A Cunning Pervert in the Cultivation World Chapter 588: A Shameless Man and A Coward.

But... Li Feng noticed that only her crimson eyes were different.

The light that had once shone so brightly in them was gone.

Now... they were lifeless, as if the owner no longer had the will to live.

It was Zi Yuanling.

"..."

"..."

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Zi Yuanling looked at him through those lifeless crimson eyes, as if she were seeing him and yet not seeing him at all.

The branches around her wrists tightened slightly when she shifted, but she did not struggle.

Li Feng stopped in front of the cell and looked at this familiar, yet... unfamiliar woman.

"...You’re awake."

His voice was calm.

Zi Yuanling’s lips curved faintly but it was not quite a smile.

"Envoy Li."

She sounded tired... too tired.

Li Feng’s gaze swept over the bindings, then returned to her face.

He stood there in silence for a moment, then made a simple wooden chair from the branches and sat on it in front of the cell, looking at the woman bound inside.

The silence stretched.

Zi Yuanling’s lifeless crimson eyes lingered on him for a while, as if she were trying to understand why he had chosen to sit rather than question her immediately.

But then she sneered.

The lifeless crimson in her eyes flickered, just slightly.

"What is it? Are you expecting me to express gratitude, or are you hoping I will begin pleading for my life? Ha! You are far too naive."

"..."

Li Feng silently stared at her, his expression unreadable.

Sitting on the wooden chair, he simply watched her without frowning or smiling.

Seeing this, Zi Yuanling bit her lips slightly.

Then she let out a low, mocking laugh.

"Silent?"

"You used to talk so easily and worry about me. Now you sit there like a stone and look at me like that?"

"Oh, how I missed the worried and clueless Envoy Li from before."

"I remember how you used to worry so much. You would stand there with that silly expression, constantly asking if I was okay, as if a few nice words could actually make a difference."

"Back then, you truly believed I was merely a delicate concubine, didn’t you? Someone pale, sickly, and in need of your protection."

"That’s a shame."

Her vacant crimson eyes remained fixed on him.

"I am a completely different woman from the one you pictured."

Zi Yuanling’s voice grew quieter, but the mockery in it did not fade.

"I am not a weak concubine who requires your pointless concern, nor am I a mother you could comprehend, nor someone who ever needed your concern."

Her face beneath the loosened crimson hair was filled with mockery as she stared at the man in front of her.

"I am evil."

The words came out slowly, as if she wanted him to hear every one of them.

"Not the kind of evil you can still pity. Not the kind that can be explained away with a sad past and a few tears."

Zi Yuanling’s lifeless crimson eyes did not blink.

"I used people. I lied. I watched the palace burn and still called it necessary. I wore a gentle face and let you worry over me while I hid something filthy underneath."

Her voice grew colder.

"I am the kind of woman who can smile while destroying what other people want to protect. The kind who can look at suffering and still choose it. The kind who does not deserve the concern you once wasted on her."

"So stop looking at me as if there is still something left to save."

A faint sneer returned to her lips as she looked coldly at Li Feng.

"There isn’t."

"..."

Seeing Li Feng still didn’t say anything.

Then her voice suddenly rose.

"So don’t just stay silent!!"

The branches trembled as she jerked forward, her lifeless crimson eyes finally burning with something raw.

"Kill me!!"

Her shout echoed through the underground prison as her aura exploded outward.

"If you already know what I am, then stop sitting there like some righteous man! Stop looking at me with that unreadable face! If you hate me, then end it!"

Her breathing grew uneven.

"What are you waiting for?! Oh, I know... Maybe you want a confession? Remorse? Do you want me to kneel and cry so you can feel better about keeping me alive?!"

Zi Yuanling’s voice cracked, then turned vicious.

"I told you I’m evil! I told you I’m not the woman you imagined! So just kill me already!!"

She struggled against the restraints until the wood dug into her pale skin.

"Don’t leave me here like this!!"

Li Feng listened to her outburst in silence.

He did not stand up, nor raise his voice.

He simply sat there on the wooden chair, watching her struggle against the living branches until her shout finally faded into uneven breathing.

Then he calmly murmured,

"...So you want to simply die and escape everything? After everything you’ve done?"

His dark eyes stayed on her pale face.

"I always thought of myself as a shameless man, but it seems... you are even more shameless than me."

Zi Yuanling stiffened.

"What do you kno—"

"I know."

Li Feng cut her off before she could finish.

His voice was still calm, but there was no room left in it.

"And I understand everything."

Zi Yuanling slowly leaned back up.

The branches scraped faintly against her pale skin as she lifted her head and met Li Feng’s eyes.

Those dark eyes were no longer unreadable.

They were filled with certainty.

For a moment, Zi Yuanling could not look away.

Li Feng sat there on the wooden chair, watching her with that same calm certainty, as if he had already seen through every word she had thrown at him.

"You don’t want me to kill you because you think you deserve it," he said quietly.

"You want me to kill you because it would be easier."

Zi Yuanling’s lifeless crimson eyes trembled.

Li Feng’s voice did not rise.

"It truly is convenient, isn’t it? If you die here, you don’t have to face what you did. You don’t have to stay. You don’t have to answer for anything. And more importantly... you don’t have to face Fen Ziyan."

Zi Yuanling’s body went still.

The name landed heavier than any of her own shouts.

"...Don’t."

Li Feng didn’t pause as he leaned forward slightly, resting his arm on his knee.

"That isn’t repentance."

His firm gaze stayed locked on hers with seriousness.

"That’s running away."

The underground prison fell quiet again.

Zi Yuanling’s lifeless crimson eyes trembled, but Li Feng did not give her the chance to hide behind another sneer.

His voice dropped, calm and cutting.

"And you are not just shameless."

"It seems you are also... a cowardly mother."