“Do not go with him!” Ji Huixue’s voice was cold and stern, devoid of any fear. “I would like to see if he truly has the nerve to kill me here.”
Only at this moment did Ji Huixue reveal the pride inherent in being the Chief Disciple of the Guanlan Sect. Unfortunately, Xie Ling did not bother to respond. He merely spared a glance at Yin Huizhi.
Yin Huizhi knew Xie Ling was making him choose. It was true that Ji Huixue’s cultivation at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage was far superior to Xie Ling’s. No matter how many magical artifacts or tricks Xie Ling had up his sleeve, he would not actually take Ji Huixue’s life here.
But if a real conflict broke out, Ji Huixue would undoubtedly suffer. Moreover, the various immortal sects would eventually learn that Ji Huixue had escaped confinement to be with a fugitive like himself. What was the point?
Yin Huizhi turned and looked directly at Ji Huixue. “Senior Brother, I am no longer a disciple of the Guanlan Sect. From now on, please do not concern yourself with my affairs anymore.”
Hearing Yin Huizhi’s words, Ji Huixue’s habitually polite face distorted for an instant. He gritted his teeth and said, “Yin Huizhi, are you determined to infuriate me to death?”
Yin Huizhi remained silent. Ji Huixue continued, “Are you really going to drive me away just because of a word from this demonic practitioner?”
Yin Huizhi shook his head. “No. Even if he had not appeared today, I would still do this. Senior Brother, you should not have come here to find me in the first place.”
A look of pain appeared in Ji Huixue’s eyes. “But Ah Yin, I cannot”
“Ji Huixue, go home early.” Yin Huizhi gently interrupted him, not letting him finish. He turned his head and said to Xie Ling, “Let us go.”
“Yin Huizhi!” Ji Huixue shouted behind him, leaning weakly against the doorframe. “The shared second character of our names predates our meeting; it was destined that our paths would never truly diverge in this life. I cannot ignore you!”
The twenty-third generation of personal disciples of Guanlan used the character “Hui” for their generation, originating from the “Generation Book” handwritten by the Guanlan Ancestor when the sect was founded. Their past was their surname, Guanlan was their root, and only the third character truly belonged to them.
On the day he was accepted as a disciple, Jiang Ruxian had told him that this was the heritage of the twelve inner peaks and the unbreakable bond between each generation of personal disciples. Joy, suffering, and responsibility: they were meant to face and bear them together.
Yin Huizhi paused in his tracks. After a long silence, he spoke. “Then I no longer want that character.”
Ji Huixue froze in place, his throat too tight to make a sound. Standing nearby, Xie Ling smiled, clearly enjoying the drama. He offered a suggestion: “How about I give you a new name?”
Ji Huixue’s expression turned grim, and he looked at Xie Ling with dark fury. “Master Xie, one who commits many injustices will surely bring about their own destruction.”
Xie Ling looked at him with an unreadable expression and said softly, “Is that so? Unfortunately, I do not believe in that.”
“Move,” Yin Huizhi said, tugging at Xie Ling’s sleeve. His tone was so hurried it almost sounded like a command. Xie Ling did not seem to mind. He allowed himself to be pulled out of the inn and finally stopped at the mouth of an alley.
Xie Ling pinched the pendant at Yin Huizhi’s waist, observing his expression. “You really are not polite to me at all.”
Yin Huizhi lifted his eyelids and spoke with a pointed edge. “Oh? Am I not the ‘son of your old friend’? Why should I be polite to you?”
Xie Ling gave a light hum and a laugh but offered no further comment. They both tacitly avoided discussing meaningless things: such as Yin Huizhi’s deception and abrupt departure, or Xie Ling’s deception and hollow affectations.
“When I was nine years old, I almost died,” Yin Huizhi suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. He did not consider whether Xie Ling already knew. He simply began the story without context. “That year, the Tianye Sect nearly slaughtered everyone in the Ouyang Manor. Because Ouyang Yi had locked me in the cellar, I survived by a stroke of luck, but I was also nearly killed by the toxic miasma.”
“The manor was drenched in blood and filled with corpses. The Guanlan Sect disciples scanned the area with spirit-seeking stones and were ready to retreat. Ji Huixue stood up in opposition, saying they had to conduct a manual search. He argued that the spirit stones only proved there were no living cultivators left; what if there were still ordinary people alive?”
“He was not the Chief Disciple back then, just a slightly more talented inner disciple,” Yin Huizhi smiled and continued. “The disciples with him thought he was out of his mind, saying that since the experts of the Ouyang Manor were all dead, how could any mortals still be alive?”
“No one was willing to go, so Ji Huixue charged into the miasma alone. Through the seven layers of the sprawling estate, he searched room by room, all by himself, until he finally pulled me out of that cellar.”
Yin Huizhi pulled himself back from the memory and looked at Xie Ling. “So even if my Sect Uncle wants me dead and my Master has abandoned me, I am still willing to call Ji Huixue my Senior Brother. And even though there are times when I cannot agree with his ideals from the bottom of my heart, I am still willing to do as he wishes.”
Xie Ling summarized for him, “You are telling me all this to show me how important he is to you, begging me not to hurt him.”
A rare flash of youthful cunning appeared in Yin Huizhi’s usually calm and restrained eyes. He was somewhat pleased that Xie Ling had guessed wrong. “Not at all.”
His tone did not seem fake. The mockery that had reached Xie Ling’s lips retreated. “Then what are you trying to say?”
“I wanted to say that the debt of saving my life carries a lot of weight for me,” Yin Huizhi tilted his head slightly. “Xie Ling, there is no need for you to fabricate stories about being the ‘son of an old friend.’ You have also saved me.”
Twice.
If you had told me the truth and revealed your purpose, I might not have refused you. Xie Ling easily read the unspoken words behind the sentence. He stared into those light brown eyes for a few seconds before uttering four cold words: “Clever to a fault.”
Yin Huizhi: “…”
Had it been before, he would have remained silent now. But at this moment, a sudden realization struck him; he felt he had hit Xie Ling’s sore spot. Xie Ling’s persistent entanglement with him was surely driven by a purpose. But why was Xie Ling so unwilling to explain, instead weaving a web of nonsense to cover it up?
Either Xie Ling knew that the matter would violate Yin Huizhi’s principles and lead to a certain refusal, or it was something Xie Ling personally found difficult to speak of. If it were only the former, it would likely be something that harmed the peace of the cultivation world or persecuted the innocent. But in such a case, what utility would Yin Huizhi provide? If it were the latter, it would be much more logical. But what could possibly make a unique creature like Xie Ling feel it was hard to speak of?
“What are you thinking about?” Xie Ling unceremoniously interrupted his drifting thoughts.
Yin Huizhi gave him a thoughtful look and shook his head. “Nothing.”
Xie Ling snorted coldly. “Do I look like a fool to you?”
Yin Huizhi thought to himself: You do not look like a fool, but you certainly look like you desperately want to know what I am thinking. He changed the subject. “What do you plan to do next?”
Xie Ling frowned at him, eventually deciding not to pursue the meaningless question. “It is up to you.”
This nonsensical answer and Xie Ling’s cooperative attitude left Yin Huizhi momentarily bewildered. “Up to me?”
“Yes,” Xie Ling emphasized, looking down at him. “Yin Huizhi, do you not think this conversation is stupid? Do you really need me to tell you what you are going to do?”
Normally, Yin Huizhi would indeed find such a content-sparse conversation stupid. But now, he was more amazed by how Xie Ling could act like a piece of clingy adhesive while righteously saying “it is up to you.” Before, he had thought Xie Ling used boundary-less talk to hide his real thoughts. But now, he suspected these might be Xie Ling’s true feelings.
“I want to” Yin Huizhi started, then stopped. Xie Ling frowned again. Yin Huizhi paused and continued, “I want to eat something.”
Xie Ling: “…”
“I have been traveling for three days and nights. The last time I ate was last night, and now I am starving”
With a dark expression, Xie Ling pulled the coin pouch from his waist and shoved it into Yin Huizhi’s hand to cut him off. “Go eat. Shut up.”
Xie Ling felt that Yin Huizhi’s words and actions had suddenly become much stupider. He found it annoying to look at and wanted some peace. He did not know that at this moment, several thoughts were crossing Yin Huizhi’s mind. Yin Huizhi had even boldly lowered his assessment of Xie Ling’s danger level, placing him back into the category of “subject for observation and testing.”
After resting for a night at the inn, Yin Huizhi’s exhausted body regained its strength. Years of a disciplined routine caused him to wake up early. He called for fresh water to wash and then looked at the wall. In the room separated by a single wall stayed Xie Ling. There was no sound from that side; it seemed the man was not yet awake.
A fleeting thought of leaving crossed Yin Huizhi’s mind, but he immediately quelled it. He had no doubt that if he left, Xie Ling would appear in front of him in the next instant. Rather than wasting effort, it was better to adopt a resigned attitude.
Yin Huizhi closed his door and returned to the room, planning to find Ouyang Yi while waiting for Xie Ling to wake for breakfast. Half an hour passed and there was still no movement next door, so Yin Huizhi called for breakfast for himself.
On the bookshelf in the room were several popular storybooks. He picked one at random and sat by the table to read. Most were stories of romance. In the past, Yin Huizhi would not have actively read them. But now, waiting for Xie Ling was so boring that he actually began to read and found some interest in them.
Seeing that Xie Ling still showed no signs of waking, Yin Huizhi picked up a new book. Upon opening the first page, his eyes widened in surprise. Unlike the previous book of fiction, this one was titled The Record of Romantic Anecdotes in the Cultivation World. The protagonist of the first story had a name Yin Huizhi knew all too well: Ji Huixue.
Prompted by the title, he initially guessed it was a confession written by a young lady who admired Ji Huixue. But after reading a few paragraphs, he realized something was wrong. The other protagonist of the story was the Peak Master of Wenjian Peak, Spiritualist Linyin, Jiang Ruxian.
At first, the plot was not too exaggerated: Jiang Ruxian was extremely caring toward the young disciple who had just joined his sect, teaching him everything he knew. As time passed, Ji Huixue grew into a handsome youth of extraordinary grace. Living together day and night, Jiang Ruxian gradually developed improper thoughts.
Spiritualist Linyin suffered deep moral torment because of his desire for the disciple he had raised by hand, and his Dao heart gradually became unstable. He knew that if this continued, he would eventually harm Ji Huixue, so he began to go into long-term seclusion to reduce contact. However, when Ji Huixue encountered danger, he could not stand by and watch.
In the midst of a life-and-death crisis, the two revealed their feelings. Only then did Jiang Ruxian learn that his disciple also loved him. But the Sect Leader of Guanlan did not approve of their relationship, so they eventually left the sect and became a pair of immortal companions wandering the world.
Yin Huizhi: “…”
If one were to say this was complete nonsense, the book managed to get the timing of Jiang Ruxian’s seclusions mostly correct. If one were to say it was realistic, it painted Jiang Ruxian as a man of rich inner emotions and sentimentality, and Ji Huixue as someone who could abandon the Great Dao for love. Yin Huizhi rubbed his temples and decided to read less of such things in the future. It was too taxing on the spirit.
Knock, knock, knock
The door sounded softly. Yin Huizhi quickly flipped The Record of Romantic Anecdotes in the Cultivation World toward the back before saying, “Enter.”
Although he had been expelled from the sect, letting someone know he was reading such stories about Jiang Ruxian and Ji Huixue was still too much of a test for his modesty. The person who pushed open the door was indeed Xie Ling. Xie Ling glanced at him, yawned, and said slowly, “Not bad. You did not run away this time.”
As he spoke, his brow was unconsciously furrowed, his eyes were slightly red, and the faint dark circles on his snow-white skin were obvious. He looked as if he had not slept enough. He woke up a full hour and a half later than me, yet he is still this tired, Yin Huizhi wondered to himself.
Xie Ling looked up and caught his wandering gaze. “Are you criticizing me again?”
Yin Huizhi denied it immediately. “I am not.”
Xie Ling did not bother to expose him. He yawned, walked over, and snatched the storybook from Yin Huizhi’s hand. He glanced at it, and his expression paused subtly.
Yin Huizhi explained calmly, “You woke up too late. I was bored waiting, so I took a miscellaneous book from there to read.” Seeing that Xie Ling remained silent, he walked closer in confusion. “What is”
He saw the words on the page. First, his voice caught, and then he burned with embarrassment from head to toe. On the page held by Xie Ling’s slender fingers, his own name was coupled with Ji Huixue’s.
[“Ji Huixue” pressed “Yin Huizhi” down beneath him, their breaths intertwining as the candlelight outside the bed curtains flickered red. After an unknown amount of time, “Yin Huizhi” let out a cry amidst the overwhelming surge: “Senior Senior Brother, I cannot”]
Yin Huizhi: “…”
He wanted to say something, but his mind was blank and his tongue was frozen. Xie Ling had already recovered his senses. He looked at Yin Huizhi’s burning red face and neck with a complex expression that Yin Huizhi could not understand. “You like reading this?”
Confusion slowly emerged in his eyes. “How could you like this kind of thing?”
A wave of despair washed over Yin Huizhi, his ears so red they almost dripped blood. He tried to explain: “I I did not know it was in there. I do not like it.”
Xie Ling was silent for two seconds. “I should think not.”