Xi Jianlan was completely dumbfounded.
Sheng Jiao remained silent, still composed when facing that familiar face.
As if… he was already used to it.
The two stared at each other.
Xi Jianlan reacted extremely quickly, keeping his face stern and slightly moving his eyebrows to convey the weariness of “What is it?”—he had learned Sheng Jiao’s demeanor to perfection.
If Juan Xunfang were here, he would definitely bang his head on the ground shouting “Long live the Sect Master.”
Sheng Jiao observed him calmly, seemingly wanting to see how he would pretend.
Xi Jianlan gave him a cold glare and stepped over the threshold to leave.
In his understanding, no one dared to block the killing god Sect Master Sheng. He thought this person would make way for him, but unexpectedly, this person stood there like a pillar, motionless, and he couldn’t brake in time, almost crashing into him head-first.
Xi Jianlan’s eyes darkened, looking at him with displeasure.
This was how Sheng Jiao usually was—saying nothing, but making people retreat with just one look.
But this person seemed to lack perception.
Xi Jianlan was calculating how to use borrowed authority when Shang Yuan gracefully descended from the eaves like a swallow, silently landing in front of the two.
She looked carefully and was completely stunned.
“Sect, Sect Master?”
Two Sect Masters?
“He acts carelessly and perfunctorily.” Xi Jianlan coldly pointed at Sheng Jiao, mysteriously producing sound without moving his lips. “—Immediately expel him from Xiezhi Sect.”
Sheng Jiao: “…”
Shang Yuan: “???”
Shang Yuan stared blankly at her Sect Master’s killing god face, instinctively nodding obediently: “Oh oh, okay.”
Sheng Jiao: “…”
Xi Jianlan was very satisfied with Shang Yuan’s “gullibility,” giving her an appreciative look before stepping slowly past the “tough guy,” walking calmly and steadily toward the outside of Guchangsi Temple.
For some reason, every time Xi Jianlan saw this tough guy, he felt inexplicably nervous.
It was as if all his disguises and deceptions had nowhere to hide in front of him, and as if this person knew all his tricks, always keeping backup plans when dealing with him to prevent being deceived.
Thinking of the wound on that person’s tiger’s mouth, Xi Jianlan, who had enemies everywhere, racked his brains for a long time but still couldn’t remember what connection he had with this person.
Xi Jianlan pretended to be calm, quickening his pace to leave.
Sheng Jiao saw his back like a bird about to escape its cage, almost excited enough to bristle, and suddenly spoke coldly.
“Xi Jue…”
Almost the instant Sheng Jiao spoke the character “Xi,” Xi Jianlan’s heart jumped. As if prepared, he immediately changed from imitating Sheng Jiao’s slow walking manner to being like an unrestrained wild horse, suddenly bolting out.
He really was discovered!
Xi Jianlan steeled himself and rushed outward, the bit of vitality accumulated in his meridians from that Yutan flower petal suddenly converted into spiritual power, helping him rush out like the wind!
The “tough guy” was definitely at the Spirit Transformation realm—a moment’s hesitation would get him caught.
Xi Jianlan had never reacted this quickly in his life, instantly covering several li into the ghost forest.
He fled fast, but that cold spiritual power was faster. Before Xi Jianlan’s toes could touch the ground to rest, the invisible spiritual power crashed toward him like a giant palm.
Xi Jianlan: “…”
For no reason, a sinister murderous intent flashed in Xi Jianlan’s eyes, and he instinctively wanted to mobilize his inner spiritual power.
But just as this thought arose, the black cat appeared from nowhere. Its usually soft voice suddenly became deep and furious, shouting sternly.
“Xi Jianlan, don’t you want to live?!”
Xi Jianlan instantly snapped awake.
Just a moment’s hesitation, and that frost-like spiritual power had already turned into rope, coiling around Xi Jianlan’s thin body, whistling through the ghost forest toward Guchangsi Temple.
The spiritual power was cold and sharp. The fake “Tianyan pearls” on Xi Jianlan’s wrist directly shattered, the beads clattering to the ground.
In less than a quarter hour, Xi Jianlan was back in Sheng Jiao’s hands.
Xi Jianlan: “…”
Sheng Jiao looked at him expressionlessly.
Xi Jianlan didn’t like being bound and floating in mid-air—it lacked the security of being grounded. His toes kept desperately reaching downward, as if wanting to touch the ground.
“That… cough, please calm your anger, sir.” Xi Jianlan always spoke differently to different people. Seeing he really couldn’t outplay this ancestor, he very flexibly apologized with a dry laugh: “I was just missing Sect Master Sheng too much, so I took his appearance to ease my longing.”
When Xi Jianlan smiled with his own face, it was gorgeous and beautiful, seductively charming;
But now he was wearing Sheng Jiao’s face that looked like a demon possessed…
Shang Yuan had never seen the Sect Master smile and immediately shuddered in shock.
Even seeing his own face full of fawning and pleasing expressions, Sheng Jiao showed no emotion.
He raised his hand to gently caress Xi Jianlan’s lips, seeming very puzzled why this mouth never spoke a single truth.
Xi Jianlan was dutifully acting cute when he was suddenly touched on the lips, rarely stunned for a moment.
Sheng Jiao maintained the gesture of touching his lips: “Missing too much?”
Xi Jianlan’s heart sank.
Sheng Jiao said: “…Didn’t you say before that Sheng Jiao couldn’t have what he wanted from you?”
Xi Jianlan cursed inwardly, thinking how this person had such a good memory, bringing up old accounts so smoothly—just like Sheng Jiao’s bad habit.
But things had come to this point. Fearing this person would lock him in that sunless prison mustard seed, he worked very hard with his mouth.
“Sect Master Sheng treats me with such deep affection. My heart is not cold stone—feelings grew over time, and naturally I also admire Sheng Jiao.”
Shang Yuan covered her mouth in surprise.
Sheng Jiao’s eyes flickered slightly, his tone unreadable.
“Is that so?”
Xi Jianlan nodded like a pecking chicken: “Yes yes yes!”
Sheng Jiao didn’t know whether he believed it or not, finally withdrawing the hand touching Xi Jianlan’s lips. The coldness in his eyes receded somewhat, and even the spiritual power binding Xi Jianlan dissipated.
Xi Jianlan staggered and finally touched the ground, silently breathing a sigh of relief.
It seemed this person was still very wary of Sheng Jiao—every time he brought up Sect Master Sheng, he could muddle through.
Sheng Jiao turned and walked toward Guchangsi Temple.
Xi Jianlan didn’t need him to say more, obediently following along to avoid more suffering.
Shang Yuan followed beside him, looking at him with curiosity.
Xi Jianlan was the type who couldn’t live without flirting. Knowing this little girl was the most gullible and would stupidly believe whatever others said, he smiled and planned to play with her.
But when he opened his mouth, what came out was: “My heart is not cold stone—feelings grew over time, and I admire Sheng Jiao.”
Xi Jianlan: “???”
Shang Yuan looked confused: “Oh oh, I know that.”
Why say it again?
Xi Jianlan was stunned. He randomly touched his lips, hazily realizing that Sheng Jiao must have left something on his lips earlier.
He didn’t have time to tease Shang Yuan and quickly ran forward, opening his mouth to call “Sir.”
But that sentence still came out uncontrollably: “My heart is not cold stone…”
Xi Jianlan: “…”
Xi Jianlan suddenly covered his mouth.
Sheng Jiao glanced at him sideways, saying indifferently: “Since your mouth can’t speak the truth, then don’t speak at all.”
Xi Jianlan: “…”
For the first time, Xi Jianlan was provoked to anger by this person, furiously thinking: “I’ll kill you!”
But what came out was still that sentence that made Xi Jianlan’s skull tremble: “My heart is not cold…”
My heart is not cold stone.
Xi Jianlan immediately shut up, his head buzzing.
He had always been good at assessing situations and knew that getting angry was useless. He could only take a deep breath and decide to learn from Sheng Jiao and Rang Chen by practicing a vow of silence.
—If he opened his mouth again to say that shameful “my heart is not cold stone,” he would bash his head against something here and die, and no one could stop him!
Sheng Jiao’s ears were finally quiet as they returned to the third floor of Guchangsi Temple in silence.
Xi Jianlan had thought that after all this time, Feng Yu would have already bought Xi Qingfeng’s Xiangwen, but unexpectedly the bidding was still ongoing.
When he heard Feng Yu boldly call out the terrifying figure of “five hundred thousand spirit stones,” Xi Jianlan was silent for a long time before sighing: “My heart…”
Ptui!
Feng Yu had gone mad, slapping the table and laughing maniacally: “In all these years, this is the first time I’ve seen someone dare to compete with me in spirit stones—truly courting death! Five hundred fifty thousand!”
Heng Yudu sat nearby playing with jade slips, saying lightly: “That Xiangwen painting isn’t worth that much money. It would be useless even if you bought it.”
“That little rabbit on the other side—I can tell from the voice it’s probably that little waste Qu Rao from the Qu family.” Feng Yu sat down and took a sip of water. “Anyone can get this Xiangwen painting except the Qu family. Who knows how they would humiliate that painting?”
Heng Yudu smiled: “Qu Rao doesn’t use his brain, but don’t you either?”
Feng Yu turned to glare at him.
Heng Yudu: “Don’t misunderstand, I…”
“I’m not misunderstanding!” Feng Yu irritably interrupted him. “I just think that painting is probably related to the real culprit. Xi Jue has been wronged by Xiezhi Sect for so many years. Now that we finally have some clues, we can’t let them disappear into thin air.”
Heng Yudu lowered his eyes and coughed a few times, gently stroking the jade slip that flew to his palm, saying softly: “Stop.”
The jade slip suddenly flashed with golden patterns, then transformed into a beautiful, fragile glazed bird that flapped its wings and flew away.
Feng Yu had gotten carried away with bidding and rolled up his sleeves, planning to wildly throw out one million to properly intimidate that little waste from the Qu family.
Soon, Qu Rao angrily called out his bid again: “Sixty… mmph!”
His voice stopped abruptly.
Feng Yu was still waiting for that little brat to raise the bid, but after waiting with his hair standing on end for a long time, he only heard the chime sound from under the bodhi tree.
Three chime sounds.
The bidding ended, and Xi Qingfeng’s “painting” went to Feng Yu.
Feng Yu put down his sleeves and said coldly to Heng Yudu: “Mind your own business. I have plenty of spirit stones.”
Heng Yudu said lightly: “Having spirit stones doesn’t mean you should waste them like this—Tianyan Academy happens to be enrolling students soon. If you have spare spirit stones, allocate some funds for me to repair the study halls.”
Feng Yu’s eyes gleamed: “Director Heng really goes to great lengths for the academy. I remember you should be recruiting in Central State? Just for one Xi Shi’er, you abandoned your good students to come to this remote place?”
Heng Yudu didn’t speak. He just gently watched as the monks rolled up that Xiangwen painting. After a while, he suddenly said something completely unrelated:
“Feng Yu, if one day Xi Shi’er’s Xiangwen was also hung there for auction, would you…”
Feng Yu’s whole body stiffened, actually getting goosebumps from his casual remark.
“What do you mean?”
Heng Yudu immediately regretted saying it: “Don’t misunderstand, I was just speaking casually.”
Feng Yu looked at him with difficulty: “Do you know something?”
Heng Yudu didn’t answer. A glazed bird flew to his ear and flapped its wings twice. He listened carefully for a while, then smiled.
“Let’s go.” Heng Yudu moved his wheelchair, saying with a half-smile: “Sheng Jiao caught Xi Shi’er and brought him back.”
Ever since Feng Yu learned that the person who caught Xi Jianlan was Sheng Jiao, he had been holding back his energy wanting to watch the excitement. Hearing this, he immediately abandoned the previous topic and pushed Heng Yudu’s wheelchair with great speed, hurrying to watch Sheng Jiao and Xi Jue’s “earth-shattering romance.”
In the first-floor dharma hall.
No matter how hard Qu Rao tried, he couldn’t break free from Heng Yudu’s “Exchange for Bright Moon” and could only watch helplessly as Feng Yu snatched away Xi Qingfeng’s painting.
After the chime fell, the invisible spiritual power that had been stuck in his throat finally dispersed.
“Heng Yudu!” Qu Rao was furious, his eyes red with anger. “And Sheng Jiao! They’re all watching my Qu family’s joke! So much of our Qu family’s Tianyan spiritual vein has disappeared—these two families definitely can’t escape responsibility!”
The guard beside him could finally speak and said with difficulty: “Young Master, you shouldn’t have tried to buy that painting…”
All the major families in Central State suspected the Qu family of extracting Xi Jianlan’s Xiangwen, and now at this critical moment, he was rushing to buy Xi Qingfeng’s Xiangwen—wasn’t this just giving people evidence?
Qu Rao glared at him hatefully, looking like he wanted to eat someone.
Just then, another Spirit Transformation realm cultivator hurried over, saying: “Young Master, the rhinoceros horn lamp… it seems everyone is saying Sect Master Sheng is in Wuyin City investigating the snow disaster and didn’t come to Guchangsi Temple.”
Qu Rao was stunned, and after a while mumbled: “Then just now…”
He immediately realized and angrily slammed the table: “Xi Jue—”
Xi Qingfeng’s Xiangwen had become known to everyone, so Xi Jue must have followed the news to Guchangsi Temple.
And in all the Thirteen States, only he urgently needed Yutan flowers.
Recalling how “Sheng Jiao” had earlier barged in without a word and calmly plucked the Yutan flower right under his nose, leaving only a bare stem…
Qu Rao was both ashamed and resentful!
Back at Tianyan Academy, Xi Jue often disguised himself as Sheng Jiao to skip classes and avoid punishment. He didn’t expect that he would still dare to impersonate him now!
Qu Rao gripped the desk tightly, his eyes fierce: “Find Xi Jue…”
Everyone looked at each other.
“Go find him quickly, he’s definitely still wearing Sheng Jiao’s face to swindle people! Bring him back to me!” Qu Rao raged. “This time, I’ll definitely tear him to pieces!”
***
“Achoo—”
On the third floor, Xi Jianlan suddenly sneezed, almost blurting out “my heart is not cold stone.”
He had changed back to his crimson clothes and tear-mole appearance, sitting obediently beside Sheng Jiao, his ten fingers flying to sincerely express his longing for Sheng Jiao.
[Sir, I didn’t do anything bad while wearing Sect Master Sheng’s face. It was purely because I missed him too much. Please forgive me and let me speak.]
Sheng Jiao didn’t look at him.
Xi Jianlan sneezed again and persistently gestured: [Then let me change to a different phrase.]
After all, that mushy phrase from earlier was something even someone as thick-skinned as Xi Jianlan couldn’t constantly have on his lips.
Xi Jianlan: [Change it to… Xi Jianlan has deep-rooted feelings for Sect Master Sheng, loving but unable to have him.]
Sheng Jiao was finally annoyed by him and glanced sideways, his thin lips parting slightly.
“If you change to his face, can you see it?”
Xi Jianlan gestured excitedly: [Although I can’t look face to face, I can psychologically ease my longing! Sir, you must understand.]
Sheng Jiao suddenly said: “Fine.”
Xi Jianlan’s heart sank again.
Every time this person agreed so readily, it would make him suffer greatly.
Sheng Jiao suddenly raised his hand and pointed. After water-like ripples spread around his body twice, his appearance suddenly changed.
Xi Jianlan’s eyes suddenly widened.
Sheng Jiao… had shed his disguise, revealing his original face—that aloof flower, cold as frost.
He said expressionlessly: “Since you’re longing, then look, look, well.”
Xi Jianlan choked on his breath, coughing heart-wrenchingly as if dying.
“Cough cough! My heart is not… cough cough!”
##
I scream laughed this chapter omggg so funny, really loving this shameless mc