After deceiving the villain, I was forced to love him.

Chapter 239 It's not so bad to keep scheming against each other.

Although the island where the hut is located is less than a tenth the size of the previous manor, its high elevation, firm soil, and distance from the sea make it more comfortable to live on than before.

It felt more like entering a ghost town.

Especially when he told her that the island used to be overcrowded.

"And what about these trees?" Looking at the lush vegetation around him, Baili Ce began to imagine some strange and supernatural things.

Add to that the fog from a few days ago, so thick it looked like dry ice had been used, it's really hard to believe there's nothing beyond science on this island.

"Don't worry, these trees have absolutely nothing to do with the Gu Tree."

"Then what do you want me to see?"

He grabbed Baili Ce and leaped onto the tree trunk, pointing to the shortest grove of trees directly in front of him. "Back then, whenever I wanted to kill someone, he would make me plant a tree. This mulberry grove is from that time."

"Who is he?"

"The patriarch of Zhaixing Temple".

Grandmaster...the island...so, "this is the place where you were imprisoned for twenty years?"

"Hmm," Wang Qingyan nodded calmly, without a trace of disgust in his expression.

"When I planted the ninety-second tree, I found that my mind was indeed much calmer. Unfortunately, before I could fully understand the teachings that the patriarch wanted to impart to me, several of those trees died."

"When I got angry, I killed a few people to accompany me. The founder thought I was beyond saving, so he took the rest of the disciples and completely sealed off this island."

Bai Li Ce lowered his eyes. He didn't care if he was thrown down if someone called him trash now.

Since he didn't dislike this place, it means he was quite happy there. In that case, there might be another reason why he killed those "people".

After careful consideration, and adhering to the principle of not judging people with prejudice, Baili Ce asked, "Which people killed your tree?"

"No"

"Then... is there something they've done to wrong you?"

"nor"

Bai Li Ce took a deep breath, swallowing back the curse that was on the tip of his tongue, "Then why did you kill them?"

"Didn't I say that I was angry, so I killed a few people?"

"......" I apologize for being presumptuous.

She thought Wang Qingyan would tell her about his sad past, when he was misunderstood and ostracized.

Indeed, it is always others who suffer sadness and exclusion.

But she had another question: "So, you brought me to see these trees, not so you want to hang me up in them for days and nights and then watch me admit my mistake, right?"

Wang Qingyan was taken aback by her question... and completely ignored this question that was somewhat insulting to his intelligence.

"In the twenty years I've been here, I've planted countless flowers and trees, hoping to find the answer that my ancestor spoke of. But in the end, I realized that I don't need the answer at all."

Goodness, you've actually been planting trees for twenty years, you've really been doing afforestation!

But they cooperated diligently, asking, "What did the patriarch tell you to find?"

"The meaning of life".

This is utter nonsense.

After hearing this, Baili Ce felt that this patriarch was being somewhat pretentious. Unexpectedly, he moved subconsciously and lost his footing, falling from the tree. "Ah..."

Wang Qingyan reacted quickly and grabbed her!

After regaining his footing, his tone became somewhat anxious, "What are you thinking about, so engrossed?"

"Phew..." Bai Li Ce patted his chest in lingering fear and simply sat down close to the other side of the tree branch.

"I'm wondering, you don't find the ancestor's words ridiculous at all."

In her understanding, when Wang Qingyan repeated the phrase "meaning of life," he must have been sarcastic or dismissive.

But his serious demeanor was completely unlike him.

It just feels like...

He seemed to have worked very hard and was very determined to find the answer to this question.

"Because I really wanted to know what the meaning of life is."

“Isn’t living just living?” Baili Ce blurted out.

Wang Qingyan was taken aback... then his expression relaxed, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, "That's what I said back then too."

“But the patriarch said that this only means that I have been in this world.”

"Hmm?" Baili Ce frowned, but felt that directly calling the patriarch crazy would not only sound like he was agreeing with Wang Qingyan, but would also be very impolite to the dead.

After thinking it over, I could only ask him, "Then why do you feel that no answer is needed?"

“Because,” Wang Qingyan said, raising his hand to catch a drifting catkin in front of her, his gaze growing even more resolute, “this is my meaning.”

"To gain what others gain and to take what others take, this will be passed down through the ages and known to everyone, from women to children."

For a fleeting moment, Baili Ce seemed to see the purity in his heart through his eyes.

Pure evil, without a trace of impurity.

What followed was an overwhelming surge of obsessive madness, so ruthless and domineering that it was impossible to look directly at him.

His statement translates to: "To obtain everything that others want or have already obtained, and then indiscriminately attack everyone, including the elderly, the weak, women, and children."

As one of the women and children, Baili Ce was naturally very unhappy.

But she still held a sliver of hope that he had indeed considered changing his mind. "The people you killed on this island before were, in a sense, your fellow disciples. Did you show any mercy when you killed them?"

In the instant she fell, she saw incomplete white bones in the soil around the tree roots, and some branches even grew out of the cracks in the skulls of some kind soul.

"no"

"..." The answer was as expected, but she still felt a little sad.

"So what exactly do you want me to do?"

Wang Qingyan was silent for a moment, then asked the only question that was on his mind, "If you die, will my injuries never heal?"

"Yes"

"But if I live, you will lose even more miserably."

"I'm very curious, how did you do that? The Ancestral Gu is clearly no longer on you."

"You'll find out when you or I die."

"Then I'll make sure you live, live longer than anyone else."

Death is nothing, living is torture.

"Honestly, I will always admire your confidence."

"Ha, admirable?" Wang Qingyan found it utterly boring.

But so be it. If we can't be a loving couple, and we can't be bitter enemies, then it's not so bad to keep scheming against each other.

"I will be with you day and night, and never be separated from you."

"..." Bai Li Ce's expression was full of vulgarity.

Wang Qingyan attributed all the things she didn't say to her as things she liked, things she did willingly, and things she said that were not what she truly meant.

He reached out to pick her up and carry her down.

"Get out of my way!" She decisively refused his "help," turned around, took off her coat, wrapped her arms around the tree trunk, and shrank down.

Does she really think she can't survive without him?! Humph!

"Screech—" A tearing sound rang out quickly, and both feet landed successfully!

My hand is fine!

Everyone is safe!

But the pants are torn.

"Hahaha..." Thunderous laughter came from behind.

But after Baili Ce walked away without looking back, his strange behavior abruptly stopped.

Ah Zhu, Ah Zhu, how could you forget that I told you you wouldn't win?

Soon, you'll regret it.

I'm waiting for the day you turn back.