Xizhu was on the verge of a breakdown.
In the short time she had spent speaking with the High Priestess, she had turned back only to find that Gu Qingyi was gone from the bed once again. What made it even more preposterous was that this time, he had taken the bedding and pillows with him as well.
The two little maids who had been helping were sleeping as soundly as if the sky were falling. Xizhu couldn’t help but suspect she would need to borrow a squad of soldiers from the Demon Palace officials.
Following the trail where the bedding had been dragged, she arrived, unsurprisingly, outside the Forbidden Land.
Looking at the boundary barrier before her, then at the Star Pavilion to the east where the lights had already been extinguished—Xizhu suddenly felt a wave of grievances and wanted to give herself a hug: Which good servant has to risk their life and head every single day just to do their job?
If she had known it would be like this, she might as well have joined the army and gone to the front lines. On the battlefield, at least her life and death were in her own hands. Serving this person in the palace… sigh, truly living one day at a time without knowing if there would be a tomorrow.
Inside the Forbidden Land, a gentle breeze blew through the illusory Phoenix Island.
Wu Youqi touched the spot on his cheek where the kiss had left a damp, cool sensation, and raised an eyebrow at Gu Qingyi—the look in his eyes asking why he had kissed him.
Gu Qingyi hugged his pillow and yawned. He had originally intended to deliver a righteous speech about how such “light and flippant behavior” required responsibility. But then he remembered how Wu Youqi had complained about his excessive chatter earlier, so the words took a turn on his tongue, transforming into a cheerful: “I just wanted to!”
Having said that, he quickly clamped his mouth shut, clutching Wu Youqi’s arm for fear that his beautiful brother would become angry and cast a transparent wall to isolate him a thousand miles away.
Wu Youqi gave him a look, his gaze falling onto his own arm.
Gu Qingyi avoided his eyes, his gaze flickering as he leaned in, his voice small: “Brother looks good. I liked you the moment I saw you, so I kissed you because I wanted to.”
This comment left Wu Youqi between laughter and tears, and in the end, he found he could not argue with a fool who spoke such soft words. He sighed, raised a hand, and covered Gu Qingyi’s eyes. “It doesn’t matter how good-looking someone is; you’re not allowed to look anymore. Close your eyes and go to sleep like a good boy.”
This way, he could hide half of that face and avoid looking at features that drove him to a near-mad state of love and hate.
Yet, after Gu Qingyi gave an “oh,” he kept his eyes open for a long time, making Wu Youqi feel as if he were holding a fluttering butterfly:
“…What?”
Gu Qingyi stammered as he reached a hand out from under the small quilt, pulling down Wu Youqi’s palm. “I… Brother, I can’t fall asleep.”
Wu Youqi frowned and let out a tsk. He tried to pull his hand back, but the little fool held onto it tightly. “How about you tell me a story, Brother? Perhaps I’ll drift off while listening.”
A bedtime story? Wu Youqi shook his head—he had no idea how to do such a thing.
He didn’t expect Gu Qingyi to shake his head in return. “No, Brother Youqi, you can. You have stories.”
Wu Youqi scoffed, and just as he was about to snap back asking how he knew that, Gu Qingyi squeezed his palm, looked up, and said earnestly:
“Brother, you always have your brows furrowed; you have so many things weighing on your heart. It’ll make you sick if you bottle it all up. Tell them to me; once you say them out loud, everything will be better!”
“Heh,” Wu Youqi slanted his eyes at him. “Are you sure?”
The things he kept buried in his heart were numerous; if he were to truly speak them aloud, he feared it would scare this little fool so much he wouldn’t be able to sleep all night.
“Mm-hm,” Gu Qingyi nodded, snuggling closer to him while wrapped in the small quilt. “Just tell me. I’m a fool, so I won’t understand anyway. You can rest assured, Brother.”
Wu Youqi: “…” Who refers to themselves like that?
He was silent for a long moment before saying in a low voice: “Then I will tell you the story of a youth.”
Gu Qingyi smiled, a dimple appearing: “That would be wonderful.”
The person rarely wore such an expression, and Wu Youqi couldn’t help but look twice, unable to clearly define his own emotions at that moment.
He turned his head and cleared his throat: “The youth, like you, came from Jiangnan. When he was fourteen, his family suffered a disaster, and both his parents died, leaving only a loyal old servant to protect him as he escaped death.”
“His family lineage was simple, with no relatives he could rely on. As it happened, the number one sect in the world was recruiting disciples, so the master and servant discussed heading south to seek opportunities and a place to belong.”
At this point, Wu Youqi paused slightly, thinking of that loyal servant who had died eight years ago, feeling an unavoidable sigh in his heart.
“And then?” Gu Qingyi tugged on his sleeve. “Did the youth succeed in becoming a disciple?”
Wu Youqi gave a dry smile. “Naturally, he did.”
“Oh, then continue, Brother.”
“The Sect Leader of this number one sect was named Huo Lan, a martial cultivator at the Refining Void stage. He had a rather special disciple under his name; though he studied arts and martial skills under him, he never referred to him as master, only calling him ‘Sect Leader’ instead.”
“Hm…” Gu Qingyi asked, “Was there a conflict between them?”
“That’s a complex matter. You can just consider it a deathbed entrustment.”
Gu Qingyi: “A deathbed entrustment?”
Huo Lan came from the Northwest, his family a prominent military family known throughout the Human Realm. He should have joined the army to achieve great deeds, but unfortunately, he was frail from birth and could not practice martial arts. Later, just like how the other person obtained a protective talisman from Qing-shuang Mountain, Huo Lan also gained an opportunity from Qing-shuang Mountain—
The previous Sect Leader, the Venerable Yehuo Qingde, saw that he had an affinity for the immortal path and took him in to practice Taoism, which gradually changed his constitution. Venerable Qingde had only two disciples in his life:
The first achieved fame in his youth, known as “Iron-Faced Azure Emperor” Yun Xiaozi, who earned his name through his position as the Law Enforcement Elder. The other was Huo Lan, his final disciple. Originally, Qingde intended for his eldest disciple to inherit the position of Sect Leader of Qing-shuang Mountain, but Yun Xiaozi died unexpectedly in a Demon Clan ambush while pursuing a traitor.
At the time, Yun Xiaozi had just taken in a disciple named Shen Yu, having only bestowed upon him a spiritual sword and taught him a few simple heart techniques. Encountering such a tragedy, Qingde weighed his options and had no choice but to let Huo Lan oversee Shen Yu’s upbringing and provide careful instruction. Later, when Qingde’s lifespan ended, Huo Lan inherited the position of Sect Leader, and Shen Yu naturally became the senior martial brother of Qing-shuang Mountain.
Shen Yu’s uniqueness lay in the fact that while he was taught by Huo Lan, he was the sole successor of Yun Xiaozi’s lineage: his identity was precious, and he was deeply cherished by everyone in the sect.
“Then…” Gu Qingyi secretly stifled a little yawn and smacked his lips to hide it. “What does this have to do with the youth you mentioned at the beginning, Brother?”
Wu Youqi glanced at him. This child was shrewd one moment and foolish the next; it was truly hard to tell if he was genuinely a fool or just playing one.
“After the youth entered Qing-shuang Mountain, he received much care from the Senior Martial Brother. Even the crucial decision of choosing his master was made upon the Senior Martial Brother’s guidance. They were… friends, like brothers.”
“Later, during a mission, the Senior Martial Brother encountered a medical practitioner from the Medicine King Valley. The medical practitioner was gentle in nature and sacrificed his own life to save him while he was gravely injured. The two went through life and death together, their friendship blooming into love. After leaving the secret realm, the Senior Martial Brother brought the medical practitioner to Qing-shuang Mountain, declaring his intention to become his dao-companion.”
“Become a dao-companion?” Gu Qingyi asked.
“It is the equivalent of a marriage in the secular world.”
Upon hearing the word “marriage,” Gu Qingyi straightened up immediately, his ears perking up.
“That was the first time the Senior Martial Brother had ever begged for something in his life. Although the Sect Leader was surprised and regretful, he still agreed and contacted the Medicine King Valley to prepare the wedding ceremony together.”
The Medicine King Valley was different from Qing-shuang Mountain; it was a gathering place for famous masters, yet it never specifically recruited disciples. Anyone who entered the valley could stay to consult and study. Even if they were medical practitioners of the Medicine King Valley, or even studied under the same elder, they might not know one another.
Listening to this, Gu Qingyi suddenly interrupted: “Why were the Sect Leader surprised and regretful? Was it because the Senior Martial Brother was a Taoist, so he couldn’t take a wife?”
“…” Wu Youqi restrained himself, but in the end, could not stop a trace of a smile from appearing. He shook his head. “Because that medical practitioner… was a man.”
Gu Qingyi didn’t understand, tilting his head blankly.
While the practice of men taking men as wives existed in the secular world, it was not popular in the Cultivation World. Most cultivators sought to transcend worldly desires and had no interest in matters of love. Even if they married to share a dao, it was mostly to practice and improve their realm for ascension; thus, balancing Yin and Yang was often more important than mutual affection.
There were still many who did not understand the union of two men as dao-companions, viewing it as disgusting or low. Therefore, Huo Lan had borne significant pressure in hosting this wedding for his Senior Martial Brother—which, naturally, also served as evidence that the Sect Leader was biased and protective.
Wu Youqi would never forget that wedding ceremony; it was the most magnificent celebration he had experienced since coming to Qing-shuang Mountain:
The entire sect was decorated with red silk, golden “double happiness” characters were pasted on all the doors and windows, and new barriers had been laid upon the mountains. Spiritual light flowed, and peach blossoms drifted through the air. The young disciples had all changed into red clothes, the Sect Leader and the Valley Master of the Medicine King Valley sat in the Qingjun Palace, and the medical practitioner and the Senior Martial Brother wore wedding robes embroidered with gold-traced phoenixes and five-colored golden dragons. They held the red wedding ribbon together and stepped up the stairs onto the red velvet carpet.
Cranes carried flowers, leading the way; on both sides, disciples scattered five-colored wedding rice, while young children being temporarily raised on the mountain laughed and clapped.
The Peak Master of Qingyi Peak plucked his long zither to play celestial music for them, while the Peak Master of Qingyun Peak led the female disciples in laying a “Thousand Lamp” barrier for them, making the mountain as lively as the New Year in the human world.
The Senior Martial Brother’s wedding had been announced with invitations sent to every peak. But when he held an invitation and went to ask his master, his master only handed him a small box to pass on his congratulations.
“Master… aren’t you going?”
“You go on my behalf.”
He nodded,捧着 (holding the box) and walking out a few paces, but his heart felt a little empty:
He had just returned from traveling with his master, and the hazy affection that had sprouted on Phoenix Island was like a seed buried deep beneath thick soil, taking root, sprouting, and gathering strength to break through the surface. He didn’t understand why he felt so lost; he only knew that he wanted to be with his master more and more, wanted to talk to him more, wanted to be near him every moment. Sometimes, when his master spoke a few more words with others, he felt restless and uneasy.
With a long sigh, Wu Youqi had to attend the wedding banquet alone at Qingxiao Peak. He arrived a bit late, but the timing was just right. When he entered the wedding hall, the Sect Leader had just stood up to preside over the wedding vows:
“The six rites are complete; the contract is bound. May the Heavenly Masters and Ancestors witness this. Heaven, Earth, and the Six Realms are clearly distinguished—”
“If you fail this person, your sin is equal to deceiving Heaven. You shall surely suffer the lightning punishment, your body shall die and your soul dissipate, your three spirits shall vanish, and you shall never enter the cycle of reincarnation!”
As Wu Youqi spoke, Gu Qingyi listened, but he felt as though he had heard these words somewhere before. “What happened later? Something happened between you and the Senior Martial Brother, didn’t it?”
Wu Youqi turned his head abruptly. He had been speaking of this as the “youth’s story” the entire time, never mentioning himself. Even when mentioning Qing-shuang Mountain, or Huo Lan, Shen Yu, and the others, Gu Qingyi was just a little fool—how could he untangle such a complex relationship?
He… how could he be so sharp, actually pointing out that he was talking about himself?
Though their phoenix eyes were similar, Gu Qingyi’s were pure and clear, and one could see the concern within them at a glance. They were not like his master’s eyes, which had always been impossible to see through.
“Yes,” Wu Youqi said, deciding to be direct. “After taking a dao-companion, the Senior Martial Brother grew distant from us. We no longer ate hot pot or drank wine and enjoyed the moon like we used to.”
“In the year that followed, strange occurrences happened frequently in the sect, dark undercurrents never ceased, and many small disciples died inexplicably at the hands of the Demon Clan.”
“The Sect Leader sent people to patrol and guard, and even activated the defensive array on Qing-shuang Mountain, sealing off the entire mountain, yet they could not find the culprit.”
Among those who patrolled and investigated, he had actually been the first to discover the traces of the Demon Clan. Several times he had been about to catch the culprit, only for them to ingeniously slip away. Wu Youqi had no choice but to ask his master to assist in setting up barriers everywhere. Unexpectedly, when he finally chased a heavily injured Demon Clan member to a small cottage, the person standing inside the room was none other than Senior Martial Brother Shen Yu’s dao-companion, that medical practitioner.
He was too shocked to speak, and the “Duqing” sword in his hand trembled slightly. Unexpectedly, the medical practitioner suddenly flashed a wicked, bewitching smile and moved toward the tip of the blade.
He was too slow to retract his hand, and the Duqing sword pierced straight through his chest.
At that same moment, the Sect Leader, the Senior Martial Brother, and the Masters of all the peaks, who had followed the tracks, happened to see this very scene—
He explained again and again, but no one would believe him over their own eyes.
The Sect Leader’s surprise was followed by complete disappointment, and the Senior Martial Brother was so enraged he struck him three times, causing him to vomit blood on the spot and be thrown into the Penalty Hall. The red-eyed Senior Martial Brother disregarded the Sect Leader’s orders, dragging his severely injured self to the “Heart-Verifying Platform” over and over again.
—To prove he was that Demon Clan member who had caused the catastrophe, to prove it was he who brought disaster to Qing-shuang Mountain and brought dark undercurrents to the Human Realm.
He should be slashed a thousand times; he should be crushed to dust. The disciples whispered among themselves, bringing up the moon mark on his forehead again, mentioning how he had remained unharmed through one dark undercurrent after another, calling him the reincarnation of the Demon Star.
Later…
Saying this much, Wu Youqi closed his eyes, unable to continue. Instead, he pressed gently against his own chest. He didn’t want to feel any more desperate or heartbroken.
Wu Youqi settled his emotions slightly, but when he turned his head, he discovered the little fool had fallen asleep at some point—
Well, it seemed his story truly was effective for inducing sleep.
Curling his lip, just as he was about to pick him up to send him back to the West Courtyard, a feather was squeezed out of the pillow in Gu Qingyi’s arms:
It flew up, then drifted down onto the tip of the little fool’s nose. Gu Qingyi, bothered by the tickle, stirred his eyelashes restlessly. As if by a twist of fate, Wu Youqi reached out and took the feather away.
In doing so, he missed his chance to rise.
Watching the setting sun sinking in the west on Phoenix Island, facing the golden glow of the setting sun, Wu Youqi finally made a decision he might one day regret:
He pulled up that extra bit of bedding, cleared his mind, slowly closed his eyes, and finally leaned against the little fool beside him.