A group of children ran past the two sides of the carriage, shouting that they wanted to see the painted pleasure boats; their giggling voices enticed Ye Qianjue to poke his head out of the carriage.
Watching the curious Ye Qianjue, Yeyuan felt helpless. He actually found himself missing the goodness of Gu Qingyun. If this continued, Gu Qingyun’s disciple would be ruined, or even if not ruined, his soul would be snatched away by someone else.
Yeyuan bit Ye Qianjue’s clothing with his mouth, hoping he would acknowledge him, but Ye Qianjue didn’t notice anything tugging at his clothes at all.
He waved to signal the coachman: “Stop! I want to get off!”
Ye Qianjue picked up Yeyuan and jumped off the carriage, looking back at the puzzled coachman, and pointed to the painted boats in the lake nearby.
“I’m going there, you can go back.”
The coachman looked troubled: “But I won’t be able to answer to the young master on your side.”
Ye Qianjue waved his hand, saying dismissively: “Just say it was me; Brother Xuanyuan is a good person and won’t blame you.”
Before he finished speaking, Ye Qianjue had already run to the lakeside, eyes dazzled as he looked at the countless painted boats—some decorated with myriad colorful flowers; some hung with calligraphy and paintings; some decorated to look like peacocks. Strange and varied, competing in beauty.
Seeing the beautiful flower boats for the first time, Ye Qianjue couldn’t take his eyes off them.
“So beautiful~ It would be even more beautiful if I could go up and sit~”
“This young master, would you like to board a boat?”
The boatman stood at the bow, holding a pole in his hand, and saw the handsome Ye Qianjue at a glance—a person of this appearance must be a young master from a wealthy family.
Ye Qianjue pointed at himself and asked: “Can I?”
“Of course, just pay.”
Ye Qianjue rummaged in his arms and finally found the single silver ingot he had left. He hesitated, placed it in his palm, and handed it to the boatman.
“Is this enough?”
Yeyuan bit Ye Qianjue’s sleeve: “Idiot, you gave too much!”
Seeing that Ye Qianjue actually brought out a whole silver ingot, the boatman’s eyes lit up, and he snatched the ingot, fearing it would run away. He bowed respectfully, yielding a path, his voice loud: “Wine and refreshments have been prepared on the boat! Young Master, please take a seat!”
“Let’s go~” Ye Qianjue patted Yeyuan.
Yeyuan let out a low growl as he passed the boatman, almost scaring the man so much he tumbled into the lake. The boatman rowed from the stern, and Ye Qianjue stood at the bow. When passing an overpass, the young ladies above all smiled shyly, each as beautiful as a flower, looking toward the bow. Ye Qianjue didn’t notice the movement overhead at all.
Suddenly, a sachet was thrown down, hitting Ye Qianjue right on the head. He clutched his head in pain and looked down to see the lonely sachet at his feet.
“What is this?”
Before he could ponder for a moment, they rained down from above like raindrops, smashing down a pile of sachets. Ye Qianjue hurriedly hid inside the cabin, puzzled. He reached out to pick up a sachet and looked up. He saw the sisters on the overpass all covering their mouths and smiling at him.
“Sisters, you dropped something!”
Ye Qianjue held the sachet in his hand high, his hair fluttering wildly in the lake breeze. What a painted-boat youth!
“Oh! Look quickly, what the young gentleman is holding is my sachet!”
A young lady in red was so shy she covered her nose, and the laughter of the crowd was as moving as a lark. Yeyuan saw the trick—human women just loved to send sachets, pouches, belts, and the like to express their love for the person they admired. Looking at Ye Qianjue, who was at a loss at the bow, and the full boat of sachets, Yeyuan couldn’t sit still.
He stood majestically at the bow, looked up, and barked wildly at those ladies, his voice resonant. Faced with a vicious dog, even though Ye Qianjue was handsome, it was enough to dissuade many ladies. Yeyuan kept howling, his voice heart-rending; Ye Qianjue, who was beside him, couldn’t listen anymore. He pinched Yeyuan’s mouth with both hands and dragged him into the cabin.
“Shut up! Stop barking, can we sit down?”
Ye Qianjue’s expression was ugly, and Yeyuan finally quieted down. The boat drifted on the rippling blue surface of the lake, stirring up layers of waves. Ye Qianjue drank all the wine on the table. This was his first time drinking wine; so this was what wine tasted like. It made one feel like a celestial being, releasing one’s spirit.
Ye Qianjue was drunk, a flush appearing on his face. He leaned against the bow, his body pressed against the side of the boat, his waist sinking down. Worried about Ye Qianjue accidentally falling into the water, Yeyuan prepared to step forward to bite his sash.
“You say, why does Master say wine is bad? Wine is clearly so good.”
Yeyuan stopped his movements, listening to Ye Qianjue starting to talk nonsense. He saw Ye Qianjue lying on his back, one hand slowly reaching toward the lake surface, his fingertips slightly touching the lukewarm lake water. As the pleasure boat moved forward, he fished up an exquisitely crafted lantern.
At this time, the sunset was sinking, and the surroundings were already somewhat dim. The lantern was close to Ye Qianjue’s drunken cheeks at this moment. Yeyuan looked at it, his breathing stopping for a few seconds. He knew—he knew why Gu Qingyun said wine was bad; for Ye Qianjue, it was indeed bad.
Just as Yeyuan’s heart was rippling, Ye Qianjue spoke.
“Qianjue wants to be with Master… forever in Feixian Peak, never leaving or forsaking each other…”
Yeyuan’s heart instantly fell into an ice cave. He slowly moved closer to Ye Qianjue, then fell into dejected sorrow by himself.
Since that time at the restaurant, Xuanyuan Xinbei had pestered Ye Qianjue, appearing in front of the inn on time every day, squatting for Ye Qianjue on schedule. Even the usually playful Ye Qianjue was a bit irritable.
Footsteps came from outside the room, and Ye Qianjue said with distress: “I’m not going! Tell Brother Xuanyuan, I’m tired today and want to rest alone!”
Ye Qianjue covered his ears with a quilt and curled up on the bed, looking listless.
“Why do you come every day… I’ve lost the chance to go out with Senior Brother and Senior Sister…”
Ye Qianjue was in low spirits, muttering to himself.
“Is the Little Junior Brother troubled by something?”
Yan Yi stepped into the room with a gentle expression, then turned around to signal Bai Xiuzhu and Bai Fulan to stop. Bai Xiuzhu shrugged dismissively, “I don’t care to listen, Sister, let’s go~”
Yan Yi then looked at Yeyuan beside Ye Qianjue, coughed a few times, and said in a low voice: “You get out too.”
Yeyuan: ?
“Even I have to go out? I’m a dog now, what can’t I hear?” Yeyuan barked a few times and squeezed beside Ye Qianjue, “Not going out.”
Yan Yi performed magic and neatly moved Yeyuan outside the door, then closed the door. Yeyuan looked back, shocked to find that the Bai siblings, who had originally left, had been standing on both sides of the door eavesdropping.
The voice of Yan Yi came from inside the room.
“Little Junior Brother, what do you think of the Fourth Prince Xuanyuan Xinbei?”
“Why does Senior Brother ask this? Mm—Brother Xuanyuan is a good person; he will take me to play and also help me~”
“Besides that? No other feelings?”
Yan Yi sat down and began to probe: “Do you have any liking for him? If in the future you became Dao companions—”
“I won’t!” Ye Qianjue denied it immediately, “I don’t have that kind of feeling for Brother Xuanyuan; it’s Senior Brother who is suspicious! And besides…” Ye Qianjue’s voice lowered, “Senior Brother, Qianjue is only fifteen this year. Even if I truly grow up in the future, I won’t be talking about marriage.”
Ye Qianjue vowed that he would guard his Master forever! Even if Master didn’t like him, and he couldn’t express his heart, he would be very satisfied as long as he could guard Master and stay by Master’s side~
Outside the room, Bai Xiuzhu “hummed” once.
“Xuanyuan Xinbei is not worthy of the Little Junior Brother. Even if the Little Junior Brother wants to find a Dao companion in the future, a woman must at least be like Master Su; a man doesn’t need to surpass Master Gu, but at least he should be on par.”
Bai Fulan sighed: “On par with Master Gu? I’m afraid there is no such person in this world.”
No such person in this world?
Yeyuan didn’t agree. He thought of his majestic past—he was the King of the Demon Clan, an existence that once made the entire cultivation world tremble in fear. If Ye Qianjue’s future Dao companion needed to surpass Gu Qingyun, then this position belonged to none other than him! If he was in a good mood, conferring the title of “favored concubine” on Ye Qianjue was also acceptable~
Thinking of that day on the pleasure boat and Ye Qianjue’s drunken charm, Yeyuan’s heart surged, his whole heart thumping; he considered it taking a loss, but he might as well take Ye Qianjue~
Yeyuan wagged his tail; two people and one dog listened with relish.
“The Fourth Prince likes you.”
As soon as Yan Yi said this, both inside and outside the room were stunned; the knuckles of the hand Bai Xiuzhu used to grip his sword cracked, and Bai Fulan’s beautiful face was also twisted. Yeyuan, who had long known of Xuanyuan Xinbei’s wolfish ambition, was still taken aback.
Ye Qianjue looked stunned, his mouth twitching, shaking his head to deny it.
“Impossible, how could Brother Xuanyuan like me…”
This was absolutely impossible! Ye Qianjue knew that Xuanyuan Xinbei had debunked him that day; one could tell from his words that Xuanyuan Xinbei was very disgusted by men loving men. But Ye Qianjue didn’t know that what Xuanyuan Xinbei was disgusted by was the love between master and disciple.
“Alright, Senior Brother, Qianjue doesn’t want to talk about this. Whether now or in the future, I only want to stay by Master’s side.”
Seeing this, Yan Yi had nothing to say, so he stood up and walked toward the door: “Rest well, don’t be too tired.”
Ye Qianjue nodded with a smile.
As soon as the door opened, the two outside were caught off guard and lunged forward; Yan Yi dodged in time, while Bai Xiuzhu and Bai Fulan crashed straight onto the ground. Yeyuan stepped over Bai Xiuzhu and ran into Ye Qianjue’s arms. Ye Qianjue frowned, his expression changing drastically as he looked at them.
“Ahem~ Senior Brother didn’t hear anything~”
“Sister didn’t either~ We’ll leave first, so as not to disturb the Little Junior Brother’s rest~”
The three agreed to leave the room. Ye Qianjue lay tiredly on the bed and picked up Yeyuan, “You heard it too. Although I know you are the Demon Lord, I have now treated you as a friend.”
The miserable Ye Qianjue looked out the window.
“I don’t want to stay in Feixian Peak forever, but I can’t bear to leave Master. I have asked Master’s opinion before… but he is unwilling to accompany me to leave. I… what should I do?”
Yeyuan looked at Ye Qianjue quietly, his heart speaking.
“Gu Qingyun is unwilling to accompany you to tour the mountains and rivers; I am willing.”
Yeyuan rubbed against Ye Qianjue’s small face with unusual docility and intimacy. At this moment, he seemed to truly become Ye Qianjue’s family.
Inside the Water Cave, Gu Qingyun’s face was pale, and a red magic seal vaguely appeared on his forehead. Those frosty eyes were tightly closed, and beads of sweat exuded from his forehead. Gu Qingyun’s whole body was trembling, his internal organs being torn apart. With a loud noise, the air wave shook the Water Cave into pieces.
Gu Qingyun was unstable and vomited a mouthful of blood.
“Junior Brother!” Wu Hengmu arrived in time to channel energy for Gu Qingyun to heal his wounds.
Wu Hengmu frowned, looking at the disheveled Gu Qingyun with a complicated expression. He said angrily: “Junior Brother, if I hadn’t come, were you planning to die in this cave today?”
“It’s fine…”
Gu Qingyun wiped away the dark red bloodstains from the corners of his mouth and smiled with relief: “I just cut off my own meridians to block the demonic energy, it’s fine now.”
Looking at Gu Qingyun, who was usually radiant and glowing outside, but who had almost gone into a demonic state, Wu Hengmu had a breath stuffed in his chest. He looked at Gu Qingyun, hating that he couldn’t turn his iron into steel: “I don’t ask you to kill Ye Qianjue, I only ask you to take care of yourself and stay away from that孽种 (evil seed)!”
Gu Qingyun smiled calmly.
“Senior Brother, I’m afraid I won’t be able to escape this tribulation. It’s just that Ye Qianjue is left alone in the world, I”
“Stop, the disciple is one you wanted to take in and raise; his life and death have nothing to do with me. If you are concerned about him, take good care of yourself.”
Gu Qingyun understood these principles; he knew Wu Hengmu was doing it for his own good. At least, as for him…
Cherishing the present is enough.