The pavilion was silent, making even the slight breeze in the air seem clamorous.
The round orange kept trembling, and as Shen Liuxiang’s fingertips tightened, trying to stop it, he found it shaking even more violently.
Don’t, don’t shake anymore.
It was a small matter; Shen Liuxiang had seen it all.
Shen Liuxiang puffed his cheeks, looked up, surveyed the others seated around the table, forced a smile, then immediately lowered his head dejectedly.
Why were they all staring at him like they were interrogating a criminal?
Shen Liuxiang’s heart pounded. How had they all arrived at once, and with such poor relationships between them?
Zhou Xuanlan and Ling Ye had long been like fire and water; Ling Ye and Xu Xingchen had fought over his corpse; Xu Xingchen and Zhou Xuanlan had never gotten along; Zhou Xuanlan and Ye Bingran had just fought recently. Only Nan Yuequan seemed to stand apart from it all.
Shen Liuxiang couldn’t help but feel alarmed, thinking they might start fighting, settling old scores and grudges.
Who would he help then?
Shen Liuxiang drew in a cold breath, nearly squeezing the orange flat in his hand.
It wasn’t appropriate to speak to anyone at this moment, as it could easily break the balance before him. Once that balance broke, they might enter into a chaotic battle in the next instant. Without confidence in controlling the situation, Shen Liuxiang didn’t dare to take the risk.
After hesitating for a moment, Shen Liuxiang decided to use the transmission technique. This way, others wouldn’t notice, wouldn’t feel uncomfortable, and he could catch up with each one individually.
Shen Liuxiang first secretly transmitted to Ling Ye. After recovering his memories, he recalled his carefree days at Qinglin Sect with his master and senior brother during his youth.
This was the first time he had seen Ling Ye in sixteen years, and he transmitted: “How have you been these years, Senior Brother? Why did you come here today?”
Ling Ye, sitting to Shen Liuxiang’s left, heard this and his expression changed slightly.
He turned his head, stared at Shen Liuxiang for a while, curved his lips in a light smile, and his voice sounded in the pavilion: “I thought you had perished, so not very well. I came here today naturally to see you.”
Shen Liuxiang: “?!”
Everyone present was startled when they heard Ling Ye speak, their gazes falling on him in unison, then looking back at Shen Liuxiang, instantly understanding what had happened.
Zhou Xuanlan lowered his eyelids, saying with an unclear meaning: “Master used transmission.”
Shen Liuxiang’s nails scratched at the orange peel, and he reluctantly admitted, nodding to the side: “I did.”
As he spoke, he heard Zhou Xuanlan’s transmission: “Master has never transmitted to me before.”
Shen Liuxiang pressed his lips together. It was just a transmission, and he was about to send one to Zhou Xuanlan when another voice came into his mind: “Did you transmit to all of them but not to me? Is it because I’m sitting too far away? Shen Liuxiang, look me in the eyes when you speak!”
Shen Liuxiang: “…”
He looked at Xu Xingchen, just about to speak, when the orange in his hand was taken away.
Ling Ye’s slender fingers began peeling the orange: “I saw you holding it for a long time. Were you wanting to eat it? Let Senior Brother help you peel it.”
Shen Liuxiang was stunned, remembering how as a child, when he wanted fruit but couldn’t reach or climb the trees, he would always stand eagerly beneath, waiting for Ling Ye to pick some for him.
Shen Liuxiang felt a warmth in his heart: “Thank you, Senior Brother.”
“Don’t thank me, or you’ll owe me too many thanks,” Ling Ye said with a smile at the corner of his lips. “After all, when you were little and ate fish, you always needed me to remove the bones for you.”
Shen Liuxiang touched the tip of his nose, saying sheepishly: “That’s because I trusted Senior Brother’s bone-removing skills more. When I removed them myself, I didn’t dare eat big bites, I wasn’t confident.”
Ling Ye handed him the peeled orange: “Do you remember? The first time I was ever punished was for removing fish bones for you. I was late for cultivation practice and was made to stand for two hours by the elder.”
Of course Shen Liuxiang remembered. From the moment he entered the sect, Ling Ye had been the standard for all disciples, respected and admired by the elders and sect leader above, and by his junior brothers and sisters below. When he was suddenly punished, countless people came to watch, all finding it curious.
So Ling Ye stood motionless for two hours under everyone’s gaze.
Although Shen Liuxiang was young at the time, he knew he had caused trouble. Before Ling Ye returned to the peak, he had hurried to the disciplinary elder with small steps, borrowed a ruler wider than his arm, and when Ling Ye returned, he had held up the ruler with both hands before him, actively admitting his mistake.
But Ling Ye hadn’t punished him. Instead, he had smiled lightly: “It was my choice, what fault is there in my junior brother?”
Thinking of this, Shen Liuxiang felt a lump in his throat. He nodded and reached out to take the peeled orange. His senior brother had never blamed him, had always… been the best to him.
Beside them, Zhou Xuanlan narrowed his eyes slightly.
These were Shen Liuxiang’s memories from his youth at Qinglin Sect, known only to Ling Ye. He, like the others, could only watch as the two exchanged words, unable to join the conversation.
Zhou Xuanlan’s brows lowered, and as Shen Liuxiang broke apart the orange, about to taste a segment, he finally found an opportunity, reaching out to grasp his wrist: “Master isn’t used to eating oranges with the peel removed. Why force yourself?”
He had intended to take the orange segment from Shen Liuxiang’s hand, but seeing Shen Liuxiang’s narrowed eyes, he had to give up. Instead, he turned to Ling Ye with a half-smile: “Though the Immortal Lord means well, he’s used the wrong approach. Master stopped peeling oranges many years ago.”
Ling Ye looked at Shen Liuxiang: “I remember you didn’t have this habit.”
Shen Liuxiang ate two segments of the peeled orange, indeed feeling unaccustomed, as if eating something else. He pressed his lips together, saying while eating: “I didn’t have it when I was young, I don’t know when it started.”
Ling Ye frowned slightly; this was something he truly didn’t know about.
Zhou Xuanlan’s brow suddenly relaxed, his thin lips curving into a rather smug smile: “Master has forgotten, this has to do with me.”
Shen Liuxiang widened his eyes: “?”
“In East Wilderness, Master was injured and couldn’t move. This disciple found oranges to feed Master, without peeling them,” Zhou Xuanlan said slowly, looking at Shen Liuxiang and enunciating each word, “Though Master has forgotten now, still eating oranges without peeling them is subconsciously thinking of me.”
Shen Liuxiang: “??”
Eating oranges with the peel was subconsciously thinking of Zhou Xuanlan?
Shen Liuxiang looked dubious. Before going to East Wilderness, he indeed didn’t have this habit, but hearing Zhou Xuanlan’s words, he felt something wasn’t right: “When you fed me, why didn’t you peel the orange?”
Zhou Xuanlan lowered his eyes to drink tea: “Because this disciple was too young at the time and didn’t know how.”
Shen Liuxiang narrowed his eyes, half-believing.
Below the pavilion, no one dared to extend their divine sense to see what was happening above, only observing with their eyes. Vaguely, they seemed to feel the great pressure from the pavilion. The venue was somewhat quiet, with only the master of ceremonies’ voice sounding, with some urgency, hurriedly completing the procedure.
Su Baiche, using Tong Xi’s power, saw the activities in the pavilion clearly and found nothing amiss, but Tong Xi was raging in his mind, “Zhou Xuanlan and Ling Ye are jealously competing for someone else, this isn’t right, it should have been for you!”
Su Baiche: “How do you see jealousy? I think it looks normal, though the two indeed don’t seem to get along.”
Tong Xi’s voice trembled with anger, belatedly realizing: “Our mission has been stolen!”
Su Baiche thought to himself, that’s just perfect.
On the pavilion, just as the orange-peeling matter passed, Ye Bingran, who had been sitting quietly, looked at Shen Liuxiang and spoke: “I apologize, I only recently learned from my master that after I refused your gifts back then, you gave them all to my master to pass on to me.”
Shen Liuxiang was stunned for a moment, then said: “It’s fine.”
Ye Bingran nodded: “I heard from my master that there were many letters from you to me, but unfortunately I didn’t get to see them. I wonder what was written inside.”
“Nothing much, just some trivial matters,”
Shen Liuxiang coughed, inwardly muttering, feeling that Ye Bingran was acting somewhat strange. Bringing up such an awkward old matter now, especially in front of Zhou Xuanlan, however one looked at it… seemed ill-intentioned.
He glanced at Zhou Xuanlan, saw his calm expression, and breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he was overthinking.
Zhou Xuanlan already knew about these love letters, so he must not mind anymore, no need to worry…
Crack-
A teacup shattered, making a crisp sound.
Zhou Xuanlan took out a silk handkerchief, unhurriedly wiping the water from his hands, his tone indifferent: “I had the fortune to see that what Master wrote was indeed some trivial, boring matters. Why does the Sword Venerable keep dwelling on it?”
Shen Liuxiang’s heart skipped a beat, then heard Ye Bingran say: “According to my master, Liuxiang wrote to me every few days, for ten years, accumulating mountains of letters. Since the Demon Emperor has seen them, why not tell us where the letters are now? They should be returned to their rightful owner.”
Shen Liuxiang: “?”
Liu-Liuxiang… why the sudden intimate address?!
Though those ten years weren’t his intention, in others’ eyes, it looked like he had persistently pursued Ye Bingran for ten years. It was already impossible to explain clearly, and with Ye Bingran bringing up old matters, he couldn’t clear his name even if he jumped into the Yellow River.
“The letters were destroyed by me. It seems the Sword Venerable won’t have the fortune to see them,” Zhou Xuanlan sneered. “When you discarded them like old shoes, missing out is missing out.”
Ye Bingran’s face paled, his fingers tightening, his body emanating an icy aura, seemingly angered.
On the other side, Su Baiche’s head suddenly ached as Tong Xi shouted: “This is wrong! This can’t be! How can Ye Bingran act irrationally for someone else! He should only be aggressive and unyielding for you! He should only show his sharp edge for you, willing to compete with others! Why has it become Shen Liuxiang?!”
“No, Shen Liuxiang stole your things, he stole our mission, he should be someone everyone dislikes! Go kill him! Why should he make these three jealously compete? Go kill him! Kill him, and maybe the mission can be saved!”
A vein bulged on Su Baiche’s temple. He initially wanted to scold Tong Xi for not using his brain-those people were sitting there, how could he go kill anyone?
But Su Baiche had a second thought, his heart stirring.
He had been pondering before that Tong Xi never dared to act, wondering if acting would expose a weakness, posing a fatal danger. Seeing Tong Xi’s murderous intent now, he decided to add fuel to the fire, to see if he could force Tong Xi to act.
Su Baiche said: “You’re right, Shen Liuxiang must have used some treacherous means to replace me, otherwise I would be sitting up there, and our mission would have a perfect conclusion! But alas…”
“Now, without Shen Liuxiang’s existence, there might still be a chance, but he’s already done this, and we have no possibility of completing the mission anymore. It seems you won’t just miss out on rewards but will be punished by being trapped on this continent forever, like a prisoner.”
Tong Xi immediately cried out: “No! No! I don’t want to be a prisoner! There must still be a turning point, there must be!”
He refocused his attention on the pavilion, trying to find a glimmer of hope, but what he saw and heard was even more despairing.
“You came too, how come?” Ling Ye said to Nan Yuequan. “Since when have you been so familiar with my junior brother?”
Nan Yuequan smiled: “I took care of him for sixteen years, raised him plump and fair, how could we not be familiar?”
Mentioning those sixteen years, several people suddenly had something to say.
Ling Ye said: “I visited my junior brother during festivals. If you had told me, I would have gone to the Devil Palace.”
Xu Xingchen also said: “Blood brother, you’re not being fair. It’s one thing not to tell others, but to keep it from me too? If you had told me, I wouldn’t have had to secretly go pay respects to my elder brother in the middle of the night.”
“When I swept the grave, I often saw burnt incense and paper money early in the morning. So it was the Emperor who burned them,” Ye Bingran paused, his tone slightly cool. “I thought it was the Demon Emperor, but it seems I misunderstood. The Demon Emperor is busy with state affairs, how would he have time?”
Zhou Xuanlan choked, facing the ill-intentioned gazes of everyone, yet without any confidence to look back, perfectly losing the composure he had when discussing oranges and letters earlier. “Master, this-this disciple didn’t not visit you, at that time…”
Shen Liuxiang waved his hand: “It’s fine, I didn’t miss you.”
Zhou Xuanlan’s heart chilled, showing a regretful and aggrieved expression, which Shen Liuxiang caught, secretly laughing.
On the other side, Tong Xi was nearly driven mad by the scenes on the pavilion.
This should have been Su Baiche’s situation, then the mission would be completed. How could it be Shen Liuxiang? These people got it wrong; they should be treating Su Baiche this way!
Tong Xi was anxious, knowing that if he continued to let things be, the mission would completely fail, but if he killed Shen Liuxiang… perhaps there was still a chance.
However, Tong Xi still hesitated. If he acted and was detected, it would be over. He might even lose his life, which would be worse than surviving on this continent.
But the next scene delivered a fatal blow to Tong Xi, making him lose his reason, so angry that even the program within him became chaotic.
Xu Xingchen felt that with his blood connection to Shen Liuxiang, he should be the most confident, the most intimidating on this pavilion. But seeing others engage in pointed exchanges and veiled mockery, while he didn’t even have a chance to interject, he immediately became unhappy.
After much thought, he felt he was missing something. If Father Emperor were here…
Xu Xingchen’s finger tapped on the jade table, making a deep knocking sound. The others paused and looked at him.
Xu Xingchen snorted coldly: “If you all came for him, no need for further words. You might as well disperse. Shen Liuxiang belongs to the Imperial Palace. Fallen leaves return to their roots; he will ultimately return to Shenqi Mountain.”
With these words, the atmosphere on the pavilion became subtle.
Shen Liuxiang thought to himself that he wasn’t an object; how could they discuss where he belonged? Just as he was about to speak, Ling Ye held his hand: “If returning to roots, it should be Qinglin Sect.”
Shen Liuxiang opened his mouth: “Senior Brother…”
Ling Ye interrupted: “The first time you practiced swordsmanship, I taught you personally. When you made mistakes and were punished, I accompanied you… Shen Liuxiang, you once said you would always stay at Qinglin Sect with me. What about now?”
Shen Liuxiang’s whole body trembled, his expression momentarily dazed.
He had said it, had said those words on the day his master left, had said they would rely on each other, that neither would abandon the other.
But he had forgotten, forgotten for too long.
“Times have changed; Qinglin Sect can no longer accommodate Master,” Zhou Xuanlan’s tone suddenly turned cold. “Besides, the Immortal Lord is not far from the ascension realm. What right does he have to confine Master to Qinglin Sect?”
Seeing this, Ye Bingran’s gaze fell on Shen Liuxiang: “Things have changed; returning to Qinglin is indeed unnecessary. If you’re willing, why not come with me… wherever you want to go, it’s up to you.”
Shen Liuxiang widened his eyes, looking at Ling Ye, then at Ye Bingran, the sense of incongruity in his heart growing stronger. Yet he could also sense a probing intent in their words, though barely perceptible.
He steadied himself: “I…”
“Why not return to the Devil Palace with me,” Nan Yuequan stood up. “Life in the devil realm is much freer. I’ll give you the position of Devil Lord. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
Shen Liuxiang was shocked: “Thank you for your kind offer, Blood Brother, but I…”
“Enough!”
Xu Xingchen couldn’t bear it anymore. He had started the conversation but was pushed to speak last.
He stood up, walked a large circle, came to Shen Liuxiang’s side, pulled him up, looking displeased: “Stop coveting him. I won’t give my elder brother to anyone. He can only be my elder brother. I am the most important one!”
Shen Liuxiang held his forehead. What was Xu Xingchen saying? No one wanted to be his brother, yet he acted as if someone was trying to snatch him away. How childish…
Shen Liuxiang’s thoughts paused as the person beside him grabbed his wrist and forcefully pulled him into his arms.
“Master is mine,” Zhou Xuanlan’s brows exuded a fierce aura, his body emanating a terrifying pressure as he said word by word, “You are all seeking death.”
With these words, the atmosphere on the entire pavilion froze to the extreme. Shen Liuxiang could hardly breathe.
He tugged at Zhou Xuanlan’s sleeve, about to speak, when Ling Ye and the others all changed their expressions, saying in unison: “It’s here-”
Shen Liuxiang was stunned. A blinding light flashed before his eyes, and when he opened them again, he had arrived in a vast white space.
Something knee-high appeared in his vision, like a robot but more like a monster, grinning at him, approaching step by step, with a cackling “hehehe” echoing in this space.
Shen Liuxiang’s heart immediately surged with an indescribable fear, as if seeing the most terrifying thing in the world, even more frightening than seeing insects.
His mind roared, unable to feel anything else. The color drained from his face as he retreated in panic: “Don’t-don’t come closer, help! Help!!”
In his confusion, someone embraced him from behind, a familiar scent instantly enveloping him: “Don’t be afraid, Master. I’m here.”
Shen Liuxiang immediately grabbed this lifeline, turned around, his pale fingertips clutching Zhou Xuanlan tightly, his voice trembling, his mind nearly collapsing: “Save me! Zhou Xuanlan, save me!”
He remembered.
He had seen this thing before; it wanted to kill him! He couldn’t defeat it; no magic worked! He was only dragged and thrown into a black hole full of insects, his soul and body together, torn apart by countless insects, devoured bit by bit. It hurt so much! His entire body hurt!
Zhou Xuanlan tightly embraced Shen Liuxiang, pressing the agitated and panicked person against his chest, his hand stroking the back of his head: “Alright! Alright! Don’t be afraid, Master!”
While softly comforting him, he looked toward the thing in the distance, his eyes revealing endless killing intent.
Finally caught, this thing from another world.
Tong Xi’s laughter abruptly stopped, suddenly becoming flustered, saying incredulously: “How did you get in here? Impossible! Impossible! I only brought him here, unless you…”
Tong Xi paused, revealing a horrified expression… these people had deliberately lured him into a trap?!
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(advanced chapters available on kofi)
Smart move~
Thank You for the new chapter (｡’▽’｡)♡