It wasn’t only Wen Renye, anyone who had ever thought of “divinely interconnecting” with Jiang Zheliu, had probably also wandered towards the word “defile”.
There was a slight chill on his body, and his palms still felt ice-cold even when his hand was being held. His bones were also very slender, long and graceful, but his complexion was too pale, like the cold frost under the moonlight.
Jiang Zheliu was actually a little hesitant.
It was true that he had never even tried the method of divine interconnection but he understood that it had unusual implications. During the few moments of his contemplation, he felt the pair of claws holding his hands, loosening and tightening, tightening and loosening, full of anticipation and apprehension.
……. His primordial spirit was now in a fragile state, if he was really to cultivate in this way with the little Devil Lord, he would inevitably require Wen Renye to take the lead, and he’d need to bear everything passively… He was completely unfamiliar and inexperienced.
He pulled back his hand from Wen Renye’s clutches, took out the book and then calmly opened to the first page. He carefully looked over it from top to bottom and then handed it to Wen Renye.
He thought for a moment, then said: “…… If you want to try, we could try it. It’s just that these types of techniques are very dependent on the compatibility of the two participants, so if the two participants are incompatible then, there’s no point in putting too much effort into these techniques in the future.”
Wen Renye finished looking at the first page of the book, his purple eyes shifted their gaze to stare at him intently, translating Jiang Zheliu’s words to mean “you only have one chance at this”.
He took a deep breath, and said firmly, “Then let’s try it now.”
“Now……urm……”
Jiang Zheliu only managed to get two words out.
Wen Renye had been exercising restraint the whole time, repressing, and refusing to let him see fully all of his devilish energy. But in an instant, all around him, in a slow rotation, it began to whirl, flowing around his entire body. An extremely thick and dense energy of the other’s primordial spirit came to wrap him up, like a giant net, directly enveloping him inside.
Wen Renye’s body had a very light pine and cypress scent, it was even present during the infusion of his soul. This energy was soft and light, gradually dispersing and spreading, following the primordial spirit to bind around him, becoming more and more touching, and more and more intense.
Jiang Zheliu stopped talking, the residual sound that was interrupted shattered in his throat, he subconsciously felt that if he spoke again …… he might make some unpleasant noises.
But this was just the first step only, Wen Renye released his primordial spirit, and bound it to his fragile and damaged divine soul, as if he was embracing him.
The little Devil Lord was sitting next to him, grasping his hand. But it didn’t feel like it, not at all for his fragile and sensitive divine soul. Jiang Zheliu began to have rare feelings of losing control…… he had no experience in this area, he has almost never lost control over all these years.
Wen Renye’s energy was getting denser and denser, expanding and contracting again and again, slowly surrounding him, allowing Jiang Zheliu to get used to this energy and even surrendering control little by little.
It felt like a fist that had been clasped tightly being pried open by another and allowing the other to nervously hold his hand open.
Jiang Zheliu felt that even his body had no strength.
He breathed in slowly, in an attempt to adjust himself, to not to be so out of control, so passive, he didn’t want to lose face in front of the youth before him.
But it didn’t help. Wen Renye looped his arm around him and gently brought Jiang Zheliu into his arms.
His movements were soft and not at all forced. But this person’s primordial spirit was like an inescapable wall that was closing in on all sides, in his mind it was embracing him ……. brimming with desire and longing.
This kind of bareness of the souls was more intense than the physical embrace, making it even more difficult to resist.
Jiang Zheliu was really a little out of control.
His divine soul had been affixed to the other, and it felt like in his mind, amongst the rubble of his ruined spirit, all he could see was the energy from Wen Renye. He could also feel the constant warmth from the other’s body, even see the subtle features of his devil being, and all the details of his primordial spirit that were revealed but not revealed.
What was even more impossible to avoid was the other’s emotions, that strong and utterly devoted love, his long-hidden love and affection that he had hidden at the bottom of his heart, all of his duplicity, everything that he felt about himself and valued the most……
Jiang Zheliu could feel all of it.
He felt like he was going to be slowly melted away by the other’s primordial spirit.
This was just the first step, but it was a little too much for him to bear. Jiang Zheliu was indifferent to everything because almost everything was within his expectations or anticipation, or within what he was able to accept. But this …… kind of out of control feeling ……
Jiang Zheliu closed his eyes and leaned on the other’s shoulder, slowly and patiently exhaled a long breath that held some warmth, he whispered, “Wen Renye……”
“Hmm?”
The little devil immediately responded by adjusting the position of holding him and whispered back, “Uncomfortable?”
Jiang Zheliu was not the type of person who would rather die than lose face, he slowly said with a steady tone: “…… You are too close. I think I …… hmm ……”
This feeling of being suppressed and melted gradually receded, the other’s primordial spirit seemed to really comply with the retreat of a certain distance, but the afterglow still hovered around him. The faint pine and cypress scent then came closer and pried open the rift in his divine soul.
This was the reason that he could only let Wen Renye take the lead. Due to the current state of Jiang Zheliu, not to mention prying open his primordial spirit, even rubbing lightly against his primordial spirit was enough to melt him.
Jiang Zheliu’s soul was already full of holes, and his energy was very limited, so he didn’t have a particularly severe feeling of refusal when he was opened up by the other. But he had an extremely strange feeling that every sensitive nerve endings in his body seemed to be sending him a message of invasion upon the other’s entry.
He grabbed Wen Renye collar, his finger bones were clenched so tightly that they were white against his skin, his palm was moist layered with a thin layer of cold sweat.
This was just the first page, there were only two steps. One was to mutually adjust closely and the second was simply to merge for the first time.
Wen Renye’s presence was just too strong. Even if he was more careful and cautious, he revealed a seriously intimidating energy, and although this energy had been very considerately collected when he entered the other party’s divine soul, his aggressiveness as a devil still made Jiang Zheliu a little uneasy.
Jiang Zheliu was in his arms. His soul was tired and exhausted by the invasive energy which made him defenseless, little by little he handed over control to Wen Renye.
The process was incredibly smooth.
Wen Renye extended his arm, looping it around the other’s back, and underneath the snow white hair of the other who was in his arms. The two fused together divine souls rubbed against each other and penetrated each other. Wen Renye could vaguely feel the other’s breath, which was clear and cold like ice and snow, but very soft, so soft that it was not aggressive at all. Wen Renye thought he would have been able to see Jiang Zheliu’s feelings on everything that had happened to him in the past, but the more he penetrated the more he found that the other had no feelings at all.
Jiang Zheliu would just encounter an issue, solve it, encounter another problem, make a choice, never even exhibiting the slightest emotion.
Only when the other relinquished complete control, could Wen Renye vaguely feel a heavy coolness, and a very deep sleepiness.
Wen Renye seemed to understand his attitude somewhat, as if the other’s days now were the best that he could ever have envisioned, the best possible ending to his long life.
Their spirits continued to interconnect, ceaselessing circling and fitting together, and then fusing together to a deeper and deeper degree.
Jiang Zheliu slightly loosened his grip on the other’s collar, then tried pushed him away weakly, his voice was a little weak: “…… Get out.”
This voice was too quiet, if Wen Renye had not always been paying attention to the other’s movements, then ce would not have heard, he again hugged the other in his arms closer, and said: “I’m going to help you mend the fissure.”
The method of divine interconnection was the kind of method that was not destructive and was mostly opened up voluntarily. The spirit of Jiang Zheliu, however, was almost littered with fissures like a spider’s web, leaving him empty with a half-step Golden Immortal’s primordial spirit realm, but without the corresponding abilities.
That oppressive energy and force once again seemed to be taking over his mind. Jiang Zheliu felt that he could not stand it anymore, so he said: “…… you come out first, I can’t take it any longer.”
The little Devil Lord naturally obeyed, pulling out his primordial spirit, which had plunged extremely deep, wisp by wisp he collected it back into his own body.
Jiang Zheliu completely collapsed into his arms. Wen Renye reached out to wipe the cold sweat from Jiang Zheliu’s forehead and whispered, “Was it painful?”
…… Not painful, but the feeling of being out of control mixed with that …… kind of intrusion. It felt too strange and disturbing for him.
Jiang Zheliu felt that even his body was weak, he pressed on We Renye’s shoulder for a long while, and then finally said, “…… You went to far.”
Wen Renye: “…… Ah?”
“You were about to poke through.” Jiang Zheliu reached out and rubbed his brow, “My divine soul is originally thin.”
He said calmly and frankly without a trace of impurity, but hearing this Wen Renye got completely fired up, full of strange thoughts in his mind. Listening to Jiang Zheliu soft tone, seemed to have hit a wrong nerve, he nervously swallowed, and said: “I only entered as long as a cup of tea1”
Jiang Zheliu was stunned for a moment and raised his eyes to look at him, “That long?”
The method of divine interconnection was something that was difficult to try for the first time, and some people may not be able to pry their divine souls apart for the first time, or even fit together, let alone melt for an entire cup of tea.
It wasn’t because it didn’t fit, but because it seemed to be too much of a good fit that made Jiang Zheliu feel so uneasy.
“Is that long?” Wen Renye raised an eyebrow, “If you hadn’t made me come out, I could have stayed in there forever.”
“…… Uh, that’s not necessary.”
The melding of the souls already required great effort, and if it had continued on, it would have be too inhuman. Only that Wen Renye was not actually human, and his demonic energy lingered all around, brimming with a foreign distinctive feature.
“If you don’t feel disgusted by this, then it still seems to be useful.” The little devil reached out and hooked a strand of his snow-white hair, twirling the hair in his fingers whilst saying, “So, from now on can I continue to abuse you ……”
He had changed the wording, but it made Jiang Zheliu question the education standards of the Devil Realm.
Jiang Zheliu was already low on energy, and was too tired to talk at this moment. He was buried in Wen Renye’s arms, his eyes closed whilst listening to him. His divine soul that had just been completely opened was still sensitive. He was sleepy as hell, but would still be affected by the slightest movement and sound, and was not able to fall asleep immediately.
“Zheliu?” Wen Renye called him lightly, “Are you tired?”
Of course he was tired. He’d been hit with all those strong emotions. Je felt that his own meager and indifferent emotions were stained with the other’s colourful thoughts.
Wen Renye picked up Jiang Zheliu and carried him through the beaded curtain, all the way to the bed. The grand beauty in his arms was also very cooperative, wrapping his arms around his neck, leaning wholeheartedly into his arms.
Wen Renye was about to put him down on the bed and let him rest, but he found that Jiang Zheliu had not let go of his hand, but instead grabbed his collar and brought him on to the bed.
…… This seemed to be a bit of a side effect of the divine interconnection that ends in dependency.
The little devil was pulled in by his beloved by the collar. He was utterly stupid, dumbfounded whilst looking down to see the other’s slightly trembling eyelashes, and not knowing whether the other was asleep or not.
Although Wen Renye was the great Devil Lord, he still thought of himself as having some ill intentions, as if he was insufficient. He looked at Jiang Zheliu who had sunk in between the soft pillows to sleep. The side of the face was particularly soft, even his usual air of coldness had disappeared without trace, like …… like he was waiting for him to kiss him.
He looked at that side of his face for a long while, not knowing what was going on in his head, and then reached out and untied his outer robe and hung it next to the bed, lying to the side of Jiang Zheliu, carefully reaching out to take him into his arms.
Jiang Zheliu’s waist was very thin, through the layer of snow-coloured thin undershirt, he could feel the slightly lower body temperature of Jiang Zheliu, which could soothe the restlessness of his Devil body, so it was particularly comfortable to embrace him.
Wen Renye slowly put his arms around him more tightly.
Jiang Zheliu had fallen asleep at this moment, he slept very quietly and mindfully. Before waking up he almost never changed positions. Even though the other had moved him into his arms, he put up no resistance at all. It seemed that after their divine interconnection, Wen Renye’s scent was too familiar, he was too dependent that he even returned the embrace and lowered his head against Wen Renye’s collarbone, his breath slowly spreading out and dispersing.
Wen Renye’s heartbeat was frenetic, his heart was thumping crazily in his chest. Whilst telling himself to be calm, he embraced the other tighter and closer and gently kissed him on the forehead.
Those purple eyes were staring at the other with unblinking eyes, his brain was brimming with non-sensical thoughts-
Truly …… really really …… like you so much. So much I just want to hide away……
Ling Xiao Sect.
In the main hall of Ling Xiao Sect, an old man with white hair and beard holding a walking stick was standing beside Zhu Wuxin.
This was Lin Qingxu, the Grand Elder1 of the Ling Xiao Sect. When Jiang Zheliu was the Sect Leader, Lin Qingxu was his assistant. The Grand Elder was not particularly outstanding, but he had hundreds of years of experience in assisting Jiang Zheliu, so he had the right to speak about many issues and matters. But he is mediocre and incompetent, easily swayed by others, and got confused during important matters, so Jiang Zheliu never really considered him.
Zhu Wuxin’s old wounds had yet to heal, he’d taken a strong hit to the chest by that devilish energy, causing him to still feel compression and pain in his chest. But his physical injuries were nothing compared to the scenes of that day.
Recently, there had been squirmishes amongst the Cultivation World and the others at the borders of the Realm. The other sects had sent news, saying that the border demons were roaming wild, and even the ghosts of the Netherworld were rampant. Those sects were short of manpower, so they were pleading with the Leader of the Immortal Sects for assistance.
Zhu Wuxin had already become quite stressed due to this situation. He handed the token2 to Lin Qingxu and said, “Thank you, Grand Elder. Let’s use the method we discussed before and have our disciples go forth to assist the others.”
Lin Qingxu took the token: “I will do my best, Sect Leader, you must take care of your health.”
He turned to leave, then stopped and turned around and said, “There is one thing that I’ve been thinking about, but I still want to inform Sect Leader.”
Zhu Wuxin frowned: “Grand Elder, please tell me.”
He was actually reluctant to listen as he was already troubled by these things in the past few days, plus thinking about what happened on Zhongnan Mountain, he was feeling very unnerved, as if there was something very important that he had overlooked and he still hadn’t noticed it until now..
Lin Qingxu glanced at the tea on the table and opened his mouth: “Recently, our spies at the Wushuang Jian Pavilion reported that Jin Yujie had recently got very close to Vermilion Bird Zhenjun of the Demon Realm and they seemed to be discussing something important. Later, I especially sent someone to the Tianji Pavilion to ask Pavilion Lord Wang, he said ……”
As soon as Zhu Wuxin heard the names of these two people, he already felt tense: “What did he say?”
“He said that Vermilion Bird Zhenjun and Junior Pavilion Lord Jin were doing it for Jiang Xianzun.”
These words were like a minefield, making Zhu Wuxin immediately feel emotionally sunken. He thought of what Jiang Zheliu had said that day, and felt his blood run cold.
…… Was shixiong just taking care of him because of his father’s last dying wish? Shixiong he ……
In Zhu Wuxin’s mind, Jiang Zheliu was the one who had always taken care of him and protected him unconditionally, that’s why he didn’t even mind if Jiang Zheliu didn’t talk to him. He felt that he and shixiong should have been the most familiar and closest two people in this world, and Jiang Zheliu would never become estranged from him for anyone else. Even if, he had made a mistake at that moment and …… and let shixiong get injured ……
Zhu Wuxin’s thoughts were interrupted.
A moment of confusion ……
He suddenly felt like he’d been poked with a needle right through a thin layer of skin, revealing a hole as big as a pinhole, which allowed him to glimpse into his own most hidden and inner thoughts.
Zhu Wuxin lifted the cup of tea on the table, took a sip with impatience, closed his eyes and exhaled, and said: “For shixiong? What can they possibly do, each one is more useless than the other. They can’t even speak when they’re in front of shixiong, what can they do?”
“But if Xianzun was willing to go with them ……”
“No way!”
Zhu Wuxin fiercely opened his eyes, and abruptly looked up at Lin Qingxu. His expression was like a wounded and abandoned wolf cub, but a fierceness cut through the cold air: “Shixiong would never agree, he did everything for the sake of the world. I am the only one that he treats differently, I am the only one that can make shixiong come back ……”
The more he spoke, the more urgent he became, the more he spoke, the less he was able to control his emotions. Zhu Wuxin paced about for a few steps, his expression slowly became more intense.
“…… Damn all those who covet shixiong.”
Lin Qingxu swept a glance at the half-drunk cup of tea on the table, waved his horsetail whisk, and said kindly: “He has always been Sect Leader’s closest and dearest person, so naturally he’d allow Sect Leader to bring him back personally.”
This “closest and dearest person” seemed to have touched Zhu Wuxin’s most secret nerve, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks.
“…… He must be mad at me.”
Lin Qingxu didn’t really understand, he just listened as this new Sect Leader held onto a corner of the table, eyes bewildered and said: “Shixiong must be angry with me, blame me for not treating him well, that’s why he said all that. He should be, should be the person who treats me the best…… he’s only with that big devil because he’s mad at me.”
The actions of Jin Yujie and Lie Zhen naturally meant that Jiang Zheliu indeed didn’t have any intention of taking back his authority. But in Zhu Wuxin’s mind at the moment, he was wrapped up in a strong sense of loss and almost no longer cared about the position of the sect leader. He was just reminiscing about the past with shixiong …… If he were to do it all over again, he would certainly not have made the same mistake…… and would not let shixiong suffer such a serious injury.
Zhu Wuxin took a deep breath and reacted with hindsight to what he had done. He leaned on the edge of the table, his eyes slowly lowering.
“Grand Elder. What I did, I actually …… went too far, right?”
Lin Qingxu understood what he was trying to say, but this matter was actually a good thing for Lin Qingxu. Because when the position of Sect Leader was in the hands of Jiang Zheliu, all of the elders had been constantly suppressed by him, and never had the opportunity to take any initiative, but with Zhu Wuxin as Sect Leader, it was much easier for them to do as they wished.
The Grand Elder stroked his long beard and said in a kind tone, “You are the former Sect Leader’s own son, and Jiang Xianzun had such a good relationship with Grand Sect Leader3, he will surely forgive you.”
Zhu Wuxin stood still, seemingly comforted by the words, and murmured, “He will definitely forgive me.”
As he spoke, he reached out and picked up his outer cloak from the side, doing it up as he walked outside, and said without looking back, “Grand Elder, I have to leave.”
His shadow soon disappeared from sight. Lin Qingxu stood in place and watched for a while, then he reached out and poured the remaining contents of the teacup on the table onto the ground. He fondled the token in his hand and sighed to himself, “Young people nowadays, it’s really …… Jiang Xianzun, *sigh* you went through all that trouble, but in the end you still did not teach him well *aie*. ”
————
The efficacy of the Five Power Passion Pill is gradual, and will not exhibit its full potency overnight. The same goes for the Cylindrical Heart Powder, which will never take deep root, before it slowly manifests itself.
While adding medicine into his medicine stove and then turning down the temperature, Yu Jinnian looked at the medicinal recipe in his hand and told off the two ginseng children in front of him: “I told you that the Clear Rain Leaf and the Seven Treasures Lotus cannot be heated together! What’s the matter with you two, can’t you even remember that?”
The little Taoist girl fiddled with her horsetail whisk and whispered, “But it was the Monastery Master who wrote it down wrong……”
“Hey, you!” Yu Jinnian was interrupted by her and replied in annoyance, “So what if I wrote it wrong, hadn’t I already explained all this to you before? Well good, you’ve given Jiang Xianzun the wrong thing to eat, you guys better think about how to explain to the big devil later.”
The little Daoist boy said: “I just asked Ah-Chu, he said that Qianbei fell asleep whilst reading and should not be awake yet. How about we take advantage of this ……”
This was not unusual, as Jiang Zheliu’s illness meant that he needed an enormous amount of rest and sleep.. Yu Jinnian glanced at him and said, “And do what?”
“…… Escape?” The little boy said tentatively.
The words had barely come out of his mouth, when he was knocked on the head by Yu Jinnian, he hastily covered his forehead.
Yu Jinnian was weary, he said: “Escape, what escape. Forget it, I’ll talk to Wen Renye, I can not count on you two…… According to what you’ve fed him, I believe that Jiang Qianbei will be blind for a few days.”
The Daoist girl mumbled, “He’s staying at Dan Xin Monastery, it’s safe here, it’ll be fine.”
“Go go go.” Yu Jinnian blasted the two ginseng children away to bring the great devil over. He then put away the medicine stove and put the pills into a porcelain pot. Not long after, he saw Wen Renye lift the bamboo curtain and sit opposite him.
This devil was actually quite two-faced. In front of Jiang Qianbei, he was the obedient and harmless good neighbour, but in front of others, he was always cold and expressionless, and his entire body was always emanating a “sooner or later I’m going to kill you” kind of domineering devilish aura.
Yu Jinnian looked at Wen Renye and politely told him the whole story, then he saw Wen Renye’s deep purple eyes look up slightly, his eyes were cold, and the tone of his voice was also cold and austere: “Blind?”
“For roughly three to five days.” Yu Jinnian saw that the situation was not right, and immediately added, “But these three or five days is a false reference, perhaps not for so long. The medicines are tonics, the clash of the different medicinal properties caused this side effect, so that his eyes cannot absorb light. But after this, his eyesight, which was already somewhat damaged some days ago, should also recover.”
Only when Wen Renye heard the last half of the sentence, did his frown seem to lessen somewhat. He did not say a word and just looked at Yu Jinnian, then he got up and was about to leave.
“Wait a moment.” Yu Jinnian called out to him, he pondered for a moment, and then said, “I have an idea that might be able to omit many tedious steps to aid Jiang Xianzun’s recovery, but it requires the help of…… the Devil Lord.”
Wen Renye stopped and turned around and said, “Tell me.”
“It is said that behind the second Xuan Tongju Gate of the Devil Realm, there is a natural formation called the Resurrection Stone, which has a very strong vital energy.” Yu Jinnian continued, “Resurrection stone is just a name, it can not bring back the dead, but it is full of powerful vital energy, it can make an inch of barren Devil Realm, grow flourishing flowers and green leaves within a ten li4 radius.”
There was indeed such a stone amongst the ten li of flowers behind the second Xuan Tongju Gate.
“Qianbei’s physique is special, I’m sure you know that too.” Yu Jinnian looked up at him, “I read a lot of medical books and strange things. This is the most suitable for his physique, I believe that if he can wear it, it should be very helpful to Qianbei’s recovery …… except I believe that back then the Devil Realm was not able to take it out, is that right?”
Wen Renye thought about it and then replied, “That thing was being protected by a giant python creature. When my father led the army to open the gate, he thought the stone to be useless and left it there.”
He spoke with a slight pause and said, “I’ll go and see him. Don’t worry, Divine Sage of Medicine, within five days, I’ll definitely fetch it and bring it back here.”
This seemed to be the first time he had been so polite to this Divine Sage of Medicine.
Yu Jinnian watched as he left, and he was slightly relieved. He thought about when Jiang Zheliu would wake up in a moment only to be met with pitch blackness, this would actually be something quite shocking to take. But then he thought that that person was Jiang Zheliu …… with his attitude, he may even just treat it as a trivial matter, right?
Meanwhile, on the other side of Monastery.
Ah-Chu was still in the room sorting out clothes, thinking about what the Amazing Liuliu should wear tomorrow. The antlers on his head had almost fully healed, recently he was immersed in the joy of dressing the protagonist.
Just after Ah-Chu finished organising all the different styles of white robes, he turned his head to see Jiang Zheliu sitting at the edge of the bed, he had an empty gaze, he sat there for a while, Ah-Chu wasn’t sure what the other was thinking about it. He didn’t really take notice of it, his jumping deer hooves clattered over to show the piece of clothing in his hand to Jiang Zheliu: “Gege, does this look good? Do you want to wear this tomorrow?”
Jiang Zheliu looked towards the sound of the other’s voice, seeing only a scene of darkness, he nodded: “Looks good.”
“This dark pattern is a bit repetitive.” Ah-Chu said, “What do you think about this one? Chang Qian said last night that the ones with plum blossom patterns look the best.”
Jiang Zheliu felt that he was really trying a little too hard, although he really couldn’t focus to see, he still seriously seemed to ponder over it for a moment, and said: “That looks good too.”
“That’s for sure.” Ah Chu was satisfied, “Shenxian gege looks good in anything. Then I’ll …… eh tomorrow, gege?”
He finally realized that the other’s eyes were completely out of focus.
Alarm bells started ringing in the little deer’s heart, frantically racking his brain trying to think through the part of the book he had actually read to confirm that there is no such demented content. He questioned whether he’d been reading a different version, whilst rubbing against the knees of Jiang Zheliu, blearily looking at him for a long while. His heart was thumping, he was about to cry: “Can …… Can you look at me?”
Jiang Zheliu reached out and touched his antler, saying calmly, “I can’t see.”
These three words simply shattered Ah Chu’s psychological defenses, he dumbly lay upon Jiang Zheliu’s knee, and just opened his mouth to cry, then a hand coldly grabbed the back of his neck as if he was just an object, and carried him away putting him to the side.
“He’s fine, it’s temporary.” It was the voice of the great devil, Wen Renye, “Yu Jinnian said that there was a mistake with the medicinal food and it has produced some side effects.”
Ah-Chu let out a loud cry but half way through, he had been stupidly placed to the side. He watched Wen Renye hogging his position beside his beautiful gege. Wen Renye pulled out a light blue long silk sash embroidered with gold flowers and fierce beasts and blindfolded the grand beauty.
“Your eyes should not meet the sun.”
The long silk was wrapped around his white hair and tied at the back of his head. Jiang Zheliu felt the other’s breath sweep over his ears which heated them up a bit.
“Don’t be afraid.” Wen Renye said in a low voice, “It’ll be okay.”
The long silk covering his eyes was light and soft, he didn’t know exactly what it was made of. Jiang Zheliu raised his hand and touched it. His expression did not change, and he did not express any unexpected emotion, what was there to be afraid of…… This is something he had envisioned countless times, even if it was permanent, he’d probably still be very calm.
Sometimes, he was so overly calm that he was like some ancient glacier, so cold that even the changes in his mood were difficult to capture.
Jiang Zheliu touched his eyes through the layer of soft silk and said, “I was …… not afraid.”
He felt Wen Renye’s energy was coming closer, as if he wanted to embrace him, but then he stopped in front of him, pausing for a moment, with some apprehension he said: “Not being afraid is good. I have to leave for a few days, you have to stay here by yourself ……”
Jiang Zheliu thought of the other’s status…… The Devil Realm’s internal structure was different from that of the Four Great Immortal Sects of the Cultivation World. Most things did not need to be personally handled by Wen Renye, but he had indeed stayed with him for a long while, so if he needed to go back to deal with the affairs of the Devil Realm it was also very normal.
He nodded and said, “Okay.”
Jiang Zheliu could guess that there must be something urgent to make Wen Renye leave now. According to the temper of the little devil and Jiang Zheliu’s own current condition, Wen Renye was probably reluctant to leave.
This was indeed an important matter, but Wen Renye did not tell him it was to obtain the Resurrection Stone for his recuperation.
Jiang Zheliu’s life had been spent repaying a favour and he had suffered a lot. Wen Renye did not want him to have this feeling of being indebted to him. Everything that the devil did was of his own volition, and he was happy to do it. He also didn’t want Jiang Zheliu to feel burdened with this.
He especially didn’t want Jiang Zheliu to accept him just to repay him for this matter. This would just sully his genuine feelings for him
“Is that all you have to say?” Wen Renye leaned in close. As Jiang Zheliu couldn’t see, his scent became more distinctive, “Can you not…… say a few more words to me.”
Jiang Zheliu was originally very calm, but when the other leant in close to him to say this, the fiery temperature from his burning tongue seemed to move Jiang Zheliu’s many years of cold and introverted nerves, burning up so hot that he wasn’t sure what to do.
He had not experienced this kind of thing before, but he had much experience in remaining cold and indifferent, allowing him to conceal the change in his emotions well. After a short silence, Jiang Zheliu reached out to hold the other’s hand, and whispered: “Well, try to come back sooner.”
He paused for a moment, and then added, “…… Or, how about I explain to you a bit more about the shape of the Devil Realm before you go?”
The first sentence overwhelmed the devil’s heart with emotions, but the second fell flat. Wen Renye was slightly stunned: “…… shape?”
“Before your father’s reign, the particular characteristics of the Devil Realm had already revealed itself.” Jiang Zheliu seemingly returned to his comfort zone and recounted slowly, “The extreme barrenness and barbarism, coupled with this atmosphere of war and killing intent amongst the entire population has brought the invention of new technology in the Devil Realm to a standstill, however, the casting of weapons and battle armour had become stronger and stronger, turning the Devil Realm into a race that has become particularly skilled at plundering…… If the Xuan Tongju Gates had been opened earlier, I am afraid that a battle would have happened long ago.”
“The heavenly treasures hidden in the Xuan Tongju Gates, also include some other natural resources, the Devil Realm has completely ignored these and have only taken out the treasures which can be useful for war or for cultivation …… Undertaking this kind of path, at most in two hundred years, the Devil Realm will be like a battle chariot loaded with gunpowder, first flattening the Demon Realm, then the Cultivation World, and after taking over the Cultivation World which is connected to the Mortal Realm, you will finally go and attack the Ghost Realm.”
It seemed to be the first time that Jiang Zheliu had said so much in front of him.
“If everything goes well, your future is, indeed, immeasurable.” Jiang Zheliu slowly said, “But there are two things you must take into account. First is that amongst all the great devils, there will certainly be those who are ambitious and waiting for an opportunity to rise to the top, and perhaps an internal bloodbath will occur before the war with the other realms begins. The second is that …… the beginning of the great war, will harm the harmony and peace of the world. Later on, when you reach the step of Merging, I am afraid you might reach some hindrance. When it really comes to this, you must listen to me ……”
He stopped here, seemingly having reminded himself of something. He thought that two hundred years was actually too long, he might not be able to see it happen, so he did not continue.
Wen Renye froze when he heard all of this. He looked at the grand sick beauty in front of him, Jiang Zheliu was wearing a thin shirt sitting on the edge of the bed, his knees covered with a soft fur blanket, his white hair flowing, his eyes blindfolded, his delicate and fragile beauty made him seem like a picturesque painting. But when he spoke it was highly divisive, and the topic was always about setting the world affairs in order.
“You’re already in this state.” Wen Renye paused for a moment and then added, “Why are you still thinking about these things?”
Jiang Zheliu was also stunned by his response, he thought this person who always looked fierce and brimming with devilish energy, with the face of the strong enemy of the cultivation world, how come the other had listened to so much of what he had said, but his first reaction was actually to say that Jiang Zheliu was overthinking things in his state.
He was amused, he pinched the other’s fingers, said: “This is just what I thought about before. If the Realm Boundary had not been damaged, you’d already have fallen by my hand.”
Jiang Zheliu used very little force to pinch him, but it still made Wen Renye’s heart beat a little faster. His breath was flushed with a dry heat, blowing unavoidably over towards Jiang Zheliu, gradually getting closer and closer.
He said slowly, “I am also in your hands now.”
There was a lingering scent of pine, and his deep voice resonated in Jiang Zheliu’s ears.
Jiang Zheliu’s heartbeat nearly missed half a beat, his ears were hot, burning and itchy, this extremely strange feeling made him feel a little uneasy. After a moment, he said quietly: “…… I can’t even hold a sword anymore, I’m afraid that your wish for a rematch with me will be left unfulfilled.”
He wanted to surpass him. This was the reason that Wen Renye had originally used to persuade him to get treatment.
This wish has endured through the years, turning from an obsession into a sort of a symbol. The more secretive and deep feelings are, the more they sink into the deepest part of our hearts, refusing to easily be admitted to, refusing to be said out loud.
“…… It’s okay.” Wen Renye looked at him and said, “I have a new wish.”
He gently pressed Jiang Zheliu’s shoulders and kissed his eyes through the long, soft layer of silk.
The snow-white eyelashes trembled a little under the silk, subtly revealing a rare hint of helplessness.
…… It turns out he wasn’t born so indifferent and cold. Wen Renye thought.
His voice was starkly earnest and frank, with a slight sense of urgent expectation, yet it sounded very solemn in Jiang Zheliu’s ears.
“I want to be able to see you everyday for the rest of my life.”
It wasn’t only Wen Renye, anyone who had ever thought of “divinely interconnecting” with Jiang Zheliu, had probably also wandered towards the word “defile”.
There was a slight chill on his body, and his palms still felt ice-cold even when his hand was being held. His bones were also very slender, long and graceful, but his complexion was too pale, like the cold frost under the moonlight.
Jiang Zheliu was actually a little hesitant.
It was true that he had never even tried the method of divine interconnection but he understood that it had unusual implications. During the few moments of his contemplation, he felt the pair of claws holding his hands, loosening and tightening, tightening and loosening, full of anticipation and apprehension.
……. His primordial spirit was now in a fragile state, if he was really to cultivate in this way with the little Devil Lord, he would inevitably require Wen Renye to take the lead, and he’d need to bear everything passively… He was completely unfamiliar and inexperienced.
He pulled back his hand from Wen Renye’s clutches, took out the book and then calmly opened to the first page. He carefully looked over it from top to bottom and then handed it to Wen Renye.
He thought for a moment, then said: “…… If you want to try, we could try it. It’s just that these types of techniques are very dependent on the compatibility of the two participants, so if the two participants are incompatible then, there’s no point in putting too much effort into these techniques in the future.”
Wen Renye finished looking at the first page of the book, his purple eyes shifted their gaze to stare at him intently, translating Jiang Zheliu’s words to mean “you only have one chance at this”.
He took a deep breath, and said firmly, “Then let’s try it now.”
“Now……urm……”
Jiang Zheliu only managed to get two words out.
Wen Renye had been exercising restraint the whole time, repressing, and refusing to let him see fully all of his devilish energy. But in an instant, all around him, in a slow rotation, it began to whirl, flowing around his entire body. An extremely thick and dense energy of the other’s primordial spirit came to wrap him up, like a giant net, directly enveloping him inside.
Wen Renye’s body had a very light pine and cypress scent, it was even present during the infusion of his soul. This energy was soft and light, gradually dispersing and spreading, following the primordial spirit to bind around him, becoming more and more touching, and more and more intense.
Jiang Zheliu stopped talking, the residual sound that was interrupted shattered in his throat, he subconsciously felt that if he spoke again …… he might make some unpleasant noises.
But this was just the first step only, Wen Renye released his primordial spirit, and bound it to his fragile and damaged divine soul, as if he was embracing him.
The little Devil Lord was sitting next to him, grasping his hand. But it didn’t feel like it, not at all for his fragile and sensitive divine soul. Jiang Zheliu began to have rare feelings of losing control…… he had no experience in this area, he has almost never lost control over all these years.
Wen Renye’s energy was getting denser and denser, expanding and contracting again and again, slowly surrounding him, allowing Jiang Zheliu to get used to this energy and even surrendering control little by little.
It felt like a fist that had been clasped tightly being pried open by another and allowing the other to nervously hold his hand open.
Jiang Zheliu felt that even his body had no strength.
He breathed in slowly, in an attempt to adjust himself, to not to be so out of control, so passive, he didn’t want to lose face in front of the youth before him.
But it didn’t help. Wen Renye looped his arm around him and gently brought Jiang Zheliu into his arms.
His movements were soft and not at all forced. But this person’s primordial spirit was like an inescapable wall that was closing in on all sides, in his mind it was embracing him ……. brimming with desire and longing.
This kind of bareness of the souls was more intense than the physical embrace, making it even more difficult to resist.
Jiang Zheliu was really a little out of control.
His divine soul had been affixed to the other, and it felt like in his mind, amongst the rubble of his ruined spirit, all he could see was the energy from Wen Renye. He could also feel the constant warmth from the other’s body, even see the subtle features of his devil being, and all the details of his primordial spirit that were revealed but not revealed.
What was even more impossible to avoid was the other’s emotions, that strong and utterly devoted love, his long-hidden love and affection that he had hidden at the bottom of his heart, all of his duplicity, everything that he felt about himself and valued the most……
Jiang Zheliu could feel all of it.
He felt like he was going to be slowly melted away by the other’s primordial spirit.
This was just the first step, but it was a little too much for him to bear. Jiang Zheliu was indifferent to everything because almost everything was within his expectations or anticipation, or within what he was able to accept. But this …… kind of out of control feeling ……
Jiang Zheliu closed his eyes and leaned on the other’s shoulder, slowly and patiently exhaled a long breath that held some warmth, he whispered, “Wen Renye……”
“Hmm?”
The little devil immediately responded by adjusting the position of holding him and whispered back, “Uncomfortable?”
Jiang Zheliu was not the type of person who would rather die than lose face, he slowly said with a steady tone: “…… You are too close. I think I …… hmm ……”
This feeling of being suppressed and melted gradually receded, the other’s primordial spirit seemed to really comply with the retreat of a certain distance, but the afterglow still hovered around him. The faint pine and cypress scent then came closer and pried open the rift in his divine soul.
This was the reason that he could only let Wen Renye take the lead. Due to the current state of Jiang Zheliu, not to mention prying open his primordial spirit, even rubbing lightly against his primordial spirit was enough to melt him.
Jiang Zheliu’s soul was already full of holes, and his energy was very limited, so he didn’t have a particularly severe feeling of refusal when he was opened up by the other. But he had an extremely strange feeling that every sensitive nerve endings in his body seemed to be sending him a message of invasion upon the other’s entry.
He grabbed Wen Renye collar, his finger bones were clenched so tightly that they were white against his skin, his palm was moist layered with a thin layer of cold sweat.
This was just the first page, there were only two steps. One was to mutually adjust closely and the second was simply to merge for the first time.
Wen Renye’s presence was just too strong. Even if he was more careful and cautious, he revealed a seriously intimidating energy, and although this energy had been very considerately collected when he entered the other party’s divine soul, his aggressiveness as a devil still made Jiang Zheliu a little uneasy.
Jiang Zheliu was in his arms. His soul was tired and exhausted by the invasive energy which made him defenseless, little by little he handed over control to Wen Renye.
The process was incredibly smooth.
Wen Renye extended his arm, looping it around the other’s back, and underneath the snow white hair of the other who was in his arms. The two fused together divine souls rubbed against each other and penetrated each other. Wen Renye could vaguely feel the other’s breath, which was clear and cold like ice and snow, but very soft, so soft that it was not aggressive at all. Wen Renye thought he would have been able to see Jiang Zheliu’s feelings on everything that had happened to him in the past, but the more he penetrated the more he found that the other had no feelings at all.
Jiang Zheliu would just encounter an issue, solve it, encounter another problem, make a choice, never even exhibiting the slightest emotion.
Only when the other relinquished complete control, could Wen Renye vaguely feel a heavy coolness, and a very deep sleepiness.
Wen Renye seemed to understand his attitude somewhat, as if the other’s days now were the best that he could ever have envisioned, the best possible ending to his long life.
Their spirits continued to interconnect, ceaselessing circling and fitting together, and then fusing together to a deeper and deeper degree.
Jiang Zheliu slightly loosened his grip on the other’s collar, then tried pushed him away weakly, his voice was a little weak: “…… Get out.”
This voice was too quiet, if Wen Renye had not always been paying attention to the other’s movements, then ce would not have heard, he again hugged the other in his arms closer, and said: “I’m going to help you mend the fissure.”
The method of divine interconnection was the kind of method that was not destructive and was mostly opened up voluntarily. The spirit of Jiang Zheliu, however, was almost littered with fissures like a spider’s web, leaving him empty with a half-step Golden Immortal’s primordial spirit realm, but without the corresponding abilities.
That oppressive energy and force once again seemed to be taking over his mind. Jiang Zheliu felt that he could not stand it anymore, so he said: “…… you come out first, I can’t take it any longer.”
The little Devil Lord naturally obeyed, pulling out his primordial spirit, which had plunged extremely deep, wisp by wisp he collected it back into his own body.
Jiang Zheliu completely collapsed into his arms. Wen Renye reached out to wipe the cold sweat from Jiang Zheliu’s forehead and whispered, “Was it painful?”
…… Not painful, but the feeling of being out of control mixed with that …… kind of intrusion. It felt too strange and disturbing for him.
Jiang Zheliu felt that even his body was weak, he pressed on We Renye’s shoulder for a long while, and then finally said, “…… You went to far.”
Wen Renye: “…… Ah?”
“You were about to poke through.” Jiang Zheliu reached out and rubbed his brow, “My divine soul is originally thin.”
He said calmly and frankly without a trace of impurity, but hearing this Wen Renye got completely fired up, full of strange thoughts in his mind. Listening to Jiang Zheliu soft tone, seemed to have hit a wrong nerve, he nervously swallowed, and said: “I only entered as long as a cup of tea1”
Jiang Zheliu was stunned for a moment and raised his eyes to look at him, “That long?”
The method of divine interconnection was something that was difficult to try for the first time, and some people may not be able to pry their divine souls apart for the first time, or even fit together, let alone melt for an entire cup of tea.
It wasn’t because it didn’t fit, but because it seemed to be too much of a good fit that made Jiang Zheliu feel so uneasy.
“Is that long?” Wen Renye raised an eyebrow, “If you hadn’t made me come out, I could have stayed in there forever.”
“…… Uh, that’s not necessary.”
The melding of the souls already required great effort, and if it had continued on, it would have be too inhuman. Only that Wen Renye was not actually human, and his demonic energy lingered all around, brimming with a foreign distinctive feature.
“If you don’t feel disgusted by this, then it still seems to be useful.” The little devil reached out and hooked a strand of his snow-white hair, twirling the hair in his fingers whilst saying, “So, from now on can I continue to abuse you ……”
He had changed the wording, but it made Jiang Zheliu question the education standards of the Devil Realm.
Jiang Zheliu was already low on energy, and was too tired to talk at this moment. He was buried in Wen Renye’s arms, his eyes closed whilst listening to him. His divine soul that had just been completely opened was still sensitive. He was sleepy as hell, but would still be affected by the slightest movement and sound, and was not able to fall asleep immediately.
“Zheliu?” Wen Renye called him lightly, “Are you tired?”
Of course he was tired. He’d been hit with all those strong emotions. Je felt that his own meager and indifferent emotions were stained with the other’s colourful thoughts.
Wen Renye picked up Jiang Zheliu and carried him through the beaded curtain, all the way to the bed. The grand beauty in his arms was also very cooperative, wrapping his arms around his neck, leaning wholeheartedly into his arms.
Wen Renye was about to put him down on the bed and let him rest, but he found that Jiang Zheliu had not let go of his hand, but instead grabbed his collar and brought him on to the bed.
…… This seemed to be a bit of a side effect of the divine interconnection that ends in dependency.
The little devil was pulled in by his beloved by the collar. He was utterly stupid, dumbfounded whilst looking down to see the other’s slightly trembling eyelashes, and not knowing whether the other was asleep or not.
Although Wen Renye was the great Devil Lord, he still thought of himself as having some ill intentions, as if he was insufficient. He looked at Jiang Zheliu who had sunk in between the soft pillows to sleep. The side of the face was particularly soft, even his usual air of coldness had disappeared without trace, like …… like he was waiting for him to kiss him.
He looked at that side of his face for a long while, not knowing what was going on in his head, and then reached out and untied his outer robe and hung it next to the bed, lying to the side of Jiang Zheliu, carefully reaching out to take him into his arms.
Jiang Zheliu’s waist was very thin, through the layer of snow-coloured thin undershirt, he could feel the slightly lower body temperature of Jiang Zheliu, which could soothe the restlessness of his Devil body, so it was particularly comfortable to embrace him.
Wen Renye slowly put his arms around him more tightly.
Jiang Zheliu had fallen asleep at this moment, he slept very quietly and mindfully. Before waking up he almost never changed positions. Even though the other had moved him into his arms, he put up no resistance at all. It seemed that after their divine interconnection, Wen Renye’s scent was too familiar, he was too dependent that he even returned the embrace and lowered his head against Wen Renye’s collarbone, his breath slowly spreading out and dispersing.
Wen Renye’s heartbeat was frenetic, his heart was thumping crazily in his chest. Whilst telling himself to be calm, he embraced the other tighter and closer and gently kissed him on the forehead.
Those purple eyes were staring at the other with unblinking eyes, his brain was brimming with non-sensical thoughts-
Truly …… really really …… like you so much. So much I just want to hide away……
Ling Xiao Sect.
In the main hall of Ling Xiao Sect, an old man with white hair and beard holding a walking stick was standing beside Zhu Wuxin.
This was Lin Qingxu, the Grand Elder1 of the Ling Xiao Sect. When Jiang Zheliu was the Sect Leader, Lin Qingxu was his assistant. The Grand Elder was not particularly outstanding, but he had hundreds of years of experience in assisting Jiang Zheliu, so he had the right to speak about many issues and matters. But he is mediocre and incompetent, easily swayed by others, and got confused during important matters, so Jiang Zheliu never really considered him.
Zhu Wuxin’s old wounds had yet to heal, he’d taken a strong hit to the chest by that devilish energy, causing him to still feel compression and pain in his chest. But his physical injuries were nothing compared to the scenes of that day.
Recently, there had been squirmishes amongst the Cultivation World and the others at the borders of the Realm. The other sects had sent news, saying that the border demons were roaming wild, and even the ghosts of the Netherworld were rampant. Those sects were short of manpower, so they were pleading with the Leader of the Immortal Sects for assistance.
Zhu Wuxin had already become quite stressed due to this situation. He handed the token2 to Lin Qingxu and said, “Thank you, Grand Elder. Let’s use the method we discussed before and have our disciples go forth to assist the others.”
Lin Qingxu took the token: “I will do my best, Sect Leader, you must take care of your health.”
He turned to leave, then stopped and turned around and said, “There is one thing that I’ve been thinking about, but I still want to inform Sect Leader.”
Zhu Wuxin frowned: “Grand Elder, please tell me.”
He was actually reluctant to listen as he was already troubled by these things in the past few days, plus thinking about what happened on Zhongnan Mountain, he was feeling very unnerved, as if there was something very important that he had overlooked and he still hadn’t noticed it until now..
Lin Qingxu glanced at the tea on the table and opened his mouth: “Recently, our spies at the Wushuang Jian Pavilion reported that Jin Yujie had recently got very close to Vermilion Bird Zhenjun of the Demon Realm and they seemed to be discussing something important. Later, I especially sent someone to the Tianji Pavilion to ask Pavilion Lord Wang, he said ……”
As soon as Zhu Wuxin heard the names of these two people, he already felt tense: “What did he say?”
“He said that Vermilion Bird Zhenjun and Junior Pavilion Lord Jin were doing it for Jiang Xianzun.”
These words were like a minefield, making Zhu Wuxin immediately feel emotionally sunken. He thought of what Jiang Zheliu had said that day, and felt his blood run cold.
…… Was shixiong just taking care of him because of his father’s last dying wish? Shixiong he ……
In Zhu Wuxin’s mind, Jiang Zheliu was the one who had always taken care of him and protected him unconditionally, that’s why he didn’t even mind if Jiang Zheliu didn’t talk to him. He felt that he and shixiong should have been the most familiar and closest two people in this world, and Jiang Zheliu would never become estranged from him for anyone else. Even if, he had made a mistake at that moment and …… and let shixiong get injured ……
Zhu Wuxin’s thoughts were interrupted.
A moment of confusion ……
He suddenly felt like he’d been poked with a needle right through a thin layer of skin, revealing a hole as big as a pinhole, which allowed him to glimpse into his own most hidden and inner thoughts.
Zhu Wuxin lifted the cup of tea on the table, took a sip with impatience, closed his eyes and exhaled, and said: “For shixiong? What can they possibly do, each one is more useless than the other. They can’t even speak when they’re in front of shixiong, what can they do?”
“But if Xianzun was willing to go with them ……”
“No way!”
Zhu Wuxin fiercely opened his eyes, and abruptly looked up at Lin Qingxu. His expression was like a wounded and abandoned wolf cub, but a fierceness cut through the cold air: “Shixiong would never agree, he did everything for the sake of the world. I am the only one that he treats differently, I am the only one that can make shixiong come back ……”
The more he spoke, the more urgent he became, the more he spoke, the less he was able to control his emotions. Zhu Wuxin paced about for a few steps, his expression slowly became more intense.
“…… Damn all those who covet shixiong.”
Lin Qingxu swept a glance at the half-drunk cup of tea on the table, waved his horsetail whisk, and said kindly: “He has always been Sect Leader’s closest and dearest person, so naturally he’d allow Sect Leader to bring him back personally.”
This “closest and dearest person” seemed to have touched Zhu Wuxin’s most secret nerve, and he abruptly stopped in his tracks.
“…… He must be mad at me.”
Lin Qingxu didn’t really understand, he just listened as this new Sect Leader held onto a corner of the table, eyes bewildered and said: “Shixiong must be angry with me, blame me for not treating him well, that’s why he said all that. He should be, should be the person who treats me the best…… he’s only with that big devil because he’s mad at me.”
The actions of Jin Yujie and Lie Zhen naturally meant that Jiang Zheliu indeed didn’t have any intention of taking back his authority. But in Zhu Wuxin’s mind at the moment, he was wrapped up in a strong sense of loss and almost no longer cared about the position of the sect leader. He was just reminiscing about the past with shixiong …… If he were to do it all over again, he would certainly not have made the same mistake…… and would not let shixiong suffer such a serious injury.
Zhu Wuxin took a deep breath and reacted with hindsight to what he had done. He leaned on the edge of the table, his eyes slowly lowering.
“Grand Elder. What I did, I actually …… went too far, right?”
Lin Qingxu understood what he was trying to say, but this matter was actually a good thing for Lin Qingxu. Because when the position of Sect Leader was in the hands of Jiang Zheliu, all of the elders had been constantly suppressed by him, and never had the opportunity to take any initiative, but with Zhu Wuxin as Sect Leader, it was much easier for them to do as they wished.
The Grand Elder stroked his long beard and said in a kind tone, “You are the former Sect Leader’s own son, and Jiang Xianzun had such a good relationship with Grand Sect Leader3, he will surely forgive you.”
Zhu Wuxin stood still, seemingly comforted by the words, and murmured, “He will definitely forgive me.”
As he spoke, he reached out and picked up his outer cloak from the side, doing it up as he walked outside, and said without looking back, “Grand Elder, I have to leave.”
His shadow soon disappeared from sight. Lin Qingxu stood in place and watched for a while, then he reached out and poured the remaining contents of the teacup on the table onto the ground. He fondled the token in his hand and sighed to himself, “Young people nowadays, it’s really …… Jiang Xianzun, *sigh* you went through all that trouble, but in the end you still did not teach him well *aie*. ”
————
The efficacy of the Five Power Passion Pill is gradual, and will not exhibit its full potency overnight. The same goes for the Cylindrical Heart Powder, which will never take deep root, before it slowly manifests itself.
While adding medicine into his medicine stove and then turning down the temperature, Yu Jinnian looked at the medicinal recipe in his hand and told off the two ginseng children in front of him: “I told you that the Clear Rain Leaf and the Seven Treasures Lotus cannot be heated together! What’s the matter with you two, can’t you even remember that?”
The little Taoist girl fiddled with her horsetail whisk and whispered, “But it was the Monastery Master who wrote it down wrong……”
“Hey, you!” Yu Jinnian was interrupted by her and replied in annoyance, “So what if I wrote it wrong, hadn’t I already explained all this to you before? Well good, you’ve given Jiang Xianzun the wrong thing to eat, you guys better think about how to explain to the big devil later.”
The little Daoist boy said: “I just asked Ah-Chu, he said that Qianbei fell asleep whilst reading and should not be awake yet. How about we take advantage of this ……”
This was not unusual, as Jiang Zheliu’s illness meant that he needed an enormous amount of rest and sleep.. Yu Jinnian glanced at him and said, “And do what?”
“…… Escape?” The little boy said tentatively.
The words had barely come out of his mouth, when he was knocked on the head by Yu Jinnian, he hastily covered his forehead.
Yu Jinnian was weary, he said: “Escape, what escape. Forget it, I’ll talk to Wen Renye, I can not count on you two…… According to what you’ve fed him, I believe that Jiang Qianbei will be blind for a few days.”
The Daoist girl mumbled, “He’s staying at Dan Xin Monastery, it’s safe here, it’ll be fine.”
“Go go go.” Yu Jinnian blasted the two ginseng children away to bring the great devil over. He then put away the medicine stove and put the pills into a porcelain pot. Not long after, he saw Wen Renye lift the bamboo curtain and sit opposite him.
This devil was actually quite two-faced. In front of Jiang Qianbei, he was the obedient and harmless good neighbour, but in front of others, he was always cold and expressionless, and his entire body was always emanating a “sooner or later I’m going to kill you” kind of domineering devilish aura.
Yu Jinnian looked at Wen Renye and politely told him the whole story, then he saw Wen Renye’s deep purple eyes look up slightly, his eyes were cold, and the tone of his voice was also cold and austere: “Blind?”
“For roughly three to five days.” Yu Jinnian saw that the situation was not right, and immediately added, “But these three or five days is a false reference, perhaps not for so long. The medicines are tonics, the clash of the different medicinal properties caused this side effect, so that his eyes cannot absorb light. But after this, his eyesight, which was already somewhat damaged some days ago, should also recover.”
Only when Wen Renye heard the last half of the sentence, did his frown seem to lessen somewhat. He did not say a word and just looked at Yu Jinnian, then he got up and was about to leave.
“Wait a moment.” Yu Jinnian called out to him, he pondered for a moment, and then said, “I have an idea that might be able to omit many tedious steps to aid Jiang Xianzun’s recovery, but it requires the help of…… the Devil Lord.”
Wen Renye stopped and turned around and said, “Tell me.”
“It is said that behind the second Xuan Tongju Gate of the Devil Realm, there is a natural formation called the Resurrection Stone, which has a very strong vital energy.” Yu Jinnian continued, “Resurrection stone is just a name, it can not bring back the dead, but it is full of powerful vital energy, it can make an inch of barren Devil Realm, grow flourishing flowers and green leaves within a ten li4 radius.”
There was indeed such a stone amongst the ten li of flowers behind the second Xuan Tongju Gate.
“Qianbei’s physique is special, I’m sure you know that too.” Yu Jinnian looked up at him, “I read a lot of medical books and strange things. This is the most suitable for his physique, I believe that if he can wear it, it should be very helpful to Qianbei’s recovery …… except I believe that back then the Devil Realm was not able to take it out, is that right?”
Wen Renye thought about it and then replied, “That thing was being protected by a giant python creature. When my father led the army to open the gate, he thought the stone to be useless and left it there.”
He spoke with a slight pause and said, “I’ll go and see him. Don’t worry, Divine Sage of Medicine, within five days, I’ll definitely fetch it and bring it back here.”
This seemed to be the first time he had been so polite to this Divine Sage of Medicine.
Yu Jinnian watched as he left, and he was slightly relieved. He thought about when Jiang Zheliu would wake up in a moment only to be met with pitch blackness, this would actually be something quite shocking to take. But then he thought that that person was Jiang Zheliu …… with his attitude, he may even just treat it as a trivial matter, right?
Meanwhile, on the other side of Monastery.
Ah-Chu was still in the room sorting out clothes, thinking about what the Amazing Liuliu should wear tomorrow. The antlers on his head had almost fully healed, recently he was immersed in the joy of dressing the protagonist.
Just after Ah-Chu finished organising all the different styles of white robes, he turned his head to see Jiang Zheliu sitting at the edge of the bed, he had an empty gaze, he sat there for a while, Ah-Chu wasn’t sure what the other was thinking about it. He didn’t really take notice of it, his jumping deer hooves clattered over to show the piece of clothing in his hand to Jiang Zheliu: “Gege, does this look good? Do you want to wear this tomorrow?”
Jiang Zheliu looked towards the sound of the other’s voice, seeing only a scene of darkness, he nodded: “Looks good.”
“This dark pattern is a bit repetitive.” Ah-Chu said, “What do you think about this one? Chang Qian said last night that the ones with plum blossom patterns look the best.”
Jiang Zheliu felt that he was really trying a little too hard, although he really couldn’t focus to see, he still seriously seemed to ponder over it for a moment, and said: “That looks good too.”
“That’s for sure.” Ah Chu was satisfied, “Shenxian gege looks good in anything. Then I’ll …… eh tomorrow, gege?”
He finally realized that the other’s eyes were completely out of focus.
Alarm bells started ringing in the little deer’s heart, frantically racking his brain trying to think through the part of the book he had actually read to confirm that there is no such demented content. He questioned whether he’d been reading a different version, whilst rubbing against the knees of Jiang Zheliu, blearily looking at him for a long while. His heart was thumping, he was about to cry: “Can …… Can you look at me?”
Jiang Zheliu reached out and touched his antler, saying calmly, “I can’t see.”
These three words simply shattered Ah Chu’s psychological defenses, he dumbly lay upon Jiang Zheliu’s knee, and just opened his mouth to cry, then a hand coldly grabbed the back of his neck as if he was just an object, and carried him away putting him to the side.
“He’s fine, it’s temporary.” It was the voice of the great devil, Wen Renye, “Yu Jinnian said that there was a mistake with the medicinal food and it has produced some side effects.”
Ah-Chu let out a loud cry but half way through, he had been stupidly placed to the side. He watched Wen Renye hogging his position beside his beautiful gege. Wen Renye pulled out a light blue long silk sash embroidered with gold flowers and fierce beasts and blindfolded the grand beauty.
“Your eyes should not meet the sun.”
The long silk was wrapped around his white hair and tied at the back of his head. Jiang Zheliu felt the other’s breath sweep over his ears which heated them up a bit.
“Don’t be afraid.” Wen Renye said in a low voice, “It’ll be okay.”
The long silk covering his eyes was light and soft, he didn’t know exactly what it was made of. Jiang Zheliu raised his hand and touched it. His expression did not change, and he did not express any unexpected emotion, what was there to be afraid of…… This is something he had envisioned countless times, even if it was permanent, he’d probably still be very calm.
Sometimes, he was so overly calm that he was like some ancient glacier, so cold that even the changes in his mood were difficult to capture.
Jiang Zheliu touched his eyes through the layer of soft silk and said, “I was …… not afraid.”
He felt Wen Renye’s energy was coming closer, as if he wanted to embrace him, but then he stopped in front of him, pausing for a moment, with some apprehension he said: “Not being afraid is good. I have to leave for a few days, you have to stay here by yourself ……”
Jiang Zheliu thought of the other’s status…… The Devil Realm’s internal structure was different from that of the Four Great Immortal Sects of the Cultivation World. Most things did not need to be personally handled by Wen Renye, but he had indeed stayed with him for a long while, so if he needed to go back to deal with the affairs of the Devil Realm it was also very normal.
He nodded and said, “Okay.”
Jiang Zheliu could guess that there must be something urgent to make Wen Renye leave now. According to the temper of the little devil and Jiang Zheliu’s own current condition, Wen Renye was probably reluctant to leave.
This was indeed an important matter, but Wen Renye did not tell him it was to obtain the Resurrection Stone for his recuperation.
Jiang Zheliu’s life had been spent repaying a favour and he had suffered a lot. Wen Renye did not want him to have this feeling of being indebted to him. Everything that the devil did was of his own volition, and he was happy to do it. He also didn’t want Jiang Zheliu to feel burdened with this.
He especially didn’t want Jiang Zheliu to accept him just to repay him for this matter. This would just sully his genuine feelings for him
“Is that all you have to say?” Wen Renye leaned in close. As Jiang Zheliu couldn’t see, his scent became more distinctive, “Can you not…… say a few more words to me.”
Jiang Zheliu was originally very calm, but when the other leant in close to him to say this, the fiery temperature from his burning tongue seemed to move Jiang Zheliu’s many years of cold and introverted nerves, burning up so hot that he wasn’t sure what to do.
He had not experienced this kind of thing before, but he had much experience in remaining cold and indifferent, allowing him to conceal the change in his emotions well. After a short silence, Jiang Zheliu reached out to hold the other’s hand, and whispered: “Well, try to come back sooner.”
He paused for a moment, and then added, “…… Or, how about I explain to you a bit more about the shape of the Devil Realm before you go?”
The first sentence overwhelmed the devil’s heart with emotions, but the second fell flat. Wen Renye was slightly stunned: “…… shape?”
“Before your father’s reign, the particular characteristics of the Devil Realm had already revealed itself.” Jiang Zheliu seemingly returned to his comfort zone and recounted slowly, “The extreme barrenness and barbarism, coupled with this atmosphere of war and killing intent amongst the entire population has brought the invention of new technology in the Devil Realm to a standstill, however, the casting of weapons and battle armour had become stronger and stronger, turning the Devil Realm into a race that has become particularly skilled at plundering…… If the Xuan Tongju Gates had been opened earlier, I am afraid that a battle would have happened long ago.”
“The heavenly treasures hidden in the Xuan Tongju Gates, also include some other natural resources, the Devil Realm has completely ignored these and have only taken out the treasures which can be useful for war or for cultivation …… Undertaking this kind of path, at most in two hundred years, the Devil Realm will be like a battle chariot loaded with gunpowder, first flattening the Demon Realm, then the Cultivation World, and after taking over the Cultivation World which is connected to the Mortal Realm, you will finally go and attack the Ghost Realm.”
It seemed to be the first time that Jiang Zheliu had said so much in front of him.
“If everything goes well, your future is, indeed, immeasurable.” Jiang Zheliu slowly said, “But there are two things you must take into account. First is that amongst all the great devils, there will certainly be those who are ambitious and waiting for an opportunity to rise to the top, and perhaps an internal bloodbath will occur before the war with the other realms begins. The second is that …… the beginning of the great war, will harm the harmony and peace of the world. Later on, when you reach the step of Merging, I am afraid you might reach some hindrance. When it really comes to this, you must listen to me ……”
He stopped here, seemingly having reminded himself of something. He thought that two hundred years was actually too long, he might not be able to see it happen, so he did not continue.
Wen Renye froze when he heard all of this. He looked at the grand sick beauty in front of him, Jiang Zheliu was wearing a thin shirt sitting on the edge of the bed, his knees covered with a soft fur blanket, his white hair flowing, his eyes blindfolded, his delicate and fragile beauty made him seem like a picturesque painting. But when he spoke it was highly divisive, and the topic was always about setting the world affairs in order.
“You’re already in this state.” Wen Renye paused for a moment and then added, “Why are you still thinking about these things?”
Jiang Zheliu was also stunned by his response, he thought this person who always looked fierce and brimming with devilish energy, with the face of the strong enemy of the cultivation world, how come the other had listened to so much of what he had said, but his first reaction was actually to say that Jiang Zheliu was overthinking things in his state.
He was amused, he pinched the other’s fingers, said: “This is just what I thought about before. If the Realm Boundary had not been damaged, you’d already have fallen by my hand.”
Jiang Zheliu used very little force to pinch him, but it still made Wen Renye’s heart beat a little faster. His breath was flushed with a dry heat, blowing unavoidably over towards Jiang Zheliu, gradually getting closer and closer.
He said slowly, “I am also in your hands now.”
There was a lingering scent of pine, and his deep voice resonated in Jiang Zheliu’s ears.
Jiang Zheliu’s heartbeat nearly missed half a beat, his ears were hot, burning and itchy, this extremely strange feeling made him feel a little uneasy. After a moment, he said quietly: “…… I can’t even hold a sword anymore, I’m afraid that your wish for a rematch with me will be left unfulfilled.”
He wanted to surpass him. This was the reason that Wen Renye had originally used to persuade him to get treatment.
This wish has endured through the years, turning from an obsession into a sort of a symbol. The more secretive and deep feelings are, the more they sink into the deepest part of our hearts, refusing to easily be admitted to, refusing to be said out loud.
“…… It’s okay.” Wen Renye looked at him and said, “I have a new wish.”
He gently pressed Jiang Zheliu’s shoulders and kissed his eyes through the long, soft layer of silk.
The snow-white eyelashes trembled a little under the silk, subtly revealing a rare hint of helplessness.
…… It turns out he wasn’t born so indifferent and cold. Wen Renye thought.
His voice was starkly earnest and frank, with a slight sense of urgent expectation, yet it sounded very solemn in Jiang Zheliu’s ears.
“I want to be able to see you everyday for the rest of my life.”
