Dual Cultivation God Returns Chapter 1069: ’Devious Scheme’

As evening descended, Cai Yin returned to the Dream Realm. Hong Ye emerged from the mysterious mist where Cai Yin had vanished moments before, her crimson eyes holding an inscrutable expression. Nevertheless, upon spotting Wu Long, her eyes and demeanor instantly brightened. "Darling~!". She rushed into his embrace, and a passionate kiss ensued, its reflection captured in the crimson eyes of her twin, who then exited the mist, halting abruptly. A complex mixture of emotions flickered within Hong Yue's gaze as she observed the couple, with confusion being the most prominent. "Didn't you say...?" she trailed off, a hint of hesitation in her voice. "Mm?" Hong Ye half-turned towards her twin, momentarily breaking away from Wu Long's lips with a slightly distracted air. Realization dawned in her eyes. "Oh~! That's right! Hehehe, I forgot~" she chirped in a tone suggesting an innocent oversight, leaving Hong Yue utterly speechless. "What is it?" Wu Long inquired, raising an eyebrow with a curious smile, his gaze fixed on the beauty nestled in his arms. "Hehehe, I had a devious scheme to sulk and pout about you putting Sister Yue up to having a serious talk with me behind my back, so I can get pampered a lot~" Hong Ye divulged everything to Wu Long with a giggle, rendering her twin even more astonished. Not only did Hong Yue realize it was a deliberate plan rather than genuine emotion, but she also learned the reasoning behind it for the first time. "But it went out of my head as soon as I saw Darling~" Wu Long joined in the bewilderment, erupting in genuine amusement. "Hahahaha, why would you need to sulk and pout to get pampered? You can get pampered anytime you want." "Fufu~, sometimes it’s more fun to think of clever ways to get what you want, don’t you think?" Hong Ye grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Heh, then you’ve got to think of something more believable than this, no? I mean, it wasn’t really 'behind your back' if we talked about it already, and I warned you yesterday after dinner as well." Wu Long shook his head with a wry smile, amplifying Hong Yue’s confusion. "Hmm~..." Hong Ye adopted an innocent contemplative expression, which Wu Long found utterly endearing. She quickly shook her head, however. "It’s too much hassle to think about it a lot, and it’s not like I can think of anything real to sulk about~... I just jumped at a random idea that seemed like it’d work~" Wu Long chuckled, leaning in to kiss her once more. "Y-You knew? Why did you act so surprised then?!" Hong Yue finally broke free from her shock and questioned her twin. "Mm? Ah~ well, I did know, but I wasn’t acting - I thought you’d take a day or two to think it over, so I was surprised you went through with it the same day that Darling told me... besides I didn’t know about your conversation about Theft Dao~" Hong Ye responded lightly, shrugging her shoulders. "Then what do you mean you talked about it before?" Hong Yue posed another question. "Well, I wouldn’t have encouraged you to proceed with that conversation if I wasn’t sure you both were ready for it." Wu Long answered, prompting an immediate look of realization on the older twin sister's face; she should have known. "I wouldn’t be able to be so honest and open during our talk about our past, or rather, I might’ve avoided it and ran from it as much as possible if it wasn’t for Darling. No, more than that, I wouldn’t have even known about much of what we discussed to begin with... It was his support and encouragement across a long series of conversations that allowed me to realize, accept, and eventually come to terms with a lot of things we talked about last night." Hong Ye leaned against Wu Long. A serene and peaceful smile graced her features, a stark contrast to her usual disposition. "Before our conversations with him I never realized there was that hidden and irrational unconscious resentment toward you for not knowing anything about my struggles, or that my decision only appeared to be selfless, and that despite the intention behind my actions being genuine, it was deeply selfish. That I didn’t think of how you would have felt, but cared more about what I wanted, even if what I wanted was to protect you." Hong Yue belatedly recognized that her younger sister possessed a surprising depth of awareness regarding her own feelings and thoughts about past events, as well as the potential impact of her actions on her older sister. It was as though she had already rehearsed this conversation repeatedly in her mind. In fact, that was precisely Hong Yue's assumption - that Hong Ye had simply spent a significantly longer period internally examining and thoroughly introspecting upon the events at a profound level.

She initially believed it stemmed from his more mature and sensitive nature, intentionally concealed beneath a facade of a slightly twisted personality and carefree demeanor. After all, this was precisely how Hong Ye had successfully concealed the truth from Hong Yue for so many years.

However, hearing it directly from them now, Hong Yue realized she might have overestimated her younger sister's capacity to handle emotional turmoil and her overall maturity in navigating life. While Hong Ye possessed emotional resilience, she was still as youthful and inexperienced outside their sheltered existence as Hong Yue herself.

Even Hong Yue's own dawning awareness of her guilt towards Hong Ye, the gratitude intertwined with that guilt, and the unconscious resentment she harbored – all these realizations surfaced through her interactions with Wu Long.

Consequently, when the two sisters finally engaged in that conversation, both were already privy to their inner thoughts and feelings, both were adequately prepared.

Without Wu Long's assistance and unwavering support, both sisters would have likely struggled immensely to confront the lingering scars of their past. The process would have been significantly prolonged, demanding far greater hardship, and its successful resolution might even have been uncertain, as the passage of time could have introduced further complications and obstacles to their healing.

As this thought crossed her mind, she found herself unable to suppress a surge of gratitude toward this man.

Hong Ye, observing her twin sister's gaze fixed upon Wu Long, interpreted it with a slightly different nuance. This led her to break into a grin, inwardly commending once more the ingenious win-win-win strategy devised by Gong Cui.

Objectively speaking, Hong Ye's assessment was not entirely inaccurate; she had simply underestimated the extent to which Hong Yue recognized the sentiment behind that particular gaze.

"Khm~" Realizing she had been silently observing Wu Long for a slightly extended period, Hong Yue cleared her throat awkwardly, diverting her gaze. "So... shall we proceed to the Silverleaf Trade Hall now? Where is this master of the Theft Dao you spoke of?"

"He arrived in Iron Claw City early this morning," Wu Long chuckled. "We shall meet him there, but first, we're making a stop at the Crow King's Nest."