Do you really think you can get me with just a banana?

The wind and snow outside seemed to be getting stronger. With a "pop", something seemed to be broken and fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Several disciples came over and talked about the heavy snow this year while shoveling snow, but they soon became playful and started to have a snowball fight again by picking up snowballs from the ground.

A burst of joyful laughter spread out in front of the door.

There was a depressing atmosphere inside the door.

Guan Shanyu raised his head and looked at him when he heard this. His throat was heaving, but he didn't say anything in the end.

But Yan Ruchen walked towards him, raised his right hand, and suddenly touched Guan Shanyu's neck, as if he wanted to strangle him.

Seeing this, Guan Shanyu immediately closed his eyes and prepared to wait for death, but he felt the hand slowly move towards his face and then suddenly stop.

The owner of the hand seemed a little dazed, and whispered softly, "I've thought about it. Anyway, I've moved on and can move on to a new life. And you're not too bad, so why not just say goodbye and not bother each other? But now, I really don't want you to leave. Although these words will make you blame me, since you want to know, I'm willing to explain everything and even make amends. I will release the elders and let everyone return to their original positions. I will also complete the ending you set as you wish and become a qualified protagonist. I just want you to stay by my side."

Guan Shanyuyu opened her eyes, stared into Yan Ruchen's black eyes, which were as bright as a falcon, and asked softly, "I don't understand."

Yan Ruchen paused slightly as he stroked his face, listening to Guan Shanyu continue, "How could you like me? I can't figure out what it is about me that makes you like me."

Upon hearing this, Yan Ruchen subconsciously answered "I like it", but after saying it, he was slightly stunned.

Guan Shanyu looked at him silently and scrutinizingly. When Yan Ruchen met his somewhat indifferent eyes, his mind suddenly stopped. He didn't know whether Guan Shanyu wanted to know "whether he liked it" or "why he liked it".

He could answer the former immediately, but he found it difficult to figure out the latter.

But Yan Ruchen was very clear that if he didn't answer this question now, there would definitely not be a better opportunity to express his feelings in the future.

The words came to my lips, but I kept thinking about them. They were just a few simple words, but once I opened my mouth, my voice became hoarse.

"I do like you, but I can't explain why. As you said, I want to see you, I want to be with you every moment..."

"enough."

Before he could finish, Guan Shanyu raised his hand to interrupt him, his eyes shifting as he sighed softly, "Perhaps you haven't come into contact with many good people, so you misunderstood my kindness towards you. Your misfortune is all my fault, and I already feel guilty about you. So my trust in you and my kindness to you are just atonement, and it has nothing to do with love. I hope you understand."

Yan Ruchen's lips trembled slightly, and his fingers tightened and loosened on Guan Shanyu's shoulders, finally slowly letting go and said in a hoarse voice: "No need to rush to answer, you can think about it slowly, and later..."

"No matter how much you think about it," Guan Shanyu said in a deep voice, "I don't like men."

Yan Ruchen's expression suddenly changed, and he turned his head away, not daring to look Guan Shanyu in the face. A bitter taste suddenly rose in his throat, making him feel uncomfortable. He wanted to spit it out, but in the end, he swallowed it down, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. But his usually cold and arrogant voice had become hoarse. "I've said a lot today, and I understand you may not be able to accept it right now. It's getting late, so you should rest first. I have things to take care of. I'll see you later."

After saying that, Yan Ruchen, for the first time in his life, turned around and left as if he was fleeing in panic without waiting for Guan Shanyu's response.

Outside, the wind and snow fell relentlessly, the flakes drifting down like goose feathers and willow catkins. The heavy snow had sealed the mountain, and the disciples within the ridge were rarely seen. Only a few disciples, who had been clearing snow, took advantage of the morning light and the fresh snow to play and have snowball fights in the open space.

A disciple threw a snowball, not watching his step, and tripped over a swaying branch, falling to the ground with a thud. As he hurriedly stood up, he caught a glimpse of a dark figure walking out of the house. Recognizing Yan Ruchen, he immediately stood up and waved, "Boss! You're up so early!"

Upon hearing this, the other disciples who were playing also turned around and waved to him from afar through the wind and snow.

But Yan Ruchen's face was solemn, and he ignored the greetings. He simply walked away quickly with a sullen face. Seeing this, a disciple whispered, "Boss, are you...going to deal with something urgent again?"

"Of course you guys are so free. You used the scarves and gloves I gave you to play snowball fights! I'll complain to him when he wakes up!" said a disciple, waving a broom behind him.

"Bah!" Another disciple pointed at him and laughed, "You can't beat us! Watch this! If I don't defeat you today, I'll empty your chamber pot for you from now on!"

"Come and fight! Take it!"

Before he finished speaking, a loud noise suddenly came from the distance.

There seemed to be a distant movement, but the disciples, busy throwing snowballs, thought it was their own fault and shouted excitedly, "Hey! I'm really strong!"

On the other side, Yan Ruchen looked at the rows of fallen trees in front of him, and his heartbeat gradually calmed down.

He withdrew his hand, sat down exhausted on the ground, and panted heavily. Occasionally, a disciple passing by with tools on his back would approach to inquire, but seeing the low pressure emanating from Yan Ruchen and his face as gloomy as ink, they hesitated and eventually pretended not to notice and hurried away.

Several of the broken trees were smoking, but thankfully, the falling snow prevented any fires. Yan Ruchen sat in the snow for a long time, until the snow melted, soaking his palms and trouser legs. Only then did the biting cold bring him back to his senses.

Then he raised his hand and slapped himself hard.

I shouldn't have drunk last night.

This was indeed the first time that Yan Ruchen drank alcohol in his life. Even if he had lived for eight lifetimes, his foster mother had never allowed him to drink alcohol when he was in the brothel. He didn't know that his alcohol tolerance was so poor that he got drunk after just one glass and actually did such a ridiculous thing.

He shook his head fiercely, clenched his hands into fists, his nails dug deep into his palms, and squeezed so hard that blood oozed out between his lips and teeth. The salty and fishy taste filled his mouth, but it also made him suddenly feel relieved.

Yeah.

I have never found the right opportunity to tell him the words in my heart that I have never spoken. Although this time seems abrupt, it can be regarded as an opportunity.

After all, with Guan Shanyu's keenness, what he did would be exposed sooner or later. He had no intention of concealing it, and he would have to be honest with him sooner or later. It would be easier for him to tell it all at once this time.

Otherwise, perhaps when Guan Shanyu really left Wangshuiling and returned to Pingshui Town, Yan Ruchen would not have figured out what to say.

As for Guan Shanyu's question about why he liked him, after thinking about it carefully, Yan Ruchen could only think of one reason.

Overkill.

He clearly remembered it, also on a snowy day. He had arrived at a begging house, only to be chased away by the family's dogs. He fled panic-stricken along the mountain path, clutching his broken bowl, when he tripped over a stone and fell, his head bleeding. As he was clutching his head to avoid the vicious dogs' bites, he suddenly saw a vague, almost transparent handwriting appear in the sky.

His name was written prominently on it.

How did he feel at that time?

He hates.

A surge of resentment welled up in my heart.

He originally thought that all the suffering he endured was retribution for his evil deeds in his previous life, but he never imagined that all this was determined by the stroke of someone's pen.

At that moment, he had no time to care about the pain of being bitten by the barking dogs. His mind was full of questions to the creator of his destiny: Why did he become a beggar and an orphan? Why did he give him such a life?

Besides, with such a life, why should he repeat it endlessly over and over again?

He hated the "author" who wove his fate. He thought day and night that this person must be the worst and most vicious person in the world. Only a cruel heart could create such a miserable character like him.

So he tried every possible way to meet him. He firmly believed that since he could let him know his settings, then there must be a way in this world to let that hateful author experience it as well.

From then on, every time he fell from the sky and was eaten by wandering ghosts, having his bones bitten off, his tendons pulled out, his skin peeled off, and his blood drunk, there was only one thing in his mind.

Next time, let's meet next time.

Finally, on the eighth time, he waited until the damn man came.

That day, like the seven times before, when he returned to the dilapidated house with bruises all over his body carrying a basket on his back, the Guan Shanyu in the house, whom he once regarded as ugly and vicious, suddenly changed.

On a glittering golden screen rising in front of the man, he knew that the one who created him had finally arrived.

He had imagined countless times how he would kill Guan Shanyu when he saw him, pulling out his tendons, skinning him, frying him in oil, chopping him into pieces. No matter how he thought about it, he still felt unsatisfied. He wished he could torture him over and over again ten thousand times.

But when I really saw that person, really saw those bright, confused eyes.

Yan Ruchen actually felt like crying.

It wasn't a surge of hatred, but an urge to cry.

The person he had complained about countless times during those dark days finally appeared beside him one day.

Guan Shanyu was the god who created him. When the god came to him, joy was greater than resentment, grievances covered hatred, and all the hatred in his heart gushed out and turned into just one sentence.

He wanted to ask God why he had arranged so much suffering for himself?

But before he could say the first word to the god, the shining screen had already issued the first instruction.

Let his gods bully him.

But the god was very stupid and couldn't even utter a simple curse word. He pretended to bully him in the middle of the night just to give him a bed to sleep in.

This is a person who can write a sinister plot, but in reality he is very soft-hearted. He is a person who is different from what he imagined, even disconnected from him.

But the slight good impression that had just arisen in me for this separated person was gone in an instant.

Because he is afraid of himself.

I am clearly the protagonist in his novel, but he is actually afraid of me?

Was it out of guilt? Did he feel the plot he had written was too sinister, and so he couldn't face himself?

Thinking of this, he felt that there was no need for him to be soft-hearted towards the gods.

I can play a trick on him and let him have a taste of it too, the feeling of being toyed with, unable to escape, and unable to defend myself.

Moreover, this god was stupid enough to be completely unaware of his hints and flaws.

He had caused the gods immense suffering, and at one point, driven by hatred, he wished to put an end to them, to end this endless cycle of reincarnation. However, before he reached the point of his lifeless trials, he was summoned back to Tianxuan for killing all of Si Xuanqing's men. There, he unexpectedly discovered that the cycle of reincarnation had ceased. The gods, too, were ravaged, powerless to resist, and at his mercy.

This made Yan Ruchen feel interesting. He wondered what new and interesting things were waiting for him after the reincarnation ended. As for that overly stupid Guan Shanyu, he didn't want to pay attention to him.

He was convinced that Guan Shanyu was a fool, no different from those boring storytellers on rural bridges who liked to make up stories to attract attention. He was too lazy to kill him again, so he chose to ignore him. He was more curious about what the world was like in which he had not entered seven lifetimes.

But the more he tried to avoid it, the more his mind would remind him to pay attention to that person's every move.

Since they were both in Tianxuan, Yan Ruchen could often see Guan Shanyu, and could even spot this idiot in the crowd at a glance.

Sometimes I saw him squatting on the ground scratching his head as he carried water to the Lingcao Pavilion from morning till night, unable to produce a single good plant. Sometimes I watched him and his disciples playfully arguing with each other, betting on whoever's spiritual herbs grew taller would not have to feed the chickens next month. Sometimes I saw him sitting by the door, hugging a hard, fragrant sesame cake, watching the rain and singing a little song he had never heard before. Sometimes I saw him bragging with his disciples arm in arm on the mountain road, but if he saw me from afar, he would immediately lower his head, cover his face, and run away as if he had seen a ghost...

I also watched him being wrongfully imprisoned in a water dungeon, beaten black and blue but refusing to confess; I saw him risk his life to save me at Wangshuiling, and in the illusion, he held my hand and let me move forward...

Understanding a person is like a coloring game, from black and white to vivid, from simple to multifaceted. From the moment he knew about the existence of Guan Shanyu, Guan Shanyu has been omnipresent in his world in the form of absence.

Later, he arranged for people to pretend to surround them in Songpi County, but he did not expect that Guan Shanyu would stab himself with a knife without hesitation and decide to die. Only then did Yan Ruchen realize that he had already gone too far.

He didn't want him to die, he wanted this person to stay with him.

Sometimes, hatred is a deeper emotion than longing. Compared to the suffering he had endured over the years, he wanted to know more about what Guan Shanyu actually thought of him.