Red wood, a heavenly treasure, had become extinct over a thousand years ago. The existing red wood was all dead wood left behind from ancient secret realms, impossible to seek out deliberately.
Ning Buwei was stunned, not because this item was rare, but because someone had once tried to slip a small piece of red wood into his hand in the same manner.
Generally speaking, those who practiced the path of ruthlessness were cold-hearted and detached, avoiding romantic entanglements. Although some practitioners of this path went against it by forming Dao companions, it usually didn’t end well – either inner demons would grow, forcing them to kill their spouse to gain enlightenment, or their partner would leave due to neglect, ultimately leaving them alone.
Ning Buwei had practiced the path of ruthlessness since childhood, rejecting countless romantic advances. However, in his youth, when his cultivation was still immature, he once had a moment of impulse.
It happened on his way back to Xun Prefecture after receiving a family letter from Ning Xingyan. Having successfully obtained leave, not having to listen to old Hao Zheng’s nagging, sixteen-year-old Ning Chengfeng was in an exceptionally good mood.
Perhaps it was a case of extreme joy breeding sorrow. He encountered problems at the teleportation array from Qian Prefecture to Zhongzhou. Though he luckily survived, he was severely injured with his dantian shattered, and was teleported to vast, endless swampy highlands.
He had used up all his pills, talismans, and spiritual items, yet still had no spiritual power.
He dragged his severely wounded body through the swamp alone for dozens of days, but the swamp seemed endless. The swampy highlands stretched for over a hundred thousand miles. He knew he couldn’t make it out, and would likely die there, but he still struggled on unwillingly.
Finally, his strength was completely exhausted. His legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground.
His mind was hazy as he lay in the swamp, slowly sinking. Just as the water was about to cover his nose and mouth, and he couldn’t move a muscle, in a moment of despair and panic, a pale hand grabbed his collar and yanked him out of the swamp.
That person had a very faint bitter fragrance, mixed with a hidden bloody smell, blending with the damp and cold scent of the swamp. It wasn’t particularly pleasant.
Ning Chengfeng instinctively frowned and reached out to push the person away, but was pressed directly into their embrace. “Don’t move,” they said.
The voice sounded very cold and soft, making it difficult to distinguish between male and female. He lay in this person’s arms, coughing up blood, and hazily closed his eyes.
The swamp was full of evil things. Shrill screams and the sound of blades cutting through the air intertwined. The smell of blood instantly overwhelmed all other scents. He disgustedly buried his face in the person’s shoulder, blocking his nose.
The other’s body stiffened for a moment but didn’t push him away.
When he woke up again, he was in a stone cave.
Wood branches crackled as they burned, the firelight flickering, yet the surroundings remained cold. He leaned against the stone wall, barely alive, observing the person across from him.
That person was completely wrapped in a long black robe, with a wide hat covering their entire face, making it impossible to determine their gender at the moment.
They sat there silently, using a dry twig to poke at the fire. Their exposed hand was pale and slender, with faint blue veins visible on the back. The wrist was thin, with a fine red string tied around it, looking strangely attractive.
Although Ning Chengfeng practiced the path of ruthlessness and usually appeared proud and aloof, he was still young, with a lively and curious nature. After a long silence, he couldn’t help but speak up. “Thank you for saving me, fellow cultivator.”
“Mm.” The person responded neither warmly nor coldly.
The atmosphere cooled again. Ning Chengfeng glanced up at them, but couldn’t see the face under the hood even in the firelight. He cleared his throat and said, “I am Ning Chengfeng from Xun Prefecture. How should I address you?”
The person seemed completely uninterested in who he was. They poked the fire again and said, “Don’t know.”
“Don’t know?” Ning Chengfeng thought to himself, what kind of name is that? But considering this person was his savior, he insincerely praised, “Very profound.”
The other person was silent for a moment, then said, “I don’t remember.”
Ning Chengfeng: “…Oh.”
“I’m sorry,” he paused before speaking again, “Then do you know where we are?”
“The swamp between Qian Prefecture and Zhongzhou.” The person seemed to find him a bit noisy and stood up to walk towards the cave entrance.
Outside the cave was pitch black, with howling winds and eerie screams coming from unknown sources. Ning Chengfeng, unable to move from the stone wall, forcibly straightened up and stood leaning against the wall. “Where are you going—”
Before he could finish, he coughed up a mouthful of foul blood. A sharp pain shot through his dantian, making his vision blur.
The person came over to help him sit down properly.
Knowing that the chances of surviving and leaving the swamp with such severe injuries were extremely slim, Ning Chengfeng grabbed the other’s wrist. Not caring that the blood on his hand stained the red string, he put on a strong front and said, “My elder brother is Ning Xingyan. If you take me back to Ning City, the Ning Mansion will surely reward you handsomely.”
Whether it was Ning Xingyan or the Ning family, they were quite renowned in all seventeen prefectures. The young master tried to tempt with benefits, certain that the other wouldn’t refuse.
“Don’t know them,” the person said coldly, but didn’t pull their hand away. “I’m going out to find you something to eat.”
Young Master Ning was stunned, awkwardly releasing his hand, feeling a bit embarrassed. Yet he still tried to maintain the dignity of a noble family’s young master, acting as if nothing had happened. “Mm, you may go then.”
The other person didn’t move.
Ning Chengfeng looked at them questioningly.
“Let go,” the person said.
Ning Chengfeng’s hand jerked away as if burned, but in the next second, he firmly grasped it again. “I’ll go with you.”
If the other person was just saying nice things and then left, he would still be doomed staying here.
His strong will to survive made it impossible for him to maintain his pride, so he could only shamelessly cling to the other person.
Surprisingly, the person had an exceptionally good temper. Not only did they not refuse, but they reached out and picked him up horizontally.
Ning Chengfeng’s face stiffened, and he said stiffly, “You can just support me.”
“Your dantian is shattered,” the person looked down at him. The hood seemed to have some kind of illusion on it, appearing pitch black and strangely eerie. “The flesh under your right ribs is gone. If you hadn’t used spiritual items and pills to fill it, you wouldn’t have lasted this many days.”
Ning Chengfeng immediately fell silent. A great man should know when to yield and when to stand firm. Being carried was nothing compared to staying alive.
The person didn’t seem tall while sitting, but standing up they were quite tall. Ning Chengfeng’s curiosity got the better of him, and he asked, “You really can’t remember your name?”
“Mm,” the other person responded.
Their one-word answers were starting to annoy Ning Chengfeng. He was used to being aloof, with chatterboxes like Wen Zaiye and Cui Ci around him. Now suddenly encountering someone even more tight-lipped than himself made him somewhat uncomfortable.
Young people often compete over the strangest things, and he decided to try and get the other person to say more.
“Do you remember how old you are?”
“Probably over a hundred years old,” the tone was uncertain.
“Do you have a Dao companion, family, or sect members?”
“No,” this time the answer was certain.
“Are you a rogue cultivator?”
“Don’t know.”
“How long have you been in this swamp?”
“Over two months.”
“How did you lose your memory?”
“Cultivation gone wrong.”
Ning Chengfeng fell silent for a moment.
Typically, cultivators who went astray in their cultivation didn’t have good outcomes. They either truly fell into demonic ways or suffered severe damage to their vital energy. Even if they were lucky enough to return to the righteous path, they would be left with inner demons, greatly increasing the danger of future breakthroughs, with death being nine times more likely than survival.
However, this person didn’t seem to have fallen into demonic ways.
As a member of a prestigious righteous sect, Young Master Ning, like his brother, despised evil and looked down on those in demonic cultivation. Let alone going astray in cultivation, even if the sky were to fall, he would strictly adhere to the righteous path and never do anything against his principles.
The person carried him for a while before finding a fruit tree and picking some fruit for him to eat.
Ning Chengfeng took a bite and immediately spat it out, making disgusted noises.
“Not good?” the person asked.
“It’s not fit for human consumption,” Ning Chengfeng tossed the fruit away. “Let’s go, don’t bother looking anymore. I won’t starve to death anytime soon.”
So the person carried him back to the stone cave.
The fire had gone out, and the cave was cold and damp. Without spiritual energy to protect his body and being severely injured, Ning Chengfeng could barely endure it. The person sat next to him, their body warm. He couldn’t help but poke their arm.
“Hey, are you cold?” he asked.
“No,” the other replied.
Ning Chengfeng cleared his throat uncomfortably and asked not very tactfully, “Then can I borrow your cloak?”
“…” The other person remained silent for a long while.
Ning Chengfeng felt even more uncomfortable, and a bit annoyed. He, the young master of the Ning family, was used to getting whatever he wanted. Even things he didn’t want were eagerly brought to him. He never imagined there would come a day when he had to humble himself for a cloak, and the most infuriating part was that the other person had refused him.
Ning Chengfeng intentionally moved a bit away from the person, actually quite angry but forcing himself to keep his temper in check, reminding himself that he needed this person to survive.
Unexpectedly, the person suddenly seemed to understand and asked, “Are you cold?”
“I’m not cold,” Ning Chengfeng said stubbornly.
The person lifted their cloak, saying, “I can hold you.”
Ning Chengfeng’s face stiffened. “That’s not necessary.”
Earlier he had feared the person would leave, but now being held for no reason felt inappropriate to Ning Chengfeng.
Seeing this, the other person didn’t insist, closing their cloak and once again becoming a dark mass.
Cold, hungry, and with his wounds still aching, Ning Chengfeng wasn’t sure if he passed out or fell asleep, his vision going dark.
In his hazy state, someone wrapped him in their embrace, a large warm bundle. He instinctively wanted to move closer.
Being at the age of rapid growth, he wasn’t aware of his own strength. Feeling the other’s warmth, he hugged them tightly, refusing to let go. He even forcefully pulled the person into his own arms, wrapping an arm around their waist.
He vaguely sensed the other’s body stiffen awkwardly, but Young Master Ning showed no consideration, forcibly holding them for most of the night.
The next morning when Ning Chengfeng woke up, he found himself still holding the other person without letting go. He felt no embarrassment at all, and instead calmly adjusted the other’s slightly disheveled collar. “Thank you,” he said.
If his ears weren’t red, he might have looked even more composed.
“Mm.” The other person seemed even less composed than him, sitting stiffly in place and once again wrapping themselves tightly in their cloak, becoming a black mass.
Ning Chengfeng raised an eyebrow.
It actually looked…somewhat cute?
He uncomfortably averted his gaze, rubbing his still-warm fingertips, then raised his hand to touch his nose, feeling like he was bullying the other person.
And he even felt an urge to bully them more.
So over the next few days, Young Master Ning found amusement. Although severely injured and unable to move freely, he still bounced around energetically, feeling cold one moment and wanting to go out for fresh air the next, asking to be carried to pick fruit. The other person, though of few words, obediently complied with all his requests.
Ning Chengfeng boldly pushed his luck, becoming addicted to teasing the other person.
At first, he pretended to fall asleep leaning on them. Later, he brazenly lifted their cloak to cover himself, hugging their waist and refusing to let go. Each time, the other person would freeze, and Ning Chengfeng would shamelessly revel in his triumph, even his wounds seeming less painful.
Though tall, the other person had a narrow waist that felt particularly good to hold. Sometimes Ning Chengfeng would deliberately caress it, causing the other to stiffen even more, yet they never pushed him away.
“…Once you take me to the Ning Mansion, my elder brother will surely reward you well,” Ning Chengfeng yawned, holding the person as he dozed off. “You’re my lifesaver. From now on, we’ll be brothers bound by life and death. When we get out, we’ll swear an oath of brotherhood.”
The other person neither agreed nor disagreed.
Ning Chengfeng considered himself very loyal to his friends. He tried to place the other person in the same brotherly position as Wen Zaiye and Cui Ci, but vaguely felt something wasn’t quite right—
After all, he wouldn’t constantly want to tease Wen Zaiye and Cui Ci, much less always want to sleep while holding them.
Unable to figure it out, Ning Chengfeng simply stopped thinking about it.
After resting for a few days, they continued on their journey.
“You don’t have a name, why don’t I give you one?” Ning Chengfeng felt they had become quite familiar, and he couldn’t keep calling out “Hey” all the time.
The person looked down at him. “Mm.”
Ning Chengfeng thought for a while, then snapped his fingers in front of the other and smiled, “Riding the wind for ten thousand miles, soaring straight up. How about I call you Wanli?”
“Alright,” the other person was always easy to talk to.
Ning Chengfeng felt a sense of contentment, inexplicably happy and proud. Unable to precisely pinpoint this indescribable joy, he simply focused all his energy on this person, always enjoying teasing them into talking.
Sometimes when Wanli was pushed to the limit by his antics, they would simply ignore him for half a day.
So Ning Chengfeng would then show his flexibility by coaxing them. The young master had never coaxed anyone before, but he seemed to have a natural talent for it.
In the vast swamp, living creatures were rare. The two of them walked for over half a month without seeing an end to it. Sometimes in a daze, there was always a feeling of relying on each other for survival.
Wanli spoke very little, but their voice was very pleasant. Ning Chengfeng, being naturally curious, always wanted to see their true face, but the other stubbornly refused to show him.
“Could it be that you’re exceptionally ugly?” Ning Chengfeng said impatiently.
“Mm, it would scare you,” Wanli tucked Ning Chengfeng’s outstretched hand back into the cloak.
“It’s alright, I won’t look down on you,” Ning Chengfeng said, while his eyes couldn’t help but glance at Wanli’s Adam’s apple and the smooth collarbone visible beneath their collar.
Wanli had a cool temperament and looked cool too. Their skin was excessively pale, with the exposed half of their neck long and fair. Once, he even caught a glimpse of their jawline, which, to be fair, was the most beautiful chin he had ever seen.
However, what he liked most was Wanli’s wrist with the red string. Occasionally when it was exposed, he could admire it for a long time. Later, when Wanli noticed this, they never showed it again.
Ning Chengfeng wasn’t sure why he was critiquing his “good brother” like this, and why he always couldn’t help but steal glances. He ultimately attributed it to boredom in the swamp.
But he wasn’t always so energetic.
Occasionally, he would worry and ask Wanli, “Can my shattered dantian heal?”
He hadn’t paid much attention during his lessons at Wanxuan Academy, so he wasn’t quite sure.
Wanli was silent for a moment, then said, “I don’t know.”
Hearing this, Ning Chengfeng felt unsure and frowned.
Seeing Ning Chengfeng’s concern, Wanli said, “If you don’t mind, I can enter your sea of consciousness to help repair it.”
Although they had been together for over half a month, entering someone’s sea of consciousness was a delicate matter even between Dao companions or close family members. Letting someone repair one’s dantian was even more risky – if Wanli had even a hint of ill intent, Ning Chengfeng would be completely at their mercy.
Despite his young age, Ning Chengfeng was not foolish. He politely declined the offer, after which Wanli didn’t mention it again.
However, Ning Chengfeng felt that Wanli seemed somewhat unhappy about this.
So he instinctively tried to coax them again, “It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that entering someone’s sea of consciousness is usually something done between Dao companions. Since you won’t be my Dao companion, how could I let you casually enter my sea of consciousness? If my future Dao companion found out, they would surely be upset and jealous.”
Wanli stopped walking and looked down at him, saying calmly, “How do you know I’m unwilling?”
This time it was Ning Chengfeng who froze.
He had just been making up an excuse – although he hadn’t figured out why he used the Dao companion excuse – but Wanli’s response left him stunned.
Wanli also seemed to feel it was inappropriate and, after a moment of silence, continued walking.
But after this conversation, the atmosphere between them became somewhat strange. Specifically, Ning Chengfeng no longer insisted on hugging Wanli for warmth, and wouldn’t let Wanli carry him except when traveling. Even his attempts to tease Wanli into talking became less frequent.
As a result, Wanli became even more silent.
They continued their awkward journey for another ten days or so.
One night, they were building a fire for warmth in a sheltered spot. Ning Chengfeng sat inside leaning against a rock, while Wanli sat beside him, shielding him from the wind.
As Ning Chengfeng was feeling drowsy, a small piece of red wood was suddenly placed in his hand.
He was stunned for a moment.
Then he picked up the wood to look at it and was startled. Although red wood was precious and rare, it was easy to recognize. The Ning Mansion treasury had a piece of it, though shorter than the one in his hand. “Is this a piece of red wood?”
“Mm,” Wanli replied in a muffled voice.
“Such a precious thing, you’re giving it to me?” He was somewhat surprised.
Wanli nodded but didn’t speak.
He tried hard to suppress the corners of his mouth from curling up. “Why are you giving it to me?”
The person sitting beside him silently lifted their cloak. “It’s cold outside.”
