Langxia and Gui Yin made it back to their temporary residence before the suona sounded.
Gui Yin breathed a sigh of relief and fell onto the bed. He patted his chest. “Scared me half to death. When that stupid thing started screaming, I thought we’d be caught with a ghost parade.”
Langxia chuckled. “Even if there was, we could just banish them.”
“Seriously? We’re the ones sneaking around their home. Wouldn’t you feel guilty?” Gui Yin pointed out. “This is breaking and entering, then murder!”
Langxia sat down beside Gui Yin and pressed a hand to his head. “Have you breathed in too much demonic energy? Was your brain burnt?”
Gui Yin pushed his hand away. “Anyway, I think it’s better to not mess around with the Ghost Realm. Aside from the King of the Underworld, who knows what other major figures are under there. They’re not for us to touch.”
“Understood,” Langxia dutifully said. “Then, what should we do now?”
“Sleep!” Gui Yin said. “Tomorrow, we’ll see if we can get out. If not…we’ll just find another way out. Anyway, it’s already a big accomplishment that we managed to stumble upon Half Moon Cult’s hideout.”
“With how intricate this place is, I want to say there’s something more it’s hiding,” Langxia said.
“Something else?” Gui Yin raised a brow. “What else?”
“Qiao Ceng’s Stygian Claws come in pairs,” Langxia said. “I only took one…”
Gui Yin’s eyes widened. He lowered his voice and leaned closer. “You think the other is here?”
Langxia shrugged. “I wouldn’t dare make assumptions, but don’t you think it’s odd? Besides, if the god they’re truly trying to create is Qiao Ceng, then using his natal weapon as a summoning point is a very good gamble.”
Gui Yin slowly grinned. He gripped Langxia’s arm. “Then, we have to find it.”
“If we can get out tomorrow, should we just leave? After all, without the cauldron and that array, they won’t be able to get the resentment anyway.”
Gui Yin shook his head. “If the demonic energy hasn’t lessened any, then we’ll have to try and find that claw. If not, this place will turn into a city of madness. It will be an easy breeding ground for devil cultivators, just like Ghost Valley.”
“That’s true,” Langxia mumbled. He hummed. “Then, we’ll wait until tomorrow.”
“Then…bedtime,” Gui Yin concluded.
He pulled off his outer robes and set it to the side neatly before he kicked his shoes off and crawled into the bed. He was tugging the crown and the ribbon from his hair as he started speaking again.
“Tonight, if I crawl over to you, just push me away.”
“Why?” Langxia asked with a raised brow.
“I have my dignity to maintain,” Gui Yin said. His hair fell past his shoulders as he looked at Langxia. “Unless you want to marry me?”
Langxia chuckled. “I wouldn’t be opposed.”
Gui Yin showed an indifferent expression. “I would be. I don’t want to be in a loveless marriage.”
“I would still take good care of you,” Langxia said as he set aside the snake headpiece. He sat down and kicked his shoes off before placing them neatly beside Gui Yin’s.
“Ah, don’t talk about it. Talking about it already makes me depressed,” Gui Yin said with a small shake of his head.
He laid down on the blanket he brought and pulled the covers up to his chin. He watched as Langxia laid down as well and he looked at him curiously.
“I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fall in love?” Gui Yin asked. He pouted slightly as he glanced at Langxia’s chest. “Your emotional root is broken, but you still want things, right? Do you feel lonely?”
Langxia glanced at him quizzically. “Why these questions all of a sudden?”
Gui Yin smiled. “It’s because you were very handsome today, so it got me thinking.”
Langxia turned to his side and gave Gui Yin a dimpled smile. “Interested?”
Gui Yin’s smile wilted. “Forget it if you don’t want to answer.”
“The only person I would want to fall in love with is you,” Langxia said. “If it’s not you, then I’m not curious.”
Gui Yin closed his eyes and settled on his back. “Just keep talking like that. Maybe one day it’ll work.”
“Has it not?”
“I don’t fall in love with people who won’t love me back,” Gui Yin said. He let out a short yawn. “And falling in love with you would be like falling in love with a straight guy. There’s just no good ending.”
Langxia chuckled. “How do you know?”
Gui Yin opened one eye and glanced at Langxia. “For someone who can’t love, you’re very flirtatious. You’ll give me the wrong idea.”
Langxia smiled to himself as Gui Yin closed his eyes again. “If you fall in love with me, then you won’t leave me.”
“That’s a very dangerous thought you have there, Palace Lord Sun,” Gui Yin murmured. “Besides, even married couples can get a divorce. Nothing really stops someone from leaving another person.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Ojcuzlj’r ujhf vjgxfcfv rilutais. “Dea sbe tjnf ab rajs ys ws rlvf.”
“Zw…regf…yfmjerf kf’gf ojafv…” Xel Tlc rjlv, tlr nblmf ugbklcu fnfc delfafg. “Qtjafnfg sbe rjs.”
Ojcuzlj gfjmtfv bea jcv ygertfv yjmx Xel Tlc’r oglcuf. “Qtja vbfr ibnlcu j qfgrbc offi ilxf?”
“Obnlcu j qfgrbc…ww…ktfc atfs’gf cba ys sbeg rlvf, sbe’ii kbcvfg ktja atfs’gf vblcu. Tbe’ii wlrr atfw…ww sbe kjca ab qgbafma atfw. Fw…lo atfs’gf tjqqs, sbe’gf tjqqs. Po atfs’gf eqrfa, sbe’gf eqrfa…lo atfs’gf riffqs, sbe’gf riffqs,” Xel Tlc sjkcfv jujlc. “Snfc lo atfs’gf ecgfjrbcjyif, sbe ralii kjca ab wjxf la kbgx…ibar bo atlcur…”
Langxia listened intently. “Is that all?”
“Um…sometimes—very rarely—you’re willing to…hurt yourself…as long as they can be happy,” Gui Yin said. He smacked his lips slightly and turned onto his side. “But don’t get into that kind of relationship…it’s bad…”
Langxia fell into his own thoughts for a moment. While later, his gaze focused again. “Qinle.”
“Mm…”
“I think I love you.”
“Mm…sure…”
Langxia shifted closer. “You don’t believe me?”
“Even ghosts wouldn’t believe you; why in the world would I?” Gui Yin grumbled. He swatted at Langxia’s face. “Get out, get out. I’m trying to sleep.”
Langxia finally laid down. He stared up at the ceiling. “But I’m happy when you’re happy. And I’m upset when you’re upset.”
Gui Yin groaned. “How in the world would that count? We’re connected by our souls. You—are you done messing with me?”
“Cultivators don’t actually need sleep.”
“I want it, okay? I want to sleep,” Gui Yin snapped. “If you really loved me, you would let me sleep.”
“Alright, then you sleep.”
Gui Yin rolled his eyes. He shuffled further away from Langxia and decisively closed his eyes.
What a lunatic.
Langxia smirked as he felt the irritation throb in his chest.
Well, maybe he really didn’t love Gui Yin. He would always feel happiest when he was messing with Gui Yin. If you liked someone, would a person also feel that way?
When morning came, Gui Yin was happy to find that he had stayed on his half of the bed. He sat up gleefully and wished that he had a camera to capture this moment. Langxia watched incredulously.
“Is it that great?”
“Of course!” Gui Yin boasted. “This means that I still have a sense of humility. And also, I only rolled towards you because I was sick. My proper sleeping posture is still around.”
Langxia silently shook his head as Gui Yin hummed a tune to himself.
He should have hugged Gui Yin after he had fallen asleep. Just look at how cocky he was being.
Gui Yin flicked back his fringe and turned to Langxia with a grin. “Your sleeping posture is also good.”
Langxia gave him a sardonic smirk and stood to get ready.
Once their things were packed, they headed to the gate first.
Gui Yin unconsciously grabbed Langxia’s wrist and the two of them stepped through together. When they were greeted with the sight of the town again, Gui Yin sighed and released Langxia.
“Any idea of where to look first?” Gui Yin asked.
Langxia thought about it. He looked around before slightly shaking his head. “It would be the places with the densest amount of resentful energy.”
“Densest amount of resentful energy?” Gui Yin echoed. “Wouldn’t that be the cave we were just at? Do you think there’s another section there?”
“Perhaps,” Langxia said. He scanned their surroundings. “When the monsters came to attack us, where were they usually coming from?”
“Deeper in the forest. But that’s where the Ghost Barrier is,” Gui Yin said with a small frown. “I don’t want to risk trespassing into the Ghost Realm.”
“What if that was where the Stygian Claw was?” Langxia asked.
Gui Yin met his gaze.
“Ghost cultivators are no longer human. You think they would be afraid of trespassing into the Ghost Realm?”
Gui Yin’s entire person wilted. He groaned as he fell back against Langxia. “I don’t want to go into the Ghost Realm. The ghosts there are weird!”
Langxia caught Gui Yin and stood him upright again. “With me here, what are you afraid of?”
Gui Yin stilled. He looked at Langxia excitedly. “Does your little technique also work on ghosts?”
“It works on everything with a soul,” Langxia confirmed.
“Great!” Gui Yin tapped Langxia’s chest with the edge of his fan. “Then, I’ll be in your hands, Er’lang.”
Langxia chuckled as he watched Gui Yin saunter off.
Once they reached the Ghost Barrier, Gui Yin uneasily squeezed towards Langxia. Langxia’s hand fell naturally to Gui Yin’s waist.
He lowered his head and whispered into Gui Yin’s ear, “Don’t suddenly run off. I can only hide you if you’re this close to me.”
Gui Yin nodded in understanding.
The two of them walked forward together. At first, Gui Yin was still stiff. But after seeing that none of the ghosts paid attention to them, he slowly relaxed.
In fact, this walking posture was perfectly fine. It was one that many of his exes had favored. Although it was inconvenient because he couldn’t stray too far, it was uncomfortable. The only downside was the fluttering in his stomach. He closed his eyes and sighed to himself. He really was done for this time.
“Are you still scared?”
“No,” Gui Yin said. He tried not to flinch at the sound of Langxia’s voice, but he somewhat failed. Though, the half twitch he did might have actually been worse.
Langxia shifted his grip on Gui Yin. “Don’t worry. Even if they do end up seeing us, I—”
“Will banish them. I know,” Gui Yin said.
Langxia raised a brow. He wondered what got Gui Yin so touchy this time. He glanced around. The resentment was much thicker on this end of the Ghost Realm, where the ghouls and ghosts were constantly looking for a way back into the human world. It was natural that Gui Yin, who was currently so sensitive to resentment, would suddenly get riled up over a few words.
Langxia slid his hand to Gui Yin’s back.
Gui Yin shuddered. He stopped dead in their tracks and glared at Langxia. “What are you doing?”
“I can’t give you spiritual energy from your waist,” Langxia said.
The gentle stream of energy halted Gui Yin’s anger. His face flushed and he turned away in embarrassment. “Ahem. Right. Of course. Just…sorry. Ignore me.”
Langxia looked at him curiously, but kept his questions to himself.
Gui Yin quickly shook himself out of his embarrassing state and tried to focus on finding a high concentration of demonic energy.
It was easier said than done.
In a place that was filled to the brim with aggressive ghost qi, which could easily be misconstrued as demonic or resentful energy. But there were still subtle differences between the three. Demonic energy was the hottest, while resentful and ghost qi were far colder. All they had to do was find a hot spot within the chill and they would be able to track down the source that kept this dimension going.
The pair walked until the suona sounded again.
More ghosts flooded the paths, all of them slightly disfigured or mutilated. Gui Yin couldn’t help but take a few more glances at them. He frowned when he found some particularly pitiful ones. Even in the afterlife, they were forced to roam around blind; what a shame.
Gui Yin turned his attention away from them and finally couldn’t help but touch Langxia’s arm again. Langxia glanced down curiously.
“Aren’t we heading deeper into the Ghost Realm?” Gui Yin whispered. “Do you really think it’s in there?”
Langxia looked around before turning around. But before they could go very far, Gui Yin’s steps faltered. Langxia glanced at him again.
“What is it?”
“Over there…” Gui Yin said. He lifted a hand and pointed. “That’s…my shidi.”
A prim looking young man, dressed in yellow and turquoise robes was arguing with a rather disfigured character. Although they couldn’t hear what they were saying, it was clear that the young man was trying to convince the disfigured individual out of something.
Gui Yin watched silently for a while before turning away.
“You—”
“We’ve really gone too far in,” Gui Yin said, his head lowered. “We’re past the territory of resentful ghosts. Let’s head back.”
Langxia felt the tightness in his chest, but let out a soft hum. He glanced back at the young man Gui Yin had pointed out.
Many people may think that after death there would be reincarnation, but the process was much longer than that. The lines were long, the Underworld was understaffed, and more and more people died each day due to disease, war, or corruption. Each individual had to be tried, sentenced, and rewarded or punished. Even someone like Gui Yin’s junior martial brother, who had done many good deeds in his life, would still have to wait several hundred years.
“…My shizun,” Gui Yin’s voice trailed off. A soft, bitter scoff left his lips. “I wonder where he is now.”
The pain in Langxia’s chest strengthened. He pressed his lips into a line. “Maybe he has joined the others and is waiting for reincarnation.”
Gui Yin smirked sardonically. He looked at Langxia.
The both of them knew that it was impossible.
Qiao Ceng’s chains were made from the sacrifices of those from Shuangye Peak. Unless Qiao Ceng was freed and the chains were broken, the souls of those people would never be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation.
“Let’s check over here,” Langxia said.
He had said something useless. But he had never been too good at comforting people anyway.
From the east, they started walking west, but the chill persisted. Gui Yin’s brows furrowed tightly and he finally slowed to a stop. He looked around and pointed back to where they had come from.
“Let’s check that way,” Gui Yin said. “We haven’t gone over there, have we?”
“Alright.”
They walked quietly, but swiftly.
At this time of night, this area had become like a bustling city. Ghosts pushed up against each other, entrails mixing with others and nearly tangling. A few stopped and shoved each other. Several fights ensued, causing Ghost Guards to rush over to stop them. Upon seeing this, Gui Yin couldn’t help but take a few more glances.
He had never seen someone use their stomach to choke another person—ah, no. It should be a ghost—before. The sight was shocking, but another part of Gui Yin wanted to laugh.
He was starting to crane his neck to see how the fight would end up when the chill abruptly ended. Gui Yin frowned. He looked at Langxia.
“Stop giving me so much spiritual energy. What are you going to do when you run out?”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“Then, why—” Gui Yin coughed violently.
Langxia quickly erected a barrier around them. He looked ahead, his gaze darkening. “It’s around here.”
Gui Yin managed a small nod as he felt his lungs burn. He glared irritably ahead. What kind of cultivator developed asthma again at this age?!
Langxia didn’t seem to notice Gui Yin’s irritation and continued onward.
Because of the barrier, Gui Yin could breathe a little easier, but the barrier was made from Langxia’s own internal force. It wouldn’t be good to use up too much of it. He glanced at Langxia, who looked perfectly normal, and couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy.
Wouldn’t it be nice if he had always been born a spirit? Look at how leisurely this man was.
“It’s around here,” Langxia said. He looked at Gui Yin. “How about we split up?”
“What? But—”
“Do you still have Breath Vanishing Pills?”
“I do.”
“Take one,” Langxia said. He broke away from Gui Yin, but the barrier still remained around him. “I’ll be able to find you, so don’t worry about going far.”
Gui Yin nodded. He quickly popped a pill into his mouth and began his search around the bramble and foliage. The further he walked, the more uncomfortable he felt. It was as if something was trying to break through Langxia’s barrier and inch its way towards him. The chill of someone watching him intensified, making him stop in place.
He glanced around. His hand tightened on Fenghua. Unconsciously, his lips parted and he let out a small whisper: “Er’lang…”
A soft wind sped past his ear. Gui Yin abruptly turned, but only found Langxia beside him. His gaze was serious as he stepped back within the barrier. He gently tugged Gui Yin behind him.
“It’s here.”
Gui Yin looked up at the tree that they were standing under, a bit unsure. “In…the tree?”
“Mn,” Langxia hummed. He turned to Gui Yin. “Head back to the house first. I’ll take care of it.”
Gui Yin frowned. “I’m fine. The barrier works just fine.”
Langxia smiled softly. “But you’re still injured, remember? You shouldn’t come in contact with such dirty things.”
Gui Yin understood what Langxia meant. Even if he stayed, he would be of no help. He nodded obediently. “Alright. Then, be careful. Something that can make such an intricate dimension is very dangerous.”
Langxia’s smile widened until it showed his dimples. He lightly touched Gui Yin’s head as the force threw itself against his barrier. “I’ll be fine.”
Gui Yin hummed and was about to leave, when Langxia stopped him. “What else—”
Gui Yin’s eyes widened as Langxia’s lips rubbed against his neck. He felt a chill go from his toes, straight to his head. He reflexively shoved Langxia back and clasped a hand over his neck.
“What are you doing!?”
“There’s something disgusting watching you. I masked your scent with mine. This way, they won’t be able to follow you back,” Langxia said. “It’ll fade in a day, don’t worry.”
Gui Yin pursed his lips. His hand fell to his side and he glared at Langxia. “Tell me next time.”
Langxia agreed. “I’m sorry. I stepped out of line.”
Gui Yin glared at him for a moment longer and huffed. He snapped his fan open. “What I hate the most are people needlessly marking their territory. If there’s a second time, I won’t let you off.”
“I understand.”
Gui Yin glanced at him one last time before lowering his gaze and quickly leaving.
Langxia’s gaze cooled tremendously after Gui Yin left. His eyes sparked gold, then a ruby-red. He looked up at the tree and looked beyond at the presence behind it. His eyes slowly narrowed and his lips pulled into a snake-like smile.
“Long time no see. I see that you’ve been faring well.”
A/N: again, I’m sorry for the delayed update ;n; it’s been a rough week. The next couple weeks may also have some inconsistent updates ;v; thank you for your understanding (シ_ _)シ
love and attraction are such complicated things, huh…. “The only person I want to fall in love with is you. If it’s not you, then I’m not curious.” 🎵💛💕🎶(๑˃ᴗ˂)✨️🎵🧡💕
and “ruby-red” and “snake-like smile” eheh like the Ruby-Eyed Serpent that joined the dragon!! ….i cant recall all that was mentioned about that amd its relation to Langxia. but i sure do feel the connection
AND TAKE ALL THE TIME YOU NEED!! i’m delighted to get updates whenever possible and it’s important to take care of your wellbeing :>
😭 thank you so much i will try to keep that in mind 😭
I finally cau
I’m so sorry I didn’t meant to comment omg so embarrassing 😭
I finally caught up with the chapters!!! Such a shame tho! Thank you for the chapters, I’m loving the story!!!❤
thank you for all the comments!!!! it was a joy to read them all (even tho i didn’t respond to them ;v;) i’m glad you seem to be enjoying it so far!!! and thanks for reading hehe
Aww thank YOU for making an incredible story haha ❤
Haha if they’re sleepy ur sleepy 🤣
I bet it’s that creepy centipede dude who’s stalking him!
Bet it’s the centipede asshole.