PID Chapter 85

(3/5)

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After experiencing the first floating marker’s peculiar rune setup, Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan gained a new understanding of the challenges ahead. They had initially assumed the trials would be purely combat- or heart-tempering-oriented but hadn’t expected such creative obstacles. Clearly, they couldn’t afford to let their guard down just because there didn’t seem to be immediate danger.

 

Chu Jinglan was like frost and snow—cold in demeanor—but his palm was warm to the touch. Xiao Mo often smiled outwardly, yet his inner demon spirit body lacked warmth; his palm was icy cold.

 

The contrast between cold and warm pressed tightly together became more apparent as time passed. Their hands were stuck so firmly that Xiao Mo felt as though Chu Jinglan’s warmth had completely enveloped him.

 

Whoever designed this rune really went overboard—couldn’t they have made it just a little less tight? This grip was far too intense.

 

The two continued forward through the underwater landscape, which was stunningly beautiful—almost unreal. Schools of fearless fish swam past them, brushing lightly against their bodies as they moved. Xiao Mo gently touched one fish’s tail with his fingertip; it felt smooth and soft. The little fish flicked its tail playfully, creating rippling circles in the water.

 

As Xiao Mo admired the breathtaking scenery, fragments of memory flashed through his mind again.

 

His memory recovery had indeed been accelerating recently.

 

In the vision, he stood before an endless sea of clouds—a magnificent view—and beside him was Chu Jinglan asking: “What exactly do you need my help with?”

 

Xiao Mo gazed comfortably at the cloud sea and replied: “Focus on cultivating first—the higher your cultivation level, the better.”

 

Chu Jinglan asked: “Do I need to reach Return to Void stage?”

 

Cultivators who reached Return to Void stage became Immortal Lords. The last Immortal Lord in the cultivation world had fallen 500 years ago, and no one had broken through to Return to Void since then.

 

As the clouds rolled and churned before them, Xiao Mo tilted his head slightly and said: “If I told you I needed that—would you find it too difficult?”

 

“It’s very difficult,” Chu Jinglan admitted calmly. “But I won’t break my promise.” By this point in time, Chu Jinglan had already completed his revenge and reached Divided Spirit stage. His inner demon tribulation had been easily overcome. Having a new goal wasn’t a bad thing for him. “Return to Void—I understand.”

 

He spoke so lightly yet with such resolute determination that it left Xiao Mo momentarily stunned.

 

Before him was the surging sea of clouds, but within him, his heart seemed to rise and fall along with it—light as mist yet vast and boundless like waves crashing endlessly forward. It was overwhelming in its grandeur—a feeling impossible to suppress or contain.

 

The two of them moved in opposite directions—one to the left, one to the right—until a tugging sensation on their hands made them realize the foolish mistake they’d just made.

 

Fortunately, Chu Jinglan reacted swiftly, using his free left hand to form a gesture that blocked the incoming sword energy. When the next wave of sword energy came, both of them immediately dodged in the same direction, moving quickly and in perfect sync this time.

 

Chu Jinglan quickly identified the core of the sword formation. Once he broke through it, the runes around the floating marker dissipated without leaving any further traps. Chu Jinglan raised his hand and collected the floating marker.

 

Xiao Mo lifted their clasped hands and sighed helplessly: “It seems we still need to adjust.”

 

Chu Jinglan agreed wholeheartedly—they had both failed to react properly at first.

 

“The buoyancy underwater might be affecting our sense of coordination,” Xiao Mo suggested. “Why don’t we return to land and practice moving together there?”

 

Chu Jinglan didn’t mind whether they searched for floating markers underwater or on land. They had gone underwater earlier because Xiao Mo’s gaze had shown a clear fascination with the ocean scenery. Now that Xiao Mo suggested heading back to land, Chu Jinglan naturally agreed.

 

Still holding hands, they broke through the water’s surface and flew into mid-air. The benefits of the water-repelling technique became apparent as their clothes remained completely dry. However, without the buoyancy of water, Xiao Mo couldn’t help but notice how much more pronounced the sensation of their clasped hands felt.

 

Strange, Xiao Mo thought. Last time, when we were searching for butterfly scake stones outside Rainbow Butterfly Town, Chu Jinglan held my hand for a while too. I didn’t feel anything unusual then—so why does it suddenly feel awkward now?

 

Was it because last time they had voluntarily held hands, whereas this time they were forcibly bound together?

 

Thinking along these lines, Xiao Mo belatedly realized something he had overlooked for quite some time: Do close brothers even walk around holding hands?

 

Uh… no, no, he quickly reasoned with himself. Last time was a special situation—I’d just been shocked by a memory fragment. Special circumstances call for special measures—it’s not fair to judge it by normal standards.

 

Xiao Mo tried to convince himself.

 

Finding their next floating marker took quite a bit of time, but luckily they managed to retrieve two at once from the same spot, which balanced out their average search time. While moving between locations, they encountered other disciples.

 

One disciple spotted them and immediately zeroed in on their clasped hands with wide-eyed curiosity.

 

Realizing his stare was impolite and overly intrusive, he hastily withdrew his gaze in an attempt to cover up his faux pas. Then, red-faced and flustered, he turned away and fled as though escaping from danger—without daring to linger for even a moment.

 

But his expression and his hurried retreat were far too conspicuous.

 

Xiao Mo: “…”

 

He curled his other hand lightly by his side and exhaled softly.

 

He and Chu Jinglan still needed to work on coordinating their movements; there was no time to worry about such trivial matters. Right.

 

As they continued finding floating markers and tackling various trials together, Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan’s teamwork improved significantly. Already familiar with each other’s movements, they found that with deliberate effort to adapt to one another, they could move as one without even needing eye contact.

 

Their smooth and effortless cooperation during these challenges helped ease Xiao Mo’s mind considerably—it was comforting.

 

Although finding six markers would have been sufficient for today’s quota, they ended up collecting nine markers in total—effectively covering half of tomorrow’s requirement as well.

 

The two returned to the island where Chang Daozi and the three Divided Spirit cultivators were stationed just in time for the daily deadline. Most disciples busy searching for floating markers followed similar schedules, landing one after another as evening approached. It was only then that Xiao Mo noticed something amusing: compared to him and Chu Jinglan holding hands, some other disciples’ appearances were far more… extraordinary.

 

Some had hair that had transformed into bizarre mushroom shapes—impossible to hide even under a wide-brimmed hat. Embarrassed and anxious, these disciples handed over their floating markers before retreating into corners like actual rainy-day mushrooms.

 

Others had body parts altered in strange ways—for instance, one disciple’s legs were mismatched: one normal leg and one resembling a chicken claw. Walking proved difficult for them; flying was far easier since it allowed them to maintain balance.

 

In an environment like this, Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan holding hands seemed utterly unremarkable.

 

The Wang family’s floating markers truly were devious…

 

When the two stepped forward to hand over their markers, Chang Daozi didn’t find their clasped hands strange at all. He accepted the markers and looked at them with a pleased expression, saying, “Very good, very good.”

 

It didn’t seem like he was praising them for collecting enough markers; rather, it felt more like he was happy about how well they got along.

 

Meanwhile, their battle-hardened chicken Yue Ming returned from his outing with an unexpectedly aloof demeanor. From the moment he landed, he hadn’t said a single word.

 

Xiao Mo glanced him up and down and tentatively asked, “Chu Jinglan and I are cursed to have our hands stuck together—did you get hit with some sort of mute curse?”

 

Yue Ming bared his teeth, showing that his facial muscles were perfectly functional—no issues there.

 

Xiao Mo continued: “Then is it that you can’t talk?”

 

Yue Ming’s expression became even more reserved. His lips twitched slightly, making it clear he was holding something back and desperately wanted to speak.

 

Just as Xiao Mo started to think Yue Ming truly couldn’t talk, a disciple walked over and said, “Yue Ming, that move you used today was impressive! How did you train for it? Share your insights!”

 

At those words, Yue Ming immediately raised his chin proudly and responded: “Impressive, right? I think so too. Chirp—”

 

The moment that final sound escaped his mouth, every nearby gaze instantly turned toward him. Even though Yue Ming immediately clamped his mouth shut, it was already too late.

 

The disciple who had approached froze for a second before bursting into laughter: “Hahaha! What was that? Oh my goodness!”

 

Xiao Mo couldn’t help but curve his lips slightly in amusement as well. Yue Ming gave up entirely and muttered in frustration: “Annoying! Chirp! What kind of lousy rune did the Wang family write? Chirp!”

 

With so many people affected by various curses, the atmosphere became lively. Groups of three or five gathered together and sat on the ground. Yue Ming cursed loudly while intermittently chirping between words. Xiao Mo buried his face in Chu Jinglan’s shoulder to stifle his laughter, while Yue Ming rolled his eyes dramatically.

 

“What kind of curse did you two get anyway? Chirp,” Yue Ming grumbled coldly. “Hands stuck together—not even a real punishment! Chirp!”

 

Chu Jinglan countered calmly: “At first, it did make movement somewhat inconvenient.”

 

Xiao Mo laughed as he added without thinking: “Exactly! If we want to hold hands, we’ll do it ourselves—we don’t need some curse for that.”

 

The moment those words left his mouth, Xiao Mo froze in surprise at himself. Chu Jinglan also paused immediately.

 

Xiao Mo straightened slightly from Chu Jinglan’s shoulder while Chu Jinglan turned his head to look at him softly.

 

“Uh… what I meant was…” Xiao Mo stammered under Chu Jinglan’s gaze. The words rolled around on his tongue before he inexplicably felt guilty and lowered his eyes. “I spoke too quickly—it was just something random. Don’t mind it.”

 

Chu Jinglan’s gaze was light as he looked at Xiao Mo, and his voice carried only a single sound: “Mm.”

 

Yue Ming, still chirping intermittently, slapped his thigh in frustration. “What’s this? What’s this? You two lovebirds better not start exchanging flirtatious glances in front of me while I’m annoyed! Chirp!”

 

Nearby, another disciple was laughing so hard he nearly fell over. He hadn’t been affected by any curses today, so he was feeling quite smug. “This is all very entertaining—I love hearing and watching this. You should all keep it up!”

 

Yue Ming exchanged a glance with two other cursed disciples before they immediately pounced on the unscathed one to “discipline” him. “Oh, you like watching the fun, huh? Brothers, let’s give him some fun too! Chirp!”

 

The group erupted into chaos as people playfully wrestled and laughed. Meanwhile, Xiao Mo and Chu Jinglan sat quietly holding hands, watching the lively scene unfold. The cheerful laughter and the warmth of camaraderie reached Xiao Mo’s ears, and this time, he couldn’t resist pressing his hand over his chest.

 

…The East Clear Pearl in his chest seemed to be radiating too much warmth.

 

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1 Kofi = 1 Extra Chapter