Both of his lips felt completely numb.
Jun Yanye had never deigned to yield to anyone else, but with Shi Li, he had already yielded so many times that the aversion in his heart had long since vanished.
Shi Li immediately took off his clothes and stepped into the water, leaning against the rock beside Jun Yanye. “The person who was very important to you gave you this name.”
“Jun Yanye, he gave you this name because you loathe the night,” Shi Li said.
Jun Yanye looked at Shi Li. This style of naming was truly very characteristic of Shi Li.
It was very erratic, just like a joke.
“If you liked the night, you would probably be called Jun Xiye, which sounds quite festive.” Shi Li smiled and asked, “How about it, do you still hate the night now?”
Jun Yanye could not answer. For thousands of years, he had lingered in the Land of Evernight in the Demon Realm, and now he was trapped in the Valley of Ten Thousand Obscurities.
Shi Li did not wait for his answer either. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Jun Yanye’s neck and printed a kiss upon his lips.
“You don’t need to drink the aphrodisiac wine anymore?” Jun Yanye asked against his lips. Shi Li’s lips were entirely numb.
“I am in a good mood today.” Shi Li blinked lazily.
“Mm, you are treating me as a pastime.” Jun Yanye lowered his eyes slightly, a trace of a smile in his words. “You really aren’t afraid of death.”
“What is there to fear? I have already died twice.”
“Mm?”
“The first time was jumping down from the cliff, and the second time was when I drank that aphrodisiac wine, almost dying right on top of you.”
Shi Li invited Jun Yanye beneath the water. The warm ripples slowly rolled out a few splashes of water, like a mermaid swaying its caudal fin.
The dense spiritual mist obscured the figures of the two men. As a gentle breeze swept past, the water splashed up even more intensely, crashing against the rocks and shattering into snowy white froth.
Shi Li’s chin pressed tightly against Jun Yanye’s shoulder. His eyes were closed, and though he clearly had not drunk any alcohol, a crimson flush rose to his face as if he were intoxicated, his lips slightly parted.
Shi Li’s lips brushed against Jun Yanye’s shoulder, their hair and skin intertwining in a highly subtle sensation.
The wood spiritual energy by the lake exhaled the fragrance of orchids, soothing Shi Li’s spiritual root and making his entire body feel warm and soft.
Before long, Shi Li lost some of his strength. His bones felt as though they had been softened by the lake water, and his body kept sliding downward, prompting Jun Yanye to pull him up and clasp his waist tightly.
“Shi Li?” Jun Yanye softly called his name.
Jun Yanye cupped his face, carefully observing his expression.
Jun Yanye suddenly realized that Shi Li was treating him as wine, seeking nothing but intoxication.
Shi Li merely wanted to be intoxicated; as for what he was intoxicated by, it did not matter. It could be wine, or it could be Jun Yanye’s body.
Shi Li’s attitude caused Jun Yanye to feel a strong sense of fracture. This fracture made him panicked, disgusted, and uneasy.
No matter how intimate Shi Li’s body was with him, there was still no sign of him in Shi Li’s eyes. This sense of fracture made Jun Yanye suffer incomparably.
It turned out that walking alone between heaven and earth was not lonely. What truly made him lonely to the bone was embracing Shi Li.
After the fervor ended, Jun Yanye held Shi Li and said, “Shi Li, this is the last time.”
“Alright,” Shi Li agreed very crisply.
“Dual cultivating with you does not bring me happiness.” On the contrary, it was very painful.
“Alright.”
Jun Yanye stared at the trickling lake water. “Will you go find someone else?”
Shi Li did not speak.
“Forget it, act as if I never said that.” Jun Yanye regretted it. Just now, his thoughts had been in a jumble, and he seemed to have acted somewhat on impulse.
Shi Li still remained silent.
Jun Yanye wondered if Shi Li had simply not heard him at all, so he asked again, “What did I just say?”
“You told me to go find someone else,” Shi Li said.
“Uh.” Jun Yanye nearly choked on his breath. “I didn’t say that.”
“Right, let me tell you the method to break the Dao companion covenant,” Shi Li said with a calm countenance and a gentle voice. “This Dao companion covenant is very troublesome to establish, but if one wishes to break it, it is exceptionally easy. It does not even require entering the other party’s sea of consciousness. As long as one party recalls their own soul imprint, the Dao companion covenant becomes null and void.”
Shi Li looked at Jun Yanye, his eyes holding neither sorrow nor anger. “Just in case you can make use of it one day.”
Jun Yanye did not say a word, rising to leave.
.
.
Night fell.
The dual cultivation had ended on a sour note, leaving the cave dwelling exceptionally desolate.
Jun Yanye was in a foul mood, causing a dangerous aura to permeate the entire territory of the Ghost Chi. The lesser demons trembled with fear, hiding inside their caves and refusing to come out.
Jun Yanye lay on the bed, holding that golden talisman in his hand, looking at it absentmindedly.
“What are you looking at?” Shi Li struck up a conversation with him as if nothing had happened, acting as though nothing had transpired between the two of them.
“Does this talisman require an incantation to be activated?” Jun Yanye asked.
Shi Li’s heart tightened. “What do you want to do?”
This talisman could lead directly to the main peak of the Changming Sect. Although Jun Yanye could force his way in by launching a heavy assault, this talisman would allow him to do so without blowing away a single speck of dust.
Jun Yanye did not look at him. “Nothing.”
“Give it to me.” Shi Li stepped forward, wanting to take the talisman.
Jun Yanye stuffed the talisman into his own lapel and turned over, facing away from Shi Li.
.
.
The next day, Jun Yanye opened his eyes and saw Shi Li sitting at the head of his bed once again.
“Morning.” Shi Li smiled as warmly as the morning light.
Jun Yanye found that this person’s smile was truly cheap. After making such a scene yesterday, he could still smile.
Having lived in the Changming Sect for so many years, Shi Li concealed his emotions very naturally. Unlike Jun Yanye, whose cultivation was too high and whose status hit the ceiling, he had absolutely no need to read other people’s expressions and had no necessity to conceal his emotions.
“Let’s take a trip to the border today,” Shi Li said. “Your demon generals and demon soldiers have been waiting for a long time. It is also time for them to reunite with you.”
Only then did Jun Yanye rise.
The two set off toward the south, arriving at the border of the Valley of Ten Thousand Obscurities.
The border of the Valley of Ten Thousand Obscurities was a forest of locust trees, where a faint white misty barrier could be indistinctly seen.
“Help me find a large water vat planted with lotuses. It should be in the southwest direction,” Shi Li said to Jun Yanye.
Although Shi Li knew the orientation, the trees here were too dense and there was a misty barrier, making it very arduous for him to search. Jun Yanye sensed the surrounding environment, leading Shi Li through the forest to arrive under a tree.
“It’s here,” Shi Li said.
Under an old locust tree stood a large celadon water vat. Inside the water vat were bowl lotuses. The bowl lotuses, which were originally pinkish-white, had all turned entirely black, numbering eleven in total.
“The ones coming to meet me total eleven people,” Jun Yanye said.
“Correct, they are trapped inside an illusion,” Shi Li said. “We must enter as well, breaking the illusion from the inside to rescue them. Now, look straight at your own reflection in the water surface.”
Shi Li moved his hands to push aside the black bowl lotuses and lotus leaves, revealing the water surface, and then the two of them looked into the vat together.
In an instant, the figures of the two vanished from the forest, leaving only the black lotuses swaying in the reflection of the water.
When Shi Li and Jun Yanye opened their eyes again, they found themselves standing outside a grand palace hall.
The gold-painted palace doors were painted with multicolored butterflies, and the sound of playing music floated out melodiously. Two boys made of white lotus roots pushed open the palace doors with their lotus-jointed arms, making a gesture of invitation.
“It seems I have wine to drink again.” Shi Li patted the head of a boy.
The two entered the hall. The interior of the hall was paved with uniformly translucent gold stones and lined with a deep red carpet. On each candlestick sat nine carved white candles, their flames flowing upward like water.
Inside the hall stood a dozen or so purple sandalwood small tables, and in front of almost every table slumped a demon person.
Jun Yanye swept his gaze and recognized them instantly; these people were precisely his soldiers and generals. He was just about to walk over to wake them up when he was stopped by Shi Li. “No rush, the illusion is not yet broken. Even if you call them now, they won’t wake up.”
In the center of the grand hall, nine female dancers wearing black-and-gold gauze dresses danced gracefully, while musicians played music on both sides. The dancers and musicians were all lotus-root people, possessing white, slender bodies but no faces.
It was truly a place like a phantom dream.
“Guests, please take your seats.” The crisp voice of a lotus-root boy echoed through the grand hall.
Shi Li and Jun Yanye sat down before the exact same small table.
The lotus-root boy paused for a moment, then reminded them again, “Guests, please take your seats separately.”
The other guests all had one table per person, but Shi Li’s cultivation was too low and his body was as fragile as glass, so Jun Yanye did not feel at ease letting him sit alone and sat right next to him.
“We are Dao companions, we must sit together!” Shi Li said. “Go back and discuss it with your shopkeeper.”
“Guests, please take your seats separately, otherwise, the banquet cannot proceed,” the lotus-root boy said.
Jun Yanye’s Xuanhuang sword unsheathed, slicing the small table before them into two halves.
Shi Li burst out laughing. “Now we are sitting separately. Serve the dishes.”
Lotus-root boy: “…”