Baitian really was, but how could he be this mean, subconsciously imagining someone to be this stupid!?
In the tens of thousands of years they had spent together in reality, they had gone through countless springs, and nothing like this had ever happened.
Snakes had a heat cycle.
Every spring, Zhiluoyi would inexplicably blush. He would also sleep restlessly at night. During the other seasons, he would pester Xi Yu to sleep with him, but once spring came, he would find himself a blanket and return to the side hall on his own. At first, Xi Yu hadn’t known what was going on and had even asked him about it.
Later, it was a friend who reminded him that snakes had a heat cycle.
At the time, Xi Yu had merely been relieved that his little cub had grown up and could finally find himself a wife.
But now, this, this, this…
Xi Yu hurriedly tried to pull “Zhiluoyi” away, but the little cub clung to him stubbornly.
“Let go, Zhiluoyi…” Xi Yu squeezed his eyes shut, while “Zhiluoyi,” like a piece of stubborn candy, pressed his face against Xi Yu’s neck. His hands were forceful, yet his voice was a soft plea.
“Master, I’m scared. I feel so uncomfortable.”
“Don’t… Don’t get so close to me.”
A snake’s body temperature was naturally low. The arm wrapped around his neck was cool and damp, yet the little cub’s breath was scorching hot.
It sprayed hot and rapid breaths against his neck.
“Zhiluoyi! You… You are simply being outrageous! Zhi—”
Xi Yu raised his voice, intending to frighten him into backing off, but suddenly something tightened around his waist.
He looked down and saw a long, thick, ice-cold snake tail wrapped around his waist, loosely coiling around him and refusing to let him leave.
Yet even though “Zhiluoyi” wasn’t using any force, Xi Yu still lost his footing and fell backward into the pool.
For a moment, the world spun around him. Instead of being submerged in the pool as he had expected, his back struck the white jade wall of the pool.
The water wasn’t deep, reaching only below his chest, but the splashes kicked up by the snake tail falling into the water again and again drenched Xi Yu from head to toe like a sudden rainstorm.
When he entered the second layer of the realm, the clothes on his body had transformed into the white cloud-patterned brocade robes he usually wore in the Divine Realm, comfortable and light.
Xi Yu normally loved wearing this kind of clothing, but the fabric had one fatal flaw—
When it got wet, it turned translucent.
At this moment, the brocade robe on his body looked almost as though it had been corroded away, leaving only a thin layer of gauze clinging to his skin. His neck was tilted slightly upward as he tried to avoid “Zhiluoyi’s” face pressing toward him. His tied-up long hair had become wet, and several strands stuck to his neck.
It could only be described as extremely improper.
“Master…” “Zhiluoyi” murmured as he stared at Xi Yu’s slender neck. His purple pupils narrowed into slits as he dumbly whispered, “So beautiful…”
Xi Yu had used up his spiritual power in the previous layer. He couldn’t defeat the “Zhiluoyi” within the illusion, so he could only use brute force to push him away.
After finally managing to shove him back, he looked down at his clothes and saw that the fabric clinging to his arms was transparent enough to reveal the skin beneath.
The sky was falling…
“Don’t come over!” Xi Yu pointed at “Zhiluoyi,” who had been pushed away but was already trying to come closer again. Even his voice was trembling.
“Cover your eyes!”
…………………..
“Why? Master is so beautiful. I want to look.”
“Zhiluoyi” bit his lip. His snake tail was hidden beneath the water, making it impossible to see clearly, while water trickled down his scaled, muscular chest.
Xi Yu’s heart skipped a beat. Furious and flustered, he snapped, “You’re not listening!?”
For Xi Yu to say this much already meant he was truly furious.
“Zhiluoyi” reluctantly closed his eyes, but he was still unwilling to accept it, complaining aggrievedly, “Master doesn’t care about me. I feel so uncomfortable, but being close to Master makes me feel so much better. Master can save your disciple, so why won’t you save me!?”
Xi Yu was trembling as he tried to climb out of the water, but when he saw the part of his clothing below his waist that had become soaked through, he had no choice but to sink back down.
Even though there was no one else in the illusion, he still wasn’t willing to walk outside dressed in something so indecent.
He hadn’t expected things to become this embarrassing. Xi Yu found a set of steps and sat down, exposing his upper body.
“Zhiluoyi” didn’t dare open his eyes without permission, but his mouth kept going.
“Fine, Master doesn’t care whether your disciple lives or dies. You must have found another disciple who suits you better. Then, one day, when your disciple dies…”
“What nonsense are you talking about!”
Xi Yu yanked out the jade hairpin holding his hair and casually threw it at “Zhiluoyi.” His long black hair immediately spilled down around him.
He really was getting more and more ridiculous the longer he talked.
“How can you casually say something like that?”
Prophecies were the greatest taboo. Even within an illusion, Xi Yu couldn’t bear to hear those two words.
Xi Yu had aimed carefully when he threw it. The jade hairpin struck Zhiluoyi’s chest as it fell down. It didn’t hurt him, but it naturally caused him to open his eyes.
The jade hairpin dropped into the water with a moderate splash.
Zhiluoyi pursed his lips. He naturally knew what had fallen into the water.
After being scolded, he didn’t dare argue. Without saying a word, he plunged his head into the water.
Ripples spread across the surface.
Xi Yu gave a soft snort. “What, are you trying to drown yourself?”
Xi Yu had only said it casually. Not to mention that this was an illusion—even the real one in the Divine Realm could never be drowned.
Xi Yu sat on the steps, wondering what he was supposed to do about his clothes.
After waiting for quite some time without seeing the little cub come back out of the water, he frowned and was just about to speak when he felt a slight resistance against his feet.
He looked down.
At just the right moment, “Zhiluoyi” emerged from the water, his head breaking the surface, with the jade hairpin clenched between his teeth.
In an instant, a fine net seemed to tighten around Xi Yu’s chest, thread by thread, wrapping itself around his heart.
“You…” Xi Yu stared blankly at “Zhiluoyi’s” pale purple eyes.
Within those eyes, he could see his own reflection.
An indescribable feeling rose within him, giving him a strange illusion.
It was as though “Zhiluoyi” had been born for him, destined to follow only him for his entire life.
And indeed, the Zhiluoyi within this illusion had been born only for him.
“Zhiluoyi” seemed not to notice anything unusual about Xi Yu. He lifted Xi Yu’s hand, placed the hairpin he was holding in his mouth into Xi Yu’s palm, then blinked up at him.
He was clearly a cold-blooded beast, yet his eyes were pure and innocent.
“Master, don’t be angry with me.”
“Zhiluoyi” rested his chin in Xi Yu’s palm, an extremely dependent gesture.
“I only said those things because I was feeling so uncomfortable.”
“Zhiluoyi” tilted his head. Water droplets still clung to his eyelashes, leaving them damp and glistening.
Xi Yu’s heart softened into a puddle.
This was a dream.
This was the “Zhiluoyi” created by his subconscious.
Why should he be angry?
Xi Yu scratched “Zhiluoyi’s” chin. The little cub narrowed his eyes in comfort and tilted his head upward.
“Master, whenever you touch me, I don’t feel uncomfortable anymore. How strange.”
“Master, I’m so hot and it hurts. Is it because I’ve grown two sticks? If I cut them off, will it stop hurting?”
As he spoke, Zhiluoyi conjured a dagger in his hand, looking very much as though he intended to cut off the supposed source of his illness the very next second.
“Hey, hey, hey!”
Xi Yu hurriedly snatched the dagger away. Somewhat embarrassed, he avoided “Zhiluoyi’s” innocent gaze and said quietly, “This isn’t an illness. You’re just… growing up.”
“But I’ve already grown up a long time ago.”
“It’s different. This kind of growing up means you’re ready to find yourself a wife.”
“Zhiluoyi” was shocked. He placed his hands against Xi Yu’s knees.
“I don’t want a wife. I only want Master.”
Xi Yu bit his lip, feeling terribly awkward.
Discussing whether his disciple was grown up or not—ugh, how to put it—was truly…
“Anyway, you’ll understand later. It’s not an illness, so whatever you do, don’t cut them off, okay?”
And there were two of them, at that.
Well, snakes did have two.
“Don’t cut them off, then. Master, will you stay with me forever?”
“Zhiluoyi” hooked his arms around Xi Yu’s waist, rose up, and embraced him, pressing his head against the side of Xi Yu’s neck. His voice carried a seductive quality.
“Master, will you just stay here with me forever? Between Heaven and Earth, there will only be the two of us. There will never be any more pain or worries. Just us. Okay? Master, I miss you so much. I miss you so much…”
Xi Yu stroked “Zhiluoyi’s” back.
With just a few words, “Zhiluoyi” had sketched out a warm and gentle picture in his mind.
Stay here.
There would only be “Zhiluoyi.”
“What a pity,” Xi Yu sighed. “What is fake can never truly become real.”
Even though this person had been created from his own mind, he could still be manipulated by the Dream Demon in a place like this.
These weren’t words Zhiluoyi would say.
Xi Yu pushed “Zhiluoyi” away and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, the scene had changed once more.
A desolate wasteland.
Corpses lay scattered everywhere.
The stench of blood and killing intent permeated the air.
Xi Yu lowered his eyes and looked at the tattered battle robes on his body, then sighed.
The third layer of the dreamscape—
The Endless Sea of Death.
Xi Yu stood among a sea of corpses, once again becoming an observer.
Zhiluoyi appeared again.
But this time, he was real.
These were events that had truly happened during the War Between Gods and Demons.
For the first time, Xi Yu watched from an observer’s perspective as he saw how he had treated Zhiluoyi back then.
He watched as Venerable Lanxing coldly waved away the disciple kneeling beside him.
Zhiluoyi was pushed aside, but he crawled back on his knees, grabbing onto Lanxing’s robe and pleading almost desperately.
“Please, Master. Let me sacrifice myself to the arrow.”
The spiritual power within Lanxing had been completely exhausted. Even his hands were trembling.
Xi Yu tilted his head and stared expressionlessly at himself as he kicked Zhiluoyi away.
“What are you, anyway? Do you really think sacrificing yourself to the arrow will be useful!? If it were useful, you wouldn’t even need to ask. I’d be the first one to kill you myself.”
Zhiluoyi’s shoulders trembled, tears covering his entire face.
But Lanxing’s expression was filled with disgust.
“You’re nothing more than a toy I raised in Lanyue Star Hall to amuse myself. Do you really think sacrificing yourself to the arrow will help me defeat the Demon Lord?”
No.
That’s not true, Xi Yu thought.
He wasn’t a toy kept around for amusement.
He was the disciple Xi Yu had painstakingly raised and nurtured for tens of thousands of years, the disciple he had been proud of.
Xi Yu’s chest felt heavy.
During the War Between Gods and Demons, Zhiluoyi had learned from a secret technique recorded in the ancient historical records that if a spirit beast ascended to become a god, injecting its bloodline into a magical artifact could grant it supreme divine power.
Spirit beasts capable of taking human form were everywhere, and those capable of ascending to become immortals were not uncommon either.
But a spirit beast capable of truly ascending to godhood was a rarity seen only once in ten thousand years.
When spirit beasts were born, they had not yet developed intelligence, but their flesh and blood already contained spiritual power. The Demon Realm especially loved feeding on spirit beasts.
Xi Yu had rescued Zhiluoyi from those demons back then.
The people of the Divine Realm were not cruel or bloodthirsty, but they would form contracts with spirit beasts.
Once a contract was established, all of a spirit beast’s power would become available for its master to use.
Although the spirit beast would be counted among the ranks of immortals, it would never be able to advance any further.