He possessed a beauty that could eclipse all things, yet at this moment he looked as if he might wither and fade at any time.
Kunwu opened his mouth and said, “In the three thousand worlds, with countless living beings, you never cared about any of them. But for your entire life, you’ve only been obsessed with one Lu Xiaochan. It seems Xiaochan hasn’t cured your obsession at all…”
Shu Wuxi’s gaze fell on Lu Xiaochan.
“He cured my obsession, but planted delusion instead. Give and take, gain and loss – such is the karma of this world.”
Lu Xiaochan’s eyelashes trembled as he hoarsely whispered. “Water…”
Kunwu quickly turned around, poured a cup of tea and brought it to Lu Xiaochan’s lips.
Lu Xiaochan gulped down the entire pot of tea.
He turned his face and listened intently.
“Brother Wuxi, are you still here?” The first thing Lu Xiaochan did when he opened his eyes was to look in Shu Wuxi’s direction.
This was the first time Shu Wuxi wasn’t sitting by his bedside when he opened his eyes.
The distance was so close that he could reach out and grab him, yet Lu Xiaochan felt as if they were separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, across a vast starry sky.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Why don’t you come over? I was in so much pain earlier! It felt like I was burning up!” Lu Xiaochan deliberately used a pitiful, aggrieved, and hopeful voice to speak to Shu Wuxi.
He knew that although Shu Wuxi appeared cold, he was soft-hearted towards him and would grant his every request.
He watched as Shu Wuxi’s shoulders leaned slightly forward, as if he was about to stand up and walk towards him.
All of Lu Xiaochan’s pain disappeared, filled with joy at the thought of smelling Shu Wuxi’s scent. But Shu Wuxi tightened his fingers and remained motionless.
His heart suddenly felt empty.
“…Brother Wuxi?”
What’s wrong with you?
Why aren’t you coming to my side?
Kunwu immediately looked at Shu Wuxi and said coldly, “The thing you wanted to hide no longer has any meaning. You were afraid he would remember the pain of being burned by karmic fire and leave you, but now he has truly experienced it!”
“Karmic fire… what karmic fire?” Lu Xiaochan frowned deeply.
He knew that Shu Wuxi and Kunwu had been hiding something from him all along.
Shu Wuxi looked at Kunwu. “You go out, I’ll tell him.”
Kunwu hesitated, “I want to stay here to watch over him.”
After a long while, Shu Wuxi finally spoke, “The karmic fire is what just burned you.”
Lu Xiaochan suddenly remembered the heart-wrenching pain from earlier. Fear struck him, and he immediately shrank into the corner, not daring to make a sound. It was as if breathing out would cause him to burn again.
Shu Wuxi looked at him, his voice turning cold. “What burned you wasn’t the karmic fire, it was me. This is why I don’t let you touch me. I am the trigger for the karmic fire’s burning.”
Lu Xiaochan curled up there, only knowing that the pain made him wish he had never come into this world.
“Are you afraid of me now?” Shu Wuxi asked.
In his icy voice, there was a despair that seemed to be approaching its end.
It was as if Lu Xiaochan’s single answer could shatter him.
Kunwu knew, he understood that answer, but he still had to ask.
“Afraid of you for what?” Lu Xiaochan raised his face.
“Afraid of being burned to death because of me. Being consumed by karmic fire is the ultimate torture in this world, even immortals and sages can’t endure it.”
Shu Wuxi’s voice grew colder and colder.
This was the first time Lu Xiaochan heard Shu Wuxi speak to him in such a tone.
A kind of fear surged into his heart, permeating his very bones.
Kunwu looked at Shu Wuxi and saw no spiritual energy in him, like a dried-up spring or withered grass and trees, as if he only wanted to embrace death.
Kunwu’s heart sank. He had a terrifying thought – if Lu Xiaochan said he was afraid of him, Shu Wuxi would destroy his elixir core and vanish into ashes.
This was the only way for Shu Wuxi to not suppress his own desires and also eliminate Lu Xiaochan’s karmic fire.
But if Shu Wuxi died, who would control that Wuyi Sword Sea?
To Shu Wuxi, all the living beings in the world were as meaningless as dust.
Kunwu looked at Lu Xiaochan, fearing he would say he was afraid. If that happened, with the Wuyi Sword Sea collapsing, how many living beings would survive?
Lu Xiaochan looked at Shu Wuxi before him, as if by staring hard enough, he could retain the spiritual energy around him.
“I… I’ve said before… I don’t care if I can see the clouds stretch for thousands of miles, I don’t care about poetry and wine through the years, I just want to always be able to see you…”
May you never leave or abandon me.
Lu Xiaochan’s tears fell as he kept wiping his face.
He had no parents, no one cared about his life or death. To the world, he was as insignificant as a speck of dust, but in Shu Wuxi’s heart, he must be very important.
Kunwu was stunned.
At that moment, Shu Wuxi’s dimmed spiritual light burst forth, like a phoenix reborn, heading towards the blazing sun.
He came before Lu Xiaochan, his eyes fixed on him like a spark in the dark shadows, an unquenchable obsession.
“Xiaochan, stay right here! I need to leave for a while to fetch something. I’ll be back soon.”
“Where are you going?!” Lu Xiaochan reached out to grab him, but Shu Wuxi turned his face away.
“I won’t abandon you. When I return, you’ll be able to touch me.”
Kunwu was extremely surprised.
There was no way to eliminate the karmic fire. Was Shu Wuxi planning to leave Xiaochan?
“You’re lying to me, aren’t you?” Lu Xiaochan’s heart sank. This was the first time since meeting Shu Wuxi that he had said he would leave him.
Shu Wuxi smiled faintly, raised his wrist, and the Immortal-Locking Ribbon gracefully rose, brushing Lu Xiaochan’s cheek as if Shu Wuxi’s fingers were wiping away his tears.
“When I say I’ll return, I definitely will.”
Shu Wuxi turned and left.
Lu Xiaochan felt a sudden emptiness in his heart. He kept pulling tightly on the Immortal-Locking Ribbon, but apart from its jingling sound, he couldn’t hold onto Shu Wuxi.
“Xiaochan, I leave three sword intents with you to protect you in my stead. Kunwu, watch over him. I’ll be back for him in no less than half a month, no more than a month.”
“Where are you going? What are you going to get?!”
Kunwu chased after him, but Shu Wuxi had already vanished with his godlike speed.
He turned back and saw the extinguished incense burner on the table. He immediately lit it. He had to know which medical classic Shu Wuxi had last looked at.
Beiming’s chapter ‘Lord Lingyuan Medical Classic’.
— In Beiming, there is a spirit beast named Lie. It sheds its skin every thousand years, the coldest thing in the world. If made into a bone-clinging garment, it can ward off all evil spirits and karmic fire in the world.
Kunwu closed his eyes and slammed his fist on the table.
Although Lie was a spirit beast, it had a perverse nature.
Shu Wuxi had just had his thousand-year spiritual energy rebound on his elixir core, and his immortal sword was left in Wuyi Jingtian. If Lie refused to give him its shed skin, he would surely have to confront Lie head-on!
After Shu Wuxi left, what if he was no match for Lie?
Lu Xiaochan was still pulling on the Immortal-Locking Ribbon, feeling a wave of frustration.
“Senior Brother! Senior Brother! Quickly call him back for me!”
He had already rushed to the door, but Kunwu hurriedly pulled him back.
“Xiaochan! We can’t catch up to him. The Immortal-Locking Ribbon binds souls, not physical bodies. So no matter where he goes, he’s still connected to you.”
Lu Xiaochan paused, then sat back down on the bed.
Kunwu sighed and sat down in front of him.
“Xiaochan, don’t you want to know… what’s really going on with the karmic fire on your body?”
“He said I helped him overcome a tribulation. This karmic fire is his tribulation, isn’t it?”
“Yes. He is…”
“You don’t need to tell me. If he didn’t tell me, it means he doesn’t want me to know. What he doesn’t want me to know, I won’t think about.”
Lu Xiaochan answered very seriously.
Kunwu exhaled and patted Lu Xiaochan’s shoulder. “Then stay here, don’t run around, and wait for him to return.”
“Mm.”
Kunwu lowered his head, suddenly thinking, “You are not a fish, how do you know the joy of fish?”
Even if one could never break through to the “great power” realm because of attachments, as long as the heart is content, isn’t anywhere a paradise?
Since Shu Wuxi left, Lu Xiaochan would meditate every day under the thousand-year-old locust tree in the Tailing Pavilion.
Kunwu was glad to see him practicing seriously, so he assigned a young medicine apprentice, Qingyao, to keep Lu Xiaochan company.
When he had nothing to do, Qingyao would take Lu Xiaochan around and look after his daily needs.
Shu Wuxi’s departure seemed to have no effect on Lu Xiaochan’s mood. After finishing his daily practice, Lu Xiaochan would practice some minor immortal techniques with Qingyao, folding leaves into cricket shapes and having great fun battling them.
When cricket fighting became boring, Lu Xiaochan would weave small cats and dogs from spirit vines. They would scratch and climb trees in Kunwu’s immortal herb garden, with Qingyao chasing after them, trying to catch them.
Lu Xiaochan kept making more and more, angering Kunwu so much that he directly used his spiritual energy to make the cats and dogs disappear.
“You’re so mischievous, do you believe Shu Wuxi will spank your hands when he returns!” Kunwu brought up Shu Wuxi, hoping Lu Xiaochan would behave.
Lu Xiaochan chuckled. “Do you believe that when Brother Wuxi returns and learns you made all my cats and dogs disappear, he’ll spank your hands?”
Kunwu was speechless, pointing at Lu Xiaochan. “Get out! You can mess up anything else, but don’t mess up my immortal herb garden!”
The immortal herb garden was locked up, and Lu Xiaochan couldn’t enter anymore. He became obsessed with folding paper people, imbuing them with spiritual energy. These paper people’s actions and words were just like Shu Wuxi’s, accompanying Lu Xiaochan as he ate and slept.
Walking into Shu Wuxi’s quiet room, one would see Lu Xiaochan lying lazily on a paper person’s lap, with paper people combing his hair and putting on his shoes. Lu Xiaochan never dared to do anything to the real Shu Wuxi, so he “bullied” each of these paper people in turn.
Even Kunwu felt embarrassed seeing this, wondering if this counted as being fickle in love.
If Shu Wuxi returned, he wouldn’t punish Lu Xiaochan, but he would certainly blame Kunwu for not managing Lu Xiaochan properly.
Seven days later, while refining medicine, Kunwu received a letter by flying phoenix from Zhao Ziqian, the head of Luoshui Ravine. His wife was about to give birth, but due to an evil spirit infiltrating Luoshui Ravine and injuring her true essence, both mother and child’s lives were in danger.
Kunwu hurriedly packed his things. Out of sight, out of mind for that little demon Lu Xiaochan!
He took his elixirs, summoned his spirit beast Jiu Yao, and rushed to Luoshui Ravine.
After playing with paper people all day, Lu Xiaochan found it boring.
How could they compare to the real Shu Wuxi?
He propped his chin up, thinking he should practice diligently. If his skills improved, he wouldn’t hold Shu Wuxi back in the future.
“Qingyao! Qingyao!” Lu Xiaochan called out.
The Tailing Pavilion had layered spaces, and Lu Xiaochan always lost his way. Every time he went to meditate under the thousand-year-old locust tree, he needed Qingyao to guide him.
Qingyao opened the door and walked in with his head lowered.
“What are your instructions, Mastial Uncle?”
Since Lu Xiaochan called Kunwu “Senior Brother,” and Qingyao was Kunwu’s disciple, he naturally addressed Lu Xiaochan as “Martial Uncle.”
Lu Xiaochan sat cross-legged on the bed, propping up his chin and looking at Qingyao. His fingertips tapped his knee several times before he smiled and said, “Let’s go! Let’s go practice!”
“Yes, Martial Uncle.”
Lu Xiaochan followed Qingyao out.
Qingyao walked in front, with Lu Xiaochan behind him. When Qingyao wasn’t paying attention, Lu Xiaochan suddenly turned into another space.
This space happened to be the Medicine Pavilion, where numerous medical cultivators and apprentices were organizing spiritual herbs.
Lu Xiaochan could see the spiritual energy on everyone. He rushed to the side of a medical cultivator with the most abundant spiritual energy.
This cultivator’s name seemed to be Ziqiao, one of Kunwu’s disciples.
Ziqiao was about to bow. “Martial Uncle…”
“Why bother with such formalities! Let me tell you, Qingyao has been possessed by an evil spirit! I saw that the spiritual light around him is all dark and gloomy! Completely different from a few days ago!”
Just as Lu Xiaochan finished speaking, Qingyao walked in and respectfully said, “Martial Uncle, did I walk too fast for you to keep up?”
Lu Xiaochan stepped back. He had noticed the dark energy around Qingyao earlier in the room, but since he was alone then and no one had taught him how to exorcise evil spirits, Lu Xiaochan didn’t dare to expose it rashly.
Qingyao didn’t act in the quiet room, probably intending to lead Lu Xiaochan somewhere. Suppressing his unease, Lu Xiaochan seized the opportunity to come to a place with many medical cultivators, thinking that there’s strength in numbers.
Now, the dark energy had completely enveloped Qingyao, not a trace of his original spiritual energy could be seen.
Ziqiao, beside Lu Xiaochan, lowered his head and whispered, “Martial Uncle, you’re overthinking. This is the Tailing Pavilion, evil spirits and demons can’t enter here.”
Qingyao smiled slightly.
“Martial Uncle, are you bored with the paper people and want the senior and junior brothers to play with you?”
In the past few days, the cats and dogs Lu Xiaochan had created had caused quite a ruckus. With Qingyao’s words, the disciples in the Medicine Pavilion all thought Lu Xiaochan was playing around again.
“I’m not playing around! He really has been possessed by an evil spirit! Why can’t you see it!”
Lu Xiaochan was anxious, but Ziqiao gripped Lu Xiaochan’s hand, smiling as he said, “Martial Uncle, if you want to play, wait until we’re done with our work.”
Ziqiao’s fingers tightened slightly, and Lu Xiaochan immediately understood, smiling as he said, “Alright, I’ll wait here for you to finish your work and play with me!”
Qingyao quickly stepped forward. “Senior Brother Ziqiao, Master instructed before he left that Martial Uncle should practice diligently.”
Ziqiao turned around unhurriedly, slowly opening a medicine cabinet. “There’s no rush to practice…”
As soon as he finished speaking, Ziqiao suddenly pushed Lu Xiaochan into the medicine cabinet. Ziqiao shouted loudly, “Martial Uncle, run quickly! Go to Master’s quiet room!”
Lu Xiaochan fell through, dropping into another space.
He felt like crying but had no tears. He had no idea where he was! How could he find Kunwu’s quiet room?
Meanwhile, in the Medicine Pavilion, all the medical cultivators turned to face Qingyao.
Ziqiao coldly rebuked. “Audacious evil spirit! How dare you intrude into the Tailing Pavilion! This is simply…”
Before he could finish, Qingyao’s lips curled into a sinister smile. “Simply courting death? These clichés, how is it that after thousands of years, there’s still no originality?”
“Force it to leave Qingyao’s body!”
At Ziqiao’s command, over a dozen medical cultivators quickly formed a formation. Several streams of spiritual light connected, wind swirling like blade edges. A great exorcism spell converged from all directions, instantly trapping Qingyao within.
Qingyao threw his head back and laughed loudly.
“Kunwu’s disciples are becoming more and more useless! So many people, and you can only form such a weak spell!”
Suddenly, black evil energy extended from Qingyao’s body like a dark tide, destroying the exorcism spell formed by the dozen or so people.
Ziqiao and the other disciples held their ground, forming the spell again. But before they could complete it, the black evil energy, thick as ink, transformed into a giant black scythe. With one sweep, the spell formation shattered, and all the disciples were injured internally.
Ziqiao coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“Don’t let it escape—”
But Qingyao had already flown to the medicine cabinet and jumped in. Ziqiao cried out in alarm. “Martial Uncle—”
The other disciples were all severely injured, some completely unconscious.
Gritting his teeth, Ziqiao released his last bit of spiritual energy. It transformed into a blue bird, breaking through the Qingxu Peak above the Medicine Pavilion, dispersing into countless spiritual feathers scattered in all directions.
“Senior Brother…” Another disciple crawled towards Ziqiao, “Master has gone far… Even if you sent out a signal… no one can come to save us…”
Ziqiao closed his eyes tightly. “Before Master left… I heard him mention…the spirit beast of the Qianqiu Pavilion Lord had gone missing and would be entering our Tailing Pavilion’s territory these days… This evil spirit has absorbed at least a thousand years of evil desires, our pavilion’s disciples can’t handle it…”
“But even if the Qianqiu Pavilion Lord is nearby… he’s always been at odds with the various immortal sects, I’m afraid he won’t care about our affairs…”
“If so, we can only do our best and leave the rest to fate…”
Meanwhile, Lu Xiaochan was running through an unknown space, but no matter how he ran, it felt like he was in a layered maze, unable to find a way out, let alone find Kunwu’s quiet room.
Qingyao’s voice came, sometimes near, sometimes far, startling Lu Xiaochan into tripping.
“Martial Uncle, where are you? Are you playing hide-and-seek with me?”
