Ning Buwei held his knife as he entered his own sea of consciousness. Chu Jun, worried he might act recklessly, sent almost his entire spiritual consciousness in as well. Suddenly enveloped by this mass of black mist, he was quite startled for a moment.
Unlike divine consciousness, spiritual consciousness spread out everywhere once it entered the sea of consciousness. As Ning Buwei’s spiritual consciousness permeated throughout the sea of consciousness, Chu Jun realized he had nowhere to hide. Only then did he realize he had been careless and overconfident.
Ning Buwei finally understood why Mu Shi had said earlier that even Fusion stage cultivators could not resist this Hehuan Fragrance incense. But he no longer had the mental energy to think about it in detail.
He only felt that this large mass of spiritual consciousness transformed into white mist emitted a faint sweet scent all over, making him ravenously hungry. He wanted to embrace this large white mist in his arms and knead it into a ball. He also wanted to swallow it whole to quell that irritating hunger.
But when he enveloped this mass of white mist, he felt reluctant to do anything to it. Clean and emitting a gentle warmth, he couldn’t help but press his entire heated spiritual consciousness against the white mist. This large white mist tried to leave, but was tyrannically pulled back by the murderous black mist. The black and white misty masses merged together, gradually becoming indistinguishable…
The last accidental shenjiao involved at most two small wisps of spiritual consciousness. Even that comfortable and pleasurable feeling had been somewhat unbearable. This time, with both of their complete spiritual consciousnesses entangling and churning in the sea of consciousness, an extremely bizarre feeling of pleasure grew more and more intense. At times it was like massive waves surging to the heavens, at other times like a gentle breeze and light rain. At first, the great demon was still excitedly holding his own, but even though his spiritual consciousness was powerful, he gradually began to struggle to withstand it. Yet he was reluctant to let go of this delicious large white mist. After roughly kneading it for a while, he hesitantly wanted to run away.
A slender white hand reached out from the mist, wrapped around his waist and pulled his entire spiritual consciousness back. Warm fingertips traced over the red birthmark on his collarbone, then vanished back into the mist.
After the storm passed, a large mass of black mist lazily sprawled on top of the white mist, tyrannically and arrogantly pressing down on the other, not letting it leave.
Chu Jun had never imagined the power of shenjiao could be so great. Moreover, Ning Buwei’s spiritual consciousness was deliberately teasing him due to the effects of the Hehuan Fragrance. Midway through, he had nearly lost control of himself…
Chu Jun transformed the mist back into spiritual consciousness and patted the black mist sprawled on top of him. The black mist instantly coalesced into human form.
Ning Buwei had not yet recovered. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Chu Jun like a fierce wolf eyeing a chunk of meat.
No wonder others said shenjiao was extremely easy to become addicted to. At first he had acted on instinct with unclear consciousness, but towards the end he purely didn’t want to let go. Even Chu Jun, such an icy and aloof Venerable, had his spiritual consciousness forcibly defiled by him… As Ning Buwei’s rationality returned, he felt very uncomfortable and lightly coughed. “I was too abrupt.”
If he hadn’t been sprawled on top of the other’s spiritual consciousness while saying this, it might have seemed more convincing.
Chu Jun calmly looked at him, the tips of his ears turning a bit red. He reached out to wrap his arm around Ning Buwei’s waist and brought him to the surface of the sea of consciousness. “Is the poison neutralized now?”
Seeing him resume this serious manner, Ning Buwei felt an itch in his heart. He secretly wondered if there were some aftereffects even though the Hehuan Fragrance had been neutralized. But outwardly he nodded solemnly, “Thank you.”
As soon as he said it, he felt it was inappropriate. He felt that expressing thanks for this kind of thing was very strange, as if he had just used Chu Jun as a tool to neutralize poison. It made him seem like not a good person at all.
Sure enough, the expression on Chu Jun’s face appeared even more faint.
After all, they had just been “indistinguishable” from each other moments ago. Ning Buwei felt that as a man, he should be brave enough to face the consequences of his actions. Even though the other was also a man, and another father to his son. In his youth, he had also had a relationship with him. Previously in the Heart Demon Realm, he had been entangled with him. Now he had come all this way and split half his primordial spirit to find him… Ning Buwei froze.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing his expression change, Chu Jun thought something had gone wrong with his body again. He very naturally took Ning Buwei’s wrist and began to take his pulse.
“Did you remember something?” Ning Buwei finally realized what seemed off.
Given how polite they had been with each other before, Chu Jun would have to be out of his mind to enter his sea of consciousness carrying their son in the middle of the night, then split half his primordial spirit to control his body and come find him—given Chu Jun’s personality, he wouldn’t care about these things at all.
“Remember what?” Chu Jun frowned slightly.
Ning Buwei stared at him suspiciously, cleared his throat, and said, “Nothing.”
But Chu Jun didn’t let go of his hand.
A moment later, their spiritual consciousnesses returned to their bodies.
Ning Buwei instantly felt a wave of fatigue sweeping through his entire being, from his very soul. He felt too lazy to even move a finger. Then, a stream of crimson spiritual energy from his dantian began to help regulate the chaotic spiritual energy and true qi throughout his body.
Ning Buwei lifted his eyelids to glance at Chu Jun, only to realize that more than half of his body was leaning against him. But he was too lazy to move. “Can you handle splitting your primordial spirit in two across such a long distance?”
“Mm.” Chu Jun continued helping him regulate his true qi, then paused before saying, “I’m not tired now.”
Ning Buwei, too exhausted to move: “……”
But he had been affected by the Hehuan Fragrance, so it was normal for him to be tired.
The great demon instantly felt at ease. Chu Jun’s body still carried a faint bitter scent, subtly lingering around them. Ning Buwei had thought of half a rebuttal, but then fell into a deep sleep.
Chu Jun turned his head slightly, his gaze falling on Ning Buwei’s handsome face. Even in sleep, there was still a hint of ferocity between his brows that wouldn’t dissipate. His jaw was tense, as if he was ready to fight someone at any moment.
His originally well-fastened collar had become somewhat disheveled, revealing the white inner clothing, which still bore half a lipstick mark from a woman… Chu Jun’s gaze paused, finding the lipstick mark jarring and the scent of powder on Ning Buwei very irritating. He casually formed a cleansing spell, thoroughly washing the sleeping man from head to toe, not missing a single hair, before finally withdrawing his hand.
As for those disheveled clothes—his calm gaze swept briefly over Ning Buwei’s half-exposed chest.
Letting him stay cool wouldn’t hurt.
****
At Wushi Sect.
Shen Xi grabbed the person on the ground and said harshly, “Are you sure you saw clearly?”
“I saw it clearly! It was Ning Buwei who did it!” The emaciated person said weakly, “Shen Ze had his eye on a Jade Spirit Pill in the possession of a pair of siblings and harbored evil intentions… He took them to the rear hall of the Shangong Department to torture them… Ning Buwei came to rescue them.”
Shen Xi frowned and said, “How do you know it was Ning Buwei?”
Lu Ze grinned, “If Elder Shen doesn’t believe me… you can search my soul. You’ll know at a glance.”
Shen Xi stared at him, her expression unreadable.
“Doesn’t Elder Shen want to avenge your brother?” Lu Ze chuckled, “…Shen Ze died so miserably. Half his head was chopped off, his eyeballs staring at me, brains spilled all over the ground…”
Shen Xi gripped her sword tightly, “A few days ago you were still incoherent, but now you suddenly say you remember. It’s an indisputable fact that Shen Ze is dead, yet you deliberately use the manner of his death to provoke me. Tell me! Who’s really behind this, pulling your strings!?”
Lu Shen just stared at her and smiled, “Don’t you really want to avenge your brother? I’m the only living person who was there… Shen Ze’s death was a joy to many, but I don’t want those siblings to live either… Why should I be the only one suffering! Hahaha, let’s all die together!”
Shen Xi’s expression gradually became solemn, a soul-searching array appearing in her palm.
At Yijian Peak.
“I miss Father a bit.” Jiang Yizheng was perched in a tree picking fruit. She reached for a big one and threw it to Feng Zizhang below. “When do you think he’ll come back?”
“I don’t know,” Feng Zizhang caught the fruit, wiped it on his clothes, and took a bite. “But with little brother and the Venerable here, he’ll definitely come back.”
“But when I used to be in Linjiang, my mother always said that in the outside world full of temptations, men can easily become captivated by the allure of a woman’s gentle warmth, pleasing scent, and delicate beauty, and then they don’t want to come home anymore.” Jiang Yizheng sighed worriedly, as if she could see the image of her father indulging in wine and women, embracing beauties. She couldn’t help but wring her hands and sigh.
“Father definitely wouldn’t do that.” Feng Zizhang asserted confidently. “I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful than the Venerable. It’s just like how after we’ve tasted rare delicacies, we can’t get used to wild berries anymore. Those little vixens out there surely wouldn’t catch our father’s eye.”
Jiang Yizheng suddenly realized something. She took a bite of the wild berry she was holding and said, “But wasn’t it you who just said that eating spiritual fish was a bit greasy, so you wanted to pick some wild berries to cut the greasiness?”
Feng Zizhang: “……”
“Hah, men.” Jiang Yizheng snorted.
Feng Zizhang munched on a fruit, attempting to salvage his point. “It doesn’t matter. The Venerable is not only good-looking, but also powerful in mana.”
This time, it was Jiang Yizheng’s turn to remain silent. Feng Zizhang chuckled, “I’m still quite clever—”
Jiang Yizheng, standing on the tree, squinted her eyes and looked towards the horizon. “Zizhang, is that person Chu Xin?”
Since they had met once before the grand ceremony of emerging from seclusion, Chu Xin had never come to Yijian Peak again. Venerable Jinghe didn’t allow them to leave Yijian Peak either. Apart from sending letters to Chu Xin, there was no other way. They had sent a few through others, but the messenger relayed Chu Xin’s words, telling them to stop sending letters.
Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng didn’t understand what had happened and had been puzzled for a long time.
“It really seems to be Chu Xin!” Feng Zizhang’s eyes lit up, and a very happy smile appeared on his face. However, this smile gradually faded as he saw the appearance of the approaching person more clearly.
Chu Xin was still Chu Xin, but he seemed to have become a different person. He was wearing the uniform of the Wushi Sect disciples, his expression gloomy. He descended on his sword in front of them.
“Chu Xin, you’re here!” Jiang Yizheng, standing on the tree, hadn’t noticed his expression. She happily jumped down from the tree and was about to approach him, but Feng Zizhang grabbed her arm.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Yizheng was confused.
Feng Zizhang pulled her behind him and looked at Chu Xin.
Chu Xin asked with a gloomy face, “Where is Senior Li?”
Jiang Yizheng finally sensed that something was off. Probably also feeling guilty, she laughed dryly and said, “Chu Xin, what’s wrong with you? Why haven’t you come to see us for so long?”
Chu Xin stared at her with an unfriendly gaze. “Where did Li Chengfeng go?”
“We don’t know either,” Feng Zizhang said. “Do you have business with him?”
Chu Xin’s hand inside his sleeve clenched and then relaxed. After a pause, he said, “It’s nothing. I’ll leave first.”
As he was about to leave, Feng Zizhang frowned and said, “Chu Xin, what exactly happened?”
“What happened?” Chu Xin chuckled softly. “I considered you as friends, but what about you?”
Without waiting for Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng to answer, he suddenly stepped closer. “You knew that Li Chengfeng was Ning Buwei, yet you still accepted this villain as your father! His evil deeds are clear as day, yet you still shield him! Is this what the Four Seasons Hall and Yunzhong Sect taught you!?”
Feng Zizhang’s face turned pale. “Things… are not as you think. My father, he—”
“Hah, your father?” Chu Xin sneered. “You only accepted him as your father to save your own skins!”
Jiang Yizheng tried to explain, “Chu Xin, he’s actually not as bad as you think. Don’t you remember? In Linjiang City—”
“Don’t talk to me about Linjiang City!” Chu Xin interrupted her. “I wish I had never met you!”
Jiang Yizheng stood there stunned, looking at Chu Xin in disbelief.
“From today on, our friendship ends here!” Chu Xin drew his sword and drew a line on the ground. He said word by word, “The next time we meet, you will be the demon’s people, and we will be mortal enemies!”
After saying this, he jumped on his flying sword and left without looking back.
Feng Zizhang and Jiang Yizheng stood there looking at each other in bewilderment, unaware that two faint green lights had silently crept into the back of their necks.
The wind howled, and snow began to fall again. Chu Xin landed in the snow at the cliff he had been visiting daily. Seeing that familiar figure, his heart, previously full of indignation, suddenly calmed down.
“I thought you wouldn’t come today,” Chu Xin said, putting away his sword and walking to his side to watch the snow together.
“I promised to bring you peach blossom wine today,” Xie Jiu smiled, taking out a small jar of wine from his sleeve and handing it to him.
Chu Xin took it, opened it, and took a big gulp against the wind, wiping his mouth hard. “I just went to see them.”
“Your two friends?” Xie Jiu asked.
“They’re not anymore,” Chu Xin turned to look at him. “You were right. They can’t be considered my friends at all. We don’t share the same path.”
Xie Jiu reached out and patted his head, comforting him, “It’s alright. You’ll surely meet true friends in the future.”
“Like you?” Chu Xin asked.
Xie Jiu’s expression froze for a moment, then he smiled again. “I’m not a qualified friend.”
Chu Xin shook his head. “You’re already very good. You… are the only one who believes me.”
Even Senior Sister Shen didn’t believe him when he said Li Chengfeng was Ning Buwei.
“You guessed right. Ning Buwei has already left Yijian Peak,” Chu Xin said glumly. “Senior Sister told me that Master and my fellow disciples might not have been killed by Ning Buwei…”
Xie Jiu said softly, “But can there really be such a coincidence in this world? He had just arrived, and your Master was killed. I’ve heard that his Soul-Devouring Array can kill people without a trace.”
Chu Xin’s previously hesitant expression instantly became determined. After finishing a whole jar of wine, he looked towards the distant mountains. “I’m going down the mountain to gain experience.”
Xie Jiu feigned surprise, “Why did you suddenly decide to go down the mountain?”
“You enlightened me before. It’s useless to just wallow in grief. Tempering myself is the most important thing,” Chu Xin said. “It just so happens that Senior Sister Shen Xi is going down the mountain to participate in the Canghai Tower’s Dao Discussion Conference. I can go with her.”
“What a coincidence,” Xie Jiu said.
“What’s a coincidence?” Chu Xin asked, confused.
“Canghai Tower invited me to be their chef the day before yesterday. The spirit stones are double what Wushi Sect offers,” Xie Jiu smiled. “I was hesitating whether to go because of the long journey. Would I have the honor of traveling with you?”
Chu Xin nodded and smiled, “Of course!”
At Yijian Peak.
Ning Xiu let out a small yawn and rubbed his eyes. “Ah~”
Mother~
Usually, he only had to call out once and Bai Bai would come to hug him, but today when he woke up and called, there was no hug.
He lay in bed staring at the tassel on the bedpost for a while, then blinked. “Ah~”
Mother, I’m awake~
Bai Bai still didn’t come to hug him.
The little yellow dog sleeping next to him was awakened by the noise. It walked over on the blanket, its wet nose nuzzling his little face. “Woof~”
“Ah?” Ning Xiu reached out and scratched its fur.
Where’s Mother?
“Woof woof!” The little yellow dog wagged its tail at him, then barked twice towards the screen.
He’s meditating behind the screen!
Ning Xiu rolled over and got up, crawling on all fours towards the screen.
The bed was quite high. The little yellow dog wagged its tail, ran to the edge of the bed to block him, and pushed him back with its small head. “Woof woof~”
Too dangerous~
“Ah!” Ning Xiu crawled forward, not giving up.
I want to find Mother!
As the child and the dog wrestled, the person behind the screen still showed no reaction. Just as Ning Xiu was about to fall off the bed, the little yellow dog transformed. A huge yellow dog appeared in the room, and Ning Xiu crawled down from the bed onto the big yellow dog’s fluffy back. “Ta!”
Yellow Yellow got bigger!
“Whine~” Big Yellow wagged its tail helplessly.
Ning Xiu played with Big Yellow for a while, then suddenly became interested in its sharp teeth. Big Yellow had to open its mouth wide to let him examine its teeth. The little one had half his body inside the dog’s mouth.
Chu Jun came out from behind the screen. Although he knew this dog was his son’s contracted spirit beast, he was still shocked by the horrifying scene before him.
He reached out to take his son out of the dog’s mouth and cast a cleaning spell to wash away the saliva on Ning Xiu’s body.
“Ah?” Ning Xiu saw Chu Jun and thought Bai Bai mother looked a bit strange. He reached out to pinch his reddened ears and curiously asked, “Aya?”
Mother, why are your ears so red?
Why is there sweat on the tip of your nose?
Chu Jun’s half-consciousness had just returned from Ning Buwei’s sea of consciousness, and his breathing was still a bit unsteady. With his son pinching his ears, he felt they were getting even hotter.
Although he couldn’t understand what Ning Xiu was saying, he strangely understood his son’s curious gaze. He coughed lightly and said, “You don’t understand.”
“Ah~” Ning Xiu reached out his little hand and patted the tip of his nose.
Wiping mother’s sweat~
Chu Jun pinched his soft little hand and looked thoughtfully at the red string on his son’s wrist.
“Ya!” Ning Xiu saw him looking at the little bell and proudly shook it, making the bell produce a clear, pleasant sound.
It sounds nice!
A hint of a smile flashed in Chu Jun’s eyes. “Mm.”
****
Leyuan City, Zhongzhou.
Except when severely injured and unconscious, Ning Buwei usually meditated through the entire night. He hadn’t expected that he could sleep so peacefully.
“Awake?” Chu Jun’s voice sounded from beside him.
Ning Buwei sat up and turned his somewhat stiff neck. The scenes from last night’s unexpected events flashed through his mind one by one.
Hehuan Fragrance…Chu Jun….shenjiao…
His neck suddenly became somewhat difficult to turn.
“Last night,” Ning Buwei reached out and touched his nose, saying to Chu Jun. “I was affected by the Hehuan Fragrance, and I pulled you… and acted foolishly. I’m sorry.”
Chu Jun noticed that as soon as he woke up, he was eager to distance himself. His eyes darkened slightly, “Acting foolishly?”
Ning Buwei didn’t look at him, lowering his head to sort through last night’s spoils, stuffing magical treasures and spirit stones into his storage ring. Preparing to take advantage of the secret realm that hadn’t been fully explored to gather more treasures, he deliberately changed the subject. “How did you come to Leyuan City?”
“To find a way to stabilize Ning Xiu’s soul with you.” Chu Jun gave him an irrefusable reason, “I am also Ning Xiu’s father.”
Ning Buwei said, “I have some connections with Sang Yun from the Canghai Tower. I asked her for help, but only got the divination phrase ‘scattered in four directions’.”
Chu Jun seemed thoughtful, “Sang Yun’s divinations are never empty. What did she ask from you?”
“A set of precious Zhenlong chess from this secret realm.” Ning Buwei tidied his clothes and stood up, saying, “After giving her this chess set, I should be able to get half a divination phrase more. I’ll send you a message then.”
He didn’t want to directly send Chu Jun away, so he could only subtly remind him that they should act separately.
However, Chu Jun was very straightforward. “Your cultivation is limited now. What if you encounter a situation like last night again?”
Ning Buwei choked, “Last night I was just careless and fell for those three sisters’ trap—”
“Ning Chengfeng.” Chu Jun suddenly called his full name.
The painful memories of being punished by Chu Jun to do horse stance, copy sword manuals, and being dragged by the back of his neck to the self-reflection pavilion in his youth all rushed to his mind. Even though Ning Buwei now acted recklessly and went against conventions, hearing Chu Jun call him by this name still instinctively made his scalp tingle.
What’s more, last night they had been intimately entangled in “shenjiao”, so this call now carried an inexplicable sense of ambiguity and tenderness, like a light feather tickling Ning Buwei’s ear.
The great demon was unprecedentedly frustrated and conflicted. He didn’t want to be with Chu Jun and let this ice block control him everywhere, yet he subconsciously wanted to keep him within his own territory to watch over…
Ning Buwei raised an eyebrow and looked at him, unconsciously adopting a provocative tone, “What?”
“Your front lapel is buttoned wrong,” Chu Jun said softly.
Ning Buwei: “……”
This person is so annoying.
