Chapter 1886 - 1478: Shi Wujue, Thank You for Your Love!

Because of suffocation, Zhou Mu’s face had turned pale, yet that godlike face slowly lifted into a look of relieved smile.

He understood at last: his woman, truly proud to the marrow, rejected Shi Wujue’s adoration, rejected his own humble love—perhaps she even rejected that wavering, conflicted version of herself!

She was such an absolute sort of woman, with her own steadfastness, never bowing that proud and solitary head!

"Hehe..."

Just as Gu Changsheng and Zhou Mu locked eyes, a desolate chuckle sounded beside their ears.

Zhou Mu lowered his head and saw Shi Wujue slowly withdrawing his hand, his figure staggering as he retreated.

"Pa!"

Gu Changsheng stared in shock at Shi Wujue, whose gaze had already cleared; the kitchen knife in her hand clattered heavily to the ground...

"Shi Wujue, I..." Gu Changsheng looked at that utterly lifeless expression on Shi Wujue’s face, opened her mouth, wanting to explain something, yet when the words reached her lips, she no longer knew how to let them out.

At this very moment, no matter what she said, it would only be another wound to Shi Wujue...

Because she could not give him the love he wanted.

"You truly are the Gu Changsheng this City Lord knows..." the one unlike any other woman in this world, blazing like a scorching sun, illuminating his pallid life...

Shi Wujue lowered his eyes; on that face of peerless beauty, a trace of sickly pallor spread...

Sinful Sea Flower, the flower of sin at the end of love’s road...

Even under the influence of the Sinful Sea Flower Field, when that thin thread of unwillingness and jealousy in his heart was magnified without limit, he still wanted with all his might to break free!

His wrongs had been forged from the moment of his birth; plotting against Gu Changsheng, standing against her, was the only path he had been given from the day he came into this world!

He had already schemed to trap them deep in this prison—how could he then go on to hurt them again?

He had never been worthy of possessing love in the first place!

His own origins, the He Clan’s obsession, had never originally had anything to do with Gu Changsheng and Zhou Mu; it was he who forcibly dragged them onto the chessboard he had laid, he who meant to use them to loosen his own obsessions!

What wrong had Gu Changsheng committed? Was her fault that she was too beautiful, so that he fell in love?

What wrong had Zhou Mu committed? Was his fault that he was Gu Changsheng’s betrothed? But then, what did that have to do with him?

He had already erred too much, with no room left to retreat, driven to a dead end—so why drag them with him, to sink into the sea of fire?

"Shi Wujue, I’m sorry..." Gu Changsheng watched Shi Wujue retreating step by step, and in a daze took one step forward; yet when she opened her mouth, only this apology came out.

Shi Wujue, I’m sorry, I cannot give you the love you want.

"You have nothing to be sorry for toward me..."

The Sinful Sea Flowers bloomed, wanton and bewitching to the point of withering; Shi Wujue stepped on those blossoms, lush to the very extremity of ruin, retreating little by little...

Gu Changsheng looked at Shi Wujue’s desolate figure; a dull pain throbbed in her heart, yet she did not know what she could do, what she could say, to make him hurt a little less...

After thinking it over, Gu Changsheng finally summoned her courage, faced Shi Wujue head-on, the corners of her lips lifting into a bitter smile as she said in a low voice, "Shi Wujue, thank you for the love you gave me!"

I understand now; I won’t run from it anymore!

Shi Wujue, thank you for the love you gave me—but it can only be gratitude, nothing more!

"Mm. To be loved by me, Shi Wujue—Gu Changsheng, you should indeed thank me." Upon hearing this, Shi Wujue’s retreating steps halted; his snow-white hair slid from his cheeks as he lifted his head, revealing those features of breathtaking beauty...

His arrogance remained, his wildness the same as in Wangxi.

Gu Changsheng froze at his words and could not help glancing at Zhou Mu.

Had her words been too harsh? Was Shi Wujue losing himself a little again?

But that shouldn’t be; he had already broken free of the inner demons born from the Sinful Sea Flower’s influence, how could he fall into them again?

"What kind of person is this City Lord? A man of such peerless talent and brilliance, whose sights are set so very high. To be admired by this City Lord—Gu Changsheng, tell me, shouldn’t you feel very proud?" Shi Wujue looked at Gu Changsheng, a rogue-like smile hanging on that face of stunning beauty; yet the smile never reached his eyes, and upon that sickly pale countenance, it only made him seem all the more desolate...

"I..." Looking at him like this, Gu Changsheng suddenly felt a sharp pain twist at the bottom of her heart.

He was no longer swayed by the Sinful Sea Flower, yet he was strenuously trying to dissolve the awkwardness from just now...

And again... for her!

In that instant, deep in Gu Changsheng’s heart rose a feeling she couldn’t name. Twisted, suffocating, and suddenly she just felt like crying a little...

"Zhou, in all the world, this City Lord has never taken a fancy to any man, and yet you are the only one who can enter this City Lord’s eyes!" Shi Wujue turned his head toward Zhou Mu, a vicious, wicked curve on his lips, speaking with a trace of rueful emotion, "You were born into the Imperial Family, born with wealth, glory, and power gathered upon you. You were also given a fine face. None of that matters. Whatever you have, this City Lord has as well. But you, how blessed you are—you have Gu Changsheng! Zhou, in your lowly way you chose to fulfill this City Lord’s love for her, yet you plan to share one wife with this City Lord? But did you ever ask this City Lord whether this City Lord is willing to accept your pity?"

"This king..." At those words, Zhou Mu’s brows knitted slightly. He looked at Shi Wujue, that face like a Divine Residence shrouded in an indescribable expression.

"This City Lord has no need of it, Zhou! You don’t want her cast into a place of ruthlessness and injustice, you don’t want this City Lord’s devotion to go unrewarded, so you chose to wrong yourself, to bow that noble spine of yours to fulfill this City Lord. But your thinking has gone astray. Whatever you can do for her, this City Lord can do as well. This City Lord’s love for her is not a single jot less than yours. She has her pride; this City Lord has this City Lord’s pride. People as proud as we are—since when have we needed you to lower yourself to fulfill us?" Shi Wujue looked at Zhou Mu, slowly shaking his head, his snow‑white hair in the Sinful Sea Flower Field so bleakly dazzling it hurt the eyes. "Zhou Mu, this City Lord’s love for her is this City Lord’s own affair. Her choice is her own affair. What lies between us gives you no reason to cast aside your pride for the sake of fulfillment! Zhou Mu, don’t you feel wronged? You, such a proud man—when you made this decision, did your heart truly feel no resentment?"

"This king has her." Zhou Mu’s answer was only four words.

At that, a sharp gleam flashed through Shi Wujue’s narrow eyes. The look he cast at Zhou Mu grew keener, his voice steeped in scarcely concealed indignation. "So you know you have her! You possess her whole heart, and still you would come to fulfill this City Lord! Zhou Mu, what do you take this City Lord for? This City Lord has not fallen so low as to need your pity!"

"..." At those words, an embarrassed look flickered across that godlike face of Zhou Mu’s.

Gu Changsheng at the side felt even more awkward. For a moment, she truly didn’t know what expression she ought to wear.

To be loved by Shi Wujue was, in a roundabout way, proof of her allure—but at times, this sort of feeling really drove one to scratch one’s head in frantic confusion!

Gu Changsheng had never been someone skilled at handling matters of love and romance. Now her mind was even more of a mess, completely at a loss as to how to resolve the stalemate before them!

Gu Changsheng didn’t know, and Zhou Mu knew even less!

He had just been scolded by Gu Changsheng, and then sharply berated by Shi Wujue. Zhou Mu’s heart right now was an even greater tangle of chaos!

More exhausting than fighting a war!

At this very moment, Zhou Mu only wished Yuan Bao could be by his side!

Though he was Zhou Mu, the Undefeated War God in the eyes of the world, when it came to matters of the heart, that was truly his soft underbelly!

Yet on the Fifth Level of the Star Innate Tower, Sinful Sea Flowers carpeted the ground, as if they had scattered everyone apart!

Zhou Mu’s prayer, naturally, received no answer.

Looking at the two whose expressions had changed, Shi Wujue knew well how awkward they were at this moment. To be more precise, even Shi Wujue himself had never expected that on the Fifth Level of the Star Innate Tower there would be Sinful Sea Flowers everywhere!

Had he known earlier, he would definitely have given up!

Given up climbing the tower; given up any chance of sinking himself into such an awkward predicament!

Have you ever loved someone? Have you ever been rejected by the one you love?

That sorrow spreads like desolation creeping over wasteland, with no end in sight...

"You needn’t be like this... In truth, it’s better to lay everything bare. This City Lord has indeed thought: if Zhou Mu were to die, would this City Lord then have a chance to stand at your side..." As Shi Wujue spoke, he turned a smile on Gu Changsheng.

Gu Changsheng’s eyes went wide with shock at once. "So, those times your subordinate struck at Zhou Mu..."

"It was not at this City Lord’s command. Yet he must have guessed at the thoughts this City Lord hid in the depths of his heart..." Shi Wujue let out a self‑mocking laugh. "Gu Changsheng, people are selfish by nature. Even if this City Lord astonishes the world, he cannot escape the common failings. This City Lord loves you. To wish him dead, to wish to take his place—there is nothing inherently wrong in that..."

The look on Gu Changsheng’s face shifted again and again, yet in the end she did not voice any rebuttal.

Put yourself in another’s place; think from another’s vantage—what Shi Wujue said was not wrong. And yet she would absolutely never permit Shi Wujue to do Zhou Mu harm!

"So, Gu Changsheng, Zhou Mu, this City Lord’s love is this City Lord’s own affair, it has nothing to do with you. You need not feel burdened by it, nor feel you owe anything!" Shi Wujue drew in a long breath, then lifted his head once more to look at the two of them, his voice low and steady. "Do you know why this City Lord suppressed the demons in his heart, and in the end never struck a killing blow at Zhou Mu?"

"Why?" Gu Changsheng and Zhou Mu exchanged a glance and asked.

"Because this City Lord knows that even if Zhou Mu dies, this City Lord will still have no chance to take his place..." A look of release curved over Shi Wujue’s face. His snow‑white hair flowed as he slowly turned and walked toward the depths of the Sinful Sea Flowers...

"What do you mean by that?" Gu Changsheng and Zhou Mu stared at one another, then hurriedly followed after him.

Shi Wujue’s back was far too desolate—so desolate it made the two of them feel a strange ache in their hearts!

Was it because, once he killed Zhou Mu, he would be set against her, irreconcilable as mortal enemies?

Gu Changsheng wasn’t sure. For some reason, she just felt that explanation was probably not the right one...