Tw; noncon (touching and kissing)
Shan Yu watched Qin Siyi silently as the young woman took the first bite of the pastry Shan Yu had personally shaped. Qin Siyi glanced at the girl, chewed a bit more, and swallowed. She nodded.
“It’s good.”
“Is it really?” Shan Yu asked skeptically.
“Why wouldn’t it be? Didn’t Gui-qianbei make everything?” Li Fangyin pointed out as he stole one from his little sister’s plate. “He was there for every step of the process.”
Shan Yu glared at Li Fangyin. She turned to Qin Siyi. “Now that I know how to make it, I’ll be sure to make you some when we get home.”
Gui Yin sighed. “When will someone make pastries for me?”
Su Wen glanced at Gui Yin. He leaned over and whispered: “Do you want me to ask Master?”
Gui Yin lightly smacked the side of his folding fan against Su Wen’s head. “Why would you bring that guy up on such a joyous occasion?”
Su Wen and Wu Feng glanced at each other. Seeing their hesitation, Gui Yin sighed. The others had fallen into their own conversations, leaving Gui Yin with his two attendants to the side. He silently poured himself a cup of wine and raised a brow.
“So? Did you receive news from him?”
“He’s alive,” Wu Feng said.
Another four long years had passed, he just sent a letter saying that he was alive?
“Oh, thank Heavens,” Gui Yin said dully.
“It’s inconvenient for him to do much right now,” Su Wen said. “But I’m sure Master will explain everything to you when the two of you reunite.”
“Why do you always talk about him to me as if he’s my lover?” Gui Yin asked, narrowing his eyes. He leaned his chin against the palm of his hand. “Besides, say he was my lover—what kind of lover would leave me hanging high and dry for four years without a letter. Do you think I’m easy?”
Su Wen and Wu Feng hurriedly shook their heads. How could they say that? How could they think that?! Gui Yin, Lord Immortal Ninglan, was the War God. They have seen it with their own eyes just how quickly he’s improved through the years. Not to mention, how smoothly he controls the battlefield. If a person like this was “easy” then…then what were the regular mortals? Were they just the dirt below their feet?
“But Master truly does care and worry for you. The reason he hasn’t sent you any letters personally is because he’s afraid of involving you in—”
“In what?” Gui Yin asked. “If you can tell me what he’s involved in, then I’ll trust him.”
“He…” Su Wen glanced at Wu Feng.
“You two don’t know?”
“It isn’t that. It’s just classified information,” Su Wen said, his voice softening.
“So, he gets to know every single detail about me, but if I just ask about what he’s doing, then I don’t even get a hint. Is that it?” Gui Yin scoffed. He turned away. “Forget it.”
“Lord—”
“Forget it,” Gui Yin repeated.
He found himself growing agitated. He drank a few more cups to calm himself down and closed his eyes.
The meal had left him warm and full—something he rarely felt nowadays. But it was the dead of summer and it grew quite humid in the north. Now that it was night time, the heat eased, but the mugginess still hung in the air. As dinner finished, the soldiers began to return to their tents, little by little, leaving behind only Gui Yin and his group.
“Shizun, we’re going to retire as well,” Gui Linghuo said.
“Mn. Go,” Gui Yin hummed, his attention on the wine that he was still pouring.
The disciples glanced at each other, but before anyone could move to say a few words of concern, Gui Yin chuckled.
“Let me drink. It’s been so long since I got to have a cup,” Gui Yin said, holding the cup up between them and swaying it slightly. With a lazy smirk he added: “Besides, I have Su Wen and Wu Feng. What do you four have to worry about?”
The little disciples hesitantly nodded and departed for their own tents.
“You two,” Gui Yin yawned. “Go.”
“What?” Su Wen straightened to attention. “But we—”
“Go. I want some time alone,” Gui Yin murmured. He drew a full bottle of wine towards himself and threw aside the lid. “Let me have this. I’ll go back to being your War God tomorrow. You can follow me all you want then.”
Su Wen and Wu Feng shared a glance. After another bout of hesitation, the two men retired as well.
Under the canopy, with only a few lamps to illuminate his surroundings, Gui Yin was all alone. The bottles lined up beside him as they got emptier and emptier. He wasn’t sad, per se. Ironically, he felt quite content. After eight long years of fighting, Gui Yin finally received a night of respite. He didn’t have to worry about an enemy attack on their camp and he could drink his fill until the next morning.
And he knew he would have to be alert the next morning.
After having a few more bottles, Gui Yin finally stood. Being a cultivator of his caliber and with his alcohol tolerance it took a lot for him to get drunk, but tonight, he swayed several steps as he began to make his way over to the river that many used to bathe. He was already tugging at his robes before he reached it. It was really hot. Really muggy. All he wanted right now was to soak in the calming stream. Just imagining the feeling made him feel that he could doze off.
He pulled his shoes off, dropping them on the shore, and began to drop an article of clothing, one by one. He undid the crown that held his hair up, dropped it carelessly on top of his unfolded clothes, and stepped into the river. He let out a comfortable sigh as he settled down. His heavy lids threatened to close as he felt the water flow by around him.
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.
Lf meqqfv akb tjcvoeir bo kjafg jcv rqijrtfv la bcab tlr ojmf. Llr tjlg kjr qertfv yjmx jr tf rjcx lcab atf glnfg, reywfgulcu tlwrfio qjra tlr mtlc. Pa kjr yfmbwlcu tjgvfg ab xffq tlr fsfr bqfc.
Llr tfjv ribkis ieiifv obgkjgv. Ktf olgra alwf, tf wjcjufv ab pfgx tlr tfjv eq yfobgf tf oeiis reywfgufv yea joafg atf atlgv jcv obegat alwf tf ribkis…ribkis…
A soft splash could be heard.
A moment later, Gui Yin felt a hand against his forehead. His head pushed out from the water, but his head felt too heavy to be held up on its own. His head lulled to the side and landed against a hard chest. His heavy eyes slowly opened. He blinked slowly and shifted against the newcomer beside him. His brows furrowed and he slowly pulled away, only to be brought closer again.
“Stop,” Gui Yin mumbled, shoving at the other person.
The grip the other person had on him slackened and Gui Yin pulled away. He leaned against the shore of the river and ran a hand over his face. He squinted slightly in the darkness, trying to make out the figure beside him. However, in his inebriated state, the shadows of the trees and the figure next to him blurred. But in the darkness, he caught a glimpse of a pair of golden eyes.
Gui Yin frowned. “You…Erlang…?”
The person in front of him stiffened. If Gui Yin wasn’t as drunk as he was, he would notice the way the man’s jaw clenched. Anger flashed across his golden eyes, but he still didn’t say a word. He shifted forward, the sound of water filling the silence, until his hand landed on the small of Gui Yin’s back again.
Gui Yin frowned. The coldness from the other man was uncomfortable. He shifted away again with a small pout. “It’s the middle of summer. Why are you so cold…?”
Despite his previous reluctance, Gui Yin shifted closer again. He grabbed a hold of the other man’s arm, his frown only growing deeper. What he remembered from Erlang clearest, aside from his eyes, was his heat. Even just standing next to him had him feel as if he were in an oven. Gui Yin unconsciously massaged the other man’s hand.
“You’re so cold. Are you injur—”
A sharp gasp escaped Gui Yin’s lips as he was suddenly yanked forward. A strong arm wrapped around his waist as a hand came up to pinch his chin. Gui Yin felt a pair of cold lips crash against his, but he kept his mouth shut tightly to prevent the invading tongue from entering. Frustrated, the opposite party bit Gui Yin’s lip.
A loud hiss left Gui Yin. He had half expected another cruel kiss but, instead, the rough hand pressed against the back of his neck. The cold lips met Gui Yin’s ear and a hoarse voice entered his ear.
“Erlang? Who’s Erlang?” the man growled. “With me by your side, you’re actually calling another man’s name? Have you already forgotten about me?”
Gui Yin’s eyes widened. He sobered immediately and tore away from the man. With a wave of his hand, he left the river and the clothes that had been haphazardly thrown on shore returned to his body. He tightly gripped the front of his robes as Fenghua entered his hand. He watched the other man drag himself onto the shore slowly, one leg at a time. The little clothes on his body were soaking wet and his raven black hair stuck to his skin.
“So, you do remember me.”
Gui Yin was at a loss for words. First, he noted the absurdity of the situation. He had just gotten peeped on while bathing! Such a thing would only happen to a hapless maiden! Second, not only had he gotten peeped—he had also gotten groped and kissed! Then the final, most preposterous thing was that he hadn’t just gotten peeped, groped, and kissed by a stranger—it was actually someone he recognized!
Gui Yin wiped his lips with the back of his hand as he glared at the man—no—the centipede demon irritably.
“How are you here? No—why are you here?! Did I not beat you up enough eight years ago? Now, you’ve tracked down my whereabouts to get another beating?” Gui Yin snapped.
The cocky demon shifted, his arms crossing over his practically bare chest. “I just missed you, my dear.”
“Missed me? Or are you here for revenge?” Gui Yin raised a brow.
Yalun let out a pitiful sigh. He shifted forward, his hand reaching out for Gui Yin’s, but when the other slapped him away, he smiled wryly.
“No such thing,” Yalun said. “Why would I need to take revenge? In my memory, you magnanimously allowed me to flee. You even stopped that Yin Hua Palace brat from chasing after me. If anything, you saved my life.”
Gui Yin stared at the demon incredulously. “You…you’re so creative. Have you ever thought about becoming a writer?”
“Would you like that? I can write about our adventures and travels together for the later generations to read,” Yalun said, his smirk showing off his sharp canines. His steps halted as soon as his bare chest touched the edge of Gui Yin’s fan. A small pout emerged onto his lips. “My dear, could you put your weapon away? It’s making me feel unwelcome.”
Gui Yin was at a loss for words. He stared at the centipede demon and wondered if he had accidentally transmigrated again. Did he drown and wake up in an alternate universe? Was this a universe where everyone was suddenly hopelessly in love with him? No. That’s not it. From the beginning, this centipede demon had already lost his fucking marbles.
“Are you done?” Gui Yin found that it was useless to stick out his weapon anyway. The light aura around Fenghua vanished, returning it to just a regular fan. He tilted his head, “This Lord isn’t in the mood to fool around with you tonight. You’ve already gotten a kiss and have even pinched my waist. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll scram.”
Gui Yin turned, ready to leave, when a strong arm pulled him back by the waist. He closed his eyes in irritation and pushed down his annoyance. When he looked over his shoulder, he found that the man was already pressed against his back.
Not only was he a lecher, pervert, and an annoyance, he also had to be taller than him! He committed every sin it took to be on Gui Yin’s bad list.
“Alright, alright. I apologize for upsetting you. I shouldn’t have approached you in such a way. I was just excited,” Yalun said, lowering his head slightly. He silently breathed in Gui Yin’s scent. His golden eyes momentarily flashed red. “How about we spend just one night together? For old time’s sake.”
Yalun shifted forward to nuzzle Gui Yin’s neck when a hand stretched out to cage his face. He was shoved off, but he only took one step back.
“While I don’t discriminate on who warms my bed, the person certainly won’t be you,” Gui Yin said, glaring at the man in front of him.
Yalun’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Why not me?”
“Do we know each other? Are we close? We’re not even strangers. My rules are this—either we’re close enough friends that we won’t take feelings personally, or we’re complete strangers. The two of us? You should consider yourself lucky your head isn’t on the floor right now,” Gui Yin said.
Yalun looked down his nose at Gui Yin. After a short moment, he choked out a short laugh. “Do you really not remember me?”
Gui Yin shifted uncomfortably. “What tricks are you playing now?”
“Till this point, after everything else, you still don’t remember me?” Yalun asked.
“You’re the centipede demon Qi Du Tower worshipped, Yalun.”
“…Is that it?”
“Is there more?”
“You’re very cruel,” Yalun said.
“And you’re crazy.”
“Then, what about this appearance?”
Gui Yin watched as Yalun’s appearance completely changed into a man he didn’t know. The man had paler skin, red eyes, and long black hair that was tied into a ponytail. His clothes showed that he was from the Central Plains, and his facial features were less sharp around the edges.
“Not bad,” Gui Yin said. “But I don’t know.”
Yalun’s red eyes glowed. He marched up to Gui Yin and held him tightly. “Did you really forget everything?”
“Let go.”
“A-Yin—”
“Let go!” Gui Yin shouted. He moved his palm forward and blasted Yalun with his internal energy.
The centipede demon flew back and fell into the water.
“I’m warning—stop coming around acting like we’re familiar. This Lord’s tolerance isn’t high,” Gui Yin growled.
Gui Yin half expected Yalun to pounce on him again as he stomped away. But, of course, he didn’t have to wait long.
The demon appeared in front of him again, his appearance had already returned to the most familiar form, and roughly grabbed Gui Yin’s wrist. Gui Yin twisted his hand out and drove his sword through Yalun’s abdomen, his gaze freezing over.
“It took me a great amount of effort to find you,” Yalun said, as if the wound in his abdomen was nonexistent. “Don’t you think our meeting was too short?”
“I find it too long,” Gui Yin replied. “But I see you’ve already decided that today is your death day.”
“I won’t die today.”
Gui Yin’s brows furrowed. He felt the cold hand wrap around his wrist as the demon pulled him closer until their chests pressed together. Realization slowly dawned on him. He lifted his gaze, looking at the demon in horror.
“This isn’t your real form?”
Yalun smiled. His thumb stroked Gui Yin’s lower lip. “You’re so smart. It really makes me want to devour you whole.”
Gui Yin shoved Yalun away. “What’d you do? What is this?”
“You’re the one who chose to forget, so I won’t interrupt your little charades,” Yalun said. He smiled. “I want you to slowly remember on your own.”
“Answer my question.”
“Your question would be answered if you just remembered,” Yalun said. He let out a low laugh. “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to see you again for a long time after this. The next time I see you again, I hope we’ll have a more amicable reunion.”
Gui Yin’s brows furrowed tightly, but he couldn’t make heads or tails of what Yalun was saying. Even if he wanted to remember, he couldn’t. The spell on his soul had worn off, but that didn’t mean the memories that had been locked away at the same time had been undone. If anything, Gui Yin could only curse his own prowess—the seal was extremely secure. Even if Gui Yin wanted to pry it open, he would not be able to. If he forced it, he was sure to go insane.
“You’ll see. In the future, you’ll see,” Yalun said. He stole one last kiss from Gui Yin’s lips, his eyes narrowing in satisfaction as he just narrowly avoided Gui Yin’s attack. “I have to go now.”
Gui Yin flicked his wrist and drove his sword through Yalun again. Unfortunately, the demon continued to show no reaction and only vanished into a black mist, chuckling at Gui Yin’s last foolish attempt.
Gui Yin remained rooted stupidly for half a minute, before he let out an irritated scream. After he released his frustrations, he marched back to the camp.
He rubbed at his lip as he angrily clicked his tongue. His fingers carded through his loose locks as he threw his shoes to the side, shed his clothes save for his inner robes, and sat down on the edge of his bed.
Not only had he been taken advantage of once—he had been taken advantage of twice! How demeaning was that?!
Gui Yin smacked his head as he scolded himself. “Idiot! Idiot! You should have diced him up when you had the chance. Why did you let him leave in the first place?”
He laid flat on his bed and kicked at his sheets. “And who is he to pretend his eyes are really golden? Other people have golden eyes and you have golden eyes, but why are your golden eyes so ugly! Like the color of piss. The first thing I want to do when I see them is dig them out of your eye sockets!”
Gui Yin abruptly sat back up, his hair a mess. “And who’s he to talk in riddles? Isn’t it already enough for one golden-eyed person to talk in riddles, but you also—”
Gui Yin slammed his hand down on the bed. “The one I don’t mind seeing doesn’t show up, but this knock-off version of him shows up in the middle of the night just to harass me!”
If that washed-up demon comes to his doorstep again, then he would certainly, for sure, dig his eyes clean out, cut off his limbs, and then throw him into the ocean!
Gui Yin’s chest heaved as he tried to calm himself back down. He huffed and threw himself back on the bed.
“Other people are busy and you’re also busy, but how come the pervert has time to see me and you don’t?” Gui Yin tossed the question into the wind, knowing full well an answer wouldn’t come.
He glared angrily at the ceiling of his tent before reluctantly closing his eyes. Forget it. Just count it as being unlucky tonight. What was the point of thinking about someone who wouldn’t even send him a letter? It was useless.
As Gui Yin drifted off to sleep, he suddenly recalled something from the not so distant past.
His eyes opened.
In front of him were sprawling plains of dried grass and wilted maple trees. His footsteps were hurried as he traveled down a familiar path and made his way towards a set of stairs. But just as he was about to enter, a barrier shoved him back.
Gui Yin’s brows furrowed. He lifted his hand to undo the array, but it remained unmoving. Just as he was about to call on something else, a sharp pain stopped him from doing so. He clicked his tongue and looked up to find a young woman glaring at him, her hands on her hips as the young man at her side glared at Gui Yin ferociously.
“Master!”
“Let me in!” Gui Yin said, flicking his sleeve as he glared at the two little spirits. “You two sure have grown some guts. Just because I was away for nine-hundred years, you think you can rebel now?”
“See? I just told you he remembered everything!” the young man said, dragging the girl back a few steps. “But you still didn’t believe me.”
“Do you think I care?” the young woman turned back to Gui Yin. “Master, you said to not let you in this area—that it’s restricted! Shui Meng is only following your orders!”
Gui Yin let out a frustrated sigh.
That’s right. These two spirits in front of him were his natal weapons—Fenghua and Shui Meng. Once a cultivator’s cultivation reached a certain realm, their natal weapons would also ascend with them. Nine-hundred years ago, Gui Yin hadn’t been able to see Fenghua and Shui Meng’s human forms in his mental sea. At some point when he was around five-hundred, the two had gained human forms in his mental sea, allowing them to move around and live as they pleased.
Natal weapons gaining human form and gaining sentience was a show of strength of their owners. Since both Fenghua and Shui Meng were fully adults, perhaps the ghost cultivator hadn’t been wrong when he said Gui Yin was near true immortality.
But those thoughts were temporarily pushed to the side.
“I need to know what that demon meant when he said we knew each other.”
“No! Master, don’t listen to that stinky demon,” Shui Meng said. They got between Gui Yin and the barrier, their hands placed firmly on Gui Yin’s chest as they tried to push him back. “He’s provoking you! You said it yourself—there’s nothing in here that you want to remember!”
“Then, what about that child?” Gui Yin asked, his brows furrowing. “I remember clearly—there was a child, wasn’t there?”
“The child has nothing to do with the demon,” Fenghua butted in. “In fact, that’s just a vague memory you’ve forgotten. It has nothing to do with this hill or this bamboo house.”
Gui Yin glared at the two spirits in front of him. They stared back at him stubbornly. It was clear that his orders of the past were absolute.
“Are you two not going to listen to me now?” Gui Yin asked.
Fenghua and Shui Meng both nodded. “Mn! We won’t!”
Gui Yin closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. “Then, can you two tell me what that demon was talking about?”
“No,” Shui Meng shook their head. “Shui Meng and Fenghua weren’t sentient back then. When Master left, we only knew to follow orders. We have no memory of that stinky demon or the events that happened.”
Fenghua nodded emphatically. “Unless Master ordered us to, we had no reason to pay attention!”
Gui Yin looked between the two for a long time before sighing and dropping to a crouch. He massaged his head and groaned. Shui Meng and Fenghua shared a glance before squatting down beside Gui Yin as well.
“Master, don’t think about it too much. It’ll only cause a headache,” Fenghua advised.
“That’s right, Master. Instead, how about we…we…well, look us!” Shui Meng said. She grinned. “You have no idea how excited Fenghua and I were when we suddenly gained human forms again!”
Fenghua nodded. “We were excited that you were fully back.”
Gui Yin raised his head. He glanced between the two spirits and sighed, his chin resting against his palm. “That’s right. You two were the only ones who knew I was away.”
Although the two spirits had gained sentience, they still had trouble reading human emotions very still. Despite this, they could tell that Gui Yin was a little upset.
“Master, there’s really nothing to see back there,” Shui Meng insisted. “It’s all unhappy things. And you said you didn’t want them anymore.”
“Mn! When Master says he doesn’t want it, then he really doesn’t want it. The only reason Master wants to see it now is because that stinky demon brought it up,” Fenghua said. “Master, you’re only curious. When you see it, you’ll wish you hadn’t seen it at all.”
“That’s right, that’s right!”
Gui Yin glanced lazily between the two spirits. After such a night, he couldn’t believe he had to be comforted by two spirits. He lowered his forehead to his arm and sighed.
“Alright, I won’t look.”
The two spirits glanced at each other.
“I won’t look, so will you two please—” Gui Yin lifted his head, but what he saw in front of him were no longer two spirits.
Instead, it was a small boy.
The boy looked at Gui Yin curiously. His lips were pressed together shyly as he fiddled with the toy ball in his hand.
“Gege, do you still want to play catch with me?”
The boy, with dark skin and light brown eyes, reminded Gui Yin of the demon. For a moment, he wanted to recoil in disgust, but then another person drifted into his mind. He let out a sigh and fully sat down on the ground. The scenery around them morphed, showing that Gui Yin must have truly fallen asleep.
They were in a softer field now, with swaying green leaves and a clear sky. Gui Yin accepted the ball and turned it in his hands a few times.
“Kid, do you have a name?” Gui Yin asked. He glanced up at the boy. “I don’t seem to remember.”
The boy’s eyes widened as he twisted the edge of his shirt nervously for a moment before shyly meeting Gui Yin’s gaze. “Oh…um…it’s A-Xia.”
A/N: In the previous chapter, i said that Gui Yin was “nascent soul four years ago”, I forgot to edit that, so it’s actually “soul transformation”.
Also, I just wanted to make a note here that cultivation realms are skewed in this story because the continent is split into “upper” and “lower” realms, but not in the traditional sense. The “upper realm” humans are closer to ascending to godhood/have more talent, but they use the same naming system… So, don’t think too deeply about it, because you won’t be able to make sense of it even if you do your own research LOL
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
THanks for Reading
biting and scratching centipede dude, and not in a fun way >:[ begone, toxic ex!!
on happier notes, love to see the spirit forms of Shui Meng and Fenghua (๑˃ᴗ˂) and also some notes for memory child, A-Xia :>
centipede dude icky 🙁 where’s erlang :(( tHANKS FOR READING
are fenghua and shui meng’s sentient forms gonna appear outside his mental sea too?
nah they’re not
Hey hey who’s the ml I’m so confused 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭i feel so bad for the centipede man thoo
Why tho?????
Im guessing ml is erlang and centipede dude is ex?