Ch78 - The World-Honored One's Reward

After taking a tumble in the deep pool and confirming this place wasn’t some deranged illusion conjured by Chongjue, Su Hansheng returned to Falling Parasol Lodge satisfied.

Concerned about what Ying Jianhua had said—that he’d need Golden Core stage to control even a single bone chain—Su Hansheng kept Yuan Qian and Wu Baili up late into the night at his lodge, chatting.

Yuan Qian looked carefree but kept early hours. By 7 PM he was already yawning.

“Golden Core stage? Young Master, I’m from the demon race—different from you human cultivators. Asking me won’t help.”

Su Hansheng could only look hopefully at Wu Baili.

Wu Baili took a sip of tea and said flatly, “Innate talent.”

“Isn’t there something… that could let me soar in one leap?” Su Hansheng gestured wildly with hands and feet. “Spirit pills or medicines or something—preferably with no side effects that could also improve my talent.”

Wu Baili seemed to recall something. “Ah.”

Su Hansheng asked expectantly, “There is?”

“Try reincarnation,” Wu Baili said drily. “That would be faster.”

Su Hansheng: “……”

Su Hansheng was gradually getting used to Wu Baili’s sharp tongue hiding a soft heart, but sometimes he’d still get knocked flat by the man’s poisonous words. He silently memorized these lines to use on others later.

Yuan Qian yawned repeatedly, mumbling, “Why is the Young Master suddenly so desperate to form a Golden Core? Even disciples from great families make thorough preparations before forming their cores. Why not go back and ask the elders at Yingxu Sect?”

Su Hansheng thought about it. True.

Core formation affected his future cultivation path—he couldn’t rush and ruin his prospects.

After seeing Yuan Qian and Wu Baili off, Su Hansheng washed up. Looking at his reflection in the water, he suddenly froze.

The future?

When had he started thinking about the future?

Water droplets fell from his face. Su Hansheng stared in confusion at his rippling reflection, only coming to his senses after a long moment.

He’d been frightened by those two words.

Su Hansheng had always thought his only “future” was the single road leading to the Yellow Springs of the underworld. Now another path had suddenly, unexpectedly appeared, extending toward an unknown destination.

The road was dark, full of obscuring mist. He felt no anticipation—only panic and unease.

Su Hansheng shuddered hard, hurriedly dried his face, and ran to the inner chamber.

Forget it. Better to sleep first.

Perhaps his desire for a “future” was just a late-night flight of fancy. Tomorrow morning when he woke, he’d surely dismiss the notion and go back to happily waiting for death.

A small lamp burned in the inner chamber. Su Hansheng, wearing only thin undergarments, lifted the bed curtain to climb in. His hand touched something warm, scaring him so badly he shrieked, his soul nearly leaving his mouth.

“Ahh… save, save me…”

His companion tree shot over, catching Su Hansheng before he could tumble off the bed.

Several branches swept the layered curtains aside left and right. The small lamp’s candlelight spilled in, illuminating a figure lying with their back to him.

Su Hansheng, easily frightened, was pale as paper, pupils trembling violently as he failed to recover for a long while.

The companion tree quickly patted his head and back to calm him.

Slumped at the bed’s edge, after catching his breath, Su Hansheng gradually recognized the familiar figure on his bed.

Plain white kasaya, long black hair spilling down, and the thick scent of bodhi flowers filling the narrow bed space.

It was Chongjue.

Su Hansheng weakly stretched out his limp leg to kick Chongjue. “What are you doing here? Trying to scare me to death to escape the bone chains’ control?”

Chongjue didn’t respond.

Su Hansheng didn’t want to deal with him. He jerked his chin at the companion tree. “Throw him out.”

The tree complied, extending branches to lift Chongjue.

Suddenly, Chongjue rolled over, unerringly gripping Su Hansheng’s nearby wrist. His incomparably handsome features appeared in the candlelight.

A faint wine fragrance mingled with the bodhi flower scent, spreading through the air.

Su Hansheng froze, then casually waved a finger, signaling the companion tree to withdraw. He leaned forward curiously on his knees and sniffed.

Really wine.

Su Hansheng gently shook him. “Chongjue? Chongjue.”

Chongjue’s brow furrowed lightly. After a long moment, he opened his thick lashes, revealing clear, dark eyes. His pupils seemed covered by a thin layer of mist, even his gaze blurred and indistinct. It took him a while to recognize who he was seeing.

“Xiaoxiao?”

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Su Hansheng’s eyes went wide as he silently cursed him furiously.

Chongjue rubbed his temples and sat up. Subconsciously feeling something wasn’t quite right, he tried to circulate spiritual energy through his meridians. But after the bone chains manifesting twice in two days, the moment he stimulated the spiritual energy in his lower dantian, he felt the Ninety-Nine Bone Chains ready to appear again.

However, the bone-piercing pain in his waist and abdomen did help Chongjue sober up somewhat.

After a moment’s recovery, he opened his eyes to see Su Hansheng baring his teeth and silently roaring at him.

Chongjue: “……”

The scene was rather horrifying. Chongjue’s head hurt even more. He formed a seal to release Su Hansheng from the silence.

Su Hansheng was mid-curse: “…knowing I hold your weakness, you still have the nerve to come sniffing around. What, didn’t get enough of me in our past life and want to continue tumbling around with me in the middle of the night? I’m telling you—not a chance!”

Chongjue: “?”

Lightheaded and unsteady, hearing these crude and vulgar words, Chongjue’s brow furrowed sharply. Face dark, he cut him off.

“Impudent.”

Only then did Su Hansheng realize he could speak again. Seeing Chongjue still putting on airs and acting like his uncle, his anger flared. “Impudent my ass! You’re clearly the one at fault, and you still dare…”

Chongjue silenced him again.

So noisy. His head hurt even more.

Su Hansheng was furious, struggling to pounce forward and hit him.

For a moment, Chongjue couldn’t tell where he was. His dark eyes lifted coldly, carrying an authoritative dignity and Buddhist serenity that others couldn’t imitate even if they tried.

—Unmistakably the serene demeanor of Mount Sumeru’s master.

“Su Hansheng, what nonsense are you spouting now?”

Su Hansheng froze, then was instantly amused by his anger.

Chongjue’s good half should have gone into seclusion after the bone chains manifested last time. The evil half had seized the opportunity to control this body. During those two days, Su Hansheng had felt something was off, only realizing later that bastard had deliberately been impersonating the good half.

If Su Hansheng hadn’t never considered the possibility of good and evil halves existing, he would have seen through that clumsy, shoddy disguise immediately.

Now, seeing he couldn’t get close to him, the evil half was trying to put on the good half’s skin to deceive him again?

“Hah.” Su Hansheng thought coldly, “Such a poor imitation, not the least bit convincing. If I fall for it again, I’m an idiot.”

Chongjue, lightheaded and unsteady, struggled to shake off the fog in his mind. Just as he closed his eyes to rest, he suddenly felt the youth who’d been still moments ago quietly creeping closer.

Chongjue said helplessly, “Xiaoxiao, don’t fool around.”

The moment he finished speaking, he felt Su Hansheng pounce in an extremely strange posture—knees spread as he straddled Chongjue’s waist, arms hooking around his neck like a stretching cat.

Chongjue: “……”

Expressionless, Chongjue opened his eyes to see what nonsense he was up to now.

But his vision was chaotic. Under the swaying lamplight, the strikingly beautiful youth leaned in, naturally and skillfully using his lips to seal Chongjue’s cold ones that still carried a faint wine fragrance.

Chongjue’s pupils silently dilated.

Feeling the person beneath him stiffen completely, even his hands unconsciously digging into his waist, Su Hansheng was immensely pleased. He deliberately pried open those tightly sealed lips, probing inside with his tongue.

Still pretending? One kiss would expose this person’s true form.

In his past life, Su Hansheng had been taught all sorts of improper things. Though kisses were rare, he at least had far more experience than the thousand-year-old tree that was the Mount Sumeru World-Honored One.

He hooked his arms around Chongjue’s neck, immersed in satisfaction. Just as he wondered, “Why is he shrinking back? Shouldn’t he turn the tables like before?” he felt the person beneath him take a heavy breath, the hands at his waist suddenly gripping hard, nearly pinching as he forcibly pushed him away.

Su Hansheng stumbled backward onto the rumpled bed, lips crimson, looking over in confusion.

When he saw Chongjue’s expression, his heart suddenly dropped with an ominous premonition washing over him like a tidal wave.

Chongjue seemed so shocked by that long kiss he’d forgotten how to breathe. His breathing came fast then slow. After a long moment, he finally adjusted to a normal rhythm. His trembling fingers pressed against his lips, dark eyes filled with shock and fury, as if he’d been taken advantage of—utterly incredulous.

“Su Hansheng… you!”

Su Hansheng: “……”

Seeing this scene, Su Hansheng finally understood what had happened.

He silently gasped, then swiftly and decisively dropped to his knees, kowtowing on the bed, maintaining a position of begging forgiveness, body trembling as he didn’t dare move.

Done. Done for.

Completely done for.

Better to just die.

The evil half had told the truth—the good half really was waking up.

Recalling his uncle’s severity, Su Hansheng was so frightened his legs went weak. He knocked his forehead against the bed twice, wishing he could apologize with death.

Chongjue was both shocked and enraged by the kiss. Just as he was about to lose his temper, he saw Su Hansheng drop to his knees so quickly to beg forgiveness that the scolding words were forcibly choked back.

His mind was already fuzzy from drunkenness. By the time he’d gathered his anger to scold again, he’d already forgotten what he wanted to say, left only to gasp with fury at himself.

Su Hansheng knelt face-down on the ground, struggling to extend two paws palm-up, indicating: “Uncle, please hit me. I absolutely won’t resist, and I’ll even shout ‘Uncle hit well, hit brilliantly!'”

Chongjue, head splitting with pain, drunk and thoroughly bewildered with anger, stumbled off the bed, seemingly wanting to leave.

Sensing movement, Su Hansheng silently breathed a sigh of relief, cautiously lifting his head to see if he’d left.

The moment he looked up, he met Chongjue’s cold, dark eyes as he tied his robes at the bedside.

Su Hansheng jumped in fright and quickly buried his head again.

Chongjue had tied all three sash ties crooked. His usually immaculate robes were disheveled and messy, looking exactly like someone caught in an affair.

He looked coldly at Su Hansheng and scolded, “I told you not to misbehave—is this how you misbehave?”

Su Hansheng couldn’t speak. He could only shake his head like a rattle drum until his brain felt scrambled.

No no no!

“Audacious, nonsensical, improper behavior.” Chongjue looked down at him, tone rarely this stern. “You’ve been obedient lately, so I planned to give you a reward. Now it seems that won’t be necessary.”

Su Hansheng froze, timidly lifting his head.

A reward?

Chongjue’s eyes were ice cold. He formed a seal to release the silence. “You still want it?”

Su Hansheng didn’t know whether to nod or shake his head. He could only do half of each, stammering, “Xiaoxiao doesn’t know.”

Chongjue seemed stirred by memories of Su Hansheng’s childhood by those words. He silently watched that face, now matured, for a long moment, then closed his eyes slightly, as if sighing soundlessly.

Forget it.

Whether from lingering drunkenness or something else, Chongjue actually raised his hand high only to bring it down gently, saying coldly, “You may have it—but you must promise me you’ll never behave so improperly again.”

Su Hansheng froze.

If it were the normal uncle, he’d have scolded him, beaten him, or dragged him off to copy scriptures. How could he be so reasonable while drunk?

Su Hansheng quickly seized the opportunity to climb down the slope and avoid a beating, swearing solemnly, “Xiaoxiao swears I will restrain himself in the future and never dare show the slightest disrespect to my elders again.”

The anger on Chongjue’s face seemed to fade.

The more Su Hansheng thought about it, the stranger this lenient Chongjue seemed. Worried that when he sobered up and remembered this incident, he’d come settle accounts, Su Hansheng decided to seize the opportunity and get the “reward” first.

Better than getting beaten and losing the reward too.

Su Hansheng asked softly and tentatively, “Then what… what reward was Uncle going to give me?”

Prayer beads? A magical artifact?

Or spirit stone mines? He needed those most—that would be the best reward.

Chongjue looked at him and took out a storage ring.

***

The sun rose high.

When the bell for Wendao Academy’s second morning class rang melodiously through the vast mountains, the shrine’s guest quarters finally showed signs of activity.

After a night of heavy drinking, Chongjue rubbed his throbbing temples and rose from the bed.

He still wore yesterday’s plain kasaya, wrinkled from a night’s sleep, rarely lacking Mount Sumeru’s World-Honored One’s dignity.

Chongjue’s good half had never experienced drunkenness. He closed his eyes to rest for a long moment before finally recovering.

The bone chains had dissipated, his spiritual energy gradually returning, except his body seemed to be growing younger again because of the chains.

Face pale, Chongjue got off the bed and washed up. Estimating the time, he walked toward the shrine hall.

After several days in seclusion, shouldn’t his spiritual energy be abundant? Why did his body feel inexplicably heavy?

And why was there a faint wine fragrance on his collar?

His memories were also chaotic—like a tangled ball of yarn, impossible to sort through.

As Chongjue crossed the long corridor and climbed the steps, a fleeting image suddenly flashed through his mind.

「Zou Chi supported him with difficulty, saying, “World-Honored One, it’s late. You should rest.”

“No.” Chongjue heard himself say, “Is Falling Parasol Lodge in this direction?”

Zou Chi quickly shook his head, hurriedly stopping him. “No no no, of course not!”

Chongjue ignored him and vanished like mist.」

Chongjue: “?”

Was that his own memory?

Chongjue became fully alert, frowning slightly as he sniffed his robes.

Indeed—wine fragrance.

An ominous premonition rose within him. Supporting his forehead, he struggled to remember. Inadvertently touching his lips, a faint pain came.

He looked in a water mirror and found a small wound on his lips, as if someone had bitten them.

Then, memories of being pressed onto the bed and kissed yesterday came flooding into the inviolable World-Honored One’s mind like a tidal wave, shocking him into frozen stillness.

Had Su Hansheng learned nothing from previous incidents? He’d actually escalated?!

Chongjue’s expression darkened, already forming a hypothesis.

Because of Zou Chi’s interference, the evil half had returned from Infinite Hell to the mortal realm. He would inevitably try to merge back into the main body—otherwise ‘he’ would surely die.

It seemed during his seclusion these past two days, the evil half had controlled this body.

Since the good and evil halves separated, Chongjue had always retained fragmentary memories from Infinite Hell, knowing how the evil half thrived there, slaughtering countless beings to forge a body full of the three poisons and five desires.

He didn’t approve of the evil half’s murderous nature, but knew they occupied different realms—one the mortal world, one hell. Even if he wanted to stop him, he couldn’t enter Infinite Hell.

They’d coexisted peacefully for years, but the evil half’s first act upon returning to the mortal realm…

Was corrupting Su Hansheng!

Chongjue couldn’t tolerate this at all.

Face dark, he walked to the storage wardrobe in the shrine’s inner chamber where clothing was kept, intending to take fresh robes to bathe and change before seeking out Su Hansheng to properly correct his bad habits.

But when he opened the cabinet, it was completely empty.

Chongjue froze slightly.

He valued cleanliness and always kept over a hundred sets of plain robes in the wardrobe. The young novices from Mount Sumeru would replace them regularly.

Now the cabinet held nothing—only a jade pendant tassel hanging there, swaying gently.

The tassel swayed back and forth, like last night’s flickering lamplight.

Chongjue stood dazed for a long moment. The prayer beads in his hand suddenly clenched hard.

「The lamp flickered. Last night in Falling Parasol Lodge, Su Hansheng eagerly stretched out his hands, waiting for Uncle’s reward.

Chongjue stood tall and elegant, features like carved jade under the warm candlelight, posture serene and dignified as he raised the storage ring.

Su Hansheng thought it was spirit stone mines—his eyes began to shine.

Suddenly, the ring’s seal opened.

A mass of snow-white surged out with several muffled thuds, directly burying Su Hansheng on the bed.

It was countless sets of snow-white plain kasaya robes.

Su Hansheng was completely buried in confusion. Using hands and feet, he dug a gap through the pile of clothing, poking his head out. “Uncle?”

Where were the spirit stone mines?

Chongjue stood under the lamp looking at him coldly, carrying the World-Honored One’s unique serene composure, expression cool as if meditating in the shrine.

“Didn’t you like these plain kasaya robes before? Here are several sets for you to wear. From now on, you needn’t steal them.”

Su Hansheng: “???”」

The bell for Wendao Academy’s third morning class rang faintly.

In the shrine, Chongjue gripped his last string of prayer beads. The shattered blue jade fragments fell like winter snow.

…After a long silence, he raised his slightly trembling hand to support his forehead.

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