“A new era,” Gui Yin muttered again. He sighed and shook his head. “Would that even be possible?”
“Nothing is impossible,” Langxia said. “Our world is filled with possibilities. And if not our world, then there are billions upon billions of others out there in the universe. If they can’t revive demonic cultivation in this world, they can try and find help from another world.”
Gui Yin shuddered at the thought. He wanted to ask again how that would be possible, but when he reflected on himself, he remained silent. He had been through countless worlds and various other universes. Even if he didn’t remember many of them anymore, he knew in his soul that they existed. It really wouldn’t be impossible for someone who was slightly outstanding to pull such a feat.
“Don’t worry, my dear,” Langxia said as he pulled Gui Yin into a tighter embrace. With a small smile on his face, he kissed Gui Yin’s forehead. “There is only one you in this universe. I doubt that there will be another person with the same genius as you for at least another thousand lifetimes.”
Gui Yin rolled his eyes and nudged Langxia away slightly. He let out another soft sigh and looked at Langxia.
Langxia returned his helpless gaze with a smile and leaned forward a little. He raised a brow. “Yes, my darling?”
“What do we do next?”
“Next?” Langxia echoed. He let out a long hum. “Well, we should probably head for the Winding Python Ridge.”
Gui Yin observed Langxia quietly.
He knew little of what this man had been up to in their times apart and before their reunion, but with just a few glances around, he could tell that Langxia was a very powerful man with a lot of influence wherever he set his roots. But in order to establish any roots, especially ones as strong as he did in the places he traveled, it meant that he had to make connections and sacrifices.
Langxia’s smile widened. He leaned closer and pressed their foreheads together. “What are you thinking about?”
“When that man mentioned Winding Python Ridge, you had an odd look flash through your eyes. What was that about?”
Langxia pulled back. His expression of surprise was not masked and it was quickly replaced by a shy, yet elated smile. “You were watching me?”
Gui Yin looked at him tiredly. When Langxia still hadn’t answered his question, Gui Yin turned away and suppressed a sigh. “Why wouldn’t I be watching you?”
“Hm?”
“I…I already said you looked handsome,” Gui Yin said. He glanced at Langxia’s triumphant smirk and withheld his own smile. He lightly nudged Langxia for his teasing. “Why did you look like that?”
Langxia grinned and leaned back. His fingers lazily intertwined with Gui Yin’s as he spoke: “Winding Python Ridge belongs to my…business associate. We have an alliance of sorts. The area in between is indeed a no-man’s land, meaning no one had claimed that territory. However, it was an unspoken rule to our neighbors that the two of us shared it. If the ghost cultivators were there, I would have free reign. But since my investigation took me over to Winding Python Ridge, now there are a few things I need to worry about.”
Gui Yin frowned. “Are you worried your business associate is in on it?”
Langxia shook his head. “No. She may be crafty and cunning, but she isn’t the type to care about the politics of the world. She may be a demon spirit, but she isn’t the type to believe bringing a demon god would do anything other than bring trouble.”
“You’re that sure?” Gui Yin asked skeptically.
This man had just referred to her as only a “business associate”, yet now he spoke as if he knew everything about her.
Langxia chuckled. He lightly pinched the pad of Gui Yin’s finger and glanced up at the other man again. His smile in this moment reminded Gui Yin of a snake’s. There was no malice behind it, there was an odd, innate mischief that hung about the corners of his eyes. Still, seeing such a smile made Gui Yin’s lips unconsciously curve as well. He watched as Langxia sat straighter and lean his body towards him once again. He watched silently as Langxia settled against him.
“Qinle, don’t you know me? You know what sort of person I am. I would never trust another person without knowing exactly what they are first,” Langxia said.
Gui Yin nodded in understanding. “Alright, I believe you.”
“And if she really played me for a fool,” Langxia’s eyes seemed to turn gold for a split moment, “Well, that will be my own battle to fight. Either way, it isn’t about this. My worry is that someone is trying to incite trouble between the two of us.”
Seeing Gui Yin’s quizzical expression, Langxia continued. “The only reason they would want to do that would be to keep me busy.”
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.
Understanding flashed through Gui Yin’s eyes. “But then…”
“Pa wfjcr atja atfs jgf jkjgf kf jgf ibbxlcu obg fjmt oegcjmf,” Ojcuzlj rjlv.
Xel Tlc ogbkcfv. “Pa wera yf yfmjerf kf gjc lcab Hljb Jfcu atf ijra alwf.”
“Tfr, yea la jirb rffwr ilxf atfs vbc’a mjgf,” Ojcuzlj rjlv, tlr ujhf vjgxfclcu.
Ktf akb wfc wfa fjmt batfg’r fsfr.
“They have a backup plan,” Gui Yin muttered.
“They do. If they don’t, then perhaps that little bug told them not to worry for some reason,” Langxia said. He dragged his gaze back to Gui Yin and smiled. “Either way. Perhaps, we should be more careful.”
Gui Yin nodded. “We should be.”
“Especially because,” Langxia sat up properly, “You are still recovering.”
Gui Yin frowned. “No, I’m not. I’m fine.”
Langxia looked at him with a rare expression of disapproval that made Gui Yin unconsciously straighten.
“I am. Physically, I’m perfectly fine,” Gui Yin said.
Langxia reached over and rubbed Gui Yin’s head. “I meant up here.”
“That’s…also fine,” Gui Yin muttered. He averted his gaze briefly. “If anything, we should worry about you.”
Langxia chuckled. “If you can claim to be fine, then I can also say so.”
Gui Yin glanced at him. “How could that be the same? Let’s not even mention your arm for a second—what about your body?”
“I was told to take it easy. As for my arm,” Langxia shrugged. “I can just get it replaced again.”
“Don’t say it so easily, as if you don’t mind the pain.”
Langxia chuckled. He stood properly and held out a hand for Gui Yin. “Then, we just both need to be careful, isn’t that right?”
Gui Yin took Langxia’s hand. “You better be careful.”
“Of course,” Langxia promised. He pressed a kiss to the back of Gui Yin’s hand. “I’m always careful.”
Before Gui Yin could think of a proper response, he suddenly felt his feet lift from the floor. His eyes widened as his entire world was turned upside down. Out of pure instinct, he held onto the back of Langxia’s clothing as he was carried to the bed. An astounded noise left his lips, but he was placed down just as swiftly as he had been lifted. He looked at Langxia in shock.
“What are you—”
“Let’s take a rest before we leave,” Langxia said.
“But—”
“My men are already looking for other clues, so don’t worry,” Langxia said. He smiled as he settled down. “I know you didn’t sleep too well last night. So, just rest a bit more before we have to head out.”
Gui Yin hesitated, but when he thought about how Langxia’s state was most likely comparable to his, he finally settled down.
“But only if you sleep too.”
“If you’re here, I’ll fall asleep whether I want to or not,” Langxia said as he pulled Gui Yin into a hug. He burrowed his head against the crook of Gui Yin’s neck. “You’re always so comfortable to sleep with.”
Gui Yin squirmed a little, but eventually settled down. With the soft sheets, Langxia’s warmth and his weight, Gui Yin began to feel a little drowsy. It was drowsiness that was left over from much earlier, but one that had suddenly found its way to him again. He closed his eyes and gave himself to the restraints of sleep. His only fear being that he would find himself in another senseless dream once more.
“Gege!”
The bright shout jerked Gui Yin from his thoughts. He looked up and watched as a cute child fumbled his way towards him. Gui Yin smiled and stood to meet the boy before he fell into the river. The boy looked up at him with a toothy grin. He held out a flower to Gui Yin.
“Yin-gege, look!” the boy’s fingers gently brushed against the petals. “Isn’t it pretty?”
Gui Yin looked down at the flower in the boy’s hands, but his smile faltered.
It wasn’t a flower that had been freshly picked from the ground. Instead, it looked as if it had been ripped out by an animal or a careless carriage driver. The petals were missing chunks and its stem was gnarled and shredded. It was anything but pretty. In fact, if Gui Yin thought about it too deeply, it was a bit horrifying.
He glanced up at the boy’s starlike eyes and forced a smile. “Why did you choose this one? There are so many other pretty flowers. Let’s go back. Gege will help you pick one you like.”
The boy’s expression fell. “Gege, you don’t like this one?”
“I…it’s not that I don’t like it, but…” Gui Yin’s voice faded. He squatted to the boy’s eye-level and smiled gently. “But A-Xia, can you explain to gege why you like this?”
The boy’s eyes glimmered. He grinned confidently and held the flower to his chest. “It’s like me!”
“Like…you?” Gui Yin asked.
“Mn!” the boy said.
“What…why is that?”
“Mm…Mama said so,” the boy said, his smile sweetly tender.
“Mama…said so?” Gui Yin repeated.
“En! There was always a pile of dead flowers in front of our house,” the boy explained. “At first, I didn’t like them, because they looked like this. I also thought it was mean that the neighbors—cough!”
Gui Yin’s eyes widened. He quickly fumbled for the canister at his side and opened it for the boy. When he saw that the boy’s coughs were too extreme, he placed the canister aside and pressed a handkerchief to the boy’s lips.
“Cough. Cough it out,” Gui Yin quickly said.
The boy’s round eyes teared up painfully as he hacked into the cough. Gui Yin watched as it was soon soaked red. He pulled the handkerchief away and carefully wiped the boy’s lips. He noticed the way the boy’s expression scrunched and he quickly tossed the handkerchief away.
“Do you feel better?” Gui Yin asked.
The boy nodded, but his lips pursed. “I dirtied gege’s things again…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Gui Yin said with a smile. “I can always wash it!”
“It’s dirty,” the boy said. He shook his head. “I’ll buy you a new one when I’m an adult!”
Gui Yin looked at the child in amusement, but didn’t dash his dreams. He nodded seriously. “Then, I’ll be waiting.”
The boy grinned again. He wanted to say something, but his throat burned. It had been like this after his neighbors had tried to silence him.
Gui Yin lifted the canister to the boy’s lips and helped him drink a few sips of water. He corked the canister again and glanced at the flower. “So, why is this little flower like A-Xia?”
“Oh,” the boy turned his attention back to his new treasure. “Because it was abandoned by people, but it’s still whole! Mama said that I have to be resilient, like this little flower because she might not be around to protect me in the future.”
The boy’s expression fell silently as his little fingers pinched the broken stem. “Mama must have been able to see the future too…”
Gui Yin listened to the boy’s scratchy voice recount his memories of his mother with a small frown.
He didn’t know much about this boy that he picked up, but he knew that the villagers he had lived with were cruel. What telling the future? What curse? It was just a boy who said things without thinking and they were unlucky enough to experience everything he said. And even if the child could tell the future, then so what? Wanting to kill him…trying to poison him…beating him and exiling him after his mother passed…
“Gege?” A-Xia’s soft, broken voice coaxed Gui Yin from his thoughts.
Gui Yin forced any negative emotions away. He knew that children were sensitive to how others felt. That was how his little sister had been too. If he was quiet for too long, the little boy might ask him what was wrong. Then, how could he explain it to—
“What’s gege’s favorite plant?” the little voice asked.
Ah.
He already figured it out.
Gui Yin’s lips pursed. He smiled and rubbed at the boy’s hair as the boy squeaked. He pulled the boy against him and fell back, allowing the boy to sit on his lap.
“Gege’s favorite plant? Mm…Gege likes maple trees! I like when their leaves are red,” Gui Yin said, pointing at the forest around them.
The boy’s fascinated gaze followed Gui Yin’s gesture toward the forest. He grinned. “Then, I’ll grow big and strong like a tree in the future!”
Gui Yin stared at the boy for a moment before bursting into laughter. He rocked forward with the boy still squished in his arms. The boy squirmed in a weak, unserious protest. His little face warmed as he watched Gui Yin’s blooming smile.
The boy’s mother was beautiful because of the Serpent’s gift, then what about the sixteen-year-old teenager in front of him? What godly being was he related to in order to possess such beauty? What powers did he have that made the boy’s heart beat so crazily? Had he been bewitched, like many of the village’s wives said their husbands were by his mother?
If this is what being bewitched was like, then the boy didn’t understand why it was a bad thing.
After that…after that, it was peaceful.
The boy grew up healthy. Although his voice was ruined, he could still communicate and it no longer hurt so much. Gui Yin was caring, attending to most of the boy’s needs so long as he was requested. There was even talk of Gui Yin bringing the boy back to Shuangye Peak. Even if Kui Wanming didn’t let the boy worship him as a teacher, Gui Yin could still take care of him easier.
They talked and talked and talked. And the boy listened with great rapture, his eyes burning like the stars in the night every single time.
Gui Yin mistook this look for excitement, but it was anything but.
Because the boy knew what would happen.
In the near future, Gui Yin and the boy would be separated.
On a warm, summer’s day that was so unlike the frosty winter when they first met, they were suddenly attacked by demons. The demons were vicious and Gui Yin was only a nineteen-year-old boy. Fighting them by himself was easy, but he had to protect the child at his side. With one wrong slip, everything crumbled as the boy had seen.
He would watch as claws slashed Gui Yin’s shoulder. He felt clammy hands clasp onto him and whisk him away. He struggled uselessly as he thought about what would happen next. Gui Yin would be saved. Then he would spend the next while searching for him. After a few months, he would think he was dead. He would give up. And he would lean into the person who saved him.
And that was how their story would end. And the boy would never tell Gui Yin he had seen it all coming.
they got to sleep but at what cost ;-;
thanks for the chapter!!
thanks for reading!
Dang, LiangXia saw it all, must have hurt knowing that everything would happen
I think I wrote the name wrong I’m sorry!!!
Sometimes I do think prophetic abilities are like a curse