The cold wind whistling across the cloud ridge poured directly into Jiang Youbai’s robes. Yet for him at this moment, the chill merely alleviated the intense heat radiating from within his body.
He could barely keep his footing. If not for the utter shock of Shen Changchuan’s words, he would have already collapsed. “What? What are you talking about?”
Shen Changchuan walked toward him with measured steps. “For the beast clan, the ripening of the beast core means reaching complete adulthood, and the rutting period follows closely behind. Xiaobai, come back with me. I will help you get through your rut.”
Watching the man approach, Jiang Youbai was once again enveloped by the subtle fragrance of pear blossoms. Shen Changchuan’s unhurried tone was like the melody of a zither he played, melodious and soothing, like a spring breeze or a mountain stream. He craved this comforting sensation, as it offered a degree of relief from the scorching heat raging inside him.
Unable to hold on any longer, Jiang Youbai collapsed into Shen Changchuan’s arms. Hooking his arms around the man’s neck and gazing up at his cold, refined, and elegant face, his reason was washed away wave after wave. “Shen Changchuan, help me.”
Before his voice had even faded, his body suddenly felt weightless. The man, radiating a cool, detached aura, scooped him up by the knees and gathered him into his arms.
The sweeping wind brushed across his face, carrying away a trace of the heat. In an instant, the two of them returned to Yuling Peak. Gently placed upon the bed, Jiang Youbai did not withdraw his arms from around Shen Changchuan’s neck. Their postures remained remarkably close. With his eyes swimming in a mist of moisture, he could barely see Shen Changchuan clearly. “Shen Changchuan, how are you going to help me?”
The excessive closeness caused Jiang Youbai’s warm breath to fan across Shen Changchuan’s face. Resting both hands on the edge of the bed, Shen Changchuan looked down at the humanoid beast before him. That fair face was now flushed with a brilliant red, and his eyes shimmered with a watery mist, clearly showing how deeply he was suffering.
A surge of spiritual energy flickered at Shen Changchuan’s fingertips, which he pressed gently against Jiang Youbai’s brow. The cool spiritual energy burrowed into Jiang Youbai’s body, temporarily easing the blazing internal heat.
However, this method of spiritual suppression only treated the symptoms and not the root cause. While the discomfort in Jiang Youbai’s body lessened, his rutting period had not passed. Subconsciously, he pressed closer to Shen Changchuan. “Your body feels so comfortable.”
He rubbed against him like a beast expressing affection and seeking pampering. Guided by Shen Changchuan, he was helped into a sitting position, then took the initiative to scramble onto Shen Changchuan’s lap, wrapping his arms tightly around the man’s neck and refusing to let go. “You lied to me! You said you were going to help me, but you don’t know how at all!”
Shen Changchuan’s gaze paused. With what felt like a humanoid accessory clinging to him, he steadied Jiang Youbai’s waist to keep him from sliding off, and said, “I was going to reseal your beast power and channel my spiritual energy into your sea of consciousness to calm your beast core. It is you who refused to cooperate.”
Jiang Youbai couldn’t be bothered to listen to Shen Changchuan’s explanations. Shaking his head, he finally released his hold on the man’s neck. However, his hands mischievously wandered downward, tracing the contours of Shen Changchuan’s neck until they reached the man’s Adam’s apple. He pressed against the protruding lump, toying with it back and forth as if playing with a piece of jade, thoroughly amused. He didn’t even notice the heavy, ragged breathing echoing right above his head.
“Hey!” Jiang Youbai felt the Adam’s apple beneath his fingertips shift even though he wasn’t pushing it, rolling like a marble, and his interest was instantly piqued anew. “Shen Changchuan, swallow again.”
Like a cub that had discovered something novel, Jiang Youbai draped himself over Shen Changchuan, his pretty eyes fixed unblinkingly on the man’s throat. True to his wish, the Adam’s apple moved once more. Chuckling, he pressed down twice more. Only when he had finished playing did his hands slide lower, grasping Shen Changchuan’s collar and tearing it apart to the sides without hesitation.
A large expanse of skin was exposed before his eyes; the lines between the collarbone and muscles were as sharp as ink-brush strokes. He let out a light laugh. “Shen Changchuan, you have a really great figure.”
From above came a short, extremely faint laugh, yet it seemed to suppress something, carrying a hint of helplessness.
Jiang Youbai quickly raised his head, but he couldn’t make out Shen Changchuan’s expression. “Are you laughing?”
Shen Changchuan lowered his gaze to look at him in silence.
Receiving no answer, Jiang Youbai lowered his head once more, his gaze falling back onto Shen Changchuan, specifically, a scar marring that handsome appearance, looking like a crack across an unblemished piece of white jadeite.
That was the scar left when he had pierced Shen Changchuan’s heart with his own feather. Reaching out, Jiang Youbai used the pad of his finger to slowly trace across the scar as he murmured, “Why aren’t you dead?”
What he really wanted to ask was: he had clearly seen his own feather pierce Shen Changchuan’s heart, how on earth had Shen Changchuan survived?
Misinterpreting his meaning, Shen Changchuan replied, “The jade token blocked it and prevented it from completely killing me. You still need to continue trying to break my jade token.”
Jiang Youbai tilted his head, sensing that the emotions of the man before him were slightly off. Even the faintest ripple could not escape the perception of a beast.
He leaned forward, lowering his head closer to Shen Changchuan’s wound. Pushing a pink, moist tip of his tongue out from between his lips, he swept it across the scar over Shen Changchuan’s heart, licking it inch by inch.
Jiang Youbai felt Shen Changchuan’s body stiffen. The hand supporting his waist tightened its grip just enough to nearly pinch him painfully.
He let out a soft huff, though his mouth didn’t stop. After licking for a long while until the skin over Shen Changchuan’s heart was entirely flushed red, and the scar itself had noticeably faded, he curved his eyes and leaned in to continue, only to be gently pushed away.
The man’s voice had lost its usual cold detachment. “That’s enough.”
Wearing an innocent expression, Jiang Youbai blinked at Shen Changchuan, bit his lower lip, and grabbed the man’s hand, guiding it down to his own lower abdomen. “Then what about this? I feel like there’s a fire burning right here, and it’s spreading downward. Help me, Shen Changchuan.”
In his past life, Jiang Youbai’s beast core had matured only for Tang Ci to crush it the very next second, followed immediately by being pushed off the cloud ridge; he had never even gotten the chance to experience a rutting period. In this lifetime, he had even less experience. Combined across both lives, one spent learning how to be human and the other returning to his true nature, he had never understood this aspect of existence at all.
Shen Changchuan pushed the clinging humanoid beast slightly away, gathered spiritual energy in his palm once more, and injected it into Jiang Youbai’s brow. The jade token hovered around the two of them like a guardian spirit. “Recite after me.”
Feeling the cooling spiritual energy, Jiang Youbai asked in a daze, “Recite what?”
Shen Changchuan said, “The Heart-Cleansing Mantra.”
Jiang Youbai replied, “I’m not reciting it.”
Fortunately, while they spoke, Shen Changchuan’s spiritual energy had already flowed into Jiang Youbai’s sea of consciousness. The jade token hovered around Jiang Youbai, sealing his beast power once more. A continuous stream of water-like coolness washed away the scorching heat inside him. Bit by bit, the unnatural flush faded from Jiang Youbai’s face, leaving only teardrops lingering at the corners of his eyes, which fell in a soft patter as he was laid gently back down onto the bed.
Shen Changchuan gazed down at Jiang Youbai, who had finally fallen into an exhausted sleep after tossing and turning for so long. The humanoid beast’s feathers had not yet retracted; half of them were spread across the bed while the tail feathers draped casually and lazily over the edge of the mattress. Bending down, Shen Changchuan swept his palm across the feathers, coating them with spiritual energy. In an instant, the pristine, chillingly cold feathers vanished from sight.
Rising to his feet, he looked back down at Jiang Youbai. The chilling detachment in his eyes fractured like a shattered mirror, leaving only a pitch-black abyss.
In this lifetime, Jiang Youbai seemed even more unconstrained than in the previous one, reverting to how he had appeared when they first met. In his past life, Jiang Youbai had cautiously learned how to be a human, trying his utmost to integrate into the Shangqing Sect. Yet Shen Changchuan knew that wasn’t who Jiang Youbai truly was, that carefully flattering demeanor had concealed a pair of rebellious, unruly eyes. Fortunately, this time, Jiang Youbai had broken free.
A few days ago, Jiang Youbai’s feather had pierced Shen Changchuan’s heart. Although the jade token had blocked it in time, that feather was fast, ruthless, and precise, still injuring Shen Changchuan’s heart meridians. Imperceptibly, that injury had awakened the memories of his past life. Looking down at Jiang Youbai, the frost in Shen Changchuan’s eyes condensed even deeper.
“Master, the Sect Master of the Youqing Sect wishes to see you alone,” Tang Ci’s voice transmission sounded in Shen Changchuan’s ear. Replying to the transmission and casting one final glance at Jiang Youbai, Shen Changchuan departed.
As he stepped outside, Shen Changchuan flicked his sleeve, dropping a barrier around the courtyard.
The sun rose and set, casting a sheet of golden foil across the courtyard.
Slowly waking up, Jiang Youbai felt a general sense of discomfort all over his body. Propping himself up into a sitting position, he massaged his temples. Between his meridians being battered by multiple forces yesterday and the arrival of his rutting period, the overwhelming chaos had left his memories somewhat hazy.
Sitting completely still for a long while, Jiang Youbai finally managed to sort through the chaotic threads of yesterday’s memories.
He had been brought back to Yuling Peak by Shen Changchuan yesterday, and then he had hooked his arms around Shen Changchuan’s neck, refused to let the man leave, even teased his Adam’s apple, and licked his wounds!
Jiang Youbai widened his eyes abruptly, his face registering sheer disbelief.
Beasts only licked the wounds of themselves and those closest to them, using the most primitive method to heal injuries. How on earth could he have licked Shen Changchuan’s wounds? He should have been wishing that man dead so his own seal would break and he could escape down the mountain!
Rubbing his face in a futile attempt to wake himself up, he only succeeded in turning his fair skin a blotchy pink.
Frowning deeply, Jiang Youbai got out of bed. Before he even reached the door, it was knocked upon from the outside, followed by Tang Ci’s voice: “Xiaobai, are you awake?”
The tone was timid, carrying a careful, ingratiating undertone.
It reminded Jiang Youbai of his past self, back when he used to try and curry favor with his peers in the Shangqing Sect in the exact same manner.
A faint, detached smile touched the corner of Jiang Youbai’s lips. Opening the door, he met the gaze of the person outside, who hardly dared to look him in the eye: “Xiaobai.”
Jiang Youbai’s smile did not reach his eyes; instead, it turned rather indifferent. “Does Senior Brother need something?”
Looking at him helplessly, Tang Ci said, “Xiaobai, Senior Brother didn’t mean to force you yesterday. I just wanted to wait until Master woke up before deciding. I also had a selfish motive, I didn’t want you to leave the Shangqing Sect. But if you blame Senior Brother, feel free to vent your anger on me. I promise I won’t fight back.”
A cold emptiness echoed in Jiang Youbai’s heart. “There’s no need. Senior Brother is upright, impartial, and follows the rules strictly; there’s nothing to be angry about. It’s just that in the future, if Senior Brother has nothing better to do, you should spend more time getting close to Mu Jiyuan.”
Puzzled, Tang Ci asked, “Why do you say that?”
Jiang Youbai chuckled lightly. “After all, he is your junior brother.”
Tang Ci shook his head. “You are my junior brother, too.”
Leaning against the doorframe, Jiang Youbai said offhandedly, “I am now, but that might not be the case later. Instead of trying to curry favor with me, Senior Brother would do better to stay with Mu Jiyuan. I can tell how fiercely you protect our little junior brother.”
Remembering how Mu Jiyuan had hidden behind him yesterday, Tang Ci hurriedly explained, “You are both my junior brothers; I was simply afraid you might hurt him and make it difficult for me to answer to Master.”
Too lazy to listen further, Jiang Youbai cut him off directly: “Even if I really killed him, Shen Changchuan wouldn’t kill me.”
Startled, Tang Ci blurted out, “Master would never allow you to slaughter the innocent at will.”
Jiang Youbai scoffed. Was Mu Jiyuan innocent? He replied indifferently, “Don’t believe me? Shall I ask Master for you?”
With that, his gaze swept past Tang Ci to fix upon the flash of white by the courtyard entrance: “Shen Changchuan, would you kill me for Mu Jiyuan’s sake?”
Looking across the scenery of the mortal world, Shen Changchuan met Jiang Youbai’s gaze. “No.”
Tang Ci was instantly struck speechless, unable to mask the shock on his face: “Why?”
Could it be that Mu Jiyuan really had issues? That he was someone deserving of death? If so, why would Master take him in as a disciple?
Jiang Youbai merely remarked, “Naturally, it’s because I am a humanoid beast. Compared to Mu Jiyuan, my value is far greater, of course.”
At these words, both Tang Ci and Shen Changchuan frowned. The former felt that something was amiss, while the latter recovered his original composure within a fleeting second, remaining the unfathomable Leader of the Immortal Alliance.
A smile danced in Jiang Youbai’s eyes. Of course Shen Changchuan wasn’t measuring his and Mu Jiyuan’s lives based on so-called value; his confidence stemmed from the fact that Shen Changchuan had sworn an oath never to harm him.
Walking toward Shen Changchuan and brushing past Tang Ci’s side, he murmured under his breath, “Senior Brother, if you want to protect someone, be firm and stick by that one person. Hesitating and wavering in the end will only alienate everyone.”
In his past life, Tang Ci had been the same, protecting him at first, but shifting to protect Mu Jiyuan once the latter arrived. Yet in the later stages, Tang Ci hadn’t wavered back and forth so erratically; behaving like this now only made him seem tangled in contradictions.
Without sparing Tang Ci another glance, Jiang Youbai followed Shen Changchuan away from Yuling Peak. Along the way, he couldn’t help asking, “Aren’t you afraid your image in your eldest disciple’s mind will collapse?”
Shen Changchuan glanced sideways at him. “I have never cared about the opinions of others.”
With a grin, Jiang Youbai said, “Yes, yes, yes. The esteemed Leader is as pure as the breeze and bright as the moon; naturally, you needn’t care about others’ comments.”
Giving him another sideways glance and listening to the sarcasm dripping from his words, Shen Changchuan said nothing, letting him have his way.
Refusing to let the matter drop, Jiang Youbai continued, “If I really killed an innocent person, would you truly stand by with folded arms and refuse to kill me?”
Looking slightly helpless, a flicker of indescribable silence resting beneath his stern expression, Shen Changchuan maintained his patience. “Why hypothesize about something that will never happen?”
Startled for a moment, Jiang Youbai looked away, casting his gaze toward the ink-wash-like misty green mountains in the distance. “That’s hard to say. Just how well do you think you know me?”
Lowering his eyelids, Shen Changchuan did not argue further.
The topic was thus brushed aside. Rolling his eyes mischievously, Jiang Youbai grew restless again. “Everyone must know I’m a beast by now, right? Is this disciple-taking ceremony still going to be held?”
“Naturally,” Shen Changchuan replied.
With a soft chuckle, Jiang Youbai teased, “Aren’t you afraid the people of the Immortal Alliance will accuse you of keeping a beast as a pet? Just like the Demon Lord?”
“Xie Qingli requires beasts for dual cultivation to raise his realm; I have no such need,” Shen Changchuan stated calmly.
Watching Shen Changchuan’s profile, the smooth, single-stroke contours as perfect as a doll’s, Jiang Youbai remarked, “How arrogant of you, Shen Changchuan.”
While they spoke, they had already arrived at the main peak of the Shangqing Sect. Peach blossoms drifted from nowhere, carpeting the paths and piling up into a pink-silk red carpet. Petals still fluttered lazily down from the air as guests sat packed in rows on either side. Jiang Youbai walked right beside Shen Changchuan, the two of them pacing side by side, making it look less like an initiation ceremony and more like a wedding banquet.
Pity that neither of them wore eye-catching bright red wedding robes, but rather pristine, snow-white garments.
Yet whenever a scene was exceptionally beautiful, someone would invariably seek to shatter it. Just as Jiang Youbai had anticipated, someone found him unpleasing to the eye.
“Such a grand spectacle! Anyone who knows would call it the Immortal Alliance Leader taking a disciple; anyone who doesn’t might mistake it for the Leader’s wedding.”
“Ah, you mis-speak! The Leader taking a disciple naturally demands this kind of face!”
“But I recall Tang Ci’s initiation ceremony wasn’t nearly this extravagant back then!”
“Ahem, ahem. How come I heard the Leader was injured two days ago? The ceremony was originally scheduled for three days ago and delayed due to a sudden situation, but I heard it was because that new disciple is a humanoid beast?”
“A humanoid beast?!”
“It seems that humanoid beast was the one who injured the Leader.”
“If that’s really true, why on earth is the Leader taking him as a disciple?”
“Tch, could he be trying to emulate Xie Qingli?”
“Hah, how can Xie Qingli be mentioned in the same breath as the Leader? That man keeps a filthy captive as a plaything; the Leader is merely taking a personal disciple, hehe.”
“Even so, that’s a humanoid beast! Look at that figure, look at that face! I’d never seen a real humanoid beast before and couldn’t understand Xie Qingli’s obsession, but seeing one now, I finally understand why Xie Qingli was so infatuated with dual cultivating with a humanoid beast. If that fell into my hands…”
“Keep dreaming! The Leader is holding such a massive display precisely to let the three realms know that this humanoid beast belongs to him from now on. As for being a disciple, that’s just a title. Who knows what they really get up to behind closed doors!”
Listening to the surrounding murmurs, Jiang Youbai noted that while they kept their voices extremely low, he refused to believe that cultivators could somehow be deaf to it.
They were simply doing it on purpose.
He had long known people would use this to slander him or Shen Changchuan, and their rhetoric matched his predictions precisely. Yet actually standing here and listening to such talk still ignited a blaze of anger in his heart.
Letting out a short, cold chuckle, Jiang Youbai glanced sideways at the person who had spoken first. In the next second, he appeared right before that man. His crimson eyes locked onto the man’s terrified gaze, causing the man’s pitch-black pupils to instantly flush red as well.
Catching the man by the throat, Jiang Youbai smiled alluringly. “What was that you just said? Repeat it louder.”
The man gurgled as if trying to speak, but choked by the grip on his windpipe, he could utter no words. Moments later, fresh blood began to slowly stream from the man’s seven facial orifices, presenting a horrifying sight.
All around them, members of the Immortal Alliance stiffened, eyeing Jiang Youbai with sharp vigilance as if countless invisible chains were binding him. Spiritual energy flickered at their fingertips, waiting only for a shared signal to take Jiang Youbai down.
Yet no one dared to act rashly, especially the Sect Masters of the Youqing Sect and the Wangchen Sect, who exchanged glances and saw shared astonishment in each other’s eyes.
Even they hadn’t been able to track how Jiang Youbai had instantly appeared before Wang Lin, nor how he had stripped Wang Lin of all means of resistance in a split second, causing him to bleed from his seven orifices.
One had to remember: Wang Lin was at the Nascent Soul stage! For Jiang Youbai to close the distance so rapidly and grab Wang Lin by the throat, the disparity in power was simply appalling!
Was this the terror of a humanoid beast?!
“Xiaobai, come back,” Shen Changchuan’s voice drifted softly to Jiang Youbai’s ear, sounding like a clear spring rippling without a trace of blame, more like a gentle persuasion.
Staring at Wang Lin a moment longer, Jiang Youbai finally flung the man ruthlessly to the ground, scattering a drift of piled-up peach petals.
Walking back to Shen Changchuan’s side, his gaze swept over the tense, hostile crowd. The smile on his lips deepened; these people looked like they were holding a rat and afraid of breaking the vase, truly laughable.
Sheng Xu, the Sect Master of the Youqing Sect, shifted his gaze back and forth between Jiang Youbai and Shen Changchuan.
This humanoid beast was terrifyingly powerful and possessed such a foul temper. If he went on a rampage and started killing, who knew how many people could stop him? Yet a single word from Shen Changchuan had made this beast docilely withdraw its claws. The relationship between the two of them was truly thought-provoking.
Recalling his gaze, Jiang Youbai felt his hand suddenly get caught by the person beside him. Pausing slightly, he looked up at Shen Changchuan. The man wasn’t looking at him, but rather at the crowd of Immortal Alliance members, his expression chillingly detached to the point of heartlessness. “Today is my day of taking a disciple. It would be one thing if you all watched quietly; if anyone speaks insolently again, you may walk right out of the Shangqing Sect and cut all ties with the Immortal Alliance from this day forward.”
As his voice fell, everyone present felt a sudden, heavy weight press down upon them. A powerful wave of spiritual pressure blanketed the entire main peak, while a pale-golden illusion of a jade token planted itself like a giant sword directly in front of Wang Lin, acting as an invisible boundary that permitted neither trespass nor infringement.