Chapter 20#

Hate#

Feng Xianyu couldn’t understand a single word Zhuoyu was saying—what satisfaction, what fulfillment, what difficulty in killing.

Only now did he suddenly realize that he didn’t know this senior brother at all, this former Dao partner of his.

Feng Xianyu stared blankly at the bloodstained face before him, trying to find the Zhuoyu he once knew—the silent, clean-living Zhuoyu who always wore white robes—rather than this Zhuoyu in the heart demon realm who reeked of rusted iron as if he’d crawled out of a sea of blood.

Which of these countless things was Zhuoyu’s true heart demon?

What exactly would it take for Zhuoyu to go back to how he was?

Suddenly, an ice-cold hand pressed against the back of Feng Xianyu’s neck, right where the former Dao partner mark had been. In an instant, a bone-chilling cold shot up through his spine like an electric current, making him shiver violently.

Slap!

Feng Xianyu fiercely knocked the hand away, lifted his head, and glared at Zhuoyu. His pupils were as clear as crystal, the corners of his eyes slightly upturned and flushed red from anger. He seemed utterly unaware of what the man before him was holding back, still as stubborn as ever, his delicate brows furrowed: “Zhuoyu! I hate you like this!”

Zhuoyu’s struck hand hovered in midair before he silently laughed again. In the stillness, that smile sent chills down Feng Xianyu’s spine. Zhuoyu asked lightly and gently, “Then what do you like?”

Of course it’s—

Feng Xianyu was about to answer but choked before the words left his mouth.

“Why won’t you say it?”

Zhuoyu asked in a sighing tone, hooking a strand of loose hair from Feng Xianyu’s shoulder and slowly, deliberately winding it around his finger. His expression gradually calmed, and he said in a slightly hoarse voice, “I know.”

What the hell do you know?!

Feng Xianyu was truly being driven mad by Zhuoyu’s sudden shifts. He thought to himself that when they got out of here, he would have to force Zhuoyu to attend private school and properly learn how to speak. As his gaze swept downward, his breath caught—beneath their feet, the sea of blood appeared calm on the surface, but deep currents were slowly opening up like a giant crimson petal, as if brewing another storm.

In a flash of insight, Feng Xianyu suddenly understood: This place was actually Zhuoyu’s sea of consciousness!

He jerked his head up and saw that Zhuoyu’s eyes were going unfocused again. The veins on his hands were popping up one by one with audible cracks. Because he was straining so hard, even the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

Feng Xianyu quickly grabbed Zhuoyu’s hand and said urgently, “Listen to me, Zhuoyu—”

Before he could finish, Zhuoyu cut him off abruptly: “You’re lying to me again.”

“I’m not lying—”

“Shh!” said Zhuoyu, even with a hint of a smile. “You like everything—how could I not know?”

Feng Xianyu’s heart skipped a beat, his eyelids twitching violently. He sensed disaster and decisively turned to run, but Zhuoyu was faster and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. The world spun, and when he came to his senses, he was pinned face-down into soft bedding. His hair stood on end, a deafening heartbeat thundered in his head, and after gasping for breath, he used all his strength to kick backward.

But in Zhuoyu’s heart demon realm, Feng Xianyu was as powerless as an ordinary mortal, easily caught by the ankle.

Then Zhuoyu calmly brought his knee up, pressing both of Feng Xianyu’s legs firmly beneath him, and pinned his hands together.

Fuck!

Feng Xianyu broke out in goosebumps all over. Unable to see what Zhuoyu was doing, a sense of crisis crawled up his spine in an instant. To make matters worse, the hand pressing on the back of his neck began to knead and squeeze with moderate pressure. No matter how violently he struggled, it was useless. He could only feel the hand on his neck slowly gathering vast, icy spiritual power, like a thousand-year-old glacier.

In an instant, every muscle in Feng Xianyu’s back tensed, his teeth clenched tight.

He didn’t know that his hair was now disheveled, his face flushed crimson, even his ears red enough to drip blood. After a long while, a muffled, breathy sound escaped him, almost imperceptibly laced with the faintest sob.

It was extremely faint, but in that instant, it was as if an invisible bell somewhere in the void had been struck.

Zhuoyu’s hand froze abruptly. He stared at his own hand in hesitation.

Just then, Feng Xianyu finally broke free from the restraint. He flipped over like a leaping carp, his cheeks flushed with rage and grievance, and shoved Zhuoyu away fiercely. Suddenly, a ball of light exploded above the sea of consciousness. The entire space collapsed in an instant, fragments flying everywhere. The tides of the sea of consciousness receded at lightning speed, the blood-colored hue vanished, and all seven corpses of Zhuoyu were corroded into nothing.

An invisible tornado swept Feng Xianyu up and slammed him down hard.

Feng Xianyu gasped as he surfaced from the cold spirit spring, coughing up the icy water that had flooded his lungs.

Dizzy and disoriented, he barely managed to crawl onto the shore. After a while of vertigo, he finally turned to look for the culprit. There stood Zhuoyu in the spring, soaking wet, staring at his own hand. His white robes blended almost completely with the spring water, clinging to his body. His chest and back were broad, his eyes clear. With a frown, he seemed to not understand what had just happened. He looked up at Feng Xianyu.

The goosebumps Feng Xianyu had sprouted in the heart demon realm had not yet faded. The moment he saw Zhuoyu’s face, a flood of unpleasant associations surged up. He stumbled backward, retreating several steps: “Don’t—don’t come near me!”

Zhuoyu, who had been about to step ashore, stopped in the water, not understanding why. His robes hung open, revealing his bare chest, crisscrossed with several vicious blood marks.

Feng Xianyu was busy calming his wildly pounding heart. He only glanced briefly before quickly looking away, thinking to himself, This episode of demonic deviation is going to be rough on you. He studied Zhuoyu’s expression again and suddenly had a flash of insight: “Do you remember what happened?”

Zhuoyu seemed to have a headache, pressing his temples. His silence was the best answer. Feng Xianyu immediately breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Thank heavens—a blessing in disguise. Not remembering is perfect. Couldn’t be better. Best if he remembers nothing at all—not the heart demon realm, not everything that happened in the previous life. Clean slate, start over.

“It’s fine if you don’t remember. Nothing major.” Feng Xianyu scrambled to his feet, swept back his long hair, and spoke in a rapid-fire stream: “You were on the verge of going into demonic deviation just now, but luckily I happened to run into you, and since I’m always ready to help others, I selflessly stepped in to save you from danger, so I woke you up. No need to thank me, haha. Since nothing’s wrong now, everything’s fine, I’ll be going then. Bye!”

And with that, he didn’t spare another glance at Zhuoyu in the water. Without even bothering to dry his clothes, he turned and ran off at top speed, not looking back.

Zhuoyu stared at his retreating figure without blinking. After a moment, his voice came out hoarse: “Lingzhao.”

At that time, the sky was just beginning to lighten. Qingdu Mountain was empty and silent all around. Feng Xianyu didn’t stop running until he reached his own room, where he finally caught his breath. Hastily, he washed up, changed clothes, and dried his hair. Only then did he relax, collapsing onto the small couch where he usually lounged.

In the previous life, with that arrow through the dantian, Zhuoyu’s path of cultivation could only go so far—no further.

When it comes down to it, I owe Zhuoyu more than I can repay.

Feng Xianyu rolled over, sighed, and tried to comfort himself: So what if he pinned me down for a bit? I wasn’t hurt. Besides, Zhuoyu wasn’t in his right mind at the time—why hold a grudge against someone who’s gone into demonic deviation?

But I should remind Zhuoyu—having a heart demon is no good. It really hinders cultivation. Better to resolve it as soon as possible.

Who knows—maybe Zhuoyu’s heart demon came from that arrow I shot. It’s carved into his soul now. Doing it all over again won’t help. As the saying goes, if the new doesn’t come, the old won’t go. Maybe I should just persuade him to go find himself a new spring romance. If a new Dao partner mark is imprinted, and he tastes the sweetness of love, maybe the heart demon will just vanish into thin air?

Feng Xianyu hugged the blanket and dozed off again. It was nearly noon when he finally groggily crawled out of bed.

He first sent a letter to Feng Qianqiu, saying he had emerged from seclusion. After hesitating for a moment, he added a line asking if Zhuoyu had come out of seclusion yet.

Not long after, Feng Qianqiu replied—no, he hadn’t. He also told Feng Xianyu to come see him. Feng Xianyu happened to want to discreetly inquire about the matter of swordsmen and heart demons, so he dressed and went out.

Qingdu Mountain was just as always. The library was to the east, the training grounds and classrooms to the west, the disciples’ residences to the south, and the northern path led to the back mountain. Aside from the beasts running wild all over the hills, there were also some meditation caves used for seclusion.

At this hour, all the disciples were training, so there were very few people idling about like Feng Xianyu on the paths.

All sects were like this—unchanging, stable, rarely anything interesting happening. It was always cultivation, and more cultivation. That was also why Feng Xianyu had spent most of his previous life away from the sect—mortals were always more vivid, and more interesting.

Suddenly, he heard a faint murmur of conversation in the distance, sounding like young disciples.

At this time of day, everyone was supposed to be busy. There shouldn’t be anyone wandering about. Applying his own habits to others, Feng Xianyu immediately guessed they were up to no good. His eyes darted, and he silently concealed his presence, hiding behind a large tree.

A few breaths later, two young men in disciple uniforms came out, shoving each other. From the looks of things, it was their first time doing something like this—their movements were inexperienced and clumsy, their expressions furtive, like a pair of rats that had turned into spirits.

One of them was even a familiar face—Xiang Wan!

The other, for some reason, Feng Xianyu found vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he’d seen him before. He was half a head taller than Xiang Wan.

If Elder Xu in charge of discipline were here, he’d know without even looking that these two were definitely skipping class to go down the mountain. He’d probably kick them straight into copying scriptures. Luckily for them, they ran into the bored Feng Xianyu.

Feng Xianyu thought to himself that Zhuoyu hadn’t come out of seclusion yet, so there was no hurry. Besides, it was rare to have some entertainment. Driven by a sudden whim to play, not only did he not stop them, but he even led the patrolling disciples away ahead of time. He then sent a message to Feng Qianqiu saying he was going back to sleep, rubbing his hands together as he waited to see what these two would get up to.

The two disciples made it out of the mountain gate with extraordinary smoothness, not encountering a single person. They themselves couldn’t believe how easy it was.

Xiang Wan was rather surprised, glancing back at the towering buildings on the mountaintop.

The taller disciple swiftly changed into civilian clothes. Seeing Xiang Wan still standing still, he draped his arm around Xiang Wan’s shoulder: “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.” Xiang Wan turned back, still somewhat hesitant. “Zi’an, are we really going? Won’t we get caught?”

“Absolutely not, trust me!” The disciple called Zi’an gave Xiang Wan a warm, sloppy hug and forcibly pulled him down the mountain.

Who says you weren’t caught? Feng Xianyu chuckled to himself. He cast a listening talisman, turned himself into a tiny flying insect, and kept close to Xiang Wan’s side.