Ch110 - Amitabha

In the dark, the two stared at each other for a long time.

Su Hansheng seemed to have caught Chongjue with his guard down. He wasn’t sleepy anymore and pushed, “Come on, tell me, were you not actually in seclusion then?”

Chongjue rarely felt embarrassed. The last incident was when he drunkenly threw his clothes, which Su Hansheng still hasn’t let go of, but he’s never had the nerve to bring up old accounts. Now, having caught another one, he pressed harder, wanting Chongjue to admit it.

Su Hansheng: “Hmm? Hm hm? Why don’t you say something?”

Under the moonlight, Chongjue was quiet and handsome, like a statue standing among the clouds.

For some reason, under Su Hansheng’s persistent questioning, he suddenly laughed softly.

Su Hansheng froze, and the sound sent a strange tingle through his ears.

“What are you laughing at?”

Even in the dim moonlight, Chongjue’s brow and eyes still held a gentle smile. He looked at Su Hansheng and said lightly, “You react quickly.”

Su Hansheng immediately grew proud.

“So you admit you couldn’t let me go and deliberately watched over me in secret?”

It’s not easy to get Chongjue flustered and ashamed, so Su Hansheng hoped that he’d blush and get flustered too.

But Chongjue nodded calmly, “It was indeed so.”

He actually admitted it, without the slightest embarrassment at being caught.

Chongjue was so forthright that Su Hansheng instead felt a little tongue-tied.

This… wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

Su Hansheng looked at him awkwardly, suddenly not knowing what to do: “Ah… I see.”

Somehow, though he was the one interrogating, suddenly he felt unbearably awkward and found it hard to stay put.

Chongjue looked at him until Su Hansheng, feeling like he was sitting on pins and needles, crawled up ready to escape. Only then did Chongjue reach out and gently touch his face.

“Why so scared?”

Su Hansheng froze, evading his touch: “Who’s scared?”

But Chongjue said, “Then why, when you heard I knew of Zhuang Lingxiu’s injury, you guessed I hadn’t really gone into seclusion, but when I said I heard you and Yuan Qian plotting that ‘test’ you didn’t think much of it?”

Su Hansheng held his breath, looking at him timidly: “Didn’t you say you hadn’t heard much?”

Chongjue replied plainly, “That was just to comfort you. I heard everything.”

Su Hansheng: “…”

He hadn’t even had time to be embarrassed before Chongjue flicked his fingers to light the little lamp on the table. In the flickering candlelight, he leaned in and gently touched Su Hansheng’s cheek.

“Why not ask me directly?”

Su Hansheng might not be the brightest, but he wasn’t stupid. Chongjue had given him enough hints—and he still hadn’t dared ask earlier, as if he was afraid.

“I… I didn’t.”

Chongjue’s dark blue eyes were reflected in the candlelight, merging completely with Su Hansheng’s amber eyes. He said softly, “If you ask me, I’ll give you an answer.”

Su Hansheng shivered from head to toe, looking at him dazed.

Chongjue was right. Since he’d already revealed that he knew about Su Hansheng and Yuan Qian’s plot to test his feelings, Su Hansheng should have just asked directly, not pretended not to know.

Su Hansheng parted his lips, seeming about to speak.

wUd MUAd LA dIT mfiBA iTLGITB IQA PfUdI, IT BfBNTB VIfJNMUT’A ILJB LNLQJ, LYPfAd QJ STLi, PUddTiQJN: “xfU’YY ALp W’P MUAd PTAAQJN LgfUd.”

VIfJNMUT mLA AdLidYTB.

Ud ygOTnwOx YrdCPwt MdP Pnw bMCtT fO kMOpdTfMO, PnwO TdttwOrj Cwgrfcwt—

yw Cwgrrj bgT gpCgft.

EIiTT pTLiA LNf, IT ILB LAsTB VIfJNMUT BQiTGdYp ATaTiLY dQPTA, gUd mQdIfUd TcGTqdQfJ mLA LYmLpA iTMTGdTB.

qfPnwC RnMOxDdw PnMdxnP nw bgT pMMrfOx gCMdOt gOt TkMrtwt nfJ, MC nw xMP TM TngvwO nw’t xM fOPM TwkrdTfMO pMC PwO jwgCT PM gZMft Ud ygOTnwOx.

kaTJ LA L GLiTSiTT YQddYT PLBPLJ, lU KLJAITJN GfUYBJ’d mQdIAdLJB ILaQJN IQA diUT STTYQJNA TcqfATB LNLQJ LJB LNLQJ, SffYQAIYp fSSTiQJN dITP Uq df gT diLPqYTB.

He knew perfectly well the “testing business” had already been exposed, but he kept up the act, still unable to break the final barrier and reveal his heart.

Chongjue felt a pang of bitter sympathy, his voice softer than ever as it echoed in the silent night.

“Don’t be afraid, ask.”

Maybe it was Chongjue’s warm palm against his face, or maybe the shadow that enveloped Su Hansheng was less overbearing and more gentle than he’d ever felt before, but Su Hansheng’s heart clenched as he gazed dumbly into Chongjue’s eyes.

Those eyes seemed to give him tremendous courage.

Su Hansheng stammered: “Do you… do you want to sleep with me?”

Chongjue: “…………”

Wh—what?!

The World-Honored One probably never expected Su Hansheng would be so reckless as to ask that outright.

He had no memory of the evil one’s chaotic past with Su Hansheng in Infinite Hell; with feelings that hadn’t stirred in thousands of years now blooming, he forced himself to let go of seniority and face Su Hansheng with genuine honesty.

From Chongjue’s perspective, even if things got out of hand tonight, at most they’d just pour out their hearts and maybe share a platonic embrace—certainly not reach anything remotely scandalous.

Ordinarily, it would take many more years before things reached “registering their household” or… dual cultivation.

But Su Hansheng’s offhand remark nearly shattered his composure.

“Sleep…”

Sleep with what?

The World-Honored One just could not bring himself to utter those words!

Perhaps Chongjue’s stunned expression was too much; Su Hansheng suddenly realized what he’d said and wished he could smack himself.

He’d picked up bad habits from the evil one, but the abstinent World-Honored One couldn’t even manage a proper kiss, much less talk about dual cultivation—such a thought was enough to kill him.

“No—no! That’s not what I meant!” Su Hansheng hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands.

Whether numbed by shock or just supremely calm, Chongjue answered: “Mm.”

After all that, Su Hansheng’s fear had mostly faded. He cleared his throat, awkwardly asking: “About your feelings for me… is it just uncle-nephew affection, or is it… mumble mumble?”

His muttering was so quiet anyone else would have missed it, but Chongjue heard every word.

After asking, Su Hansheng fiddled nervously with his fingers, anxiously awaiting an answer, anxiously feeling Chongjue’s gaze over his head like the blade of an executioner.

It might have been three short breaths, but it felt like years to Su Hansheng.

Chongjue answered softly, “It’s… mumble mumble.”

Su Hansheng’s head jerked up, staring in astonishment.

He muttered: “What does ‘mumble mumble’ mean?”

Chongjue didn’t answer.

“Chongjue!”

Su Hansheng was getting desperate. He had asked, but Chongjue just answered with three buzzwords—was he just teasing, or being genuinely coy?

Three years in seclusion had made Chongjue more insufferable than before. Was this the result of merging with the evil one?

Su Hansheng jumped up anxiously, but just then Chongjue reached out to snuff out the candle and gently cupped Su Hansheng’s chin.

The lamp went out, and in that instant the Buddhist hall was plunged back into darkness—a gentle kiss landed silently on Su Hansheng’s brow, there and gone.

Su Hansheng froze.

Chongjue gathered him into his arms, his voice soft in the darkness.

“It’s late, go to sleep.”

Su Hansheng: “…”

How could he sleep after that? He lifted his head, angry: “Who does that?!”

Chongjue was surprised: “What?”

Hadn’t he already answered?

But a kiss on the brow hardly counted as a proper declaration of love for Su Hansheng. In his eyes, “I want to dual cultivate, sleep together, register our household” was what counted as a real confession.

For the long-celibate World-Honored One, words like that were utterly unthinkable.

In the dark, they stared at each other for a long while before Su Hansheng suddenly buried his face in Chongjue’s chest, shoulders trembling slightly.

Chongjue thought for sure he was about to cry again, furrowed his brow, ready to comfort him.

But it was a laugh that escaped Su Hansheng.

Chongjue: “…”

Already come of age, yet still like a child—just a moment ago furious, now bursting into laughter, changing moods in the blink of an eye.

Su Hansheng wrapped his arms around Chongjue’s waist, rubbing away laughing tears against the pristine white cassock, muffling his laughter.

“Getting you to say a word is harder than reaching heaven.”

Chongjue stroked Su Hansheng’s soft hair, not knowing what else to say, answering only with silence.

But for now, Su Hansheng didn’t press for more answers.

To pluck a flower grown on the highest peak, he’d have to proceed slowly.

Clinging happily to Chongjue’s embrace, Su Hansheng finally slept soundly.

***

The next morning, everyone was set to take the floating boat back to the academy.

The academy’s passenger boat wouldn’t arrive for a few hours and would carry other students. Ying Jianhua disliked sharing rides, so he arranged for his own private pleasure boat.

When Su Hansheng woke, Chongjue was already gone from the Buddhist hall, leaving only a note on the small table, ink already dried.

“Zou Chi has urgent business, I’ve gone ahead. See you at the academy.”

Signed with a hurriedly written “Jue.”

Still wrapped in Chongjue’s white robe, Su Hansheng climbed sleepily to his feet.

Even though Chongjue had left without a word, Su Hansheng stared at the signature for a long time, then thudded his head against the floor, laughing quietly.

Old Fuling’s pleasure boat was already ready.

In great spirits, Su Hansheng packed up and raced to board.

Not wanting to hold up Lord Dao, Yuan Qian and Wu Baili climbed aboard early. Qifu Zhao, already graduated, had left quietly at daybreak, no longer needing to travel with their group to the academy.

Su Hansheng lurked stealthily in a corner, scanning for Ying Jianhua. Not seeing him, he zipped off on wind, quickly and skillfully settling into his usual private cabin.

With Chongjue gone, if Ying Jianhua caught him, there’d definitely be a beating first thing in the morning.

Yuan Qian and Wu Baili, who’d woken up too early, were napping with their heads on the table. When they heard the door open, they groggily sat up.

“Xiaoxiao?”

Su Hansheng, full of energy, dashed in, kicked a stool aside, and nearly put his foot up on the table before lazily announcing, “Why are you all sleeping? Get up, get up, I’ve got big news!”

Yuan Qian yawned, barely opening his eyes: “Did your test work out last night?”

Wu Baili didn’t even bother to acknowledge him.

Su Hansheng cleared his throat: “Yeah, I got my answer.”

Yuan Qian slumped forward, sleepily offering comfort: “Oh, chin up. There’s plenty of fish in the sea.”

Su Hansheng: “…”

With a wicked grin, he slammed the table so hard that Yuan Qian and Wu Baili nearly jumped out of their skins, jerked fully awake by the racket.

“Ah.” Su Hansheng feigned surprise, all concern in his eyes. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you two, are you alright?”

Yuan Qian, Wu Baili: “…”

Wu Baili, despite holding back, couldn’t help himself and said coldly, “So, Young Lord Yuanxiao failed in his love confession yesterday, and now you’re here to silence the witnesses?”

Su Hansheng raised a brow: “Who said I failed?”

Both Yuan Qian and Wu Baili stared at him in surprise.

“What?”

Given how Su Hansheng always managed to stir up drama with his antics, how had he actually managed not to mess this up?

He coughed and straightened the plain white robe he wore, still carrying the faint fragrance of bodhi blossoms, brought his palms together in a solemn Buddhist salute, and grinned: “Amitabha. I’ve gotten my answer all right…”

Both Wu Baili and Yuan Qian’s faces changed instantly as they shot to their feet.

Still feeling triumphant, Su Hansheng went on, “Uncle actually does have feelings for me. He admitted it himself. I guarantee, within a year, dual cultivation and registering our household will be no problem at all—huh, Amitabha, why do you two look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

Yuan Qian’s face had gone as pale as a vegetable as he stared behind Su Hansheng.

Perplexed, Su Hansheng turned around. The moment he caught sight of the doorway, he froze.

Xu Nanxian and Zhuang Lingxiu had arrived at some point and were standing there, staring at him with utterly blank faces.

Su Hansheng: “…………”

***