Chapter 271: Actually Fell in Love with Someone Else
"An’an!"
Mo Yan tightly embraced Yu An as she threw herself into his arms. Before seeing her, he had been fraught with anxiety.
He was afraid Yu An wouldn’t be able to spot the imposter, afraid she would leave with the fake, and even more afraid that she was in danger.
Fortunately, Yu An had realized that person wasn’t him and had cleverly stalled for time, sending Lu Lu to rescue him.
The other "Mo Yan" stared blankly at the embracing couple, then reached a hand toward Yu An, saying anxiously, "An’an, come over here, quickly! He’s the fake!"
"You’re the imposter," Yu An said, letting go of Mo Yan and turning to face the other man. "Who are you? Why are you impersonating Mo Yan?"
"An’an, what are you talking about?"
The other "Mo Yan" said urgently, "I’m Mo Yan! He might look like me, but he’s not..."
Seeing that he refused to admit it, Yu An stopped paying him any mind and turned to the real Mo Yan. "A Yuan, what is that thing? He looks exactly like you. If it weren’t for how good the photos he took were, I might not have been able to tell."
Mo Yan was good at everything—his cooking skills were second only to hers in their home—but his photography skills were seriously lacking.
She had only been suspicious before, but the moment the first photo appeared, Yu An was certain he wasn’t Mo Yan.
Mo Yan hesitated, seemingly debating whether to tell Yu An the truth. Yu An seemed to pick up on something and warned him,
"Tell me the truth. What is your relationship with this person?"
"He... he is..."
"You knew from the start I wasn’t him. You were just stalling for time earlier?"
The other "Mo Yan" cut into their conversation. Yu An frowned slightly. "That’s right. Your act was full of holes."
"So what if your appearance is identical? We’ve been together for so long. The bond we share is something you could never replicate."
She looked at Mo Yan, who was also looking at her. It was as if a ring of pink bubbles had appeared, surrounding them.
The other "Mo Yan" clenched his fists abruptly, then muttered, "So that’s how it is. No wonder he hasn’t returned for so long. If it were me..."
But there was no "if." He was only a part of Mo Yan, left behind to guard the temple in his stead.
He had originally followed his main body’s command, staying in the temple to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. But he wasn’t the real Mo Yan, after all, and he soon found himself unable to handle the various families.
Moreover, being split for so long would cause considerable harm to the original body.
He was burning with anxiety, praying day and night for his main body to return quickly. But his prayers went unheard. Even when the families grew suspicious, his main body never appeared.
Fortunately, this Illusion Realm suddenly appeared, allowing him to meet his main body. He was ecstatic and immediately wanted to take him back.
But when he and Mo Yan met, they each received the other’s memories. Mo Yan obtained some shocking memories, and likewise, the other "Mo Yan" learned the reason why Mo Yan hadn’t returned to the temple.
Mo Yan had originally left the temple to follow the Phoenix, who had been sent by the Heaven and Earth Stone to the Beastman World for a trial. After the Phoenix fell due to the Tian Family’s schemes, Mo Yan reincarnated along with her.
The current him had no memories of the Upper Realm, so naturally, he wouldn’t return to the temple.
If that were all, the other "Mo Yan" wouldn’t have conceived of the idea to leave Mo Yan in the temple and take his place outside.
What infuriated him was that Mo Yan had come to the Beastman World for the Phoenix, yet after reincarnating, he had actually fallen in love with someone else!
And that someone else was the woman right in front of him, Yu An!
"Mo Yan, how could you face Her Highness?!"
He roared in fury, "You came here for Her Highness! Why? Why did you fall in love with someone else!"
Yu An: "???"
"Wh-what?"
Seeing Yu An’s stunned expression, Mo Yan hurriedly tried to explain, "An’an, it’s not what you think! Listen to me..."
"What is there to say?" the clone sneered. "And here I was, holding on for dear life in the temple, waiting for you and Her Highness to return, and you went and fell for someone else!"
With that, he rattled off the entire story from beginning to end, and Mo Yan couldn’t stop him at all!
Well, to be honest, he hadn’t really tried to stop him. He hadn’t planned on hiding it from Yu An anyway.
"An’an, that’s the whole story."
After the clone finished, Mo Yan added, "I wasn’t trying to hide it from you. I just figured that if you knew, you would definitely make me return to the temple."
If he returned to the temple, it would take a very long time for him and his clone to merge after being separated for so long. Plus, someone had to be at the temple, which meant he could no longer stay by Yu An’s side.
’My wife and child are in the Beastman World, and they’ll be going to the Upper Realm soon enough. How could I not be there?’
As Mo Yan explained all this, Yu An held up a hand in a "pause" gesture. "Hold on. I’m thinking."
’So I’m the Phoenix he’s talking about? The companion beast of the Heaven and Earth Stone? And I came to the Beastman World for a trial arranged by the Stone...?’
’What is all this? None of this matches my memories!’
’Before I became the Beast God, I was just an ordinary person in the Upper Realm!’
While Yu An was busy brainstorming, the clone also froze. "You... you’re saying she’s..."
Mo Yan nodded in resignation. "Yes. She is Her Highness."
He didn’t give the clone a pleasant look. The clone quickly understood why and grew nervous.
’Her Highness can’t make me merge with my main body! If she does, he’ll have to return to the temple and won’t be able to stay by her side!’
As the two of them waited anxiously, Yu An finally finished processing everything.
’I’ve figured it out. Whether I’m the Beast God or the "Her Highness" Mo Yan speaks of, I’m still just me.’
With that thought, her attention shifted back to what the clone had said earlier.
"A Yuan, he said that being separated for a long time will harm your body. You should go with him now and..."
"No!"
The two of them shouted in unison.
Then, Mo Yan spoke up before his clone could. "An’an, after we merge, I’ll have to stay in the temple. I won’t be able to stay by your side."
"Right, right," the clone chimed in. "Your Highness, it’s not a big deal, really. I can hold on."
"However, his current spiritual power doesn’t seem sufficient to protect you. How about we switch? He stays in the temple, and I’ll stay by your side?"
Mo Yan stepped between them, his face impassive. "Impossible! I can train my spiritual power. You go back right now."
"But I’m speaking the truth," the clone said with a shrug. "You can’t protect Her Highness, but I can."
"Even though we are one and the same, I haven’t slacked off in my training all these years. My spiritual power is now at the Divine level."
"As for you, even though you lost your memories after reincarnating, your subconscious suppressed your own spiritual power to avoid being detected by the Heaven and Earth Stone and dragged back to the temple once you reached the Divine level."
Mo Yan froze.
It was true. This was something he had learned after meeting his clone and his memories returned.
Just as Mo Yan was hesitating, Yu An grabbed one of them in each hand. "Both of you, shut up. You’ll listen to me. Go back and merge."
’The clone made it sound so serious. For the sake of Mo Yan’s health, he should go back and merge quickly.’
’It’s not like I can’t live without him. I can accept a temporary separation.’
"An’an," Mo Yan said, looking reluctant. "You’re going to the Upper Realm soon. How can I not be by your side?"
’Actually, letting the clone stay isn’t a bad idea. It’s still me, after all, so there’s no difference, and he would even provide Yu An with extra support.’