BW Chapter 108

Ning Xiu cried earth-shatteringly, and this time he seemed to really lose it, nearly crying himself breathless in one go, his little face turning purple, looking like he was about to suffocate.

Chu Jun held him and stood up, giving him a firm pat on the back, which finally allowed him to gasp for air.

Even though Ning Xiu was crying his heart out, he reached for the little wooden doll that Ning Buwei was holding.

Seeing him about to cry himself to death, Ning Buwei felt heartache no matter what, so he tried using sleight of hand, giving him an identical wooden doll, but Ning Xiu saw through it immediately and refused to take it.

“Waaah—” Ning Xiu cried even harder.

I want my little wooden doll—

Finally having no choice, Ning Buwei had to hand over the “playing dead” wooden doll to him.

Ning Xiu cried until he was gasping for air, hugged his little wooden doll and cried for quite a while more, before finally stopping with hiccups, tugging at its arms and legs one at a time, only feeling relieved after confirming no wood chips were missing.

Just that dot of cinnabar on its brow couldn’t be wiped off no matter what.

“Ah~” Ning Xiu puffed his cheeks. “Ah da~”

The little wooden doll doesn’t look pretty anymore~

Ning Buwei stared at that wooden doll with displeasure.

Although he confirmed this thing had no harm besides being quite strong, he felt inexplicably annoyed seeing his son care about it so much.

Tch, just a piece of broken wood.

“Is a piece of wood worth all this?” Ning Buwei sourly stared at that little wooden doll, threatening sinisterly. “Go ahead and keep playing dead if you dare.”

The wooden doll remained quietly in Ning Xiu’s arms, showing no movement.

“Ah~” Ning Xiu looked up at him.

Father didn’t keep his word~

Ning Buwei wiped the tears from his face with a handkerchief, “It ran out by itself, if you don’t believe me, ask your mother.”

“Ah?” Ning Xiu had cried so hard his voice was hoarse, Chu Jun touched his back and felt it was covered in sweat.

Seeing Ning Xiu seeking confirmation from him, Chu Jun lowered his eyes and said against his conscience. “Yes, it came out by itself.”

The wooden doll being held by Ning Xiu: …………

Ning Xiu looked down at the little wooden doll, then raised his head to look pitifully at Ning Buwei. “Ah~”

Father~ He’s my good friend~ Not bad~

Ning Buwei cleared his throat and took him into his arms, “Keep it then, I won’t burn it.”

Chu Jun changed him into clean fresh clothes, and Ning Xiu yawned, pointed at the little duck on his clothes, then pointed at the wooden doll’s clothes, “Da~”

Same little duck~

After finally getting Ning Xiu to sleep, Ning Buwei secretly placed several talismans on that wooden doll before feeling at ease.

Outside the window, the bright moon hung high.

The flying boat steadily moved forward through flowing clouds. Chu Jun stood by the window with his back to him, seemingly holding some small stones in his hand. He walked over and sat on the windowsill, “Divining?”

“Yes, this wooden doll is indeed strange,” Chu Jun casually scattered the small stones in his hand onto the windowsill, one of which rolled to Ning Buwei’s knee, bumped it and rolled slightly away.

Ning Buwei lowered his head to look at the hexagram with him.

“What does this mean?” Ning Buwei felt it looked familiar, Chu Jun had probably taught him before, but he couldn’t remember.

“Same root same origin, life and death intertwined,” Chu Jun said with slightly furrowed brows.

Ning Buwei wasn’t very good at interpreting these hexagrams: “Same root same origin… is this wooden doll also a Linglong Bone?”

“Probably not, but it has deep connections with the Linglong Bone.” Chu Jun pointed at the small stone that was almost touching his knee, “Though this wooden doll isn’t connected by blood like you and me to Ning Xiu, it’s still extremely close to him, perhaps a karmic bond formed before the Linglong Bone transformed into human using our blood and soul essence.”

Ning Buwei’s eyebrows were knotted tightly, “What about life and death intertwined?”

“…This wooden doll has come to repay kindness and claim a life.” Chu Jun looked at the two stones that had collided, which were covered in web-like cracks.

Ning Buwei froze, “Claim a life?”

In the cycle of cause and effect, repaying kindness at most meant repaying a life-saving grace, but claiming a life meant deep hatred, and if repaying kindness and claiming life were mixed together—

Ning Buwei flicked his wrist and the Suzaku narrow knife appeared instantly. With a grim expression, he jumped down from the windowsill, “This piece of broken wood would be better chopped into firewood!”

Chu Jun hurriedly stopped him, “This is Ning Xiu’s own matter. If we interfere rashly, it might make things worse.”

“His soul is already unstable and could scatter at any time, plus there are forty-nine fate tribulations, one small mistake and it’s over. This broken piece of wood is just adding trouble. Not interfering means waiting for him to die?” Ning Buwei said coldly, “To hell with life and death intertwined, what kind of thing is it to have its fate tied to my son’s!?”

“Chengfeng, calm down.” Chu Jun took the Suzaku narrow knife from his hand and pondered for a moment before saying, “This may not be a bad thing.”

Ning Buwei’s brows remained tightly furrowed.

“Do you remember Sang Yun’s interpretation?” Chu Jun said, “‘Trace to the root source, scattered in four directions’ – this wooden doll and Ning Xiu share the same root and origin, it might well be Ning Xiu’s chance at life.”

Ning Buwei’s expression softened slightly.

“We came to the Floating Sky Realm this time precisely to find Ning Xiu’s origin. Hua Ran has already found the cave where Ning Xingyuan took the Linglong Bone back then, and is waiting for us to arrive.” Chu Jun squeezed his shoulder, “With this wooden doll, we have another clue.”

After a long silence, Ning Buwei asked, “Who is Hua Ran?”

Chu Jun: “…The flower demon from Xiaoqiu Mountain.”

“Oh.” Ning Buwei said, “I don’t really like him.”

Chu Jun said helplessly, “He’s already changed back to his own face.”

Ning Buwei snorted softly, leaning against the window and reaching out to pinch his face, “I still prefer this face on you.”

“Mm.” A hint of smile flashed in Chu Jun’s eyes.

Ning Buwei’s mood wasn’t very good because of the hexagram reading. Chu Jun’s divination skills were uncannily accurate, and just thinking about how this wooden doll might have harmed the Linglong Bone made him feel bothered–even if it was the Linglong Bone and not the current Ning Xiu, it still bothered him.

To hell with same root same origin, having the same origin and still harming an innocent little bone like that, doesn’t this piece of broken wood feel any guilt? Who wants its life repayment…

Chu Jun patted his back soothingly, “It’s late, let’s rest.”

Ning Buwei was amused by that light pat, teasing, “That technique, I’m not Ning Xiu.”

Chu Jun gave him a look, then lowered his head to softly kiss the corner of his mouth, saying gently, “Like this?”

The soft touch vanished in an instant. Ning Buwei unconsciously licked the corner of his mouth, only then remembering his original plan for tonight.

He had planned to deal with Chu Jun tonight.

But ended up being disrupted by a piece of broken wood.

Ning Buwei dissatisfiedly wrapped his arms around his waist, kissed his neck hard, and could only regretfully change tactics, turning his head to whisper in Chu Jun’s ear. “Head teacher Chu, I think my dantian has some cracks again.”

As expected, Chu Jun’s expression became serious at his words, “Is it because you controlled too many formations in the tomb?”

Ning Buwei looked solemn, “Can you use your divine consciousness to help check my sea of consciousness?”

“Alright.” Chu Jun nodded.

Seeing him enter meditation, Ning Buwei lazily curved his lips into a smile.

Ah, so easy to fool.

Then he happily entered his own sea of consciousness ready to “enjoy” his beauty.

But after entering the sea of consciousness with his divine consciousness, he didn’t find traces of Chu Jun’s divine consciousness.

After searching around and still not seeing anyone, Ning Buwei suddenly felt something wasn’t right and tentatively called out, “Chu Jun?”

Before his words finished, his whole body was pinned against a ruined wall by a large cloud of white mist. Warm and moist mist lingered all over his body, gentle yet intimate.

Facing the moss-covered broken wall, Ning Buwei was about to turn his head when his nape was firmly gripped by a slender hand. Chu Jun’s slightly deep voice mixed with bitter fragrance spoke next to his ear.

“I already checked your dantian when sealing the dao contract earlier, it looked…very good.”

The fingers gripping his nape lightly pressed against his Adam’s apple, and someone behind him lowered their head to bite his shoulder.

In the thick white mist, another hand caught his attempted sneak attack, easily restraining his attempts to resist. Ning Buwei’s wrists were forced against his lower back as Chu Jun’s voice turned into floating feathers, rustling through the white mist from his lower back into his ears.

“Though another careful check wouldn’t hurt.”

Ning Buwei laughed lazily, and dense black mist instantly exploded, entangling with the white mist.

In the maze-like sea of consciousness, heavy mist rose from all directions, spreading and intertwining.