Wuyin City, Evil Qi Road.
Late autumn osmanthus blossoms. Fine osmanthus fragrance drifts freely. Maidens in indigo-patterned skirts carry small baskets, picking osmanthus here and there to make osmanthus cakes and brew osmanthus wine. “Thud thud” sounds of bamboo poles striking branches echo everywhere.
Yu Hu walked down the long street in white robes, expression blank, carrying a pile of pastries and snacks in hand.
This street was originally called “Immovable Honored One,” but fearing it offended divine taboos, was renamed “Immovable Vessel.” Yu Hu walked to the street’s end and raised his eyes to see an exquisite mansion.
The entrance gate was towering. Even the decorations at the doorway were extravagantly decorated—as if they’d replace even the road bricks with gold bricks. Upon entering the mansion, osmanthus bloomed on both sides of the path, fragrance assailing the nose.
Yu Hu passed through the gallery unmoved, circling to the brightly lit shrine in the rear courtyard and descending the steps.
Below was an endless celestial Tianyan spiritual vein.
A golden Tianyan spiritual vein like an underground river filled with lantern lights flowed gently. The candlelight was brilliant. As Yu Hu slowly approached, his eyes were even reflected in gold.
Placing the pastries one by one on the table, Yu Hu said coldly: “I got them.”
Following his gaze, a phantom figure floated suspended in the Tianyan spiritual vein midair.
That person was unclothed. Their entire body was submerged in golden spiritual vein. Countless thread-like things could faintly be seen spreading from their body, dangling into the vein, seeming to draw Tianyan spiritual power.
As one drew near, their body revealed countless gaping scars where chains had pierced through flesh—wound upon wound, a tapestry of suffering spanning every inch.
At the wrists and ankles, it seemed something had constricted them. The wounds were deep enough to see bone. Even the hand tendons and foot tendons had been severed. Even with Tianyan spiritual power healing, they couldn’t walk at all.
Yu Hu glanced at it, slightly furrowing his brow before looking away. He reached out and gently tapped the shore.
Finally, that tattered body separated out a hint of dispersed spirit, mixed with Tianyan spiritual power gradually coalescing into a phantom dispersed spirit.
Yu Tuishan suddenly leaped from the Tianyan, shaking his head and grinning: “Pastries, pastries!”
The scarred body in the Tianyan was Yu Tuishan’s main body.
Yu Hu said coolly with an “mm”: “Just out of the oven.”
Yu Tuishan happily ran to the table, feasting on the pastries, muttering as he tried to chat with Yu Hu: “Mmm, so delicious! Since I was twelve and my hands and feet were broken by the Xi family, locked in the Tianyan spiritual vein, I haven’t eaten pastries this good. Which shop makes these? I want to eat them next time.”
Yu Hu: “…”
Yu Hu furrowed his brow and said coldly: “Must you speak of such tragic matters while eating pastries?”
Combined with the gruesome scarred body, Yu Hu’s mood deteriorated further.
“It’s the truth,” Yu Tuishan said innocently. “I was locked up for eight years with not a single bite of food.”
Yu Hu said: “Just eat yours then.”
Yu Tuishan had no choice but to eat and eat and eat.
Like a starving ghost reborn, Yu Tuishan swept the entire table clean of food. Satisfied, he stretched lazily and wandered outside.
“How are things progressing in Jiuxiao City in the Southern Territory?”
Yu Hu followed behind him, speaking concisely: “People have already begun secretly purchasing ‘Abandoned Immortal Bones.'”
“Ooh ooh ooh.” Yu Tuishan left the underground and leisurely strolled toward the annex. “Last time killing Wen Gubai wasted an entire celestial vein of Tianyan spiritual power—what a waste. Following my temper, I’d have just killed Sheng Jiao and Wen Gubai and been done with it. But he insisted on…”
Yu Hu said expressionlessly: “You couldn’t kill Sheng Jiao.”
Yu Tuishan laughed coldly: “I’d throw all my Tianyan spiritual veins at it. I don’t believe I couldn’t kill him.”
Yu Hu listened to his boasting with a cold face.
“Tianyan spiritual power is in short supply now,” Yu Tuishan sighed. “Stop supplying ‘Abandoned Immortal Bones’ to Evil Qi Road and Jiuxiao City.”
Yu Hu furrowed his brow: “Stop selling?”
“Yeah.” Yu Tuishan said. “Stop selling. I’ve already made enough money—why keep selling?”
Yu Hu said: “Those cultivators in Evil Qi Road are already dependent on ‘Abandoned Immortal Bones.’ Some have the poison deep in their marrow. If you cut off the supply…”
“Hehe.” Yu Tuishan smiled wickedly at him. “Before cutting off supply, first spread word that Tianyan spiritual power can cure ‘Abandoned Immortal Bones’ withdrawal symptoms.”
Yu Hu: “…”
Yu Hu looked at Yu Tuishan like he was looking at an utterly vicious scoundrel.
Yu Tuishan was a little lunatic and didn’t care how others looked at him—he did whatever pleased him.
After thinking, he added: “Don’t cut off yet, though. First spread the news that it will be cut off soon. Those cultivators with spiritual stones will definitely go crazy hoarding ‘Abandoned Immortal Bones,’ and I can make another fortune.”
Yu Hu: “…”
Yu Hu looked at him, speechless. He turned and walked away without saying a word.
Yu Tuishan called after him dryly: “Yu Hu… A-Yue?”
Yu Hu didn’t even look at him, departing quickly.
Yu Tuishan had become accustomed to hitting walls with Yu Hu. He rubbed his nose without concern and hummed a little tune as he pushed open the annex door.
The annex had carved beams and painted rafters, elegant and refined—completely unlike the ostentatiously nouveau-riche style outside that seemed desperate to proclaim “I’m rich” on a plaque.
Pushing open the carved door, several streaks of ink-tinted white gauze hung from the roof beams. As the wind from opening the door swept through, osmanthus fragrance filled the room.
Yu Tuishan had only meant to take a quick look and leave, but as he parted the beaded curtain and entered the inner chamber, he keenly sensed a familiar spiritual fluctuation.
He perked up and hurried forward.
A large bed held a figure. Through layers of bed curtains, one could faintly see their silhouette seemingly in deep sleep.
He opened the curtains, revealing a familiar, stunning sleeping face.
Exquisitely refined, gorgeous features. A red tear mole at the corner of the eye seemed about to drip blood.
It was Xi Jianlan.
He lay on the bed in red robes, breathing evenly as if he’d slept for a long time. Dense lashes were frosted with a thin layer of white frost.
When Yu Tuishan had visited days earlier, Xi Jianlan still looked like a corpse—complexion ashen and gray, motionless with breathing so faint it was barely audible.
Today was different. He finally had signs of life.
Yu Tuishan sat on the bed edge, shamelessly reaching out to tap that handsome face: “Hey! Wake up! You alive or what?!”
Xi Jianlan had grown noticeably thinner. The layer of frost on his face was struck by Yu Tuishan’s taps, cracking and melting into water that ran down his cheeks and behind his ears like weeping.
No response.
Yu Tuishan knew nothing of tenderness. He forcibly grabbed Xi Jianlan’s shoulders and shook hard.
“I exhausted half my Tianyan spiritual power on your rescue. If you dare die on me now, that’s a total loss. Wake up! Otherwise I’ll call Sheng Jiao. He hates your guts right now—wants to eat you alive.”
Whether it was the words “Sheng Jiao” that worked, the seemingly dead Xi Jianlan finally showed some reaction.
First, his dense lashes fluttered slightly. Then his fingertips, hanging to the side, trembled faintly, gradually reclaiming a body stiffened for so long.
Yu Tuishan waited patiently for half a while, nearly falling asleep himself, before suddenly hearing rapid breathing.
Xi Jianlan opened his eyes, but his gaze remained unfocused and couldn’t concentrate. He stared blankly at the bed curtains overhead, gasping for breath as his rigid limbs slowly regained sensation.
Nearly half a day later, Xi Jianlan’s mind cleared and his eyes gradually focused.
After regaining sight in a daze, his eyes fell upon Yu Tuishan’s infuriating face.
Xi Jianlan asked hazily: “Brother?”
“Mm.” Yu Tuishan waved his hand in front of Xi Jianlan’s eyes. “Good. How many fingers? Still recognize them?”
Xi Jianlan’s sickly frame turned away, finally fully awake. Weakly: “Get lost.”
“Perfect timing waking up,” Yu Tuishan lazily lifted the bed curtains and hung them on the frame hooks, saying lightly. “Your birthday is in a few days. Whatever gift you want, your brother can get it for you.”
Xi Jianlan lay rigid, unable even to roll over. He muttered: “I want you to help me turn over.”
Yu Tuishan clapped his hands: “Approved.”
Saying this, he reached out to support Xi Jianlan’s frail frame and actually helped him turn over.
Xi Jianlan, exhausted, mustered the strength to ask: “What about Wen Gubai?”
“Dead, nothing left,” Yu Tuishan said casually. “By the way, that Great Ascension tribulation was really something. If your little body got hit even once, you’d drop dead on the spot. Even I couldn’t save you. Lucky your little brain was smart enough to use ‘Dream of Yellow Millet’ to trick the Heavenly Dao, making Wen Gubai take all the blame. Hahahaha, I bet it was furious.”
Xi Jianlan gave a vague, dismissive response.
“Stop sleeping,” Yu Tuishan shook him. “Don’t you want to see Sheng Jiao? Weren’t you thrilled back then to register your union with him?”
“You’re so annoying,” Xi Jianlan wished he were deaf. Irritably: “I’m exhausted. Can’t you let me sleep quietly for a while and I’ll go after waking up? Besides, didn’t you tell Sheng Jiao I’m fine?”
Yu Tuishan froze, nervously clearing his throat dryly.
Xi Jianlan understood Yu Tuishan too well. He suddenly opened his eyes, incredulous: “Wen Gubai is dead, isn’t he? Didn’t I tell you that if the plan succeeded, you’d tell Sheng Jiao the truth? You forgot?!”
“I was angry,” Yu Tuishan said coldly. “He actually held a sword to my neck. The last person who held a sword to my neck…”
Xi Jianlan, furious, kicked him off the bed.
Yu Tuishan: “…”
Yu Tuishan stopped pretending. He sat on the footstool, speaking dryly: “I held a grudge at first, then I figured it out and went to Xiezhi Sect looking for him. But I couldn’t find him at all.”
Xi Jianlan’s head was spinning with rage: “Then go tell someone else!”
Yu Tuishan crouched by the bed, his entire face saying “I was wrong.”
Seeing Xi Jianlan’s anger had gotten his limbs working again, Yu Tuishan shamelessly pulled a privately hoarded pastry from his robes and offered it placatingly: “Want some?”
Xi Jianlan was the only person Yu Tuishan—with his protective, dog-like possessive nature about food—would share with.
But Xi Jianlan didn’t want it. Furious, he reached out to hit him.
Yu Tuishan quickly retreated, and Xi Jianlan, losing his balance, tumbled directly off the bed.
Yu Tuishan caught him, speaking quietly: “My forged ‘Worthy of Heavenly Dao’ was completely beyond my control. Back then it nearly split your soul in half. Your spirit was critically wounded. The tribulation damaged your soul severely, and I couldn’t guarantee you’d wake up anytime soon, so I… got delayed.”
Xi Jianlan breathed heavily, leaning against the pillow with drooping brow and eyes, not wanting to deal with him at all.
Seeing he was truly angry, Yu Tuishan crouched there and called softly: “Jianlan?”
Xi Jianlan remained silent, face set.
Yu Tuishan tried again: “Yanling?”
Hearing that name, Xi Jianlan couldn’t help but glare at him: “Shut up.”
“Alright, alright, no more anger. You’re clear now—the Tianyan Pearls won’t bother you anymore,” Yu Tuishan laughed, speaking fluently. “You can use whichever identity you like—’Xi Jianlan’ or ‘Yanling.’ Besides, isn’t Sheng Jiao in love with **you** as a person? Just go find him actively and it’ll work out. What’s the big deal? Your brother will handle this for you. Case closed, don’t be mad.”
Xi Jianlan found himself laughing despite his anger.
But Yu Tuishan’s antics had finally gotten Xi Jianlan’s rusty brain working again. He suddenly remembered the most critical question.
“Wait.” Xi Jianlan froze, catching the cold osmanthus fragrance in the air, an ominous feeling settling in his chest. “You just said… my birthday is coming up soon?”
Yu Tuishan: “Yeah.”
Xi Jianlan’s face went white.
His birthday was the twenty-eighth day of the eighth month at autumn’s height.
Yu Tuishan, oblivious: “Three months have passed since you left ‘Dream of Yellow Millet.'”
Xi Jianlan: “…”
Xi Jianlan’s vision went black.
So… Sheng Jiao had no idea he was alive for three whole months?
Yu Tuishan was still chewing on pastries when he faintly sensed a chill creeping up his spine. Confused, he looked up only to see Xi Jianlan staring at him with an icy, murderous glint in his eyes.
Yu Tuishan: “…”
Yu Tuishan swallowed the dry pastry with difficulty and carefully held up the remaining half: “Y-Yanling, want a pastry? A growing boy needs his nutrition.”
Xi Jianlan: “…”
“I’m going to kill you!!”
**
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152