When Geng Xinghe woke up from his unconsciousness, he found himself lying in a neat and quiet room.
Cyan bed curtains, a cyan quilt…
He tilted his head and saw wisps of blue smoke curling upward from a celadon three-legged incense burner placed on the table.
Could he see?
Geng Xinghe tested moving his legs.
They could move, and they didn’t hurt.
Did dying mean that all the wounds on one’s body simply vanished?
Then someone like him, who always brought disaster to others, should probably be going to hell, right?
So hell was this peaceful after all?
He sighed and closed his eyes once more.
Could he go look for his mom and dad?
Did his parents already know that he was a harbinger of disaster?
Would they still be willing to see him?
A tear slipped from the corner of Geng Xinghe’s eye.
He was a plague who had brought catastrophe to his family; how could he possibly have the face to see his parents?
Geng Xinghe’s tears fell silently, wetting the pillow.
“Awake?”
Suddenly, a faint greeting shattered the quietness of the room.
Geng Xinghe turned his head in astonishment and froze.
At some point, a youth in cyan robes had appeared in the room.
Geng Xinghe had always known that his own appearance was top-notch.
Yet the moment he laid eyes on this cyan-robed man, a sense of profound self-loathing arose within him.
Unlike the gentle and refined warmth he had feigned to put his parents at ease, the cyan-robed man standing before him pale, completely devoid of color, and looking frail beyond measure felt like a beam of light, like the dawn breaking at the start of day.
He only needed to stand there to dispel the dark night in people’s hearts and chase away the coldness deep within their souls.
Geng Xinghe didn’t even dare to blink.
He was afraid the person before him was merely a beautiful dream; with a single blink, the figure would vanish, leaving him behind all alone in this cold hell.
Seeing Geng Xinghe staring blankly at him, Chi Changye frowned.
Could it be that his spell had malfunctioned his wounds were healed, but his soul had been lost?
Why did this person look like a fool?
Though reluctant, Chi Changye still walked over, sat down on the edge of the bed, and felt Geng Xinghe’s pulse.
The young man’s brow furrowed even tighter.
Clearly there was nothing wrong with the pulse, so why did the person look like an idiot?
After a moment of thought, Chi Changye finally spoke up. “Does anywhere feel uncomfortable?”
Geng Xinghe finally couldn’t hold back anymore, blinking his eyes. “Are you the King of Hell?”
The King of Hell?
Chi Changye suppressed the urge to curse, forcing himself to remain calm. “You aren’t dead.”
Hm?
Geng Xinghe looked at Chi Changye in shock, appearing entirely unable to understand what he was saying.
How could he possibly not be dead?
He had always known that he was a monster.
He possessed bloodthirsty impulses and cravings for slaughter, along with ominous premonitions and a penchant for destruction.
Yet his parents had raised him well.
Therefore, he had hidden his vicious nature, acting the part of the gentle and jade-like young master before them.
Geng Xinghe had originally thought he would keep up the disguise for his parents’ sake for the rest of his life.
Pity that destiny refused to grant him that chance.
Geng Xinghe had been utterly ruthless when dealing with himself; he simply couldn’t believe he was still alive.
Chi Changye felt that his limit of patience had been reached.
Yet the person before him had been rescued by his own hand, and within that body even resided a wisp of his own divine soul.
Chi Changye closed his eyes for a moment to calm himself. “I saved you.”
Geng Xinghe gazed blankly at the impatience Chi Changye could no longer conceal, his expression turning pale and desolate. “It is my unworthiness that has disturbed you, Young Master.”
As he spoke, he made to get up and leave the bed.
Chi Changye shoved him right back down, pressing him onto the mattress. “Lie down, your body hasn’t fully recovered yet. Saving you cost me far too much energy, and I don’t intend to let that effort go to waste.”
Geng Xinghe lowered his gaze, his expression desolate. “You shouldn’t have saved me. I have already lost my home and my parents; between heaven and earth, my body floats like duckweed, utterly alone and without support.”
Perhaps because a fragment of his soul resided within Geng Xinghe, or perhaps because Geng Xinghe’s physical body had been reconstructed using his own heart’s blood, Chi Changye’s stone-cold heart softened for once.
“Since I saved you, I am naturally responsible for you.”
Chi Changye reached out, pulled the quilt over him to tuck him in, and—amidst Geng Xinghe’s astonished gaze patiently offered an explanation.
“This is the Taiqing Realm, and I am Chi Changye, an elder of the premier immortal sect, the Yuxu Sect. If you are willing, from this day onward, you shall be my disciple.”
The Taiqing Realm, the Yuxu Sect, Chi Changye!
Geng Xinghe was practically dumbfounded. “The Yaoguang Immortal Lord who saved the world with three sword strikes three hundred years ago?”
“Shut up.” Chi Changye gritted his teeth, detesting the title Yaoguang Immortal Lord to his core.
That damned Yue Qianfan, insisting on giving him some grand moniker damn it, how utterly embarrassing.
Geng Xinghe had no idea where he had gone wrong, stammering in flustered embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Immortal Lord…”
Chi Changye exhaled a breath, unsure whether it was a sigh of relief or disappointment. “Since you aren’t willing, I will just”
“Wait, I’m not willing? How could the Immortal Lord think that?”
Geng Xinghe froze once more, staring at Chi Changye as if looking at a fraud. “Even if you find my aptitude too poor to teach, you shouldn’t slander me like this. When did I ever say I wasn’t willing?”
Why was the Immortal Lord trying to force a rejection onto someone else?
If the man didn’t want to take him as a disciple, he certainly wouldn’t pester him; after all, taking a disciple was something the man had proposed in the first place, so backing out wasn’t shameful.
Chi Changye’s brows never once unbunched. “I said I’d take you in, yet you wouldn’t agree. How is it that you’re now blaming me instead?”
This person was so annoying; he should have just left him to die.
Chi Changye’s anthropophobia flared up, and he desperately wanted to turn tail and flee.
After just a few exchanges of words, Geng Xinghe roughly grasped Chi Changye’s personality.
This person likely wasn’t very adept at interacting with others.
To him, whatever words left his mouth constituted a promise.
If he himself agreed, he should immediately change his form of address and offer formal discipleship.
Therefore, Geng Xinghe blinked his eyes, pushed back the quilt to sit up, knelt directly on the bed, and bowed deeply until his forehead touched the mattress. “Disciple Geng Chen greets Master. May Master be blessed with boundless longevity and eternal youth.”
Chi Changye’s embarrassment flared up all over again. “Enough, just call me Master. As for the other nonsense, don’t say it ever again.”
Eternal youth? Did they take him for one of those old fossils beyond the Heavenly Gates?
He,
Born to suppress ten thousand demons, and destined one day to perish alongside them.
He was someone with an incomplete soul; the moment he met his end, he would vanish entirely from between heaven and earth.
Yet they could continue to exist for a long, long time living to enjoy eternal immortal blessing, or returning to reincarnation upon death.
Geng Xinghe had no inkling of what was running through Chi Changye’s mind. He only knew that he had a master now, that he had family once more.
Geng Xinghe straightened his posture and gazed up at Chi Changye.
From this moment on, his entire world would consist solely of his Master.
Chi Changye retrieved a porcelain vial from his sleeve and handed it to Geng Xinghe. “Blood-enriching and Qi-tonifying pills; they will help with your recovery. Rest these next few days, and once you’ve healed, I will take you to meet the rest of the sect.”
Geng Xinghe respectfully accepted the vial. “Thank you, Master.”
“Very well, get some rest,” Chi Changye said indifferently, standing up. “I won’t disturb your recovery any longer.”