Forced to Love (GL) - Chapter 45

“Master, he has woken up.”

Inside Dongshan Hall, the dim light reflected on everyone’s faces. Xu Gu, standing at the center, seemed covered in a layer of frost, his brows furrowed with seriousness.

“Help him up.”

The person standing below the hall bowed in response. “Yes.”

Ji Yuanzheng turned around and helped the man lying on the ground. The man gasped heavily, as if waking from a long dream. His gaze was unfocused as he stared at the ceiling. Even as Ji Yuanzheng lifted him up, he did not resist at all.

“Yan Jiang, do you know your crime?”

Xu Gu’s stern voice echoed through Dongshan Hall.

The man, whose name was called, continued staring at the ceiling. At the moment he heard his name, his hand trembled slightly in resistance, but he did not look at Xu Gu.

Ji Yuanzheng, holding him up, pressed down on his hand while shouting close to his ear, “Yan Jiang! The Master is speaking to you!”

The man slightly parted his lips but remained motionless, his gaze fixed on the ceiling without any reaction.

Seeing this, Ji Yuanzheng reached out to block his view of the ceiling. The moment his vision was obstructed, the man suddenly went berserk, lunging forward to bite his hand.

“Be careful!”

Xu Gu flicked his whisk, sending Yan Jiang flying backward. He rolled on the ground before lying flat again. Ji Yuanzheng quickly retracted his hand and stepped back.

“Master, what… what happened to Yan Jiang?”

Xu Gu stroked his beard, his eyes locked onto Yan Jiang, who was still staring at the ceiling.

“Logically, being poisoned by an illusionary toxin shouldn’t result in this. Even if mixed with the effects of Purple Vine, it wouldn’t make him lose his senses.”

After a brief pause, Xu Gu extended his palm above Yan Jiang’s head. A faint white mist gradually emerged in his hand, flowing toward Yan Jiang’s forehead.

After carefully examining him for a while, Xu Gu retracted his sleeve, the mist dispersing into transparency.

“Master, what do you think?”

Ji Yuanzheng stepped forward, but Xu Gu simply glanced at him and said, “Yuanzheng, step back for now. The trial has just ended, and you need rest. As for Yan Jiang, the elders and I will handle it.”

Ji Yuanzheng hesitated momentarily and was about to agree when he suddenly felt a gaze behind him. He turned around to see that Yan Jiang, who had been staring at the ceiling, was now tilting his head to look at him.

Ji Yuanzheng met his gaze, his pupils shrinking as his shoulders tensed.

“Did you find anything out?”

The next second, the doors of the hall opened, and the faint moonlight cast a glow over the figure stepping inside.

Xie Xisui entered, her eyes scanning the man lying on the ground before briefly glancing at the unease in Ji Yuanzheng’s expression. As she raised her eyes, Xu Gu nodded slightly, and Ji Yuanzheng bowed to her.

“Martial Aunt.”

“Elder of the Sword Sect.”

Once Ji Yuanzheng left, Xu Gu explained the details to Xie Xisui.

“Lost his senses?”

Xie Xisui slightly tilted her head to look at the ceiling, where twelve black-and-white yin-yang diagrams were engraved, each at a different rotation angle.

“Yes, I just examined his memory. The relevant memories are completely erased. If it were just the effect of the Purple Vine, it wouldn’t cause such a reaction. Could it be that Martial Aunt’s Jinghong Scroll amplified its power several times?”

“If it had been amplified several times, would they have been able to leave?”

Xie Xisui’s voice was calm but unusually clear in the silent hall.

Xu Gu paused. “That’s true. Lang Yue was also there. Martial Aunt, after checking on her, how is she?”

Xie Xisui’s gaze briefly landed on Yan Jiang. “She is unharmed.”

“That’s good. However, it’s surprising that despite only a year since the last trial, Lang Yue has improved so much. Martial Aunt, you have truly trained an exceptional disciple.”

“Is that so?”

Had she really trained her well? If she had, Lang Yue shouldn’t have been injured today at all.

“Yes, I still remember when you first brought Lang Yue back—so small and thin, always following behind you. No one would have expected she’d become the top disciple.”

“Yet, I remember advising you to take a disciple back then, and you firmly refused. But later, after going down the mountain to seal the demon, you brought Lang Yue back.”

Xu Gu recalled the past with a helpless shake of his head.

The hall fell silent. Xie Xisui’s brows twitched slightly as she approached Yan Jiang and leaned down.

“Because her eyes made it impossible for me to refuse.”

Her voice was calm, but there was an indescribable emotion within it.

As she finished speaking, she flicked her fingers, sending a light into Yan Jiang’s forehead.

Moments later, Xie Xisui stood up and left.

“Martial Aunt, what now?”

“Confine him in your Hundred-Foot Tower. No one is allowed to approach.”

“His body still carries a strong presence of Purple Vine, but the trial took place in the Jinghong Scroll. The amount of Purple Vine he held shouldn’t have made him lose his senses.”

“Purple Vine requires a large amount of demonic energy to grow. When I went down the mountain to seal the Demon Lord, most of the Purple Vine was already dead. Yet now, it has appeared again.”

Xie Xisui suddenly raised her gaze toward the central yin-yang diagram on the ceiling and said indifferently:

“Perhaps this is a sign of both internal and external threats.”

…

Lingxi sat by the window, one leg extended and the other bent, resting her hand on her knee.

The flickering candlelight cast her silhouette on the wall. The window was pushed open, letting in the cool night breeze.

The wind lifted stray strands of hair resting on the white cloth over her eyes, brushing against her brow, leaving a slight ticklish sensation.

Xie Xisui returned to the courtyard and saw Lingxi sitting by the window, her lips slightly pressed together, deep in thought.

Soft white light, like climbing vines, clung to the courtyard walls, providing her with an awareness of her surroundings.

Xie Xisui avoided her spiritual detection and silently entered the room.

The cool breeze brushed past, but in an instant, the person by the window had already risen, clasping her hands in greeting. “Master.”

Xie Xisui looked at her but did not respond. The silence in the room made the wind sound even louder.

Lingxi maintained her bow and softly explained, “Master may have avoided my spiritual detection, but the wind does not lie.”

Xie Xisui’s gaze flickered slightly. Her robe swayed, breaking the silence.

“Tell me.”

Lingxi extended her senses, touching the teapot, and poured tea for her master.

…

“I only saw myself.”

Xie Xisui’s voice was subtle, carrying a hint of helplessness.