Luo Chengan blinked his tear-reddened eyes. “What way?”
Xi Yu said nothing, merely giving Luo a look that clearly said, Just wait and see.
“Then see you tonight?”
“Sure,” Xi Yu said. “Wait for me to come back.”
After saying that he had to go out for a while, Xi Yu left the room. Before leaving, he did not forget to take the empty plate with him.
After Xi Yu left, Luo Chengan wiped the tears from his face. The pitiful expression he had worn just moments ago turned into one of delight and smugness.
Sitting on the bed, he wiped away the moisture remaining at the corners of his eyes. The malice in his voice was obvious. “Lanxing’s embrace really makes it impossible to bear leaving for even a moment.”
The next second, Lu Zhixing appeared out of thin air.
The look in his eyes as he stared at Luo Chengan was dark and terrifying. “You’re quite pleased with yourself just because you’ve been imitating me?”
Luo Chengan supported himself against the bed with one palm, the smile on his lips contemptuous. “Imitating you? There are thousands upon thousands of weak and helpless people in this world. All I’ve proven is that you’re not the only one who can make him soften his heart.”
As Luo Chengan spoke, he stood up and walked over to Lu Zhixing.
“Zhi Li, oh Zhi Li, cherish the little time you have left. After all… once Lanxing kills you, I’ll be the only one by his side.”
“After all, you two were master and disciple. Once you die, Lanxing will probably be sad for a while.” Luo Chengan looked at Lu Zhixing, his voice gentle and cheerful. “When that happens, I’ll stay by Lanxing’s side every day. I definitely won’t let him be sad for too long…”
“Oh, no. I almost forgot that you’re a demon. Lanxing may not even be sad. Maybe once you’re dead, he’ll only feel relieved.”
Lu Zhixing’s expression was icy and sinister, like a ghost.
Looking at him, Luo Chengan burst out laughing, feeling exhilarated and triumphant.
Lu Zhixing clenched both fists at his sides and sneered. “Have you forgotten? You’re the Heavenly Emperor now. Even if I die, Shizun won’t be with you.”
The smile on Luo Chengan’s face faded slightly. “I can stop being the Heavenly Emperor.”
Lu Zhixing’s expression was indifferent. “If you give up the position of Heavenly Emperor for Shizun’s sake, I’m afraid it will make it even less likely for him to be with you. From the moment you ascended to the position of Heavenly Emperor, your love and hatred were no longer yours to decide.”
Lu Zhixing smiled. “Huai Xi, you should understand that even if it isn’t me, it still can’t be you. And what you’ve obtained now is merely because you’ve been imitating me. You were right—after I die, Shizun may not necessarily be sad. But at the very least, what you possess now is something you stole from me.”
After saying this, Lu Zhixing disappeared from where he stood.
After a few seconds, Luo Chengan hurled the pillow in his hand violently across the room.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhixing, separated from him by only a wall, sat silently. His fingertips gripping the armrest of the sofa had turned pale gray from the force.
Even though he did not want to admit it, he had to admit that Huai Xi’s provocation just now had still stirred endless fury in his chest.
When Shizun held Huai Xi, his heart had ached as though it were being cut apart.
It was obviously imitation.
Huai Xi was obviously imitating him!
How could Shizun comfort someone else…
So it turned out that his place could be replaced by someone else so easily.
He didn’t want to die. He really didn’t want to die…
He didn’t want to be replaced by someone else.
Just thinking about someone else being in Lanxing Hall afterward, occupying his side hall, and even taking the place that originally belonged only to him—the other half of the bed beside Shizun in the main hall—made it so difficult for him to breathe.
He didn’t dare think about it.
He couldn’t think about it either.
Whenever he thought about how, after his death, someone who coveted Shizun might actually succeed, he found it impossible to accept.
Shizun knew nothing about matters of love, but what if, after he died, someone appeared who was like him, or someone who pretended to be like him just as Huai Xi did, and took the place that belonged to him?
Would Shizun forget him then?
Shizun’s lifespan was so long. Would there come a time, far in the future, when Shizun would even forget that he had once taken in a disciple, painstakingly taught him, spoiled him in every way, and given him the name Zhi Li…
Xi Yu had no idea about the argument between the two people at home after he left, nor the complicated emotions involved.
He stood at the entrance of the sanatorium and was stopped by the security guard. No matter how he explained that he had come to visit someone, he was not allowed inside.
“Just let me in. I’m really here to visit someone.”
Damn it, there were surveillance cameras everywhere in this sanatorium, even inside the rooms. He couldn’t turn into a mosquito and fly inside.
Otherwise, if he got into a fight with that thing later and had to transform back into human form, the surveillance footage might capture him and make people think he was some kind of monster.
“Without an access card, no one is allowed to enter the sanatorium. That’s the rule.” The security guard was dutiful. After saying this, he looked at Xi Yu once, twice, three times, several times, before asking uncertainly, “Are you that Grandmaster from Peerless Secret Realm?”
Xi Yu’s eyes lit up.
He had never thought the awkward title of “Grandmaster” could make him this happy. He hurriedly nodded. “That’s me, that’s me.”
The security guard visibly became excited. “Oh my god! I watched that variety show. Back then, when I voted for who would get the prize first, I voted for you, and I even got a share of the prize money!”
After saying this, the security guard took a pen from his pocket and rolled up his sleeve. “Can I get your autograph? I always feel like your name has the effect of warding off evil spirits and disasters.”
Xi Yu: “…”
“Of course… you can!” Xi Yu said.
Then, with a flourish, he wrote the two characters Xi Yu on the security guard’s arm and asked with a beaming smile, “Can I go in now?”
The security guard carefully blew on the name, afraid that the ink from the ballpoint pen might smudge. As he blew on it, he cheerfully replied, “Nope.”
Damn!
He’d gotten a free autograph!
Xi Yu angrily tried to go around the security guard and charge inside, but the guard stopped him.
Xi Yu ran to the left and was blocked.
He ran to the right and was still blocked.
After more than a dozen rounds, Xi Yu was panting heavily. Suddenly, he pointed behind the guard. “Look, a monster!”
The security guard did not move an inch.
Xi Yu deflated. “I can’t even fool you with that?”
“I’m a gold-medal security guard. No one can sneak past me.”
Xi Yu put his hands on his hips and beckoned to the guard.
When the guard leaned closer, Xi Yu lowered his voice. “Since you’ve watched the variety show, you should know that I can see things other people can’t, right?”
The security guard nodded in agreement.
Xi Yu put on a solemn expression. “Actually, I came here to exorcise an evil spirit. There’s something filthy in this sanatorium.”
After saying this, Xi Yu straightened his back and wore an indifferent expression, quite resembling an otherworldly master.
A look of horror appeared on the security guard’s face. “Oh my god, how could this happen!”
Xi Yu nodded in satisfaction. “So, are you going to…”
Xi Yu gave him a look that said, You know what I mean.
The security guard was already trembling all over. “That’s terrifying, but… I still can’t let you in.”
“????”
The security guard patted his chest. “If I let you in, I’ll get my salary docked. That’s even more terrifying than encountering a monster.”
“…”
“Oh. That really is terrifying…”
Xi Yu sighed. He figured he probably wouldn’t be able to get inside today. He was also worried that what the security guard had said might cause trouble for him.
Just as he turned around to leave, he heard an uncertain voice behind him.
“Mr. Xi…?”
…………………..
Xi Yu turned his head and saw two familiar faces inside a sedan with its windows rolled all the way down.
When Old Master Jiang saw that it really was Xi Yu, he hurriedly got out of the car with the support of his cane. His cloudy eyes lit up, and even Jiang Xuewei looked at Xi Yu with eagerness and surprise.
For some inexplicable reason, Xi Yu felt like a piece of meat sizzling and dripping with oil on a grill…
“Mr. Xi, it really is you?” Old Master Jiang motioned for the driver to take the car away, then said, “I thought these old eyes of mine had gone bad and I’d mistaken someone else for you.”
Xi Yu had not expected such a coincidence. He nodded and greeted the two of them. “What a coincidence.”
As soon as Xi Yu finished speaking, the security guard behind him loudly called out, “Hello, President Jiang!”
The security guard bowed as he greeted the old master.
At the same time, the entrance that had refused to open just moments ago immediately opened.
Suddenly, the little path beside it that was used by employees to enter and leave did not seem so appealing to Xi Yu anymore.
The security guard had not even let him use that little path…
Seeing the way the security guard treated Old Master Jiang, Xi Yu gave him a resentful look.
The security guard’s eyes began darting left and right.
Xi Yu guessed that the security guard knew Old Master Jiang, and perhaps Jiang Yunzheng was here.
But he couldn’t exactly follow the two of them inside.
Xi Yu felt it was a pity that he had come all this way for nothing. Just as he was about to leave, Old Master Jiang spoke.
“Mr. Xi, you came here today to…?”
“To visit someone,” Xi Yu said. “But I don’t have an access card, so I’ll be leaving.”
As soon as Xi Yu said this, the light in Old Master Jiang’s eyes practically burst out. His hands trembled with excitement.
“How could you not tell me you were coming? I should have come out to welcome you in advance. This sanatorium has special circumstances, so I set the rules relatively strictly.”
Rules relatively strictly?
Xi Yu asked, “You’re the… of this sanatorium?”
From behind him, Jiang Xuewei spoke.
“This sanatorium is Grandpa’s private property.”
Jiang Xuewei deliberately emphasized the words private property.
But Xi Yu failed to catch the implication and only noticed one important point.
He’s the owner!
Then didn’t that mean he wouldn’t have made this trip for nothing?
Xi Yu hurriedly asked, “Then, Uncle, can you take me inside?”
“Of course!” Old Master Jiang smiled so broadly that the wrinkles on his face all gathered together. He said excitedly, “Thank you, Mr. Xi. I really… I really didn’t expect you to come… Thank you, thank you…”
A question mark floated above Xi Yu’s head.
He vaguely felt that something was not quite right.
“I’m here…” Xi Yu gritted his teeth. “I’m not here to see your grandson.”
Xi Yu felt that Old Master Jiang had obviously misunderstood something, which was why he was so excited.
Although Old Master Jiang could take him inside, Xi Yu couldn’t deceive him just because of that.
“Hm?” The smile on Old Master Jiang’s face froze, as though he didn’t understand. “You’re not here to see Yunzheng?”
Jiang Xuewei also hurriedly asked, “Didn’t you come to see a patient?”
Xi Yu nodded.