The Transmigrated Male Lead Confessed to Me - Chapter 17 (Part 2)

The man approached swiftly, scrutinizing her in surprise, “Didn’t you just break through to the Soul Transformation stage last month? And now you’re already at the second level of a minor realm? What kind of fortuitous encounter did you have?”

“Can’t it just be my innate talent?”

Su Zhen chuckled. “Cousin, you’re finally back.”

This man was named Pei Yang, one of the personal disciples of Chongyun Xianzun and also a distant relative of hers.

Su Zhen came from the most prestigious family in Huanhua State, the Su family. According to Su family rules, the head of the family was inherited by the strongest member. The current head was her uncle, the previous head was her mother, and before that, it was her grandfather, while her grandmother came from the Pei family in Suiyun State.

The Pei family was also a prominent family, with many descendants.

Pei Yang was from the main branch of the Pei family. His father was the current family head, and his grandmother, like Su Zhen’s, was the previous head. His grandmother and Su Zhen’s grandmother were cousins.

“The Void Realm is no place for people. If it weren’t for the need to find refining materials, I wouldn’t have gone to suffer there.”

Pei Yang grumbled for a bit and then patted her shoulder. “Your cultivation speed is even faster than your master’s, though of course, still not quite as fast as my master’s.”

In the past, Su Zhen would have bickered with him over this.

But at this moment, seeing him, she could only think of her past life, where Pei Xun and Pei Yang went missing in the Spirit Realm.

She had gone looking for them many times, almost losing her life on several occasions, but never found any trace of them.

Not long after that—

She became a demon cultivator.

Suppressing the emotions welling up inside, she looked at the vibrant youth before her and felt a slight sting in her nose. “Where’s cousin?”

“She went to the Demon Realm again. She’ll be back in a few days. She was worried about you before, afraid your advancement would be difficult, and told me to hurry back to check on you.”

Pei Yang crossed his arms. “I came back as soon as I saw your message and heard you’d finished your seclusion.”

Su Zhen forced down her emotions. “Thank you both for thinking of me.”

They walked side by side along the street, receiving greetings from the passing cultivators, to which they responded briefly before continuing their conversation.

Su Zhen had a lot she wanted to say, but she couldn’t get the words out. After all, how could she tell them not to go to the Spirit Realm in 300 years because they wouldn’t return?

So she just quietly listened as her cousin recounted his adventures in the Void Realm, the experts he had encountered, the formidable enemies he had fought, the new friends he had made, and how he had narrowly escaped death several times before ultimately achieving a breakthrough.

“…We even encountered a master from the Soul Devouring Sect. My sister and I both thought we wouldn’t make it back.”

Su Zhen’s eyes flickered. “Was it a Blood God Priest? Do you remember which one?”

“I don’t know who she was. She didn’t seem all that different from the other experts in the Soul Devouring Sect.”

“Never mind. As long as you’re sure they weren’t lying in ambush, that’s good. I’ve heard that some Soul Devouring Sect disciples take outside jobs…”

From personal experience, she knew that sometimes running into Soul Devouring Sect demon cultivators might have other hidden causes behind it.

Of course, it could also just be a coincidence. There was no way to know for sure.

“I’m aware of that. But it didn’t seem like that at the time; things were pretty chaotic, and they didn’t suddenly ambush us.”

Pei Yang didn’t take it to heart. “Enough about me, how have you been recently? Is your master still paying special attention to that Liu girl?”

Su Zhen frowned. “You just got back. Why are you bringing her up to spoil the mood?”

Pei Yang gave her a strange look. “You used to complain to me and my sister about her all the time. What’s changed now?”

Su Zhen curled her lips. “I only mentioned her two or three times. How’s that all the time? Honestly, I’ve complained more about Zhou Ziheng than her. You could say I didn’t dislike her that much before and could at least mention her. Now, I’m so fed up that I don’t even want to bring her up.”

“Fair enough. I told you long ago that getting worked up over someone like her was beneath you.”

Pei Yang sneered. “Your junior brother died swiftly, I hear. And I heard Zhou’s family visited?”

“Mhm, not because of their brother’s death, though. Apparently, it’s about some lost treasure.”

Pei Yang was clueless about that. “What kind of treasure?”

Su Zhen didn’t want to tell him for now, considering the influence of Tiandu behind the Zhou family, as knowing wouldn’t necessarily bring any benefit.

“Who knows? Families like the Zhou’s probably treat second or third-rate items like treasures.”

“That’s true.”

Pei Yang curled his lip. “Just look at the people around you. When you first joined Weiyun Peak, I told you it would have been better to come to Lingxiao Peak with us, but you said the Sect Leader had too many disciples and that Yuchen Xianzun only had…”

Su Zhen interrupted him. “The Sect Leader felt the same back then.”

“Not necessarily. Maybe she saw your thoughts and deliberately said that.”

Pei Yang shrugged. “She’s always liked you.”

For a moment, Su Zhen didn’t know how to respond, “The Sect Leader and I hardly exchanged many words. Her previous kindness towards me was only…”

“She’s just friendly with everyone, so she was friendly with you too?”

Pei Yang shot her a look. “You’re a fool. When has the Sect Leader ever really paid attention to your junior brothers and sisters? Never mind, considering how fast your cultivation is advancing, I can see why she regrets not taking you in.”

Su Zhen fell into deep thought.

After a while, Pei Yang waved his hand. “What are you thinking about?”

Su Zhen blinked and came back to her senses. “I was thinking, if the Sect Leader really likes me that much, would she take my side if I ever had a falling-out with my master?”

Her tone was mostly joking, considering that in reality, Chongyun Xianzun was more familiar with her master. How long had they known each other?

Pei Yang frowned again. “Are you still hung up on that junior sister of yours? Come on, cousin, there are plenty of better people out there. Forced relationships—”

“It’s not that.”

Su Zhen quickly cut him off. “It’s not like that, and I don’t… Ugh, forget it, let’s not talk about this.”

“Good. It has to be mutual, and from what I’ve seen of him, tsk.”

Pei Yang muttered a few more words, then reached out to pat her head. “But you, little girl, seem to have grown up overnight.”

Su Zhen let him mess up her hair, feeling a mixture of bitterness and sorrow, which quickly subsided.

“I need to go see the Sect Leader. There’s something I need to discuss with her.”

Pei Yang took his hand away. “Oh, I heard Chaohua Xianzun returned to the mountain? Did you see him?”

Su Zhen reached up to tidy the hair by her ear, “Mm.”

“Then,” Pei Yang wanted to ask more out of curiosity but then shook his head. “…Never mind. You probably just saw him from a distance.”

Su Zhen thought to herself that she had been quite close and had seen him more than once. “Since you’re going to see the Sect Leader, hurry up. Maybe you’ll even get to see the Sword God.”

“That’s unlikely.”

Pei Yang said with regret, “When I last communicated with my master, I asked about him, and she said that after his brief appearance, he hasn’t shown up again. He might not even be on Tianyuan Mountain anymore.”

Su Zhen: “……”

Actually, he was there just a quarter of an hour ago.

But with his cultivation level, a quarter of an hour was enough time for him to travel around all Nine Realms.

Su Zhen’s expression was complicated. “It’s hard to say.”

Looking at her cousin, she couldn’t help but think about his and his sister’s future disappearance, which left her with little desire to think about anything else. But she truly didn’t know how to bring it up.

If it were something that would happen soon, it would be easier to talk about. But it was so far in the future.

Pei Yang had been about to leave but hesitated and glanced at her again, “Do you have something on your mind?”

Su Zhen felt a headache coming on. “Weren’t you in a hurry to see the Sect Leader?”

“I just need to say a few words to my master. It’s not urgent.”

Su Zhen pondered for a while. “Well… I do have something I don’t quite understand.”

“Oh?”

Pei Yang looked at her with great interest. “What is it?”

His little cousin was usually stubborn and rarely sought help from others, so it was rare for him to get a chance to help her. Naturally, he was eager.

Su Zhen thought for a moment. “If someone treats you well without expecting anything in return, as if just seeing you happy is enough for them, what could be the reason?”

She originally wanted to warn them about the future but decided the timing wasn’t right. So she changed the topic to this question.

Thinking about Xiao Yu—

Though he never explicitly said he didn’t expect anything in return, there was nothing she could give him. Anything she could offer, he surely didn’t need.

And anything he couldn’t obtain, she couldn’t achieve either.

If he truly had ulterior motives, he could have used a soul-capturing technique the first time they met to completely control her, leaving her at his mercy.

Pei Yang was momentarily stunned, then confidently replied, “No way there’s no return expected. The longer someone doesn’t ask for something, the bigger the favor they’ll want in the end. Trust me.”

Su Zhen hesitated for a moment. “Alright.”

In terms of age across her two lifetimes, she was technically older than her cousin, but she asked him anyway, hoping to see if there was something she had overlooked because she was too involved in the situation.

She knew what he said made sense. She had seen many situations in her past life that proved this point.

But this time was truly different.

Pei Yang squinted. “What do you mean by that?”

Su Zhen shook her head slightly. “It means I’m not sure how to explain.”

Pei Yang took a light breath, as if something had dawned on him. “What kind of person is this? What’s their character like? What’s their cultivation level? From what you’re saying, it sounds like they’re at least at the Heavenly Immortal stage. How old are they? Male or female? Actually, forget those last two questions. As long as you like him, that’s all that matters. I won’t interfere, but if it’s a demon cultivator, be cautious of being tainted by evil miasma when you’re with them…”

“Cousin, where’s your mind going?”

Su Zhen shook her head. “I don’t think it’s like that. I’ve only known him for a few days, and he feels more like…”

What exactly was it?

Even she couldn’t quite put it into words.

She had seen young lovers in passionate romance, couples who had been together for centuries, and people tortured by unrequited love, but none of those felt quite like her experience with him.

Su Zhen slowly said, “…Someone who just wants me to be happy?”

Pei Yang stroked his chin. “Maybe your ancestors had a connection with his? Like, maybe someone in your family helped him out before?”

Su Zhen looked up at the sky, “This is someone else’s story.”

“Huh?”

Pei Yang was baffled. “Alright then, how old is this person?”

“Older than my master, slightly older than your master, but not by much…”

Xiao Yu was the former Sect Leader’s junior disciple. Not long after he entered the sect, his senior brother, upon becoming the Sect Leader, began accepting disciples, which naturally included the current Sect Leader.

Pei Yang thought for a moment. “If you’re sure you’ve never met before, maybe you just happen to be his type? And considering his age, he could see you as…”

“Cousin.”

Su Zhen suddenly froze, her gaze locking in place. “Stop talking for a moment.”

Across the street, a black-clad figure was slowly approaching.

Xiao Yu had returned, though she hadn’t noticed exactly when.

His spiritual energy was perfectly concealed, so when he appeared, there was no warning. One moment the area was empty, and the next, a figure stood just three paces away.

Pei Yang, completely unaware, seemed to think it was just a passerby.

“…Someone he sees as a daughter or maybe a granddaughter, you know?”

He continued, feeling more and more convinced of his theory. “Maybe he had a child or grandchild who passed away and looked like you, so he has no ill intentions and just wants to see you happy and safe…”

Pei Yang’s voice abruptly cut off because someone had patted him on the shoulder.

Pei Yang spun around in shock. “?”

There were many cultivators passing by, and though he could sense each of them, he hadn’t noticed anyone getting so close.

“…Brother.”

Standing there was a tall, handsome man, now looking at him with a complicated expression. “You’re saying a lot of good things, but it’s time to stop.”