“Dongfang, look. That woman over there is sewing clothes.”
“Yes she is, what about her?”
She must be sewing clothes for her husband, but she isn’t as skilled as you Dongfang.”
Hearing him say ‘husband’ Dongfang Bubai’s ears turned red. He hadn't heard him compliment him like this before and didn’t know how to respond. Pursing his lips, he glared at him and said, “Yang Lianting, what nonsense are you saying?”
“I’m not talking nonsense.” Yang Lianting smiled brightly at him, “All married couples under the cliff tend to their fields and sew their clothes themselves, so she must be making clothes for her husband. Dongfang, you promised to sew me clothes all your life, don’t renege!”
“Yang Lianting, how bold!”
Dongfang Bubai blushed deep red. Clearly, he was the Holy Cult’s revered cult master, who had killed countless people and was able to call the wind and rain. But at this moment, he could not maintain the strong presence the cult master should have. He felt awkward and annoyed because of Yang Lianting’s teasing. Glaring and flinging his sleeves at him, he walked straight ahead without sparing him another glance.
“Cult Master–”
“Dongfang, Dongfang–”
Following behind Dongfang Bubai, Yang Lianting chuckled lightly as he looked at his back. Although he had told Dongfang that he wanted to go to Jiangnan for leisure, he knew the truth in his heart all too well. This time, he would definitely take the life of that despicable old thief Ren Woxing, as for Ren Yingying–
Yang Lianting hated her deeply, but he was aware that now was not the best time to act against her. Besides, as long as he killed Ren Woxing and then Xiang Wentian, that one little girl Ren Yingying could not harm Dongfang and him in the slightest even if she was a ruthless schemer. Yang Lianting was aware that Ren Yingying still maintained her lovable facade to the congregation although Dongfang was indifferent, he was actually much more softhearted than anyone else. Allowing Ren Yingying to live and ordaining her as the Holy Maiden, was because he deeply cared about this nominal niece. As long as Ren Yingying did nothing too excessive, Dongfang would care about their relationship and not pursue her actions.
Yang Lianting sighed and shook his head. In the past it would have only taken a word, now he had to conceal his actions from Dongfang Bubai and get rid of their foes one by one.
Afraid? Of course not.
In both his past and present lifetime, Yang Lianting knew that he was not a good person. Fortunately, he had been given the chance to return, the chance to put an end to any threat to their existence.
In a restaurant.
Dongfang Bubai frowned faintly, “Lian di, do you think there is someone watching us?”
Hearing his question, Yang Lianting froze. Smiling wryly, he shook his head and said, “Dongfang, you know that my roots and bones aren’t good, my martial arts are basic at best. Even if there is someone observing us, I can’t tell.”
“They aren’t secretly observing us, rather they’re blatantly staring at us.” Dongfang Bubai shook his head indifferently, as if he were not taking it to heart. He looked at Yang Lianting and said, “Lian di you don’t need to worry about this matter, while you do not have a good foundation, if you truly want to practice martial arts, I can give you ten years worth of internal energy–”
“What’re you saying?” Yang Lianting shook his head, he did not even think about it and replied, “Give up ten years worth of internal energy for me? Then wouldn’t you, the Invincible East, lose the power that makes you the world’s first?”
“Even if I give you ten years worth of internal energy, I, the Invincible East, will still be the world’s first.” Dongfang Bubai proudly raised his head, then calmly told Yang Lianting with an arrogant expression, “What’s more it’s not a pity to give my own internal energy to you. I will just cultivate in seclusion for a few months. If you have internal energy, you can also–”
Yang Lianting truly loved him.
The more he loved him, the more his heart ached.
All martial artists seriously cultivated to accumulate internal energy throughout their life. He wanted to transfer him ten years worth of internal energy and boldly stated that he could make up for the energy he lost with a few months of secluded cultivation. Cultivating the Sunflower Manual was an unbearable ordeal, his meridian flow reversed, his qi and blood stagnated.
“Dongfang, why would I need to be a martial arts expert? I’m with you all twelve hours of the day.[3] Even though I’m unskilled, as long as you’re beside me, I’ll be fine.”
“Wife, you’re the world’s first!”
Dongfang Bubai wanted to convince him, but Yang Lianting did not give him the opportunity. He slowly said, “Alright, what would you like to eat, would you like a jug of wine? It’s getting late, so let’s just stay overnight and leave tomorrow morning.”
Dongfang Bubai glanced toward Yang Lianting and lowered his eyes lightly. Feeling the warmth of Yang Lianting’s hand, he slowly stated, “I think you treat me very well, I want to treat you just as well, but I don’t know what you want.”
“All I have are my martial arts and my cult master position.”
He knew that internal energy was important to martial artists, so to be among those of talent and status he had risked his life to train his martial skills and accumulate internal energy. To be the world’s first he had not hesitated to harm his own body, had not hesitated to wield a blade to castrate himself. Now he wanted to give Yang Lianting what he considered highly important, but he refused without thinking. Dongfang Bubai felt faintly frustrated. For the first time in his life he truly wanted to treat someone well but he did not know how to do so.
Yang Lianting smiled, “All I want is to be by your side, to be together with you for a lifetime. All I want is for you to promise me, one lifetime, one couple.”
“Alright let’s eat.” Looking at the many dishes the waiter had brought to their table, Yang Lianting sorted the various dishes in accordance with Dongfang Bubai’s preferences, like on the cliff. He placed the greasy meat dishes aside and instead put the fresh vegetable dishes before him. He picked out Dongfang’s favorite dishes and carefully placed bits of them in his bowl with his own chopsticks.
The both of them were quietly eating, when a maid in a neat attire walked up to Yang Lianting and hesitantly asked, “Young Master, may I have a word with you?”
Yang Lianting was taken aback, “What’s the matter?”
He looked quite handsome so seeing his slight smile the maid standing before him blushed, pointing aside the maid stammered “I… I’m… asking for our family’s Young Miss, she… she’d like to have a word with you, Young Master…”
Yang Lianting immediately looked at Dongfang Bubai.
Sure enough.
Dongfang unhappily pursed his thin lips and his eyes dimmed. Yang Lianting thought it was a little funny, but he shook his head and was about to refuse. Before he could speak, the maid placed a fan on the table with a red face, and quickly said, “My family’s Young Miss ordered me to come over and give you this. Young Master, she must have a word with you. I… I’ll retreat.”
“Dongfang didn’t you just say you sensed someone staring at us, maybe it was this young lady and her maid?” Raising a brow, Yang Lianting picked up the fan and took a look at it. Dongfang Bubai’s line of sight fell on the fan in his hand, refusing to reply. Yang Lianting was amused and could not help but laugh, placing the fan back on the table, he asked, “Are you angry?”
“If you want a fan I’ll make ten, no, make a hundred for you.” Dongfang Bubai glanced at him, his voice sounded slightly stiff.[4]
Looking at his profile, Yang Lianting fell into a daze and his heart softened beyond words. He had never seen Dongfang look this lively. In his past life, that person in red had despaired and silently endured, he had waited alone all his life, he had crushed all his hope and silently kept all the pain and darkness hidden in his heart. No matter how bad Yang Lianting had treated him, he seemed to have neither regrets nor complaints. Although Yang Lianting had never seen him express any bitterness, Dongfang’s smile had always looked overly cautious and faintly hopeless, he had never been this overbearing and expressive towards him, he had always silently endured, had never allowed himself to show his unbearable heartache.
“Alright, then I’ll wait for Dongfang to make me a hundred.” Yang Lianting took a deep breath and held Dongfang’s hand and smiled gently at him.
“Then, you aren’t going over?”
“Why should I go over?”
“This Seat orders you to return the girl’s token of affection.” Dongfang Bubai turned his face away from him. His expression looked composed, but the raised corners of his lips revealed his good mood. He clearly spoke in a commanding voice, yet Yang Lianting appreciated his arrogance.
“My Cult Master, this Subordinate heeds the order.” He had just stood up and intended to head over, when the loudly chatting voices from a table further away caught their attention. Due to their distance, Yang Lianting could only vaguely hear the words, ‘the Invincible East,’ Demonic Cult,’ and ‘Blackwood Cliff.’
The men seemed to mention him as well.
“What’re they talking about?”
“Dongfang, you’re always heatedly discussed amongst the Jianghu’s martial artists.” Yang Lianting smiled, “These men look like disciples from some prestigious righteous sect.”
Dongfang Bubai did not laugh.
He had profound internal energy and unsurpassed martial arts skill, he could clearly hear everything these people said.
“Hey, have you heard that the Demon Cult’s Cult Master, the Invincible East, has a kept man[5] on Blackwood Cliff?”
“Who told you this nonsense? I heard that the Invincible East keeps seven concubines, each one as beautiful as a heavenly fairy. How can he possibly like men?”
“You don’t know yet? By now the entire Jianghu knows! It’s rumored that his kept man is just some rough handyman, but the Invincible East treats him really well. The two eat together and sleep together, they even treat each other with the courtesy of husband and wife.”
“Dongfang Bubai, that Evil Demon, isn’t he afraid of being spit on by ten thousand people? He isn’t ashamed of keeping that man and betraying traditional kinship.”[6]
“Who knows whether that kept man is an outstanding beauty or skilled in bed–”
The men of the Jianghu gathered around their table, looked at each other and laughed, their laughter obscene.
Dongfang Bubai took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes in an instant a neat row of embroidery needles[7] appeared in his hand glinting with a cold light and in his eyes killing intent surged.
Yang Lianting noticed his anger and held his hand in concern “Dongfang, what’s wrong?”
Feeling Yang Lianting’s warmth through his hand the chill in his bones lessened a little, he pursed his lips and glanced at Yang Lianting’s expression and shook his head without speaking.
“Wait until we forcibly suppress[8] Blackwood Cliff, maybe we will get to see the Invincible East and that kept man.”
“Brothers, we’ll capture them and enjoy them well, hahaha.”
“What’s good about doing it with a man?”
“The Invincible East’s seven concubines, I’d gladly–”
The men were happily drinking wine and with each round of drinks they raised their voices. Slowly Yang Lianting could hear what they were talking about. These people knew that he ate and slept with Dongfang on Blackwood Cliff. They knew that he and Dongfang were very close to each other, they even knew of the cult’s current affairs and did not avoid any taboo.
Atop Blackwood Cliff, the only person who knew about their relationship was Tong Baixiong. That old man may look down on him, but he was loyal to Dongfang Bubai. Even though he hated him, he would never gossip about them, so the only person who would leak his and Dongfang’s relationship to the Jianghu was– Yang Lianting recalled Ren Yingying’s probing that day.
He narrowed his eyes and for an instant his pitch-black pupils flickered dangerously.
“Lian di, don’t listen, don’t be angry–” Dongfang didn’t want Yang Lianting to hear their insults but seeing his eyes narrow he couldn’t help but worry, he didn’t know what Yang Lianting was thinking about and assumed that he minded their horrible insults. These people ridiculed him and treated him with contempt, they said that he was filthy and shameless, that he served him in bed. Their relationship was known to the entire Jianghu, so everyone thought that Lian di submitted to him like a woman–
Even he thought these words were harsh, not to mention the imposing seven-chi tall Lian di. Would he feel ashamed of being with him, would he regret, would he be angry–
All his emotions rushed towards his heart and his face paled instantly. Dongfang Bubai lowered his eyes and pursed his lips. Once he raised his head again, he changed back to the murderous and coldhearted Invincible East who had not met Yang Lianting. Unable to restrain his fierce killing intent, he took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes slightly. These men offended his eyes.
Whoever angers Lian di must die.
Feeling a hand suddenly softly press on top of his own he was startled and turned back. Yang Lianting had stood up and said to him, “I can’t let you dirty your hands with these scumbags from one of those hypocritical righteous sects. My martial arts may be meager but against these disciples with superficial skills, they’re more than enough, right? Besides, even if I can’t win, you'll have my back.” Yang Lianting looked at Dongfang Bubai and smiled, “Dongfang, I don’t need you to always stand before me.”
Before Dongfang Bubai had the chance to object, he walked towards the men who were talking loudly. He pulled a chair from aside and sat down next to them.
“Who are you!”
“Go away, go away!”
“Are you blind? Can’t you see that we Brothers are talking?”
“We’re already here, go sit at some other table.”
Yang Lianting was neither angry nor irritated, on the contrary he good naturedly reached out and poured a few glasses of wine for them, as if he wanted to curry favor, and then politely asked, “Sirs, are you all talking about the matter between the Sun Moon Holy Cult’s Master Dongfang Bubai and his guard?”
“I’ve listened in and felt curious, so I came to ask Brothers.”
Hearing Yang Lianting had come over just to ask them like a country bumpkin who didn’t know anything, the people at the table looked at each other and laughed in contempt. One raised his chin and said, “You haven’t heard?”
“The whole Jianghu knows by now.”
“The Invincible East and his kept man–” He spat on the floor. “It’s said that the Invincible East, the evil tyrant of the Demonic Cult, wasn’t like this before, but now he has sex with a man–”
“Honestly, it’s utterly shameless and obscene!”
“All the righteous sects must punish this Evil–”
Slap–
Before the man could continue speaking, Yang Lianting had already slapped him in the face. The slap was extremely heavy and caught him off guard, for a moment the side of his face was red and swollen, looking quite awful. After being slapped by him the men at the table instantly stood up, drew their sharp swords, and angrily glared at Yang Lianting.
Yang Lianting stood up slowly to look down on the men, who stood opposite him, as if he were looking at corpses.
He had never been a good man. In his past life, he had killed countless people atop Blackwood Cliff for the sake of grasping absolute authority in his hands. He could not even recall exactly how many he had killed. In this life, he had no longer cared about others and focused all his attention only on Dongfang Bubai. He had said he would take care of them, said that Dongfang mustn’t dirty his hands. He knew that his martial arts skills were low, but this scum in front of him–
Yang Lianting sneered, his eyes were full of contempt. In his previous life he had encountered countless excellent and terrible martial artists. At a glance he could see that these men were only bluffing bags of straw. Even if he could not fight evenly, he had brought along a lot of deadly items from Blackwood Cliff.
“Who are you! How dare you slap me!”
“Brothers, let’s kill this bastard!”
The group of people turned over the table and rushed towards Yang Lianting with their pointed swords drawn, but before they were able to take a single step a powerful gust of energy knocked them all over and threw them on the floor, they looked wretched.
“Dongfang–” Yang Lianting helplessly turned around to look at the person behind him. “Didn’t I say, I would not let you dirty your hands? I can clean up these scumbags.”
“Lian di, they insulted you.” Dongfang Bubai shook his head and looked at the men before him with cold eyes, “All who insult you must die.”
“…” Yang Lianting wanted to speak, yet once the words came to his lips, he only sighed and his heart softened, he slowly shook his head and laughed out loud.
“Lian di… Dongfang…” Hearing the two refer to each other, they looked at Dongfang Bubai’s red robe and aloof expression. In fear, the people on the floor glanced at each other, clearly they had guessed their identities. “You two, you two are–”
To maintain secrecy, Yang Lianting glanced at them and did not let them continue. He crouched and asked, “Just now you all were happily talking, why’d you stop?”
“You– you two–”
These men were no generational heroes, just a group of straw bags. The moment they realized the identities of the two standing before them they were all scared out of their wits, but their pride did not allow them to cower in front of the Demonic Cult, despite their obvious shock and trembling bodies, they gritted their teeth and yelled at Yang Lianting.
“Shameless heretic, don’t be so conceited!”
“You’re nothing more than Dongfang Bubai’s kept man! Now that the entire Jianghu knows about your scandalous affair with Dongfang Bubai–”
A silver needle flew out and the man was unable to continue insulting him. Dongfang Bubai had only moved a finger beneath his sleeve. Glancing at the remaining three people, he pursed his lips and slowly said, “Whoever says Lian di isn’t good, die!”
“Dongfang Bubai, you Evil Demon!”
“You’ll never die a good death! After killing so many people, your hands are stained with blood.”
“The Wulin General Assembly[9] will be held after fifteen days! The prestigious sects of the Righteous Path will definitely ally to forcibly suppress your Demonic Cult once and for all, by then you evil cultists will die without a burial place–”
Though the men were terribly scared, perhaps due to the death of their disciple brother, they gained a bit of courage and insulted them with gritted teeth. Dongfang Bubai lowered his eyes, three silver needles silently appeared in his hand.
“Dongfang, don’t.”
Yang Lianting frowned, took a deep breath, stepped forward, and kicked the man who had just spoken. Each kick hit him hard, hit brutally and viciously. After a few kicks, the man spat blood. Looking down on the people to his feet, who wanted to resist but did not dare move, Yang Lianting restrained the hostility and the killing intent rising in his chest. He closed his eyes slightly, then opened them again.
“Get out!”
As soon as he spoke, the men were first stunned still and then desperately scrambled to their feet and ran out of the restaurant, even forgetting to take their disciple brother’s corpse with them.