ETR | Chapter 60

Considering what happened later, the prophecy really wasn't wrong.

As for those instigating words, Qin Lou didn't fully believe them. He had been with Xiao Xueman for so long and knew he wasn't someone who killed indiscriminately. He also felt that if his parents really died at his hands, there must be a reason, and things weren't as simple as they seemed.

He even started to suspect the Yan siblings' undercover identities because of this and eventually found evidence to deal with them.

Tian Shu Academy was like a cornered beast, he knew that, but he couldn't help but believe in the prophecy.

The so-called instigation only added credibility to the prophecy, making Qin Lou even more anxious.

"He only uses you," was the sentence that kept him awake at night.

He had considered directly asking Xiao Xueman, but he was afraid of hearing something from the person he loved most that would truly break him.

At that time, he was too worried about gains and losses. He couldn't believe it when he recalled how many times Xiao Xueman agreed to be with him, like a huge treasure suddenly falling on his head.

But he could also feel that Xiao Xueman's hatred for Tian Shu Academy was undisguised. He initially sought him out for this reason, which made Qin Lou feel the same amount of information from the prophecy and the instigation.

—Xueman would recklessly seek revenge in battle and then leave him. Not only that, but he would lose his life for revenge.

No matter what, Qin Lou had to try to change everything that appeared in the prophecy. It was with this mindset that he broke through to Spirit God Tier 9, and he was confident he could kill Yuan Shu alone.

"We agreed back then to fight side by side in the final battle against Tian Shu Academy, but I was really afraid you'd get hurt because of your hatred for Yuan Shu. I just wanted to protect you," Qin Lou said. "From a selfish perspective, I was really... afraid of losing you."

In the end, he chose to lock Xiao Xueman up, not letting him go to the battlefield or leave.

But the prophecy was accurate. Because Qin Lou knew in advance and tried to change it, he ended up becoming a promoter of the prophecy.

"If it weren't for Yu Zhengrong telling me, I would have thought I really changed it for a while. Although you still escaped, at least you weren't so severely injured that you were about to die," Qin Lou said, his voice trembling. "I... don't know how to apologize to you, but, but..."

When Xiao Xueman heard this, he too remained silent for a long time.

He later learned about the Yan siblings’ undercover identities because of a problem within Yin Ying.

As the direct person in charge, Xiao Xueman couldn’t escape blame. Even though it was dealt with later, many people within Wangtian Immortal Gate knew about it, almost causing internal strife.

Everything happened at once, and Xiao Xueman also saw the changes in Qin Lou’s mindset, but he didn’t know what Qin Lou was really thinking.

He just felt that Qin Lou was distancing himself—perhaps because of the Yan siblings, causing him to lose trust.

And along with the Yan siblings, there was also the matter of Yin Ying.

At that time, the Yin Ying clan was secretly cooperating with Tian Shu Academy, trying to further solidify Xiao Xueman’s rumored identity as a “calamity.”

It was said that when the Tianxi Divine Tree emerged, it brought anomalies, causing devastation. The Bai Yu Xue Ying clan suffered from this calamity, leading to Yin Ying’s accidental exile, and Tian Shu Academy intervened to suppress it, taking the Tianxi Divine Tree away.

Yuan Shu didn’t pay much attention to Yin Ying. He mainly targeted Qin Lou, leaving this matter to the Bai Yu Xue Ying clan to handle.

Lin Yuan and the others saw that Yin Ying was distancing himself from Xiao Xueman due to instigation, but the matter wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

Yin Ying was merely playing along.

He gradually sensed that his clan was involved with Tian Shu Academy, so he pretended to be at odds with Xiao Xueman—even to the point of breaking off—while secretly following the Bai Yu Xue Ying clan’s dark line, trying to gather information about Tian Shu Academy to gain some advantage before the war.

During the time Yin Ying wasn't by Xiao Xueman's side, outsiders thought their relationship was bad, but in reality, he had secretly gone to Tian Shu Academy many times, which indeed played a significant role in the end.

The only selfish act in this matter was probably the chain he sent out.

From a third-party perspective, he saw more clearly than the two involved. At that time, Yin Ying knew that if he spoke up and let them talk, their relationship wouldn't have reached that point.

But he just... felt a bit unwilling.

If, if Xiao Xueman was disappointed in Qin Lou, would he turn some of his attention to himself?

He also liked him and was willing to give everything. This thought was like a heart demon.

Even though he knew it was wrong, he still let it run rampant, ultimately becoming a driving force.

Yuan Shu calculated everything, but in the end, he couldn’t escape.

Qin Lou and Yin Ying were very successful on the battlefield, but what they didn’t expect was that they lost Xiao Xueman.

The period after Yu Zhengrong’s words, when Qin Lou went out to search, was the most tormenting time for him.

Fortunately, he found him—and didn’t regret saving Xiao Xueman at all.

“…After I saved you, I woke up and never saw that tree again,” Qin Lou went a bit crazy for a while because of this, but he didn’t mention it here.

“Later, I accepted that you should have been summoned back to your habitat, and I couldn’t find it. After returning to the sect, I tried to figure everything out, and Zhong Tang, who had become a prisoner, recognized me.

He said I was the child of Qin Wentian and Anyu Loulan.”

At that time, he was severely injured and near death. Perhaps because people speak kindly before they die, he told me everything he knew."

At this point, breaking down was useless.

Qin Lou went through a period of numbness, and during this time, the prophecy's function, which caused him pain, came into play again.

The prophecy wasn't under his control; it came and went as it pleased, as if the heavens were using him to reveal something.

"I saw a reunion."

This was a huge hope for him, so he built the Star Map, and after waiting and waiting, he finally got the person back.

There were many things Qin Lou didn't dare to say.

For example, he now knew Xiao Xueman's attitude and didn't want to upset him anymore. For Qin Lou, knowing Xiao Xueman was safe and living well made life much better than before.

"That's it," Qin Lou said. "I... have nothing more to hide."

After he finished speaking, he felt a little better, but in front of Xiao Xueman, he lowered his head like a student waiting for judgment.

Listening to the past, Xiao Xueman always thought he was immune to these things and wouldn't feel anything anymore, but that wasn't the case.

"Qin Lou, I don't know what to say... Can you let me calm down for a bit?" Xiao Xueman said with a bitter smile. "I need time."

At that time, he didn't take his relationship with Qin Lou lightly. It was the only time in his life he seriously invested his feelings in a relationship, and perhaps the last time.

Qin Lou was at fault, and it was impossible for Xiao Xueman to completely let go after hearing all this. He still clearly remembered his disappointment back then.

But the misunderstandings between the two of them could have been cleared up with a few words. If either of them had taken the initiative to ask, it wouldn't have escalated like this.

Feelings are fragile and require both parties to work together to maintain.

Both Qin Lou and Xiao Xueman were part of this.

So after laying everything out, Xiao Xueman felt he couldn't face this matter with a clear conscience.

Qin Lou was because Xiao Xueman was the only one who pulled him out of the abyss, the one who gave him everything. Losing Xiao Xueman meant losing everything, so he was worried about gains and losses, doing everything to hold onto Xiao Xueman.

His obsession and lack of security stemmed from his experiences before the age of eighteen, and Xiao Xueman couldn't say he was completely unrelated to this.

Before Anyu Loulan died, he promised to protect her child. Even without mentioning the promise, after becoming lovers, he didn't tell Qin Lou the things he should have known.

Xiao Xueman had suffered before, but as the Tianxi Divine Tree, he was born with a strong mindset.

At that time in Tian Shu Academy, he pretended to be obedient, and after a period of recuperation, he had a chance to escape alone.

But because Anyu Loulan exposed her strength, Yuan Shu controlled him more strictly.

Ten years later, when he escaped, he could have left without a trace.

With his strength at that time, Tian Shu Academy had almost no ability to capture him back.

But he still went to find Qin Lou, painstakingly starting a sect from scratch, raising a group of young ones into Spirit Gods—determined to overthrow Tian Shu Academy completely, so that similar things wouldn’t happen again.

In short, both of them thought too much in the past, trapping themselves.

If either of them had spoken up, there would have been room for reconciliation, but both had concerns and chose to hide.

After hearing all this, Xiao Xueman didn't know how to face Qin Lou.

On one hand, even knowing this, he still felt it was hard for them to reconcile. On the other hand, he didn't know how to interact with Qin Lou.

Not to mention, Xiao Wan had been using the effective medicine for three years, which he got from Qin Lou.

A tangled fate, impossible to unravel.

Qin Lou didn’t say anything more, giving him plenty of time to think.

He was still in the Twelfth Heaven but didn’t stay in the same inn. He stayed a bit further away, but his room’s window could see the corner of the inn where Xiao Xueman was staying.

Looking at it gave him peace of mind.

Yu Zhengrong didn’t appear at this time. This was a matter for the two of them, and he knew it wasn’t his place to intervene.

Also, because Xiao Xueman had smashed half of the Mercenary Guild’s main hall, Feng Yiyan tried to play tricks on this matter but ended up suffering himself. However, he ultimately helped keep it a secret, and Yu Zhengrong thought it was better to help a bit to maintain the relationship between the two organizations, so he returned to the First Heaven.

These days were probably the most conflicted days Xiao Xueman had ever experienced.

Even when faced with difficult situations before, he always had a solution. Now, after thinking for several days, he still hadn’t figured it out.

By the time Xiao Wan had already come out of the mine, Xiao Xueman’s mind was still a mess.

Xiao Wan spent about six or seven days in the mine, roughly matching his plan before leaving. He didn’t use Yu Zhengrong’s scroll.

When Xiao Xueman saw him, he was more disheveled than ever, covered in dirt, with tattered clothes. It seemed the storage spirit instrument he brought couldn’t hold all the resources he acquired, so he was carrying various bags of different sizes.

Upon seeing Xiao Xueman, he softened his voice and called out, “Daddy,” then completely relaxed, closed his eyes, and fell asleep on the ground.

Xiao Xueman was startled and went to check, confirming that Xiao Wan was fine, just exhausted.

While examining him, he even discovered that Xiao Wan had made progress, advancing to Great Spirit Master Level 2, likely due to challenging his limits in the mine—and not just once—to achieve such improvement.

Of course, besides this, Xiao Wan brought back something unexpected.

He didn’t return alone.

Following Xiao Wan was a young boy… or girl? With delicate features, making it hard for Xiao Xueman to tell if they were male or female. They weren’t as disheveled as Xiao Wan but still looked quite worn out.

“Hello,” they said politely, having remained silent until Xiao Xueman looked over. “I’m Xiao Wan’s friend. We met in the Tianyin mine.”