Xu Nanxian took three steps as two to reach Hanmang Garden, pushing the door open without even knocking.
“Xiaoxiao, Senior Brother came late. You…”
Each person’s coming-of-age ceremony happened only once and was extremely important. Xu Nanxian figured that breaking his promise would make Su Hansheng angry for quite a while. He was skillfully preparing to coax him.
But when he looked up, he saw that one corner of the courtyard’s Cold Pool seemed to have met spring winds that melted away all frost. The perpetually cold Hanmang Garden rarely felt even a trace of warmth.
By the mist-emitting Cold Pool’s edge, the World-Honored One of Mount Sumeru in plain white kasaya slightly lowered his gaze, half-cradling someone in his embrace as if wanting to send the person back to their room.
Su Hansheng wore white robes. Though his small frame was tall, it was also thin. Embraced by Chongjue’s tall figure, their snow-white garments intertwined—one could barely make out there was a person in his arms.
Xu Nanxian looked closely before recognizing it was Su Hansheng.
He immediately stepped forward quickly, forcing himself to remain composed as he bowed in a disciple’s salute: “Greetings, World-Honored One.”
Chongjue gave a flat “Mm.”
Su Hansheng was almost half-leaning against Chongjue’s chest, his face pale as paper. His legs couldn’t even stand steadily. He could only tightly grip Chongjue’s robes, wrinkling the World-Honored One’s snow-white kasaya into a mass of creases.
Seeing this, Xu Nanxian quietly sucked in a breath and hurried forward to take Su Hansheng over, saying respectfully: “…No need to trouble the World-Honored One. I’ll send Xiaoxiao back.”
Even though he’d heard the World-Honored One extremely doted on Su Hansheng, Xu Nanxian didn’t regard him as a true elder.
Saints—to put it nicely—embodied compassion for all living beings. To put it harshly, they were heartless people wearing a gentle facade.
Better to remain respectful and not overstep boundaries.
Xu Nanxian’s motion of taking Su Hansheng over was too practiced. Still dazed and confused, Su Hansheng showed no resistance at all, stumbling two steps before obediently leaning against his senior brother, eyes drowsily half-closed.
Chongjue’s hand paused slightly.
Xu Nanxian had carried Su Hansheng since childhood. Combined with his carefree personality, he had no other thoughts. Seeing Su Hansheng’s whole body limp and unable to walk, he simply scooped him up horizontally.
Chongjue watched coldly, his fingers lightly withdrawing to rub the Buddhist beads on his wrist.
Xu Nanxian originally wanted to send Su Hansheng back first, but seeing the World-Honored One—who never showed emotion—had rarely darkened his expression slightly, he hesitated.
Who provoked the World-Honored One?
Wait, no. The World-Honored One’s status was exalted, his demeanor steady and cold. What ordinary person had the audacity to anger him?
It must have been that fearless Su Hansheng.
Su Hansheng was currently listless. Xu Nanxian couldn’t scold him now, so he could only first apologize to the World-Honored One on his junior brother’s behalf.
“Xiaoxiao is still young. If he offended the World-Honored One just now, please don’t hold it against a child.”
Whether it was Xu Nanxian’s imagination or not, he felt the World-Honored One’s serene dark blue eyes didn’t contain unassailable Buddhist tranquility, but rather seemed to convey an indifferent “Am I arguing with you?”
Xu Nanxian blinked and looked again.
…The World-Honored One remained cold as frost. He gave another flat “Mm,” said not a single unnecessary word, turned slightly, and his form dissipated like mist.
That trace of coldness from earlier—just an illusion.
Only then did Xu Nanxian breathe a sigh of relief, striding with large steps as he carried Su Hansheng back to the room.
Su Hansheng seemed to have lost half his vitality, his whole body sickly as if boneless, collapsing limply when placed on the bed, his eyes barely blinking even after a long while.
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Xu Nanxian felt heartbroken watching him. He pulled a storage ring from his sleeve, coaxing: “Senior Brother coming late today was wrong. Look, this is our Yuanxiao’s coming-of-age gift—I specifically sought out mustard seed spiritual stones last year and had them rush-made at Ink Workshop into a storage ring. Only the best materials were used. It can hold quite a lot. You’ve used that pouch for how long now? Should’ve replaced it ages ago.”
In just half an hour, Su Yuanxiao had experienced great joy and great sorrow. His entire being seemed drained by those extreme emotions. Even Xu Nanxian’s earnest coaxing had no effect.
This was Xu Nanxian’s first time seeing Su Hansheng like this. Frowning, he checked his pulse.
Moving closer, Xu Nanxian belatedly caught a whiff of alcohol so faint it was almost imperceptible: “You… drank?”
When returning to Hanmang Garden, he’d taken just one sip to bolster his courage.
He wasn’t drunk, but it conveniently served to dispel Xu Nanxian’s worries.
Xu Nanxian raised his hand and tapped his forehead: “If you can’t hold your liquor, stay away from that stuff.”
Seeing Su Hansheng too uncomfortable from that sip to want to talk, Xu Nanxian didn’t linger. He placed the storage ring on the small table by the bedside, helping him lie on the pillow to rest properly.
“Sleep for now. I’ll be staying at Yingxu Sect these next few days. When school starts in a few days, I can escort you to the academy.”
Su Hansheng nodded slightly, drowsily closing his eyes.
Xu Nanxian skillfully tucked the brocade quilt around him and waited patiently for a moment. Just as he was about to tiptoe away, Su Hansheng—who’d seemed about to fall asleep—suddenly reached out and grabbed Xu Nanxian’s wrist.
Xu Nanxian turned back: “Mm?”
Su Hansheng opened his dim amber eyes, tilting his head to look at Xu Nanxian for a long while before speaking softly: “…Is living… good?”
He was asking Xu Nanxian, but also seeking an answer for himself.
In his memory, Su Hansheng was still that child running after him on short little legs—crying at a scolding, laughing when coaxed, carrying transparent innocence one could see through at a glance.
Only now did Xu Nanxian suddenly realize: Su Hansheng had come of age. If he weren’t the Young Sect Leader of Yingxu Sect, he’d be like any ordinary student who could establish himself after graduating from the academy.
He’d grown up. He was no longer a child who could be placated with a few casual words.
Xu Nanxian couldn’t quite describe what he felt. He knelt with one knee on the bed step, stroking Su Hansheng’s sweat-dampened forehead, looking into those amber eyes as he spoke.
Being alive symbolized hope.
A seed, breaking through soil and sprouting amid wind and rain, full of vitality.
Deadwood only rotted in mud.
Hearing this brief, no-nonsense answer, Su Hansheng stared blankly for a long while before suddenly smiling.
He obediently nuzzled against Xu Nanxian’s palm, saying without preamble:
“That’s good then.”
Xu Nanxian thought Xiaoxiao had grown up and wanted to have a heart-to-heart. He was patiently waiting when Su Hansheng closed his eyes, soon breathing evenly.
After his daze, Xu Nanxian sighed helplessly, pulling down the light-blocking bed curtains one by one before quietly leaving Hanmang Garden.
Less than a moment after Senior Brother left, a hand suddenly emerged from a gap in the curtains, gathering the thick fabric to pull it aside.
Su Hansheng had completely regulated his breathing. Though his face was sickly pale and his lips bloodless, he was no longer unable to walk like before.
Qi Jianyi had arranged to meet him tonight. He still hadn’t given that person an answer.
Since Chongjue wouldn’t cast him into Infinite Hell, there was even less reason to keep Qi Jianyi alive.
Su Hansheng hastily threw on loose robes, not even tying up his hair that hung straight to the ground. Expressionless, he gripped a spirit sword sharp enough to cut through iron—a gift from someone—and quickly walked out of the inner chamber.
Under the moonlight, the youth carried bone-chilling killing intent, his disheveled hem fluttering up and down as he walked.
Suddenly, Su Hansheng’s footsteps stopped.
Mermaid candles burned year-round in Hanmang Garden, illuminating a corner of the corridor in a circle of light.
By the small wooden platform at the corridor’s edge, Chongjue sat beneath flickering candlelight, turning his head slightly to look over.
—Who knew how long he’d been sitting there.
Su Hansheng stared at him blankly for a long while before speaking: “You… what are you doing here?”
Chongjue beckoned to him, speaking warmly: “Can’t sleep?”
Su Hansheng instinctively hid the sword in his pouch. Unable to say directly he was going to kill Qi Jianyi, he could only nod and obediently walk before Chongjue, gathering his robes to sit.
Seeing his emotions had completely stabilized, Chongjue asked slowly and gently: “Then… do you want to tell me about your past life?”
Su Hansheng’s body stiffened violently as he looked at him blankly.
Chongjue didn’t say “can you,” but rather “do you want to.”
The meaning was similar, yet represented two entirely different concepts.
Su Hansheng lowered his gaze, his hands twisting together: “What do you want to know?”
“If you want to tell me, then speak.” Chongjue said. “If not, then don’t force yourself.”
After all, he’d already pieced together most of the truth from fragments of conversation. It didn’t matter if Su Hansheng didn’t speak.
Su Hansheng pressed his lips together, not knowing where to begin. He could only think of a once-and-for-all solution, saying dully: “…Haven’t you seen the evil one’s memories?”
Chongjue answered patiently: “Past life memories—perhaps he sealed them away. I need to completely merge before I can know.”
Su Hansheng vaguely recalled the glass ornament Qi Jianyi had shown him.
In the past life, the evil one and Qi Jianyi were both reborn into Infinite Hell because of him. Qi Jianyi drifted in confusion with no body to possess, but the evil one wasn’t an ordinary human.
Black-robed Chongjue was a body formed by gathering all the vicious thoughts of the Fuli clan after the evil one fell into Infinite Hell. He didn’t need any vessel at all.
By devouring this life’s evil one, complete merger could occur.
Both evil ones were no pushovers. Su Hansheng hadn’t even clearly seen who devoured whom.
“My past life…” Su Hansheng deliberated for a long time before finally speaking softly. “Also on the night of my coming-of-age ceremony, Qi Jianyi falsely accused me of slaughtering my sect, destroyed my inner core, and cast me into Infinite Hell.”
Chongjue’s hand gripping the Buddhist beads tightened.
Though he’d already confirmed this fact, hearing Su Hansheng say it aloud, Chongjue still couldn’t control the mixture of heartache and malice rising in his heart.
What kind of place was Infinite Hell? Even the evil one—full of wickedness and unrestrained—would lose several layers of skin falling there, let alone Su Hansheng with his cultivation destroyed.
Qi Jianyi had done such a thing, yet still had the audacity to come to Yingxu Sect with a betrothal card seeking to register their household?!
Chongjue gripped the beads tightly, his knuckles faintly white.
After a long while, he finally suppressed the malice surging up in his heart, silently taking a breath. His eyes were filled with undisguisable heartache.
Su Hansheng omitted the heap of suffering he endured after descending to Infinite Hell, obediently continuing:
“Most of the Fuli clan in Infinite Hell have no consciousness. Those who still retain awareness are mostly at the Soul Transformation stage. I was captured… it seemed they wanted to disembowel me—I didn’t understand what they were saying, but I vaguely guessed they wanted to dig out my Phoenix Bone to open the Infinite Hell gates and return to the mortal realm.”
Later, black-robed Chongjue intervened to save him, killing all those people one by one.
Even now, Su Hansheng still remembered the man in black robes covered in blood, the black silk covering half his face continuously dripping blood.
He strolled leisurely through the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, walking before Su Hansheng who was bound to a pillar, and suddenly laughed softly.
At that time, Su Hansheng was already on his last breath. After a single glance, he completely lost consciousness.
When he woke again, he was already in the Forbidden Palace.
Hearing Su Hansheng had been rescued by the evil one, Chongjue—who’d been holding his breath for so long—finally completely relaxed.
Thank goodness. After descending to Infinite Hell, Su Hansheng quickly encountered the evil one.
Throughout the three realms, people with amber eyes were extremely rare. Combined with Su Hansheng’s face that closely resembled Su Xuanlin’s, no matter how mad the evil one was, he’d surely recognize Su Hansheng at a glance and wouldn’t let him continue suffering.
Recalling those brief memories the evil one had shown him, Chongjue rubbed his brow again: “Then in your past life, when did you and the evil one… register your household?”
The evil one had no restraints. He probably wouldn’t drag things out like the virtuous one.
A sworn friend’s child—seniority, age, cultivation level meant nothing to someone with no scruples. As long as he wanted it, he’d find every way to obtain it.
Chongjue estimated that after spending time together, the evil one would go from protecting his sworn friend’s child as a “good elder” to developing feelings—probably taking only a year or two, with a confession of love following closely.
Three years to register their household was already the fastest.
As Chongjue was thinking this, he heard Su Hansheng say blankly: “What do you mean?”
Chongjue froze: “You… didn’t register your household?”
“No.” Su Hansheng said casually. “He picked me up and brought me to the Forbidden Palace. Not long after, he said I was good-looking and could help dispel the Phoenix Bone fire. I thought he was a good person, so I nodded and agreed. Then he pulled me onto the bed.”
Chongjue: “………..”