Chapter 4: The Truth of the Yin-Yang Platform

“So, you’re saying that ten years ago, when you ventured out of the valley, you found yourself at the Joyous Union Sect?”

“And there, you just happened to stumble upon their Grand Yin-Yang Platform Ceremony. With nothing better to do, you decided to join the festivities on stage, only to be defeated by Yun Xueshang, and subsequently, transformed into a woman?”

After listening to Hua Yan’s choked, tearful account, Hua Yuheng smacked her own forehead with a resounding ‘thwack!’

It took her a moment to process, but then, hands on her hips, she finally exploded in a fit of exasperated fury.

“Hua Yan, are you a complete imbecile?!”

“W-w-w… I didn’t want this to happen…”

Hua Yan was now sprawled across the soft couch that Protector Liu had thoughtfully brought over. The searing pain from her backside still made tears well up and swirl in her eyes.

“How was I supposed to know what that Yin-Yang Platform was?

That hateful Saintess Su Feiyao of the Joyous Union Sect tricked me, saying it was just a large martial arts competition where winners got rewards and losers faced penalties.

I thought with my skills, there was no way I’d lose, so I went up to compete…”

“But who could have imagined that Yun Xueshang was a complete monster? I couldn’t defeat her no matter how hard I fought!”

Recalling the humiliation of that year, Hua Yan’s tears once again flowed shamelessly down her smooth cheeks.

“W-w-w… then I lost the match, and she turned me into a woman!”

“I went to the Joyous Union Sect to settle the score, but that Su Feiyao actually said their sect’s Yin-Yang Platform only opened once every five hundred years, and that I couldn’t change back!”

“I was so furious I wanted to beat her, but then she pulled out a disguise artifact that could change one’s form as compensation, promising to help me change back in five hundred years…”

“Later… later, I’ve been relying on that artifact for disguise, until today…”

As she spoke, Hua Yan suppressed her shame and indignation, glaring fiercely at Hua Xiangrong, who was currently playing with the Golden-Winged Magpie alongside Protector Liu. Her voice still held a tearful quality.

“Until today, when this little one appeared out of nowhere, and you beat me like this, I really couldn’t hold it in anymore, so I told the truth…”

‘So, Hua Yan was originally a man, turned into a woman by the female lead…’ 099 mused thoughtfully, listening to Hua Yan’s narration.

‘But Host, how did you know Hua Yan would intersect with the female lead outside of the script?’ 099 couldn’t help but ask, her curiosity piqued.

“I guessed.”

“? You guessed?!”

“That’s right.”

Hua Xiangrong stated it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“I read that she was beautiful in the book, and she chased the female lead, trying to cut her down from her very first appearance. To say they had no past connection? I wouldn’t believe it.”

“I originally thought it was some kind of love-hate entanglement, perfect for a tragic romance where the wife is pursued. Who knew Hua Yan was actually a man, transformed into this appearance by the female lead?”

Hua Xiangrong let out a silly chuckle in her heart, her lips curving upwards irresistibly.

“Hehehe, I didn’t expect it to be a gender-bent yuri! No matter, I’ll ship it regardless! In fact, this makes it even more exciting! Hehehehe!”

‘What do you mean, ship? You’re the one forcing them together, Host, aren’t you? Can this really work out?’ 099 dared not voice these thoughts aloud, only muttering them internally.

‘Sigh, to think I’d get such an unreliable host on my first mission. I can only take things one step at a time…’

Meanwhile, Hua Yuheng, having listened to Hua Yan’s chaotic explanation, found herself utterly at a loss for words, her mind a tangled mess.

‘The grandson I raised for so many years, how did he suddenly become a granddaughter?!’

‘Wait, no, that’s not right…’ Hua Yuheng suddenly snapped back to reality, realizing a crucial question.

“Hua Yan, wait! If what you’re saying is true, then how did you and Yun Xueshang have a child?”

She pointed to Hua Xiangrong, who was currently tugging on the little yellow bird’s wings, her brows furrowed.

“Moreover, that child, Yun Xueshang, told Rongrong that you were a heartless scoundrel. How do you explain that?”

“Uh…”

‘Oh, right, what exactly happened?’ Hua Yan looked up, carefully scrutinizing the pink-haired loli.

The more she looked, the more she felt that the nose and mouth were practically carved from the same mold as Yun Xueshang.

She painstakingly tried to recall her one and only unpleasant encounter with Yun Xueshang.

‘Wait, could it be…’

“Grand… Grandmother, I remember now…” The red-haired girl finally spoke, hesitating after a long pause.

Her voice, though slightly hoarse from her earlier crying, was still clear and pleasant to the ear.

“After I was defeated, I fell from mid-air, exhausted. Before I lost consciousness, it felt as though something soft caught me. At that moment, I felt a sudden heat throughout my body, and then I completely passed out…”

“Could it be that Yun Xueshang was the one who caught me? And then, we… we actually did something more?”

As the words left her lips, Hua Yan herself found it unbelievable.

‘What kind of joke is this? Why would Yun Xueshang catch me and do *that* with me? And even give birth to my daughter?!’

‘She and Yun Xueshang had only met once, and that was on the martial arts stage!’

‘This is simply too outrageous!’

“Now that you mention it, that actually makes some sense.”

To Hua Yan’s surprise, Hua Yuheng pondered her description before nodding in agreement.

“Though I don’t know much about the Joyous Union Sect’s Yin-Yang Platform, it is true that a defeated person, during the transformation process, can experience varying degrees of aphrodisiac effects depending on their physique.”

“If you say that you and that Immortal Yun had some interaction because of this, it is quite plausible.”

“Then, then why didn’t she refuse me?!” Hua Yan’s face was filled with incredulity.

‘This isn’t some melodramatic plot from a storybook! If I was in heat, she could have completely ignored me, or given me some calming pills—after all, they were in the Joyous Union Sect at the time! Where couldn’t she find such calming pills?!’

‘Why would she directly engage in *that* with me? Could it be that Yun Xueshang also fell for Su Feiyao’s scheme and was poisoned with an aphrodisiac?!’

“You foolish girl, you can’t even figure this out, and here she was, thinking of you for so many years.” Hua Yuheng glared at her, exasperated.

“From your and Rongrong’s descriptions, is that Immortal Yun a sword cultivator?”

“She is indeed a sword cultivator.” Hua Yan nodded blankly.

“Then that’s it!” The old valley master clapped her hands, looking at her still bewildered granddaughter with a gaze that wished she were made of stronger stuff.

“Sword cultivators are always fond of battle and excel in it, most adept at perceiving others’ spirit and soul during combat!”

“In my opinion, that Immortal Yun must have been captivated by you during your fight, which is why she didn’t reject you when you lost your senses. After all, you do possess some charm in this form.”

Hua Yuheng glanced at Hua Yan on the soft couch. The girl’s crimson hair cascaded like a waterfall, and she was still loosely wrapped in the overly large male robe, which ironically accentuated her proud figure.

She lay there, tear stains still fresh on her jade-like face, the corners of her eyes red and slightly downcast. Her pair of pale golden, almond-shaped eyes were misty, making her appear utterly pitiable and endearing.

‘Hiss… looking at it this way, Hua Yan’s appearance indeed makes it hard for those immortal maidens who favor ‘mirror-rubbing’ to not be moved, even a stoic sword cultivator like her…’

Hua Yuheng subtly turned her head, her guess growing even more firm in her heart.

“It’s just that she probably felt that losing her virginity before marriage was too shameful, and considering the constant conflicts between the righteous and demonic paths, she kept it from you and secretly gave birth to Rongrong.”

At this point, the old woman couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

“Alas, she must have been ostracized by others in her sect recently and couldn’t bear it anymore, which is why she sent little Rongrong here.

After all, righteous sects have strict rules and countless regulations. How can they be as free and unrestrained as us in the demonic path?

Unmarried pregnancy is certainly met with disdain, not to mention she’s the chief disciple of the Carefree Sword Sect…”

“Yun Xueshang, that child, truly suffered…”

‘Wow! I can’t believe Great-Grandmother came up with such an explanation! Does she perhaps enjoy reading novels normally?

Or, in the context of this world, ‘storybooks’ would be the correct term?’ Hua Xiangrong couldn’t help but secretly applaud in her heart, listening to her great-grandmother’s tragic story fabricated for her two mothers.

‘No way? You actually managed to fool them with that, Host?’ 099 was utterly dumbfounded.

It had originally thought that with the host’s reckless actions, she would at least be suspected of her identity.

Who knew that Hua Yuheng and Hua Yan would actually come up with a reason for the host’s background themselves? Why was that?

“Because when people can’t find the answer to a problem, they instinctively try to come up with an explanation, even if that explanation is wrong,” Hua Xiangrong replied leisurely, as if sensing 099’s confusion.

“Since I am indeed Hua Yan and Yun Xueshang’s daughter, the first thing they’d think of wouldn’t be the authenticity of my identity, but rather to delve into—how exactly did they give birth to me?”

“Even if their interactions were minimal, they would desperately search for a reason to have given birth to me from those few encounters.”

‘But what if there wasn’t even such a thing as Hua Yan losing her senses? What would you do then, Host? And your lie will eventually be exposed, won’t it?’ 099 asked, perplexed.

“If there wasn’t even *that* kind of thing, it just means they have no fate together! Wouldn’t we just find someone else and restart? 099, you wouldn’t abandon me, right?” Hua Xiangrong replied with a cheerful smile, her tone full of carefree nonchalance.

“As for the lie being exposed—we’ll figure it out when that day comes!”

“After being reborn, enjoying life in the moment is the true meaning of existence!”