Chapter 1004: Love vs. Pride

"Hmph. Bing Xue, you should stay away from that Little King." Shangguan Xinyue pouted and folded her arms like a little girl angry at her parents for not buying her favorite candy.

Shangguan Bing Xue looked at her mother feeling a bit speechless and with an expression that exposed her bewilderment asked dumbfounded, "Did something happen?"

Crocodile tears appeared in Shangguan Xinyue's eyes as she wailed disconsolately, "Bing Xue, you have to believe me! That Little King actually tried to seduce me and when I refused he said that-"

"Stop!" Shangguan Bing Xue looked at her mother with a serious expression and reprimanded, "Shangguan Xinyue, you'd better tell the truth if you don't want me to get angry at you."

"B- But but!" Shangguan Xinyue looked on the verge of tears. She stomped her feet loudly and looked at Bai Zemin in the distance with flames burning in her eyes, "I only asked for a bit of his blood so why does he have to be so mean!"

"Pu- You did what?!" Shangguan Bing Xue almost fell to the ground.

And that way, for the next ten minutes, Shangguan Bing Xue gazed at her mother with serious eyes and taught her manners with a firm hand.

In the distance, Bai Zemin could feel the corner of his mouth trembling slightly every two or three seconds as he watched and listened to the mother-daughter duo engaging in a heated, not-very-elegant conversation.

"Ha...haha..." Just like Bai Zemin, Wu Yijun could feel the corner of her mouth trembling as she tried to chuckle. "Auntie has always been this playful, much to Bing Xue's dismay."

"... I can imagine." Bai Zemin could barely hold back the urge to laugh out loud as he imagined certain scenarios of a daughter repeatedly reprimanding her mother for not acting appropriately.

"When Bing Xue began to grow old enough to realize the effect her beauty had on men, her personality began to become more and more withdrawn to the point where, well.... She ended up looking down on all men alike." Wu Yijun sighed.

"That's no wonder." Bai Zemin nodded calmly and pointed out, "Lustful stares, offensive words, abandoned by her father as if she was a piece of trash... It is just natural for Bing Xue to protect herself and her mind through building a wall of ice and disdain against all men around her."

Wu Yijun nodded, "Aunt Xinyue tried her best to bring Bing Xue out of her shell, even taking on a very funny and playful personality like the one you are seeing now. Aunt Xinyue tried to be more than a mother but also went out of her way to be Bing Xue's friend in an attempt to help her daughter move on while blaming herself for her insistence on a one-sided love."

Bai Zemin was silent and did not comment on the matter.

It was true that some of Shangguan Xinyue's choices might have been harmful to Shangguan Bing Xue, but Bai Zemin was certain that she had given 200% of her best to raise her daughter; wasn't it proof of this the fact that Shangguan Bing Xue was the second most perfect woman Bai Zemin had ever met in his entire life?

Besides, Shangguan Xinyue was in love with Xuanyuan Wentian back then... and people in love often could not see the world before them with complete clarity; Bai Zemin had been blinded by a false love after all, he was clear how powerful this emotion was.

"Unfortunately, Auntie could not turn Bing Xue into what our past society considered a normal girl. No one could." Wu Yijun gave Bai Zemin a sidelong glance and said slowly, "That was until your appearance."

Bai Zemin did not feign ignorance as he was clear on how things were.

"At that time back at the university all I was thinking about was surviving and meeting my family using whatever methods necessary. Killing, threatening, using the lives of my teammates? None of that really mattered to me." He said looking at the mother-daughter duo calmly. "My then self viewed Bing Xue as an arrogant little bitch. I thought I could never feel positive emotions towards someone like her and the only reason I was still with you all was because I needed everyone's help... especially Bing Xue's on account of her power."

"Hehe... Arrogant little bitch? Well, Bing Xue definitely hated you to the core so it's okay." Wu Yijun covered her mouth and giggled not quite slyly. After a few seconds, she returned to her previous posture and with a faint smile said softly, "But... Just as your negative thoughts and feelings towards Bing Xue have disappeared and are now positive, the thoughts and feelings Bing Xue had towards you have changed as well."

Seeing that Bai Zemin said nothing, Wu Yijun turned to look at him and said softly, "I will not say anything because I know what your thoughts are on the matter. You are a man who stands out not only for his strength but also for his intelligence, I have confidence that you know what I mean."

Bai Zemin smiled somewhat bitterly and nodded without saying a word.

Wu Yijun looked at the mother-daughter duo again and continued, "I don't understand very much about why you are so against having multiple partners, but I respect and in some respects admire this part of you. I don't know if what Bing Xue feels for you is love, probably even she herself doesn't know for sure. But, if at some point in our journey you change your mind...and if Bing Xue happens to fall in love with you... I hope you'll accept her when the time comes."

After a short pause, Bai Zemin asked without looking at her, "You won't speak for you?"

"Me?" Wu Yijun shook her head gently and said with a faint smile, "There is no need, you already know how I feel and what I think. Just like a man who is too pushy is not attractive the same applies to us women, hehe. I'll wait for you to accept me or for my feelings for you to fade away and maybe I'll fall in love with someone else... although I doubt that such a thing will happen, you never know since we can live for at least several thousand years if we don't fall in the middle of the road."

"...And if neither of those two things happen?" Bai Zemin couldn't help but ask.

"If you stand firm or don't love me at any point in the future to come and if my feelings for you prevail against the test of time... then I will simply give my all to help you without troubling you." Wu Yijun said with no burden in her voice, "Just like I did for the past year...and just like I will do tomorrow."

The two stayed silent for a minute or two until Bai Zemin opened his mouth and said slowly, "Yijun, if at some point in the future to come it turns out that I do accept having multiple partners and this does not discomfort my current partner then you will certainly be by my side...if you still love me, that is."

Wu Yijun turned her face to look at him with a surprised expression. Her beautiful eyes as black as night shone like stars in the sky and her small mouth opened and closed as if she wanted to say something but not daring to say it just in case.

In the past, Bai Zemin's response was always firm and negative to the approach of having more than one partner. Regardless of who suggested it and regardless of whether it was a joke or not, Bai Zemin repeatedly made it clear that his heart would not accept anyone other than the one it had already accepted.

Today, however, Bai Zemin did not refuse 100% and for the first time left a small door open.

To call it a door could be exaggerated, it was probably more correct to call it a small hole the size of a grain of sand. But this was more than enough for Wu Yijun who although never admitted it out loud knew that her heart was desperate and aching.

"However, I'm afraid matters are different with her." Bai Zemin continued as he looked at Shangguan Bing Xue in the distance still scolding her mother.

Shangguan Xinyue had been reduced to a little kid with both hands in front and her head down as she nodded occasionally.

"You mean..." Wu Yijun also looked at her good sister in the distance with a certain amount of concern.

Bai Zemin looked at Shangguan Bing Xue and said slowly, "Let's talk in the hypothetical case that I agree to have more than one life partner... I don't know how she feels about me for sure right now, but I do know with total certainty that even if Bing Xue were to fall in love with me at some point in time to come, she and I will never be able to be together."

Shangguan Bing Xue was extremely proud, her pride might even be higher than that of Bai Zemin or anyone else he had ever met in his life. To many, this pride of hers was stupid or a bad trait, but the reality was that she, Shangguan Bing Xue, absolutely and totally had the qualifications to be proud and arrogant.

Beautiful like an immortal fairy out of a fantasy fairy tale, powerful like a goddess capable of reigning over millions and crushing countless on the battlefield; Shangguan Bing Xue had and far surpassed the two main requirements one needed in this world to be able to stand proud and act arrogant.

She did not need to say a word, a wave of her hand was enough for millions of men and among them outstanding soul evolvers to line up to get her favor.

Such a woman would hardly be willing to become just another number or one of a group of women competing for a man's favor.

Why would she do it? Even if she were willing to be just another number in her beloved's group, her pride would certainly not allow it.

Humans were proud creatures by nature; what more Shangguan Bing Xue who was practically perfection among humans?

Being Shangguan Bing Xue's best friend and practically sister despite not sharing even 1% dna, Wu Yijun naturally understood what Bai Zemin meant without the need for him to put it into words.

"In the hypothetical case that you accept more than one partner and your heart accepts us, it will be up to Bing Xue whether she decides to be your life partner or not." Wu Yijun said in a firm voice, "I, Wu Yijun, am an arrogant and proud woman, I do admit it. I always was and always will be. But, if I can have a life of thousands of years and even eternal happiness together with the man I love then what good is my pride if it will only bring me pain? If Bing Xue's pride turns out to be the victor at the end of the race, then the love she feels is not and never was anything big."

Bai Zemin said nothing and simply remained silent after making it clear that although his stance was still the same at least he no longer repudiated the thought; no longer after realizing that by his side were two women who were giving their all to support him.

At the end of the road, however, the final decision lay not with Bai Zemin but with Lilith. If she did not accept it or felt uncomfortable then he would be hers and only hers eternally, because Bai Zemin would never accept Lilith having someone else other than him even if she could bring him all the happiness in the world both sentimentally and physically.

One of Bai Zemin's mottoes was "do not do what you would not like to be done to you" and therefore he was not only thinking of his own happiness and wants but also of the happiness and wants of the woman he loved.

As for the person in question, Lilith; she was fighting her last battle against the second to last invasion of The Golden Domain before the end that would mark a new beginning.

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