Upon hearing these words, Jiang Xuning’s heart tightened, and his expression stiffened slightly, an inexplicable bitterness rising within him.
“Junior Brother Xu.”
Sensing the atmosphere was off, Liu Tang quickly signaled him to stop speaking. However, Xu Huaian was dull and failed to grasp her meaning; just as he was about to open his mouth again, he was suddenly interrupted.
“You all are really doing me an injustice here…”
Yu Heng’s eyelids drooped slightly. His face, which should have been peerlessly vibrant, now held a trace of indiscernible dejection. To anyone looking, he seemed extremely fragile and worthy of pity.
“It’s not that I didn’t mention my brother. It’s just that having been away from home for many years, my brother never sent me a single family letter. I presumed Brother had grown weary of me and no longer cared, so I didn’t want to add to my own sorrow by speaking of it.”
Jiang Xuning’s eyes shook slightly. He subconsciously wanted to look up at him.
“This…”
Xu Huaian hadn’t reacted either. He assumed he had poked a sore spot and damaged the brothers’ relationship. Just as he was wondering how to fix it, the person before him had already changed his tune.
Yu Heng’s face reddened slightly. In the blink of an eye, the fragility from a moment ago was gone, replaced by shimmering eyes and a hint of bashful embarrassment.
“But I never imagined I’d only find out today it’s not that Brother didn’t care for me. It’s likely that because I left without saying goodbye that day, and Brother has never been away from me since childhood, he must have been angry with me. It was my fault.”
He looked down at Jiang Xuning, his expression more serious than ever before, and whispered, “Now that we’ve met again, no matter what is said, I won’t let Brother part from me ever again.”
Jiang Xuning was caught squarely by his gaze. He had originally wanted to explain, but suddenly colliding with that look made him lose his composure. In particular, Yu Heng’s following words left his mind like a tangled mess, stirring the waters of a calm spring pond.
A long time passed before he hoarsely uttered a “No,” but the voice was so small that no one heard it nor did anyone know if that “no” referred to the letters or the anger.
…
The group walked for another half-day before Huo Ling signaled for a rest. While everyone was recuperating, someone finally lost their patience.
“Huo Wumian, are you intentionally messing with us!”
As the Young Master of the Demon Race and a favorite of the Demon Emperor, Baili Tu had grown up in luxury and had never suffered any hardship. Entering the secret realm yesterday had meant a long, exhausting trek followed by huddling in a cave to sleep; it had already ground his interest down to nothing.
If that weren’t enough, he hadn’t slept well last night, and today began with an early start and another long march. His resentment had reached a boiling point. Having never endured such difficulty, he stopped restraining himself. After a massive outburst of temper, he began his interrogation.
Huo Ling frowned at the sight but remained polite. “What does the Young Master mean by this?”
The question only fueled Baili Tu’s arrogance. He pointed at the man and began shouting curses. “Huo Wumian, you have the nerve to ask me what I mean? Tell me you clearly could have used sword-flight, yet you insisted on walking. For a distance so short, you forced this Prince to suffer all this. Tell me, did you do it on purpose?”
The attendants nearby were breaking into a cold sweat, their hands on their swords not daring to relax for a second.
Huo Ling remained expressionless, though his gaze turned cold. He looked at the pampered youth and explained patiently, “This realm is unfamiliar and exceptionally dangerous. If we fly on swords, we would be a massive target. It is better to act with a low profile.”
“Bah!”
Baili Tu already disliked Huo Ling, and now that he had suffered because of him, he was even more reckless. His words were naturally foul.
“Huo Wumian, you’re just a coward making excuses. Don’t think this Prince doesn’t know on this whole path, let alone demonic beasts, there hasn’t even been a sound. You talk about ‘exceptionally dangerous,’ but you’re probably just talking nonsense.”
These words left no face at all, completely tearing the mask of civility. Some disciples looked uneasy, yet Baili Tu noticed nothing, continuing his sarcastic mockery.
“If you all want to continue being cowards and wasting time here, then this Prince will no longer accompany you.”
Even the most good-tempered person couldn’t withstand this repeated provocation, and Huo Ling was not good-tempered to begin with. He let out a cold laugh and stopped being polite. “As the Young Master pleases,” he said, making no effort to ask him to stay.
Being slighted in public made Baili Tu flare up in anger again. But born proud, he didn’t linger. With a cold snort, he turned and headed in the opposite direction of the group. “When I am the first to obtain an opportunity, don’t let me see you looking on with envy.”
He even threw out a parting threat. The servants looked at each other, bowed their heads to apologize to the crowd, and then followed their master with faces full of bitterness.
During this, Yu Heng did step forward to persuade him, but Baili Tu had already endured for a whole day because of him; now that his anger was up, persuasion was useless. Left with no other choice, Yu Heng had to let him leave.
The rest of the group was naturally overjoyed, especially Xu Huaian. He had disliked the Demon Prince for a long time. This turn of events vented the frustration he’d felt for days, and even his body felt less tired than before.
Just as he was about to find the Jiang brother, he was distracted halfway by several female disciples.
“Senior Sisters, what is this?”
Xu Huaian looked at the items in their hands. He felt he had never seen such beautiful flowers fiery red like a prairie fire. He was instantly captivated.
The female disciples were resting and didn’t say much to their junior brother. They simply shook their heads and said, “We don’t know either. We just thought they were pretty, so we picked them.”
Seeing him staring, one reached out and handed him a few stalks. “If you like them, take a few.”
“Really?”
Xu Huaian was overwhelmed by the favor and quickly accepted them, his face unintentionally showing joy.
“What’s there to be fake about?” The female disciples looked at each other with smiles. “We picked plenty; giving you a few doesn’t matter.”
“Then I thank the Senior Sisters.”
Xu Huaian felt shy from their smiles. He bid them farewell and left with the flowers. Seeing a purple figure in the distance, he hurriedly rushed over.
“Senior Sister Liu, Senior Sister Liu…”
Liu Tang was speaking with Huo Ling and Yu Heng when she heard someone calling her. She subconsciously turned around. Seeing it was Xu Huaian, she didn’t pay much mind. Just as she was about to turn back, her gaze landed on the streak of fiery red in his hand. Her expression changed instantly. Before anyone could react, a beam of purple spiritual light shot straight toward the youth. The fiery red bouquet shattered instantly, leaving behind a mess of debris on the ground that was still eye-catchingly vivid.
Before Xu Huaian could figure out what was happening, Liu Tang had stepped forward. “Where did you get these flowers?” Her face was uncharacteristically stern.
“What is it? Is there something wrong with the flowers?”
Huo Ling also walked over. Seeing her grim expression, he couldn’t help but ask.
For a moment, Liu Tang ignored Xu Huaian. Her features were clouded with gravity as she explained, “Senior Brother, you don’t know. This flower is called Red Charm (Chi Mei). Its petals are like lotus, its color like flame. It grows in cool, damp places. Whenever it blooms, its fragrance carries for ten miles without dissipating. However, it is an evil flower, especially skilled at bewitching the human heart. In the great war a hundred years ago, many cultivators had their Dao-hearts destroyed by it and fell completely into the demonic path. After the war, the sects united to purge it, which led to its extinction. If I hadn’t happened upon ancient records regarding this, I likely wouldn’t have recognized it today.”
She murmured, “I never imagined this flower would exist here…”
Huo Ling knew the situation was bad. He immediately gathered everyone. Upon inquiry, nearly half the disciples had these flowers in their hands. He quickly had people lead them to the picking site. A vast expanse of fiery red came into view so large the end couldn’t be seen. It was a massive cultivation.
At the sight, Liu Tang gasped. But she was relieved it wasn’t yet the blooming season. If they had all blossomed, likely not a single disciple who entered the realm would have escaped.
Huo Ling organized everyone to use fire to incinerate the flowers. The expression on his face was quite grim. He exchanged a look with Liu Tang; both felt an ominous premonition. The Demon Race had actually infiltrated this far.
However, Yu Heng showed no great reaction. He simply lowered his eyes to look at the budding flowers beneath him, his expression unreadable.