Xian Qinglin pondered for a moment, and the things he’d never been able to make sense of before suddenly clicked into place.
If Ma Xiu really was the Sect Master’s own son, that would explain everything, why no other disciple, not even the Sect Master’s own personal disciples, ever dared to run wild in the sect the way Ma Xiu had. Ma Xiu had repeatedly violated sect rules and yet had never been expelled. Everyone had privately wondered about it, if it were merely a debt of gratitude for saving her life, given the Sect Master’s temperament, she surely wouldn’t have indulged Ma Xiu like this.
So it had been her own son all along.
Xu Yifan was somewhat shocked too.
Lan Xue was at peak late Golden Core, verging on perfection, and strikingly beautiful. And then there was Ma Xiang, Foundation Establishment cultivation, a shifty, rat-faced look about him, eyes like narrow slits, brimming with lecherous malice. By all rights, a man like that wasn’t even fit to carry the Sect Master’s shoes. And yet here the two of them were, entangled together.
Did the Sect Master have terrible taste or something?
Xu Yifan thought even that perpetually stern-faced Discipline Hall Master, who always looked like he’d just lost his wife, was still a hundred times better than Ma Xiang. Why on earth would the Sect Master…
A cold snort from inside cut off his train of thought.
“What right does he have to be mentioned in the same breath as my junior martial brothers?”
“Lan Xue, don’t take this too far.”
“Me, taking it too far?” Lan Xue narrowed her eyes, her expression a mix of agitation and fury. “It seems you’ve forgotten how he came to be. Do you need me to remind you? Do you remember how you took advantage of me while I was gravely wounded, humiliating me like that? What, have you forgotten all of that too? That child should have died long ago.”
Xu Yifan’s mouth fell open.
Xian Qinglin’s gaze sharpened slightly, staring into the room, thoughtful.
Ma Xiu had been a mistake from the moment he was born.
His very existence was proof of Lan Xue’s violation.
A constant reminder of the humiliation she’d suffered, a peak late Golden Core cultivator, and yet she’d been defiled by a mere Foundation Establishment lowlife, even left carrying his offspring.
“If he’d just been obedient, I wouldn’t have loathed him so much. But he was disgusting to his very bones, just like you, no matter what I said, he wouldn’t listen, running wild throughout the sect. I’ve wanted to strike him dead with my own hand more than once.”
Ma Xiang, apparently not expecting Lan Xue to say something like this, grew coarse with fury.
“Whatever he was, he was still your son. And now he’s dead, died an unclear, unjust death, and instead of seeking revenge for your own son, you’d rather viciously slander him like this?”
This time, Lan Xue fell silent for a long moment. “Wasn’t he just as vile as you? He always carried a shadow of you within him. No matter how I tried to guide him, he could never walk the righteous path, just like you, twisted at heart. The moment I looked at him, I felt disgusted. Whether or not I’ve slandered him, you know perfectly well in your own heart.”
“You… you…”
Overhearing this earth-shattering piece of gossip, Xu Yifan couldn’t help but transmit his voice to Xian Qinglin at once. “The Sect Master’s a real cold one!”
A trace of loss and confusion crossed Xian Qinglin’s face. After his mother had passed, the people of his family had still treated him reasonably enough, until the year he turned six, when the family had tested the younger generation’s spiritual roots. Once he’d been found to have three spiritual roots, the family had wasted no time turning against him, kicking him while he was down. Even his father, who’d doted on him dearly before, once learning of his lack of value, had started neglecting him completely.
And that was despite how deeply his father had once loved his mother.
If even his own father could turn on him like that, how much more so a sect master?
Word had it the Sect Master possessed a Mysterious Yin Constitution, an inherently cold, yin-natured physique. While such a constitution made cultivation twice as effective for half the effort, those born with it were, more often than not, emotionally distant, rarely stirred by mortal feelings.
Ma Xiu hadn’t been born out of anticipation or joy, nor had the Sect Master given birth to him willingly. Thinking of it that way, her behavior wasn’t exactly heartless either.
“This is my last warning to you, do not lay a hand on my junior martial brothers again.” Lan Xue, Lan Yue, and Lan Yang had all been brought up the mountain by the previous Sect Master as children. They’d followed their master for two hundred years, close as blood siblings, in a way Ma Xiang could never rival. “If you disregard this warning and move against them again, even though I’ve sworn a death oath, I will still take your life.”
Xian Qinglin’s brow furrowed.
Xu Yifan transmitted his voice to him. “What’s wrong?”
Xian Qinglin asked, “What’s a death oath?”
“A form of Heaven’s Dao restriction.” Xu Yifan said.
Ma Xiang, back then, had probably feared that once Lan Xue recovered and regained full clarity of mind, she would kill him. So, before her consciousness had fully returned, he’d tricked and coaxed her into swearing a death oath, forbidding her from touching him, or even having anyone else kill him on her behalf.
Once a death oath was sworn, the moment Lan Xue made any move against Ma Xiang, she would instantly suffer a backlash.
Either her cultivation would be permanently stunted.
Or she would perish on the spot.
A death oath was always one of these two outcomes.
Whichever it was, for a cultivator, the first was worse than death, and the second meant death outright.
Lan Xue slammed the door and left. Ma Xiang’s face darkened, and he cursed furiously, “That bitch.” He snatched up a nearby vase and hurled it out the door. “Bitch, bitch.”
Xu Yifan couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “You’re calling someone else a bitch?”
Ma Xiang’s expression shifted instantly, immediately wary, glancing left and right. “Who’s there? Lan Yang?”
No, that couldn’t be Lan Yang.
Ma Xiang ruled that out at once.
Lan Yang had always obeyed the Sect Master’s orders. Without solid proof, given Lan Yang’s character, he’d never sneak into Beast Spirit Peak on his own.
A wave of bad premonition suddenly surged through Ma Xiang’s chest.
Could it be someone from the sect?
Come to demand the Nether Stone Ore from him?
The room fell silent, but then the door creaked, closed shut from the inside by someone.
Someone had already entered the room, and yet he hadn’t sensed a thing.
Ma Xiang instantly felt something was very wrong, growing wary at once, releasing his spiritual sense. The grand array outside was still intact, and yet the other party had brazenly walked right into the house, either their cultivation surpassed his own, or they had some other means at their disposal.
Whatever the case, someone sneaking around like this surely hadn’t come to share a drink with him.
It had to be someone from the sect.
He hurried to open the door and flee, but his neck suddenly tightened, someone had grabbed his collar. Before Ma Xiang could even react, a tremendous force yanked him backward. He fell to the ground, and the other party, showing no restraint at all, dragged him across the floor like a dead dog, trying to pull him away from the door.
His backside and the floor were nearly grinding sparks together, Ma Xiang gritting his teeth in pain. He gathered his spiritual energy and, without regard for anything, threw a palm strike backward.
While the attacker dodged, Ma Xiang scrambled to reach for something at his waist, a signal flare, he needed to launch a signal flare, Lan Xue had only just left…
He needed to launch the flare, but why couldn’t he move?
Ma Xiang tried again, only to find that no matter how hard he strained, he couldn’t move at all.
“Don’t bother struggling.” a milky, childish voice sounded in the room. “Were you trying to launch that firework thing? Weren’t you?”
Ma Xiang: “…”
“Then why’d you stop moving?” the demonic plant cackled. “Go on, move, move. Oh, can’t move anymore, huh? Head’s buzzing pretty loud right now, isn’t it, hahahaha…”
Ma Xiang: “…”
His entire body felt as if it had been pinned in place, even his lips refusing to obey him, unable to make a single sound.
The demonic plant bounced up and down, watching his expression, laughing heartily. “You want to know what’s going on, don’t you? No harm telling you, I actually just poisoned you a moment ago, hahaha.”
Among the Golden Core elders the Demon Gate Sect had sent last time, one had been a poison specialist. The demonic plant had drained his brain matter dry, absorbing not only his memories but also his entire repertoire of skills through the act of consumption, claiming them as its own.
Xu Yifan didn’t fully understand the extent of a top-grade demonic plant’s power, different top-grade demonic plants each possessed their own unique abilities. The Trumpet Demon Flower, for instance, could spread a sound through its blossom that, whether heard by a Golden Core cultivator, Nascent Soul cultivator, or even a Deity Transformation cultivator, would instantly cause blood to reverse-flow through their body, bleeding from all seven orifices before their bodies exploded outright.
The ancient texts had summed up top-grade demonic plants in just two words: “defying heaven itself.”
It was precisely because top-grade demonic plants were so outrageously overpowered, and their temperaments so often twisted, that they’d rarely been tolerated by the world.
Xu Yifan had never witnessed any of the demonic plant’s other abilities yet, but this one alone was enough to leave anyone stunned.
“Boss, hurry up and say something menacing! A rare chance to show off has finally arrived, seize the moment, it won’t come again!”
The demonic plant bounced around, looking thoroughly excited.
And yet the surroundings remained perfectly silent.
“Huh, Boss, why aren’t you saying anything? Oh, you want to be the silent, mysterious handsome type, is that it? Then, pretty little beauty, want to show off a bit yourself? This chance doesn’t come around often, you know!”
Xu Yifan: “…”
Xian Qinglin: “…”
The demonic plant watched the two of them standing perfectly still, but Boss’s face was clearly seething with anger, while the pretty little beauty looked full of regret. Even the demonic plant found this strange.
What was wrong with these two?
Xu Yifan held it in, held it in some more, and finally, unable to bear it any longer, transmitted his voice to it. “You couldn’t have told me beforehand that you were poisoning the place? Damn it, were you trying to poison us too?”
The demonic plant: “…”
Miscalculation.
Xu Yifan glared at it, thoroughly displeased. “Hurry up and give us the antidote pills.”
The demonic plant, well aware it had messed up, was thoroughly obsequious. “Okay, okay, Boss, hold on, Momo’s coming to save you.”
Xu Yifan: “…”
What a headache-inducing thing.
Xian Qinglin choked back words several times, a lingering flicker of fear in his heart, not sure of what to say for a moment. Fortunately, this little demonic sprout hadn’t started off with something lethal, or he and Xu Yifan would have died for nothing rather unjustly.
After taking the Sovereign’s Cure Pill, Xu Yifan and Xian Qinglin immediately tore off the concealment talismans on their bodies.
Xu Yifan grabbed the demonic plant and shook it wildly.
The demonic plant howled. “Help! Help! Pretty little beauty, save me.”
Xian Qinglin thought it over, the demonic plant’s voice was still quite young, its intelligence probably only recently developed. It was still practically a child!
Feeling reluctant to see it suffer, he spoke up to plead on its behalf. “Yifan, Momo’s still young! A great man doesn’t hold grudges against the small and foolish [1]大人不記小人過, a common expression asking someone magnanimous to overlook a lesser person’s mistake jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3015898_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3015898_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Let it off this once, killing our man here is the priority.”
Xu Yifan glanced at him, and, too exhausted to argue, simply tossed the demonic plant onto the floor.
The moment Ma Xiang laid eyes on Xian Qinglin, his eyes instantly turned venomous, so it was this bastard.
If it weren’t for this bastard, his son would never have gone along on that recruitment trip.
If he hadn’t gone, how could his son have died so miserably out there?
All because of this bastard.
His son was dead, and yet this bastard was still alive and well.
Xian Qinglin felt as though Ma Xiang were trying to kill him with sheer force of glare.
The corner of his mouth curled into a cold, sinister smile.
This old wretch, cut from exactly the same rotten cloth as Ma Xiu, he’d once even tried to take advantage of him in the Beast-Taming Hall…
Ma Xiang and Ma Xiu had both become his living nightmares at one point, keeping him constantly on edge, as if standing at the brink of an abyss, wanting to leave but not daring to, because the moment he left Xianhao Sect, he’d become nothing more than livestock for the slaughter. Within the sect, as long as he was careful, Ma Xiang and his ilk would never dare act recklessly against him.
And now…
Ma Xiu was dead.
Ma Xiang was about to die too.
A twisted sense of pleasure rose sharply in Xian Qinglin’s chest.
Ma Xiang’s ferocious expression made Xu Yifan’s brow furrow with disgust. He looked at Xian Qinglin and said, “This old bastard wanted your life before. Now he can’t move at all. What goes around comes around, go on, beauty, torment him thoroughly, humiliate him, make him call you a bitch.”
Xian Qinglin’s face flushed with excitement, and he didn’t refuse, saying, “Alright.”
Xu Yifan watched him clench his fists, and then, from who knows where, produce a dagger, plunging it without the slightest hesitation straight into Ma Xiang’s belly.
“…”
Xu Yifan blinked and swallowed hard.
Xian Qinglin swept Ma Xiang with a cold glance and said, “Do you want to know how your son died?”
Ma Xiang’s eyes glared at him fiercely, looking as though he wanted to devour him whole.
Xian Qinglin laughed coldly. “Exactly like this, stabbed to death by me, one thrust at a time.”
Ma Xiang’s eyes instantly filled with bloodshot fury, veins bulging at both temples, his breathing heavy and rapid. Xu Yifan thought that if the man could move right now, he’d surely lunge forward and strangle Xian Qinglin to death.
Ma Xiang really had reached the peak of fury, and in his rage, he broke through some inner limit and forced out a curse. “…You bitch.”
Xu Yifan said, “Momo, you really need to read more books in the future. This is what happens when someone’s uncultured, their vocabulary’s so limited, all they can do is repeat ‘bitch’ over and over.”
The demonic plant nodded vigorously. “Mm.”
Xian Qinglin didn’t care about being cursed at, he’d been cursed at plenty of times before. Back in his family, for the sake of a single steamed bun, for a mouthful of food, he’d crawled on the ground and barked like a dog. Coming to the sect hadn’t been much different, like a servant, if any inner disciple was even slightly displeased, even if he’d merely passed by, he could still end up scolded thoroughly.
Ma Xiang’s expression turned dark, glaring viciously at Xian Qinglin. “You killed my son. Aren’t you afraid the Sect Master will find out, that you’ll face retribution for it?”
“Retribution?” Xian Qinglin laughed. “What retribution should I face? Although whether I face retribution or not, you won’t be around to see it, but right now, your retribution is standing right in front of you. That’s me.”
Xu Yifan: “…”
There really wasn’t a single flaw in that logic.
Xian Qinglin pulled out the blood-soaked dagger and stabbed Ma Xiang’s belly once more, drawing agonized screams from him. He pulled it out again and offered it to Xu Yifan. “Want a turn?”
Xu Yifan waved his hands frantically, shaking his head. “No, no, no, you go ahead.”
He preferred finishing enemies off in one clean strike, this slow, repeated stabbing made even watching it feel painful, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
Xian Qinglin looked toward the demonic plant.
The demonic plant’s two leaves flapped wildly. “…Momo’s not doing it either!”
The two of them then watched as Xian Qinglin turned Ma Xiang’s body into something resembling a beehive, one stab at a time. Ma Xiang, at first, kept screaming “bitch” over and over, then his voice gradually grew weaker, and he began begging for mercy, but seeing that begging did no good, he went back to cursing “bitch” and then started spewing vile curses, saying things about being ridden by a thousand men and slept with by ten thousand. Xian Qinglin’s expression changed, and, no longer bothering with further torment, drove the dagger straight into Ma Xiang’s mouth.
Ma Xiang finally fell completely silent.
Being cut to a thousand pieces would be nothing compared to this.
This man was ruthless.
Xu Yifan and the demonic plant looked at the body lying on the ground, its eyes still glaring wide open in defiance, exchanged a glance, and both swallowed hard.
But Xu Yifan found Xian Qinglin’s cold, ruthless demeanor absolutely striking.
How could someone be this beautiful and this thrilling at the same time?
He was done for, his heart was pounding wildly again, his mind growing hazy.
The demonic plant’s vine tip plunged straight into Ma Xiang’s skull, and a swallowing sound followed.
A flicker of strange color and some measure of suspicion passed through Xian Qinglin’s eyes.
“Boss, this guy really does have a treasure vault after all.” the demonic plant shouted.
Xu Yifan’s eyes lit up, snapping to sharp attention, momentarily forgetting to admire the beauty beside him. “Where?”
The demonic plant said, “Under the bed. There’s a hidden compartment underneath.”
Xu Yifan felt around, and sure enough, there it was. With Xian Qinglin’s help moving the bed aside, once the hidden compartment was opened, two large chests were indeed hidden inside.
“Such big chests.” Xu Yifan grinned from ear to ear. “Damn, we’re about to strike it rich again. Qinglin, are you happy?”
Xian Qinglin, having just personally dispatched his tormentor, and now possibly about to come into an unexpected windfall as well, found his smile brightening several shades, radiant with energy. “…Happy.” he said.
Xu Yifan said, “I’m happy too.”
Then they opened the chests, and both their smiles froze on their faces.
Inside, uniformly, were nothing but red and green stomach-covers [2]肚兜, traditional Chinese undergarments, often decorative, worn against the belly jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3015898_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3015898_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Not a single spirit stone in sight.
Xian Qinglin, unable to believe it, rummaged through unwillingly to give up, but found nothing but stomach-cover after stomach-cover. “How could this be.”
Xu Yifan kicked Ma Xiang’s corpse twice in fury. “Momo, was this old man’s treasure vault really just these two chests? Nothing anywhere else?”
“Nothing else. Whatever else he had, we already stole before. But this old man used to have a whole lot of spirit stones, he gave a big batch of them to those black-robed people, called it some kind of deposit. What a waste! If only we’d struck earlier.”the demonic plant shook its head with a sigh, thoroughly dejected.
Xu Yifan, still fuming, kicked Ma Xiang once more. “It’s getting late out there. If we’re late getting back, Master’s going to worry. Let’s hurry back.”
“Okay.” Xian Qinglin closed the chests, glanced at the corpse beside him, and felt his mood lift again as he followed Xu Yifan back outside.
Not a single spirit stone to show for it, sure, but taking Ma Xiang’s worthless life still made the trip worthwhile.
“You seem pretty happy.” Xu Yifan looked at him. Xian Qinglin’s face still carried a faint trace of a smile, his whole being radiant like a bright moon in the sky. “Mm.” he said.
Xu Yifan felt his heart pounding like a drum, thumping wildly, his mouth going dry. “Then I’ll call you along whenever I go out to run wild like this from now on.”
He suddenly stopped, looking at Xian Qinglin, and asked, somewhat bashfully, “You said you have nothing going on with Senior Martial Brother Gu, so, could I have something going on with you? What do you think of me? I’m fat, sure, but I’ve got a kind heart, a rare good man, a rare good cultivation partner.”
He felt the pretty little beauty had captured his heart utterly. Although the man could infuriate him at times, other times he seemed to treat him rather well too, that push-and-pull, hot-and-cold, never-quite-within-reach feeling had truly ensnared him deeply.
How does one become unable to stop thinking of someone?
Either loving them intensely.
Or hating them intensely.
Xian Qinglin lowered his head, his face tinged with two patches of red, as if bashful, though the corners of his mouth curled up ever so slightly, barely noticeable. After a moment of silence, he finally said, “…You’re pretty good.”
Xu Yifan’s eyes lit up, unable to wait. “And then?”
Xian Qinglin glanced at him and said, “I’ll think about it.”
References[+]