Ying. Usually, as soon as she stepped into the cave, Ying would pounce on her. Not seeing him today, Zhang Meng was a bit surprised.

“Ying? Where are you?” Zhang Meng walked out of the cave and searched nearby, but still couldn’t find Ying.

She remembered that the last time, after she had received two male hunters, Ying had strangely disappeared. Had he not come back since then? Zhang Meng was a bit worried. Although Ying was powerful and didn’t need her to worry, she was still afraid that Ying had encountered some troublesome matter.

Zhang Meng walked back to the cave and waited there for a long time, but Ying never returned.

Zhang Meng estimated that she was about to wake up in reality, so she prepared to leave the cave and wait to return to reality. But just as she walked out of the cave, she saw Ying in black clothes walking back from outside.

When Zhang Meng saw Ying in white hair and black clothes, her heart suddenly jumped, and a strange emotion quickly occupied her mind and body.

She remembered when she first dreamed of Ying, he was also dressed in black, surrounded by black energy. He had desperately told her that she had betrayed him, and he cursed her to be forever lonely in love life for generations.

Although the current Ying had a pure aura, surrounded by soft white light, Zhang Meng was still scared and retreated a few steps.

“Ying, you’re back?”

The originally expressionless Ying saw Zhang Meng, his beautiful features softened slightly, and his form rapidly changed, turning into a snow-white beast body. He pounced in front of Zhang Meng, rubbing his head against Zhang Meng’s leg with such force that he almost knocked Zhang Meng to the ground.

Seeing Ying turn into a god-beast similar to a Samoyed, still clinging to her as usual, Zhang Meng’s heart slowly calmed down. At least Ying didn’t hate her now. However, she couldn’t understand how she could have betrayed Ying. She had always been kind to people and never did evil to anyone. As for Ying, she treated him as her own little brother. She would never do anything to hurt Ying.

Zhang Meng squatted down, rubbing Ying’s soft, fluffy ears, and asked with a smile, “Ying, where did you just go? I looked for you for a long time.”

Although she still smiled at Ying, she was still wary of him in her heart. Although Ying’s powers only affected her in dreams and couldn’t influence her in reality, she still wanted to have a peaceful dream, rather than being hated by Ying.

However, every time she entered the dream, she would be teleported to Ying’s side. It was impossible to avoid him, especially since Ying had signed a god contract with her and could always know where she was and could feel her emotions.

What she could do now was to ignore the previous dreams and treat Ying well. She quite liked Ying and didn’t want to reach a point of being enemies with him.

Ying suddenly raised his beast head and spoke hoarsely, “What are you thinking about?”

Zhang Meng was stunned for a moment, then replied, “I’m not thinking about anything much, just a bit worried about you. Where did those black clothes you were wearing just now come from? Where did you go just now?”

The white light surrounding Ying paused for a moment. He didn’t answer Zhang Meng’s question, only rubbing his head against Zhang Meng’s calf. After a long time, he finally muttered irrelevantly in a low voice, “I want to keep you by my side.”

Zhang Meng didn’t have time to ponder Ying’s strange words before she disappeared from the dream.

She woke up in reality. The sky was already dawning, and she sat up, putting on her clothes and shoes. A new day had begun again.

…

The sun was scorching the earth mercilessly. People were coming and going in a hurry, desperately wanting to find a shady place and gulp down some cold water.

The teahouse was doing good business, with all seats full. Some people who couldn’t get seats simply stood, holding teapots and drinking tea to cool down. Although the teahouse was bustling with activity, no one lingered or made noise in the farthest corner, because a beautiful young man was sitting there. He wore light green clothes, had skin like ice and bones like jade, eyes like autumn water, with an otherworldly temperament, as if a fairy had descended to the mortal world. Sitting opposite the young man was a woman with delicate features, who was Chen Cheng, the newly successful candidate in the imperial examinations in Yun City.

No one wanted to disturb this couple famous in Yun City. Although the pairing of a talented woman and a beautiful man could often be seen in novels, it was not common in reality. People were silently paying attention to their situation.

Xu Lu Cha frowned as he swept his gaze over the people peeking around, his beautiful eyes full of impatience. However, when looking at Chen Cheng, he concealed the impatience in his eyes and pretended to have his usual gentle and weak expression: “Miss Chen, if you have something to say, please say it quickly.”

Hearing Xu Lu Cha’s emotionless words, Chen Cheng’s eyes quickly reddened again: “Cha’er, I just miss you…”

She missed him so much that she could barely sleep every night while taking the exam in Yan City. But she didn’t expect that when she happily returned, ready to marry him, she would be told that he had a sweetheart.

Hearing her words, Xu Lu Cha’s expression remained gentle, but his eyes had already cooled three degrees: “Miss Chen, there is no possibility between Lü Cha and you anymore. If you have nothing else in the future, please don’t come looking for Lü Cha anymore. Lü Cha doesn’t want to cause misunderstandings with his sweetheart.”

“Cha’er…” Chen Cheng wanted to say something more, but Xu Lu Cha had already stood up, preparing to leave.

“Cha’er!” Chen Cheng hurriedly stood up, blocking Xu Lu Cha’s way, pleading, “Cha’er, can you give me one chance? I will treat you well.”

Xu Lu Cha frowned, looking at Chen Cheng’s teary appearance. His beautiful eyes couldn’t hide his disgust, and his face couldn’t help but turn cold: “Miss Chen, please stop clinging to Lü Cha.”

Chen Cheng had never seen Xu Lu Cha with a cold face before. While feeling uneasy, she also felt terribly hurt: “Cha’er…”

…

“Sister Meng, it’s so crowded here, why do you want to come here for tea?” A slightly hoarse teenage boy’s voice sounded.

Zhang Meng turned her head to look at the young man who had been following her since she started patrolling the streets in the morning, and said helplessly, “Because the tea here is cheap.”

A Yue wore a blue robe, his hair tied up high, revealing exquisitely carved features. His beautiful peach blossom eyes were full of smiles as he looked at Zhang Meng: “If Sister Meng doesn’t have money, I can lend you some, as long as you let me hug you once.”

As soon as Zhang Meng heard his words, she hurriedly looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, she sighed in relief, then frowned and glared at A Yue: “In the future, you must never say such improper things outside. If someone hears it, what will become of your reputation?”