“I’m full. I’m going upstairs first.”
“Hey, Bro, Bro!”
Luo Cheng’an called out several times, but Xi Yu pretended not to hear him.
Luo Cheng’an hurriedly got up to follow, but Shen Qing grabbed him. “Don’t go. Sit down and eat properly.”
Xi Yu looked like he had something urgent to deal with.
Luo Cheng’an’s brows drew together slightly, a trace of coldness flashing through his eyes. Reluctantly, he sat back down.
………………..
Xi Yu returned to his room and immediately teleported to Lu Zhixing’s room. The moment he saw Lu Zhixing, his pupils suddenly contracted.
“Lu Zhixing!”
The room was pitch-black, with only a dim yellow night-light.
On the soft bed, the dark-green silk sheets were rumpled.
Lu Zhixing lay in the center, his black pajamas disheveled, exposing part of his neck and half of the black veins that refused to recede.
It hurt so badly.
It hurt so much.
Lu Zhixing was trembling from the pain, yet no matter what he did, he couldn’t suppress it.
He had used an extreme method to separate the two different powers, just so his master wouldn’t immediately discover that he possessed both divine and demonic bloodlines.
But everything came at a price.
After being separated, the two auras repelled each other. Once the demonic aura became difficult to control, it would cause tremendous pain.
Lu Zhixing curled up, cold sweat covering his forehead as his body trembled.
It had been so long.
So long since he had been in this much pain.
Twenty years in the mortal realm. It had been so long since his master had disappeared, and he hadn’t experienced pain like this.
He missed his master so much.
He missed his master.
He missed his master.
Lu Zhixing bit his lip until he could already taste blood, yet he still couldn’t stop himself from thinking about his master having dinner with Luo Cheng’an.
Almost torturing himself, Lu Zhixing kept imagining his master being together with someone else.
Then, just as his consciousness began to blur, he heard a familiar voice calling his name.
The next moment, he fell into a warm embrace carrying the faint fragrance of pear blossoms.
“Lu Zhixing!” Xi Yu’s heart jolted violently. He hurriedly channeled spiritual energy into Lu Zhixing. “Don’t be afraid.”
“Master… is that you?” Lu Zhixing grabbed Xi Yu’s wrist. “Is this a hallucination?”
“It’s me. It’s not a hallucination.”
Xi Yu pressed down on Lu Zhixing’s hand as spiritual energy continuously flowed into his body, soothing him again and again.
“Don’t let it control you.”
Divine and demonic powers repelled each other, but most of the time they suppressed one another.
The power within Lu Zhixing’s body had clearly been under control.
Two hours ago, Lu Zhixing had been perfectly fine in his room.
How had he become like this in such a short time?
What had happened during these two hours?!
Xi Yu didn’t know, and clearly Lu Zhixing couldn’t give him an answer either.
Xi Yu lowered his eyes.
Lu Zhixing’s beautiful face was pale as paper, twisted slightly by pain. The veins around his neck bulged like poisonous branches, as though they wanted to pierce through his flesh.
“Xi Yu, Xi Yu…” Lu Zhixing called.
“I’m here.”
Lu Zhixing looked at Xi Yu. His lashes were as black as crow feathers, damp with moisture, as he quietly gazed at him.
It was like this again.
Every time.
Every time he was in the most painful, unbearable state, his master would suddenly appear.
Just like when they first met—that noble god had found him barely clinging to life, tucked him into his sleeve, brought him back to Lanxing Hall, given him a name, and granted him an identity.
For tens of thousands of years, his master had spoken to him softly, accommodated him, spoiled him, and cherished him.
Huai Xi had been right.
He really didn’t know his place.
But his master was the one who had spoiled him into becoming this way.
How could he bear to let go?
He asked for nothing else.
He only wanted to drink wine and play the qin with his master beneath the pear blossom tree at Lanxing Hall.
Don’t try to steal him from me.
No one is allowed to steal him from me.
Lu Zhixing’s breathing grew rapid. Blood seeped from the corner of his bitten lips as he looked darkly at Xi Yu.
Xi Yu frowned and reached out to press a finger against Lu Zhixing’s lips. “Don’t bite.”
Lu Zhixing didn’t move. He simply stared at Xi Yu in a daze.
Xi Yu sighed helplessly and pinched his cheeks. With a little force, he finally freed Lu Zhixing’s lips, which had been thoroughly abused by his own teeth.
Xi Yu asked, “Feeling any better?”
Lu Zhixing didn’t answer.
Instead, his curled-up body suddenly moved.
He raised his hand, hooked it around Xi Yu’s neck, and used the leverage to pull himself forward, wrapping Xi Yu tightly in his arms.
Their chests pressed tightly together.
Xi Yu’s eyes widened slightly, but then he heard Lu Zhixing’s trembling voice.
“Don’t look…”
“Xi Yu… don’t look…”
“So ugly.”
Lu Zhixing’s voice was unsteady as he buried his head against Xi Yu’s neck, revealing an extreme sense of inferiority.
He held Xi Yu tightly, as though afraid he would be pushed away, and therefore only tightened his embrace further.
Xi Yu was squeezed until it hurt a little, and his heartbeat quickened.
It took him a moment to understand what Lu Zhixing meant by ugly.
He was talking about the veins on his body.
“Not ugly,” Xi Yu said.
Lu Zhixing’s face was simply too beautiful. The black veins extended like branches, but they stopped at his neck and behind his ears.
They might look somewhat frightening to an ordinary person, but Xi Yu wasn’t ordinary. Most demons were hideous, and he had seen all kinds of strange demons before.
Lu Zhixing merely had a little blackness running through his veins.
Xi Yu comforted him. “Your face is so beautiful that it makes this thing look like an ornament.”
Xi Yu wasn’t lying.
Sometimes, when he watched television dramas and saw the male or female leads turn evil, they would deliberately apply makeup like this.
Lu Zhixing was beautiful. A little something like this was no big deal.
“Really?” Lu Zhixing hooked his arms around Xi Yu’s neck and looked at him, the corners of his eyes tinged red. He asked cautiously, “You don’t find me disgusting?”
Lu Zhixing’s eyes were far too fragile.
Like a puppy standing by the roadside in the rain, its fur soaked through, gazing at the only person who had stopped for it—pleading and afraid at the same time.
Xi Yu’s heart skipped a beat.
It was as though someone had cut a lemon in half, squeezed the juice out with their hands, and poured it directly over his heart.
A wet, aching sourness spread through him.
He should have been a favored child of heaven.
Yet because he carried two opposing powers, he had become someone so insecure and afraid.
Xi Yu cupped Lu Zhixing’s face, his fingertips gently stroking his cheek, his voice both gentle and firm.
“Not ugly at all. You’re the beautiful Lu Zhixing.”
Lu Zhixing blinked.
The moisture in his eyes suddenly increased because of those words of reassurance, gathering into a crystal-clear tear that trembled at the corner of his eye before falling.
The veins around his neck began to recede, turning back into smooth, delicate skin.
The tear landed on the web between Xi Yu’s thumb and index finger.
It felt as though Xi Yu’s own blood stopped flowing along with that tear.
“Xi Yu, it hurts so much,” Lu Zhixing said, his voice hoarse, filled with grievance and pain.
Xi Yu blinked and began to blame himself.
Although he didn’t know why he felt guilty.
He simply felt that he had done something wrong.
As though he were a very, very bad person.
Xi Yu wiped away the tear from the corner of his eye. “If it hurt this badly, why didn’t you call me?”
“I was afraid I’d disturb you.” Lu Zhixing rubbed his face against Xi Yu’s palm. “I was afraid you’d find me disgusting.”
“I won’t. You won’t disturb me, and I won’t find you disgusting.”
Lu Zhixing looked at Xi Yu.
After a long moment, he burrowed into his arms.
The fine pain throughout his body gradually faded, leaving behind an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.
Master—
Is his—
No one is allowed to steal him—
No one is allowed to steal him!
Xi Yu didn’t leave that night. He stayed with Lu Zhixing the entire time, afraid that something might happen to him.
Early the next morning, after the sun rose and he saw that Lu Zhixing’s aura was stable, Xi Yu quietly left.
The instant Xi Yu’s figure disappeared from the balcony, Lu Zhixing opened his eyes.
The next second, a powerful strike came at him.
He blocked it with his backhand.
Luo Cheng’an gritted his teeth and snarled at Lu Zhixing, “You scheming bastard!”
Lu Zhixing slowly sat up. “So what? Master held me in his arms all night and didn’t dare let go even once.”
…………………..
Lu Zhixing’s eyes carried the air of a victor as he slowly stroked the mattress beside him.
It was still warm, carrying a faint fragrance of pear blossoms, bearing witness to the kind of person who had slept there the night before.
Luo Cheng’an’s eyes nearly split with rage. His murderous aura surged, and a long sword condensed in his palm. He was about to charge at Lu Zhixing.
How dare this lowly spirit beast provoke him!
Lu Zhixing leaned against the headboard, his sleepy eyes carrying a hint of mockery as he lazily stated, “You can’t beat me.”
If looks could kill, Luo Cheng’an would have already hacked Lu Zhixing into a thousand pieces.
He raised his sword and charged straight toward Lu Zhixing’s brow.
Lu Zhixing didn’t even blink.
He watched the sword stop just inches from his forehead, without a trace of spiritual energy around it.
“Huai Xi, you don’t dare touch me.” Lu Zhixing pressed the sword down with one fingertip and said quietly, “You’re afraid your spiritual energy will leak out and be discovered.”
Luo Cheng’an gritted his teeth. After a long moment, he withdrew his sword.
Lu Zhixing was right.
He really was afraid of being discovered.
Inside the Misty Forest, he could control his spiritual energy and keep Xi Yu from noticing.
But Xi Yu wasn’t inside the illusion now. Once they fought, there was no way Xi Yu wouldn’t notice.
“You’re even more afraid than I am,” Luo Cheng’an said coldly. “I’ll just wait and see the day your demonic identity is exposed and he abandons you. I hope you can still be this smug then.”
“When Zhuohua returns, he’ll see through your disguise at a glance. Then we’ll see whether you can still laugh.”
Lu Zhixing stood up, the corners of his lips curling slightly. “You don’t need to worry about that. With the time you have, you’d be better off figuring out how to imitate me properly.”
“How is it that after putting so much effort into imitating me, Master still chose me first?”
Lu Zhixing adopted an almost helpful expression, though his voice was filled with malice.
“Looks like your imitation still isn’t convincing enough. How about I—teach you?”
Luo Cheng’an withdrew the sword formed from spiritual energy, but his anger only intensified. He instantly appeared in front of Lu Zhixing and grabbed him by the throat, the veins on his forehead bulging.
“You’re nothing but a demon. I’ll see how long you can keep gloating!”
Silver tongue. A petty man who had gotten lucky.
Luo Cheng’an tightened his grip, almost unable to suppress the urge to kill him.