Yan Zhu was slightly exasperated, gritting his teeth as he said, “Instead of meditating and cultivating properly, why on earth does Immortal Yu Li want to sleep?”
“I want to sleep. Is that not allowed?”
Yu Li gave him a calm and indifferent glance, unwilling to say more, and lay down straight beside him.
This is simply unreasonable!
Yan Zhu was so irritated his teeth felt itchy, yet there was nothing he could do to him. Since he could neither beat him in a fight nor win against him in an argument, he simply rolled over and scrambled toward the inner side of the bed, creating a metaphorical boundary line of the Chu-Han border right between the two of them.
However, until the middle of the night, he still hadn’t the slightest bit of sleepiness.
Having been dead for several centuries, upon suddenly being reborn, he was curious about everything. That was all the more true when there was a living, breathing person lying right beside him, and not just anyone, but his former mortal archenemy with whom he had fought to the death.
After tossing and turning for a long while, keeping all that frustration bottled up inside him, he didn’t hold back his movements at all. The bed beneath him creaked noisily. Yet the person beside him remained completely unaffected by him, lying peacefully and composedly on the outer side, looking as serene as a corpse.
In the end, he had no idea when he finally fell asleep, only knowing that the next day he was rudely woken up from his pleasant slumber before he was fully awake.
“Is the Sword Attendant awake?” The room door was gently knocked, and the crisp voice of a fairy child drifted into his ears. Yan Zhu felt even more irritable; he pulled the quilt to completely bury his head, refusing to answer.
“Not awake.”
The fairy child seemed momentarily speechless before speaking again, saying, “It is almost noon. The Lord specially instructed me to prepare some food. Would you like to get up and eat something? If you starve to death, it will be hard for me to answer to the Lord.”
Only then did Yan Zhu open his eyes, sitting up straight, only to immediately feel dizzy and lightheaded.
He suddenly understood with a jolt. No wonder he had been feeling weak all over and his stomach kept rumbling.
Turns out he was starving.
In his past life as the Demon Lord, he had already practiced bigu for many years and had long forgotten what it felt like to be hungry. If not for the reminder from the little child outside the door today, who knows, he might have been starved to death in another day or two.
Walking unsteadily, he got out of bed. Lacking control over his strength for a moment, he yanked the room door open forcefully, giving the fairy child outside a fright and sending him jumping quite a distance back.
“Why do you open the door so abruptly? You scared me!” The fairy child clutched his chest, sighing and complaining.
Yan Zhu stared at him with a remarkably strange look in his eyes. To be fair, it wasn’t entirely his fault; the fairy child looked young, but had white hair and white eyebrows, even his eyelashes were white, and his skin was so pale it practically glowed.
Connecting this with how he had just effortlessly hopped a huge distance away with a single bounce, Yan Zhu rested his chin in his hand and asked out of curiosity, “Are you a rabbit?”
The fairy child immediately became furious, his fair face blushing bright red, and said, “You are the rabbit! Your whole family is rabbits! I am a crane! A crane that can fly! If you spout nonsense again, I won’t carry you later, and you can slowly walk down these several thousand stone steps yourself.”
Yan Zhu reined himself in a bit, curving the corners of his lips into a charming, smiling expression as he said, “I was merely joking just now. May I ask what your esteemed name is, fellow Daoist?”
The fairy child let out a cold snort, his anger finally subsiding slightly, before immediately speaking with a proud and smug look, “My name is Yun Zhongfei.”
Yan Zhu praised sincerely, “Truly a fine name.”
Yun Zhongfei gave him a rare, approving glance, and proudly continued, “Of course! I racked my brain for a long time to come up with this name for myself. It sounds utterly domineering the moment you hear it.”
Yan Zhu asked curiously again, “You mentioned earlier that we still have to walk down several thousand stone steps. I am simply going to eat a meal, so can’t I eat it up here? Why do we have to go down?”
Yun Zhongfei glared at him and said, “This place is where the Lord quietly cultivates; of course you can’t eat here! Besides, it’s not like you have to walk yourself, because I will carry you down. Why do you have such a fuss to make?”
With that, the little child who had been hopping mad just moments before transformed in a flash into an extremely elegant and noble crane, holding its slender neck high and refusing to look at him.
Yan Zhu was silent for a moment before speaking again, “You are too tall. I can’t get up there.”
“What a bother.”
Yun Zhongfei shot him a sidelong glance, muttered under his breath, and in the next moment, a gust of wind swept him up, landing him steadily onto the crane’s back.
A swirl of clouds and mist drifted before his eyes, and after just the time it takes to burn half an incense stick, he landed lightly on the ground.
A familiar scent of tranquil sandalwood wafted past his nose. Yan Zhu looked up to see Yu Li sitting calmly beside a long table in the inner room, upon which several plates of exquisite snacks were laid out.
“Lord, the Sword Attendant has been brought here.” Yun Zhongfei bowed respectfully and withdrew.
Yan Zhu, however, stood frozen in place for quite a while without moving. Yu Li glanced at him and asked, “Aren’t you coming over to eat?”
Yan Zhu slowly shuffled closer, sat down opposite him, and asked in confusion, “Didn’t the Immortal already practice bigu long ago? Why are you eating as well?”
Yu Li’s long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and his cold, jade-like voice rang out, saying, “To accompany you.”
Just as Yan Zhu picked up his chopsticks, his hand trembled, and the chopsticks rolled onto the floor.
Over there, Yu Li spoke again, “Later, accompany this Lord down the mountain for a trip.”
Just as Yan Zhu had picked the chopsticks back up, he was startled once more. Yet, deep down, he couldn’t help feeling a flicker of clandestine joy, thinking that perhaps he could seize this opportunity to make a run for it. He paused, but ultimately couldn’t hold back his upbeat tone as he asked, “Why does the Immortal want me to accompany you down the mountain?”
Yu Li frowned and said, “Since you are this Lord’s Sword Attendant, naturally you must carry the sword for this Lord.”
Yan Zhu stopped paying attention to him. Carry his sword for him? That meant he would only be stuck right under the other’s nose, so how could he ever find an opportunity to run away? A troublesome chore like this was definitely not something he was willing to do.
He immediately lowered his head, focusing solely on devouring his meal. After finishing, he casually wiped his mouth, said not a single word, and turned to walk outside.
However, just as he reached the doorway, he was bound by a surge of spiritual energy and pulled right back to the young man’s side. Yu Li grabbed the back collar of his robes with one hand, his voice entirely devoid of fluctuation as he asked, “Running away to where?”
Yan Zhu didn’t speak, struggling on his own accord.
Yu Li continued, “I don’t care what your name was in the past; from now on, you shall be called Xi Yan. Do you remember?”
Yan Zhu stopped struggling. He didn’t even care that he was being dragged along by his collar, because monstrous waves were crashing inside his heart.
Xi Yan?
How could he possibly know this name?
Or could it be that this was merely a coincidence?
Yan Zhu suppressed the shock in his heart, comforting himself in secret that it had to be a coincidence. He was utterly certain that when he used this name to travel and hone his skills in his youth, he had never once run into this icy block of ice.
The two of them had only met after he became the Demon Lord and they had fought a battle against each other.
A coincidence, it definitely had to be a coincidence.
“What are you daydreaming about? Stand properly, watch out or you’ll fall off.” The cold voice rang out by his ear once more. Yan Zhu snapped out of his daze and found that the two of them were already standing on a flying sword, with the young man’s hand firmly steadying his waist.
“Where are we going?”
“Chongzhou Chang residence. There are demonic ghosts causing chaos.”
Chongzhou was within Qianji’s sphere of protection, but how could mere minor demons and ghosts manage to summon someone of this renowned Immortal Yu Li’s stature?
Yan Zhu held doubts in his heart, but didn’t question further. Having just eaten shortly before, he began to feel drowsy after flying for a little while. Still harboring lingering resentment, he didn’t care about propriety, and in grief and indignation, leaned his head against the chest of the person behind him to take a short nap.
Yet, he paid no attention at all to how the cold immortal behind him suddenly experienced a sharply heavier breath.