Chapter 41#

Flare-up of Poison#

The weather is gradually warming up, and the days are long. In just a few days, major events have occurred frequently. The State Preceptor’s Manor suddenly closed its doors; the Young Master of the An family is unconscious for unknown reasons; and several major aristocratic families have once again proposed restricting the Immortal-Promotion Decree in the imperial court. The winds and clouds of Chaoge change constantly, never ceasing for a single day.

Yin Yuheng nursed his body for a few days, ignoring those surging undercurrents, and found life to be rarely peaceful.

Yin Yuheng leaned back on a lounge chair, sitting in the shade of a peach tree, pulling Lu Yan along to listen to him tell stories of the past. From the divine temple on the Three Desolate Mountains of the Demon Race to the snow plains stretching for thousands of miles. From the merfolk of the Northern Heavenly Pure Sea to the great demons of Luoyan Mountain.

Yin Yuheng listened with great pleasure, even showing a hint of surprised yearning.

“You’ve been to many places, that’s truly good,” Yin Yuheng’s eyes brightened slightly. “Can the Young Lord of the Demon Race travel around at will?”

“I’m usually busy too,” Lu Yan sat beside him, his tied-up hair making him look very spirited. “But when there’s free time, one can walk around. The Demon Race is different from your Human Race; various tribes divide and rule their lands, and the Demon Emperor is more like a盟主 (alliance leader). Usually, the rules aren’t very strict.”

“I have an older sister who also likes to travel around and doesn’t come home often.” Yin Yuheng showed some envy. “Where else have you been?”

“Many places; I travel every year.” Lu Yan thought for a moment. “Eight years ago, I even came to Chaoge.”

“Eight years ago?” Yin Yuheng was taken aback, remembering that at that time he was nursing his illness in Fengliang and wasn’t in Chaoge. “What did you come to Chaoge for?”

Lu Yan smiled: “I don’t know, I just felt I should come.”

Yin Yuheng looked at him in confusion.

“The Golden Crow is a divine bird born in accordance with the heavenly seasons, naturally able to vaguely sense the opportunities of the Heavenly Dao. I felt I should come, so I came.”

“…Then did you find your opportunity?”

Lu Yan shook his head.

Eight years ago… Yin Yuheng felt inexplicably troubled and didn’t want to continue this topic, so he had someone bring several secret memorials and handed them to Lu Yan. Lu Yan opened them and found they were all secret reports concerning the Demon Race, some of which contained information that ordinary people wouldn’t be able to find out.

Lu Yan: “…There are human spies within the Demon Race?”

Yin Yuheng blinked: “Could it be that there are no demon spies in Chaoge?”

Although the relationship between the Human, Demon, and Ghost races had been relatively peaceful recently, no one would believe that they didn’t have any defenses against each other.

Lu Yan: “…”

“Take a look; it’s indeed been quite lively after His Majesty the Demon Emperor suddenly went into seclusion,” Yin Yuheng laughed. “Young Lord Lu, do you have any thoughts?”

“I’ve already been paving the way that should be paved for you. But some things will still require you to handle them yourself after you return to the Demon Race. You are, after all, of the true Golden Crow lineage; by all rights, that position should be yours.”

Seeing the dazed look in Lu Yan’s eyes, Yin Yuheng couldn’t help but smile: “If Young Lord Lu is grateful, why not…”

Lu Yan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Looking at Yin Yuheng’s beaming expression, he as if possessed bent down, one hand supporting the lounge chair, enveloping Yin Yuheng in his shadow.

“—Why not pledge yourself to me?”

The secret memorials lay scattered to one side. Lu Yan’s hair hung down, brushing against Yin Yuheng’s exposed neck and shoulders.

Intense emotions were suppressed in Lu Yan’s gaze. Nailed to the chair by this gaze, Yin Yuheng found it hard to escape. His skin turned slightly red, and just when he was about to lose his patience, Lu Yan abruptly stood up and took half a step back.

“Just joking,” Lu Yan said hoarsely.

Yin Yuheng raised his hand and touched his neck, where the sensation of Lu Yan’s hair seemed to still linger.

A breeze blew past, and Yin Yuheng was stunned for a long while.

*

Having had a few days of rare peace, Yin Yuheng’s mood had gradually improved, until Lu Yan’s sudden unconsciousness broke this tranquility.

The feather hanging at his chest suddenly dimmed several degrees, and Yin Yuheng felt uneasy. Upon discovering Lu Yan was unconscious, his face directly darkened.

“The poison in Young Master Lu’s body has flared up again,” the imperial physician said cautiously. “This poison is extremely tricky, and we don’t know the cure…”

Yin Yuheng knew about the residual poison in Lu Yan’s body. It was just that it hadn’t flared up for a long time, so both he and Lu Yan had somewhat overlooked the matter. Now, seeing Lu Yan’s brow furrowed in distress in his sleep, he suddenly understood Lu Yan’s anger upon seeing him injured.

“I know the antidote,” Yin Yuheng said coldly. “Use the Yellow Spring Flower as the medicinal primer, and refine it with Qilin Horn, Heartless Fruit, and Green Jade Vine.”

This was the antidote recipe Lu Yan had once told Yin Yuheng. Heartless Fruit and Green Jade Vine were both available in the palace. Half of the Qilin Horn had been given to Li Guanghan, and the other half had been given to Lu Yan. Only the Yellow Spring Flower was truly difficult to handle.

Yin Yuheng felt even worse thinking about that Yellow Spring Flower he had traveled thousands of miles to bring back and give to Li Guanghan. There was also the Qilin Horn—he didn’t know if the missing small piece would affect the medicinal efficacy.

He simply changed his clothes, took a spiritual treasure, and went to the State Preceptor’s Manor.

The moment he stepped inside, he discovered that the year-round snow at the manor had actually disappeared. The accumulated snow on the ground had melted, and tender green grass had grown on both sides of the path. The entire State Preceptor’s Manor was filled with the warm breath of spring.

He blinked in surprise but didn’t ask much, walking toward the Wentian Terrace without a word. Before he had taken a few steps, Li Guanghan hurriedly appeared before him.

Li Guanghan was still dressed in white, but Yin Yuheng felt something was different. Seeing the other’s deep black pupils and the deathly suppressed demonic energy within them, Yin Yuheng frowned. However, the demonic energy immediately became gentle the moment it touched him.

Not expecting Yin Yuheng would still come to find him, Li Guanghan hurried over, his gaze both surprised and guilty. He explained: “Yuheng, I’ve come late, I’m sorry… just now I was at the lotus pond.”

The feeling of demonic energy eroding his Dao heart was truly too painful, and the image of Yin Yuheng covered in blood in his hallucinations tortured him every moment. Only when tossing lotus seeds into the water one by one could Li Guanghan obtain a brief moment of peace.

He couldn’t find lotus seeds that could bloom in the wind and snow, but fortunately, it no longer snowed at the State Preceptor’s Manor… While planting lotuses, Li Guanghan thought, When the lotuses bloom again and the manor is no longer cold, will my Yuheng come back?

Relying on such a sliver of meager, self-deceiving hope, Li Guanghan drifted in his hallucinations, self-torturing yet unwilling to give up. But now, he truly saw his Yuheng…

It wasn’t a hallucination.

Li Guanghan never knew that just seeing the other person again could make him this happy. At this moment, no matter what Yin Yuheng asked him to do, he would be willing to charge into battle without hesitation.

Yin Yuheng, however, had no interest in noticing anything else, nor did he care about the lotus pond he had long ago burned. He said: “The Qilin Horn I gave you back then—is it still kept?”

Li Guanghan hurriedly said: “How could I not keep well something Yuheng gave me?”

Yin Yuheng’s mouth twitched, as if he had heard some joke.

Thinking of the past, his nonchalant attitude when receiving Yin Yuheng’s gifts, Li Guanghan felt both hatred and regret, but it was to no avail. Now he would cautiously and treasurely keep everything belonging to Yin Yuheng, yet Yin Yuheng was already unwilling to walk toward him anymore.

“That’s good then,” Yin Yuheng handed over the spiritual treasure in his hand. “I have a top-grade spiritual treasure here, its quality no worse than the Qilin Horn. I am willing to use this item in exchange, and sincerely request you give the Qilin Horn to me.”

Yin Yuheng’s words were strange and distant, making Li Guanghan’s whole body stiffen.

“No, no need to exchange,” Li Guanghan said in a low voice, “I will give you whatever you want…” Not to mention, this was originally something you gave me.

Don’t speak to me in that cold tone… okay?

“It’s better to have an equal exchange,” Yin Yuheng said flatly.

Li Guanghan understood Yin Yuheng’s meaning, and his face turned pale. Yin Yuheng didn’t want to be associated with him and was unwilling to accept his favor.

Li Guanghan’s expression was dejected as he carefully brought out a box and handed it to Yin Yuheng.

“What do you want this for…?” Li Guanghan asked cautiously.

“To cure poison.”

“You’re poisoned?” Li Guanghan’s tone was panicked.

“No,” Yin Yuheng said softly, “it’s for A-Yan.”

A-Yan—how intimately he called him. Yes, the person Yin Yuheng looked upon with special regard now was no longer himself. He was just a fool who had stolen five years of time yet didn’t know how to cherish it. Now all of Yin Yuheng’s gaze would only fall on Lu Yan alone.

Li Guanghan clenched his fists, suppressing the demonic energy that threatened to tear him apart.

He said bitterly: “What poison? I can help…”

He hated it to the point of madness in his heart, but he couldn’t bear to see his youth anxious and distressed.

“No need,” Yin Yuheng shook his head, “I might need to find an opportunity to go to the Ghost Realm. You just stay and guard Chaoge.”

As the State Preceptor, Li Guanghan naturally had the responsibility to guard Chaoge.

Li Guanghan was stunned: “Ghost Realm?”

“To find the Yellow Spring Flower,” Yin Yuheng sighed, rubbing his brow.

Li Guanghan’s expression changed immediately: “Yellow Spring Flower? No—”

Li Guanghan knew very well how the Yellow Spring Flower was harvested. It had to be nourished with fresh blood to keep the flower from wilting. But how could he bear to let Yuheng bleed again?

Yin Yuheng glanced at him and gave an indifferent smile: “When I gave you the Yellow Spring Flower back then, you didn’t say it wouldn’t do.”

Li Guanghan was speechless, his face ashen.

Yin Yuheng turned to leave, but was suddenly called back by Li Guanghan.

“Yuheng,” Li Guanghan’s voice was trembling with pain, “don’t go, I’ll go.”

I’ll go get it.

Li Guanghan knew very well that Yin Yuheng was looking for the Yellow Spring Flower for another man… but as long as Yin Yuheng wouldn’t be hurt and could be happy, he could do anything, and was willing to no matter how much it hurt. Even if Yin Yuheng’s heart and eyes were full of someone else, even if his heart was suffering with jealousy and he wanted to go mad every moment.

“I will go and bring back the Yellow Spring Flower; don’t hurt yourself.”