After saying that, Xi Yu hurried away.
Lu Zhixing remained where he was. After a long while, he raised his head. His pupils were bloodred, and the red mark between his brows flickered in and out of view.
When Xi Yu returned to the living room, everyone was still chatting. He greeted them before turning to head upstairs.
Seeing this, Jiang Yunzheng hurriedly stood up and asked whether Xi Yu was free tomorrow. He wanted to treat him to a meal, just the two of them, to thank him properly.
Xi Yu was about to say there was no need when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Lu Zhixing standing at the doorway, watching Jiang Yunzheng with a sinister gaze. The words at the tip of his tongue took a sudden turn.
“Sure.”
Jiang Yunzheng had assumed that someone as cold and distant as Xi Yu wouldn’t agree. He had already prepared himself for rejection. Hearing the answer, his eyes suddenly lit up.
“Then I’ll come find you tomorrow. I’m living right next door now. How about I come over at eleven?”
Xi Yu nodded, then turned and went upstairs.
Luo Cheng’an thoughtfully watched Jiang Yunzheng’s delighted expression. Immediately afterward, he saw Lu Zhixing walk in through the doorway and furrowed his brows slightly.
Seeing that Xi Yu had already gone back upstairs, Jiang Shuhe turned to look at her own son. She felt that after this trip, Lu Zhixing seemed even more off than before.
Looking at Lu Zhixing, Lu Zheng became even more certain of his guess.
His son had definitely confessed his feelings and been rejected.
How tragic, Lu Zheng thought.
Everyone in the living room had their own thoughts. Apart from Jiang Yunzheng, the happiest person there was probably Luo Yuan.
Using the excuse that it was getting late, he sent everyone home. Then, after driving Luo Cheng’an upstairs as well, he wrapped his arms around his wife and chuckled gleefully.
Shen Qing rolled her eyes helplessly. “You’re an elder. Why are you competing with the younger generation? What’s so bad about Zhixing that you’re taking such pleasure in his misfortune?”
How could Shen Qing fail to notice the strange atmosphere between Lu Zhixing and Xi Yu? They were completely different from how they’d been before leaving. She knew the group hadn’t actually gone traveling.
Before leaving, Xi Yu had been so protective of Lu Zhixing. But now that they’d returned, the two hadn’t exchanged a single word. Even the expression on Xi Yu’s face when he’d just called Lu Zhixing outside had been unusually cold.
A great deal must have happened while they were away.
But neither Xi Yu nor Luo Cheng’an was saying anything, so she didn’t feel comfortable asking.
Luo Yuan didn’t care that his wife had scolded him. He said bluntly, “I just don’t like that kid. He’s got too many tricks up his sleeve. Looking at how things are between them now, I bet his carefully cultivated image has fallen apart.”
Luo Yuan’s guess could be called dead-on.
Shen Qing didn’t think there was anything particularly wrong with Lu Zhixing being a little calculating, but she didn’t argue the point with Luo Yuan either.
Whom Xi Yu liked, and whom he didn’t like, was his own business. She would always respect her child.
Shen Qing said nothing. Luo Yuan put an arm around her as they headed upstairs, but he continued talking.
“If you ask me, that boy Yunzheng is pretty good. If Xiao Yu really does like men, I’d rather see him get together with Yunzheng.”
Jiang Yunzheng had been visiting every few days. Even if Shen Qing and Luo Yuan hadn’t realized anything was amiss at first, how could they fail to see it after all this time?
Especially today, when Xi Yu returned. Jiang Yunzheng’s gaze had been impossible to conceal.
“Why?” Shen Qing asked.
She thought Lu Zhixing was the better choice.
Luo Yuan snorted a couple of times. “That boy Jiang Yunzheng has a good personality. Most importantly, he’s straightforward to the core. He’ll definitely listen to Xiao Yu in the future, and he won’t play any mind games. Lu Zhixing is different. On the surface, he seems to obey Xiao Yu in everything, but in reality, he’d love nothing more than to tuck Xiao Yu into his pocket and keep him all to himself. He has one little scheme after another. If the two of them really get together, I’m afraid Xiao Yu will be so thoroughly manipulated by him that he’ll have no status in the family.”
By “status in the family,” Luo Yuan meant it quite literally. He wasn’t talking about which partner indulged the other more.
There was always a distinction between two men.
His son looked like the one who would take the dominant role. If he got together with Jiang Yunzheng, it would be like marrying a male wife into the family.
But Lu Zhixing certainly didn’t look like the one who would take the submissive role either. If both of them wanted the same position… one of them would have to give way.
If they fought it out head-on, his son certainly wouldn’t lose. He was more than capable of holding his own.
But what if Lu Zhixing started using all those manipulative, sweet-talking tricks of his, whispering into Xiao Yu’s ear at night? Luo Yuan was worried!!!
His son absolutely could not be the one who married out into someone else’s family!
Shen Qing didn’t understand all his convoluted reasoning. She gave him a shove. “Oh, give it a rest. Children have their own blessings. Let them decide whom they like.”
She still thought Lu Zhixing was the better choice. Most importantly, she could sense that Xi Yu probably had feelings for him.
That was a woman’s intuition.
Meanwhile, at the Jiang residence.
Jiang Yunzheng lay on the floor of his room, still holding a bath towel.
Lu Zhixing manipulated the spiritual power in his hand and slowly raised it.
……………………..
He was both divine and demonic. Although he no longer had a divine bone, his spiritual power remained, allowing him to control the two kinds of power within his body.
To avoid being hated, Lu Zhixing had never used his demonic aura. So at this moment, golden spiritual power swirled in his hand. He tilted his head and looked at Jiang Yunzheng as though he were a puddle of mud.
Jiang Yunzheng was unconscious. The lines of his face were soft, giving the impression of someone with a very good temper.
But now, Lu Zhixing found that the more he looked at that face, the more irritating it became.
This man liked his Master and had even wanted to invite his Master out.
What Lu Zhixing found most unbearable was that, with everything already in such a chaotic state, Xi Yu had actually agreed to Jiang Yunzheng’s invitation.
Of course. His Master had always liked that sort of person.
Then he would just kill him.
All he had to do was kill Jiang Yunzheng.
Once Jiang Yunzheng was dead, no one would dare flirt with his Master right under his nose.
With a turn of his hand, Lu Zhixing condensed the spiritual power in his palm into a dagger and made it float in midair.
Even in his unconscious state, Jiang Yunzheng seemed to sense the approaching danger. His brows drew together uneasily.
A faint red glow appeared in Lu Zhixing’s long, narrow phoenix eyes, making his expression sinister and terrifying.
He moved his fingertips slightly, and the dagger conjured from spiritual power shot straight toward Jiang Yunzheng. But just as it approached Jiang Yunzheng’s neck, it abruptly dissipated.
Lu Zhixing lowered his hand. The fingertips resting at his side trembled faintly. It was the backlash from launching an attack and then stopping it at the very last moment.
Jiang Yunzheng couldn’t die. Given how much his Master detested him now, if Jiang Yunzheng died, his Master would undoubtedly suspect him.
But he really wanted to kill someone. He wanted to kill everyone in this world.
Xi Yu’s words suddenly surfaced in Lu Zhixing’s mind. To prevent him from killing people, Xi Yu would have to keep him by his side.
So this was the demonic bloodline.
All his resentment, hatred, and negative emotions surged toward him at once, making him unable to resist the urge to kill.
Lu Zhixing glanced at Jiang Yunzheng with disgust, then disappeared from the room.
At the same time, in his own room, Xi Yu raised his hand and dispelled the Liuying Mirror.
His heart finally settled back into his chest. The flowing cloud, which he’d had ready to strike at a moment’s notice, now curled back around his arm.
Thank goodness. Zhi Li isn’t being affected too deeply yet. He hasn’t reached the point of indiscriminately slaughtering innocent people.
But Xi Yu understood clearly that the only reason Zhi Li could still control himself was because he had reservations.
If the demonic aura within Zhi Li grew stronger and stronger in the future, then every dark aspect of his heart would be magnified. By then, he would become utterly wicked, committing every kind of evil. The name Zhi Li would be nailed to a pillar of shame, and he would become someone everyone cursed and despised.
He wouldn’t let Zhi Li become like that.
\*
The following morning.
After breakfast, Xi Yu lounged in a hanging basket chair in the back garden of the Luo residence.
The hydrangeas in the garden were pink, blue, and white, dazzlingly beautiful.
The autumn sunlight wasn’t too harsh. The hanging basket was spacious, and Xi Yu leaned back against it with a thin blanket covering his legs. His eyes lowered, he took a storybook out of his ring and flipped through it.
Jiang Xuewei and Luo Cheng’an entered the garden and saw this scene.
Even though she was already very familiar with Xi Yu’s face, Jiang Xuewei’s heart still skipped a beat at the sight before her.
Sunlight filtered through the hanging basket and fell upon Xi Yu, making his skin seem almost luminous. His long legs rested casually, with one foot dangling outside the basket. His ankle was fair, a prominent bone jutting out beneath the skin.
Jiang Xuewei thought that Xi Yu looked like an illusion outlined by light and shadow, so beautiful that he seemed about to ascend to immortality at any moment.
Luo Cheng’an cast a sidelong glance at Jiang Xuewei. The faint curve of his lips was barely noticeable unless one looked closely. He wondered how Jiang Xuewei would react if she saw Lanxing’s face.
Jiang Xuewei was still dazed. Luo Cheng’an cleared his throat, bringing her back to her senses.
Only then did Jiang Xuewei realize how ridiculous she’d looked just now. Her face immediately turned bright red.
Luo Cheng’an, however, had already walked toward Xi Yu, calling out as he approached, “Brother, Miss Jiang is here to see you.”
Xi Yu pressed the book beneath the blanket. When his hand emerged again, it was empty. He turned his head but didn’t climb out of the hanging basket. Instead, he looked toward Jiang Xuewei against the sunlight.
For some inexplicable reason, Jiang Xuewei felt a little nervous. But this was no time to be nervous!!!
“Brother Yu, my brother caught a chill last night and developed a fever. He can’t have lunch with you today. He asked me to come over and let you know.”
“A fever?” Xi Yu lifted the blanket and sat upright. “Is it serious?”
Jiang Xuewei hesitated, then nodded. “His fever hasn’t gone down yet, and he can’t even get out of bed. Otherwise, he would definitely have come to see you himself.”
Jiang Xuewei felt sorry for Jiang Yunzheng, too. The person he liked had finally agreed to his invitation, only for his own body to let him down and make him sick.
Jiang Yunzheng had already been lying on his bed, groaning and complaining for ages. He kept insisting that he was fine and could endure it, until his grandfather brought down his walking stick. Only then did he finally behave himself.
Jiang Xuewei could only come over and inform Xi Yu. Neither she nor her brother had Xi Yu’s contact information.
“Then, Brother Yu, Brother Cheng’an, I’ll head back first.”
Luo Cheng’an nodded.
But Xi Yu had already climbed out of the hanging basket. “I’ll go see him.”
Luo Cheng’an froze for a moment, then smiled. “Then I’ll also—”
Xi Yu cut him off. “You stay home.”
After saying that, Xi Yu left with Jiang Xuewei and headed toward the Jiang residence.
Watching the two of them walk away, Luo Cheng’an’s face was filled with irritation and unease.
Xi Yu still wasn’t willing to talk to him. He didn’t even want to look at him.
Thinking of this, Luo Cheng’an turned his head and looked toward the balcony of the Lu residence.
The balcony was completely empty, yet the corners of Luo Cheng’an’s lips lifted slightly.