In the refined chamber at the back mountain of the Golden Toad Sect,
The sandalwood beams exuded a quiet, understated luxury. Gauze curtains of shimmering silk draped softly down, while the floor was paved with warm jade. The air was suffused with the mingled scents of medicinal herbs and a faint, sweet calming incense.
Ever since Yin Xuanlin had settled the man in this place, Xie Chen had remained unconscious, never once waking.
Ah, so irritating!
Fortunately, Yin Xuanlin had made preparations in advance, using money to suppress those so called righteous hypocrites outside who had been pressuring him to hand over the “Demon Lord.”
But Xie Chen’s injuries were truly a headache.
The backlash of demonic energy had left hidden wounds spread like a web through his organs and even his heart meridian was on the verge of collapse. Luckily, Yin Xuanlin’s younger brother Jiang Qianjin had a close friend who happened to be the young master of Divine Physician Valley, Yuan Jinyu.
Now that the divine physician had been urgently summoned, Xie Chen’s life had at least been barely preserved.
Yet the man lay unconscious, his teeth clenched so tightly that even a single drop of medicinal soup was difficult to feed him.
His meridians were so fragile they seemed ready to shatter at the slightest touch; even attempting to channel spiritual energy into him for nourishment was exceedingly difficult for Yin Xuanlin.
After great effort, he managed to guide in a faint thread of energy, only for Xie Chen, even in his unconscious state, to unconsciously furrow his brows, as if enduring piercing pain.
Yin Xuanlin cursed under his breath in irritation. “You never made a sound when you were injured before and now you’ve suddenly learned to be delicate?”
Yet his hands moved quickly, withdrawing most of the spiritual energy, leaving behind only the gentlest trace, carefully nurturing those damaged meridians.
“My spiritual energy is precious, you know. I’m giving it to you for free and you won’t even accept it.
“This young master owes you something, is that it? Others would beg for it and never get the chance…”
So annoying!!!
“Young Master, healing injuries and preserving life is like simmering over a low flame, it must be done gradually. It cannot be rushed.”
The divine physician Yuan Jinyu spoke gently in persuasion.
“Wh who’s rushing? He’s a Demon Lord everyone has the right to kill, if he dies, it would only be ridding the world of a scourge.”
“I…. I just don’t want him dying here in my Golden Toad Sect’s treasured grounds, bringing bad luck for nothing!”
Yuan Jinyu lowered his gaze, observing quietly as a certain someone paced back and forth in front of him like a cat with its tail stepped on.
That very night, as Yuan Jinyu and Jiang Qianjin were having their meal together, that same person burst in once again, full of urgency:
“About that… the spiritual energy won’t go in again. His complexion looks ashen, his breathing is weak… anyway, Brother Yu, just take a couple bites and hurry over to have a look! You promised before that he wouldn’t die!”
As he spoke, his eyes locked onto the steamed bun Yuan Jinyu had just taken a bite of.
His gaze was so intent it practically carried killing intent. “Hurry up and eat.”
At last, after several days, the person on the bed stirred faintly, his eyelashes trembling, before slowly opening his eyes.
Yin Xuanlin immediately changed into a luxurious purple brocade robe embroidered with gold and clouds, adorned with a jeweled crown and jade belt. He struck his most arrogant, domineering pose and made a grand entrance, his voice drawn out and dripping with mockery:
“Oh? Our little Demon Lord Xie has finally woken up?”
Over the following days, whenever Yuan Jinyu stepped into the room, he could almost always hear Yin Xuanlin speaking without restraint.
From “If you had listened to your senior brother, you wouldn’t be suffering now,” to “If you’d had even a bit of discernment back then, how would things have come to this,” from listing the sycophantic behavior of the various sects to mocking how the Tangdi Immortal Sect and that little white lotus Xie Chen had risked his life to protect, had cast him aside like worn out shoes over the past year, even calling for his death.
And then he would begin boasting about his own extravagant life in the Golden Toad Sect.
Deliberately sitting by Xie Chen’s bedside, he would bite into spirit fruits worth a fortune, chewing noisily as the juice dripped down. “What a pity, you don’t have the life to enjoy this. If only you had followed, ”
After finishing, he would lean closer to the bed, bending down to stare directly into those hollow, unfocused eyes.
“Junior Brother Xie.”
By that time, Yin Xuanlin had already acknowledged his lineage and returned to his family. The grievances he had suffered years ago at the Tangdi Immortal Sect had likewise been laid bare, he had explained everything clearly to his parents and siblings.
Jiang Qianshang said, “Good. Now that he has fallen into demonic cultivation, it is only right that he repays it tenfold. I’ll go cut him down at once!”
“Wait a moment.”
Yin Xuanlin reached out and grabbed him instead, his gaze flickering as he coughed lightly. “…Why not let those so called righteous sects wear him down first? Wouldn’t it be better for us to sit back and reap the fisherman’s profit?”
Half a year passed. The righteous and demonic paths clashed repeatedly, each side suffering heavy losses.
Jiang Qianjin once again requested permission. “Brother, the timing should be about right now?”
“No hurry, no hurry.” Yin Xuanlin held his teacup yet his eyes drifted toward the window.
And so, with that “no hurry,” he watched as the Demon Lord fled from the Eastern Sea to the Western Wastes, from the snowy plains into the southern frontiers…
A full year later, the final battle arrived at Qinghe Village.
Jiang Qianjin: “Brother…”
This time, Yin Xuanlin agreed with unusual decisiveness. “Let’s go!”
And go they did.
The result of “slaying the Demon Lord”… was that his brother carefully carried the Demon Lord back in his arms.
Even someone as slow as Jiang Qianshang could understand now. The look he gave Yin Xuanlin was indescribable.
The so called true young master was still forcing himself to maintain appearances. “Hmph! As if it would be so easy to let him die? A gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years! Just watch how this young master slowly grinds him down!”
Jiang Qianshang: =_=
This so called “grinding down” consisted of turning the elegant chamber in the back mountain into something even more luxurious than the sect leader’s own residence, of sending in piles upon piles of precious medicinal herbs from the treasury as if they cost nothing at all.
He had even invited his physician friend to reside there permanently.
Fine then. Whatever the true young master said, went.
A few more days passed yet Xie Chen still hovered between life and death.
The spirit infused porridge had been carefully simmered to perfection. Yin Xuanlin first took a sip himself to test the temperature, then scooped up a spoonful and brought it to Xie Chen’s lips.
But the other’s lips remained tightly pressed together, showing no response whatsoever.
“What? Is the spiritual porridge of my Golden Toad Sect not worthy of Your Excellency, Demon Lord?”
“Or are you still thinking of that bland, watery fare from your Tangdi Immortal Sect? Heh, don’t forget, you’re no longer Immortal Lord Xie! Right now, you’re lying here in my place, your life hanging by the medicines I provide. Who exactly are you putting on this face for?”
Yet no matter what he said, the person on the couch remained utterly motionless.
Yin Xuanlin:
…Forget it. To hell with everything.
He abruptly stood and stormed out. Not even a moment later, he came rushing back in again, still carrying the remnants of his fury.
His eyes locked onto the figure on the bed, like a ruined corpse. Just a few days ago, when he had changed his clothes, that body had already been wasted to a ghostly state. The bones beneath the skin had seemed ready to pierce through the pale flesh and even the softest, most luxurious robes could not hold their shape upon him.
Didn’t he look exactly like a corpse?
Right in front of him, he had always been like this, like a dead man.
The more Yin Xuanlin thought about it, the angrier he became and the more wronged he felt, as if he were the one being treated unjustly. Countless scenes from the past surged back once more, flooding over him like a tide.
No reaction, is it?
No reaction at all, right?!
So I’m only fit to face a corpse like this, am I?!
He moved abruptly.
Suddenly leaning down, he grabbed Xie Chen’s jaw. In truth, he did not even know what he intended to do. The closer he drew, the more that inexpressible, chaotic impulse swelled within him,
Until he was so close it seemed he might bite down on those bloodless, pale lips at any moment.
For a brief instant, his mind went blank.
No.
That wasn’t it.
He had never intended to kiss him.
He had no interest in him whatsoever. It was just… just that before everything was reduced to ruin, he had to claim at least a little interest in return…
Yes.
After all, he had borne the pressure of the entire world to bring this man into the Golden Toad Sect, had spent an immeasurable fortune on spiritual medicines as though money were water. He could not possibly end up with nothing more than someone half dead and useless.
He, Yin Xuanlin, did not conduct business at a loss.
In this lifetime, the only time he had ever suffered a loss so complete it had nearly stripped him bare, down to the last thread, was because of Xie Chen.
He had to take it back.
Their breaths tangled dangerously together, the distance between them so close that he could feel the warmth of the other’s skin. His mind crackled as though struck again and again,
Yes. He would toy with him.
Now that Xie Chen had finally fallen into his hands, at the very least he ought to play with him thoroughly, only then would it be worth it, wouldn’t it?
The expression of humiliation on a once proud son of heaven would surely be… interesting.
Thinking this, Yin Xuanlin’s gaze, laced with agitation and something darker, slowly drifted downward.
It passed over the sharp, jutting line of collarbones beneath the thin robe, over the hollowed waist and abdomen, then suddenly stilled.
There was someone who lay half dead day after day, unmoving.
And yet, the most instinctive of bodily reactions still remained, betraying itself with blunt honesty.
“Heh… so our pure and untainted Junior Brother Xie isn’t quite as lofty as he pretends to be…”
He clenched his teeth, his voice low and hoarse, laced with a vicious mix of resentment and the urge for revenge.
“You… what right do you have to act so high and mighty!”
“Why is it that you refuse me? Was I wrong to treat you well before, to give you all those precious gifts? Or was it wrong of me to save you now?”
“You hate me that much? You don’t even want to look at me? You’d rather starve than eat what I give you?”
The person beneath him breathed unevenly.
But he would not kiss him.
Never.
And yet he was already too slow to stop himself. Unable to restrain it, he leaned in, pressing against him, biting harshly at his neck.
There was still so much he wanted to say.
Why had you never looked at me? Why had you never cared, no matter what I did?
But those were things he would never voice.
Hatred endures longer than love.
Gradually, both their breaths grew more ragged. A fiercer tide of emotion surged up within him and suddenly, gritting his teeth, he burst out in a near shout, words spilling out without restraint:
“There’s nothing that great about you anyway, you’re not even half as good as our Qianshang!”
“He’s better than you in every way, more sensible than you, smarter than you, more obedient than you!”
Perhaps it was only an illusion but in the instant his emotions spiraled out of control, that body which had remained unmoving all this time seemed to stir ever so slightly, so faint it was almost imperceptible, forming the barest outline of an incomplete, stiff embrace.
But it had to be nothing more than a trick of the mind.
Xie Chen had probably only reacted out of instinct, stirred by physical sensation.
The thought that he had been toying with him only for the other to derive some form of pleasure from it brought Yin Xuanlin not the slightest bit of satisfaction.
If anything, it made him want to bite Xie Chen to death even more!!!
It was not until the following day that he learned the truth from Physician Yuan.
Xie Chen had not been deliberately unresponsive.
It was simply that his injuries had been far too severe. His vital energy and blood were both depleted and there might still be congealed blood within his skull that had yet to disperse… his vision had been temporarily lost because of it, which was why there had been no light in his eyes.
But all his other senses remained intact, he could hear everything.
It was only that his body was too weak. Most of the time, he was unable to move and therefore unable to respond.
“Say that again?”
Yuan Jinyu replied, “He can hear.”
“He wants to respond as well but for now, his body simply won’t allow it.”
“Young Master, I already told you all of this,” Yuan Jinyu added, looking at the way Yin Xuanlin’s face had turned deathly pale and letting out a sigh. “The day he woke up, when you were busy… ah, expressing all sorts of opinions, I mentioned that his five senses were still intact. At the time… you didn’t listen at all, did you?”
His five senses were intact yet his body could not move and his eyes could not see.
It wasn’t that he had been deliberately unresponsive.
He had heard everything. He had felt everything.
Yin Xuanlin could no longer face anyone.
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Once a chosen one of heavenChapter 2 · Why didn’t you crawl in the shadows?!Chapter 3 · They would rather fight each otherChapter 4 · I’ll do a handstand and run naked three times!Chapter 5 · So what if I’m showing off!Chapter 6 · If you look again, I’ll gouge your eyes out!Chapter 7 · The young couple is fighting again.Chapter 8 · I’m back at the Jinchan SectChapter 9 · Sour, sourChapter 10 · To seize credit for someone’s workChapter 11 · The Golden Toad Sect has come to our aid to annihilate the Demon LordChapter 12 · Sect Leader’s HusbandChapter 13 · The stone, fox, tree, and scarecrow are named XuanlinChapter 14 · My junior and I have had sweet moments in private!Chapter 15 · The truth behind their first falling out back thenChapter 16 · Hate lasts longer than loveChapter 17 · Xie Chen was actually the Demon LordChapter 18 · Slaying the Demon LordChapter 19 · From resistance to enjoymentChapter 20 · Xiao Xie’s perspective begins!Chapter 21 · Only because it was Yin XuanlinChapter 22 · Xie Chen was not a foolChapter 23 · The End