Night had fallen deep, and Central State’s long streets were brightly lit.
Yu Tuishan followed Yu Hu wandering among various food stalls, his snow-white clothes already covered in sauces. He’d probably given up completely, holding a pile of food and looking around curiously.
Yu Hu said coldly: “Master Yu.”
“Oh oh oh.” Yu Tuishan hurriedly followed closely, “Yu Hu, help me ask Youdan again—I want another ‘Yinhua Rao’ to reshape a body.”
Yu Hu said expressionlessly: “Already asked. Youdan will deliver a new one in half a month.”
Yu Tuishan was immediately delighted: “Excellent! If they didn’t give it to me, I was thinking of killing my way to their door. Good thing the Youdan people are sensible.”
Yu Hu: “…”
Yu Hu frowned: “Are you really going to cooperate with Wen Gubai?”
“Yes.”
Yu Tuishan bit into his sugar painting with crunching sounds. The sugar had melted from the heat, sticking to his fingers in a gooey mess. He said casually: “There’s no choice but to cooperate. If Sheng Jiao were still at Void Return realm, we could struggle desperately, but he’s already reached Great Ascension stage. Do you know how powerful the heavenly thunder summoned by Great Ascension stage is? One lightning strike—crash!—and all three of us would be reduced to powder, mixed together with you in me and me in you, indistinguishable.”
Yu Hu said: “Is Wen Gubai trustworthy?”
“Who cares if he’s trustworthy?” Yu Tuishan was about to sneakily wipe the sugar water from his fingers onto Yu Hu but withdrew his hand after receiving a cold glare, wiping it on his own white clothes instead. He said vaguely: “Even if Wen Gubai betrays us, he can’t pin everything on me. He’s definitely single-mindedly scheming against Xi Jianlan now.”
As they walked, Yu Tuishan spotted a candied hawthorn stall and immediately ran over excitedly.
The candied hawthorns were made fresh, with the vendor currently cooking the sugar.
Yu Tuishan wasn’t in a hurry, happily crouching there to wait.
Someone stood beside him, saying lightly: “The Tianyan Academy secret realm training competition—are you coming?”
Yu Tuishan didn’t look up, staring eagerly at the sugar and saying absentmindedly: “Of course I’m going. Don’t you want to make your move against Xi Jianlan then? How could I miss such great entertainment?”
Wen Gubai wore white robes with a hat covering his face, smiling: “This year at Tianyan Academy there’s someone named Qin Banban. Her xiangwen ‘Third Watch Snow’ was born because of you?”
“‘Third Watch Snow’?” Yu Tuishan tilted his head, thinking for a long time. “Don’t remember. Probably. It’s just heaven-grade anyway.”
Wen Gubai: “…”
Since the Thirteen States would only produce thirteen spiritual-grade xiangwen, all aristocratic families focused on cultivating heaven-grade xiangwen. But to Yu Tuishan, even heaven-grade xiangwen only deserved dismissive evaluations like “just” and “anyway.”
“Oh right.” Yu Tuishan seemed to remember something. “Xi Jianlan sealed Sheng Jiao’s spiritual power. If you think it’s worth the risk, you could take the opportunity to kill Sheng Jiao. Then none of us three would have to get struck by lightning.”
Wen Gubai said coldly: “Do you think Great Ascension stage spiritual power can be sealed for more than a day?”
Yu Tuishan laughed heartily: “Then it’s over. Xi Jianlan is doomed.”
The vendor finally finished cooking the sugar, dipping the skewered hawthorns into the honey with a sizzling sound.
Wen Gubai said indifferently: “Would you scheme against me together with Xi Jue?”
Yu Tuishan stared eagerly at the sugar-coated hawthorns, saying carelessly: “Director Wen, when we discussed slaughtering the Xi family at Tianyan Academy back then, weren’t you already prepared to pin everything on him? He was even captured by Xiezhi Sect people and tortured for three months. Do you think if Xi Jue and I were together, I would have watched him suffer while I enjoyed myself at Evil Qi Road?”
Wen Gubai lowered his eyes.
True.
The person before him appeared gentle and flamboyant but was actually cold-hearted and inhuman.
Wen Gubai turned to leave.
Yu Tuishan turned his head to watch Wen Gubai’s departing figure. Somehow he suddenly curved his lips, lightly grasping toward him with his fingers, smiling wickedly:
“Bang.”
Yu Hu suddenly said: “Master Yu.”
Only then did Yu Tuishan withdraw his hand, laughing loudly: “Just playing around. I don’t want to kill him right now.”
As soon as Wen Gubai left, the barrier around them suddenly dissipated, and the vendor handed him the candied hawthorns.
Yu Tuishan adjusted his mask askew and accepted them with joy overflowing from his brows.
He was about to pay when the vendor, an elderly man with white hair over fifty, was delighted: “It’s a gift! No charge!”
He’d never seen an adult crouch on the ground like a child waiting for candied hawthorns—this person had a childlike nature.
Yu Tuishan ate the free candied hawthorns, smiling even more happily.
After walking a few steps, he suddenly had a whim and pulled off a storage ring from his finger, casually tossing it onto the candied hawthorn stall.
The vendor was hit squarely and looked completely bewildered.
Yu Hu said coldly: “There are over a hundred thousand spirit stones in there.”
Yu Tuishan laughed heartily: “Who cares.”
Yu Hu: “…”
Every single one of them was a spendthrift.
Xi Jianlan wrapped himself in Sheng Jiao’s oversized outer robe and was dragged along sullenly.
Lezheng Jiu heard the news and angrily chased after them: “Sheng Wuzhuo! You can take Xi Jue away, but are you going to pay your debt or not?! How many years have you owed this?”
Sheng Jiao frowned and reached out to grasp the storage ring on Xi Jianlan’s thumb, about to return it to Lezheng Jiu.
But before he could move, Xi Jianlan quickly withdrew his hand and said seriously to Lezheng Jiu: “Gege, gege, don’t be so petty! I’m making the decision on this matter—let’s write off this debt. Our Medicine Sect doesn’t lack that bit of money!”
Lezheng Jiu: “…”
Lezheng Jiu said incredulously: “You’re making the decision? What decision are you making?!”
Xi Jianlan was extremely thick-skinned: “It’s just three hundred thousand spirit stones. Gege, if you really need it urgently, then I… wait, I’ll go back to the Southern Territory brothel to take a client tomorrow and pay you back with what I earn!”
Lezheng Jiu nearly roared: “He owes the money—what clients are you taking?! Xi Jue, have you no shame?!”
Xi Jianlan grinned at him.
Lezheng Jiu hadn’t really wanted the three hundred thousand anyway. Moreover, a spirit pill for entering Void Return realm wasn’t ridiculously expensive—he just couldn’t stand Sheng Jiao and wanted to find fault.
Seeing that his fault-finding had led to Xi Jianlan having to “take clients,” he reluctantly waved his hand and cursed: “Get lost!”
Xi Jianlan laughed heartily and pulled Sheng Jiao away.
Feng Yu chased after them: “You two don’t have rhino horn lamps! Remember—three days from now at the seventh hour, Tianyan Academy’s Zhuxing Zhai. Don’t forget! Bu Yin is already on his way and will arrive soon!”
Xi Jianlan waved at him: “Got it!”
Only after Xi Jianlan and Sheng Jiao returned to Xiezhi Sect did he suddenly realize…
Oh right, he’d sealed Sheng Jiao’s spiritual power—what was he going to use to nourish his own spiritual veins?
Yu Hu: “…”
Yu Hu frowned: “Are you really going to cooperate with Wen Gubai?”
“Yes.”
Yu Tuishan bit into his sugar painting with crunching sounds. The sugar had melted from the heat, sticking to his fingers in a gooey mess. He said casually: “There’s no choice but to cooperate. If Sheng Jiao were still at Void Return realm, we could struggle desperately, but he’s already reached Great Ascension stage. Do you know how powerful the heavenly thunder summoned by Great Ascension stage is? One lightning strike—crash!—and all three of us would be reduced to powder, mixed together with you in me and me in you, indistinguishable.”
Yu Hu said: “Is Wen Gubai trustworthy?”
“Who cares if he’s trustworthy?” Yu Tuishan was about to sneakily wipe the sugar water from his fingers onto Yu Hu but withdrew his hand after receiving a cold glare, wiping it on his own white clothes instead. He said vaguely: “Even if Wen Gubai betrays us, he can’t pin everything on me. He’s definitely single-mindedly scheming against Xi Jianlan now.”
As they walked, Yu Tuishan spotted a candied hawthorn stall and immediately ran over excitedly.
The candied hawthorns were made fresh, with the vendor currently cooking the sugar.
Yu Tuishan wasn’t in a hurry, happily crouching there to wait.
Someone stood beside him, saying lightly: “The Tianyan Academy secret realm training competition—are you coming?”
Yu Tuishan didn’t look up, staring eagerly at the sugar and saying absentmindedly: “Of course I’m going. Don’t you want to make your move against Xi Jianlan then? How could I miss such great entertainment?”
Wen Gubai wore white robes with a hat covering his face, smiling: “This year at Tianyan Academy there’s someone named Qin Banban. Her xiangwen ‘Third Watch Snow’ was born because of you?”
“‘Third Watch Snow’?” Yu Tuishan tilted his head, thinking for a long time. “Don’t remember. Probably. It’s just heaven-grade anyway.”
Wen Gubai: “…”
Since the Thirteen States would only produce thirteen spiritual-grade xiangwen, all aristocratic families focused on cultivating heaven-grade xiangwen. But to Yu Tuishan, even heaven-grade xiangwen only deserved dismissive evaluations like “just” and “anyway.”
“Oh right.” Yu Tuishan seemed to remember something. “Xi Jianlan sealed Sheng Jiao’s spiritual power. If you think it’s worth the risk, you could take the opportunity to kill Sheng Jiao. Then none of us three would have to get struck by lightning.”
Wen Gubai said coldly: “Do you think Great Ascension stage spiritual power can be sealed for more than a day?”
Yu Tuishan laughed heartily: “Then it’s over. Xi Jianlan is doomed.”
The vendor finally finished cooking the sugar, dipping the skewered hawthorns into the honey with a sizzling sound.
Wen Gubai said indifferently: “Would you scheme against me together with Xi Jue?”
Yu Tuishan stared eagerly at the sugar-coated hawthorns, saying carelessly: “Director Wen, when we discussed slaughtering the Xi family at Tianyan Academy back then, weren’t you already prepared to pin everything on him? He was even captured by Xiezhi Sect people and tortured for three months. Do you think if Xi Jue and I were together, I would have watched him suffer while I enjoyed myself at Evil Qi Road?”
Wen Gubai lowered his eyes.
True.
The person before him appeared gentle and flamboyant but was actually cold-hearted and inhuman.
Wen Gubai turned to leave.
Yu Tuishan turned his head to watch Wen Gubai’s departing figure. Somehow he suddenly curved his lips, lightly grasping toward him with his fingers, smiling wickedly:
“Bang.”
Yu Hu suddenly said: “Master Yu.”
Only then did Yu Tuishan withdraw his hand, laughing loudly: “Just playing around. I don’t want to kill him right now.”
As soon as Wen Gubai left, the barrier around them suddenly dissipated, and the vendor handed him the candied hawthorns.
Yu Tuishan adjusted his mask askew and accepted them with joy overflowing from his brows.
He was about to pay when the vendor, an elderly man with white hair over fifty, was delighted: “It’s a gift! No charge!”
He’d never seen an adult crouch on the ground like a child waiting for candied hawthorns—this person had a childlike nature.
Yu Tuishan ate the free candied hawthorns, smiling even more happily.
After walking a few steps, he suddenly had a whim and pulled off a storage ring from his finger, casually tossing it onto the candied hawthorn stall.
The vendor was hit squarely and looked completely bewildered.
Yu Hu said coldly: “There are over a hundred thousand spirit stones in there.”
Yu Tuishan laughed heartily: “Who cares.”
Yu Hu: “…”
Every single one of them was a spendthrift.
Xi Jianlan wrapped himself in Sheng Jiao’s oversized outer robe and was dragged along sullenly.
Lezheng Jiu heard the news and angrily chased after them: “Sheng Wuzhuo! You can take Xi Jue away, but are you going to pay your debt or not?! How many years have you owed this?”
Sheng Jiao frowned and reached out to grasp the storage ring on Xi Jianlan’s thumb, about to return it to Lezheng Jiu.
But before he could move, Xi Jianlan quickly withdrew his hand and said seriously to Lezheng Jiu: “Gege, gege, don’t be so petty! I’m making the decision on this matter—let’s write off this debt. Our Medicine Sect doesn’t lack that bit of money!”
Lezheng Jiu: “…”
Lezheng Jiu said incredulously: “You’re making the decision? What decision are you making?!”
Xi Jianlan was extremely thick-skinned: “It’s just three hundred thousand spirit stones. Gege, if you really need it urgently, then I… wait, I’ll go back to the Southern Territory brothel to take a client tomorrow and pay you back with what I earn!”
Lezheng Jiu nearly roared: “He owes the money—what clients are you taking?! Xi Jue, have you no shame?!”
Xi Jianlan grinned at him.
Lezheng Jiu hadn’t really wanted the three hundred thousand anyway. Moreover, a spirit pill for entering Void Return realm wasn’t ridiculously expensive—he just couldn’t stand Sheng Jiao and wanted to find fault.
Seeing that his fault-finding had led to Xi Jianlan having to “take clients,” he reluctantly waved his hand and cursed: “Get lost!”
Xi Jianlan laughed heartily and pulled Sheng Jiao away.
Feng Yu chased after them: “You two don’t have rhino horn lamps! Remember—three days from now at the seventh hour, Tianyan Academy’s Zhuxing Zhai. Don’t forget! Bu Yin is already on his way and will arrive soon!”
Xi Jianlan waved at him: “Got it!”
Only after Xi Jianlan and Sheng Jiao returned to Xiezhi Sect did he suddenly realize…
Oh right, he’d sealed Sheng Jiao’s spiritual power—what was he going to use to nourish his own spiritual veins?
After the rain, the osmanthus flowers in Qingche Zhu bloomed, their fragrance rich and intoxicating.
Xi Jianlan was exhausted after just having his poison cured. Not standing on ceremony, he kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed, curling up comfortably on the couch without giving a thought to spiritual power matters.
His ears still felt like they were separated by a thick barrier—he couldn’t hear any sounds clearly.
With his xiangwen damaged, even if his spiritual power recovered later, he’d probably have to wear the pearl earring.
But having worn it for so many years, Xi Jianlan was already used to it.
Xi Jianlan lay there drowsily for a long time. Sheng Jiao, who had gone to handle accumulated affairs, quietly returned and gently sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out to touch Xi Jianlan’s forehead.
“Don’t mess around,” Xi Jianlan mumbled, casually brushing away Sheng Jiao’s hand.
Sheng Jiao sat there quietly, staring at Xi Jianlan’s sleeping face for a while before suddenly asking without warning: “When did you tell Lady Wan about registering our union?”
He still stubbornly wanted to know.
Xi Jianlan didn’t move.
Sheng Jiao silently placed his hand on Xi Jianlan’s nape and gently rubbed.
Xi Jianlan had been sleeping peacefully, but this touch nearly made his whole body go soft. Unable to keep pretending to be asleep, he opened his eyes irritably: “Can you let me sleep, Sect Master Sheng?”
Sheng Jiao’s gaze was deep: “Speak.”
Xi Jianlan pulled the brocade covers over his head, not wanting to talk.
Why did Sheng Jiao have to force him to recall embarrassing moments from his impulsive youth?
Sheng Jiao pulled the covers down, his dark eyes looking at him coldly, determined to get an answer.
Xi Jianlan took a deep breath and said with a pained expression: “Sect Master Sheng, we’re both adults who came of age years ago. We shouldn’t always dwell on those romantic entanglements from our reckless youth. Don’t you think it’s utterly meaningless?”
Sheng Jiao’s eyes froze for a moment.
His actions and waiting all these years…
Were they completely meaningless to Xi Jianlan?
Seeing Sheng Jiao’s expression, Xi Jianlan paused, realizing he’d said the wrong thing. He timidly sat up and almost pleadingly kissed Sheng Jiao.
Sheng Jiao pushed him away expressionlessly.
Xi Jianlan said helplessly: “I… I didn’t mean it that way.”
Sheng Jiao said nothing.
Xi Jianlan was silent for a while before forcing himself through the embarrassment to say softly: “After we dual cultivated, I went to the Medicine Sect. That’s when I told Lady Wan I wanted to register our union with you.”
Sheng Jiao finally looked at him.
“Back then I thought after I came of age, we could register our union and establish our own cave dwelling to live our lives.” Xi Jianlan looked down at the mandarin ducks on the brocade covers and suddenly laughed. “But later I realized I was too naive.”
There were too many things beyond one’s control in the world.
If Xi Jianlan had a choice, he definitely wouldn’t have chosen to abandon Sheng Jiao and take the most difficult path.
This was probably one of Xi Jianlan’s rare sincere statements.
Sheng Jiao parted his lips as if to say something.
But Xi Jianlan leaned in to kiss his lips again, mumbling: “But we can dual cultivate now without registering our union. Even if we cross swords during the day in the future, it won’t interfere with our nighttime pleasures.”
Sheng Jiao suddenly gripped his chin and, in the intimate confines of the narrow bed curtains, said with mood-killing directness: “The twelfth xiangwen—what is it?”
Xi Jianlan: “…”
Xi Jianlan said quietly: “Sect Master Sheng, I’m inviting you to enjoy carnal pleasures. Do you know what that means? Let me be clearer—I want to make love with you, dual cultivate, have intercourse, copulate, go to bed. Is that clear enough?”
Sheng Jiao: “………..”
Xi Jianlan really didn’t understand. His face with its dark hair, snow-white skin, and soul-stirring tear mole could entrance countless people when he was a courtesan. Now, seductively enticing Sect Master Sheng with such alluring charm, this unromantic block of wood was still talking business with him.
Talk, talk, talk—talk about what ghost matters!
Sheng Jiao remained unmoved.
Xi Jianlan flopped back down irritably: “Want to know? I can tell you, but what does Sect Master Sheng plan to trade for it?”
Sheng Jiao seemed to understand something.
When asking Xi Jianlan “what is your xiangwen,” he was extremely resistant and never told the truth. But when asking about “the twelfth xiangwen,” he actually wanted to answer obediently.
Sheng Jiao said: “What do you want?”
Xi Jianlan thought: “Nothing I want right now—so you owe me first. I’ll tell you when I think of something.”
Sheng Jiao frowned.
“Don’t worry, I definitely won’t make Sect Master Sheng kill or commit arson,” Xi Jianlan promised.
Sheng Jiao said: “Fine.”
Having been schemed against by Sheng Jiao once before, Xi Jianlan felt somewhat uneasy hearing his decisive agreement: “I don’t quite trust you now. Swear an oath.”
Sheng Jiao raised two fingers and made an oath.
Only then was Xi Jianlan reassured.
Thinking about it carefully, he’d only been fooled once and had become this clever. Sheng Jiao had been deceived by him from childhood to adulthood—if he still didn’t learn his lesson, he’d probably be an idiot.
Recalling how Sheng Jiao believed whatever he said in their youth, Xi Jianlan smiled again. The tear mole at the corner of his eye was brilliantly red, as if about to drip blood. He hooked his finger: “Come here.”
Sheng Jiao sat there with a cold face and cold heart, completely motionless.
Xi Jianlan was instantly furious.
He never showed his emotions normally, and even when he had feelings, they were mostly feigned. But every time he was with Sheng Jiao, his emotions were increasingly easily stirred.
He irritably jumped up and pulled down Sheng Jiao’s collar, saying resentfully: “Can’t figure it out—how was I so blind to fall for this block of wood back then?”
With that, he directly covered Sheng Jiao’s lips, prying them open and grinding his teeth against them harshly, biting Sheng Jiao’s thin lips until they showed faint marks.
“The twelfth xiangwen.”
Xi Jianlan finally vented his anger. Breathing in the cold osmanthus fragrance, unlike previous times when he resisted saying his xiangwen’s name, he gently pressed against Sheng Jiao’s slightly reddened lips like a dragonfly touching water, mumbling: “Named…”
Sheng Jiao’s pupils contracted.
Xi Jianlan said: “…Kan Tianyan.”
**
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152
OhmygodmohmoygodOhmygodmohmoygod is it finally happening???? Are we finally getting the truth??
I don’t know how to explain, but there are repeated parts on this chapter.
Also, I hope this time is the truth! I secretly wanted this xiangwen to be the Yu guy, they have similarities
Este capítulo tiene partes repetidas,,, a parte ya no es tan divertido, necesito que el plot avance más