A man dressed in black sped past the monsters that were hammering on the golden barrier. Attracted by the sudden movement, the limbs of the monsters and their main bodies turned to watched the man’s acrobatic show. When he finally landed, his black sword glinted wickedly in the light of the sun. A gentlemanly smile donned his face as the sword spun threateningly. It was then that the monsters seemed to recognize him as the one who severed their limbs. In a fit of rage, they sprinted for Fan Yi, only for him to somersault over their heads and run the opposite direction.
Every once in a while, when the monsters started to lose interest, Fan Yi would nick their sides with his sword. It wasn’t enough to injure them, but it was enough to frustrate them to death.
Fan Yi ran circles around the monsters and eventually led them to the courtyard of the rickety house. The sect leader stopped in the middle of the courtyard and waited for the monsters to run towards him. When they were mere centimeters away, he launched himself into the air and flipped over them. However, this time, before they could chase him, the ground lit up in a bright array, forming a bright blue circle. The monsters let out pained screams as an extra layer of a fire ring sprung up around them, forming a perfectly knit cage.
Fan Yi landed down beside Wu Lingtian. He flicked his sword and joined the younger man to look at their handiwork.
“How was that?”
“Sect Leader is as impressive as always,” Wu Lingtian complimented.
“Then, do I get a reward?”
“Do you want a kiss?”
Fan Yi smiled. “If it’s from a beauty like you, I won’t mind.”
Wu Lingtian glanced at Fan Yi and turned around. “Let’s take care of the rest of this mess first.”
Fan Yi let out a soft, elongated sigh. “Alright. Don’t forget about it later though.”
Wu Lingtian ignored Fan Yi and the two men rushed to the forest.
It was this forest path that people claimed made the victims fall into a daze. If the perpetrator wasn’t here, then Wu Lingtian wasn’t sure where else he would be hiding. They quickly used their flash step to traverse the forest path, scanning their surroundings as they went. When they made it to the top of the mountain, they finally spotted the undertaker, dressed in his black robes, his hand raised to look at the bell on his wrist.
The man turned and looked at the two cultivators who arrived. A small smile was on his face as he looked the two men up and down.
“What’s wrong? You’re tired of playing with the children?”
“What are those things?” Wu Lingtian demanded. “They’re not living corpses, but they’re not puppets either, so what are they?”
“Ah, those? They’re prototypes. But exactly of what, I can’t tell you,” the undertaker shook his head sadly. He smiled. “I was told by my boss to let them play with you a bit. It’s a shame you finished so fast.
“Your boss?” Fan Yi’s brows furrowed.
The undertaker chuckled. He pressed his finger to his lips. “A secret. But it’s someone that Lord Yu Lan here knows intimately.”
The undertaker’s gaze flickered towards the man dressed in white robes splattered in blood. “My Lord sends her sweetest regards.”
Wu Lingtian frowned. “What do you mean?”
The undertaker took the bracelet from his wrist and tossed it over to Wu Lingtian. He snatched it from the air and frowned at the object. His eyes drifted back up to meet the undertakers.
“You were her best right-hand man. It’s just a shame that you suddenly woke up,” the undertaker’s eyes drifted over to Fan Yi. “All because of a useless little fling. In fact, I told her to kill you when she had the chance, but she kept refusing to. I suppose it’s because you were always her favorite toy. Imagine her disappointment when you refused to join the game!”
“…What are you talking about?” Wu Lingtian’s grip on the bracelet tightened.
“This is your last warning, Wu Lingtian,” the undertaker’s smile suddenly evaporated from his face. “If you refuse to play again, we’ll target your most important person.”
Wu Lingtian’s eyes widened.
From the bushes, the elderly woman shot out again. Wu Lingtian’s hand stretched out to pull Fan Yi away. He twisted himself so that he could completely shield Fan Yi’s body. The two men collapsed to the floor, but the pain that Wu Lingtian was expecting never came. Instead, a maniacal laughter met his ears.
“Oh, what a pair of sweet love birds,” the undertaker grinned. He raised a brow. “Turns out My Lord was right.”
Wu Lingtian’s eyes reddened. He stood and strode directly towards the undertaker. Without a sword in his hand, his fist shot out in a quick jab. Before the undertaker could react, he kicked the man right in the stomach and sent him flying against a stone slab.
“A-Tian!”
Wu Lingtian’s hand reached back and tightly squeezed the neck of the elderly woman before she could sneak up on him. He smashed her down into the ground, creating a puff of dust and leaving a crater where she landed, before turning his attention back to the undertaker.
“What game?” Wu Lingtian asked, his fingers digging into the undertaker’s neck. “What do you mean? Who are you talking about?”
The man only laughed harder despite the decrease of airflow to his lungs.
“Answer me!” Wu Lingtian snapped.
The undertaker suddenly stopped laughing. He looked Wu Lingtian dead in the eyes and brought himself closer, so that he was only centimeters from Wu Lingtian’s ear. “Wu Lingtian, oh, Wu Lingtian, you remember absolutely nothing, do you?”
A soft chuckle brushed against the shell of Wu Lingtian’s ear. “Doesn’t this bracelet look familiar? You’re the one that made it. The disaster of this town? You’re the one who helped plan it. As for the creatures—you don’t remember how diligent you were in figuring out how to collect and dissect souls, do you?”
Wu Lingtian felt a chill run up his spine. Cold sweat began to pour down his back. The hand around the undertaker’s neck began to tremble.
“You think I’m lying?” the voice was like a viper, slipping in through Wu Lingtian’s ear and coiling around his mind. “Just think deeper. If you dig a little deeper, you’ll remember.”
“…I…”
“You did it,” the voice continued enthusiastically. “It was you!”
“…Me…?”
“Yes, you. You’re the monster,” the voice cackled shrilly. “You’re a monster!”
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.
“P’w…”
“You’re a monster, Wu Lingtian. You always have been. There’s no point in denying it.”
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It circled above them a moment longer, its voice echoing throughout the valley. “Wu Lingtian, the sooner you remember everything the better! It would be a shame if you accidentally hurt any of the people you’re close to!”
After leaving this one last note, the shadow slipped away, disappearing without a single trace.
The valley regained its calm.
The moment the demon vanished, the commanding bracelet shattered into pieces. The elderly woman let out a pitiful shriek and exploded into a puff of dust. The only thing that reminded Fan Yi and Wu Lingtian that anything that had just happened was real was the heap of human skin, sitting by the stone slab not too far away.
“A-Tian,” Fan Yi gripped Wu Lingtian’s shoulder and turned him towards himself. He gave the younger man a light shake. “A-Tian, look at me.”
Wu Lingtian opened his mouth to speak, but Fan Yi shook his head.
“No. Look at me,” Fan Yi said sternly. “Really look at me. Look into my eyes.”
Wu Lingtian took a shaky breath and forced himself to meet Fan Yi’s eyes.
“Can you hear me?”
Wu Lingtian nodded dully.
“Who am I?”
“…Sect Leader. Fan Yi.”
“Right, and who are you?”
“I’m…I’m…”
“You are Wu Lingtian.”
“Wu Lingtian.”
“Yes, Wu Lingtian,” Fan Yi repeated slowly. His hands gently cupped the younger man’s face. “You are Wu Lingtian. You’re Screeching Sparrow Sect’s Fourth Pillar. You’re Li Qing’s favorite martial uncle. You’re Situ Hong’s best friend and Zhou Ying’an’s junior martial brother. You’re my friend—my most trusted person and my soulmate.”
“…Sect Leader’s most trusted person,” Wu Lingtian echoed softly. “Your soulmate.”
“Yes,” Fan Yi nodded. He pressed his forehead against Wu Lingtian’s.
It was getting late now. The sun was finally beginning to set. The rolling clouds that covered the valley seemed to turn orange and red along with the changing colors of the sky. The mystifying fog blanketed the trees and coiled around the mountain top, making it seem truly like the edge of the world. The soft sound of trickling water brought a sense of peace to this quaint place.
Wu Lingtian took a long, shaky breath. His gaze lowered and his attention was caught by the shadows by their feet. They stood close to each other, intertwining as if they were lovers. His eyes slowly drifted towards the sun that was drifting past the horizon before his attention fell back on Fan Yi.
“Sect Leader.”
“Hm?” Fan Yi pulled back. His hands still held Wu Lingtian’s face as his eyes trailed over him, as if to make sure he had regained his sanity again.
Wu Lingtian’s hands lifted to hold onto Fan Yi’s wrist. He slowly pulled the hands away and leaned in.
A soft, lingering kiss was placed against Fan Yi’s cheek.
The sect leader slowly froze up.
“My life is yours. Not just because you saved me multiple times, but because I’m willing to hand it over to you. In this life and the rest of eternity, I will only be loyal to you. I will only follow you,” Wu Lingtian slowly released Fan Yi’s hands and took a step back.
The setting sun cast a warm glow over the two men. Fan Yi looked across at Wu Lingtian, who suited this warmth far too well.
“I, Wu Lingtian, am willing to surrender my entire being to you, Fan Yi. Even if you cast me aside or send me to the Eighteen Layers of Hell, I will never regret my decision.”
Fan Yi slowly regained his composure. A soft, disbelieving laugh left his lips. He averted his gaze and cleared his throat. “Why are you saying this type of oath at the Edge of the World? That’s the pledge you say at the initiation ceremony.”
“I know,” Wu Lingtian said, a small smile gracing his lips. “But if it’s at the Edge of the World, then it’s an everlasting promise.”
“It,” Fan Yi coughed. “It’s good that you’ve been practicing. You have it memorized well, except…”
“Except?”
“…You should be promising yourself to the sect,” Fan Yi looked out over the valley. “How could you suddenly change it to me?”
“Because my loyalty and my being belongs to Sect Leader. If, one day, Sect Leader decides to leave Screeching Sparrow Sect for some reason, then what would I do?”
“Why would I leave my own sect?” Fan Yi glanced at Wu Lingtian.
“Just in case,” Wu Lingtian’s smile turned into a grin.
“And the kiss,” Fan Yi’s heart skipped a beat as he recalled the soft feeling against his cheek.
“I was simply fulfilling the promise from earlier,” Wu Lingtian’s grinned cheekily. “Your reward.”
Fan Yi stared at Wu Lingtian.
The little wolf cub looked back at him innocently. Without even having to imagine too hard, Fan Yi could see his little tail wagging.
Fan Yi turned and decided he would leave the subject for now and head down the mountain first.
Wu Lingtian reached out and caught Fan Yi’s wrist.
“What?” Fan Yi looked at Wu Lingtian.
“You didn’t give me candy.”
“…”
In this situation, you still want candy!?
Fan Yi’s face burned. He wasn’t sure if it was from anger or embarrassment, but he still managed to fish a piece of hard candy from his lapel. He unwrapped it and pressed it against Wu Lingtian’s lips. The younger man ate it with a small smile. His tongue even peeping out to lick his lower lip.
“Thank you, Sect Leader.”
“…I must have been a fool to worry about you,” Fan Yi grumbled irritably as he turned and began to walk down the mountain path.
“How could that be? Sect Leader is always brilliant as he is gracious and magnanimous,” Wu Lingtian said.
“…Sweet talker.”
Wu Lingtian’s tongue played with the candy in his mouth. He kept quiet, allowing Fan Yi to calm down some more.
By the time Fan Yi’s shoulder’s relaxed again, they were at the foot of the mountain again and were making their way back through the forest path.
Wu Lingtian held a small orb of light in his hand as the two of them walked. “I should contact Feng Ling.”
“Do that when we get back,” Fan Yi let out a soft sigh. “At least the situation here has reached a conclusion. Though, it isn’t a very favorable one. I’m sure those monsters will be gone when we get back.”
“Most certainly,” Wu Lingtian’s gaze darkened. He glanced at Fan Yi. “Sect Leader, you aren’t curious as to what that man said to get me riled up?”
“I’m not curious. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to tell me,” Fan Yi said. “It isn’t bad to keep a few secrets to yourself.”
“Then, if I want to tell you?”
“…Then you can tell me.”
“That man said I know his master well and that I’m the one who did all this,” Wu Lingtian said.
“Do you believe him?” Fan Yi asked.
“I do,” Wu Lingtian admitted. He lowered his gaze. “There’s too much missing from my memory. However, if my shizun was, indeed, replaced by a demon, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that I had also been manipulated.”
Fan Yi glanced at Wu Lingtian. “It wouldn’t be your fault though. A demon is powerful.”
“Indeed,” Wu Lingtian said absentmindedly. “But there was one thing that pulled me back out.”
“What was that?” Fan Yi asked.
Wu Lingtian looked at Fan Yi wordlessly.
Fan Yi held his gaze for a moment before slowly looking away again.
“Sect Leader.”
“…What?”
“I’ve only liked one person my entire life.”
“Alright.”
“Do you still think that one person will accept my feelings?”
Fan Yi took a deep breath. “Depends on how you behave, I suppose.”
It’s already this blatant. If he pretended to ignore it anymore, he was afraid of what else would happen tonight.
Wu Lingtian showed a brilliant smile. “Thank you, Sect Leader.”
“What are you thanking me for? I didn’t make any guarantees.”
“Mn, that’s true,” Wu Lingtian’s voice was sweeter than usual. “But I’m still happy.”
“…It’s good that you’re happy.”
The two men continued in silence back into the village. Once they arrived, they cleaned up the mess they left behind and released the villagers. Fan Yi gave them a brief explanation of what happened. After promising them that Frost Cliff Pavilion would come to clean up and sort out the remainder of the mess, the village head and his wife fell into a sobbing mess.
Apologies were said, but when everything was said and done, a tragedy could not be reversed.
Fan Yi and Wu Lingtian returned to their room. Once they finished cleaning up, Wu Lingtian successfully called a messenger bird this time and sent a message to Frost Cliff Pavilion.
When he returned, he found Fan Yi still dressed in his robes.
“Sect Leader, why haven’t you changed into your sleeping clothes?” Wu Lingtian asked.
“Why? I’m leaving.”
“You’re leaving?”
“Mn. The situation here has concluded and I only came because I was trying to help you. Now that you don’t need my help, I should go back to what I was doing,” Fan Yi said.
Wu Lingtian’s eyes narrowed. He took a step closer. “You’re leaving?”
“Yes.”
“Really leaving?”
“Yes, I’m really leaving.”
“Alright, then I’ll come with you,” Wu Lingtian went to the closet to pull out his robes.
Fan Yi looked at him in alarm. “How could you also come along?”
“As you said, the situation here has concluded and Frost Cliff Pavilion will be arriving tomorrow anyway. I can just go with you.”
“You’re still watching over the disciples’ evaluations,” Fan Yi said.
“I’ll send a message to them and tell them they passed,” Wu Lingtian said. He looked over his shoulder as he pulled his shirt off. “From what I observed already, everything was perfectly fine.”
“You’re doing things half-assed.”
“If I left you alone, then I really would be doing things half-assed,” Wu Lingtian said as he tied the strings of his robes together. He turned around, his inner robes still hanging off to the side with only half of it tied. He tilted his head and looked at Fan Yi. “Just let me go with you.”
“You can’t come with me.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ll be in danger.”
“Sect Leader,” Wu Lingtian raised a brow, “I’m already always in danger. If I’m to be in danger, I might as well also be with my favorite person.”
“…You can’t come with me.”
“I’m going with you.”
“You—”
“I’m not asking for permission,” Wu Lingtian lowered his head to tie the remaining half of his robe. “I’m telling you that I will be going. You won’t even be able to avoid me because you won’t know who I am.”
He glanced up at Fan Yi. “You know how good I am with the Transformation Spell.”
“…You…you’re very shameless,” Fan Yi said. He laughed incredulously. “Are you really Wu Lingtian?”
“No. I’m Xiao Wu,” Wu Lingtian smirked.
Fan Yi fell silent and watched as Wu Lingtian approached him.
“So, are we going together, or are we going separately?”
“…Together.”
That way, if anything were to happen, it would be easier to protect each other.
Wu Lingtian’s eyes brightened again. “Then, let’s sleep for tonight.”
“I’m not sleeping tonight.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll sleep on the daybed,” Wu Lingtian turned around to get changed again.
“…I wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway,” Fan Yi said.
Wu Lingtian froze. He looked over his shoulder again and smiled. “We can still sleep together. I don’t mind.”
…Of course, you don’t mind. You don’t mind, but I mind!
After all, how could Fan Yi feel safe sharing a bed with a little wolf cub?
Little (Wolf Cub) Magnolia: 🥺
Fanfan: …Whatever you say, you’re right.
I love how Fan Yi is a true flirt but as soon as he’s being flirted back Xiao Wei is a wolf cub
Fan Yi really went “the audacity of this man” the moment he’s reciprocated 😂😂
Out of all that, I was most worried that the undertaker’s revelations about Wu Lingtian would ruin the kiss. Thank Goodness it didn’t 😌
i am reelinggggggggggggg
wonder why they call it a game….
tHE OATH!!!!!!!
Fan Yi was ignoring it this whole time?? bold.
now it’s Xiao Wu time >:3
i am. still concerned about the whole experiment thing axlhskxhs but im considering them Winning and gonna sleep
The confession scene was so beautiful bro handed his entire being to him I loved it 😭 and didn’t ask for anything in return 😭😭
And fan yi was embarrassed hahahaha