Ch11 - A Lone Exception

At first glance it seemed like a well-intentioned offer.

Chang Ye remembered this slight in his heart. He grasped Jiang Yinghe’s sleeve and looked up with misty eyes, “Shizun, this disciple doesn’t want to leave Shizun.…..”

Before Jiang Yinghe could reply, Li Huanhan’s voice rang out.

“I think that’s a great idea.”

The man in black stood to the side with his sword in his grasp. He originally had no intention of interfering, but the way Chang Ye fell into Jiang Yinghe’s arms rubbed him the wrong way. His blood-red eyes flashed as he approached.

Jiang Yinghe’s body had a very faint fragrance. He won’t deny that a righteous sword cultivator like him with a cold outside and a warm inside was an appealing choice for a furnace or even a ‘meal’.

Qin Jun was a wraith that reeked of resentful energy, and this childish little shidi wasn’t anything good either. He didn’t know what their intentions were.

Shizun said that he was the only one, but he brought back these mutts…..

Li Huanhan felt like his usually calm nerves were set alight as he watched Jiang Yinghe’s hand comfort Chang Ye. This shidi of his was a real eyesore.

“I also want to teach Shidi to the best of my abilities.” Li Huanhan looked up. “Shizun?”

Jiang Yinghe knew that his sticky little disciple needed to grow up one day. He was clear on what needed to be done despite Chang Ye’s aggrieved expression.

“Be obedient.” He rubbed the youth’s hair. “At your age you need to learn how to be independent .”

Chang Ye blinked and hugged Jiang Yinghe’s waist intending to protest one last time. Yet his gaze slid over to the devil beast on the ground, and then to Qin Jun.

The gray-haired man licked his lips. He always gave off a feeling of hunger when looking at Jiang Yinghe. Chang Ye thought he was even more despicable than the bloodthirsty Li Huanhan.

Jiang Yinghe only raised his head when the little disciple buried in his embrace agreed reluctantly. He used his sixth sense to locate the many disciples that had come to Qing Jing Peak after hearing the bellows of the beast.

“Jun-er.…..”

“This disciple knows.” Qin Jun answered airily, “I’ll take the beast to see our Peng Lai’s entrance.”

His eyes met Jiang Yinghe’s for a second, and the word he was planning to throw out got stuck in his throat.

“…..I won’t kill him,” he thought, “because Shizun asked me not to.”

—-

Although the devil beast caught by Qin Jun was spared his life, he was forced to sign a contract with Sect Master Zhou to guard Peng Lai in the form of a towering devil statue.

His consciousness was sealed within. But when outsiders entered Peng Lai, he had to abide by his promise and do his utmost to protect the disciples for three hundred years.

Three hundred years was long enough to see those young cultivators grow old, and empires rise and fall. But to those of the devil race, three hundred years was a pittance of time.

This giant statue only solidified Qin-shixiong’s reputation among the other disciples. He may look steadfast and decisive, but he had an aura about him that made him unapproachable. Qin-shixiong was more terrifying than the evil creatures he slayed with Zhanyun.

There was a rumour circulating around that Qin-shixiong was the scariest when he smiled.

No one in Peng Lai had really seen the last disciple to arrive, so there was little for them to say about this shidi.

—-

The moon was bright on that cold night.

The night pearl that Jun-er brought back was embedded in the wall. He had also removed the original desk lamp. After Jiang Yinghe returned from his seclusion, he found that Jun-er had made many minor adjustments to his residence.

Cultivators above a certain level were able to forego the need for sleep in favour of simply meditating, but they could still become tired. Jiang Yinghe, however, has maintained the habit of sleeping from nine to six. Before he lost his phone while transmigrating over, he had never slept so early.

Qing Jing peak tended to be quiet and the spirit cranes on guard duty outside were already asleep. The night pearl radiated a soothing light.

But this long silence was disturbed by the presence of another person.

Jiang Yinghe had only left a portion of his senses out, so when he sensed the other’s turbulent breathing he rose to see a body curled into a ball beside his bed.

Chang Ye’s long black hair and mask obscured half of his face. The seal on his forehead was glowing dimly. There were bite marks on his ruby red lips as he held his knees tightly.

Like a wounded little animal, he came to the one he trusted the most when he was hurt.

Jiang Yinghe’s remaining fatigue dissipated. He brushed back Chang Ye’s hair and quietly asked, “What’s wrong?”

His breathing was rapid, as if he was trying to endure a great deal of pain. He was also very cold even to someone with a naturally lower body temperature like Jiang Yinghe.

Chang Ye looked at him with eyes welling up with tears that could no longer be held back. He slowly climbed into Jiang Yinghe’s lap.

“Shizun,” he whimpered, “I’m so cold. It feels like my entire body is frozen when I try to circulate energy.”

This was an aftereffect from being entombed in ice. The fragile nature of his body was comparable to that of Qin Jun’s. Jiang Yinghe felt his chest tighten. Even if he believed that people were the masters of their own fate, he wanted to curse the heavens at this moment.

His little disciple knew how to cry and let others know when he hurt. But the other two were too stoic and determined to carry their burdens alone…..Jiang Yinghe sighed and directed a stream of spiritual energy into Chang Ye’s palm.

He was at the Hollowed Cave stage, so connecting veins and purifying the body came naturally to him. But there was nothing he could do to shield his disciples from all the harm they will experience in the world.

It completely escaped his notice that his little disciple that was just crying now had dry eyes and was staring at him with an expression that did not match his age.

There was the soul of an ancient archdevil resting inside the frozen shell called Chang Ye. His perception and sense of pain had become warped. Right now, what he wanted to do most was turn into his original form and pounce on the snow white body before him to see if it would turn red and swollen from irritation when he licked it with his barbed tongue.

It was quite a while before he paused to wonder why he wanted to lick him when he didn’t feel hungry.

Jiang Yinghe was none the wiser. He continued to repair his little disciple’s spiritual veins while adjusting his sleeve, only to find sword marks littered across the white arm.

Jiang Yinghe’s finger twitched, he looked at him and asked, “Did you spar with your shixiongs again?”

Chang Ye heard the worry in his voice. He had deliberately left those wounds unhealed. “I…I wanted to advance as quickly as they do to not lose face for Shizun.”

He scooted over while he spoke, like an adorably awkward cat.

“Although Li-shixiong is strict, I can tell that he is kind as well.” Chang Ye had a deep understanding about the rose coloured glasses Shizun had on. “Qin-shixiong was not as scary as the rumours made him out to be.”

Jiang Yinghe had been focused on stabilizing his realm lately and rarely went out. “Rumours?”

Chang Ye nodded, “I heard the other shixiongs say that Li-shixiong is only good to Shizun and like a block of ice with everyone else. Qin-shixiong, um, is a bit too arrogant….Shizun, I shouldn’t say bad things about my shixiongs right?”

His eyes were clear and bright, as if this was really just an innocent mistake that he was sheepish over.

Jiang Yinghe had always been single before he crossed over, and he had been completely dedicated to going home after coming here so he was a thousand-year bachelor. Due to his straight man tendencies, he naturally thought that his little disciple was truly sorry. He comforted, “Don’t worry. If their temperaments really are lacking then Shizun will educate them. However, geniuses are often misunderstood by those around them.”

Chang Ye sat on his lap, pleased as a peach to be enveloped by his lightly fragrant scent. He did not mind if his words struck home or not, instead tightening his embrace and saying, “Shizun, can I sleep with you?”

He hurried to add, “Just for tonight, okay?”

The youth was too stunning and his tone was pitiful. He was skilled at acting spoiled.

Jiang Yinghe could only withstand it for a while before his heart softened. He thought that this child was so desperate for security and the praise of an elder, showing his immaturity in comparison to his shixongs.

He patted the youth’s back, “Just this once, there will be no further exceptions.”

“En!”

The two of them were very close together. Jiang Yinghe only relaxed when he felt the other person warm up. A thought suddenly came to mind,

“In the near future, He Huan sect will be hosting the Weapons Conference. I was planning on taking the three of you to attend.”

He Huan was a neutral sect, but they were closer to the righteous sects than the demonic ones. Their deputy sect master was Hun Yuan Xianjun Tong Guiyu, a cultivator that has often been mentioned in the same breath as Jiang Yinghe since a thousand years ago.

Chang Ye obediently made a noise of agreement and asked, “Will this disciple receive his sword there?”

“Yes.” said Jiang Yinghe, “Huanhan’s sword ‘Wanwu Canxia‘ was from the 37th batch of the Sword Viewing Scroll. Jun-er’s ‘Junzi Tie‘ was from the 39th.”

Upon hearing this, Chang Ye knew that his two ‘wonderful’ shixiongs had hidden many things. Li Huanhan’s blood sword had a countless number of restriction arrays layer upon it, yet it still radiated a strongly demonic aura. The sky would likely start to change colours if even a few were removed.

That silver-gray sword of Qin Jun might look ordinary, but it was filled with miasma. A sword so clearly awakened using resentful energy made its name especially ironic.

Even though there were so many seals on the swords, the only way the two were able to fool Jiang Yinghe was because he did not suspect them in the slightest. They had given him no reason to do so.

Chang Ye suddenly thought that the duo were even more sinister than he had imagined to be able to orchestrate such a complex lie. They definitely had nefarious intentions. His thoughts shifted to how to take out his own soul weapon, Duanshe Li……

“Rest.” Jiang Yinghe felt like he was coaxing a child, “That night pearl was something brought back by you Qin-shixiong. Why do you keep glancing at it? Is it too bright?”

Chang Ye quickly looked away and was about to say no when he paused, “That’s..….a pearl from a dragon?”

“En.” Jiang Yinghe was becoming drowsy. “A devil from the seas.”

Chang Ye glanced thoughtfully at that dragon pearl before snuggling into Shizun’s chest and whispering, “Can Shizun change it out? It’s too bright.”

It was a long while, long enough that he actually thought the other had fallen asleep, before he heard a distant yet warm voice reply.

“Okay.”

Author’s Corner

Chang Ye: Shizun, this disciple is not purposely badmouthing his shixiongs, it’s just that they’re not considerate like me QAQ. Shizun look at me, only I can be Shizun’s little cotton vest. Those two are too vicious, only I’m determined and hardworking QAQ.

Night Pearl (fed up): You’re such a green tea bitch!