Untouchable Lovers

Chapter 239: Chapter 217: The Second Round

Chapter 239 -217: The Second Round

However, at this time, Chu Yu did not receive a reply from Rong Zhi. The only response she got was silence and the sound of the wind blowing from a distance.

She looked up only to see Rong Zhi’s clear, dark eyes clouded with confusion, as if he did not recognize her. After a long while, Rong Zhi asked in a low voice, “Since you already knew I had ulterior motives, and perhaps everything was insincere, why then did you give up the chance to go home to save me?”

What did she want?

He was too skilled in plotting and calculating, too adept at weighing gains and losses, and too accustomed to controlling the overall situation. He had never expected that Chu Yu, despite knowing his malicious intentions, would still abandon such a precious opportunity to go home and let Tian Rujing rescue him.

She had said her era was peaceful and good. She had said she missed her family very much… By staying, what could she gain?

He was not unaware of worldly affections—familial love, friendship, marital bond; he knew all these. However, his mind was too steadfast, hard to be perturbed by them; instead, he would overturn control and manipulate these emotions.

Like with Hua Cuo, like with Chu Yu.

And with Shan Yin’s Princess.

Four years ago, Rong Zhi had a chance encounter with Shan Yin’s Princess, who at that time was just a fourteen-year-old girl—noble, proud, and had fallen in love with him at first sight.

But even then, knowing she was of royal descent, he was too indifferent to reciprocate, as he had already established his own power within the Southern Dynasty, and he could achieve his ambitions without bowing to anyone.

However, Rong Zhi had not anticipated that because of this woman, he would face the most brutal accident of his life.

To have him, Shan Yin’s Princess brought in a man named Mo Wen, whose martial arts were commendable—Rong Zhi, with his profound martial prowess, complimenting someone as not bad was exceptionally rare. Still, he defeated and killed Mo Wen, but to hide his true power, he feigned being poisoned.

Mo Wen was indeed a formidable master, yet Rong Zhi was not afraid. Even if three or four more of such men came, with his martial arts and strategies, he would not have a hard time dealing with them. However, because of Mo Wen’s death, his master, Tian Ruyue, was drawn out.

Mo Wen was Tian Ruyue’s disciple, the senior brother of Tian Rujing and Yue Jiefei. If Mo Wen had not died, he would have been the one to inherit the bracelet. His intended successor dying so easily, Tian Ruyue naturally wanted to see who had killed him. Then he discovered Rong Zhi and followed up by uncovering Rong Zhi’s identity and his plots.

Tian Ruyue dealt with Rong Zhi, not to help Shan Yin’s Princess, but due to the responsibilities he bore. Faced with methods not of this world from Tian Ruyue, Rong Zhi eventually was forced to use all his abilities, exploiting every possible condition, but, in the end, still lost.

Just when Tian Ruyue was about to kill Rong Zhi, Shan Yin’s Princess arrived and pleaded with Tian Ruyue to hand Rong Zhi over to her. Although Tian Ruyue had essentially defeated Rong Zhi, he knew in his heart that, without the tactics provided by the bracelet, he might have been outmaneuvered by Rong Zhi many times. He was proud, extreme, and malevolent; even though it was a practical victory, it could not soothe the self-esteem shattered by Rong Zhi. The right move should have been to kill Rong Zhi immediately to eliminate future threats, but at that moment, he was eager to humiliate him, thus he conveniently handed him over to the princess.

Rong Zhi was a man who could bend or stand as needed. After entering the Princess Mansion, he first took some time to heal his injuries before planning his escape. Although Shan Yin’s Princess was wary of him and watched him closely, it did not hinder him from executing his schemes.

Strategizing, poisoning, murdering—these were all routine for him. Even when the princess called her personal guards, they could not stop him. Just as he was about to escape successfully, Tian Ruyue suddenly appeared before him.

Afterwards, there was another defeat. This time, to prevent his escape, Tian Ruyue fed him a pill that weakened his body to the point where he could barely lift anything heavy. He even placed a strange restriction on him that prevented him from leaving the Princess Mansion or harming Shan Yin’s Princess.

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How exactly this strange restriction worked, he did not know, but from what he had tried, whenever he thought of harming Shan Yin’s Princess, he would suffer excruciating headaches. If he left the boundaries of Jiankang City, his body would deteriorate beyond recovery.

This was Tian Ruyue’s intention—he made Rong Zhi lose the martial prowess he took pride in, forcing him to rely on living under the wings of Shan Yin’s Princess, even unable to take revenge on the princess because if she died, he would also perish alongside her.

Destroying his health, stripping his freedom, trampling his dignity.

He wanted to see Rong Zhi stripped even of the power to hate, tormented beyond measure, and ultimately driven to despair.

If it were anyone else, fallen to such a state, they would likely have contemplated death early on, or lived each day in bitter hatred, but Rong Zhi did not.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t in pain. Rong Zhi was better at enduring pain than others, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel pain. It was just that he kept the pain under control, preventing it from spreading and influencing his will.

He once said to Huan Yuan, “The world is a furnace, and all beings, everything in the universe, who isn’t enduring severe trials?” This wasn’t just empty talk, yet even if it was a trial, it was also an experience, and who in this world could never be defeated? Rong Zhi was not one to dwell obsessively; he could handle winning and losing alike.

If his health was destroyed, what of it?

If his freedom was stripped away, what of it?

If his dignity was trampled on, what of it?

Even after experiencing all these, Rong Zhi’s will remained as stable as a mountain, unshakable and unwavering, and despite being deep in the mire, he did not despair or give himself over to destruction as Tian Ruyue had hoped.

He possessed a powerful heart that prevailed above all else.

Glad in victory, composed in defeat.

Tian Ruyue had not only destroyed Rong Zhi’s health, but also uprooted seven or eight out of ten of Rong Zhi’s subordinates from the Southern Dynasty, forcing Rong Zhi to recalibrate his strategies.

Because of this, Rong Zhi reached an agreement with Shan Yin’s Princess, and until she was willing to let him go willingly, he would not consider escaping again. He would stay by her side. By offering his submission and concessions, Rong Zhi gained control in the Inner Garden, and used this as the foundation to reorganize his network.

This was the underlying situation and reason.

He could not harm Shan Yin’s Princess, and even had to ensure her safety. It wasn’t that he was unwilling, but that he could not; otherwise, with Rong Zhi’s cold nature, why would he be so protective over a woman?

His years at the Princess Mansion, thereafter, with Shan Yin’s Princess gone, he encountered Chu Yu.

Chu Yu waited a while, but upon receiving no response from Rong Zhi, her desire to know the answer gradually faded. She recalled when Tian Rujing rescued Rong Zhi, not only did he give him an antidote, but also had her lie beside Rong Zhi while enveloping them both in a blue light. Now, reflecting on it, it must have been some restrictions placed on Rong Zhi, preventing him from doing many things.

What did it matter if she knew the circumstances or not? It was all in the past now.

Chu Yu sneered at herself internally, laughing at how she still couldn’t quite let go, and having stood in the snow for too long, even though she was dressed warmly, she began to feel cold. Thinking to herself that it was better to die early and be at peace, she fixed her gaze on Rong Zhi and asked, one word at a time, “So, one last question then.”

“Rong Zhi, I like you… so, do you like me even a little?”

In fact, from beginning to end, this was the question she most wanted to ask Rong Zhi.

Her eyes bright and clear, she looked at him unflinchingly.

Setting aside all reserve and doubt, abandoning all considerations, she had never been so forthright, openly expressing her feelings, “Hey, I like you, do you like me?”

It was just a very simple, very pure confession from a girl.