“Venerable, there has been no word from Medicine King Valley. It has been closed off for over two thousand years, I’m afraid…” The spiritual child did not finish.
Medicine King Valley had been in Secluded Meditation for over two thousand years, and since then the Three Realms had lost all news of it. The younger generation nowadays had hardly any impression of the valley at all.
Mu Nanxiao said, “After we return, we set out for Medicine King Valley.”
He then sent a message to Yu Yi: “Bring Bai Shen here.”
Yu Yi soon sent back a new message: “Immortal Venerable, Master… has disappeared.”
Mu Nanxiao was silent for a moment, then replied, “This Venerable One is already aware.”
He returned to his sleeping palace with two spiritual children following behind. The attendants’ quarters were all at the mountainside; only Mu Nanxiao lived in the palace at the peak, though occasionally Bai Shen would come stay a night.
After returning to his sleeping palace, Mu Nanxiao searched his private treasury for treasures, preparing to visit Medicine King Valley and beg them to reopen the valley, so that Bai Shen’s mind could be treated.
Things others dreamed of were mere ordinary items to Mu Nanxiao.
The treasures that sects had paid tribute to him with over the years, plus the fine things his spiritual children always scavenged on their travels Mu Nanxiao simply stayed in his sleeping palace, and the treasures in his private treasury grew day by day.
He gathered many precious medicinal herbs and Alchemy Formulas said to be long lost, storing them in a Storage Ring. Just as he was about to leave, he sensed a familiar aura intruding into the Formation.
Yu Yi had said Bai Shen was missing, and now here he had found him himself.
That man certainly had nerve having lost his memory, he still dared to sneak into the Immortal Venerable’s sleeping palace at night. Was he not afraid the Formation outside would trap him?
After the two had formed their Soul-binding Covenant, Mu Nanxiao had set no defenses against Bai Shen, and the Formation outside had not been warded against him either. Now that Bai Shen had lost his memory and the Formation had not yet been altered, Bai Shen had passed through unimpeded all the way up the mountain, reached the peak, and entered Mu Nanxiao’s palace.
Holding the Storage Ring, Mu Nanxiao left the private treasury, and with a flicker of movement arrived in the courtyard of the sleeping palace.
At that moment, Bai Shen was staring at the swing in the courtyard, lost in thought, the exotic flowers and rare plants nearby did not draw his attention at all.
“What business does one have sneaking into This Venerable One’s sleeping palace at night?” Mu Nanxiao said.
Bai Shen wore the same attire as before, still in the robes of the Hehuan Sect’s sect master, his long black hair tied back with a length of cord. Facing Mu Nanxiao, the murderous aura he had carried these past days had faded considerably.
He felt not the slightest guilt about sneaking into the Immortal Venerable’s palace at night; instead, he pointed at the swing in the courtyard and asked, “To think the Immortal Venerable keeps such a childlike thing in his courtyard. Could it have been prepared for a beloved?”
The Bai Shen of old would never have asked such a question.
The swing in this courtyard had not been prepared by Mu Nanxiao, it had been made by Bai Shen’s own hands, for certain particular tastes…
Mu Nanxiao regarded him calmly, then looked at the swing he was pointing at, and an idea formed.
If he took Bai Shen through things they had done before, might it restore some of his memories?
Mu Nanxiao thought it, and did it.
He admitted frankly, “It was prepared by This Venerable One’s Cultivation Partner.”
Then, watching the face that was gradually filling with killing intent, he added, “Would the Demon Venerable care to try it?”
Spiritual Power had already gathered in Bai Shen’s hand, and he was just about to destroy that eyesore of a swing when he sensed Mu Nanxiao approaching at high speed.
With that hand pushing against his chest, Bai Shen fell back onto the swing along the force, and the Spiritual Power gathered in his palm dissipated entirely.
The swing was cleverly designed, a bit higher than ordinary swings. When Bai Shen sat on it, the tips of his toes just barely touched the ground, enough to set the swing in motion.
If someone of Mu Nanxiao’s height sat on it, his feet wouldn’t reach the ground at all.
This swing had been prepared by Mu Nanxiao’s Cultivation Partner. When Mu Nanxiao sat here, he would need Spiritual Power to make it swing.
Did the Immortal Venerable’s Cultivation Partner truly hold affection for the Immortal Venerable?
Bai Shen thought of this, and his anger grew even stronger. It was one thing for the person he loved to have a Cultivation Partner, but that so-called partner had given him a mortal-world trinket and charmed the Immortal Venerable into a daze and even the gift itself wasn’t suited to the Immortal Venerable.
“Does the Demon Venerable know how this swing is used?” Mu Nanxiao approached step by step.
Though angry, Bai Shen didn’t move, sitting on the swing as he watched Mu Nanxiao draw near.
Up close, he could see that Mu Nanxiao’s neck carried a faint flush of red, and the hand that had captivated him earlier, its knuckles were beautiful, as if dusted with a thin layer of rouge.
The two drew closer and closer, Mu Nanxiao feigning calm.
Those red eyes watched him. In the past, Mu Nanxiao had found it hard to read what Bai Shen was thinking, but now, after losing his memories, Bai Shen no longer suppressed his emotions, and Mu Nanxiao could easily tell what was on his mind.
Everyone in the world said Bai Shen’s face was the most beautiful in the Three Realms. As the Sect Master of the Hehuan Sect, his constitution was the Myriad Charm Physique, perfectly suited to the Hehuan Sect’s cultivation. He had once been the dream lover of countless people, and many Holy Sons and Holy Maidens had boldly declared they would become his Cultivation Partner and practice Dual Cultivation with him.
But in the end, it was himself who became Bai Shen’s Cultivation Partner.
Unlike others, what first drew Mu Nanxiao to Bai Shen was that pair of red eyes.
Red eyes were considered an ill omen; the world all said Bai Shen was born a Demonic Cultivator. But Mu Nanxiao found those red eyes exquisitely beautiful when they carried tenderness, they could draw a person in; when they carried anger, they were so limpid and clear.
He gazed into Bai Shen’s eyes, lost in a daze, and only when he heard a soft cough before him did he remember what he was supposed to do, and he couldn’t help feeling a little embarrassed.
“Don’t move,” Mu Nanxiao said, the tips of his ears quietly turning red, very conspicuous.
His white hair was tied back behind his head like Bai Shen’s, with some shorter strands falling at his temples. Mu Nanxiao’s skin was very pale, so the flush creeping onto his expressionless face was already strikingly noticeable.
Seeing the distance between them shrinking, Bai Shen wanted to push him away and say, “The Immortal Venerable now has a Cultivation Partner, isn’t he afraid of gossip, being so intimate with This Venerable?”
But he was entranced by Mu Nanxiao’s beauty, and the words didn’t come out.
He even watched the distance between them grow smaller and smaller, and an inexplicable anticipation stirred in his heart.
“Does Bai Shen wish to know what this swing is truly for?” Mu Nanxiao was already standing before Bai Shen as he asked.
“It’s nothing but a toy for seeking pleasure. What else could it be for?” Bai Shen scoffed disdainfully.
If it were him, he would have gifted the Immortal Venerable a swing forged of gold thread. The Immortal Venerable had an Ice Spiritual Root, so the swing’s seat would be made of the finest cold jade instead.
Such a crude swing, he wondered how the Immortal Venerable’s Cultivation Partner had even brought himself to give it.
“Bai Shen is right. It is indeed for seeking pleasure.”
Mu Nanxiao’s face betrayed no expression, but his increasingly red ears only deepened Bai Shen’s confusion.
“What does the Immortal Venerable intend to do?” Bai Shen asked.
Mu Nanxiao glanced around, then flicked his hand. Several ropes descended from the tree, binding Bai Shen tightly.
The rope was the leftover rope from hanging the swing on the tree, and it was also a Magic Treasure, a common one throughout the Three Realms: the Immortal-Binding Rope.
The power of the Immortal-Binding Rope depended on the user’s Cultivation Base; a cultivator of low cultivation could never hope to use this rope to bind a cultivator of higher cultivation.
Mu Nanxiao’s Cultivation Base was even stronger than Bai Shen’s, and his hand was fast.
Bai Shen, caught off guard, had his hands bound before he knew it, tied by the Immortal-Binding Rope to the swing’s ropes. The Spiritual Power in his body instantly stagnated, unable to exert the slightest effect.
“I never would have guessed the Immortal Venerable is such a coward, resorting to a sneak attack to bind This Venerable One,” Bai Shen said. Yet looking at Mu Nanxiao, he couldn’t muster any real anger, even though he was bound by another with no ability to fight back. “Release This Venerable One. If you wish to spar, This Venerable One will oblige.”
Mu Nanxiao didn’t understand why Bai Shen would say such a thing. Sparring was not what he wanted to do.
He had been angry, and he had entertained thoughts of fighting, but now was clearly not the occasion for such things.
“Shh, don’t make a sound. Just leave everything to me.” He didn’t use the words “This Venerable One.” His slender fingers pressed against Bai Shen’s crimson lips, his face drawing even closer.
Bai Shen’s eyes widened, but under Mu Nanxiao’s soothing touch, he calmed, his red eyes watching the man’s movements.
When his fingers left those soft lips, Mu Nanxiao drew a deep breath, pressed one hand against the back of Bai Shen’s head, and leaned in.
Soft, thin lips met. At the tip of his nose was the faint scent of osmanthus on Bai Shen, sweet but not cloying.
Bai Shen couldn’t believe it either. He knew the Immortal Venerable had feelings for him, but he had never imagined that a man who already had a Cultivation Partner would do such a thing to him. Was the Immortal Venerable truly so shameless at heart?
Having gone so long without such intimate contact, Mu Nanxiao’s movements were practiced. When the kiss ended, he gazed at Bai Shen’s lips, now a deeper crimson, his red eyes darker still, and his own heartbeat quickened considerably.
This was a decision he had made himself, yet only now, belatedly, did he feel a flush of shyness.
When the kiss ended, Bai Shen finally had a chance to breathe, and he came back to his senses, mockery on his lips: “Treating others this way, does the Immortal Venerable not fear displeasing his Cultivation Partner? Or is the Immortal Venerable simply so wanton by nature that he can do something so intimate with someone he’s only just met…”
“We are Cultivation Partners,” Mu Nanxiao interrupted, his hands growing bolder.
There was no sign whatsoever that Bai Shen’s memories were returning. Mu Nanxiao reached out and undid his robes.
Mu Nanxiao had undone Bai Shen’s robes countless times before; it came easily.
But with his hands bound to the swing’s ropes, Bai Shen couldn’t pull free. His chest was left bared in a wide expanse, the robes unable to come off entirely.
This garment was the robe of the Sect Master of the Hehuan Sect, a fine Magical Artifact, not so easily destroyed and Mu Nanxiao had no intention of ruining his clothes anyway.
“Let go!” Bai Shen’s voice was hoarse, his whole body taut, the rims of his eyes so red they seemed about to bleed yet he could not stop Mu Nanxiao’s increasingly unrestrained movements.
First Bai Shen’s robes, and then Mu Nanxiao’s own.
Mu Nanxiao leaned in, straddling Bai Shen, one long arm cradling his head as he drew close to his ear, his voice bewitching: “Didn’t Bai Shen want to know what this swing is for? It’s for exactly this.”
A pale body tinged with faint red.
Mu Nanxiao rarely took the initiative to do such things, but the situation now was different.
After a month apart, not only he, but also the spiritual fetus growing beneath his flat abdomen, needed Bai Shen’s Spiritual Power.
The Immortal-Binding Rope had long since come loose along the way. White and black strands of hair intertwined, and neither of them thought of parting.
“You…” Bai Shen’s voice was still hoarse. “The Immortal Venerable truly does desire This Venerable One.”
“Why not dissolve the covenant with your Cultivation Partner, and form a Soul-binding Covenant with This Venerable One instead?” he said.
Mu Nanxiao’s hand, clutching his robes, paused. His voice had already returned to its usual coldness, white hair spilling loose behind him. If not for the flush on his face and neck, everything that had just happened might have been nothing more than a nightmare of Bai Shen’s.
“This Venerable One has said it before, you are This Venerable One’s Cultivation Partner.”