My Twin Sugar Mommies and Two Systems are 100 Years Late! Chapter 14.
But that is not true!
Young Master, I lied!
The clan abandoned you long ago!
Each statement was like a hammer striking a bell in his skull. Their echo in his mind forced him to remain stunned and silent for a good half minute.
"Young Master, I know I should not have but… but I could not bear to let your mood be soured by their coldness and indifference." The deafening silence was only broken by Dou E, whose eyes were already moist.
As Yan Anle was snapped out of his daze, about to say something, she fell to her knees. She continued, grasping the lower ends of his black robes, "Punish me as you wish, but I must say this: given a second chance, I would still make the same decision!"
Seeing her like this, Yan Anle's half-open mouth closed soundlessly. The questions he wanted to ask were swallowed back as he felt that he already knew the answers. Dou E was not lying. The Bliss Palace Lord System was not spewing nonsense either.
'The fact that they even let me continue to stay in the clan, residing in such a courtyard without contributing anything, is already quite generous of them. It is a cultivation clan, after all, not like the families I saw on television.' He sighed deeply. 'Just my luck. In both lives I had parents, but I might as well have been an orphan. Neither pair of parents truly cared for me. I guess deep parental love is just not in the cards for me, huh.'
Another bout of silence followed. One was a Foundation Establishment figure who did not hold her cultivation in high regard when it came to her benefactor, and the other was a centenarian who had, in his opinion, been undeservedly cared for by someone he had saved on a whim.
They both closed their eyes, ruminating over the long-standing lie. Again, Dou E could not stand the silence, and she spoke in a subtly trembling voice, "Young Master, although you never mentioned it, your inability to cultivate always weighed on your mind. Dou E wished to accompany you until your last day, ensuring that you remained as happy and carefree as possible along the way. I always cursed the heavens for being unfair, for not giving someone like you the chance to pursue the Dao. Now that the Heavens have grown tired of my unceasing curses and you can stand on your own, I… I will leave your side. This way, you will not have to behold the face of someone who has betrayed your trust anymore."
Subsequently, she rose to her feet and gave him a right-angle bow. "Thank you for letting me stay by your side all this time, Young Master. Dou E will never forget your kindness."
Yan Anle was stunned and felt like he had been struck by a rather aggressive bolt of lightning.
"Hey, hey, stop that! You silly girl!" He hurriedly grasped her arms and helped her stand upright, saying, "When did I say I was going to send you away? Let me tell you; even if you try to run away from me, I will hop on a sword and pursue you to the ends of the world!"
Internally he had a fleeting thought, 'Wait, why did that sound a bit romantic? That's not right...'
Dou E's eyes widened. "Young Master…" Then, the tears that had been welling up in her eyes throughout this exchange finally burst forth like water from a broken dam.
Yan Anle smacked his lips, cringing slightly. "You girl, you are already so old, experienced, and advanced in cultivation; how can you still cry like you did as a teenager?"
His heart itched, and the only way to scratch it was to pull her into his embrace. He patted her back tenderly and soothed her, "There, there… it's not a big deal. I am not angry with you. I know you did it with the best intentions at heart. It's not your fault. It's mine… I was so useless before. It is only natural that they do not favor me."
His words struck Dou E's chords wrongly, and she pulled away from him slightly, looking up at his wrinkled face as she refuted him vehemently, "That is not true! Young Master is not a useless person! It is the Heavens that were blind!"
The intensity with which she uttered those words shook not only Yan Anle but also the systems.
[Immortal Clan System]: [...Host, I don't think you should casually save people from now on.]
[Myriad Worlds] also agreed, [Indeed. At the very least, those you save should have no idea who you are or where to find you.]
[Immortal Clan System]: [Mm. Like the legendary masked hero.]
Yan Anle: "…"
Sometime later, Dou E eventually calmed down and pulled away from the hug. "So… Young Master, what do we do now?"
The transmigrator cleared his throat. "I believe we were on the topic of recruiting staff for the auction house. Specifically, a host and guest-serving staff."
Dou E sucked on her bottom lip for two seconds, then her eyes lit up. "Young Master, I have an idea."
Yan Anle raised a brow as he saw her signal for him to lean in close, wondering, 'Why do we need to whisper? We are the only ones here!' Still, he obliged her.
She whispered something into his left ear, and his facial expression turned strange as he pulled away from her.
Dou E asked, "Young Master, what do you think? It's a good idea, right? Such places are brimming with the talent you need!"
Yan Anle shook his head inwardly while admitting outwardly, "Indeed…"
"I guess our next destination is… the brothels."
At the same time these two—who had yet to admit the true nature of their feelings for each other, or themselves—came to such a decision, the four hooded visitors seeking Yan Anle out due to a prophecy were not idle either.
Specifically, their leader.
She sat in the most expensive private room of a certain dining establishment that was strangely called "The Humble Kitchen," despite being extravagant at a glance—at least as far as the wealth of those below the Core Formation realm was concerned. The cultivation rooms of Core Formation and above practitioners who joined sects or other notable forces would not call it "extravagant."
The leader's hood was off, revealing a lady with wavy silver hair that, while styled into a high top-knot bun, fell down her back and framed a diamond-shaped face. Her almond-shaped eyes were a pair of fiery reddish-orange orbs, her cheekbones were as high as they come, and her skin was extremely light, glossy, and smooth.
She appeared no older than twenty-five, but like Dou E and almost all the powerful and sufficiently talented cultivators out there, her true age was far above what it appeared. Like Yan Anle, she had a preference for predominantly black attire and her hair was gathered in a bun.
Notably, what stood out the most about her was a single snow-white horn that curved and tapered out of her forehead.
That's right—she was not of the human race!
Ignoring the still-hooded attendant she called "Feiruo," who stood behind her, and the array of dishes radiating spiritual energy arranged before her, she patiently channeled some of her Spiritual Qi into a mirror-shaped artifact.
Soon, a figure appeared in that mirror. The figure looked so much like "Her Highness" herself that one would not be able to tell the person in the projection was not a reflection, if not for the absence of a horn on the other party's head and the fact that she was not fond of black attire, but red.
"Ziyun," the newcomer called Her Highness. "Do you have news? Have you located him?"
Sun Ziyun did not reply immediately. Instead, she scrutinized her elder twin's expression. 'Since we were young, you have always been cold and indifferent. Aloof, even to me. But now, you are showing so much expression. What exactly did you see in this vision of yours that could move you so, Big Sister?'
These words were at the tip of her tongue, but in the end, she did not speak them.
"Not yet, Ruoyun," she said, shaking her head. "But soon."
The red-garbed twin's enthusiasm waned visibly, "Oh…"
Sun Ziyun chuckled lightly, "Big Sister, what about your end?"
"Not much has changed. The humans are still as treacherous and insidious as ever." Sun Ruoyun closed her eyes and sighed, "Even with this Divination Divine Ability I comprehended, it is still troublesome guarding against them." Though, her eyes lit up a bit as she added, "That is why, Little Sister, you have to ensure that you get that man to come back with you. If the soft way doesn't work, just capture him directly. Stuff him in a sack and bring him back. After he gets here, I have my ways to win him over." At this point, her expression and tone turned serious as she emphasized, "Right, Little Sister. I made another discovery in the most recent divination. There may be someone beside him, a woman. I could not get her identity or figure from the divination but she was very dear to him. I reckon she should still be beside him if the tragedy in the vision has yet to come to pass. If you encounter her, don't harm her. Bring her along with him."
"A woman? Beside him?" Sun Ziyun's brows knitted slightly. "And you don't have a name or portrait? What if I make a mistake and grab the wrong one? Isn't there some unique identifier I could use?"
"Unfortunately not," Sun Ruoyun looked away from the mirror, her expression less than pleasant. "Little Sister, we can talk later. Those damn humans have resumed their assault. I truly don't know what has gotten into them as of late. For millennia, they simply surrounded and imprisoned us in here. Why are they suddenly so aggressive, desperate to break in and slaughter us as soon as I take the throne? Huff! Do they think that because I'm only a few hundred years old, I'm weak and easy to bully?"
And with that, her image dissipated, the artifact resuming the appearance of an ordinary mirror.
Author's Note:
Somehow, the word count per chapter keeps climbing. Eh, I won't split or suppress it anymore. Doing otherwise seems futile.