Yu Chengyan stared darkly at the terrified middle aged cultivator before him. Only one thought echoed in his mind. Kill him.
Three thousand years of restraint and suppression collapsed entirely at the instant he saw the outer sect elder about to strike Yu Wei.
Only a final thread of reason held tight, preventing Yu Chengyan from acting immediately. It was not because he feared the consequences of killing a cultivator of the First Immortal Sect and being unable to escape, but because somewhere deep in his subconscious he did not want to kill in front of his mother.
Towering fury burned through his clarity, and the red in Yu Chengyan’s eyes grew deeper and deeper. Just then, he suddenly felt someone lightly touch his robe.
It was Yu Wei.
The moment he sensed that gentle touch, Yu Chengyan snapped back to awareness, and the red gathered in his eyes receded slightly.
A gust of wind swept through. By the time it passed, Yu Chengyan and Yu Wei had vanished from the corridor, leaving only the elder and instructor collapsed on the ground, drenched in sweat, along with Ning Suyi, whose expression was filled with shock and doubt.
The wind howled past her ears as Yu Wei remained somewhat dazed, only feeling the young man’s arm tightly wrapped around her waist as the forest sped beneath them. In an instant, they had left the outer mountain peak behind.
They arrived atop an unknown mountain before Yu Chengyan finally came to a halt. He carefully set the girl down and knelt on one knee beside her. Taking hold of Yu Wei’s wrist, he gently pulled down her sleeve.
As the fabric slid back to her elbow, it revealed skin as white as porcelain.
In her human form, Yu Wei was always more fragile than when she was a cat. The fair skin of her wrist and forearm had been reddened by Elder Liu’s grip, though it was not severe and would likely fade before long. Otherwise, she had no injuries.
Yet in Yu Chengyan’s eyes, it made the young man press his thin lips together, his heart aching.
Lowering his lashes, rich true qi flowed from his fingertips, instantly healing the marks on her arm.
He neither spoke nor raised his head, remaining half kneeling beside her, still lightly holding her wrist without moving.
Yu Wei could not help but look at him.
Perhaps due to a demon’s innate talent, Yu Wei could smell a unique scent from living beings. It had nothing to do with body odor and was more akin to an animal’s pheromones.
She did not understand why, but she knew that most people smelled as plain as boiled water, with their scent only becoming noticeable when their emotions fluctuated intensely.
Some of the outer disciples who occasionally looked down on her identity were like this. Yu Wei found it amusing, so she would often reveal her ears to provoke them. Once she angered them, she could catch a faint trace of their scent.
However, even those who openly disliked her had nothing particularly remarkable about them. So far, she had only encountered two people with especially pleasant scents. One was Ning Suyi, and the other was the young man before her.
Ning Suyi’s scent was sweet like pastries, which was why Yu Wei liked to cling to her. The young man, however, smelled somewhat like wine. When he was angry, the scent was sharp and spicy, yet now that he had calmed down, it carried a mellow sweetness.
When Yu Chengyan had wanted to kill someone earlier, Yu Wei did not know what he was doing. She had simply found the unfamiliar scent interesting, since she had never tasted wine before, and so she instinctively moved closer, inadvertently snapping him out of it.
Now, the tall young man knelt before her, his head lowered so that she could only see the faint tremble of his eyelashes. His long, well defined fingers still held her wrist, yet so lightly that she could pull away at any time.
It was the first time Yu Wei had encountered someone like Yu Chengyan, and she found him rather strange.
“Who are you?” Yu Wei asked curiously.
The moment the words left her mouth, she felt the fingers resting on her wrist tremble slightly.
“I…” the young man’s voice was hoarse and low. After a pause, he softly said, “My name is Ling Xiao.”
He added in a quiet, dry voice, “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere else?”
Even as he spoke, Yu Chengyan still did not lift his head.
Although he had secretly watched her for half a month, now that he truly stood before Yu Wei, Yu Chengyan still felt a sense of unreality.
Everything was too perfect, too much like a dream. That his wish had been fulfilled so easily instead filled him with fear, as though everything might ultimately vanish into nothing.
Yu Chengyan feared that this was merely another nightmare. The moment he relaxed his guard, his inner demons would seize the opportunity to lure him into even greater suffering.
It was as though he were trapped in a dream that might end at any moment, causing his breathing to grow shallow.
At that moment, he suddenly felt Yu Wei move closer. She gently pushed at his shoulder and asked in confusion, “Why do you keep your head down?”
Her touch made his breath hitch.
After a long wait, the young man finally raised his head.
What met her eyes was a handsome face with sharply defined features. His brow was keen, yet his eyes now appeared incredibly soft, lending a hint of melancholy and vulnerability to his expression.
Yu Wei saw that the corners of his eyes were red, his gaze damp as he looked at her in a pitiful manner, reminding her of the big dog she had once bullied in a human village.
His lips moved as though trying to speak, but no sound came. After a while, Yu Chengyan suppressed his voice and asked hoarsely, “…May I hug you?”
Seeing how aggrieved and pitiful he looked, Yu Wei felt an inexplicable twinge in her heart and nodded.
Without moving from his kneeling position, Yu Chengyan lowered his other knee as well.
There was still a slight distance between them. All sorts of emotions surged within him, mingling together, and he feared that the feelings he had suppressed for thousands of years might spill out and frighten Yu Wei. His movements were therefore cautious and restrained.
Bracing himself with his arms, Yu Chengyan slowly wrapped them around her back before burying his head against her shoulder.
He did not dare to hold her too tightly, yet his arms had already begun to tremble.
If an ordinary person were embraced so sorrowfully by someone they had just met, they would likely feel uneasy and suspicious. Although Yu Wei had never encountered such a situation before, her thoughts were simple and far less complicated.
This was the first time she had met someone so sad, leaving her expression somewhat confused.
She recalled how, in the village, children would often cry. Adults would either pull them into an embrace and pat their heads or, if annoyed by the noise, give them a few smacks instead.
Yu Chengyan was crying quietly, so he probably should not be hit. Yu Wei imitated the adults she had seen, gently patting the back of his hand with her right hand while reaching up with her left to stroke his hair, clumsily comforting him.
Yu Chengyan shuddered all over. The final thread of reason snapped under Yu Wei’s comfort, and he could not hold back any longer. His arms suddenly tightened, pulling the girl firmly into his embrace.
The force made Yu Wei struggle slightly for breath. Over the past year, aside from Ning Suyi, she had rarely been in close contact with others. Yet now that Yu Chengyan held her like this, she did not find it unpleasant at all. Instead, she patiently patted his back.
It was her first time comforting someone, and she found it rather interesting.
After three thousand years, Yu Chengyan had finally embraced Yu Wei for real instead of watching her illusion fade from his grasp.
When he finally calmed down, he nearly wanted to slap himself. He had planned everything so carefully, yet the moment he saw his mother, everything had fallen apart.
It was only because Yu Wei’s temperament differed from others. Had she been a human girl, she would likely have been frightened by him already.
Yu Chengyan felt a trace of regret and lingering fear, but Yu Wei’s lack of disgust toward his impulsiveness, along with her prolonged comfort, made him unable to suppress his happiness.
Sure enough, even if his mother did not know who he was, she would never dislike him.
When the young man finally released her, Yu Wei noticed a spark of light had returned to his eyes. Though he still seemed somewhat embarrassed to meet her gaze, the gloom in his expression had eased considerably.
“I apologize. Let me introduce myself again.” Yu Chengyan sat beside her and cleared his throat, suppressing the lingering hoarseness in his voice. “My name is Ling Xiao. You may also call me Chengyan. I wonder if you have heard of a certain matter recently, about a cultivator searching for an opportunity, and that opportunity happens to be a person.”
He knew Yu Wei had heard of it. Not long ago, he had personally seen Ning Suyi explain it to her in the dining hall.
Yu Wei looked at him innocently with clear catlike eyes, obviously having already forgotten all about it.
Yu Chengyan’s heart softened as he smiled and continued, “In any case, that cultivator is me, and the opportunity is you. I have encountered a bottleneck in my cultivation, and only by helping you can I achieve a breakthrough. The sect master has already agreed to this. Once we return, I will be able to take full care of you.”
After a moment’s thought, his tone grew more serious as he added, “From now on, neither instructors nor elders will have any authority over you.”
Yu Wei was still somewhat confused. She slowly said, “But I do not need any help. I am already living quite well.”
Hearing this, Yu Chengyan stiffened.
He naturally understood Yu Wei’s temperament. She enjoyed comfort, leisure, wandering through mountains and waters, reading storybooks, basking in the sun, grooming her fur, idling about and catching birds. In short, she would never enjoy cultivation.
Even his rigid and rule abiding father had never changed her in the slightest.
Her current life was already comfortable enough for Yu Wei. She would certainly not wish for change.
But before coming to find his mother this time, Yu Chengyan had given himself a strict order. He had to make Yu Wei stronger.
Her marriage to Xie Jianbai had taught him one thing. It was better to rely on oneself than on others. Even if one’s husband was the strongest immortal in the world, and even if Yu Chengyan himself was willing to die for her, none of that compared to Yu Wei possessing the strength to protect herself.
Looking at the still youthful girl beside him, Yu Chengyan’s gaze softened as he said gently, “Naturally, I intend to teach you cultivation. This is a serious matter.”
Yu Wei’s eyes widened in alarm, and she waved her hands repeatedly. “No, no. I do not need that kind of help.”
This response was within Yu Chengyan’s expectations. In his original plan, he had intended to imitate the cold and merciless manner Xie Jianbai had once used when training him. Even if Yu Wei came to hate him for it, he would still force her to cultivate and grow stronger.
He had planned it well, yet everything had fallen apart the moment they met.
Reluctant to disrupt the harmonious atmosphere that had just formed, he hesitated for a long time before finally saying, “Then… shall we start slowly? Just half an hour of practice each day.”
“I don’t want to.” Yu Wei rejected him cleanly once again.
Yu Chengyan knew that only by becoming strict enough to make her afraid, combining authority with kindness, would the opportunistic little cat demon likely obey with reluctant grievance.
He wanted to speak, repeatedly trying to put on a stern expression, yet found himself unable to do so.
In the brief moment of hesitation, Yu Wei had already moved closer. She took out a piece of dried meat from her sleeve, her eyes bright.
“Here, have some dried meat. If you eat it, we will be friends from now on, alright?” she said in a coaxing tone.
As her son, Yu Chengyan understood this expression far too well.
Yu Wei had always been sharp and clever in this regard. He had witnessed this scene countless times in his youth, usually when she refused to get out of bed, wanted snacks instead of proper meals, or insisted on catching fish after dark. The moment he put on a stern face, she would act spoiled to divert his attention.
And Yu Chengyan had fallen for it every single time.
Almost instinctively, he accepted the dried meat. Seeing him yield, Yu Wei’s brows relaxed into a delighted smile.
Holding the dried meat and looking at the carefree Yu Wei, Yu Chengyan felt his temples throb.
He suddenly realized with grave clarity that making Yu Wei cultivate might prove even more difficult than breaking up a pair of lovers by force.