Chapter 1021: Love Or Hate

“Really?” She coldly stared at him. Judging by her expression, she didn’t seem to believe him.

“Believe me.” Li Qiye calmly said: “I have to end everything before the great war. I went to the corpse burial ground to find you to let you know about the matters of Chu Yuntian back then. I knew that you would have the drive to leave the burial ground alive after finding out the truth.”

“Hmph.” The princess scowled and coldly responded: “It sounds like everything is as you have planned.”

“But you still came to the ferry.” Li Qiye looked at her: “After finding out about Chu Yuntian, you tried your best to the leave the burial ground. I want to conclude our matters in this generation, so at the underworld river, I left one boat for you. Aren’t you alive and well right now after leaving?”

She only stared at him quietly, as if she was not yet appeased by his words. Or perhaps, Li Qiye hadn’t convinced her just yet.

“Are you sure you didn’t come here for this silver river?” The princess spoke coldly while staring at him.

“If you still think so, then all I can say is sorry, you don’t get me at all. In your eyes, I am only a stranger, a contemptible liar.” He dully said: “If you think everything was just a plan of mine to obtain the silver river, then so be it. The mistake was mine back then, I’ll pay you back!” He lost interest and turned around to leave.

“Stop right there!” The princess shouted after seeing him wanting to leave. However, Li Qiye ignored her and continued on.

“Chu Yuntian! Stop, you can’t forget everything that you said in those letters!” She shouted loudly: “What did you promise me! Don’t tell me you have forgotten! You said that you would protect me forever, where is this promise now?!”

Li Qiye stopped and turned back to slowly look at her before speaking dismissively: “I did promise that, but it is difficult to find someone who can match you now. You don’t need my protection any longer.”

The princess coldly responded: “It’s not over between us! Don’t think that just because you picked the underworld boat for me, our matter is resolved!”

Li Qiye calmly replied after a short pause: “I know that I lied to you and made you waste your whole life. All of this started because of me...”

“You put it so lightly.” The princess replied: “Do you know what I have been through? In order to find out the truth, I traveled all around the nine worlds in the shadow of the Ancient Ming and opposed them and everyone else. I only wanted an answer, the resting place of Chu Yuntian! For this, I didn’t care about antagonizing anyone...”

“I know.” Li Qiye flatly said: “So, I kept my promise. Without people secretly helping you, do you think you could have gotten away unscathed from Immortal Emperor Tian Tu?”

“It was you?” The princess’ eyes narrowed while staring at Li Qiye.

“It doesn’t matter who it was. I just wanted to say that I kept my promise.” Li Qiye calmly spoke: “If you still think that this was all part of my plan to obtain this silver river, then all I can say is that I’m very disappointed.”

He looked straight at her and said: “Yes, I am a liar who tricked you. However, if you say that I created a plan that required hurting you in order to obtain this silver river, then your words truly are insulting my intelligence!”

“Hmph, you have always been a liar.” The princess scowled, but at this time, her act was much weaker than before. It was not as cold and aggressive as earlier. Without a doubt, she felt that she couldn’t posture much longer due to a lack of logic.

“Yes, I am just a liar in your mind.” Li Qiye heaved a sigh and didn’t want to say anything else.

The princess took a deep breath. She looked up and stared at him with a cold expression once more: “How did you find this place?”

“It wasn’t hard for me.” Li Qiye flatly revealed: “After your Middle Continent Kingdom was destroyed, the old elders escaped and converted to Buddhism. I knew that your ancestors already had a path of escape. Your progenitor simply didn’t bring this silver river into the dynasty and instead left it here from the beginning.” Li Qiye looked at the princess’ cold eyes straight on: “If I truly wanted this river, I wouldn’t have needed to wait till today! Back during the Ancient Ming Era, this item was indeed a very good card, but even without it, I could still destroy the Ancient Ming! And I’m always true to my words!”

This time, the princess didn’t want to meet his gaze. With her still-icy demeanor, she casted her eyes downward without saying anything.

Li Qiye eventually took out the Yin Yang Immortal Mirror and placed it on the ground: “I am excited for you being able to prolong your life and come into being. Since you have made it this far, this treasure should return to its owner.”

The princess coldly said: “You think it will end just like this, this is your repayment?”

Li Qiye gently shook his head: “No, this is only to show my sincerity. Just say the word and I’ll make it up to you.”

“What will you do to compensate?” The princess asked with an icy glare.

He turned silent for a moment. He knew very well that the princess didn’t want any treasures!

In the end, she chillingly spoke: “It’s not over between us!”

He looked at her emotionless demeanor and nodded: “Very well, if you want to get even, I won’t hide. I trust that you will be able to leave this place very soon. I’ll be waiting at the Buddhist Funeral Plateau for you.”

“Hmph.” The princess only scowled. Who knows if she was feeling hatred or something else.

Eventually, he turned and walked away. He didn’t get too far before he turned around and looked at her with an austere expression: “My name is Li Qiye, not Chu Yuntian. Of course, if you want to find Chu Yuntian to get even, then Chu Yuntian will still be waiting for you!” With that, he finally left.

The princess watched his departing shadow and was quiet for a long time. A while later, she beckoned and the mirror fell into her hand. She sighed at Li Qiye’s departure and murmured quietly: “Fate...” [1. This is a contextual localization. The words 冤家 here is a bit strange to translate to English. “Enemy / foe / (in opera) sweetheart or destined love” — these are the official translations. As you can see, none of these makes sense in the context. In this usage, she is using it to say that Li Qiye is an ill-fated or star-crossed person to her. The most common usage of this word in Chinese is to describe a pair of lovers. They bicker with an unstable relationship for both internal and external reasons; however, they would always be intertwined due to fate and karma. It is also a declaration of love or feelings, especially when the princess is the one saying it, showing that he is “connected” to her. Perhaps there is a suitable word that carries the same sentiment in English and fits this situation, let me know if you have one.]

After leaving the temple, Wo Longxuan stuck to Li Qiye again as if she was his tail.

He couldn’t help but leer at her: “You are still the tyrant of an entire region, why are you following behind my butt?”

At this point, Wo Longxuan was quite calm, as if she had copied Li Qiye’s demeanor: “The great path is long with all kinds of people walking on different sides. Why are you saying that I am following you?”

Li Qiye looked at her with one eye and threatened: “Girl, do you think I won’t throw you into a terrifying evil den that even you would never be able to come out from?”

“Do it, throw me in then.” Wo Longxuan shrewdly postured with both hands on her thin waist while arching her towering fair breasts.

Li Qiye saw this and was too lazy to retort. He turned around and kept on going.

Wo Longxuan hastily gave chase and walked with him shoulder to shoulder: “What’s wrong? Not having a good day? Who was that woman earlier? Your dao companion or girlfriend? You guys had a fight?”

The gossipy soul of the dragon cliff’s sect master was burning right now. She was as inquisitive as a little kid, asking questions all the time.

Li Qiye ignored her and continued on while she didn’t give up and followed him step by step.

“Okay, we won’t talk about that, how about we change the subject?” Wo Longxuan said: “Tell me a little bit about you. What sect are you from? How come I’ve never heard of the name Chu Yuntian before?”

Li Qiye gave her a look and said: “Girl, what do you want to know?”

She tilted her head. Her appearance was actually kind of cute, no longer resembling an untouchable genius or a high-powered tyrant of a region. She smiled: “I want to know your background.”

If it wasn’t for her face being hidden, one could definitely see her beautiful flower-like smile.

“Not telling.” Li Qiye dismissively replied and went on his way.

Her mood was particularly good. She copied his demeanor and leisurely said: “Then how about we talk about the dwellers from the deep?”

“You want to know about your mystical bloodline then.” Li Qiye looked at her again with an unfriendly demeanor.

“That’s right.” She didn’t hide it at all: “Just like you said, our cliff knows very little about the ancient bloodline, so please enlighten me.”

“That’s not out of the question.” Li Qiye relaxingly spoke: “But what can you give me?”

“What do you want?” She was not long-winded and went straight to the point.

Li Qiye looked at her and answered: “To tell the truth, your cliff doesn’t have that many items that can tempt me, despite being an ancient lineage that consisted of ancient sea dwellers. Your ancestors did bring along a few good things, but it’s a shame that almost all of them are lost. What little is left of your resources might be tradable, but I’m not necessarily interested in them.”