But with his strength, it was no different from an ant trying to shake a tree.
Xi Yu sensed that the barrier had been broken and teleported back. What he saw upon his return was this scene.
Lu Zhixing held a bag of moon-white candied fruit in one hand, while his other hand was clamped around Jiang Yunzheng’s neck. Jiang Yunzheng’s struggles had already grown weaker.
…………….
Xi Yu thought, This is bad! and hurriedly shouted, “Zhuli!”
As he shouted, he drew Liuyun and charged straight at Lu Zhixing.
Lu Zhixing had no defenses against him whatsoever. Liuyun’s power was immense, and Lu Zhixing was instantly flung against the wall before falling to the ground.
By the time he looked toward Xi Yu, Xi Yu had already reached out and caught Jiang Yunzheng, who was on the verge of losing consciousness.
Jiang Yunzheng had already lost too much blood and was extremely fragile. Lu Zhixing’s grip had left him barely able to think clearly.
Xi Yu was overwhelmed with self-reproach, but even more than that, he was terrified by what might have happened.
He lifted Jiang Yunzheng horizontally in his arms and placed him on the qilin bone bed, which could nourish and restore a person’s soul.
Lu Zhixing struggled to his feet, wiped the blood from his mouth, and immediately reached for Xi Yu, trying to pull him away.
“How can you hold him? This is my bed! What gives him the right to—”
“Get lost!”
Xi Yu spun around and slapped Lu Zhixing across the face. He then set up a barrier around the bone bed to prevent Lu Zhixing from hurting Jiang Yunzheng again.
This slap was vicious and forceful, completely different from the slap Xi Yu had given him a few days earlier, which had been meant to humiliate him and carried no spiritual power.
Lu Zhixing’s head was knocked to one side, and his lips were stained a vivid crimson with blood. It was as though that single slap had knocked his senses back into place. He stood frozen, then slowly turned his head, his voice hoarse.
“You hit me… for his sake?”
Lu Zhixing spoke very slowly. It was a question, an expression of disbelief and bewilderment at the reality before his eyes.
Xi Yu frowned as he looked at him, his gaze settling on Lu Zhixing’s bloodshot, bewildered eyes.
In that instant, Xi Yu felt as though a sharp blade were viciously twisting inside his chest.
Jiang Yunzheng was still in the room. Xi Yu took two steps forward, grabbed Lu Zhixing by the hair, and in the next instant, the two of them arrived in Lu Zhixing’s room.
As soon as Xi Yu landed, he yanked Lu Zhixing by the hair and flung him onto the bed. He knelt with one knee beside him, then seized his chin.
“What are you trying to do? I’m asking you, what are you trying to do?!”
He had not even dared to imagine what would have happened if he had arrived a moment too late.
The demonic aura surrounding Zhuli was so overwhelming. Just now, he had genuinely wanted to kill Jiang Yunzheng.
Only at that moment did Xi Yu realize how selfish he had been. He had used Jiang Yunzheng’s blood and then placed him in such a dangerous situation. He had been far too arrogant, believing that as long as he was around, Zhuli would not be able to hurt Jiang Yunzheng.
Fury burned in Xi Yu’s eyes like pillars of ice, yet for the first time, Lu Zhixing did not back down.
He gripped Xi Yu’s wrist, his voice cold as frost.
“Shizun, I should be the one asking you that. What are you trying to do?”
He had originally thought that since Shizun hated him, at the very least, during the half month they had to wait for the Nine Stars to Align with the Moon, Shizun would not become involved with anyone else.
But now, what had he seen?
“You gave him the candied fruit you made for me. You walk him home every day, even though the distance is so short. And now you’ve even let him wear your sleeping clothes and sleep on the qilin bone bed you made for me!” Lu Zhixing gritted his teeth. “Shizun, you’re trying to kill me!”
He knew all too well how fiercely protective Shizun could be. Back then, he had coaxed and wheedled Shizun, acting spoiled until Shizun promised not to give those things to anyone else. They were meant for him alone.
Shizun had agreed. He had given his word!
But now, he had given all those things to Jiang Yunzheng. How could he give them to someone else?
Did this mean that Shizun no longer even hated him? Because only by completely disregarding him, acting as though he had never existed, could Shizun accept someone else so quickly.
Did Shizun like Jiang Yunzheng? Otherwise, why would he give him all those things?
Had Jiang Yunzheng completely taken the place that had once belonged to him?
Lu Zhixing’s eyes were bloodshot, and a fierce, icy glint shot from them.
Xi Yu was momentarily dazed. He had never seen Zhuli look at him with such an expression before: one filled with pain, unwillingness, and even hatred.
Zhuli hates him…
Zhuli is beginning to hate him…
Fine. Just fine.
Xi Yu straightened up. As he lowered his eyes, his gaze fell upon the bag clenched tightly in Lu Zhixing’s hand. A mocking smile curled at the corners of his mouth.
“Have you forgotten? You’re no longer my disciple. Those things haven’t belonged to you for a long time.”
With that, Xi Yu bent down. Without using any spiritual power, he slowly pried Lu Zhixing’s fingers apart, one by one.
He maintained eye contact with Lu Zhixing.
Lu Zhixing clutched the bag tightly, but Xi Yu still managed to pry his hand open. The movement was slow, and to Lu Zhixing, it felt like a silent execution by a thousand cuts.
Right before Lu Zhixing’s eyes, Xi Yu pulled the bag free and threw it into the trash can.
Lu Zhixing’s gaze followed Xi Yu’s movements. He felt that what had been thrown into the trash was not a bag of candied fruit, but himself.
He was trash, utterly discarded by his Shizun.
Xi Yu looked down at Lu Zhixing from above. As though even that had not been enough to vent his anger, he continued, “Trying to kill you? Zhuli, do you have any idea how much I hate the fact that I can’t kill you?”
Xi Yu’s words sent a bone-deep chill through every inch of Lu Zhixing’s body, as though he had fallen into an icy hell.
The room was so quiet that even a needle dropping could be heard.
Xi Yu turned around expressionlessly. Only when he saw the empty liquor bottles scattered across the corner of the room did he understand where the strong smell of alcohol on Lu Zhixing had come from.
Xi Yu’s eyelashes trembled. With his back turned to Lu Zhixing, his voice was icy and warning, completely at odds with the pain and reluctance he was trying to suppress.
“If you dare touch Jiang Yunzheng again, don’t blame me for showing no mercy.”
Xi Yu finished speaking and was about to leave, but he suddenly stopped when he heard a faint laugh behind him.
He turned his head and looked at Lu Zhixing.
Lu Zhixing sat on the edge of the bed, the mocking curve of his lips painfully glaring. He seemed to have heard the greatest joke in the world as he repeated Xi Yu’s words.
“No mercy?”
Lu Zhixing slowly rose to his feet and walked up to Xi Yu. Then he spoke slowly.
“Have you ever had any feelings for me? Our bond as master and disciple, which lasted for tens of millions of years, was discarded by you as though it were worthless. And in just a few short days, Jiang Yunzheng has already taken my place. Lanxing, I really do want to see just how heartless you can still be toward me.”
Xi Yu regarded Lu Zhixing with some wariness.
“You can try.”
Lu Zhixing’s face seemed shrouded in dark clouds, his composure carrying the stillness before an approaching storm.
He looked at Xi Yu but did not bring up Jiang Yunzheng again. Instead, he returned to what Xi Yu had just said about hating that he could not kill him.
“You hate demons the most. You should know that the Annihilation Formation can strip away demonic energy.”
When Xi Yu heard the words Annihilation Formation, he showed no surprise whatsoever. There was not even the slightest change in his expression.
Lu Zhixing continued, “Shizun, I originally wanted to return Zhuli to you, clean and pure. But why do you have to force me? Why can’t you even wait half a month?”
Why was it so easy for him to transfer the special treatment he had once reserved for Lu Zhixing to someone else?
Lu Zhixing had already been forcing himself not to think about how someone else might accompany Xi Yu if he died. But why did Xi Yu have to push him? Why did he have to make Lu Zhixing witness it with his own eyes?
Xi Yu stared at Lu Zhixing, and his suspicions were confirmed. Zhuli really did intend to activate the Annihilation Formation.
Ever since Zhuli had obtained the Prophetic Feather, Xi Yu had been trying to guess why he wanted it.
Zhuli had fallen into demonic cultivation because he wanted to reshape himself.
Zhuli had no ambition to unify the Three Realms. What he feared most was being abandoned by Xi Yu. Aside from activating the Annihilation Formation, Xi Yu could think of no other reason Zhuli would summon the Prophetic Feather.
Even though he had suspected this all along, Xi Yu could no longer contain himself. Despite trying again and again to suppress his emotions, his voice still trembled almost imperceptibly.
“Strip away your demonic energy?”
Xi Yu suddenly clamped a hand around Lu Zhixing’s neck, a violent surge of rage crashing through his chest.
“The first Demon Venerable wanted to strip away his demonic energy and reclaim his divine status, so he created the Annihilation Formation. But even he, despite possessing divine bones, met a fate in which both his body and soul were destroyed! You don’t even have divine bones now. How are you supposed to return a clean and pure Zhuli to me?!”
……………………
Compared with Xi Yu’s fury, Lu Zhixing appeared remarkably calm.
“So you really did know I intended to activate the Annihilation Formation.”
There was hatred and disgust on Xi Yu’s face, but not the slightest trace of surprise.
From the moment he had exposed himself, Lu Zhixing had known that Xi Yu could probably guess why he wanted the Prophetic Feather.
But he had not told Xi Yu, and Xi Yu had never given him the chance to explain.
At that moment, Lu Zhixing wanted to ask Xi Yu something.
Since Xi Yu had known all along, and had also known that once the Annihilation Formation was activated, Lu Zhixing would have almost no chance of surviving, why?
The Nine Stars would align with the Moon in half a month, counting from the day they returned. Now, at most, only eight days remained.
Why, even with so little time left, was Xi Yu unwilling to wait? Why, despite knowing that Lu Zhixing was going to die, would he not even spare him a kind expression?
“Since you know everything, you know that I love you. You know that I can’t bear seeing someone else so easily take my place. You know that entering the Annihilation Formation means almost certain death for me. So why can’t you just wait a little longer?”
Lu Zhixing slowly pried Xi Yu’s hand away, speaking every word as though it were soaked in blood.
“It’s only half a month! Have you really become so impatient that you can’t even wait that long? Are you already in such a hurry to coax someone new?! Is he really that good? Do you really like him that much?!”
Lu Zhixing’s face twisted with jealousy. Gripping Xi Yu’s shoulders, he questioned him furiously. He looked like someone who had been abandoned after having his heart toyed with, someone who had fallen from the clouds into the mud and lost all reason, becoming utterly hysterical.
Xi Yu’s shoulders hurt from Lu Zhixing’s grip, but his mind was in complete disarray.
Instinctively, he sensed danger. His reason told him that he could not provoke Zhuli any further.
But the truth was that he had never intended to use Jiang Yunzheng to provoke Zhuli.
He had become involved with Jiang Yunzheng because he had used his blood. As for those other things, they were simply the items most suitable for Jiang Yunzheng at present.
Those things had indeed been given to Zhuli by him, and he had been somewhat reluctant to give them to anyone else.
But just like the jade-colored flower he had given Xiaoman, these were all things that Zhuli no longer had any use for. If those items could resolve the predicament they were facing, Xi Yu would not hesitate to use them.
Whether it was the jade-colored flower or the candied fruit and qilin bone bed now, they were all things Zhuli no longer needed.
He had used those things as compensation for Jiang Yunzheng’s sacrifice of blood simply because he did not want to owe anyone anything.
But he had forgotten one thing: those were things he had given to Zhuli. Strictly speaking, they no longer belonged to him.