Chapter 673 552: The Polar Reversal of Shang Miaoyan and Pei Yuhang (Part 2)

Shang Miaoyan couldn't accept it. The Xiaohan she'd failed to change despite all her painstaking efforts had been twisted into this utterly unfamiliar state by someone else's despicable scheme!

Even though this was the tenderness and devotion she had once dreamed of, seeing it presented to her in such an absurd fashion brought only an extreme sense of emptiness and insipidity.

It was like... like a long-awaited feast, only to discover upon the first bite that it had been secretly replaced with dregs.

Or like the emptiness a man feels after losing his virginity and thinking, 'Ah, so that's all there is to it.'

More importantly, this wasn't a victory she had earned, a Xiaohan she had conquered through her own effort and wisdom. It was the result of a shameless plot.

Pei Yuhang was supposed to be a man as dazzling and aloof as a sword, absolutely not some whining little puppy!

"No..."

Shang Miaoyan stopped abruptly, panting for breath amidst the wreckage, and forced herself to calm down.

The fury in her eyes gradually gave way to a deeper, more obstinate light.

"I have to change him back to the way he was."

"He has to remember... remember Lin Qianyan, remember Ye Liyuan, remember that little Fox Spirit disciple of his... remember who he's supposed to be!"

Shang Miaoyan took a deep breath. The cold air filled her lungs, helping her suppress her turbulent emotions.

Based on Xiaohan's current "condition," this was likely her last chance in this reincarnation cycle. The next one could very well be the end.

She had no time to waste, and no room for failure.

Shang Miaoyan slowly raised her gaze to the heavy darkness outside the window. 'Here, I'm isolated and helpless. To save him, I can only rely on myself.'

...

...

「The next day.」

The handsome young Pei Yuhang rose early, preparing to go to the Saintess Hall's bedchamber to help Shang Miaoyan dress.

This was his duty as the Holy Daughter's exclusive Cauldron Slave—or, one might say, her forbidden pet.

The corners of his eyes were red. He had clearly wept in sorrow after Shang Miaoyan left last night.

Pei Yuhang felt that if the Holy Daughter was so dissatisfied with him, it had to be his own fault.

'I must have done something to displease the Holy Daughter. That's why she was so "hard" on me.'

For this reason, Pei Yuhang had spent the previous night re-reading several books, including the *Holy Land's Tripod Slave Service Guide* and *The Three Obediences and Four Virtues of the Handsome Young Master*, several times over. He was determined to make Shang Miaoyan happy today.

However, the moment he stepped into the Saintess's bedchamber, a length of Red Silk bound his mouth, and he was pulled helplessly toward the bed in the depths of the room.

Behind the bed curtains, Shang Miaoyan pinned Pei Yuhang beneath her.

In that instant, Pei Yuhang's heart began to race.

'Has the Holy Daughter finally given in? Does she want me...?'

Just as he closed his eyes, ready to submit.

But Shang Miaoyan patted his face, forcing him to open his eyes and look at her serious expression.

"Xiaohan, I've given it a lot of thought. I believe the best way to restore your memory is to take you back to familiar ground."

Her tone was resolute, tinged with an almost obsessive determination.

"We'll go to the small village where you lived with that country girl, Lin Qianyan, and then back to the Xuanyuan Dao Sect's Cold Palace Sword Mansion... You're sure to remember them, and remember your past!"

"What? Holy Daughter... you, you want to sneak me out of the Yin Yang Sacred Land?!"

Pei Yuhang's pupils contracted. The color drained from his face in an instant, and his lips began to tremble.

He shook his head frantically, his voice sharp with alarm, like a startled animal.

"We can't do that... The Sacred Land's rules strictly forbid a Cauldron Slave from taking even a single step outside its borders. The penalty... the penalty is execution!"

Pei Yuhang shrank back as he spoke, deeply resistant to Shang Miaoyan's proposal.

Shang Miaoyan was stunned at first. Then, the corner of her lip curled into an expression that was half-smile, half-sneer. She was so angry she could laugh.

She never imagined that one day she would have to go to such lengths to persuade Pei Yuhang to leave the Yin Yang Sacred Land—and even more absurdly, that he would be unwilling to go!

'Damn it all! If you're so reluctant to leave, then how do you explain the hundreds of escape plans you made back then?'

'When I didn't want you to go, you were hell-bent on leaving me. Now that I want to give you your freedom, you fight me at every turn.'

'Pei Yuhang, why must you always work against me?!'

"Hah..."

Shang Miaoyan let out a low, cold laugh. She suddenly grabbed his collar, forcing him to lift his face and meet her icy gaze.

"The Sacred Land's rules?"

"The rules also state, quite clearly—A Cauldron Slave must not defy his master's will."

"I am your master. In your heart, not even the Sacred Land should be more important than me! When I say you're coming with me, you come with me!"

'Besides, this world is still under Yuan Tianming's control. If I try to take you away openly, his will is sure to stop us.'

'That's why I have to sneak you out of the Yin Yang Sacred Land.'

...

...

WHOOSH—

A massive Spirit Wheel used for transporting goods slowly rolled out of the gates of the Yin Yang Sacred Land.

In one of the cargo holds, filled with bolts of cloth, Shang Miaoyan was carefully hiding with a trembling, handsome young man in tow.

In the dim light, fine beads of sweat dotted the handsome youth's pale face. His long lashes fluttered anxiously, casting small shadows beneath his eyes.

Watching the light source outside the crack in the door slowly recede, Shang Miaoyan knew she had evaded the final search party. Her tense shoulders finally relaxed.

She let out a soft sigh and raised a hand to wipe the sweat from her brow.

Shang Miaoyan had never imagined she would one day use one of Pei Yuhang's own former escape plans to flee the Yin Yang Sacred Land with him.

'This is insane.'

"Holy Daughter, if we sneak back now, we can still make it..."

In her arms, the handsome, white-robed youth timidly tugged at the corner of her sleeve. He looked up with glistening eyes, full of pleading and anxiety.

Shang Miaoyan looked down at him, and a wave of inexplicable anger flared up inside her.

Her brows shot up in anger as she slapped his hand away.

"Shut up! Don't talk to me in that effeminate, pretty-boy tone! The real Xiaohan would never wag his tail for me like some puppy!"

Her voice was sharp, yet tinged with the frustration of a teacher for a disappointing student. "Can't you be tougher?!"

With that, Shang Miaoyan retrieved an Upper Grade Magical Treasure, a Spirit Sword, from her Jiezhi Storage Ring and tossed it into Pei Yuhang's hands with a CLATTER.

The blade's cold glint reflected the youth's panicked face.

"Holy Daughter, what is this...?"

The hand Pei Yuhang used to hold the sword trembled slightly, as if he were holding not a blade, but a hot potato.

"It's your weapon!"

Shang Miaoyan's tone was resolute. "We may encounter many enemies ahead. You will need to take up your sword and fight them!"

At her words, Pei Yuhang's face turned ashen.

He had been taught since childhood in the Yin Yang Sacred Land that a man's virtue was his gentleness. He had learned how to please women; when had he ever touched such a deadly weapon?

His slender fingers fumbled at the hilt, his eyes filled with bewilderment and terror.

Shang Miaoyan's heart sank as she watched his clueless and helpless expression.

'It seems Xiaohan's spirit has been weakened by the reincarnation cycles even more than I imagined. He doesn't even know how to use a sword anymore.'

She pressed her lips together as a flicker of imperceptible guilt crossed her eyes. 'This is my fault, too. I remembered too late.'

'In the last life, I only regained a fraction of my memories, and I ended up becoming Xiaohan's biggest obstacle.'

Pei Yuhang keenly caught the flash of disappointment in Shang Miaoyan's eyes, and his heart clenched as if squeezed by a fist.

He lowered his gaze and thought, 'Am I that useless? The Holy Daughter must be so disappointed in me now...'

Silence stretched between them, broken only by the mournful whistling of the wind outside the cargo hold.

Suddenly, Pei Yuhang looked up, a glimmer of determination in his eyes.

He gripped the hilt so tightly his knuckles turned white, and said to Shang Miaoyan with grave sincerity:

"Holy Daughter, please teach me Swordsmanship!"

"Even though Yuhang is a little slow, I'll do my best."

Shang Miaoyan stared at Pei Yuhang's earnest face, slightly stunned. The timidity in the young man's eyes was gradually being replaced by resolve. Though he still seemed frail and vulnerable, something had changed.

She could finally see a shadow of his former self in the Pei Yuhang before her now.

"Alright."