When Yankui woke up, he felt as if he were being crushed under a block of cement. He sat slowly and held his stomach. A soft ache was a harrowing reminder of who he had to meet yesterday. He reached out to the drawer beside his bed for the medicine, but when his hand touched the smooth wood instead, he finally realized where he was.
“Are you looking for this?”
Yankui’s head snapped up. He looked at the jade bottle in Gui Linghuo’s hand and pursed his lips. He stretched out his hand. “Give it to me.”
Gui Linghuo lowered his gaze. He sat down beside Yankui and handed him the bottle. He watched the young man uncork it, shake out one pill, and toss it into his mouth. Gui Linghuo held out a cup of warm tea.
“Here.”
Yankui glanced at it and then shifted his gaze to Gui Linghuo.
Gui Linghuo smiled dejectedly. He took a sip of the tea and pulled back. “I didn’t poison it.”
Yankui averted his gaze.
Gui Linghuo set the tea aside and glanced at the jade bottle. “What’s that?”
Yankui remained silent.
Gui Linghuo chuckled. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk. But are you hungry? If you’re hungry, then just nod. Just a nod will suffice. It isn’t good to starve yourself when you’re not feeling well.”
Yankui clenched the blankets tightly and lowered his head further.
“How about chicken congee?” Gui Linghuo asked. “You liked that before, didn’t you?”
When he was met with Yankui’s silence again, Gui Linghuo hummed. “Then, salted egg congee? I think the main kitchen has some. How about I go and—”
“Why are you still—” Yankui’s voice reached its highest volume, but when he saw Gui Linghuo’s gentle smile, his throat suddenly constricted. Tears fell from his eyes and landed on the back of his palm. His lower lip trembled as he lowered his head again. “…like this…? Stop it. Please…”
Gui Linghuo’s fingers dug into his thighs. “What do you mean? Stop what?”
“Being kind to me,” Yankui said. “You know I suddenly ran off, didn’t you? You already know what I am, so you can guess where I went, right? And yet you…your shimei—why are you all still acting like nothing happened?!”
Yankui lifted his head. His eyes revealed a sordid mix of desperation and grief. His voice cracked as he tried to form his words, “How can she just ask me if I was okay? She should have pointed her finger at me and accused me of being a dirty traitor. She should have grabbed me and yelled at me for playing with your feelings, so why did she just…ask me if I was okay?”
Yankui took a trembling breath. He punched Gui Linghuo’s shoulder without any force. “And you, you idiot. Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you? You picked up some random stranger off the street, but you’re still treating them like a lover. You know I’m a ghost cultivator! I lied to you! Why are you still being like this?!”
Gui Linghuo took Yankui’s weak punches for a moment. He listened to Yankui’s sorrowful cries and slowly stood. He sat down on the edge of his bed and pulled Yankui into his arms. He rested his chin against the young man’s shoulders as the young man beat his chest without any strength.
“Don’t hug me!” Yankui sobbed. “What if I have venom under my nails? You’d die right away if I scratched you. You have no sense of self-preservation!”
Gui Linghuo hummed. He sniffled as he gently stroked Yankui’s trembling back. “I have no sense of self-preservation, so you have to stay by my side and protect me.”
Yankui’s cries ceased for a second before erupting forward again. He struggled fiercely against Gui Linghuo’s hug. “Get off me! Why would I protect you!? I’m a ghost cultivator! I’m here to kill you! Do you hear me? Kill you—”
Yankui’s words were interrupted by a gentle, yet suffocating kiss.
Gui Linghuo had never kissed Yankui properly before. It had always been quick pecks here and there. The sudden change took Yankui’s breath away. A soft whimper left his lips as his fingers clutched Gui Linghuo’s arm. When Gui Linghuo pulled away, a sliver of saliva connected them. Yankui’s mind reeled, but it was a lightheadedness that he never knew would be welcomed.
Gui Linghuo wiped away the saliva and met Yankui’s gaze. “You’re such a crybaby, how could you kill me?”
Yankui opened his mouth to scold him again, but his words were interrupted once more. His lashes trembled as he fell against Gui Linghuo’s chest.
Gui Linghuo chuckled when he pulled away a second time. “I already told Siyi and Shan Yu.”
Yankui abruptly sat up. “Then—”
“They’re just worried about you,” Gui Linghuo said. He kissed Yankui again. “They asked me if you would be okay and wondered if you were being threatened by anyone. I felt horrible after talking to them. I couldn’t answer any of their questions.”
Gui Linghuo gently caressed Yankui’s cheek with his thumb. “I clearly love you so much, yet I don’t know anything about you.”
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.
Yankui pushed Gui Linghuo away. “Stop—”
“Vabq ktja?” Xel Olcuteb jrxfv. Lf tfiv Tjcxel’r tjcv alutais. “Vabq rjslcu P ibnf sbe?”
Tjcxel yeglfv tlr ojmf lcab atf mgbbx bo tlr fiybk. Lf ofia Xel Olcuteb aeu tlw mibrfg jujlc jcv ofia j kjgw tjcv ygert atgbeut tlr tjlg. C rboa xlrr kjr qijmfv bc tlr obgftfjv jujlc.
“But I love you,” Gui Linghuo whispered. “I really do. I thought it would be impossible for me to love anyone else, but I love you. You can scream and yell at me to get away all you want, but how can I let you leave? You’re such a crybaby. If I let you go, what if you hide somewhere and cry all alone?”
Yankui’s lower lip trembled as he listened to Gui Linghuo’s words. He found himself leaning into his warm touches until he was finally coaxed into lifting his head again.
“Just thinking about it breaks my heart,” Gui Linghuo said. “If you’re going to cry, just cry here, okay? Where I can see you and touch you.”
“I didn’t used to cry all the time. I’ve never cried before,” Yankui said, his nasally voice sounding extremely unconvincing.
Gui Linghuo chuckled. He kissed Yankui’s forehead. “It’s okay if you cry. So long as you come find me whenever you want to cry, then it’s fine.”
Yankui gulped and pushed Gui Linghuo away again.
“What’s wrong?” Gui Linghuo asked softly.
“…I’m hungry.”
Gui Linghuo slowly smiled. “Alright, I’ll make you something to eat.”
He was just about to stand when his arm was caught. He looked back down. “What else?”
“I don’t want to eat. I want you to hug me,” Yankui said.
Gui Linghuo laughed. “If you’re hungry, you have to eat.”
Yankui shook his head. “I don’t want you to go.”
Gui Linghuo felt his heart melt. He sat back down and squeezed Yankui. He rocked them back and forth and hummed. “Alright, I won’t leave you. But you also can’t leave me either. I don’t care if you came here to kill me or if you came here to steal sect secrets—I know you’re not a bad person. What matters now is that you don’t want to do those things anymore, right? So, it’s okay. So long as you stop planning on leaving all the time, it’s okay.”
Yankui gave a nasally hum to show he understood. He clung to Gui Linghuo’s shoulders and closed his eyes. He nudged his head against the crook of Gui Linghuo’s neck. “I’ll…tell you about everything eventually.”
“Alright,” Gui Linghuo chuckled. “I’ll wait.”
“Mn.”
Yankui ended up not eating dinner. He fell asleep again shortly after and didn’t wake up until morning.
The first thing he saw was Gui Linghuo’s face. His lips twitched into a soft smile as he remembered everything Gui Linghuo had said to him last night. He hugged Gui Linghuo again and buried his head against his chest.
Gui Linghuo’s eyes slowly opened. He hummed in confusion, but still hugged Yankui back. “A-Kui?”
“It’s morning,” Yankui whispered.
Gui Linghuo laughed sleepily. “Mn, it’s morning.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Hungry…alright, I’ll make you food,” Gui Linghuo mumbled. He slowly sat up.
In his daze, he stared blankly ahead for a while before he finally stretched and started to leave the bed. His feet had just touched the ground when a pair of arms snaked their way around his waist.
“I thought you were hungry,” Gui Linghuo said.
“I want a kiss first,” Yankui whispered.
Gui Linghuo chuckled. He turned back around, grabbed Yankui’s face and gave him a big kiss. He ruffled Yankui’s bedhead and stood. “That’s good, right?”
Yankui grinned. “Mn!”
Gui Linghuo shook his head helplessly.
Yankui watched as Gui Linghuo got dressed. As he was about to leave, Yankui cleared his throat again. Gui Linghuo looked back at him expectantly.
“I love you,” Yankui said.
Gui Linghuo’s eyes widened a fraction. The base of his ears slowly reddened as the grip he had on the door tightened. He eventually found it in himself to nod. “I love you too.”
The next few weeks passed by in a blur.
Yankui sat quietly on the swing and pushed himself back and forth as he waited for the others to return. He glanced down at the lake, not too far away, and wondered what it would be like to jump off the swing and fall in. He let out a soft hum and interlocked his fingers as he tucked the thought away.
He wouldn’t do such a thing right now. It was the eve of New Year’s. Falling into the pond sounded far too unlucky.
“We’re back!”
Yankui looked up as Shan Yu came barreling towards him. He stood immediately and narrowly avoided being tackled to the ground. Shan Yu clicked her tongue and glared at him.
“No fun.”
“These are new clothes,” Yankui said. “I don’t want to get them dirty.”
Gui Linghuo chuckled. He pressed a soft kiss to Yankui’s forehead. “Do you like the swing?”
“It’s interesting,” Yankui said as he shook the rope. He turned to Gui Linghuo with sparkling eyes. “Say, do you think it would be fun if you jumped off the swing into the lake?”
“That’s dangerous,” Gui Linghuo immediately said.
“It does sound fun though,” Shan Yu whispered.
“Doesn’t it?” Yankui said with a bright grin.
“No, you can’t. You’re more susceptible to cold than others. If you don’t hit your head, you might catch a cold,” Gui Linghuo said.
Yankui pouted. “Fine…”
“I’ll do it instead,” Shan Yu volunteered. She wiggled her brows. “I’ll tell you if it’s fun.”
Yankui nodded as if it truly was a good idea.
“Stop fooling around,” Qin Siyi said as she grabbed Shan Yu by the collar. “We should be getting ready to head over to Lin Hua Peak.”
Yankui glanced at the lake again, only for his chin to be turned another way. Gui Linghuo pecked his lips. “If you keep looking, I’ll bite your ear.”
Yankui shrugged. “I’ll just wait for the weather to get warmer.”
Gui Linghuo sighed helplessly, but didn’t bother arguing with him any longer.
Dinner was made by Jiu Jingyi and Meng Meng. Although it was rare for Jiu Jingyi to cook nowadays, everything on the table gave off a delicious aroma, making the disciples salivate and be unable to resist lifting their chopsticks.
Jiu Jingyi looked around the table with a small smile. “Before we eat, let me say a few words.”
The disciples obediently waited as Jiu Jingyi softly cleared her throat.
“It’s been…a long two years,” Jiu Jingyi said. “But it’s nice to see that our family is more or less back together. And we even have a new member.”
Yankui awkwardly smiled as the other disciples glanced in his direction almost teasingly.
“It will continue to be hard, but so long as we can stick together, I’m sure there will be a day where we can see the clear skies again,” Jiu Jingyi said. She looked at the disciples emotionally. “I’m really, really glad that we are able to share this meal together today.”
Ye Liuxing sighed and patted Jiu Jingyi’s shoulder. Once she sat back down, he lifted his cup to everyone. “To Yunjing Pavilion!”
The loud chorus erupted into the night sky. Their enthusiasm and optimism was as dazzling as the fireworks that would be shown later tomorrow.
The figure on the tree watched them a while longer before vanishing into thin air.
The person reappeared again in an opulent, open-air hallway that was held up by white marble columns. The shadow blob had transformed into a human and the human was walking swiftly towards the set of double doors.
The person had a soft, gloomy smile on his face. He let out a long sigh, nodded to the two guards on either side of the door, and lifted his hand to knock on it.
“Master, I’m back.”
A moment later, the doors creaked open and Su Wen hurried in.
“What’s wrong?” Erlang asked. He watered the plants carefully and lifted a leaf to check on its condition. “I could hear you sighing from the front of the palace all the way here.”
“They’re all doing well,” Su Wen said. “They’re having a reunion dinner today. All the disciples in the sect were at Lin Hua Peak to eat what Peak Lord Jiu had made. It was a very lively atmosphere.”
“But?”
“But,” Su Wen hesitated. “There was a boy by Lord Ninglan’s oldest disciple’s side. He’s a few years younger than him and he looked quite familiar. I’ve seen him a few times when Master told this servant to pay Yinfeng Valley a visit.”
“I see,” Erlang hummed.
Su Wen watched his master for a while before speaking up again, “Are we just going to leave it?”
“Leave it.”
“But—”
“Seeing how calm you are, I’m sure you don’t believe this boy actually poses a threat to them,” Erlang said. He finally lifted his head and put aside the watering can. “And, besides, I said to keep them from dying. Anything else that happens in between is their destiny.”
Su Wen lowered his gaze and slowly nodded. “This servant understands.”
Erlang looked out the window at the swirling clouds and the pink sky. “You don’t have to come back for a while. I won’t be here for you to report to.”
“Will Master be at Hongyan Tower?”
“No, I will be entering seclusion,” Erlang said.
Su Wen’s lashes trembled. He straightened excitedly. “Seclusion…Then, Master, have you finally found which plane Lord Ninglan is on?”
“Not plane. Universe,” Erlang said. He hummed as a small smile curved on his lips. “Ninglan is much more capable than I gave him credit for.”
Su Wen’s expression changed. “Another universe? Is that possible? That would mean he would have to have bypassed the Cycle of Reincarnation and tricked the gods. He isn’t even an ascended immortal. How did he manage?”
“Exactly. If Doctor Guang was right, when he first did this, he had just reached Nascent Soul. So, how could a Nascent Soul cultivator have achieved such a feat?” Erlang chuckled. “No wonder he has to go through Heavenly Trials.”
“So…Master, do you plan to go after him?” Su Wen asked worriedly. “It’s been two years. All the physicians and spirit lords say that the longer he’s out there, the harder it would be to bring his primordial spirit back. What if he’s insistent on staying? Or he doesn’t remember you? He—”
“If he’s insistent on staying, doesn’t remember me, or somehow learned to hate my guts, I will still bring him back,” Erlang said. His gaze chilled. “Because he belongs by my side. Only with him here can my destiny continue to flow. I need him, so he must return.”
Su Wen realized that he had overstepped. He bowed his head low. “I understand. Then, this servant will tell everyone of Master’s seclusion.”
The next day, the doors to Huigu Palace closed. The bustling sect suddenly turned silent. No guards patrolled its parameters any longer and no one left the palace for any reason.
Erlang glanced one last time at Gui Yin and sat down in the middle of the matrix he drew. He closed his eyes, his hands flying through a series of hand seals. The matrix began to lit up bit by bit. His spiritual energy began to seep out little by little, bleeding in the matrix and feeding the crossed swords, wedged into the ground.
When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in his room and Gui Yin was no longer before him. Instead, he was in a vast black space with what looked like shards of glass floating all about him. The shards of glass showed him visions of people he didn’t know in worlds he had never traveled to before, but Erlang wasn’t surprised. He had seen this place many times before in glimpses through his dreams. He had never been here physically, but that did little to contribute to his nonexistent excitement.
Erlang breathed out slowly and walked down the long hallway, stretched out in front of him. He closed his eyes and followed the pull on his soul.
Time did not exist in this vacuum of space. A long time later, Erlang finally opened his eyes. His brows furrowed slightly at the mundane scene in front of him, but his hand still reached out. His fingertips touched the surface. Ripples dispersed at this small movement and, a second later, Erlang had disappeared.
there was a lot of Emotions for me this chapter and gods i loved it!!! tutter screaming, near tears, and smug cause Gui Linghuo said what i was thinking: “I don’t care if you came here to kill me or steal sect secrets – I know you’re not a bad person.” YANKUI PROTECTION SQUAD LETS GOOOOO akxhsjxnsnxnsn
other emotions include delight at another Yankui and Shan Yu interaction (๑˃ᴗ˂) anD EXCITEMENT OMG ERLANG HIIIIIII i am shaking like a chihuahua
thanks for rerad!
Thank you for the chapter! Waiting is so hard!
tahnks for read!
Going after Gui Yin! Family is coalescing. Happy! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
thanks fo read!
HOLY SUGAR AND TEA I WAS RIGHT???????
broo i just thought yankui was like linghuo whoops
now i feel kinda dumb haha
i read this series of comments when i was half asleep and i laughed so hard i couldn’t go back to sleep LMAO thanks for reading!!
Usually I don’t add comments for anything, but this chapter made me so happy. Also I really love love this story, so how could I resist. I love the author’s writing style and the choices in revealing different plots or characters. Like the reader had enough clues when needed to have the satisfaction of finding out they see mostly right about something. But it’s only when necessary otherwise we just collecting clues.
I wish I could post a comment every chapter, but I don’t have the capacity since I’ve been reading this between work and haven’t slept for like 28 hours now lol.
I wish this story and author had more attention, it would be much deserved.
I’m excited to see the interactions and development of the main couple finally, let’s gooooo
🤩🤩