The deeper they went, the fewer adventurers there were around them.
They didn’t bother hiding themselves either, having even withdrawn their Glamour Spell.
“This person has some skill,” Bai Shen said. “These so-called ‘Orthodox Demonic Cultivators’ need cleaning up as well. This Venerable One, the Demon Venerable, is still here and has not abdicated yet they’re bold enough to act like this.”
Mu Nanxiao glanced at him and stopped walking.
Deep in the Tide Forest, a wooden cabin had suddenly appeared. The surrounding trees had been cleared away, and no Ferocious Beasts roamed nearby. Beside the cabin, a waterfall cascaded down, thick mist permeating the air, it was like a paradise untouched by the world.
“Such matters of cleaning house need not be handled by Nanxiao himself.”
Bai Shen reached out and grabbed at the empty air. The wooden cabin was enveloped by a translucent giant red palm, which squeezed and deformed it relentlessly.
The wood creaked and groaned; some of the planks snapped under the immense force, and the whole cabin teetered on the verge of collapse.
Mu Nanxiao heard the screams from inside and frowned in displeasure: “Do not harm the innocent.”
Bai Shen clicked his tongue impatiently and withdrew his hand.
The teeth-grating creaking stopped. The wood stopped breaking, but the swaying cabin clearly wouldn’t hold up much longer.
The moment Bai Shen withdrew his Spiritual Power, a man in black robes burst furiously out of the cabin. “Who are you? Why are you doing this!”
Enraged beyond measure, he showed no mercy, launching his fiercest attack straight at Bai Shen.
An attack as feeble as a kitten’s scratching wasn’t even worth Bai Shen’s notice. He was about to casually crush this little insect when his gaze flicked to Mu Nanxiao standing beside him, lips pressed thin and an idea struck him.
“Nanxiao, I’ll lure this man away. Go quickly and see if the others in the cabin are unharmed,” Bai Shen said, his expression abruptly turning serious.
He feigned a flustered dodge of the Demonic Cultivator’s attack, then fled toward the forest.
The Demonic Cultivator chased after him.
Mu Nanxiao didn’t understand why he was bothering with such an unnecessary act. Worried about the people the Demonic Cultivator had captured, he hurried into the cabin.
In the nearly collapsed cabin, two girls were bound back to back in a corner, trembling all over. The screams from moments ago had come from them.
They stared in panic at the wooden beam overhead, which had cracked under Bai Shen’s rough treatment and was shaking.
Mu Nanxiao raised a hand and swept out a strand of Spiritual Power. The ropes binding them snapped apart. The two girls huddled together in terror and burst into tears.
Mu Nanxiao waited until they had cried themselves out before speaking: “The Demonic Cultivator has been dealt with. You are safe now. Leave the cabin and head straight east, and you will reach the town.”
One of the girls lifted her head, the grime on her face smeared together with snot and tears. Her eyes looked familiar, just like the boy they had met in town, she had a pair of remarkably bright eyes. She must have Special Pupils as well.
“Thank you, Immortal, for saving us.” The girl hastily wiped the dirt from her face with her sleeve, grabbed the other girl, and ran out.
Mu Nanxiao gazed at the lush trees growing in the Tide Forest, listening to the roars of Ferocious Beasts in the distance.
He had left a trace of Divine Sense on the two children; its overwhelming pressure kept the Ferocious Beasts from approaching, enough to let the two children escape.
Having rescued them, Bai Shen still hadn’t returned. The sounds of fighting came from not far away.
That Demonic Cultivator’s Cultivation Base was decent for this region, but it was utterly beneath their notice. Yet a mere little Demonic Cultivator and Bai Shen needed to spend this much effort on him?
Mu Nanxiao took a couple of steps at the wooden cabin’s door and heard heavy footsteps.
Bai Shen had finally finished dealing with the Demonic Cultivator and hurried back.
His face was smeared with blood, his whole body reeking thickly of it, killing intent swirling around him. His red robes had darkened patches where blood had soaked in not noticeable unless one looked closely.
“That man’s Cultivation Base wasn’t high, but the Cultivation Method he used was truly strange. In the end, he even chose to self-destruct, trying to drag This Venerable One down with him. Being spared so easily was truly his good fortune.” Bai Shen’s killing intent had already vanished completely the moment he saw Mu Nanxiao.
Mu Nanxiao had doubts in his heart, but he couldn’t overcome the worry in it, so he walked over and reached out to wipe Bai Shen’s face. The sticky, warm feel of the blood gave Mu Nanxiao goosebumps all over.
The blood on his face wasn’t wiped clean; it left a long streak along Mu Nanxiao’s fingers, like a magnificent pattern growing out of his face, making Bai Shen look even more strikingly beautiful.
“Are you injured?” Mu Nanxiao asked.
The moment those slightly cool fingers touched his cheek, Bai Shen didn’t dare move. Hearing the concerned words, he began to stammer as he spoke: “I… This Venerable One is fine.”
“Let me see.”
Mu Nanxiao took his wrist without allowing refusal and directly sent his own Spiritual Power into his body to examine it.
Bai Shen instinctively resisted, but fearing that, like before, his own Spiritual Power would slip out of control into Mu Nanxiao’s Meridians, he endured the awkwardness in his heart and let Mu Nanxiao examine him carefully.
The Spiritual Power that didn’t belong to him circulated through his Meridians, and it happened to survey exactly the Meridians opened up by his Cultivation Method, which left Bai Shen somewhat puzzled.
Then he remembered that Mu Nanxiao was in love with him, had investigated him so thoroughly, even kept his clothes in his sleeping chamber, so he pressed the doubt down.
He simply loved him too much, that was all. He had investigated everything about him.
Truly adorable.
Watching Mu Nanxiao’s serious, earnest expression, Bai Shen laughed out loud.
Mu Nanxiao examined him carefully and found no injuries on Bai Shen, and only then did he relax. When withdrawing his Spiritual Power, he even secretly stole a wisp of Bai Shen’s Spiritual Power.
The spiritual fetus hadn’t absorbed Bai Shen’s Spiritual Power for quite a few days now.
Bai Shen naturally noticed this little trick, and his laughter grew louder: “Does Nanxiao like This Venerable One that much? How many times has this been, stealing This Venerable One’s Spiritual Power? Aren’t you afraid your body won’t be able to withstand it?”
Exposed, Mu Nanxiao replied: “This Venerable One adores you.”
Under Bai Shen’s influence, he said such things without any hesitation whatsoever.
It was all for the sake of the spiritual fetus.
“How convenient, This Venerable One adores you too,” Bai Shen replied with a smile.
After exchanging a few confessions, the two continued deeper.
They had no idea where in Tide Forest the Medicine King Valley was located, so they could only search for traces of it in places rarely visited by people.
Bai Shen had asked several times, trying to learn from Mu Nanxiao about the Cultivation Partner hidden in the Medicine King Valley, but Mu Nanxiao simply wouldn’t speak.
They searched aimlessly for half a month before settling at a waterfall.
Mu Nanxiao secretly stole quite a lot of Bai Shen’s Spiritual Power again.
“No one seems to have come here. This waterfall is a Spiritual Spring, with quite a few Spiritual Items within. This Venerable One will go fetch them for Nanxiao right now.” With that, Bai Shen stripped off his clothes on the bank and slipped into the water like a fish.
Mu Nanxiao looked around the area, chopped down a few trees, and built a small wooden cabin.
He had quite a few Magic Treasures that could house people just take one out, pour in Spiritual Power, and it would expand, filled with all sorts of everyday items. But under these circumstances, Bai Shen had gone into the water to catch fish for him, so surely it wasn’t too much for him to build a little wooden cabin on the shore.
When Bai Shen emerged from the water, he saw the cabin on the bank and stared in astonishment for a long while before hanging the two large fish skewered on a branch over the fire.
The water droplets on his body had already dried by the time he came ashore. He gathered Mu Nanxiao into his arms and coaxed him: “Did Nanxiao prepare this specially for me? How thoughtful.”
“Put on some clothes,” Mu Nanxiao said.
Bai Shen chuckled lowly, controlled the heat of the fire, slowly roasted the fish, then took out the sauces he’d bought in town and carefully spread them on.
Before long, the aroma wafted out.
Fish nourished by the Spiritual Spring were plump and delicious, one and a half of the two fish ended up in Mu Nanxiao’s stomach.
Bai Shen sat beside him picking out the bones, then held the tender white fish flesh to his lips.
The mighty Demon Venerable was remarkably adept at serving someone.
Mu Nanxiao’s lower abdomen remained flat, showing no sign of the spiritual fetus within.
Bai Shen had never carefully examined Mu Nanxiao’s body, so to this day he still knew nothing of his condition.
Bai Shen had nearly caught all the rare and exotic creatures nearby, and the Ferocious Beasts, fearing the two of them, dared not approach the area.
Left with no choice, Bai Shen had to travel farther to find delicacies for Mu Nanxiao, often leaving at dawn and returning only at sunset.
Mu Nanxiao sat meditating by the waterfall. The spiritual energy within the waterfall suited his attributes perfectly, and after several days, his countenance had grown even more cold and aloof, softening only when he looked at Bai Shen.
“It’s been nearly a month since I left with the Immortal Venerable, yet I haven’t seen the Immortal Venerable smile once,” Bai Shen said with some regret.
Mu Nanxiao perfunctorily squeezed out a smile stiff, a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Bai Shen hastily waved his hand and said never mind. What he regretted more was that a whole month had passed without him and Mu Nanxiao enjoying each other’s company.
The Hehuan Sect’s cultivation arts, after his improvements, were no longer as heavily focused on desire as before. But a whole month… His beloved slept beside him every night and sat meditating by the cabin during the day, looking rather like a wife waiting for her husband to come home.
Yet at night, whenever he embraced Mu Nanxiao, he was always pushed away, told only that it was inappropriate.
Could it be that, being closer to Medicine King Valley, the Immortal Venerable now had scruples? Perhaps he was afraid of being discovered by his Cultivation Partner?
At this thought, Bai Shen wanted nothing more than to flip the entire Tide Forest upside down, find Medicine King Valley, and slaughter everyone the Immortal Venerable was hiding there to the last person!
Mu Nanxiao was meditating when a surge of malicious thoughts suddenly welled up in his heart murderous thoughts, all of them. Unable to calm himself, he could only helplessly open his eyes and look at the person sitting beside him.
“What nonsense are you thinking about now?” he asked.
Bai Shen was greatly shocked: “The Immortal Venerable can actually know what I’m thinking?”
Mu Nanxiao glanced at him and said nothing.
“Why doesn’t Nanxiao guess what I’m thinking right now?” Bai Shen asked again.
Mu Nanxiao had no intention of playing such a childish game with him, but the spiritual fetus found it quite interesting, and faintly, indistinctly, Bai Shen’s thoughts actually began to come through.
Cultivation required a calm mind and settled qi. First there was the spiritual fetus warning him of Bai Shen’s malicious thoughts, then these amusing thoughts the two of them found so entertaining Mu Nanxiao was left completely unable to calm his mind and cultivate.
Yet the spiritual fetus couldn’t understand what Bai Shen’s thoughts actually meant. It only sensed that the thoughts were extremely intense, and fearing something had happened to its father, it rushed to warn Mu Nanxiao without hesitation.
Bai Shen’s thoughts affected Mu Nanxiao. His mind was filled with the boundless springtime pleasures the two of them had shared in the past, and his cheeks flushed slightly red.
“Why do you keep thinking about such things?” Mu Nanxiao said.
Bai Shen found it rather amusing, yet was utterly puzzled: “Could the Immortal Venerable have cultivated some kind of sorcery? How does he know what This Venerable One is thinking? Although… Nanxiao does know the Cultivation Method This Venerable One practices, it always comes with a price.”
Mu Nanxiao didn’t feel like talking. So what if there was a small price? Hadn’t he endured it for thousands of years before? It had only been a month this time…