When Yu Zaixi woke up, the daylight was bright and intense. A ray of sunlight shone through a crack in the window frame, piercing his eyes and forcing him to squint.
His mind was a chaotic mess; he could not recall anything that happened before he went to sleep. After stumbling around on the bed for a moment, he climbed out and walked past the window. In a fit of annoyance, he flipped the window frame open with a single palm strike, letting the warm light flood into the room and making it even brighter.
Yu Zaixi stood at the doorway and looked around. Finding that he was back at Wushang Peak, he could not help but frown and try to piece things together. He remembered being at the Wusheng Sect, so when did he return? Could it have been an illusion? If he were still in an illusion, why was he staying in a disciple’s room?
Before he could dwell on it, Miao Pei emerged from his room, looking preoccupied. Upon seeing Yu Zaixi, he froze, his mouth hanging open in shock. He stared blankly as he walked toward him, so Yu Zaixi kindly reached out to help him close his jaw, asking, “Why the look?”
“You!” Miao Pei’s mouth fell open again, unable to form another word. Seeing that no answer was coming, Yu Zaixi sighed in frustration and pushed him aside. “You are truly useless.”
He needed to find Qin Nai; Miao Pei was simply not a reliable teammate. It was exhausting just trying to speak to him.
Once he was out of earshot, Miao Pei finally recovered. He ran over, shouting, “Yuan, Brother Yu, how did you wake up so quickly?”
Yu Zaixi glanced at him. As I thought, he mused. I have forgotten something. He asked, “Do you know why I collapsed?”
Miao Pei turned into a timid turtle at the question, shaking his head violently. “I do not know.”
So, he does know.
Yu Zaixi ignored him and continued toward Qin Nai’s room.
He knocked and entered. Inside, two people were standing and sitting; the older was teaching the younger how to draw a talisman. The one sitting could barely hold the brush, yet was drawing something that looked decent enough, though it was clearly just clumsy imitation.
Yu Zaixi did not get straight to the point. He stood by the table with his arms crossed, watching for a while. Once Xiao Ci finished one, Yu Zaixi nodded in approval. “This talisman looks a bit like a paper window decoration.”
Xiao Ci looked up and glared at him. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Yu Zaixi chuckled. “At your current level, do not practice such difficult ones. It is fine while someone is watching you, but do not try this in private. If something goes wrong, no one will be there to save you.”
Xiao Ci was dismissive. “What could possibly go wrong?”
Yu Zaixi propped his chin up, squinting as he reminisced. “I remember being overconfident once and drawing a Ten Thousand Swords Return. I nearly turned myself into a pincushion.”
Hearing this, both Xiao Ci and Miao Pei could not help but laugh. Only Qin Nai brushed his sleeves, frowning as he looked over.
Ten Thousand Swords Return was a major curse. If used with full force, it could slay a high-level Transformation God expert. If it went wrong, given Yu Zaixi’s level of strength at the time, it was a mystery how he had survived. Yet, survive he did. He had endured two hundred years of torture in the Buzhu Prison, and he had practiced chaotic, incomprehensible sword techniques from ancient texts without ever going into qi deviation. He had taught himself formations and talismans without a mentor, making countless mistakes, and yet, he still survived.
Qin Nai felt a sense of pity for him.
Yu Zaixi sighed internally, though he kept a playful smile on his face to continue teasing Xiao Ci. “I was clearly sleeping at the Wusheng Sect yesterday. How did I wake up back at Wushang Peak? Did you sleepwalk and bring me back? Send me back, quick; your Immortal Venerable Jiang is still waiting for me.”
Xiao Ci could not be bothered. He rolled his eyes and reached for another sheet of talisman paper. “The Immortal Venerable brought you back. What does that have to do with me?”
“He brought me back? How? Did he carry me back while I was asleep?”
“He did carry you back!” Xiao Ci frowned at him. “What, do you not feel honored?”
Yu Zaixi uttered an “oh” and turned to look at Miao Pei, his gaze a silent question: What are you teaching him? Miao Pei coughed lightly and looked away, unsure of how to explain.
“Master brought you back and left again. He only told us to take good care of you; he did not say anything else,” Miao Pei whispered hurriedly.
Yu Zaixi squinted. Miao Pei refused to look up.
So, he did say something else, and he told them not to tell me.
Qin Nai truly seemed unaware. He looked back and forth between the two of them and asked, “What is it? Were you really carried back by Brother Jiang?”
Is that the important part?
Yu Zaixi sighed quietly. “It is nothing. I am going back to sleep.”
As he turned to leave, he suddenly remembered something. He called out to Miao Pei, “Come help me fix the window. Just nail a wooden board over it; do not let any light through.”
Miao Pei followed him dutifully. Qin Nai saw them to the door and glanced casually at the old tree in the courtyard.
Xiao Ci’s voice drifted from behind him, echoing eerily: “Why does he seem hurt?”
Qin Nai turned, confused. “Who? Little Yu?”
Xiao Ci nodded while drawing. “He seems severely injured. It must hurt, right?”
Qin Nai closed the door and returned to the room, still puzzled by Xiao Ci’s remark. To him, Yu Zaixi did not look injured at all. However, since Jiang Yan had brought him back, it was indeed possible he had been hurt.
“How did you figure that out?” Qin Nai asked.
“I do not know. I just felt it the moment I saw him. I feel like I can see right through him.”
“Can you see through his thoughts, too?”
“Everything except his thoughts,” Xiao Ci said resentfully.
Qin Nai laughed and stopped asking. If he could really see through Yu Zaixi, he would not constantly be getting teased by him.
Elsewhere, Yu Zaixi lay on the bed like a landlord, propping up his feet as he watched Miao Pei nail the window. “Did he say anything about letting me go back?”
Miao Pei held a wooden board in one hand and a hammer in the other, trying to get the angle right. “Master said you should rest well first.”
“How many days was I at the Wusheng Sect?” He only remembered two.
“Three days,” Miao Pei replied.
“Three days and two nights?” Yu Zaixi pressed.
“Yes.”
Miao Pei paused, hammer mid-air. Yu Zaixi looked over and saw him staring blankly. After a long moment, Miao Pei muttered, “Did I say something I should not have?”
Yu Zaixi laughed. “How would I know? I am not the one who told you to keep secrets.”
He pondered what had happened that afternoon and night after talking to Ruan Chi. He suddenly muttered, “Did Jiang Yan say when we are going to Luozhong?”
“Luozhong? Where is Luozhong?” Miao Pei asked, peering through a crack in the wood.
Yu Zaixi pointed a finger. “I thought I told you not to let any light through.”
Miao Pei immediately pulled back and nailed the board again. “Only a sliver of sunlight reaches this side. Do you not even want that?”
That was the sliver that had hit his eyes that morning. Yu Zaixi rolled his eyes. “Forget it if you do not know Luozhong. Regardless, I do not want to go.”
His main concern was not wanting to see Jiang Yan. If he could just remain as carefree and unrestrained as he was now, that would be fine.
Before he drifted off to sleep, he thought: Damn it, I forgot to collect the money from the Zheng family. I am still a pauper after going down the mountain. Before I leave, I have to steal something valuable from the Tianji Pavilion.
He slept extremely soundly this time. He did not even know when he had fallen asleep or when Miao Pei had finished the window and left. When he woke up again, it was already dark outside.
Perhaps he had only woken up earlier because his body was forced to check if the surroundings were safe; once that was confirmed, it had slipped back into a deep slumber.
Yu Zaixi rarely slept this heavily. His sleep quality was usually quite poor, which meant the previous day and night must have been exhausting.
Could I have been sleepwalking? But that should not be. What could he do while sleepwalking? And he was brought back by Jiang Yan. Yu Zaixi shuddered. He did not want to know the specific details; the thought of it was unsettling. He stretched on the bed, remarking that the beds here were larger than the ones at the Wusheng Sect, and then sat up.
He circled the place but could not find anyone. As he walked toward Qin Nai’s room, he shouted, “Miao Pei!”
“Here!” Miao Pei scurried out from somewhere in the distance like a nervous chick, running over. He stood before Yu Zaixi and said, “Yuan, Brother Yu, what is it?”
Yu Zaixi knocked on Qin Nai’s door. He surveyed the three pairs of eyes staring at him and said, “Pack your things. We are going to Luozhong.”
“Luozhong?” all three asked in unison.
Yu Zaixi nodded and repeated, “Luozhong.”
They were going. And they were not taking Jiang Yan.