Everyone only saw him as he was now—a direct disciple of Lingyue Pavilion with a exalted status, using only top-grade items for everything.
Yet a few years ago, he was nothing more than a beggar on the streets.
Su Li was not called Su Li back then; his name was Su Li (Grain of Millet), representing the wish of his parents, who had abandoned him while fleeing a famine, that the next year’s harvest of millet and wheat might be a bit more bountiful.
Years of wandering had left him riddles with ailments. When he was first brought into Lingyue Pavilion, the perennial snow and bitter cold caused the chilblains on his hands and feet to flare up, leaving every single finger swollen, purplish-blue, numb, itchy, and painful.
So cold… and these fingers are so ugly.
Su Li hung his head, his dark, pitch-black eyes completely devoid of life:
I might as well just chop them all off.
Things like these, resembling black radishes—even if chopped off, I bet not a single drop of blood would flow.
The osmanthus tree and the small courtyard outside the window were dreamily beautiful, like a fairyland, while he was so filthy, entirely out of place with all of this!
Looking at his hands, a sudden surge of anger flared up within him!
He almost used his teeth to bite them off!
In the next moment, a pair of flawless hands, pure as white jade, stopped his action. Instead, they cupped his hands and brought out a porcelain bottle: “Chilblains flaring up? Come, let’s apply the ointment.”
That person’s voice was just as cold as Lingyue Pavilion, yet… the warmth of his palm felt so soothing, and a faint fragrance of osmanthus wafted from his body.
Su Li looked down at himself:
His own swollen, black-radish-like hands placed against this pair of white-jade hands was practically a desecration.
Su Li couldn’t help wanting to pull his paws back—even if it meant chopping them off!
Yet those mutton-fat jade-like hands showed not a single trace of disgust, holding him tightly as a cold, clear voice sounded: “Don’t move!”
And so… he truly didn’t dare move a muscle.
The ointment carrying a herbal scent was applied evenly, then neatly wrapped in clean white gauze.
It was dry, carrying a trace of warmth—perhaps the lingering body heat of that person.
“Immortal,” he finally asked in a tiny voice, feeling that making even the slightest loud noise before Immortal Respecter Lingyue was a noisy disturbance, “How did Immortal Respecter know I had chilblains?”
The man offered an extremely faint smile, like the reflection of a bright moon falling onto a cold pool ripples by water waves, leaving him staring in a daze: “You are my disciple, after all.”
These ripples swayed and rippled, filling the very depths of his heart.
That night, cupping these paws of his and drawing in the warmth left behind by the Immortal Respecter, he slept soundly and sweetly.
So it’s Master, not Immortal Respecter;
So being Master’s disciple is such a happy thing?
Facing Lu Yin, Su Li revealed a dazed smile once again.
Lu Yin shook his head helplessly: “Hurry up and go rest. Whatever needs to be done can wait until tomorrow.”
“If you have matters to seek Master for, come to Jiyun Pavilion.”
Jiyun Pavilion was a airy wooden tower, as well as the tallest structure in Lingyue Pavilion.
It stood six stories high. The middle floors were used to store books, while the lowest floor served as a study room for daily reading, where Master would occasionally come to teach lessons.
The top floor, however, was specially arranged for viewing the scenery.
Osmanthus branches reached in through the hollow-carved wooden windows, bringing a roomful of delicate fragrance. The daybed was made of finest precious wood, cushioned with silk pads embroidered with blue seas and cloudy skies.
A screen separated the daybed, creating a tiny private space together with lush potted plants and flowers.
Lu Yin was savoring tea. A nine-gold auspicious beast incense burner sat on the small tea table, curling with wisps of blue smoke—it was borneol incense, prepared by his dutiful disciple Su Li.
The spiritual tea was delicious, entering the mouth with a natural sweetness that transformed into crisp spiritual energy, rushing straight into his lungs and dantian.
Swallowing the spiritual tea, Lu Yin’s exposed Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.
His fingers brushed across the Ice-Dust Crystal Mirror. As the moonlight shone down, another projection was released—except this time, the soul fragment was not a sword cultivator, nor a medical cultivator, nor a man with silver eyes, but… a fluffy nine-tailed fox curled into a ball.
Every time he saw this slice, Lu Yin couldn’t help but smile helplessly: Of the seven, he was probably the one with the strongest beast nature and the most willful. Thinking this, his heart stirred slightly, and his red lips chanted a spell—a special incantation capable of nourishing and restoring soul fragments, which he summoned a projection to chant every night.
The fate-bell on his ankle chimed without wind, harmonizing with the incantation. Amidst the rising fragrance, he felt as if he had returned to that willful fellow’s world:
[Back then, he often sat quietly in the warm tower room. Whenever he did, a slightly cool hand would reach up from behind to stroke his Adam’s apple, rubbing it intimately.
“!” Lu Yin would always be startled, followed by an extremely rich, sweet scent wrapping around him, as if a blooming flower field had been tossed into a raging fire, so intense it made him lose his senses for a moment.
The long fingers with flushed nails took the opportunity to stir up trouble, scraping and sliding all the way down his Adam’s apple, leaving itchy and stinging marks before slipping into his collar…
Lu Yin held down that paw and scolded with a helpless laugh: “Restrain yourself a bit, will you?”
“Hmph.” A soft laugh came, accompanied by an even deeper fragrance.
A figure strolled out from behind him, wearing a purple robe with a distinct exotic flair. His exposed arms were tightly muscular and sculpted, adorned with armlets.
He leaned lazily against the soft cushions, an uncountably large number of fluffy giant tails behind him brushing against Lu Yin’s ankles every now and then.
Lu Yin: “Why didn’t you notify me to undo the barrier for you?”
The man raised a slender eyebrow, a flash of blood-red light passing through his narrow eyes, giving him quite a non-human aura: “As if a barrier set by you righteous folks could stop me?”
“Whatever you say you want, I eagerly fetch it for you. I, the grand Demon King, am ordered around by you like a lapdog.” He flicked the long, slender brass pipe in his hand, puffing out a smoke ring. “I treat you so well, yet you refuse to return to the Demon Realm with me. Isn’t it just that you look down on me for being a demon?” The Demon King narrowed his eyes, his gaze unreadable.
Lu Yin laughed despite himself: “You know very well I don’t. Naturally, I must stay on the righteous side to vindicate your name, letting them know that not all demons are evil by nature.”
Inside the warm tower room, the Demon King puffed out another smoke ring. Dense Heyi incense billowed from the pipe, clouding his exquisite, gorgeous facial features. His appearance was delicate and breathtaking, yet his lines were exceptionally sharp. When he stared at someone with that beast-like look, he carried an extraordinarily intense sense of pressure:
“The Heavenly Dao wants us demons dead, so we have no choice but to die. Do you understand?” That gorgeous, man-eating beast leaned closer, his animal pupils locked tightly onto Lu Yin.
Lu Yin shook his head: “I won’t let that happen.” Unafraid in the slightest, he met his gaze openly.
“…Hmph, mouth sweet as honey.” The Demon King’s tone softened. His beast pupils vanished, yet he refused to retreat half a step, instead lazily exhaling a cloud of Heyi incense smoke and licking his lips: “I don’t believe you, unless you prove it to me.”
The light, elegant borneol incense was completely extinguished, replaced by the heavy, suffocating scent of Heyi incense burning inside Jiyun Pavilion.
The enchanting demon fox puffed smoke and clouds, trapping the unworldly immortal in a sweet dreamland, his face soaked, dazed and trembling.]
Su Li had originally intended to seek out Master to ask about the Lingwei Grass, but before he even reached the base of Jiyun Pavilion, he saw dense clouds of smoke billowing from the hollow-carved wooden windows at the top floor.
What was that?
Su Li was shocked. Was there too much borneol incense?
No, that’s not right!
Why would there be the scent of a demon cultivator on Master’s Jiyun Pavilion?
Su Li sniffed—the scent was extraordinarily dense, making one dizzy upon first whiff!
Cultivators naturally favored clean, elegant things, and Immortal Respecter Lingyue was even more so. Yet this scent was practically like a large wild beast marking its territory, carrying a slight, turbid, musky smell…
Wait, could it be?!
No way!
Master!
Su Li flew forward, but as he reached the front of Jiyun Pavilion, he was abruptly knocked back!
A barrier had been set up!
Su Li panicked even more: Master was fine this afternoon, so what was he doing atop Jiyun Pavilion right now?
He immediately sent out two divine-sense messages transformed into paper kites: “Is Master alright?”
“Master, why do I smell the scent of a demon cultivator?”
Engulfed in the heavy fragrance brought by his memories, Lu Yin didn’t reply to him immediately. In fact, the moment he saw the paper kites, even more memories surged into his mind:
[Upon the daybed of the warm tower room, Lu Yin struggled to reach out a slender, snow-white arm to untie a message from a fellow disciple.
Disturbed in his play, the Demon Respecter lay across Lu Yin’s back, several massive fluffy tails nearly swallowing the immortal whole. He casually extended his pipe, wickedly resting it across Lu Yin’s fragile Adam’s apple, forcing him to lean backward until his entire body was taut like a drawn bowstring.
The crimson smoke ring atop the pipe burned a pitch-black hole through the paper kite Su Li had sent up. The Demon King’s tone was sticky and cloying: “What is that righteous junior brother throwing a fuss for? Ignore him.”
Lu Yin had no choice but to hold the pipe stem in reverse, his long fingers distinct as white jade. He coughed painfully twice: “…Beast, it’s because you made too much noise that you startled him. Let me reply…”
Hearing the word “beast,” the Demon King’s blood boiled, a crimson blood-light surging in his eyes. The slender brass pipe stem didn’t budge an inch, instead hooking the person even closer. He licked his lips and bit Lu Yin’s ear: “Reply just like this.”
Lu Yin: “Mm… loosen up a bit… you beast…”
What answered him was the Demon King biting into the back of Lu Yin’s neck, uttering indistinctly: “Reply just like this.”
The subtle pain and tingling left Lu Yin sapped of strength. Unable to withstand this grueling beast, he could only mumble a low response and send out a message snowflake.]
Back then, he had always called Shi Zeyi a “beast,” never imagining that during the calamity of destruction, this very “beast” would use nine tails to protect him, letting those nine tails turn into white bones one by one…
If he had known earlier, perhaps he would have lingered with this “beast” a little longer.
Lu Yin closed his eyes slightly, ending the projection and sending out the transmission snowflake in his hand.
The snowflake flew out of the pavilion, past the osmanthus tree, drifting until it landed in Su Li’s palm. The anxious youth grabbed it tightly; the snowflake melted rapidly, conveying only Master’s unusually seductive, raspy voice: “It’s nothing, do not disturb—”
At the very end of his voice was an imperceptible tone—sounding like a bowstring stretched to its absolute limit, emitting an unbearable, weeping high note that made Su Li’s scalp go numb.
This… what was Master doing?
What were they doing?
Above the snowflake, there lingered the heavy scents of Heyi incense mixed with that musky smell… Heavens…
Night had barely fallen, yet they were already acting so outrageously…
Su Li felt stars explode before his eyes, a dense darkness suffocating him.
Master… Master’s true Dao companion was actually a demon cultivator?!
Su Li raised his head, his usually gentle eyes turning fathomlessly deep, as if weeping tears of blood.
Master…
Why are you willing to form a bond with a demon beast, yet unwilling to glance at me even once…
An extremely wicked thought rose in his mind: What if… what if he used this as blackmail to threaten Master, claiming that he was secretly seeing a demon cultivator? Would Master, just to silence him, do the exact same things to him as well…?