After a while, Lu Zhixing stood up, his legs numb and completely without sensation.
The flower in Xi Yu’s hand had already been crushed beyond recognition, petal after petal falling to the floor.
The light in the room was not very bright, and there were still shadows in the corners. Lu Zhixing stepped out from the shadows, his expression becoming extremely calm, almost to the point of indifference.
Lu Zhixing looked at Xi Yu and said in a low voice, “My aura lost control today because something was calling to me.”
Xi Yu’s hand paused. He suddenly remembered something he had forgotten because of Lu Zhixing’s loss of control.
That wisp of something outside the sanatorium.
“Calling you? Then you…” Xi Yu raised his eyes, but when he saw Lu Zhixing’s face clearly, he abruptly changed the subject. “What happened to your face?”
……………………………..
Lu Zhixing touched his face.
But Xi Yu had already thrown aside the flower and walked over. He lifted Lu Zhixing’s chin, his brows tightly furrowed. “Who hit you?”
Lu Zhixing shook his head and tried to pull away.
Xi Yu would not let him. His gaze turned cold. “Who did it?”
Xi Yu’s expression was icy, and his usually sparkling eyes carried a sharpness that seemed to say that as long as Lu Zhixing gave him a name, he would personally kill that person.
Looking at Xi Yu’s expression, the psychological preparation Lu Zhixing had spent so long making, forcing himself to accept his fate, suddenly turned into unwillingness again.
His Master was so good.
But precisely because he was so good, how could Lu Zhixing bear to leave him?
But why did this goodness have to be given to “Lu Zhixing”?
Lu Zhixing felt like he was insane. He had cast aside Zhiyi’s identity and approached his Master, wanting to coax his Master into treating him well.
But when his Master really did treat him well, he began to feel jealous again.
Jealous of why his Master had to be good to “Lu Zhixing.”
Lu Zhixing’s eyelashes trembled. As Zhiyi’s soul, he was jealous, yet as Lu Zhixing’s body, he found it impossible to refuse. He lowered his head and rubbed against Xi Yu’s palm, quietly saying, “I hate myself.”
He hated himself for being Lu Zhixing, the one you cared about.
He hated himself for becoming the Demon Venerable as Zhiyi.
“I hate that I couldn’t control myself and did those things to you, so…”
Lu Zhixing’s words pulled Xi Yu back into that absurd, humid kiss.
He finally understood that Lu Zhixing had hit himself.
“Ahem.” Xi Yu cleared his throat, the coldness fading from his eyes. After using his spiritual power to erase the marks on Lu Zhixing’s face, he finally withdrew his hand. “What were we talking about just now? You said a demon was calling you?”
The soft palm withdrew, leaving Lu Zhixing’s heart feeling somewhat empty, but he still nodded.
“Over the past few days, I’ve always felt a force calling to me, making me want to go toward that sanatorium.”
Lu Zhixing paused after speaking.
“When you’re by my side, it’s fine. Maybe the aura on you makes it afraid. But today, when you weren’t there, I was drawn in by that aura…”
Lu Zhixing did not finish, but Xi Yu already understood.
When he was not there, Lu Zhixing could not control himself.
Xi Yu walked to the bedside and sat down. He was certain that he had already slaughtered the demon race to extinction.
But demons were the products of hatred, greed, desire, and obsession. As long as those things existed, demons would always exist.
Yet cultivating into human form was not easy. The demonic breath inside Lu Zhixing’s body was already so powerful that Xi Yu had found it suspicious.
And now another demon had appeared, one that could even disrupt the aura inside Lu Zhixing’s body.
Xi Yu’s expression grew solemn.
A new demon?
One Lu Zhixing was already troublesome enough. And now another demon had appeared.
But to be able to influence Lu Zhixing…
“Are you sure you were affected by that aura?”
Lu Zhixing nodded.
How could that be?
The aura he had sensed had been extremely faint.
“I’ll go take a look tomorrow.”
Never mind. He would know what exactly it was after taking a look tomorrow.
Since it was calling Lu Zhixing, it definitely would not have gone too far.
Xi Yu was tired. He really had no energy today. He had given Lu Zhixing a great deal of the spiritual power in his body, so he needed to rest.
Xi Yu yawned and lay back down on the bed. He vaguely felt that he had gotten out of bed just now to do something, but he had forgotten what it was.
Whatever, Xi Yu thought.
Seeing Xi Yu lie down, Lu Zhixing turned around and opened the floor-to-ceiling window.
“Where are you going?” Xi Yu drowsily patted the empty half of the bed. “Didn’t you say you’d be affected if you left me? Then come over.”
Lu Zhixing’s footsteps stopped.
He looked at Xi Yu.
Xi Yu had already closed his eyes. Under the dim yellow light, his features had softened. He looked like an elegant cat—no longer so difficult to approach while asleep, even his fur seeming softer.
Without hesitation, Lu Zhixing moved over and slipped beneath the covers.
Xi Yu did not even open his eyes. He snapped his fingers, and the lights went out, plunging the room into complete darkness.
Xi Yu did not see the heat in Lu Zhixing’s eyes.
And Lu Zhixing also missed the faint flush beside Xi Yu’s ear.
In the silent room, two intertwined breaths overlapped, along with heartbeats so close together they could almost be heard.
The next morning, when Xi Yu woke up, Lu Zhixing was already gone from the bedside.
Xi Yu breathed a sigh of relief, yet there was also a faint feeling of disappointment.
It was simply too faint—so faint that even he himself did not notice it.
But the kiss from the previous night was etched clearly into his mind.
Xi Yu opened the curtains, and the room immediately filled with bright sunlight, as if it could dry away all the dampness.
Yet the brighter the sunlight was, the more ashamed Xi Yu felt.
How had he ended up kissing Zhiyi?
How could he kiss his own disciple?!
Xi Yu had known for a long time that Lu Zhixing was Zhiyi. He had already realized it during the variety show.
That plate of delicious little greens was something he had found bland and disappointing back in the Heavenly Realm, yet after being reborn, he had missed it for a long time.
At first, he really had been deceived by the scene inside the ring and believed Lu Zhixing was merely a vessel.
Later, Lu Zhixing’s little mannerisms and the tone of his voice gave Xi Yu a very familiar feeling. But he had never dared to be certain, thinking it was only the influence of Zhiyi’s spiritual power.
Or perhaps he simply did not dare to hope for something so beautiful.
But he could not possibly have mistaken it.
Those were Zhiyi’s habitual little mannerisms, things that even Zhiyi himself might not have noticed.
Xi Yu had been observing him all along.
What truly confirmed it was that plate of food.
That was why he had tested Lu Zhixing, afraid that this body was being controlled by demonic breath.
Lu Zhixing was the vessel.
But this vessel was actually Zhiyi’s true body.
All that talk about how “Lu Zhixing’s” body was special and had been chosen to become a vessel…
No matter how special a mortal was, how could a mortal body contain two kinds of power?
It turned out that he had used his own true body as the vessel, integrating all the power to suppress the Demon Venerable.
Waiting for the Chosen One to descend.
“But it’s nothing more than…” Xi Yu murmured, “a reunion between master and disciple.”
Whatever Chosen One there was— to him, it was nothing more than a reunion between master and disciple.
Calling himself a vessel inside the ring was probably simply because he did not want to reveal his identity.
But…
A reunion between master and disciple was one thing.
What the hell did this accidental kiss mean?!
Frustrated, Xi Yu threw a few punches into the air, looking like an immature elementary school student.
Everything in Zhiyi’s memories related to him had been erased by Xi Yu. It was practically impossible for them to recover, and even Xi Yu’s current cultivation was insufficient to repair them.
But even if Zhiyi had his memories, after entering mortal reincarnation, he would not have brought those memories with him. Lu Zhixing did not even know that he was Zhiyi now.
Although they had reunited as master and disciple, Zhiyi could not recognize him.
Xi Yu did not want to create unnecessary complications, so he had never forcibly interfered with Lu Zhixing’s current memories, allowing him to continue believing that he was an ordinary person.
Last night, in his panic, he had originally wanted to reveal the truth and simply acknowledge each other.
But now…
How the hell was he supposed to acknowledge him?!
Was he supposed to say:
Hello, you are a god from the Ninth Heaven, and I am your Master. Although you don’t remember me now, once I obtain Zhuohua, I’ll repair your memories. You’ll have to kneel down and call me Master.
Was that appropriate?
They had just kissed.
Was that appropriate?!
This was driving him crazy!
Xi Yu decided to pretend that nothing had happened. Once they obtained Zhuohua and his cultivation recovered, he would simply extract this portion of “Lu Zhixing’s” memories from his mind.
“Damn it!”
Xi Yu threw a few more punches at the air, shouting in frustration, “Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Daaaamn—~”
His muttering suddenly changed pitch.
Lu Zhixing had just come over and saw Xi Yu’s movements. There was a rare trace of hesitation on his face as he asked, “Are… are you doing morning exercises?”
……………………….
Lu Zhixing’s appearance was completely unexpected. Xi Yu’s hand was still suspended in midair, and one foot was still held in a kicking position.
The air froze for a second.
The frustrated expression on Xi Yu’s face stiffened. Then he quickly returned to normal. He withdrew his hands and feet, clenched his fists, and assumed a fighting stance before nodding seriously.
“Yes. Loosening up my muscles and bones.”
Xi Yu performed a proper set of combination punches, his movements fluid and graceful. His expression was also extremely cold and stern, making him look like a cultivator doing his morning practice, carrying an aura that seemed impossible to approach.
Lu Zhixing stepped back several paces and leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window with his arms crossed, deliberately adopting the posture of someone who would not disturb him.
Xi Yu practiced for two minutes. Feeling that it was about enough, he regulated his breathing and stopped. Then, somewhat suspiciously as though trying to cover something up, he said, “Actually, I like to do some morning exercises every day.”
After saying that, Xi Yu looked at Lu Zhixing, as though waiting for something.
Lu Zhixing was silent for a moment before saying, “That’s very diligent of you.”
But in his memory, his Master could hardly be considered a diligent god. Morning exercises were practically nonexistent.
Almost every morning, his Master was resting.
He seemed to need a great deal of sleep, and he also had quite a temper when he woke up.
He absolutely had to sleep until he was no longer grumpy before getting out of bed.
But Lu Zhixing was determined to play along.
Whatever his Master said was what it was.
Hearing Lu Zhixing say this, Xi Yu was satisfied.
Exactly.
He had always loved doing morning exercises.