Chapter 4#

Chapter 4: Divine Ability#

It was still warm when walking under the sun, but the moment they entered the forest, it suddenly turned cold.

Branches and vines twisted together, and a layer of decaying leaves covered the ground. Feng Xianyu inadvertently lifted his head to look ahead and immediately shouted, “Don’t move!”

Everyone was startled by Feng Xianyu’s reprimand.

The disciple who was yelled at kept his leg raised, and under the gaze of several pairs of eyes, he gulped down a mouthful of saliva.

In the dead silence, the withered branches and fallen leaves stirred slightly, and suddenly a long, brownish-yellow shadow darted out. The disciple’s heart instantly leaped to his throat. Just then, a talisman flew through the air, exploding right above the shadow.

Bang!

The shadow flopped limply back to the ground, its head and body split in two. It turned out to be a five-step snake nearly as long as an arm, almost completely blending in with the fallen leaves.

If not for Feng Xianyu’s warning, they would never have spotted it and would have died.

That disciple immediately leaped several steps away.

Xiang Wan picked up a branch and cautiously poked at it. Seeing its particularly long fangs and signs of demonization, ordinary five-step snakes were already deadly enough; a bite from this demonized one—who knew what would happen.

Feng Xianyu flicked his right hand, tossing out several burning talismans. Golden light shot out, sharp as knives, instantly cutting down countless branches, and many snakes clinging to the trees were knocked down, clattering to the ground.

Xiang Wan couldn’t help but exclaim, “That’s too many!”

With talismans still pinched between his fingers, Feng Xianyu said solemnly, “This is the snake demon’s lair, infested with venomous snakes. You must be extra careful, watch your feet and the branches overhead.”

Everyone replied, “Yes,” and dared not be careless, drawing their own magical tools—swords, blades, whips, fans… all sorts, a motley collection.

Feng Xianyu glanced around, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly:

Qingdu Mountain had a wide range of miscellaneous studies, and disciples used all kinds of weapons. Although embracing everything was an advantage, at first glance, it never looked as impressive as those who specialized in one discipline. For instance, when the sword cultivators of the Green Sparrow Sect or the Jingming Sect deployed in full force, each held a gleaming long sword—a thousand swords united as one—how pleasing to the eye.

Just as he was thinking, Zhuo Yu suddenly took the lead, grabbing Feng Xianyu’s wrist.

Feng Xianyu: “?”

Zhuo Yu remained silent, using his index finger to write characters on Feng Xianyu’s open palm.

They could use spiritual power to transmit sound, but instead he chose to write—an unnecessary effort.

Zhuo Yu’s fingers were slender, with thin calluses from sword practice, slightly rough. Each stroke fell on the palm, tickling like a feather lightly brushing.

Feng Xianyu’s mind wandered for a moment, his ears growing hot. After a few seconds, he cleared his throat twice and noticed that Zhuo Yu had written the word “sachet.”

Sachet?

Feng Xianyu understood. He supported Zhuo Yu again and turned his head to ask his opinion, “Let’s walk at the very front.”

Zhuo Yu gave a slight nod, still wearing an inscrutable expression.

Since they needed to lead the way, A Yue also stood at the front, surrounded by a circle of disciples, her expression serious as she identified the direction.

As they passed her, Feng Xianyu said casually, “Miss.”

A Yue looked back. “What?”

“I’m just curious,” Feng Xianyu said with a smile. “With so many snakes here, how did you manage to avoid them when you ran out alone?”

As he asked, Feng Xianyu stared intently at A Yue’s face, not missing the slightest change in her features.

A Yue showed no guilt. Pointing at the silver sachet at her waist, she said, “Because I have this.”

“What is it?” Xiang Wan overheard and leaned in curiously.

“The snake demon gave me this incense to repel snakes,” A Yue replied. She unfastened it and opened the silver clasp to show them. The incense had already burned out; only silvery ash remained at the center of the sachet, without a single spark. A Yue said, “It was afraid I’d get bitten to death by accident, so it gave me this. But now it’s burned down to almost nothing, so it probably won’t help much.”

“Ah…” Xiang Wan couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

Feng Xianyu said, “May we take a look?”

“Of course,” A Yue said, gladly handing it over to Feng Xianyu. Without even glancing at it himself, Feng Xianyu held it in his hand and passed it to Zhuo Yu, saying, “Smell it.”

He even brought it directly to Zhuo Yu’s lips.

Zhuo Yu didn’t avoid it; he simply lowered his head to sniff it, right at Feng Xianyu’s hand.

It wasn’t entirely nonsense to call Zhuo Yu a medical cultivator. Although Zhuo Yu was a sword cultivator, as far as Feng Xianyu knew, his mother had been a physician in the mortal world. Perhaps due to heredity, Zhuo Yu also had an interest and knew a little something.

After smelling it, Zhuo Yu listed a few common herbs used to repel snakes.

Feng Xianyu, lost in thought, snapped back after a moment and said with some suspicion, “Just that?”

That’s too ordinary!

“Of course not,” Zhuo Yu denied. “The last ingredient is the most important—there’s a smell of blood. I suspect it’s the snake demon’s blood.”

Feng Xianyu: “…”

So it wasn’t a snake repellent at all, but pure intimidation.

Feng Xianyu could almost picture a sign hanging on A Yue that read, “This is my prey. Don’t come near if you want to live.”

A Yue looked completely clueless.

With that, Feng Xianyu sighed, returned the sachet to A Yue, and gave orders for everyone to search their own qiankun pouches for the herbs Zhuo Yu had mentioned. Gather as much as possible, and each person take some—after all, having something was better than nothing.

Everyone acknowledged and began bustling about. Feng Xianyu withdrew his hand into his sleeve, secretly rubbing his fingertips, thinking: When I held the medicine for Zhuo Yu just now, did I accidentally brush against… that?

Or was it just my imagination?

Feng Xianyu couldn’t help glancing sideways at Zhuo Yu. He was as steady as a mountain, righteous and dignified, revealing nothing. His lips were thin, straight, and cold. Besides, this was a question that could never be verified, so after mulling it over, he had to give up.

“Senior Brother…”

Xiang Wan’s voice came from beside him. Feng Xianyu glanced over and saw him holding two plain cloth pouches in his hands—the prepared snake-repelling medicine. He was about to take them when Zhuo Yu snatched them first. Zhuo Yu quickly tied one around himself, leaving one in his hand. Feng Xianyu hurriedly said, “Let me do it myself!”

But Zhuo Yu directly pushed his hand aside and said in a deep voice, “Raise your arms.”

Feng Xianyu wanted to resist, but Zhuo Yu had already fumbled to place his hand on Feng Xianyu’s waist.

Feng Xianyu: “…”

Feng Xianyu couldn’t smile anymore. The moment that hand touched him, he froze from head to toe like a statue in a temple—damn it, Feng Xianyu hated being touched more than anything, especially around his waist. It was almost like being struck by lightning.

Before their union in his past life, he had basically never had any contact with Zhuo Yu, so the other had never known about this problem.

As for whether Zhuo Yu found out after the ceremony, Feng Xianyu wasn’t entirely sure. At least he didn’t recall ever showing it.

Right, he shouldn’t know.

So in this life, he couldn’t know either.

Thus, Feng Xianyu struggled to act indifferent while gritting his teeth and enduring.

To make matters worse, Zhuo Yu fumbled around for ages and still hadn’t tied it. Feng Xianyu was so furious his teeth were grinding, feeling like every move Zhuo Yu made was testing his limits.

Xiang Wan had slipped away before the “battle” even started, afraid of being caught in the crossfire. But his curiosity got the better of him, and from a distance, he secretly glanced at the two senior brothers.

He saw that, for some reason, Feng Xianyu’s handsome features were almost twisted, while Senior Brother Zhuo Yu was still unhurriedly, methodically tying the pouch.

In his memory, these two senior brothers had almost never appeared together except for mandatory assembly ceremonies.

Senior Brother Feng was the only son of the sect leader, unquestionably second only to one person within Qingdu Mountain. Sect Leader Feng Qianqiu doted on him, so naturally he played with whatever was fun and wanted whatever was interesting. Never a moment of peace, yet he was extremely talented and brilliant, never putting on airs, always cheerful and talkative—naturally very popular.

As for Senior Brother Zhuo Yu… Xiang Wan was young and had only heard occasional mentions that this senior brother was brought back by the sect leader after descending the mountain. His temperament was extremely cold; all day he was unsmiling, solitary, with no regard for anyone. He was one of the very few sword cultivators in Qingdu Mountain. The disciples privately discussed that perhaps this senior brother cultivated the emotionless path.

These two senior brothers were as different as heaven and earth—one in red robes with a golden bow, bold and unrestrained; the other in white with a silver sword, cultivating bitterly day and night—they seemed like people from two different worlds. Yet they were equal in strength, and both had the character “Yu” in their names. Who knew if it was fateful enmity.

Feng Xianyu forced out four words through clenched teeth: “…Not done yet?”

Zhuo Yu’s fingers paused briefly, and Feng Xianyu finally caught his breath. But then he started again. From near his ear came Zhuo Yu’s cold, flat voice: “Almost.”

Feng Xianyu: “…”

Zhuo Yu added calmly, “My eyes can’t see.”

To hell with you! If you can’t see, I’ll do it myself—no need for your hands!

Feng Xianyu felt like spitting blood. If he were a furry beast, he’d probably have his fur standing on end enough to ride the wind away.

Finally, Feng Xianyu begged heaven, earth, and his ancestors, and at last, Zhuo Yu finished tying the knot and withdrew his divine ability.

The moment Zhuo Yu let go, Feng Xianyu immediately stepped back several paces as if fleeing from a flood or wild beast, not even bothering to support Zhuo Yu, his whole body prickling like needles.

Zhuo Yu “looked” at Feng Xianyu pulling away from his hand, his jaw tightly set, lost in thought.

Xiang Wan, who had been about to speak, for some reason swallowed his words, as if an invisible chill in the air had choked him. But it only lasted a moment before silently dissipating like wind and clouds.

“What is it?” Feng Xianyu finally calmed his goosebumps and noticed Xiang Wan.

Xiang Wan wiped his sweaty palms on his clothes, cupped his hands, and asked, “Should we continue?”

Feng Xianyu couldn’t help but glance at Zhuo Yu, who remained perfectly serious. He couldn’t figure out if the other was being deliberate or not. But how could Zhuo Yu even possess the skill of teasing someone?

After a moment, with mixed feelings, he once again took Zhuo Yu’s hand and replied, “Let’s go.”

Xiang Wan acknowledged the order. As they moved, he released his spiritual sense. Some of these snakes had begun to demonize; with his spiritual sense, he could detect them and kill or avoid them in advance.

For the rest, they would have to deal with them as they came.

So along the way, they took turns forming the outer circle to deal with the snakes. But the deeper they went, the more snakes there were, and the more ferocious they became. Almost every one that showed its head would strike, all venomous with black fangs. They had no choice but to kill them all. In the end, they lost count of how many snakes they had slain.

Feng Xianyu supported Zhuo Yu as they walked. Suddenly, the scene felt familiar. He started rummaging through his memories spanning two lifetimes: it seemed to have been such a dim sky, such a rugged path, with a low-hanging canopy, ground crawling with serpentine vines, and just him and Zhuo Yu, the two of them.

In those fragmented memories, whose origin he didn’t know, there was also a pervasive smell of blood.

The two of them stumbled forward, as if fleeing for their lives.

Suddenly, he seemed unable to stand. He reached out to grab Zhuo Yu’s hand, but groped several times and couldn’t catch it. His vision blurred, his throat burned with pain, and he panted with the taste of blood. Feng Xianyu strained to open his eyes wide, but could only see the distance between him and Zhuo Yu growing farther and farther—that hand, no matter what, he couldn’t grasp.

It was only then that Feng Xianyu realized the only words that kept echoing in his mind were:

“You go first—”

He didn’t realize he had spoken them aloud.