It had been seven years since Shen Liuxiang had seen Ling Ye after leaving the Qinglin Sect.
On the day Father Emperor sent someone to the sect to pick him up, Ling Ye only asked if he wanted to leave, if he wanted to go. After Shen Liuxiang nodded, he escorted him to the sect entrance and let him go.
After Shen Liuxiang arrived at the Imperial Palace, they initially maintained correspondence. Most were brief greetings from Ling Ye, while Shen Liuxiang wrote ten-page letters in response.
It wasn’t that he was talkative; it was just that when he first arrived at the Imperial Palace, Shen Liuxiang was unfamiliar with the place and was there as a young lord who had been lost outside. The people around him had ambiguous attitudes, and his every move was scrutinized and speculated upon.
Especially Xu Xingchen, who showed full hostility towards him, constantly grumbling and occasionally setting up small traps for him. With the Star Young Lord acting this way, naturally, there were many in the Imperial Palace who followed suit to please him.
Thus, Shen Liuxiang had no major troubles, but minor ones came one after another.
At that time, Shen Liuxiang had no one to confide in, and writing back to his Senior Brother became his only outlet. Every night, he would lean over his desk, grind the ink, and write about who had bullied him that day and how he had repaid them double.
Later, it seemed that those who tried to trick him always ended up losing more than they gained, and gradually, no one dared to bully him anymore.
As Shen Liuxiang’s days in the Imperial Palace became more comfortable, his Senior Brother’s letters stopped coming.
Shen Liuxiang persisted in writing for another half year, but received no response. Worried that his Senior Brother found him annoying, he gradually stopped writing. Not long after, Zhou Xuanlan, who had established a foothold in the demon realm, found every possible way to deliver a jade slip to him, and the two regained contact.
Now, Ling Ye suddenly appeared, carrying two scrolls openly, and greeted him casually.
Shen Liuxiang was stunned, and for a long while couldn’t react. “Sen… Senior Brother.”
Ling Ye nodded to him: “I heard you came to the Demon Capital, so I came to see you.”
Earlier, when Ling Ye came out of a secret realm, he happened to see Su Baiche passing by, painfully rubbing his neck and muttering Shen Liuxiang’s name amid curses, so he went over to ask.
Su Baiche was startled, immediately concerned that the Zhuyan he had refined within his body would be discovered. Fortunately, Ling Ye didn’t notice. After asking a few simple questions, he let him go.
However, before parting, Ling Ye told him that if he encountered trouble, he could tell him.
Su Baiche was somewhat surprised, while Tong Xi in his mind immediately seized this lifeline, exclaiming: “It’s okay! It’s okay! Even though we’ve lost the forest, at least there’s still a big tree to lean on!”
The implication in his words was that Ling Ye had deep feelings for him and had been thinking of him all these years.
Su Baiche responded with a cold laugh.
The feeling Ling Ye gave him was very strange. If he claimed to like him, his behavior didn’t show it, but if he didn’t like him, his treatment of him was different from others.
Back at the Qinglin Sect, whenever Shen Liuxiang openly bullied him and Ling Ye found out, no matter how busy he was, he would come to visit him. But while comforting him, Ling Ye would also say that Junior Brother was mischievous and ask him to be understanding.
Su Baiche had hoped that Ling Ye would discipline Shen Liuxiang for him, but later discovered that Ling Ye always went easy on him, and even the Law Enforcement Elder couldn’t handle Shen Liuxiang.
So from that time on, no matter how much Tong Xi said Ling Ye liked him, Su Baiche absolutely didn’t believe it.
As for the occasional care shown, it had more of a sense of mutual respect.
And the concept of “mutual respect” seemed very dangerous to Su Baiche. It was as if Ling Ye had drawn a circle for him, allowing him to move freely within it, but if he exceeded the boundary, the “respect” would disappear, and what remained might not be so pleasant.
Just like when Ling Ye said to tell him if he encountered trouble, Su Baiche could almost certainly determine that “trouble” here definitely didn’t include helping him resolve the Zhuyan issue. If he confessed to Ling Ye about practicing evil techniques and sought his help, the result might be even worse than now.
So Su Baiche responded gently and left without hesitation amid Tong Xi’s angry screams.
Ling Ye felt he had done what he should, waved his sleeve, and left without much reluctance. His spiritual sense searched the Demon Capital for a while, found Shen Liuxiang teasing his small Nascent Soul on the couch, and with a flicker of his figure, appeared in the room.
Ling Ye lowered his gaze slightly, looking at the Junior Brother he hadn’t seen for seven years. He looked as he remembered, though because of suddenly seeing him, his expression was temporarily blank.
Just like when he was caught doing mischief as a youth—first stunned, then pitifully begging for mercy.
Could it be he had done something mischievous again?
Ling Ye carefully examined the person on the couch—his black hair, eyes, straight nose, red lips… His gaze moved inch by inch, finally landing on the slender white neck.
The scene there, like red plum blossoms on snow, was quite beautiful and enchanting.
But it didn’t prevent Ling Ye from narrowing his eyes when he saw it, the smile on his gentle, handsome face pausing momentarily.
He frowned and pondered for a long time, his expression unpredictable, as if suddenly plunged into some kind of confusion. Noticing Shen Liuxiang’s puzzled gaze, he finally returned to normal, asking, “Why have you come to the Demon Capital?”
Shen Liuxiang hadn’t expected that the scrolls he had been searching for by every means were on Ling Ye, who seemed completely unaware of their importance, hanging them openly at his waist.
If it were someone else, Shen Liuxiang would have grabbed them long ago.
But now…
Shen Liuxiang made a difficult hissing sound, his eyes wandering back and forth over Ling Ye’s waist. After thinking, he extended a slender index finger, tentatively pointing at the two scrolls.
“Senior Brother… give me, ahem,” Shen Liuxiang’s voice was hoarse, words emerging with difficulty from his throat, “can I take a look?”
Hearing this unnaturally hoarse voice, Ling Ye frowned, took out a bottle of pills from his storage pouch, then untied the knot at his waist, and handed over both the scrolls, asking, “Was it Zhou Xuanlan?”
Shen Liuxiang looked at the scrolls now at his fingertips in disbelief, then looked up at Ling Ye, his heart beating faster.
Just… just like that, he gave them to him?!
Shen Liuxiang was overwhelmed with emotions as he took the two scrolls in hand. In his excitement, he completely ignored Ling Ye’s out-of-nowhere question.
He eagerly opened them.
Father Emperor had taught him how to identify genuine and fake scrolls, as well as how to discern the location where Qiongqi was sealed from them.
The first one he opened was fake.
Shen Liuxiang set it aside and immediately unfolded the last scroll. At this moment, the person standing in front of the couch suddenly called his name.
Shen Liuxiang’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Ling Ye had changed his mind?!
His fingers holding the scroll tightened slightly, and he cautiously raised his head, but his nose caught a whiff of medicinal fragrance.
“Open your mouth.”
Ling Ye opened the pill bottle that Shen Liuxiang had forgotten in his hand, took out a green pill, and held it to Shen Liuxiang’s mouth.
Shen Liuxiang was stunned, then swallowed the pill, saying, “Throat-soothing pill… I’ve already taken one.”
“Taking more won’t hurt,” Ling Ye said, his gaze falling on the newly opened scroll. “This was taken from Heng Jiuyin’s hands. The specific location has been deliberately erased by him, so you can only see a general idea. Is the Imperial Palace also looking for this scroll?”
Shen Liuxiang nodded. The scroll in his hand was damaged; someone had used powerful magic to destroy the central point, but he could vaguely make out that the place where Qiongqi was sealed was in—the Demon Capital?!
Shen Liuxiang was shocked. If it were other terrains, it wouldn’t be hard to find, but around the Demon Capital, there were thousands of secret realms. Without specific directions, Qiongqi could be hidden in any one of them.
He rubbed his brow and closed the scroll, asking, “Does Senior Brother know what is recorded in here?”
Ling Ye said: “The place where the fierce beast is sealed.”
Shen Liuxiang gripped the scroll tightly: “How does Senior Brother know… and where did the other scroll come from?” Ling Ye’s earlier appearance in the Eight Cardinal Realms must have been guided by the fake scroll.
What did he want to do?
“Don’t you remember?” Ling Ye pointed to the fake one beside him, his tone strange. “A long time ago, when we left the sect, you used it to wrap two sugar figurines as a gift to me. I thought it was a waste scroll, until recently, when it suddenly behaved strangely. I discovered it was Di Yunyu’s item, and after investigation, I learned it was related to a fierce beast from hundreds of years ago.“
Shen Liuxiang was stunned.
To think his original self had used Father Emperor’s scroll to wrap sugar figurines…
He coughed lightly, remained silent for a moment, and asked: “Since Senior Brother knows it’s related to a fierce beast and has specially come from the cultivation world, what is your purpose?”
Ling Ye said: “To reinforce the seal.”
Shen Liuxiang’s eyes widened slightly, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He had felt that Ling Ye would not have any intention of releasing Qiongqi to bring calamity to the world.
After brief consideration, he said: “I want to give the scrolls to Father Emperor, perhaps they can be repaired.”
Ling Ye appeared thoughtful. It seemed Father Emperor didn’t know where the fierce beast was, otherwise he wouldn’t have sent Shen Liuxiang to search. The information that could be obtained from the scrolls, he already possessed, so keeping them had little use. Thus, he let Shen Liuxiang take them.
Ling Ye had recently searched many secret realms, and visiting Shen Liuxiang was purely unexpected. Seeing he was well, he planned to continue searching for the fierce beast outside the city, but his gaze once again fell on Shen Liuxiang’s neck, and his footsteps paused slightly.
He was silent for a while, then asked again: “Is it Zhou Xuanlan?”
Shen Liuxiang put away the three scrolls, and puzzled by the question, asked: “What does Senior Brother mean?”
Ling Ye wordlessly pointed at his neck. Shen Liuxiang was stunned, raised his hand to touch it confusedly, took out a bronze mirror from his storage pouch, and looked inside.
“?!!!”
In an instant, the handsome fair face in the mirror was tinged with a blush.
Shen Liuxiang couldn’t help but lower his head, wishing he could find a crack in the couch to slip into. He pulled the blanket up tightly around his neck, stammering: “Ah… th-this… was bitten by a mosquito, just that this mosquito happens to have the surname Zhou.”
Finally, he wanted to chuckle humorously, but seeing Ling Ye’s silence, he couldn’t laugh.
“Senior Brother…”
Shen Liuxiang suddenly felt uncomfortable, “Why does Senior Brother insist on taking his life? If it’s because he’s a demon, there are so many demons in the world today. He’s just one of them. Why target him specifically?”
Ling Ye’s eyes were indifferent: “Because he is not of today.”
Shen Liuxiang’s heart tightened, then he heard Ling Ye’s tone soften, speaking to him as if coaxing a child: “Junior Brother, why not choose someone else? There will be better, more suitable ones.”
Shen Liuxiang’s face instantly cooled: “No change—don’t want to—”
Ling Ye probably hadn’t expected Shen Liuxiang to suddenly become angry. His brows furrowed slightly, and after a moment he sighed lightly: “Besides him, you can choose anyone.”
“Those words sound familiar,”
Shen Liuxiang narrowed his eyes slightly: “Junior Brother remembers, Senior Brother once said I could like anyone except Su Baiche. Now it’s Zhou Xuanlan. How quickly Senior Brother changes.”
Ling Ye was stunned for a moment, as if just remembering this person existed. “Right, he’s not acceptable either.”
Shen Liuxiang: “Why? Does Senior Brother like him?”
“Like… what does that feel like… like how you feel about Zhou Xuanlan?” Ling Ye’s lips curled into a slight smile, but his tone was quite bland.
“I don’t have such useless emotions.”
“As for why I don’t let you like Su Baiche,” Ling Ye explained: “He is my destined dao companion. Senior Brother cannot give him to you.”
Shen Liuxiang blurted out: “Is it the Three Lives Stone?”
Seeing Ling Ye nod, Shen Liuxiang frowned slightly: “Why must Senior Brother take this so seriously? One should follow one’s heart. If Senior Brother doesn’t like him, what joy is there in making him your dao companion? In the future, if you meet someone you like…”
“Wrong.” Ling Ye interrupted.
Shen Liuxiang: “What’s wrong?”
“That is your path, not mine,” Ling Ye’s expression was serious. “Among cultivators, some follow heaven’s will, others defy it… my path is the former, to follow heaven’s will, the way of heaven.”
With these words, Shen Liuxiang knew further discussion was futile.
Since following heaven’s will was Ling Ye’s path, if he deviated from it, he would be committing a great taboo of cultivation, and his years of cultivation would be ruined.
He asked one final question, the most important one: “Is eliminating him also part of Senior Brother’s path?”
Ling Ye: “It is.”
Shen Liuxiang helplessly said: “If so, Junior Brother will have to become Senior Brother’s…”
Ling Ye quietly looked at him, his face no longer showing its usual gentle smile, and the word “enemy,” Shen Liuxiang just couldn’t say it.
He recalled the memories excavated by the Nightmare Beast.
He had thought that, not being the original Shen Liuxiang, without decades of brotherhood with Ling Ye, without the childhood joy of following Senior Brother around, the words “become enemies” wouldn’t be so hard to say. But when the words reached his throat, they seemed blocked by something, and he couldn’t utter the final word.
As if saying it would mean there was no going back…
It wouldn’t hurt just Ling Ye.
Shen Liuxiang changed his words: “I won’t let Senior Brother have his way.”
Ling Ye stared at him in silence for a long while, raised his hand, patted his head, and left without a word.
When Zhou Xuanlan was selecting story books according to Shen Liuxiang’s taste, he was delayed for some time. Upon returning to the room, his keen perception as a demon immediately sensed another lingering aura in the room.
Zhou Xuanlan slowly approached the couch, seeing Shen Liuxiang lying on the pillow wrapped in soft blankets like a cicada pupa, looking listless.
“What’s wrong, Master?”
Shen Liuxiang, realizing his disciple had returned, mustered some energy and, still wrapped in the blanket, sprang up to sit on the couch. “Did you buy everything?”
Zhou Xuanlan arranged everything in front of him, noticing that the unknown aura was strongest where he stood by the couch.
His handsome brows moved slightly: “Who was here?”
Shen Liuxiang thought to himself that Ling Ye had left a while ago, yet he could still be detected…
But he had never intended to hide it. His fair chin nodded slightly, and he said: “Feed me a sugar figurine, and I’ll tell you.”
Zhou Xuanlan’s lips curved up on one side, his slender fingers unwrapped the sugar paper, and held it out.
Shen Liuxiang narrowed his eyes with enjoyment, like a salted fish waiting to be fed.
Very cooperatively, he tilted his head back, his red lips parting slightly.
“Ah~ Ah~ Ah… mmm??”
##
Thank You for the new chapter(⋆◗̑◡◗̑)⸝♡