Zombie Bodyguard

Chapter 1889 - 1886: Memories Carried Away by the Wind

"That girl Lingyu?" Zhang Ruyan shook her head, finally showing a bit of a smile: "That girl is clumsy and too straightforward, she’s actually not suited to be the Heavenly Master’s Successor..."

No way, Zhang Lingyu is so amazing, and yet still considered clumsy? Besides, she’s constantly arguing with me, how is she straightforward? I think she has a Seven-orifice Exquisite Heart instead, Lin Tian couldn’t help but chuckle, disagreeing with Zhang Ruyan’s evaluation.

As if hearing Lin Tian’s laughter, Zhang Ruyan finally moved her gaze away from the pond and turned back toward the barrier: "Alright, the girl’s talent is actually not bad, just slightly lacking compared to me."

This statement was a bit arrogant, but coming from Zhang Ruyan, it seemed so easygoing. Lin Tian could see that this peculiar woman had immense confidence in her talent.

"However, she has one thing better than me, which is that she practices diligently and tirelessly, something I can’t achieve. A Taoist technique that others find difficult, I master in one go, she might need to practice ten times, yet she never gets tired of it."

"You might think that the comparison of once versus ten times makes the girl seem really clumsy, but others might never succeed, even after practicing a thousand times."

"She always manages to make up the gap between us through sheer effort, that’s her determination. However, during the competition to seize the position of Heavenly Master’s Successor, she still lost to me."

"At that time, I was so dazzling, feeling that the position of Heavenly Master’s Successor should be mine, and indeed, I defeated all rivals and became the successor."

"After becoming the Heavenly Master’s Successor, I had to leave the mountain to gain experience, and during the course of that, I met him..." Zhang Ruyan’s voice turned somewhat ethereal, lost in memory.

"Did you fall for him after having an initial clash, like they show on TV?" Lin Tian couldn’t help but interrupt, the story sounding all too familiar.

Zhang Ruyan chuckled and shook her head: "No, he saved me. Once, while chasing an onmyoji from Japan. Oh, do you know what an onmyoji is?"

At this point, she paused and asked Lin Tian, worried he might not understand. Lin Tian shrugged and said calmly, "I know, of course I do, I’ve even fought with them, especially those onmyoji from the Guizhong family."

Zhang Ruyan was slightly surprised and then relieved: "You’re right, the person I was chasing back then was an onmyoji from the Guizhong family. Tao techniques and yin yang techniques have no inherent morality, but if used to harm innocent lives, they go astray."

"In pursuit of ultimate power, the Guizhong family exhausts every means when practicing yin yang techniques. It’s bad enough to practice using corpses, but they’ve even used living people."

"If he was in Japan, it’s none of my business, but if he tries to wreak havoc on our territory, I’ll have to put a stop to it..."

From these words, you can vaguely sense how spirited Zhang Ruyan was back in the day, a new generation’s Heavenly Master’s Successor roaming the Jianghu, punishing evil and promoting good, slaying demons and exorcising devils. Just thinking about it stirs up excitement. Moreover, she was likely very young then, perhaps not much older than Zhang Lingyu is now.

Lin Tian still remembered meeting Zhang Lingyu for the first time at the Night Rose Bar. Back then, Zhang Lingyu was also full of spirit, crying out to slay and capture him at first sight, even though he was a zombie.

"In pure Taoist techniques, the Guizhong clan member couldn’t match me, but in cunning and shamelessness, I couldn’t compare to the onmyoji. Having just entered the Jianghu, I lacked experience."

"During one pursuit, I almost had him captured, but the onmyoji turned the tables with a ploy, injuring me and reversing the situation, putting me at a disadvantage."

"Just when I couldn’t hold on alone, he appeared and saved me. That’s how we met. Back then, I thought he was just an Ancient Martial Artist."

Lin Tian was taken aback; how familiar it sounded, wasn’t it similar to how he and Zhang Lingyu got to know each other?

Zhang Lingyu was attacked and injured by a vampire, and he helped her with her injuries. Hmm, he even bought her a bra. The subtle affection isn’t for outsiders to know, but perhaps their relationship began to sprout at that time as well.

"He was as handsome as you, with a unique aura about him, which in hindsight was probably love at first sight. I’m very stubborn, once I decide on something, I won’t easily change."

"When he confessed to me that he was a zombie, we were already passionately in love. Honestly, although I was a bit shocked at the time, I didn’t mind at all."

"Maybe that’s the power of love; it transcends race and overcomes all, leaving a deep impression," Zhang Ruyan’s eyes shone with light, resolute and wild.

Love makes people go crazy, perhaps that’s true, Lin Tian remarked understatedly: "He knew from the start that you were a Demon Exorcist, yet he still fell for you. That kind of moth-to-flame spirit is manly!"

"You’re right; we dared to love and to hate, believing that as long as we love each other, nothing could stop us," Zhang Ruyan spoke with such certainty, but Lin Tian sensed hidden sorrow.

"But worldly and family powers are strong; no matter how exceptional, one can’t compete with the strength of a family. Our affair eventually got discovered by the family, and I began to be confined and punished; I wasn’t allowed to see him or even had to go kill him..."

Zhang Ruyan’s tone was very calm, as if the past had drifted away, yet she still lived outside the Zhang Family, clearly showing she hadn’t moved past it, still holding a grudge against the family.

"I tried reasoning with the clan, arguing that among humans, there are good and bad, and the same applies to zombies. I was willing to live in seclusion with him, away from the Demon Exorcism World."

"Guess what the clan said? They said that even if he was a good zombie, never drinking human blood, combining with a zombie is unacceptable, not just because of the Demon Star legend; they said I’d disgrace the Zhang Family, damage our reputation in the Demon Exorcism World."

"The Demon Star is just an excuse; what they really care about is their pride! I don’t want to live for others, so neither confinement nor punishment changed my mind."

"My stubbornness angered the family’s elders, and they convened an Elder Council to strip me of the Heavenly Master’s Successor title. Actually, losing that title eased my mind a lot; this way I’m just an ordinary member of the Zhang Family, and they wouldn’t manage my affairs anymore, right?"

"But one piece of news shattered all my illusions; the elders told me that his family knew about us too, and they also pressured him to give up; he willingly drank the Forget Love Water, ending everything between us." Zhang Ruyan gritted her teeth, suppressing the love-hate entanglement in her heart.

One can imagine, when Zhang Ruyan was bearing the family’s pressure alone, fighting for her love, her boyfriend couldn’t withstand his family’s pressure, willingly drank the Forget Love Water, and gave up first. What a blow it must have been for her.