Chapter 78#
An Wuxue raised his hand. His spiritual energy rippled as he gently closed the door.
Xie Zhefeng seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the attention. His dark eyes reflected the light from the window, and his pupils held only An Wuxue’s figure.
An Wuxue was silent for a moment.
In this Death Gate illusion, if they successfully waited for Shangguan Liaoliao to appear and reunited with the real one through the fake, there might not be another moment of quiet solitude with Xie Zhefeng like this.
Regardless of whether the Heartless Curse worked on someone who already followed the Way of Heartless, he had to try it to find out.
He would only have this one chance to cast the curse.
“…Senior Brother?” Xie Zhefeng called out to him again when he didn’t speak for a long time.
An Wuxue’s gaze focused. He whispered, “The puppet seal on me seems to be showing signs of acting up again…”
Xie Zhefeng hurried forward, reaching for his left hand with concern. “Are you feeling any discomfort?”
An Wuxue instinctively took a step back.
Xie Zhefeng immediately didn’t dare touch him. His hand froze in the air, full of hesitation.
An Wuxue suddenly remembered his goal.
His expression softened slightly. He turned, walked to the bed, and sat down. Rolling up his left sleeve, he looked down at the puppet seal.
He said, “The situation between Qu Jizhi and Pei Qian is uncertain, and Shangguan Liaoliao could appear at any time. We still have many things to do… if the Immortal Venerable doesn’t mind, could you sit beside me and help suppress it for a bit?”
The man didn’t move.
An Wuxue waited a moment before looking up, catching Xie Zhefeng’s somewhat shifting gaze.
Was he being too obvious?
An Wuxue composed himself.
“Immortal Venerable?” he asked. “Do you not want to help me?”
Thinking of his plan, he couldn’t help but frown slightly.
Xie Zhefeng was startled by his words. His eyes and brows twitched. He took a few steps forward and sat on the other side of the bed.
“How could I—” How could I not want to help you?
But An Wuxue was worried about missing the opportunity and said immediately, “I truly can only rely on the Immortal Venerable for the puppet seal. If you have any conditions, you can raise them. I…”
He took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the puppet seal on his arm. His voice grew lower and lower. “I will do my best to fulfill them.”
If Xie Zhefeng was still in his obsession and wanted to use this to force him into dual cultivation…
So be it.
It wasn’t as if they hadn’t engaged in dual cultivation before.
Didn’t Pei Qian successfully cast the curse precisely through dual cultivation?
While they were engaged in it, he would take the opportunity to cast the Heartless Curse, using one session of dual cultivation to sever the karma between them.
It was worth it.
Having made up his mind, he decided to throw caution to the wind and quietly channeled his spiritual energy to actively trigger the puppet seal.
As his spiritual energy flowed through his meridians, it silently activated the seal. In the blink of an eye, An Wuxue felt a flush of heat spread through his body.
“Mmph…”
He immediately bit back the sound.
The seal linked them both. Before Xie Zhefeng could even speak, his breathing suddenly grew heavy.
An Wuxue looked over. His junior brother’s dark eyes were deep. For an instant, his expression showed a flash of violence born of stirred desire, as if he wanted to devour him.
An Wuxue’s heart skipped a beat.
In the next moment, that expression was forcibly suppressed. Only Xie Zhefeng’s slightly reddened eyes betrayed his restraint.
Though his expression was frighteningly intense, he only gently grasped An Wuxue’s wrist and pulled him into a soft embrace.
An Wuxue’s breathing hitched. He immediately wanted to push the other away.
No!
I can’t push him away.
He suppressed the urge to retreat, biting his lower lip to keep from making a sound.
The long-absent feeling of being surrounded by the man’s cold aura filled his senses, trapping him in that small space.
He clearly felt hot, yet leaning in Xie Zhefeng’s arms, he felt as if he were cold. He instinctively moved closer.
Xie Zhefeng’s heartbeat was exceptionally clear.
He seemed to have… miscalculated.
This was the first time he had allowed the puppet seal to flare up. He hadn’t expected it to be so unbearable just by leaning against the man’s chest.
In this instant, he seemed to hear the man calling him “A-Xue” on a dim clam-bed beneath the vast waters of the Black Sea a thousand years ago.
It felt as though his heart had been filled with a thousand jars of immortal wine, making him so lightheaded he forgot the passing of a millennium.
His whole body was soft, and he couldn’t move.
No.
That’s not right…
A sudden jolt went through him—he was doing all this to cast the Heartless Curse!
An Wuxue quickly steadied himself. He raised his head slightly, looking at Xie Zhefeng’s jaw, and studied him secretly.
Xie Zhefeng’s breathing was longer and deeper than usual.
Yet the strength of his embrace hadn’t changed. He remained silent for a while before saying in a low voice, “Helping Senior Brother suppress the puppet seal is what I should do. I am only too eager to be at your disposal. How could I possibly demand anything of you?”
Xie Zhefeng’s voice was hoarse and slow, as if he were doing his utmost to endure his stirred desires.
The man had indeed seen through his intentions. He added, “I know you can no longer believe me, but I truly… truly would do anything for you. Whatever Senior Brother wants or needs done, you don’t need to exchange anything with me. Just use me.”
“I am willing.” His words were full of devotion.
His junior brother didn’t even dare look at him. At some point, he had closed his eyes. After saying those words, he gripped An Wuxue’s wrist and infused his spiritual aura into the puppet seal.
After a few breaths.
The flare-up of the puppet seal was completely suppressed. The uncontrollable urge to be close to Xie Zhefeng slowly faded, yet An Wuxue remained in his embrace.
His junior brother’s body was stiff, and he held his hand tightly, reluctant to let go.
In this position, he couldn’t cast the Heartless Curse at all.
Without the influence of the puppet seal, An Wuxue’s heart gradually cooled.
He thought for a moment in the silence.
“You say you’re willing to do anything for me…”
“Yes.” His tone was resolute.
An Wuxue sighed and gave a self-deprecating laugh.
“Some words should be said at the right time. Now that I’ve lived and died once, you finally say this. It might not be love; perhaps it’s just that for the first time, you were powerless to keep something you lost, and so you’ve developed an obsession.”
“I—”
“Junior Brother!”
He knew Xie Zhefeng would argue, so he deliberately interrupted him.
Taking advantage of the other’s momentary daze, he pulled his hand away and quickly moved back, escaping the man’s embrace.
Only then did Xie Zhefeng slowly open his eyes. They were full of despair and dejection.
“It’s been a long time since Senior Brother spoke to me like that,” he murmured. “For a moment, I thought…”
Such joy only lasted for a few moments before he realized it was just his own wishful thinking.
An Wuxue was preparing to find the right opportunity to cast the curse.
Seeing Xie Zhefeng like this, his hand, which was already forming a seal hidden in his sleeve, relaxed slightly.
This curse was of unknown origin and had been sealed for unknown reasons. If he could avoid casting it, naturally… it would be better.
One last time, he asked Xie Zhefeng: “As for the matter between us, I, the one who was killed, no longer have any desire to settle scores. Just treat me as if I were already dead. When I leave in the future, I will stay far away and never be an eyesore for the Immortal Venerable. Wouldn’t that be good?”
Xie Zhefeng said urgently, “You promised to stay! I will listen to you in everything. It’s impossible for me to force or harm you. There’s no harm in staying. Senior Brother, don’t…”
It was the same answer.
It seemed there was no other way.
An Wuxue finally said, “Fine. Since you will listen to me in everything, I indeed have one thing I wish for you to do for me.”
He had changed his tone too quickly. Xie Zhefeng was first startled, then showed a look of joy. “Senior Brother, just say the word.”
The man had been influenced by desire earlier, and his eyes were still a bit red, yet now he smiled.
An Wuxue said, “I don’t dare say it. I’m afraid that once you know what I want to do, you will punish me.”
“How could that be!”
“Words are but air. The Immortal Venerable’s cultivation is so profound; if you were to become angry and seek to settle scores, it would only take the blink of an eye, wouldn’t it?”
Xie Zhefeng immediately understood his meaning. He raised his hand, pressed his two fingers together to gather spiritual energy, and without hesitation, tapped several major meridian points on his body.
“I have sealed my own spiritual power and my divine sense,” Xie Zhefeng said seriously. “I’ve used a dead knot that I cannot untie myself. Only Senior Brother can help me undo it—can you set your mind at ease now?”
An Wuxue looked deeply at Xie Zhefeng.
He said slowly, “Before the Immortal Calamity ended, I interrogated many great demons and monsters and obtained many torturous curses from them. Are you not afraid that I will try them all on you?”
Upon hearing this, Xie Zhefeng already had his answer.
If it were so, it would mean Senior Brother hates me. If he is willing to hate me, then there will be a time when that hate is gone. Isn’t that the ending I’ve been wishing for?
But he didn’t dare say it.
He was afraid that if he spoke, his Senior Brother would change his mind, and this hard-won sliver of warmth would vanish.
An Wuxue saw his hesitation.
Unaware of Xie Zhefeng’s thoughts, he thought he was indeed considering those torturous methods.
In his previous life, he had done everything except act.
At this point, An Wuxue could only hope that after the Heartless Curse was successfully cast, Xie Zhefeng would forget the act because of the momentary desire he had stirred.
Even if he didn’t forget…
He had already experienced what it was like when this man was heartless toward him. When that time came, what he would have to worry about wasn’t whether Xie Zhefeng remembered, but how to protect himself against a heartless Xie Zhefeng.
He made up his mind and said directly, “Don’t think too much. I won’t do those things to you.”
He reached out and gently stroked Xie Zhefeng’s cheek.
The gesture was so similar to their youth when they practiced swordplay together on Falling Moon Peak that Xie Zhefeng looked at him with a mix of apprehension and overwhelming joy.
He said, “I have obtained a curse called the Heartless Curse. Those under its influence will forget all love and desire. Since you are trapped in an inner demon because of my death, I will cast this curse for you to bring everything to an end.”
Xie Zhefeng had been listening with devotion, but his expression grew increasingly unsightly. By the end, his pupils trembled, and he blurted out, “I don’t want it!”
“Junior Brother,” An Wuxue said kindly and gently, “didn’t you say you would listen to me in everything?”
Xie Zhefeng suddenly moved closer and grabbed An Wuxue’s hand, which had just been withdrawn. He sat beside him on the bed, leaning forward but with his head raised.
His posture was exceptionally humble.
“Anything but this!” he said loudly and urgently. “Where did Senior Brother get such a thing? It might just be a trick! You can do anything to me, but please, not this. I don’t want it, I don’t want it…”
As An Wuxue looked into those dark eyes and heard those words, his resolve wavered for an instant.
But once he made a decision, he would not be soft-hearted.
He spoke as he used to when teaching his junior brother, his tone gentle and persuasive: “You’ve only fallen into an obsession. What you’re thinking and feeling now is the work of that obsession. I’ll help you forget, and perhaps then you’ll feel that your current self was being foolish—”
“I won’t!”
Xie Zhefeng gripped him tightly.
Helpless, An Wuxue gave a slight wave of his hand and brushed off the currently powerless Xie Zhefeng.
The man was pushed back against the bedpost. Before he could get up, he was bound to the bed by chains An Wuxue summoned.
He immediately began to struggle.
The chains made of spiritual energy rattled, but they showed no sign of retreating.
He had sealed his own spiritual power, so before An Wuxue, he was like a common child, with no power to resist.
After binding him, An Wuxue immediately crossed his hands and began to form the hand seals for the curse.
Xie Zhefeng began to struggle even more violently.
Having lost his spiritual power, even using all his strength, he couldn’t move an inch.
That was the restriction he had placed on himself.
Without spiritual power, the illusion on Xie Zhefeng’s incarnation faded, gradually revealing his original face.
Looking at that face, An Wuxue couldn’t help but marvel at how exceptionally handsome his junior brother was.
Normally, the Immortal Venerable Chu Han always wore a cold face and was too aloof. Few in both realms dared to look at him directly, so naturally, few dared to discuss his appearance. Such a face, if not for his talent and cultivation and without anyone to protect him, would have likely been seized by some malicious cultivator to be a cultivation furnace long ago.
How could a wretch like Xie Zhui, who would go so far as to possess his own son to survive, produce such a peerless snow lotus?
And that handsome face was now filled with fear and despair.
“Senior Brother! I don’t want it, I don’t want it… you can do anything to me. Kill me, torture me. And, and those torturous methods you mentioned, anything is fine! Why don’t you try them all on me?”
“Anything but this. I don’t want to forget you.”
He struggled, but could do nothing.
The chains grew tighter and tighter. As if he had no sensation, his scraped wrists and shoulders bled, staining his spotless white robes.
“…Senior Brother… I know I was wrong. I will never say things you don’t want to hear again. I won’t disturb you. I don’t want to forget, I can’t forget…”
“I’m just remembering you, that’s all… it won’t affect you in any way… Senior Brother…”
He had never been so desperate and helpless.
Anything would be fine; he didn’t dare ask for anything.
The moment An Wuxue’s hand seal was complete, he saw the Immortal Venerable Chu Han shed tears. The tears slid down the corners of his eyes and onto the bed. The man’s white robes were soaked with blood as he begged humbly and desperately: “Senior Brother, I beg you, I beg you, no…”