Ch122 - The Immediate Priority

Ying Jianhua had a severe cleanliness obsession. Normally, he’d fly a hundred miles away at the sight of dust. If not for wanting to know the truth behind his master’s death, he’d never have entered this dark, gloomy cave.

Xu Nanxian, however, had nearly blown him up, covering the area in blackened earth and foul stench.

Ying Jianhua gave him a thorough beating, and even Zhuang Lingxiu, dazed from the explosion, got a punch.

Su Hansheng, hearing Xu Nanxian’s cries, didn’t dare to rescue him. He clung to Chongjue’s arm and hid behind him, afraid Ying Jianhua would hit him too.

Ying Jianhua strode ahead, face dark, wishing he could fly straight into the Heaven-Reaching Tower and escape this hellish environment.

Seeing his senior brother walk away, Su Hansheng quickly ran back.

“Senior Brother, Senior Brother Zhuang, are you still alive?”

Xu Nanxian covered his eyes, his whole body blackened almost beyond recognition. He was still grimacing, but the moment he saw Su Hansheng, he immediately put on his senior brother’s airs, frowning. “So it really is Xiao Xiao? You’re not in class at the academy, you came here to get beaten?”

Zhuang Lingxiu finally came to his senses.

He was also blackened, yet somehow managed to keep his gentle demeanor, straightening his torn sleeve and smiling. “Xiao Xiao, what a coincidence.”

After coming over, Su Hansheng had wanted to hug his senior brother, but his sharp eyes caught sight of the two covered in ash. He hesitated, stopping three steps away.

“I, I came here to play, not to get beaten—what were you two just saying about Senior Brother Lingge turning into a dragon?”

Xu Nanxian hesitated, glancing at Zhuang Lingxiu, unsure whether to speak.

Zhuang Lingxiu didn’t try to hide it, stepping forward with a smile. “Yes, my brother went missing a while ago. He should be in the Heaven-Reaching Tower.”

Su Hansheng hadn’t realized the danger yet, and was startled, still worried. “He’s been gone so long, Senior Brother Lingge must have already turned into a dragon. Good thing I came along… Senior Brother Zhuang, uh, why are you suddenly smiling like that? I’m a bit scared… Aaah!”

Before Su Hansheng could finish, Zhuang Lingxiu quickly stepped forward, opening his arms and pulling his junior brother Yuanxiao into a hug, rubbing all his ash onto Su Hansheng.

“It’s been too long, I’ve missed Xiao Xiao so much. Come, let’s hug.”

“Aaah!”

Su Hansheng had been spotless, not a hair out of place, still wearing Chongjue’s snow-white robe. He hadn’t anticipated Zhuang Lingxiu’s ulterior motive and couldn’t escape, getting covered in ash.

“Senior Brother…” Su Hansheng, his waist hugged, desperately pushed at Zhuang Lingxiu’s face, pleading, “Please, be a human being!”

Zhuang Lingxiu laughed heartily.

Only after rubbing Su Hansheng into a dirty monkey did Zhuang Lingxiu mercifully let him go.

Su Hansheng cried out and ran forward, wanting someone to stand up for him.

Zhuang Lingxiu had assumed Su Hansheng had come with Ying Jianhua. Knowing Ying Jianhua would never let him get close in this state, he had rubbed him without a care.

Then he heard Su Hansheng shouting, “Uncle! Uncle, stand up for me!”

Zhuang Lingxiu: “…”

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“How could that be? I value my life,” Su Hansheng said.

The Fallen Abyss Dragon, as a sacred object, was almost immortal. Su Hansheng, with his frail body, coming to save him would only add to the trouble.

Chongjue smiled, not saying more, as if he didn’t quite believe it.

Su Hansheng tilted his head up, his love confession rolling off his tongue. “But if it were you locked in the Heaven-Reaching Tower, I’d come to save you no matter what.”

Chongjue’s hand paused as he wiped Su Hansheng’s face, then he lowered it, looking a bit awkward.

He glanced at Zhuang Lingxiu and Xu Nanxian, who stood silently in the distance, too afraid to approach, then turned and said, “Let’s go.”

Su Hansheng “yelled,” not caring about the dirt, hands behind his back as he happily followed, grinning. “You’re blushing?”

Chongjue: “…”

The night pearl illuminated Chongjue’s earlobe, hidden in his black hair, faintly showing a blush.

“This time at the Heaven-Reaching Tower, you don’t need to do anything,” Chongjue said calmly, changing the subject to distract Su Hansheng. “With the Heaven-Reaching Tower collapsing, only the four sacred objects need to guard the four corners of the formation. Your uncle is here too.”

With the Lanke Record present, Su Hansheng, who only had Golden Core cultivation, naturally didn’t need to enter the formation.

Su Hansheng nodded. “Alright.”

Lan Xubai’s divination didn’t reveal what the so-called “turning point” was. Su Hansheng had come here for peace of mind, so he wouldn’t be left helpless at Wendao Academy if something happened, only able to cry.

Seeing Su Hansheng’s attention had been successfully diverted, Chongjue quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

…Then he heard Su Hansheng take his hand, grinning like a fox. “Uncle, is this your first time hearing a love confession? Want me to say a few more?”

Chongjue’s hand paused.

Since Ying Jianhua appeared, Su Hansheng had stopped calling him by name and started calling him “uncle.” With their relationship now out in the open, the honorific had become a deeply intimate game.

Chongjue glanced at the grinning Su Hansheng, then suddenly asked, “Have you thought about how you’ll tell your senior brother?”

Su Hansheng’s smile instantly vanished. He looked at Chongjue, wondering if it was a case of “near vermilion, near black,” or if the pure World-Honored One was finally being corrupted by him.

Or was it just the evil one’s influence making this aloof flower start to misbehave?

“That depends on the World-Honored One,” Su Hansheng said with a fake smile.

Chongjue: “Do you want me to go tell him?”

“No,” Su Hansheng said expressionlessly. “When will the World-Honored One teach me Buddhist techniques? Once I’ve trained my body to withstand a Spirit Transformation cultivator’s beating without a scratch, I’ll go tell my senior brother about us.”

Chongjue: “…”

The passage seemed endless. After walking for a while, the walls on both sides grew narrower, and the cold from the ground gradually rose, impossible to resist even with spiritual energy.

Chongjue took a cloak from his storage ring and draped it over Su Hansheng’s shoulders, seeing his lips had turned white. “Cold?”

Su Hansheng shook his head.

He was only vaguely reminded of another matter after mentioning the idea of confessing to Ying Jianhua.

Su Hansheng tilted his head, pondering for a while, watching Ying Jianhua lead the way ahead. He mustered his courage, reached out to hold Chongjue’s hand, and whispered, “Uncle, I feel like…”

Chongjue turned to look at him.

“What?”

Su Hansheng pursed his lips, finally saying, “…Su Xuanlin doesn’t seem to have perished.”

Chongjue’s steps abruptly paused.

“It’s just a guess,” Su Hansheng quickly explained. “When I first entered Infinite Hell in my previous life, I accidentally stumbled into a formation. I was about to perish when someone rushed in and saved me. They used some secret technique to heal my ruined inner organs.”

Chongjue’s heart clenched as he listened to Su Hansheng’s words about his past.

After a moment, he lightly frowned. “Are you sure it was Su Xuanlin?”

Su Hansheng wasn’t certain, but the lullaby he remembered was so familiar. Hesitantly, he said, “There’s a fifty-fifty chance—this time, without me causing trouble, he should still be alive in Infinite Hell.”

Chongjue’s grip on Su Hansheng’s hand tightened.

Sixteen years ago, Su Xuanlin had acted strangely in the Heaven-Reaching Tower, splitting Chongjue’s good and evil halves.

The good half vaguely remembered that Su Xuanlin had been possessed by Heaven’s Will, his consciousness stripped away, forced to become a weapon to severely wound Chongjue, who had tried to destroy the formation inside the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

When the evil half was dragged into Infinite Hell, Su Xuanlin also perished, his soul scattered and his body destroyed.

Perhaps Su Xuanlin hadn’t perished, but had fallen into Infinite Hell along with the evil half.

Now, with the Heaven-Reaching Tower collapsing just as it did sixteen years ago, it meant Heaven’s Will had chosen someone to gather the four sacred objects to stabilize the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

So when Zou Chi forcibly opened the gate to Infinite Hell and released the evil half, Su Xuanlin most likely returned to the mortal world as well.

Chongjue’s expression darkened.

It seemed this matter with the Heaven-Reaching Tower would be extremely difficult.

Su Hansheng unconsciously tightened his grip on Chongjue’s hand, murmuring, “Uncle, I’m afraid.”

Chongjue’s expression softened, and he comforted him gently, “It’s alright. If you’re scared, you can go wait outside.”

Su Hansheng quickly shook his head.

Chongjue stroked his head, saying nothing.

Even if Heaven’s Will descended, he would make sure Su Hansheng left this deadly Heaven-Reaching Tower unharmed.

But Su Hansheng was worried about something else: “…I’m afraid that if he’s still alive, how will you explain to my father that you seduced and corrupted his only bloodline?”

Chongjue: “…………”

Chongjue couldn’t help coughing, nearly choking on Su Hansheng’s words.

While others worried about the fate of the Three Realms, Su Hansheng was only concerned with love and relationships.

“Don’t worry about that,” Chongjue said. “The priority now is to deal with the collapse of the Heaven-Reaching Tower.”

Su Hansheng “oh”ed, and after a few steps, he couldn’t resist his curiosity. “I’ve always wanted to ask…”

Chongjue thought he was about to say something inappropriate and interrupted him. “Ask later.”

Su Hansheng: “But I…”

“Be good.”

Su Hansheng was silenced, pinching Chongjue’s palm, annoyed. “What are you thinking? I was talking about something serious.”

Chongjue then asked, “What’s the serious matter?”

“You keep saying the Heaven-Reaching Tower is collapsing,” Su Hansheng said, puzzled. “Do you mean now?”

Chongjue nodded. “Yes, the Heaven-Reaching Tower is starting to tilt to one side, just like sixteen years ago.”

It was the same as two thousand years ago, when the Lanke Record killed the three sacred objects.

Su Hansheng was even more confused. “But when I came, I didn’t see anything strange with the Heaven-Reaching Tower.”

Chongjue paused.

“The tower is standing perfectly fine, not collapsing or tilting. It’s in great shape,” Su Hansheng said, pulling his cloak tighter and sneezing. “Not even a speck of dust has fallen.”

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