After Jun Yanye agreed to attend the banquet, the scorpion spirit immediately summoned hundreds of insect demons. The little insect demons were all dressed up in festive red decorations, carrying a gorgeous carriage. Eight dark-gold curtains hung from the roof of the carriage. Painted upon the thin drapes were various insects such as butterflies, spiders, scorpions, and ants, while the curtain ties were woven from honey-silk, appearing faintly visible in the air.
“Demon Venerable Your Majesty, Young Master Shi, please.”
Just as Jun Yanye was about to leave the cave, Shi Li grabbed his wrist.
“What is it?” Jun Yanye looked at him.
“You are going just like this?” Shi Li looked Jun Yanye up and down, inspecting him from head to toe.
Jun Yanye blinked, not feeling that anything was wrong. “Just like this.”
“The blood on your clothes, the holes, and this-” Shi Li tugged at Jun Yanye’s scratched sleeve. “It is not decent at all. I am dressed so neatly, yet you are dressed so casually.”
Jun Yanye truly did not care how others looked at him. For a long time, he would appear in whatever state he happened to be in. Even at the succession ceremony of the Demon Venerable, he went wearing casual clothes. No one dared to say a single word extra, nor did he need to explain himself to anyone.
But today, with Shi Li raising this request, Jun Yanye suddenly felt that if he also dressed better, they might be a better match.
Jun Yanye blinked once. The blood and filth all over his body vanished without a trace, and he changed into the formal attire that he only wore during the succession ceremony.
This was Jun Yanye’s most decent clothing. He truly could not find anything more decent than this.
Looking at the Jun Yanye in front of him, who was clad in glittering gold and heavy black, looking so solemn as if he were about to ascend a throne, Shi Li was stunned again. “Uh.”
“If you have something to say, speak.”
“Hahaha” Shi Li could not help but laugh. “If you dress like this, my outfit seems a bit mismatched instead. But no matter, let us go.”
The two walked out of the mountain cave. The crowd of little demons outside immediately bowed in respect and served the two as they boarded the carriage.
The insect demons stretched on for miles, forming two long columns to escort the two toward the Gui Chi cave dwelling. The passing demons who witnessed such a spectacular sight also stopped to watch.
The Wanyou Valley was quite lively for a moment, unlike its usual desolation.
Shi Li looked at the scenery outside the curtain where the demons gazed up, and could not help but sigh. “What a familiar feeling. Before I became someone everyone wanted to beat up, I also had such glorious days. Carried in a sedan chair, everyone looked up to me.”
Shi Li was still young at that time. Attending the important ceremonies of the Sanctuary as the young master of the Changming Sect, everyone felt that he possessed the highest divination talent and was the future hope of the Sanctuary. Therefore, everyone looked forward to and envied him.
The tiny young master sat in the magnificent carriage, a pair of eyes always looking at the world with curiosity, completely unaware of how miserable his subsequent fate would be.
“Do you like it?” Jun Yanye asked.
“I do not like it, because after that, everyone wanted to beat me up. Anyone wanted to kick me, and anyone could take their anger out on me. Thinking about it this way, it would have been better never to have been glorious,” Shi Li said. When he spoke of these things, there was no longer much sadness on his face or in his eyes.
“If you do not want to be glorious, why did you put on such clothes again?” Jun Yanye looked at the patterns embroidered on Shi Li’s body, small petals of plumbago flowers blooming on the light purple silk surface.
Shi Li also looked at his own clothes. “It has been a long time since I wore such beautiful clothes. I wanted to try wearing them, and by the way, show you.”
“Show me?”
“When we part in the future, you most likely will not see me again. Let this leave a memory for you, so you can remember that I also had decent times. Do not always remember my miserable appearance.”
Shi Li opened his folding fan and fanned himself. The smooth strands of hair, accompanied by the fragrance from the bottom of the fan, lightly brushed against Jun Yanye’s shoulder and neck.
“Tell me about your matters,” Jun Yanye said.
Shi Li smiled sideways. “We are going to a banquet today. You do not ask me what intentions Gui Chi has, but instead ask about my matters? Are you very interested in me?”
“I have guessed Gui Chi’s thoughts, but I have not guessed your matters.”
Gui Chi was a thousand years old this year and was already close to facing his tribulation. But Gui Chi was afraid of failing the tribulation. If he could obtain Jun Yanye’s five thousand years of cultivation, he could directly advance to the Hedao stage, leaving him only one step away from ascension.
Today’s welcoming banquet was his opportunity. This was not difficult for Jun Yanye to guess.
“My matters, you will know very soon.” Shi Li cupped Jun Yanye’s face, his eyelashes half-lowered. “Alas, I truly do not want you to know.”
“Why?”
“In that case, I will have no sense of mystery at all in front of you, and a lot of fun will be lost,” Shi Li said seriously.
“Uh…” Just as they were speaking, Jun Yanye suddenly perceived two streaks of demonic energy coming from the mountain forest on the left, rushing straight toward Shi Li as fast as thunder and lightning.
Shi Li was still smiling, his head buried in admiring the seal script engravings on the fan ribs.
Jun Yanye raised his hand and threw out a domineering streak of demonic energy.
Boom—
Shi Li was shaken by the loud noise and lifted his head to look. He saw that the two mountains on the left had collapsed with a crash, turned to dust by the demonic energy. The wind blew sand and stones, producing billowing thick smoke.
A group of little demons gasped, freezing on the spot in dumbfounded astonishment.
Another group of little demons took to their heels and fled frantically.
Yet another group of little demons could not withstand the intense spiritual pressure and fainted.
“The Demon Venerable Your Majesty is-!”
“Demon Venerable Your Majesty, please appease your anger! Wuhu, please appease your anger.” The clueless ant spirits saw the Demon Venerable strike for the first time. Thinking that the Demon Venerable had gone mad and started a massacre, they squatted down and held their heads.
The scorpion spirit had a complicated expression. He swallowed his saliva, his legs trembling violently. “Demon Venerable Your Majesty, this, this is why did you strike?”
“Someone launched a sneak attack just now.” Jun Yanye’s face was calm, as if what he had just blown up was not two mountains, but two bricks.
“Ah, this… haha,” the scorpion spirit sweated profusely. “It was the lack of oversight by this lowly one! Thanks to the timely strike by the Demon Venerable Your Majesty.”
After saying this, the scorpion spirit recalled the large batch of insect demons that had run away, and everyone set off on the journey again.
Shi Li unfolded his fan surface bit by bit, using the Dao companion contract to transmit his voice to Jun Yanye. “Look at you. That Demon Lord Gui Chi has not seen you for a long time and wanted to test your cultivation, yet you delivered such a big gift, flattening someone’s armory.”
“Did he not want to see the appearance of my spiritual energy losing control?” Jun Yanye spoke with a half-smile, transmitting his voice to Shi Li. “I am losing control quite severely right now.”
Shi Li’s eyes curved with laughter. “I hope you also lose control like this during dual cultivation, and do not pity me just because I am at the Qi Condensation stage.”
“Uh…” The two reached Gui Chi’s cave dwelling with smiles and conversation.
The Demon Lord Gui Chi had already brought people to welcome them at the entrance of the cave. The moment he saw the two, he greeted them with a smiling face. “Good friend, it has been a long time.”
Gui Chi was dressed in brownish-yellow robes. His appearance was handsome and quite dragon-like. The tips of his brows and the corners of his eyes revealed a bit of aggressiveness, and his speaking voice was also resonant. “I heard that the Demon Venerable is undergoing tribulation here, so I specially arranged a welcoming banquet. Thank you, Demon Venerable, for giving me face.”
Jun Yanye replied, “It is easy to say.”
As Gui Chi spoke, he looked at Shi Li again. “This person must be that rumored Dao companion. My, this little friend truly has a delicate and elegant appearance, and an extraordinary aura.”
Jun Yanye did not refute it. Shi Li smiled and said, “Demon Lord, please do not misunderstand. How could I be the Dao companion of the Demon Venerable Your Majesty? I am just his friend. We occasionally gather together and usually like to joke around. Today, I also brazenly came along to attend the banquet. I hope the Demon Lord will not dislike or reject me.”
Gui Chi took a glance at Jun Yanye, and Jun Yanye took a glance at Shi Li.
Gui Chi did not expect that Shi Li would not admit to this identity of a Dao companion.
That day they underwent dual cultivation at Yuanlan Lake, many demons had heard about it. Could it be a misunderstanding? Could it be that it was not dual cultivation, but merely an intimate encounter?
Friends who could engage in intimate matters, Gui Chi had indeed heard of such relationships, but he could not associate it with Jun Yanye at all.
Jun Yanye looked at Shi Li. He did not understand why Shi Li would flatly deny it.
Shi Li knew that this Dao companion contract would be dissolved sooner or later. Once dissolved, Jun Yanye would also have to bear the reputation of being abandoned by a Dao companion, which he presumably would not want. Therefore, it was better to clarify it from the very beginning.
What kind of cheap Dao companion was he, Shi Li?
He only formed a Dao companion bond with Jun Yanye when his life was in critical danger, which was more of mutual utilization rather than mutual affection. If he claimed to be his Dao companion just based on this, Shi Li felt that Jun Yanye would also detest it.
“So that is how it is. It seems everyone has misunderstood. Since you are a good friend of the Demon Venerable, you are also my friend. Come, let us take our seats together,” Gui Chi said.
The surrounding demons also realized the situation. True, Shi Li had only appeared by the Demon Venerable’s side for three or four days, so how could he have become his Dao companion?
The matter of the Demon Venerable having a Dao companion was extremely sensational in itself, whereas being a good friend was more believable.
The demons who were enamored with Jun Yanye rallied their spirits again, and their hearts that had just jumped into their throats were placed back down.
Gui Chi’s cave dwelling extended deep underground. The interior was very spacious and grand. Bright glazed lamps hung high from the roof of the cave. Neatly dressed little demons shuttled back and forth among the various caves, offering rare delicacies to the main cave dwelling.
Although Gui Chi belonged to the demon race, he had still not changed the habits of the human world. Beautiful women sang and danced to accompany the meal during the banquet.
“Good friend, I originally intended to give a treasure to the two of you to congratulate you in advance on becoming Dao companions.” Gui Chi held a black wood mother-of-pearl treasure box. “But even if you are not Dao companions, it can still be used.”
He opened the treasure box, and a gentle, illusory five-colored light immediately burst forth from inside. “This Pair of Dream-Following Yearning Pendants comes as a set. As long as they are placed by the bedside before sleep, one can dream of the other after falling asleep. It can attract the souls of both individuals into the same dreamscape, ensuring that the two are not separated even in their sleep and dreams.”
Hearing the word ‘soul’, Jun Yanye was stunned for a moment.
Shi Li laughed happily and clapped his hands. “It truly is a treasure. I really cannot wait to try out what it is like.”
“Thank you,” Jun Yanye said upon hearing Shi Li’s words, and accepted the treasure box.
Gui Chi’s golden eyes moved slightly. His gaze lightly skimmed over Jun Yanye and Shi Li, and he also smiled. “If the little friend likes it, try it tonight. I have prepared the best upper room in the residence. I must drink heartily with my good friend for three days and three nights, so you will stay overnight here, how about it?”
Shi Li and Jun Yanye looked toward each other at the same time.
“Good friend must absolutely not decline. This is my kind intention.” Gui Chi’s face appeared exceptionally resolute under the light of the glazed lamps.
“Then it would be impolite to refuse,” Jun Yanye said.
“Hahaha, good! Let us not return until we are drunk!” Gui Chi personally poured honey wine for the two.
Jun Yanye took one look at the wine cup and could completely change the wine cup and the wine liquid, changing them into a jade cup and wisteria wine to match the color of the clothes Shi Li was wearing today.
“Come, drink!” Shi Li looked at the wine as if he were looking at a close relative.
Jun Yanye felt that the look in Shi Li’s eyes when looking at the wine was more affectionate than when looking at him.