Evil Emperor Zun

Chapter 2032 Black Ten Feathers Reappear

Hei Shiyu sought help from Chu Tianyao out of desperation.

After it fled after its failure that day, Su Ye and Feng Wutong hid it, naturally so that it could cook for them whenever it wanted.

Cooking is no big deal. But Chen Shiyu and the others searched it very thoroughly, and it would be recaptured as soon as it showed its face, so it couldn't leave Su Ye and the other person's room at all.

Such an intense search cannot continue indefinitely. Hei Shiyu knew that as long as they could get through this period, the situation would improve.

The problem is, there's no time left.

As it said, pledging allegiance to the Gnawing Clan requires periodic blood transfusions. It itself is one of them. If it cannot leave its home, it will be unable to receive the blood transfusion within the specified time. At that point, even if it is a confidant of the Gnawing Clan, it will still not escape the fate of being corrupted and dying.

After several failed attempts, Hei Shiyu had no choice but to have Su Ye deliver a letter to Chu Tianyao. If he could deceive Chen Shiyu and the other man into believing that he had been recovered, they would naturally stop the search.

Chu Tianyao is now a stakeholder in my business—Lan Shiyu said he personally witnessed Chu Tianyao's eyes turn black, confirming he had indeed received energy infusion from the Devouring Clan. Even if his stance changes, this premise remains the same. Perhaps I can make a deal with him to get him to cooperate.

This was to save his own life, and Hei Shiyu was 90% certain he would agree. However, given his cunning, he would soon realize that he himself desperately needed a blood transfusion. Whoever's need was more urgent would be at a disadvantage, and it would be hard to say who was asking for the other's help. Therefore, it couldn't be ruled out that he would deliberately stall for time, gambling that he would react first and then turn the tables on Hei Shiyu.

Cooperating with him was the last resort, but Hei Shiyu was unwilling to place all its hopes on him. After sending the letter, it thought long and hard and decided to take one last risk under the cover of night.

……

This time, it went further than ever before.

Black Ten Feathers wasn't too happy yet. It couldn't be considered a success until the blood transfusion was complete, and it remained constantly alert to any sounds around it.

Just as we were about to turn the next corner, a player suddenly appeared ahead.

Hei Shiyu cursed under his breath, quickly opened the nearest door, and slipped inside. Leaning against the door, he looked around and realized he was in the kitchen.

Footsteps were approaching in the corridor. Black Ten Feather had only caught a glimpse of a figure and hadn't even seen who it was. Now, it could only pray that the person was just passing by and would leave soon. It hoped it wasn't some greedy player looking for food in the kitchen so late at night!
However, the footsteps seemed to be defying it, heading directly in that direction and soon reaching the door. The sound of the doorknob turning followed.

Realizing that the people outside were coming in, Hei Shiyu's mind raced. He immediately made way and walked naturally toward the kitchen counter, intending to pretend to be Chen Shiyu who was there to prepare a late-night snack.

Next, simply pretend to be attracted by the sound of the door opening, casually turn your head, and make eye contact with the person—

When that radiantly beautiful girl gently came into view, it felt its breath catch in its throat, and all its plans shattered into a blank.

The name was almost uttered offhand, yet it carried endless reverence and cherishment, as if it were reluctant to let it fall to the ground.

"Long'er..."

This is the girl "I" like. The increased heartbeat because of her, the rising heat on my face, even the suddenly sweet air, the whole world that shines brightly around her, all truly interpret this liking.

At the same time, Hei Shiyu knew clearly that this wasn't an emotion it generated spontaneously, but merely a copy of its original self's emotions. It didn't need to be affected by this false emotion. Yet, facing her, it couldn't even muster a trace of hostility. Even though it should have sent her away as soon as possible, it could feel that other part of itself so attached to her, so yearning for her, wanting to stay by her side.

It didn't know how long it had been staring at her blankly. When it realized it, it hurriedly turned its back and used the action of pouring water to calm itself down.

"Long'er, I'm fine now. I just came to get some more ingredients for the house. Don't worry about me, go back now."

It had heard Su Ye mention Chen Shiyu's outburst of demonic energy in front of everyone. At this moment, it secretly hoped that Mo Qianlong could interpret its earlier unnatural behavior as a lingering effect of the demonic energy.

Mo Qianlong parted her lips slightly, her voice pleasant yet sharp, piercing to the core: "Who are you?"

Black Ten Feather nearly choked on its water. Instinctively, it wanted to say, "Of course I am Dust Ten Feather." It had every reason to say that—the same face, the same genes; if the existing Dust Ten Feather no longer existed, it would naturally be the only Dust Ten Feather. However, looking into the girl's clear eyes, it couldn't bring itself to play that role in front of her. Whether it represented pretense or a declaration of death to her companion.

It didn't know how to introduce itself to her. Even if it didn't like her spontaneously, it still didn't want to deceive her or hurt her. The precious time left for it to explain itself was slipping away, and the wisdom it had always been so proud of couldn't even help it utter a complete sentence.

Mo Qianlong frowned slightly and slowly walked towards it.

She had been focusing on her cultivation during this time, and only briefly emerged from seclusion a few days ago when she was disturbed by demonic energy. At that time, she stayed by Chen Shiyu's side for a while, and as soon as he recovered, he smiled and said that he was fine, urging her to go back to her cultivation.

Mo Qianlong was still somewhat worried, but she couldn't see anything wrong with him. Considering that there was no point in continuing to guard him, the only way to better cope with the increasingly cruel future was to improve her strength as soon as possible. So, she did as instructed.

Chen Shiyu didn't plan to tell Mo Qianlong about the clone in such a short time; he didn't want to distract her from her cultivation. Besides, it wasn't a big deal; he could handle it himself.

Mo Qianlong, who had been cultivating day and night, decided to take a break and check on Chen Shiyu. Walking along the corridor, she spotted the silver-haired figure in the distance. Seeing it enter a door, she followed, but immediately recognized it as not Chen Shiyu. Unaware of the existence of clones, Mo Qianlong didn't immediately suspect an enemy. Moreover, she sensed that although the person before her seemed somewhat bewildered when she exposed it, it showed no hostility. Upon closer inspection, she could even detect a faint hope in its eyes, a mixture of wanting to escape and yearning for her approach.

Seeing Chen Shiyu's face, revealing such vulnerability in front of her, Mo Qianlong felt a pang of tenderness. She instinctively reached out, wanting to touch it.

However, perhaps realizing quickly that it was not Chen Shiyu but another person of unknown identity, she withdrew her hand before touching it, leaving only the words, "Stop pretending to be Shiyu," before turning and leaving.

Thanks to Mo Feng's occasional mischief, Mo Qianlong assumed it was just some player in disguise playing around. As it had nothing to do with her, she had no intention of digging into who was behind it.

However, just to be on the safe side, it would be better to remind the person whose identity was being impersonated. Therefore, when Mo Qianlong visited Chen Shiyu later, she told him about it.

Upon hearing that she had met someone who looked exactly like her, Chen Shiyu immediately realized that Hei Shiyu had appeared again!
The other party wasn't stupid; it wouldn't stay put and wait for him to catch it. So he didn't rush to the kitchen. Instead, he told Mo Qianlong the whole story in detail, telling her to be careful if she saw it again and to notify him as soon as possible.

Although she didn't want to involve Long'er, she had already seen that guy. Being unaware and unprepared would only make things more dangerous.

Moreover, he understood that Long'er was not a weak woman who could only rely on him for protection; she was capable of protecting herself. They were the strongest partners, always ready to fight side by side.

……

As soon as Mo Qianlong left, Hei Shiyu knew that the enemy would soon find him. He couldn't care less about receiving the blood transfusion anymore and hurriedly fled back to his hiding place.

The night's events left it feeling heavy-hearted. Su Ye clamored for a midnight snack several times, but it ignored her. It was only when Feng Wutong noticed its bad mood and promptly pulled Su Ye away that it was able to have some peace and quiet.

Without having to directly confront Mo Qianlong, the inherited emotional influence lessened considerably. It began to calmly consider the current situation.

Although they inherited the same genome, these clones, who developed self-awareness, each developed different personalities. This is why there is the mediocre and weak Lan Shiyu, and the silent and ruthless Zizi Yu.

But the fact that he "likes Mo Qianlong" is like a fundamental part of Chen Shiyu's character—it cannot be deleted or changed. Seed Feather could kill Ye Yunyan without hesitation, but he could never bring himself to harm Long'er. He himself is the same.

Therefore, her existence is dangerous to me.

She'll probably find out who I am soon, and the next time we meet, we'll be enemies. But I can't treat her the same way I would treat an enemy. She's become my greatest weakness.

This is a fatal secret that must never be discovered by the Devouring Clan or Chu Tianyao.

The only saving grace was that Chen Shiyu couldn't possibly use her against him. Because he himself couldn't bring himself to use her. Just thinking about that possibility made every cell in his body resist.

Long'er... Just thinking about how they were once so close, her long hair brushing against him, her cool, moon-like aura intoxicating him. He could still recall how willingly he had let her control him, and the lingering sense of loss that remained when they could never hold hands—these weren't memories inherited from Chen Shiyu and her, but memories uniquely his own and hers.

It didn't realize that as it sketched her image in its mind, those dark eyes, which were always filled with gloom and coldness, were softening because of her arrival.

It was also unaware that even when it touched upon a single thought of hers, it would still affectionately call her "Long'er" instead of her full name.

……

Chu Tianyao received the message from Chen Shiyu just as he was delivering a reply to Hei Shiyu.

Shi Yu was genuinely worried that it would seek revenge, yet Chu Tianyao felt truly guilty for secretly colluding with it. But there was nothing he could do; it was all to save his own life.

He wrote in the letter:

“I can’t do that. I suppose you, like me, need a long-term blood transfusion. If you are discovered after I claim to have taken you back, my words will immediately be proven to be a lie. Then everything I did to gain their trust will have been for nothing.”

"However, I can keep watch for you while you have your blood transfusion."

Then, he went on to declare at length that he had not betrayed the Gnawing Clan. His explanation was that Chen Shiyu was not so easy to deal with, and even if he fully cooperated with their plan, he might not be able to win him back. His favors and gaining Chen Shiyu's trust were all a backup plan in case things went wrong.

And that was indeed the case. Chen Shiyu and Ye Yunyan didn't put up any effective resistance at the time; it was essentially a result of their voluntary cooperation. Otherwise, it's hard to believe that a few clones could have created that short-lived recycling window—Chu Tianyao found this quite convincing.

He also wrote that, now that the demonic energy eruption had occurred, Chen Shiyu's mysterious physique had astonished everyone. His own hidden hand could now be put to use. He would definitely gather more intelligence as a friend and pass it on to the Devouring Clan in a timely manner.

In case Chen Shiyu and the others discovered this letter, Chu Tianyao had already prepared an excuse. He would say that it was to gain the trust of the Gnawing Clan in order to gather intelligence and defeat them—just like the reason he gave the letter to the Gnawing Clan.

Using the same story to please both sides, which side am I really on in the end? Chu Tianyao pondered with a hint of self-deprecation. He never imagined he'd be forced to become a double agent.

However, another thought was also stirring in his mind: if he could continue to "sit on the fence," he could avoid being labeled a traitor and still receive the care of the Gnawing Clan, which would be a good thing.