Chapter 11#
Chapter 11#
Dried leaves were crushed underfoot, making a rustling sound that mingled with the wind blowing through the trees.
Xue Jingci sized up the youth. Those eyes were very familiar, but now the person before him was as tall as he was.
He was dazed for a moment, as if he could once again smell the fragrance of wheat from Donglai Village.
“A-Pei?”
Pei Huang froze for a second, and the corners of his lips couldn’t help but curve up. “So you still remember me.”
Xue Jingci looked at him for a few moments and reached out his hand to demand: “Return the tablet to me.”
Pei Huang instead tucked the tablet into his robes. “It’s mine now.”
One couldn’t tell what this guy grew up eating, but the taller he got, the more of a rogue he became. The System meowed at him in dissatisfaction, clearly holding a grudge for him nearly knocking it flying earlier.
Who would have thought that this fellow Pei Huang would directly reach out and pinch its ears: “How did you get so fat? Although, you do look much more pleasing to the eye.”
As he spoke, he tried to rub the System’s furry head again. This time the System was agile; it jumped into Xue Jingci’s arms and buried its head.
In the end, however, the tip of its tail was squeezed.
Xue Jingci listened to the little kitten’s muttering and finally blocked Pei Huang’s hand, asking: “Why are you here?”
Pei Huang felt as if the back of his hand had been scalded; a burning sensation spread quietly. Seeing that he was no longer demanding the tablet, he said happily: “Just making a living here and there, staying for a few days. Are you also here to eliminate demons?”
Xue Jingci looked up at him: “You’re quite well-informed.”
Pei Huang didn’t intend to hide it and smiled: “I have a friend who works in the government office.”
Xue Jingci fell silent and turned to walk toward the city.
Pei Huang’s heart tightened, and he quickly chased after him, asking: “You really don’t want the tablet anymore?”
It had rained the night before last, making the mountain road difficult to walk. Xue Jingci’s pace was not fast. Holding the cat, he replied: “I’ll give it to you.”
Pei Huang opened his mouth and said anxiously: “That’s good jade, worth a lot of money. A gentleman does not accept ‘alms’; how about I treat you to some food instead?”
Having said that, Xue Jingci looked down at the things filling his hands and said: “I’m full.”
Pei Huang had searched for three years and finally met him; he wouldn’t let him go easily. He thought for a moment and said: “Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival. I know a shop that makes delicious mooncakes. Do you want to buy some to try?”
The little kitten’s head popped out again, and this time even its ears perked up.
Xue Jingci stopped in his tracks and asked him: “Where?”
Pei Huang finally felt relieved and walked ahead of him to lead the way.
However, after buying the mooncakes, Xue Jingci wanted to go back. Pei Huang wanted to ask him more questions, but seeing that he was still as neither-hot-nor-cold as he was three years ago, he couldn’t help but feel a bit lost.
Xue Jingci didn’t notice his thoughts. Back at the inn, he went directly to his room and felt comfortable only after soaking in hot water. Before he finished washing, he heard an unusual creaking sound from the window.
He turned his head, and his gaze collided head-on with the youth flipping in through the window.
Pei Huang hadn’t expected Xue Jingci to be bathing. His cheeks instantly felt hot, and his gaze swept over him.
The water in the wooden tub was still hot, the rising mist curling around strands of jet-black hair that drifted over translucent shoulders.
Pei Huang jumped in, forcing himself to stay calm. Seeing Xue Jingci staring at him, he turned his back. “I haven’t slept in a bed for a long time. I’ll crash at your place for a night; you don’t mind, right?”
Xue Jingci opened his mouth, but before he could answer, the youth had already rolled onto the bed, taking the initiative to leave a space for him.
It seemed he couldn’t be driven away.
Xue Jingci didn’t mind staying with him, but his gaze fell on Pei Huang’s black outer robe.
“The outer robe is dirty. Change it.”
Hearing him say this, Pei Huang laughed and obediently took off his outer robe, then truly closed his eyes to sleep.
It wasn’t until he heard Xue Jingci get dressed and lie down beside him, followed by steady breathing, that Pei Huang opened his eyes and pensively traced Xue Jingci’s sleeping face with his gaze.
Aside from the whistling wind outside the window, there was only soft breathing, yet Pei Huang could not fall asleep.
He had always been alert; he could never sleep when someone else was present.
Pei Huang looked toward Xue Jingci and saw that the man still maintained his previous posture, clearly sleeping soundly.
For some reason, he felt a bit frustrated. With a person of unknown background beside him, Xue Jingci could actually sleep so soundly? What if he were a bad person and took the opportunity to do something…
Did this person trust him, or did he look down on his strength?
Pei Huang watched him like this all night.
It wasn’t until the sound of the morning bell came that he sat up and jumped back out through that window.
When Xue Jingci woke up, the blanket beside him was already stone-cold. He wasn’t curious about where the youth had gone. After changing his clothes, he went out to meet up with Zhou Zimo and the others.
After setting up the array last night, Zhou Zimo began using the array to track the location of the demon dens.
The difficulty of this mission lay in the cunning of the demon race, who lived scattered. They had to be wiped out in one go to leave no future troubles.
Before they parted, Zhou Zimo specifically instructed everyone: “The demon race has set up an evil array to suck away the fortune of the people in the city. Your task is to kill the demons within one hour after the evil array is broken, only then can the fortune return.”
The demon den Xue Jingci was assigned to was in the southeast.
On the way, the System couldn’t help but meow, lamenting that the brat had actually grown so much.
Xue Jingci didn’t speak; he probably didn’t have many extra thoughts.
The System sighed; Xue Jingci was sometimes even less like a human than itself.
Anyone else would at least have the joy of a long-awaited reunion in their heart, but after staying with the person for a night, he didn’t even say a single word.
After about half an hour, Xue Jingci arrived near the demon den on his sword.
He sheathed his sword ahead of time and carefully lay in wait, waiting to act until the moment the array was broken.
The people in the city had received the news and were all staying indoors. Zhou Zimo began to break the array.
Her expression was serious as array flags flew in six directions, simultaneously exploding with extremely pure spiritual energy.
Zhou Zimo instructed the Prefect and the soldiers to retreat fifty li, then flew alone into the evil array, waving her sleeves to attack, completely triggering the evil array.
A layer of blood-light floated on the ground, with countless runes flashing within it. Terrifying dark energy surged in all directions, only to be bounced back by the pre-positioned array.
Only then did Zhou Zimo truly see the full extent of the evil array, and she couldn’t help but be startled.
This evil array appeared to be the long-lost Blood-Fiend Array of demonic cultivators.
Although the array was currently unformed and quite incomplete, Zhou Zimo still didn’t dare to underestimate it and immediately raised her hand to break the array.
The greatest characteristic of the Blood-Fiend was that it had two array cores, which had to be destroyed simultaneously to break the array. Now, in order to surround and suppress the demon race, she had sent away all the disciples she had brought, so she could only break the array with both hands at the same time.
Zhou Zimo closed her eyes to concentrate, letting her divine sense fall onto the two array cores simultaneously.
In the distance, Lin Yuanshan paced with difficulty. After an unknown amount of time, he heard several loud bangs, and in an instant, the ground shook and the mountains swayed, startling the warhorses into neighing.
A figure came flying through the air. Lin Yuanshan recognized it was Zhou Zimo and hurriedly struggled to his feet to meet her: “Immortal Master, is the evil array broken?”
Zhou Zimo nodded and looked at the Prefect: “The evil array is broken. Proceed with the Lantern Festival as planned.”
Lin Yuanshan knelt in worship. Zhou Zimo lifted him up with a surge of energy, and the events that happened at the moment the array broke surfaced in her mind.
The array she had set up yesterday had been touched by someone; it actually had an extra array core, and its position was exactly the same as the evil array’s.
Even if she hadn’t managed to break the array with both hands simultaneously, that modified array could have blocked the Blood-Fiend.
This array… had been altered by someone.
Xue Jingci waited outside the demon den. The moment the array was broken, the demon race sensed it immediately and flew out one after another to investigate.
He immediately drew his sword. Wherever the sword intent went, the demons’ lives were taken in an instant.
Having killed all the demons on the periphery, Xue Jingci took his sword and entered the den directly, only to unexpectedly run into A-Pei inside.
The two joined forces to kill the demons; for a while, neither had the time for idle talk.
Once all the demons were dead, a bit of panic flashed across Pei Huang’s face.
He hadn’t expected it to be such a coincidence that the direction Xue Jingci was assigned was exactly this one—if it had been anyone else, he certainly wouldn’t have revealed his aura just now.
Xue Jingci looked at Pei Huang faintly, taking in the embarrassment on the youth’s face.
During the fight earlier, he had noticed that this person’s gaze was wandering everywhere, as if searching for something.
Xue Jingci turned his head, wiped his sword, and walked out of the den, leaving only one sentence: “Be quick about it.”
Pei Huang was stunned; he never expected that Xue Jingci had seen through his thoughts long ago.
But that wasn’t important.
What was important was that Xue Jingci actually tolerated him?
Aside from his surprise, Pei Huang couldn’t help but chuckle. He quickly dug out a bright red pearl from the corpse of a demon deep in the cave.
His movements were clean and efficient. He skillfully put away the pearl without even a drop of blood on his hand, pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his dagger clean, and turned to leave.
Xue Jingci waited at the entrance, his white figure enveloped in light, like a deity untainted by the dust of the world.
He was dazed for a moment.
Hearing footsteps, Xue Jingci turned to look at the youth and said: “You’re quite fast.”
Pei Huang was a bit uncomfortable and gave an “un.”
Seeing that Xue Jingci didn’t ask what he had taken, he breathed a shallow sigh of relief.
To his surprise, Xue Jingci suddenly changed the subject: “The demons here are vulnerable, and the array is crude and simple. Although it learned the form of an ancient array, it lacks the essence. It shouldn’t have been so ostentatious, actually killing over a hundred people in succession and cruelly dismembering them to sacrifice to the array.”
Pei Huang didn’t speak. Xue Jingci noticed something unusual in his expression.
Xue Jingci stared at his hands and said: “It seems you are also very skilled at dismembering.”
Pei Huang was suddenly flustered and explained: “Although the demon array is crude, it will surely become a major problem over time. I just picked some dead bodies from a mass grave and disguised them as the work of the demon race to attract people from the Upper Realm to come down and eliminate the demons.”
Xue Jingci nodded, seemingly agreeing with his explanation.
Pei Huang, however, still didn’t dare to relax and asked cautiously: “Did I cause trouble for you?”
Xue Jingci shook his head and laughed softly: “It’s not trouble; on the contrary, it can be considered helping me out.”
Originally, this simple demon-elimination mission wouldn’t have had so many points. Now, not only had he gathered enough points to exchange for the tablet, but he could also descend to the lower realm to satisfy his appetite—it was no different from an outing.
Just after he finished speaking, the soldiers who came to assist arrived. After bowing to Xue Jingci, they headed deep into the den.
Over the years, the demon race had plundered quite a bit of wealth from the commoners and cultivators, all of which had to be confiscated.
Learning that he hadn’t caused trouble for Xue Jingci, Pei Huang completely breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he realize that he was actually so nervous he had broken into a sweat, and he couldn’t help but loosen his collar to vent some heat.
Xue Jingci was sharp-eyed. Seeing the familiar wooden tablet hanging around his neck, he quickly reached out. With a light movement of his fingertips, he easily hooked the wooden tablet into his palm.
Pei Huang was pulled so hard he nearly fell. The sudden close distance made his heart beat violently. Before he could sort out his chaotic thoughts, a sword light flashed, and the string around his neck was cut.
The wooden tablet fell into Xue Jingci’s hand; it was the very one Pei Huang had dug out from the Daoist temple.
Pei had previously lied and said it was lost, but in reality, he had kept it in the river demon’s care. Later, he had always worn it around his neck on a red string.
Xue Jingci lowered his eyes, brushing over the character “Huang” he had carved himself.
Pei Huang immediately reached out to grab it: “Give it back to me!”
Xue Jingci dodged agilely. Pei Huang was like a dog whose tail had been stepped on, demanding it back relentlessly.
After a long time, Xue Jingci tucked the wooden tablet into his robes and laughed softly: “Little thief.”
For the first time since their reunion, Pei Huang showed a bit of his youthful self; his entire face turned red instantly.