Cambiaformas

Capítulo 29

Nianyu was amused by Chaoyou's question: "What a silly question. The space I created not only has no problem with breathing, but even if she sleeps in it for three days, she won't feel hungry. The soil will automatically decompose nutrients and enter the body through the blood under the skin."

Seemingly relieved, Chao You smiled broadly.

In an instant, both Nianyu and Yahua, who was hiding in the distance, were stunned.

With her 2.5 vision, Ya Hua clearly saw Chao You's smile, and her heart skipped a beat. She wasn't unfamiliar with handsome men, but she had never seen a boy smile so naturally, so breathtakingly beautiful. Actually, in terms of facial features, Chao You wasn't the most handsome, but his inherent charisma was irresistibly attractive.

Nianyu was stunned and speechless for a long time.

Chao You had seen this kind of expression many times, but seeing such a silly expression on Nian Yu's usually wooden face reminded her of what that wooden girl had said about Nian Yu's facial expression changes, and her smile deepened.

As if bewitched, Nianyu couldn't help but raise his hand and gently touch the corner of Chaoyou's mouth. The smooth touch made him frown slightly, but his gaze couldn't leave Chaoyou's eyes.

Chao You's smile slowly faded, and he slightly raised his face, gazing at Nian Yu in front of him.

Ambiguous! Ambiguous!

Ya Hua's heart was in her throat, her heart pounding uncontrollably. She knew it! There was something going on between those two.

When has Nianyu ever invited friends over, especially not to stay at her house? Based on what she'd seen during her month-long spying, Nianyu was clearly a tsundere, completely infatuated with Chaoyou, yet too proud to admit she liked a man. Chaoyou, on the other hand, was a patient and gentle submissive, willingly offering himself and waiting for his confession. Another purpose of her spying was to witness a real-life "Happy Together" scene, but unfortunately, her wish remained unfulfilled.

Are they going to kiss now? It would be a disservice to her, their only audience member, not to kiss. Look at the venue, an empty construction site, look at the weather, the sun is blazing, look at the atmosphere—perfect for a kiss.

Nianyu gently slid his fingers toward the back of Chaoyou's neck, and he himself gradually lowered his head and leaned toward Chaoyou, but just as he was about to touch Chaoyou's lips, he pulled back.

Chao Youyi gave a soft laugh. He glanced at Nianyu's lips, then stared into Nianyu's eyes, and slowly moved closer.

Kiss them! Kiss them! Kiss them! Ya Hua silently chanted in her heart, feeling even more anxious than the two of them, wishing she could jump out and force them together. Besides these... there seemed to be something else... a faint bittersweet feeling welled up inside her...

Ya Hua opened her eyes wide and smiled brightly, revealing a set of white teeth.

Silly Nianyu, you hesitate so much when you kiss someone.

Chapter Nine: Tracking

It was a fleeting kiss, lacking the passion Ya Hua had imagined, let alone any earth-shattering fervor.

Although their lips parted, their eyes remained locked. Ya Hua had to admit that the ambiguity emanating from the two of them looking at each other was far more intense than when they were kissing.

“Nianyu, why don’t we send her to Zhengning?” Chaoyou suggested with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Nianyu frowned slightly, but his eyes remained tender enough to overflow with affection as he looked at Chaoyou. He glanced at the girl in the cage and chuckled softly, "Whatever you say."

Ya Hua, who had been secretly laughing while covering her eyes with her hand, lowered it, her mouth slightly agape, her face full of surprise. The Nian Yu she knew wasn't like this at all. He was an incomprehensibly serious person; he wouldn't tolerate even a whispered discussion, let alone favoritism. Would this Nian Yu agree to send a wicked sorcerer who should have been handed over to the Tribunal to another place? And what kind of place was Zheng Ning? Was being completely bewitched by him the perfect description of the current Nian Yu?

The disappointment was more than just a little.

Ya Hua's delicate eyebrows furrowed, her cheeks puffed out, and she cursed Nian Yu inwardly. What a hypocrite! He always put on such a convincing act, but after a couple of kisses from a beautiful woman, he's completely lost his bearings.

Unaware of the curses she was inwardly committing against, Nianyu exchanged a smile with Chaoyou, and a suspicious blush appeared on her cheeks.

Upon seeing this, Chao You's heart stirred, and her smile became even more charming as she leaned in and whispered something in Nian Yu's ear.

Nianyu smiled nonchalantly, made a hand seal, and softly chanted a spell. The girl he had trapped immediately sank into the ground, leaving the ground smooth as before. Yahua knew this was high-level earth magic, suitable for transporting objects or prisoners. The girl in the cage would move with Nianyu. Tracking her wasn't difficult; even the most powerful earth magic had traces. The real challenge was rescuing her.

As she was muttering incantations to herself, Nianyu and Chaoyou vanished into thin air, as if they had never appeared before her. After hiding for two or three minutes, making sure she wouldn't be discovered if she ran out, Yahua finally ran to the spot where Nianyu and Chaoyou had stood. She placed her hands flat on the soil, glaring at the air where the two had disappeared with a hint of resentment.

His repeated use of high-level witchcraft is completely unlike Nianyu's personality. Did I misunderstand that reserved guy too little? I actually underestimated him and failed to track him. It's so embarrassing for a genius girl like me.

Fortunately, she remembered what Chaoyou had said—Zhengning.

In the following days, Ya Hua searched everywhere for things related to Zheng Ning.

It was a charming little town, seemingly no different from any other picturesque town. However, just before she was about to leave, a sudden thought struck her: the local chronicles of Zhicheng that her grandmother had kept mentioned Zhengning. It was the former gathering place and hermitage of water-based sorcerers, their sacred ground.

Chao You, a water-based sorcerer, ordered Nian Yu to bring the errant sorcerer to the sacred water-based site. This was completely against the rules, yet the usually upright Nian Yu agreed. What were they planning to do?

When Ya Hua arrived in Zhengning, he was delighted.

With its rolling mountains, lush forests, and a winding river, this place is undoubtedly a paradise for wood-elemental wizards. Water-elemental wizards certainly know how to choose a location.

What started as a curious pursuit turned into a delightful trip.

Surrounded by towering, lush trees, with soft earth beneath my feet and wild grasses as long as a person's arm lying at my sides, I felt an overwhelming joy in the air. So joyful was I that I ran through the woods without a care in the world, circling the towering trees, drinking from the sweet mountain streams, and playing with the birds.

The bracelet on her arm, inlaid with emerald green gemstones, shone brightly in the dappled sunlight. Ya Hua squinted and chuckled.

Not long after, she found traces of Nianyu and Chaoyou.

If it were just Nianyu alone, she couldn't have found him so quickly. However, Nianyu was transporting a person, and using earth-based magic to move him from underground to a place with lush trees. His journey would definitely affect the roots of the trees. She only needed to track down those trees.

The ground was damp, with footprints of varying depths. The roots of underground plants shifted slightly as objects passed by, and the soil's adhesion also varied.

Ya Hua picked up a bit of soil and smelled it, a triumphant gleam in her eyes. She knew Nian Yu and Chao You were just ahead. She bent down and moved forward with small steps, a strange excitement rising within her. How surprised they would be if she suddenly appeared before them! Then she could mock their ambiguous relationship and use it to threaten Nian Yu.

She laughed as she thought about it, the image of Nianyu's helpless, bitter smile behind his sunglasses already appearing in her mind. Eagerly brushing aside the obscuring branches, Yahua raised her smiling face, but the smile froze on her lips.

The lush, green forest was gone, replaced by a barren, desolate platform devoid of any vegetation. A woman lay bound to a stake like a sacrificial offering, her skin cracked. Her hair was matted with congealed blood, and her features were obscured in the sun's shadow.

It was the woman Nianyu caught.

She stood there, speechless, forgetting her original purpose for coming. The first word that came to mind was—lynching.

Vigilante justice is strictly forbidden in the world of sorcerers, especially since Nianyu is a law enforcer. If discovered, he would not only be imprisoned and monitored, but could also be stripped of all his abilities and banished from the world of sorcerers. He couldn't possibly make such a mistake! Thinking of this, Yahua immediately looked around, and only after not seeing Nianyu did she breathe a long sigh of relief.

If he could rescue the woman now, erase her memory, and send her back to the trial grounds, everything would be fine. Ya Hua made up her mind and was about to step forward when she heard a voice so soft it seemed to blend into the wind.

"Stop pretending to be unconscious." That was Chao You's voice.

She stopped in time and hid herself among the leaves.

Chao You appeared beside the platform, looking down at the girl. His loose cotton-linen short jacket and trousers billowed in the wind, exuding a stylish air. Although Ya Hua knew that there was something strange about Chao You, she couldn't help but admire his figure.

Even though she wasn't close, she could hear a faint laugh.

"Who...who are you?" The girl's voice seemed a little confused. Ya Hua was taken aback. Didn't they know each other?

Chao You smiled, her slender fingers slowly tracing the girl's face.

"How heartless! You should have called me uncle."

The girl grinned, trying to smile, but the congealed blood at the corner of her mouth pulled at her lips, causing her to wince in pain. Her eyes, which had been closed the whole time, suddenly opened, staring intently at the face of the man who was only inches away from hers. She said, "I've never heard of having an uncle."

In a moment of confusion, she said again, "You did it."

Chao You didn't deny it; instead, his eyes held a hint of admiration. Ya Hua, watching from afar, felt only confusion. This boy's smile remained gentle, yet she felt a chill. She was usually quite mischievous, but not stupid.

Before she could think it through, she heard Chao You say, "Yu Ye... even if I did it, who would believe me? Those cases require a shaman with extremely high magical abilities. You are the daughter of the genius shaman Jing Ling, and since you were three years old, you have possessed abilities that even the elders acknowledge. As for me... I can't even perform elementary magic, I don't even qualify as a shaman. Tell me, between us, who do those superstitious old men who believe in talent believe?"

His fingernails dug deep into Yu Ye's cheek, and bright red blood slowly flowed from them, sliding down the lines of her face. Yu Ye closed her eyes in pain, but the more ruthless Chao You was, the more stubborn her expression became.

"If you're so capable, fight me yourself! What's the point of framing someone else?"

Chao You seemed to have heard something amusing, and actually opened his eyes, saying with great interest, "I never expected my sister to give birth to an idiot. Is it really because there's something wrong with Father's bloodline? Since there's an easier and more effective method, why should I go through all that trouble and trouble? Heh, I framed you, using the sorcerer's judgment to capture you. But what good are you? Don't think I don't know what you've done. You use witchcraft to make exchanges with people, stealing their souls. How is what you did any different from what I did?"

"...Those who trade with me do so voluntarily..."

"What, you're so hesitant to speak? You don't even think what you're doing is a good thing, do you? Is there any difference between me killing a thousand people with witchcraft and you killing one person with witchcraft? It's all killing."

"..."

"What?"

"I lack confidence when I speak because you've made me like this!"

Seeing Yu Ye being tortured beyond recognition, yet instead of panicking, she looked sullen and indignant, and Ya Hua, hiding to the side, chuckled to herself. This water-elemental shrine maiden is quite interesting; if she had met her sooner, they might have become friends.

“Originally, I thought I would frame you for making a mistake that the elders wouldn’t tolerate, and simply imprison you for fifty-odd years. But after seeing you, I changed my mind.” Chao You raised his hand, his blood-stained fingers appearing even paler under the blazing sun. He licked his fingers with the tip of his tongue, a slight smile playing on his lips, his eyes alluring, as if he were savoring some delicacy.

“You don’t look like my sister at all. Her eyes are long and narrow with slightly upturned corners, and her lips are thin. They say people with thin lips are cold-hearted, and I think that’s true. You don’t look like my sister at all… You’re covered in that thing’s filthy blood… Seeing you like this, I can’t help but want to torture you, to torture you with my own hands. I want my sister to regret it even in the afterlife. Regret her…” At this point, Chao You seemed to suddenly recall something painful, and her delicate face trembled and contorted uncontrollably.

He bit down hard on the finger that had been gently resting between his lips and teeth, the fragile skin immediately breaking open and bleeding, looking particularly gruesome. He trembled uncontrollably, painfully digging his fingers into his throat, gagging repeatedly. But nothing came out, only some acidic fluid slid down the corner of his lips.

His eyes sharpened, filled with deep-seated hatred and madness.

He casually wiped the sour water from the corner of his mouth with his arm, then practically pounced on Yu Ye, viciously biting at her throat.

"Has he gone mad?" Upon seeing this, Ya Hua suddenly ran out, trying to stop Chao You.

Almost simultaneously, a dark figure leaped out from behind Ya Hua, pounced on Chao You, and began to wrestle with him.

Ya Hua stopped abruptly. She recognized the dark figure as a severely wounded black panther. The panther's body bore numerous cuts from sharp stones; she recognized these as the result of Nian Yu's witchcraft. She hadn't seen Nian Yu earlier; he had been traveling with Chao You the whole way, and there was no reason for him to have been absent for so long.

Ya Hua glanced at the fiercely fighting Black Panther and Chao You, stomped her foot, and ran in the direction Black Panther had come from.

Chapter Ten: Farewell

Nianyu sat on a boulder, calmly watching Yahua pout and get angry.

"Yahua, does your brother know you followed me?" After a long silence, Nianyu sighed and asked gently.

“If he knew, you wouldn’t be so relaxed right now.” Ya Hua found Nian Yu’s feigned friendliness extremely annoying and retorted rudely, “Nian Yu! Do you know what you’re doing right now?”

"Are you referring to injuring that monster, or transporting that water-elemental witch here? Or—" Nianyu gave an enigmatic smile, "knowing that Chaoyou was behind everything, you still captured that witch as a scapegoat?"

Ya Hua was stunned. She shook her head, unable to believe it. All the way here, she had been convinced that the clueless Nian Yu had been fooled by Chao You's innocent smile, deceived by him. He didn't know the truth, which was why he was being used. But why would Nian Yu say these words so without any resentment?

“Nianyu! You are the chieftain of the Earth Clan! You are the judge of the shamans! How could you... how could you confuse right and wrong? Are you still the upright and incorruptible Nianyu I know? You have disappointed me greatly!”

Nianyu was unmoved by Yahua's words. He gave a faint smile and said, "Chaoyou... he's very pitiful..."

"No matter how pitiful he is, he shouldn't be treated like this!"

“Ya Hua, Zhang Ya Hua, the most talented wood-type wizard. You were pampered and protected since childhood, how could you understand Chao You? The things he has paid for today are beyond your imagination.”

Ya Hua had never felt that Nian Yu's stubborn temper was so difficult to deal with. She moved closer to Nian Yu and sat down side by side: "Brother Nian Yu, no matter how pitiful he is, he made a mistake, and that's that. You are a law enforcer, you can't condone it, much less help the wicked."

"I never expected that you, who's always causing trouble, could be so good at spouting profound truths."

After Nianyu said that, Yahua felt embarrassed and stuck out her tongue: "I just copied what you said before!"

Nianyu patted Yahua's forehead, which made her pout in dissatisfaction, but he was amused by her appearance: "Yahua, listen to me, go back and don't get involved."

"Could it be that you did this on purpose? Spying on someone?" Ya Hua was quite pleased with his imagination, grinning foolishly at Nian Yu.

Ya Hua couldn't see the expression behind Nian Yu's sunglasses, but the smile from just now gradually disappeared, turning into a businesslike, wooden expression. He said, "Ya Hua, don't force me to take action against you. You know your mediocre skills are no match for me. Go back, get some sleep, forget everything you saw and heard, and just be your free and unrestrained Zhang Ya Hua."

"What if I say no?" Ya Hua snapped, clinging tightly to Nian Yu's arm. She refused to believe she couldn't outmaneuver Nian Yu with her tantrums. In the past, when she acted out, Nian Yu was helpless.

“If you insist on staying here—” Nianyu shook off her hand, stood up abruptly, and looked down at her coldly, saying, “Then don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

Ya Hua's hand was flung away, hovering in the air for a long time before finally falling, sending chills down her spine. Nian Yu emanated a murderous aura. His hand hung neatly at his side, but his fingers had formed a fist. She looked up at Nian Yu, her eyes instantly filling with tears, yet stubbornly refusing to let them fall.

He looked the same as before: bald head, sunglasses, a listless expression—his appearance was undeniably comical. But was he still the same Nianyu who would get emotionally agitated by her little jokes? Look, even when she was almost crying with anger, he didn't react. In the past, he would have clumsily tried to coax her.

Ya Hua clenched her fists in grievance, her expression filled with sorrow. She yelled at Nian Yu, "You like Chao You that much? Do you know he's a man? I used to laugh at you for having a talent for being gay, but that was a joke, you know? Even if you—you like Chao You and don't care if he's a man or a woman, you can't be so blind to right and wrong! Even if you are blind to right and wrong, you—you can't treat me like this!"

After Nianyu and Yahua finished speaking, Nianyu said indifferently, "Then how should I treat you? Just because you like me doesn't mean I have to like you back."