Chapter 3244 — Cheng Yiyi's Predicament

It was only that the immense pressure bearing down on her sometimes smothered that fondness; and when Cheng Yiyi set out to overturn that pressure, her affection for Wei Zhao came pouring out all at once—just as it had the instant Xu Shilan found her mother.

Cheng Yiyi said nothing. She turned in silence, walked to the doorway, bent down, and picked her nightgown up off the floor…

Wei Zhao, however, secretly swallowed hard. The moment she bent over, the mysterious region beneath her body pointed squarely at his line of sight, and he felt his blood surge.

Was she doing it on purpose? Yes—Cheng Yiyi was doing it on purpose! She was feeling rather aggrieved. Earlier, when she had offered him her body, it had been out of helplessness, forced by circumstance—and he had refused her. It stung. Was she not pretty? Not sexy? Not well built? What right did he have to turn her down?

So Cheng Yiyi set her mind on tempting Wei Zhao once more. When she whirled around and saw the flush creeping across his face, she broke into a smile. So he was not truly unmoved by a woman in his lap—he simply had better self-control than most…

He definitely still had ideas about her! At that thought, Cheng Yiyi felt a measure of balance restored.

Her nightgown was on, but it was only a robe: nothing underneath, no buttons above, just a belt at the waist holding it shut. If Cheng Yiyi were to sit down, her upper body would be barely veiled…

Like a little wildcat, Cheng Yiyi gave a sly grin and sat down in front of Wei Zhao. From his angle, he could see straight down her collar to her chest…

"Ahem…" Wei Zhao was somewhat helpless. Reluctantly, he "firmly" shifted his gaze away and said to Cheng Yiyi, "Go on—what did you want to see me about?"

"Making… love," Cheng Yiyi said.

"Pff—cough, cough, cough…" That one word sent Wei Zhao into a fit of coughing.

"I'm serious. You saw it yourself just now—it's true enough." Cheng Yiyi shrugged innocently, and for an instant her collar gaped wide open.

"…" At her "making… love," Wei Zhao's gaze was drawn back again, and he caught sight of a little more of what he should not have seen. He was left speechless.

"All right… actually, I came to come clean with you." Cheng Yiyi knew when to stop. If she teased Wei Zhao without end, he might find it novel at first, but before long he might just throw her out—and that would be her tragedy.

"A skilled early Earth Rank cultivator? I've known for a while." Talk had turned to serious matters, and Wei Zhao put away his earlier awkward smile and spoke plainly.

"How did you know? When did you find out? Or rather—did you know from the very start… who I am?" Cheng Yiyi asked, astonished.

"I knew from the first time I saw you," Wei Zhao said. "When Xu Shilan and I went out together and ran into danger, I already suspected you—only… I couldn't be certain."

"You suspected me even then?" Cheng Yiyi was stunned. She had not expected to be exposed so early, and she felt rather deflated. "Wei Zhao, I'm a celebrity, for goodness' sake—performing is my stock in trade. You suspected me the first time you saw me? Am I really that pathetic?"

"It has nothing to do with your acting." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "I have an ability—I can see a person's cultivation rank directly. So long as they're an internal cultivator, I can tell their level without any need for them to circulate their mental techniques or mantras! Of course, you're welcome to report that little talent of mine back to your master behind the scenes—Feng Tianhu."

"You… know all that too?" Cheng Yiyi's eyes went wide. She had not expected Wei Zhao to guess that she belonged to Feng Tianhu, and she felt a little awkward. "Don't worry… I won't say anything. Before, about the Bloody Garment Yellow Springs Sect helping to kill the Black Horse Association's Grand Elder—I didn't tell Feng Tianhu that either. I only said that Xiaohan and the others had gone out, that you were alone in the room, and that afterward the Black Horse Association's Grand Elder turned up dead."

"Heh…" Wei Zhao smiled noncommittally. Since Cheng Yiyi had decided to confess, she could hardly remain of one mind with Feng Tianhu any longer—so this was only to be expected.

"Then if you'd already seen that I was a cultivator and suspected me, why didn't you say so?" Cheng Yiyi did not dwell on the earlier topic. Wei Zhao had said nothing, which meant he did not intend to pursue the matter—and that in turn meant she had hope of earning his forgiveness!

"It was precisely because I saw it that I dared not be sure." Wei Zhao shook his head and explained. "At your level of strength, killing Feng Sanmang and then Xu Shilan would have been easy—you'd have had no need of outside help at all. So although I suspected you of luring us into that dark alley that day, there were too many things about it that didn't add up, and I couldn't be certain."

"So that's how it was…" Cheng Yiyi was taken aback, then shook her head with a bitter smile. "Actually, Feng Tianhu did tell me to do it myself. But… Xiaohan and I are fellow disciples from the same sect. I approached her with a purpose, true, but… over time, the bond between us only grew deeper. By the time I confirmed that Xiaohan was Feng Tianqi's illegitimate daughter, I could no longer bring myself to do it…"

"So… you're not entirely hard-hearted. That means you're still worth saving." Wei Zhao nodded. This too was why he had kept Cheng Yiyi alive instead of killing her—she was, after all, a person of some feeling and loyalty. "And how did you explain things to Feng Tianhu?"

"I told him I'm a celebrity, a public figure—I make my living in the secular world, after all. If I did the killing myself and it went undetected, fine, but the moment the slightest trace was left behind and traced back to me, I'd have no choice but to flee," Cheng Yiyi said. "I can't just run home to my clan and sect the way other cultivators do—my identity is out there for all to see. And Feng Tianhu needs me to keep raking in money and influence for him in the secular world. So he didn't hesitate long before agreeing to my proposal: he'd send someone else to kill Xu Shilan, and I'd work from the inside."

"You're quite clever." Wei Zhao had not expected Cheng Yiyi to be so sharp as to devise such an excuse. "Why work for Feng Tianhu?"

"My little brother and I… were taken in and raised by Feng Tianhu when we were small…" Cheng Yiyi fell silent for a moment, then slowly began to speak.