Ye Tiancheng set aside the meal he had prepared and left the small wooden house, sending a message to Miss Su to come and eat.
After moving further away from Ye Tiancheng, Su Muxian indeed felt much more comfortable, and the bumps on her body had disappeared by more than half.
The itching had been unbearable, but now it was much better. However, Su Muxian was very worried about Ye Tiancheng.
Ultimately, she decided to call Ye Tiancheng. "Brother Ye, how are you? Tell me if you feel unwell. Even if I'm not your destined woman, I've accepted my fate. I'm also your good friend, and I hope to share the pain with you."
"I'm fine. I'm just worried about you. I just hope that by calling you here this time, I haven't implicated you. Nothing else matters. Your safety is the priority."
Ye Tiancheng didn't want his guilt to increase, so he could only say this. Su Muxian heard him and chose to respect his wishes.
"Then it's settled."
The next morning, Su Muxian chose to leave. Su Muxian's arrival had been a salvation for Ye Tiancheng, but now that this salvation was gone, Ye Tiancheng suffered a great blow mentally.
After Fatty took away all of Su Muxian's luggage, Nan Zhou dared to return to the small wooden house. Even if others were willing to accept Ye Tiancheng now, Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but see himself as a scourge.
Perhaps this was fate. It was the most difficult thing for a person to fight against heaven. Ye Tiancheng chose to sink into despair to ease his heartache.
He slept in a daze for a day, and when he woke up, he realized it seemed to be raining outside.
The pattering sound of the rain pulled him from his dreams back to reality. After waking up, Ye Tiancheng felt as if the world had been renewed, and he didn't know where he was.
Then, Ye Tiancheng began to suffer again. He discovered that his body was covered in wrinkles. Although he didn't pay much attention to his appearance and was always ridiculed for being unfashionable and looking older, he was still a young man in his twenties.
There was only a broken bronze mirror in the small wooden house. This mirror seemed to have been left by the previous owner. The situation was unclear now, and he didn't know whose it was. However, the face reflected in the mirror was undeniably Ye Tiancheng's.
A person in his twenties having the appearance of someone in their forties was a cruel thing. No one would want to live like this, and this was another blow to Ye Tiancheng.
"How could this happen?" Ye Tiancheng looked at himself in the mirror, completely disbelieving. Why had he fallen to this state? Why was he still so ugly? Even if he was ugly, he was also so old.
"How did I become so old?"
Due to the curse, Ye Tiancheng's skin condition deteriorated rapidly.
His entire body aged to an unbearable degree. Ye Tiancheng felt disgusting.
Looking at himself in the mirror, Ye Tiancheng suddenly thought of a word: toad.
In the past, when people talked about a toad wanting to eat swan meat, and when they said Ye Tiancheng married a rich woman, they called him a toad.
But Ye Tiancheng had never been self-conscious and felt that others could say whatever they wanted; it had nothing to do with him.
But now, his appearance had turned him into a toad, and no one could accept it. Even the strongest person couldn't accept aging thirty years in an instant.
The person in the mirror even had white hair, and his face was covered with age spots. When Ye Tiancheng shed tears at that moment, he thought of the phrase "tears of old age," as his face was truly covered in tears.
"Wuwuwu..."
Since he was afflicted by the curse, Ye Tiancheng's mental state, while not great, was manageable. But at this moment, everything broke down.
Ye Tiancheng had only one thought: his current life had no meaning. If only this disgusting life could end.
The suicidal thought grew stronger. Ye Tiancheng gathered a surge of true qi in his dantian, and then slowly formed a sphere of true qi in his hand.
With one palm strike, all the pain would end. Thinking this, Ye Tiancheng closed his eyes.
At this critical moment, he suddenly saw a phoenix spreading its wings and soaring high in the sky. Then, an oil-paper umbrella descended, and his disciple Lin Xue, stepping on the oil-paper umbrella, descended from the sky.
At that moment, Ye Tiancheng thought he had died. Otherwise, how could he have seen a fairy descending from the sky?
"Master, what are you doing? We've only been apart for a few days, and without me watching you, you want to end your life. How can I be at ease?"
Lin Xue was extremely anxious. Ye Tiancheng's matters were her top priority. Now that Ye Tiancheng wanted to end his life, Lin Xue was terrified.
"You see my current state, Xue'er. Even if you have spiritual power, you shouldn't be with me. I will only drag you down, let alone an ordinary person. I called Miss Su over earlier to try it out, but the outcome was tragic."
"It's okay to fail once or twice, Master. You taught me to be strong. If you hadn't always helped me, I might not have gotten through the most difficult times in my life. I've always considered you my spiritual mentor."
"I can't stand up anymore, Xue'er. I've tried my best to be happy, but I find I don't really like it. There's so little I can do. Ultimately, I'm just an ordinary person who can't fight against fate."
"Alright, I have no right to criticize you from a moral high ground. After all, if I became old and ugly, I wouldn't be able to accept it either. But Master, you haven't aged because time has passed, but only because you've been cursed. As long as the curse is lifted, your appearance will return to what it was before."
"Will there really be such a day?" Ye Tiancheng had completely lost hope. The so-called destined woman was all illusory. Currently, Ye Tiancheng could see that Lin Xue was definitely not that destined woman.
Because Lin Xue was also affected by the curse when facing Ye Tiancheng. Currently, she was only able to support herself with her powerful spiritual energy. If Lin Xue were an ordinary person, she would have probably collapsed and run away long ago.
"Yes, a red snake from Black Wind Mountain, no matter how powerful, only used the energy of the red snake to affect you. As time passes, the energy will naturally dissipate. Even if you don't find a solution, the curse's effects will gradually diminish."
Lin Xue had read many books, and what she said was all true. However, there was one thing Lin Xue dared not say: the disappearance of a curse takes thousands of years. Unless Ye Tiancheng cultivated to become an immortal, he wouldn't live to see it diminish.
"Will the curse's effects really diminish?"
Ye Tiancheng seemed to have found hope again. Every time he was around Lin Xue, he felt a sense of security. This was because Ye Tiancheng had to admit that Lin Xue was indeed very capable.
"Master, you know me. I don't lie. Just wait a little longer. All these negative states are temporary and can be resolved sooner or later. I hope you don't lose faith in life and become the master who always leads me forward again."
These words sounded good, but overcoming the psychological barrier was too difficult. Just as Ye Tiancheng hesitated, he heard Fatty's voice again.
"Brother Ye, I've brought a large truck with color steel houses. I'm also planning to set up camp here. You can stay in the small wooden house, and I'll stay a few hundred meters away. I believe it won't have that much of an impact."
Ye Tiancheng himself didn't have immense power. Fortunately, he had these brothers and friends around him. These people were constantly giving Ye Tiancheng strength.
"Fatty, didn't I tell you to stay away from me? I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me. What's happening now is enough."
Ye Tiancheng was terrified. The thought of it made him tremble all over. If Fatty had an accident because of him, Ye Tiancheng would never forgive himself, as Fatty was his only brother.
"I, Fatty, am very stubborn, Brother Ye. We can avoid contact, but I hope to stay close to you."
"You should leave here quickly. It's too unsafe for you here. I really don't want to implicate you."
Fatty listened to Ye Tiancheng's words and didn't insist on staying. Instead, he chose to leave first. Anyway, Fatty had already prepared to set up camp here. The rest was simple: he just needed to keep an eye on Ye Tiancheng and prevent him from having any accidents. This was Fatty's only goal.
"Alright, I'll leave now, Brother Ye. We'll keep in touch by phone. Black Wind Mountain can no longer be called Black Wind Mountain; it's a place of beautiful scenery, and there's signal now. Life will get better and better. Difficulties are temporary, Brother Ye. I won't allow you to be discouraged."
The words were well-intentioned, but the reality was still grim. Lin Xue chose to leave the phoenix there and went to the deep mountains to cultivate. This cultivation was not to improve herself but to find a way to lift the curse. Only by finding this method could Lin Xue be at ease, otherwise, she worried that the curse would not only damage Ye Tiancheng's body but also destroy his spirit.
Finally, Ye Tiancheng, in his mental state, could do anything, even end his life. Thinking of this, Lin Xue felt a chill down her spine. She absolutely would not allow such an event to happen.
While Fatty was setting up the color steel houses, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his foot. He couldn't stand up. His ankle felt as weak as noodles, unable to support his entire body. He looked extremely strange.
"How could this happen?"
Fatty thought that as long as he maintained a certain distance, he wouldn't be affected by Ye Tiancheng's curse. But the current reality made him very disheartened.
It seemed he couldn't stay here any longer. Fatty had no choice but to call a friend and ask for help. As he left, he didn't forget to take the shovel with him.
After leaving the area, Fatty went to the hospital, but they found nothing. Even the doctor said Fatty was very healthy and had no signs of osteoporosis. He was exceptionally healthy, and there was no reason for any problems.
It seemed to be entirely the effect of the curse. Fatty didn't think any further and chose not to approach Ye Tiancheng for now, waiting to find a solution.
Wherever Fatty went, he now carried a shovel, which might make him look foolish. However, this was Fatty's treasure, and he would never let it go.
Fatty was very tired that day and fell asleep as soon as he got home. Not long after falling asleep, he suddenly heard a very familiar voice, that of the previous owner of the shovel.
That lonely ghost had reappeared, truly haunting him.
"Do you want to know how to save your brother?"