Chapter 49#

The Otherworldly Heavenly Master#

The person who sold half a crystal core was a regular at the flea market. Sun Wenlong found this man quickly and learned from him where the crystal core had been found.

No time to waste. After Qin Yi and his group made their preparations, they immediately left the base and headed for that location. Before departure, Jiang Sile threw a bit of a tantrum, muttering something about having no interest if Mu Fei was around. Only after Qin Yi berated him with a dark expression did he settle down.

The place where the crystal core had been found was in an extremely remote mountain range. The man had been born in a small mountain village deep in these hills. After gaining the ability to protect himself, he returned to his birthplace with a sliver of hope, wanting to check whether any of his relatives had survived. But no sooner had he reached the village entrance than a horde of zombies chased him out. In his panic, he stumbled and tumbled down into a valley. It was at the bottom of that valley, beside a mountain stream, that he found this half crystal core.

Lu Heng now stood beside the stream the man had described. He crouched down, pinched a small pinch of soil, and gave it a careful sniff. This area was surprisingly clean — there were no traces of demonic energy contamination whatsoever.

“I’ve probed the surroundings with my spiritual sense,” Qin Yi said. “There’s nothing unusual. It’s too clean — not even any mutated beasts. Clean to the point of abnormality.”

When something deviates from the norm, there is always something amiss. This place was too remote and desolate, so it was perfectly reasonable for there to be no zombies. But the complete absence of mutated beasts was somewhat unusual.

Suddenly, Lu Heng noticed several small fish swimming out from between the cracks in the rocks in the water. They happily circled around a fist-sized stone. In a world where demonic energy overflowed everywhere, water sources were essentially all polluted — there was no way for normal creatures to survive in them.

This water was unpolluted. Lu Heng picked up the stone and was surprised to find a faint aura of spiritual energy coiling around it.

“Let’s follow this stream upstream and take a look,” Lu Heng said. “But the situation ahead is unknown. Jiang Sile and the others had better wait here.”

“What if that demon in Little Le’s body escapes?” Even with Mu Fei watching him, if something went wrong, Qin Yi didn’t think he’d have the heart to act against Jiang Sile.

Lu Heng rummaged through his storage bag and pulled out a talisman: “A Demon Suppression Talisman. Find a way to get it on Jiang Sile without him noticing.”

The Demon Suppression Talisman was the most powerful talisman that the Heavenly Master Sect could produce. Combined with the fact that the demon was in a weakened state, if it tried to break free and cause trouble, this talisman could trap it for a period of time. By the time Lu Heng and the others caught up, there wouldn’t be any problem.

As for how to place the talisman on Jiang Sile without him noticing — that was Qin Yi’s problem.

Qin Yi nodded, took the talisman, folded it into a small piece, and walked toward Jiang Sile and Mu Fei, who were waiting not far away.

Lu Heng followed behind with considerable interest, wanting to see how Qin Yi would place the talisman without anyone being the wiser.

“A’Fei, Yunlan and I are going to scout ahead. You and Little Le keep watch here. If anything comes up, contact us on the walkie-talkie.”

Mu Fei nodded and agreed, but Jiang Sile was unhappy again.

“Brother Yi, I want to go with you. As for keeping watch, Mu Fei alone is more than enough.”

“I don’t have the time to look after you,” Qin Yi said bluntly.

“You—” Jiang Sile raised his eyebrows, about to throw a tantrum.

“Enough.” Qin Yi patted his shoulder in what appeared to be a reassuring gesture. “We’ve been brothers for over twenty years. Where’s the deep grudge?”

But Lu Heng saw that in the instant Qin Yi’s hand landed on Jiang Sile’s shoulder, his fingers moved ever so slightly, and the small folded talisman was flicked straight into the hood of Jiang Sile’s sweatshirt.

Truly the hand speed of someone trained in the military, Lu Heng thought to himself.

It was said that military personnel competed in gun disassembly and assembly drills. It wasn’t surprising that Qin Yi, as the King of Soldiers, possessed such hand speed.

With one worry resolved, Lu Heng and Qin Yi followed the stream deeper into the valley. The source of the stream turned out to be a limestone cave.

The moment they entered the cave, a refreshing breath of air greeted them. It wasn’t because of the cool temperature inside the cave — it was a different kind of soothing presence. Something like… spiritual energy?

The inside of the cave was pitch black. Qin Yi lit a small flame in his palm to illuminate their way. To conserve his ability, the flame only lit up a meter’s radius ahead.

Qin Yi said: “Hold onto my clothes. It’s too dark ahead — don’t trip.”

Feeling the person behind him obediently grab the hem of his clothes, Qin Yi began to grope his way forward. The terrain inside the cave was far too complex. They hadn’t gone far before Qin Yi felt the person behind him trip hard and come stumbling toward him.

Qin Yi reacted with lightning speed, spinning around to catch him. However, the rocks beneath his feet had been seeped through by the water dripping from above. Though he caught the person, the momentum of the impact caused Qin Yi’s own feet to slip, and the two of them tumbled into a heap.

It took Qin Yi a long while to recover from the searing pain in his tailbone from hitting the ground. The moment he came back to his senses, he noticed a wonderfully soothing scent lingering at the tip of his nose. The scent on this person was identical to that spiritual energy — both so wonderfully pleasant that it made one’s mood lift, and all he wanted was to keep breathing it in.

A moment later, Qin Yi noticed that the person on top of him had not stood up for quite some time: “Where did you fall? Are you hurt anywhere?”

The person said nothing, but wound both arms around Qin Yi’s neck.

Qin Yi’s entire body went rigid, so nervous that he stuttered: “You—what’s wrong? Are you hurt—hurt badly?”

Qin Yi felt a light, gentle breath brush against his ear.

“Brother Qin… I’m a little cold.”

Qin Yi’s mind went blank, but his hands involuntarily tightened around the person’s waist, not knowing whether he wanted to push him away or pull him close.

In a daze, Qin Yi felt as though cool lips were grazing across his face before slowly pressing against the corner of his mouth.

The moment Lu Heng entered the cave, he sensed something was wrong. But before he could close his meridians and concentrate, he had already fallen in. He saw that familiar figure approaching under the moonlight, a faint, gentle smile gracing that clear and serene face as a hand was extended toward him: “Would you walk together with this poor monk, hand in hand?”

The scene was breathtakingly beautiful. But Lu Heng was not of this world, and neither was Shi Kong. In an instant, Lu Heng snapped back to awareness — it was an illusion formation.

This illusion formation, it seemed, was designed to draw out the deepest desires in a person’s heart.

As expected, upon realizing it was an illusion, Lu Heng’s vision cleared at once. He discovered that he and Qin Yi were still standing outside the cave — they hadn’t taken a single step inside.

“Careful. Don’t be ensnared by the illusion formation.” But after Lu Heng spoke, there was no response.

He turned his head and found that Qin Yi was standing stock-still beside him, his expression vacant — clearly, he had fallen into the illusion formation.

“Junior Brother?” Lu Heng raised his voice. “Qin Yi!”

Still no response. It seemed this person had fallen in very deep. The stronger the desire buried in one’s heart, the harder it was to wake someone from this illusion formation. What on earth had this man seen? Lu Heng felt troubled.

He would have to take a risk. He could only hope that, as in his previous life, this person had absolutely no guard against him. Lu Heng grabbed Qin Yi’s hand, clamped down on his pulse point, and sent his spiritual consciousness inside. Sure enough, it was like entering an unguarded territory.

“Qin Yi, Qin Yi! What you’re seeing is an illusion!”

Qin Yi shuddered all over and was finally awakened by that voice from the depths of his consciousness. Instinctively, he flipped his hand and seized Lu Heng’s — the grip was so tight it hurt. Qin Yi looked around blankly, and it took quite a while before he fully returned to reality.

“Why are you—holding my hand?!” Qin Yi let go at once and said, trying to cover his embarrassment.

“…” Had this man been sucked into an illusion that lowered his IQ? Lu Heng couldn’t help but feel exasperated.

Seeing Lu Heng’s speechless expression, Qin Yi said: “This cave is really bizarre. I just felt like I lost consciousness for a moment, like I had a dream.”

“This is an illusion formation. We can’t get in unless we break it,” Lu Heng said. “There must be something important inside this cave.”

By now it was nearly dusk. Lu Heng and Qin Yi discussed it and decided to return to their campsite and plan their next move.

Deep within the valley, all was silent. In a clearing along the riverbed of the mountain stream, a campfire crackled. The four of them sat around the fire, each wearing a different expression.

The baby-faced young man sitting with his back to the wind held a bowl bigger than his face, devotedly shoveling rice into his mouth. The way he ate was enough to make anyone’s mouth water.

But none of the other three present were infected by his hearty appetite.

Sitting next to the baby-faced young man was the tallest and most powerfully built of them all — a man whose looks could be considered somewhat fierce. His thick brows were knitted together as he stared at the leaping flames, lost in thought.

Across from the two of them, the gentle and handsome man held a lunchbox and said something softly to the fair, refined young man beside him, only to be impatiently pushed away.

“A’Fei, come with me.” Qin Yi stood up.

Mu Fei set down his lunchbox and added another reminder: “Little Le, eat up quickly. It won’t taste as good once it gets cold.”

Qin Yi walked along the riverbank until they were far enough from the campfire that the others couldn’t hear, then stopped.

“You and Little Le…” Qin Yi was still struggling to find the right words. “How did things become… like that?”

It wasn’t surprising that Qin Yi couldn’t understand. Among all the children their age in the compound, the three of them had been the closest. Among the three, Jiang Sile and Mu Fei had always been more tightly bonded, but there had been no sign of anything beyond brotherhood up until the day Qin Yi left.

“Do you still remember Xiao Mu?” Mu Fei said something completely unrelated.

Mu Mu was Mu Fei’s younger brother. He had gone missing at the age of three and was never found.

“I was the one who lost Xiao Mu. I snuck him out to play and lost him. I lied to everyone, saying he ran off on his own.” So much had happened recently. A surge of emotion welled up inside Mu Fei — a desperate urge to lay everything in his heart bare.

Qin Yi was inwardly shocked but said nothing. He knew that right now, Mu Fei simply needed someone to listen. Qin Yi still remembered Mu Mu — chubby, fair, the treasured baby of the entire Mu family. Especially Mu Fei: ever since Mu Mu was born, two out of every three sentences out of his mouth would mention “my Xiao Mu.”

“After Xiao Mu went missing, I never had a good night’s sleep.”

The year Mu Mu went missing, Mu Fei was only six years old. That guilt had nearly destroyed a child who hadn’t even begun to grow up.

“Later, Little Le’s family moved in next door. You know, Little Le and Xiao Mu looked a lot alike.”

These were things Qin Yi had witnessed firsthand. So he wasn’t surprised that from the very beginning, Mu Fei had treated Jiang Sile like a precious treasure — holding him in his palms for fear he’d drop, sheltering him in his mouth for fear he’d melt. He knew that Mu Fei had poured every ounce of his feelings for Mu Mu into Jiang Sile.

So the fact that romantic love had blossomed between Mu Fei and Jiang Sile was what truly baffled him.

“How did it happen later?” Qin Yi asked.

Mu Fei smiled: “Little Le and Xiao Mu aren’t the same person after all. The more time passed, the more clearly I realized that fact. But once taking care of someone becomes a habit, it’s very hard to break.”

After Qin Yi left the compound to join the military, the trio of close friends was reduced to two. And they were two young men in the prime of their youth, hearts awakening to love.

“By the time I could truly see Little Le and Xiao Mu as separate individuals, it just so happened I’d reached the age of first love. Day and night together, devoted care, my gaze always fixed on him — and yet I knew this person wasn’t my brother. For those feelings to shift in an instant… isn’t that only natural?” Mu Fei smiled again, but there was a trace of bitterness in it.

“If you and Little Le are a couple, then what about Pan Rongxi?”

“Rongxi and Xiao Mu were born on the exact same day of the same year. I know he’s not Xiao Mu, but I kept thinking — if Xiao Mu had also been taken in by a family like that, would he be suffering the same way?” Mu Fei said. “Whenever I thought of that, I couldn’t help but take extra care of him.”

Qin Yi understood at once. This man still hadn’t escaped the guilt of losing his brother. He had trapped himself in that past for good.

“You could have been honest with Little Le about all this, and you wouldn’t have ended up fighting like this over Pan Rongxi.” Qin Yi still didn’t understand — what kind of couple couldn’t communicate directly and had to keep guessing at each other until everything turned to chaos?

“How could I ever tell Little Le about Xiao Mu? You know his personality. If I told him, he’d only obsess over it even worse.”

Qin Yi felt there was absolutely nothing he could do to help with this situation. As for the demon in Jiang Sile’s body — he couldn’t be sure that Mu Fei wouldn’t reveal it to Jiang Sile. So he could only say: “A’Fei, you need to think clearly about what matters most to you. Pan Rongxi is not Xiao Mu. Even if you owe a debt, it’s not to him. Think about whether it’s worth it — hurting the person you love for Pan Rongxi’s sake.”

Qin Yi turned to leave, wanting to give Mu Fei time to think. But then he remembered the other reason he had called Mu Fei over.

“A’Fei…” Qin Yi hesitated before speaking. “How did you first realize your feelings for Little Le were different?”

Mu Fei was momentarily caught off guard but didn’t think much of it: “I was young, full of passion. I had a dream once — and the person in the dream was Little Le.”

Midnight.

Jiang Sile was jolted awake by a nightmare once again. He sat up half-way, took two heavy breaths, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Only then did his mind clear a little. He switched on his flashlight and reached for the canteen beside him — only to realize that the tent contained just him and Mu Fei. That Yunlan wasn’t around wasn’t surprising; he had volunteered to keep watch the moment the tent was pitched, saying it wouldn’t bother him to stay up all night. But where had Qin Yi gone?

A vague sense of unease stirred in his heart, and Jiang Sile decided to go outside and check.

The mountain nights were bitter cold. The moment Jiang Sile stepped out of the tent, a gust of wind made him shiver. He stood beside the tent and looked around. Under the bright moonlight, he quickly spotted that unmistakable tall figure.

Qin Yi was standing under a large tree not far away, holding a wool blanket. The young man called Yunlan sat cross-legged against the tree with his eyes closed, his head tilted slightly to one side, looking as though he were asleep.

Qin Yi softly draped the blanket over him but didn’t straighten up for a long while. Instead, he crouched down. Jiang Sile watched as Qin Yi stared dazedly at the young man’s sleeping face for a moment, then slowly leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips.

Jiang Sile gasped in shock. In his flustered stumble backward, he knocked over the washbasin set out in front of the tent.

Clatter—

Lu Heng was startled awake. He opened his eyes and found his neck somewhat stiff — probably because the ordeal outside the cave earlier had been so draining. He had actually fallen asleep while meditating.

A dark shadow loomed over him. Although the person stood against the light, Lu Heng could identify him by his silhouette. It could only be Qin Yi. Anyone else’s presence, he would have sensed before they got close and woken up already.

“Something wrong?” Lu Heng asked.

“I was worried you’d be cold, so I brought a blanket.”

Lu Heng couldn’t clearly see Qin Yi’s expression, but he could hear a hint of awkwardness in his voice. What was with this man — could he even be embarrassed about bringing a blanket?

“What was that noise just now?” Lu Heng asked.

“Seems like Little Le came out to use the toilet and accidentally kicked the washbasin. It’s nothing. Go back to sleep. I’ll keep watch.”

With that, Qin Yi sat down beside Lu Heng.

But Lu Heng couldn’t fall back asleep. He was still thinking about that illusion formation outside the cave. Being startled awake just now had unexpectedly cleared his train of thought. Lu Heng was now almost certain that Jiang Sile had stolen the spiritual source. As for how he had infiltrated the grand formation — it must be related to that demon or the jade token.

And wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to achieve two goals at once? Use this illusion formation to test Jiang Sile — he could both break the formation and gauge the demon’s true strength. However, he still needed to draw the demon out, making it believe there was something of interest inside the cave. Only then would the demon use Jiang Sile’s hand to break the illusion formation.

Lu Heng felt troubled and unconsciously stood up, pacing around the campsite. But when he reached the front of the tent, he stopped. Demonic energy?

Lu Heng caught Qin Yi’s eye with a meaningful look. Qin Yi understood immediately and followed him to a spot away from the campsite.

“That cave we discovered today — I’ve thought it over carefully. The energy inside feels somewhat similar to the Spiritual Source Grand Formation, yet also different. It might be another formation left behind by our founding ancestor,” Lu Heng said.

“There must be something very important inside.”

On this point, Lu Heng had already formed a theory: “The grand formation that sealed the portal to the demon world has eight auxiliary formations scattered across various locations. This could be one of them.”

“That half crystal core must have been washed out from inside the cave. I have some unpleasant speculations,” Lu Heng continued.

Qin Yi understood what he meant: “You’re saying there could be zombies inside? But doesn’t the illusion formation block outsiders from entering?”

Lu Heng shook his head: “This illusion formation can only stop those with desires. It works by drawing out the deepest, most urgent desires in a person’s heart to bewilder them. Zombies have no desires — this formation cannot stop them.”

“Back then, the founding ancestor probably never imagined that something like zombies would appear,” Qin Yi said.

“Regarding breaking this formation, I’d like to borrow that demon’s power. The way Jiang Sile managed to infiltrate the sect’s grand formation without anyone noticing — that demon must possess some special ability,” Lu Heng said.

Through their analysis over this period of time, they had all but confirmed that it was the demon, working through Jiang Sile’s hand, who had stolen the spiritual source.

Lu Heng then told Qin Yi about the demonic energy he had detected, and followed up by asking: “What happened just now?”

Qin Yi’s gaze shifted evasively: “No—nothing.”

“This is important.” Lu Heng looked at him seriously.

After exchanging stares for a long moment, Qin Yi finally burst out in a low, half-defeated voice: “When I was putting the blanket on you just now, I couldn’t help myself and kissed you. That’s all — nothing else!”

…

Lu Heng was stunned. This man who had been as straight as an arrow just days ago — how had he suddenly come around?

Seeing Lu Heng say nothing and simply stare at him, Qin Yi gathered all his courage and blurted out the rest too, as if he might as well die completely: “I just want to make good food for you for the rest of my life. Could you consider becoming my partner — on the premise that we’d be dual cultivation companions?”

Hearing this clumsy confession, Lu Heng nearly burst out laughing. But to avoid the system assistant popping up with an OOC warning, he had to keep his face serious, wearing an expression of troubled contemplation.

“Junior Brother, I have never considered the matter of dual cultivation partners.”

Seeing that Lu Heng hadn’t directly rejected him, Qin Yi was suddenly struck by a flash of inspiration: “Everyone needs to find a dual cultivation partner eventually. There are only the two of us left in the sect. Better early than late. Senior Brother can give it a try with me first — if it doesn’t work out, we can always go back to being ordinary martial brothers. No harm done.”

Listening to this speech of Qin Yi’s, so riddled with traps, Lu Heng thought to himself: if he really were as naive and gullible as he appeared, he might actually have been talked into it.

But this was exactly what Lu Heng wanted. So he played along and nodded: “Alright. Let’s give it a try.”

Qin Yi was overjoyed at the success of his confession — only to hear Lu Heng kill the mood by bringing up business matters.

“That was Jiang Sile who saw you kissing me just now, wasn’t it? And that’s why the demon in him came out?” Lu Heng asked.

“Probably because he and Mu Fei were on the outs, and seeing us so close together, it triggered jealousy through comparison with his own situation?” Good — Qin Yi’s line of thinking was perfectly sound.

“Then we can use this to draw that demon out and have it break the formation for us.”

Qin Yi nodded, then leaned in close: “This is important business. We should rehearse it first, just to be safe.”

Lu Heng could see that although his words flowed smoothly, his face betrayed his nervousness. Lu Heng secretly laughed and let him come closer without pulling away. After all, this was something he desired in his heart too.

The moon hung bright and full, the stars sparse.

Lips met and teeth intertwined, breath mingling with breath.