Everything was the same on Qing Jing Peak. The wind was the only sound that could be heard.
The cranes cried outside.
A white cat was curled up on the corner of the desk, watching Jiang Yinghe sit near the bookshelf perusing the books. His pointy cat ears twitched and his tail swayed occasionally, like he was suppressing the urge to bat at the human with his paws.
But when Jiang Yinghe turned the page and gave him a look, the kitten’s paws paused and shrank back. He could only bite his fluffy tail in resignation.
He wasn’t even allowed to touch him a bit…
The white cat held its tail and licked its fur. He watched as Jiang Yinghe searched intently for information about the Yin Yang Fruit. Chang Ye couldn’t help but quietly say, “It should be fine if he just takes the Yao Wang Valley’s prescriptions diligently.”
Jiang Yinghe didn’t even look at him as he reached for the next ancient tomb. He said indifferently, “Do you know the details of what happened?”
Chang Ye had naturally interrogated Wu Chengyu. He leaned over and nuzzled his Shizun’s hand with his head. “Pet me first.”
Jiang Yinghe stiffened and pushed the white cat away. “Nevermind. Shidi has shared what he wanted, so I shouldn’t ask more.”
He continued to read about the Endless Sky Watchtower, the Devil God Hundun, and Sword Saint Taichu. He didn’t have time to go through these records before, but he intended to correct that now.
The Endless Sky Watchtower seemed to be inhabited by the founder of this world, a true Daoist Ancestor. However, there was no record of this vague speculation anywhere. The description of the Devil God Hundun was very detailed, but after thousands of years it was inevitably distorted. The cat in front of him would be a much better source of information.
As for Sword Saint Taichu….
Jiang Yinghe slowly traced his fingers over the words. He heard an aggrieved meowl from the side.
…What a spoilt child.
Jiang Yinghe continued what he was doing while he listened to the quiet sounds of the kitten’s paws stomping around the desk. He felt the other’s fluffy tail anxiously whipping around, sweeping up more dust than any whisk.
After some time, Chang Ye finally couldn’t take it anymore and snuck towards his Shizun on his kitten paws. His fluffy tail tentatively and pitifully curled around his finger.
Jiang Yinghe looked up at him.
The kitten immediately withdrew its tail and sat upright on the edge of the desk. His meows were both expectant and apprehensive.
I’ve attracted his attention this time, right?
…Why hasn’t Shizun petted me yet?
Jiang Yinghe stared into his dark, round pupils silently for a long while before saying, “Get down from there.”
The kitten blinked, “…?!”
“Your presence here has been nothing but a hindrance to me.” Jiang Yinghe said, “Li Huanhan is in his Winter Storm Residence and Qin Jun is at the Late Autumn Courtyard. Go wherever you wish.”
Chang Ye stayed for a while. It was the first time in his cat life that he had suffered such a heavy blow. He mumbled for a moment, not daring to speak as he curled his tail tighter to his side. His paws clenched the tip of his tail and he looked down to lick it once.
He didn’t even dare to mewl anymore.
Jiang Yinghe watched as he retreated backwards after suffering a shock and gently raised his eyebrows in warning, “Be careful, you’re going to fall…”
Before he was finished speaking, this fluffy, long-haired kitty tumbled from the table.
Jiang Yinghe got up to take a look and saw that this half-witted cat almost flipped over. It narrowly managed to land on its paws before dropping to the ground in a huff.
Thank goodness.
Jiang Yinghe continued to flip through the pages and paused on the final line of Sword Saint Taichu’s entry.
“…Distant and aloof, he claimed to already have an intended. There were rumours that he had been separated from his cultivation partner long ago, or that his wife had died and he’d sworn off romance for the rest of his life.”
Simply put, it’s about how Sword Saint Taichu claimed to be married, but people gossiped that he’s either separated from his partner long ago or that they had already died.
No wonder all of the items at his residence were in pairs… Jiang Yinghe pondered this for a moment, thinking about the warning left behind by that senior transmigrator. The doubts in his heart only grew.
…Was he really idle enough to speculate about this right now? Shouldn’t he be more worried about his own problems?
Jiang Yinghe simply couldn’t make sense of it. None of his various theories were quite right. The cries of a cat startled him from his introspection.
He raised his head and watched as Chang Ye jumped onto the table, the fur on his tail puffing up. Even the fur on his spine stood up on end. He followed Chang Ye’s gaze and finally noticed that someone was lightly knocking at the door.
There was only one person he knew that knocked in such a methodical fashion…
It was Li Huanhan.
Jiang Yinghe was still angry and didn’t really want to see him.
When Chang Ye saw that Jiang Yinghe didn’t respond right away, his tail decreased quite a bit in volume as he hugged its tip once again and groomed himself. Then he leapt a few steps closer to his Shizun…
Where he was immediately stopped by a look from Jiang Yinghe.
…The cat’s scheme collapsed on him before he was even half way through executing it.
The little white cat retracted its paws, and then his entire body. Even his ears revealed a sense of grievance. The little ears that were originally standing up were completely flat against his head.
The knocking from outside stopped.
Jiang Yinghe thought that he had left… After all, Li Huanhan now had some control over that internal demon. But ever since that night, he’d always been afraid of that look on Huanhan’s face.
The person he knew would never wear that expression.
To Jiang Yinghe, the first disciple he spent so long with was clearly the most gentle, introverted and trustworthy person he knew. But the times when Li Huanhan’s internal demon possessed him had taught him a lesson. Even if they shared the same face, their moral compasses diverged completely.
He could come to accept being forced in the heat of the moment.
But that man at the time knew exactly what he was doing.
The wind picked up even more.
Jiang Yinghe thought he had left and absentmindedly swept his sixth sense over to confirm if anyone was outside the door. He immediately sensed that Li Huanhan was actually still out there. He hadn’t moved an inch.
What was this?
Jiang Yinghe suddenly recalled the day Li Huanhan bade him farewell in the early morning. He was being tormented by the after-effects of the Seven Days of Joy then, and Li Huanhan left the day after that incident. When they met once more, his disciple had become a changed man, haunted by his internal demons.
Perhaps changed wasn’t the best word to describe it. Rather, it was like something he had once concealed could no longer be hidden.
Jiang Yinghe thought of what Li Huanhan had once said…that he was afraid of hurting him.
His hand paused from turning the page. Then his sixth sense allowed him to feel that Li Huanhan had lifted his robe and knelt down.
He stiffened and glanced towards the door, but he still said nothing.
How similar the two situations were.
Jiang Yinghe closed his eyes and sighed deeply, glancing at the stunned cat by his side. “Go out and tell him to leave. I’m not angry, but…”
Jiang Yinghe thought about it some more and said, “There are some things that I must do on my own.”
Chang Ye didn’t expect Li Huanhan to be so cunning. While he was recovering from this incredible shock, he heard Jiang Yinghe’s indifferent and calm voice. He was about to ask if he could accompany him when he heard his Shizun continue.
“Tell me the incantation to remove the tail.” Jiang Yinghe looked at him, “If you lie to me again, I’ll take you to be neutered.”
Jiang Yinghe looked way too serious. The little kitten felt a chill in a certain place on his body and obediently picked up the ink brush in Jiang Yinghe’s hand with his tail. He wrote out the spell with immaculate strokes.
…So he could write with his tail, and the handwriting was even the same.
Jiang Yinghe took the paper and picked up a different book. His tone was clear and calm, like he was speaking to a stranger. “If Jun-er comes over, tell him the same thing. Now go.”
Chang Ye softly meowed, then jumped down from the table and squeezing out the door with a flick of his bushy tail.
The wind was indeed colder outside.
The spiritual cranes nearby were still sleeping peacefully.
When Chang Ye looked at his shixiong, he noticed that this heavenly demon’s tattoo-like patterns seemed to have receded. His situation seemed to have improved.
He was the one who had guessed wrong. It really was the internal demon before. But it seemed like Li Huanhan was on the right path to figuring out how to control it.
His gaze then shifted downward. a black-scaled, red-eyed snake was peeking out of the other party’s dark sleeve, emitting an overwhelming demonic aura from its entire body.
This should be his Blood Shadow. A demon that was rumored to be able to locate everyone it has ever seen for the Xuehu Demon Lord.
Chang Ye snorted as his paws began to itch. He knew that Li Huanhan saw through his disguise, but he didn’t react at all.
“Shizun told you to go away.” The kitten unceremoniously stated as he stretched out in front of him, “He has things to do and no time for you.”
Those blood red eyes looked at him. Without saying a word, they turned to the interior of the door.
He hated it when things were out of his control, but this person has always been a recurring thorn at his side.
While the white kitten was meowing up a storm, Li Huanhan stood up and knocked on the door again, saying in a voice barely above a whisper, “Shizun.”
“I lost control before and treated you…” Li Huanhan paused, “I always speak of respect, but others have treated you better than me. I was too greedy. If my best efforts can only cause you pain, it would be better to seal my cultivation so I could stay by your side and take care of you without worry…”
The white kitten next to him had opened his eyes wide in surprise and choked. Chang Ye sprang up and asked sharply, “What did you do to him?! Li Huanhan, have you no shame?!? Hey…”
Li Huanhan completely ignored the cat jumping up and down. He asked seriously, “May I come in?”
There was still no reply from within. Li Huanhan waited patiently, stewing in his own thoughts until his anxiety boiled over. He swept his sixth sense outwards—
There was no one inside.
Li Huanhan pushed open the door. He took in the sword mantle, bed, bookshelf, and table inside. Everything was the same as before, even the decorations and the tea set were familiar to him.
But there was no one here.
There were many books piled on the desk, and Wangchen was in its customary spot atop the sword mantle. A sheet of plain white paper laid on the desk with not a single word written on it.
The scene before him seemed like one of his dreams.
It was as if he had returned to Qing Jing Peak as it was before, when he stayed by his Shizun’s side with that outrageous wish hidden in his heart. But the things they had experienced since could no longer be explained by the words Shizun and Disciple.
Li Huanhan walked over and ran his fingertips over the table. He slowly closed his eyes and let out a breath.
The white cat on the side immediately transformed back into a red-clothed boy. He seemed even more overwhelmed than Li Huanhan.
“He said that turning into a cat would earn…his forgiveness.”
“He told me to tell you something. Shizun said he had something to do on his own.”
Chang Ye’s words came to a halt. Then there was a very slight and quiet sob.
He didn’t want to cry in front of his rival.
But he couldn’t hold back his emotions.
Chang Ye crumpled the paper on the table, but he smoothed it out again, fearing Jiang Yinghe’s displeasure later. He choked as he did so with extreme reluctance.
“Please don’t abandon me…”
He repeated it like a mantra to himself for some time before wiping his eyes and whispering again.
“Shizun…won’t you look at how obedient I am now…?”
This was hardly a case of doing unto others as they do unto to you. It wasn’t an outright lie either, at most it was just Shizun not saying goodbye.
But he was not owed such a courtesy from Jiang Yinghe.
Chang Ye has always been able to consider all the possibilities, He might get carried away sometimes, but it didn’t stop him from feeling sorrow. He felt like the cold jade walls of the White Crane Jade Manor were like sheets of ice.
It was so cold in here without Shizun.
“I know that I was wrong, ah. Please let me stay with you…” he whispered something more in tears before managing to collect himself in front of his rival. Yet he was too tired to be hostile towards Li Huanhan right now.
Shizun was the only one on his mind.
If not receiving a farewell made him feel like this, then how did all the things he did before make Shizun feel?
—-
Peng Lai Side Palace.
“There is no need to be like this, Patriarch Qin.” Zhou Zhengping waved his whisk, “Although the events of the past have troubled Peng Lai, they have also provided a generation of disciples with invaluable experience. There is no need to apologize for this.”
He watched as Qin Jun recovered gradually. This was the first time he felt someone else appear in the eyes of this arrogant and conceited wraith.
But it was more correct to say that he came reluctantly, for Jiang-shidi’s sake. However, his performance thus far had been flawless, not giving Zhou Zhengping and Yan Caiwei any hint that he was looking down on them.
It was not everyday that a superior being would bow to you.
Yan Caiwei added, “Moreover, we have no reason to interfere in the matter between you and Jiang-shidi. Although Patriarch Qin is nominally a disciple of Peng Lai, you are Jiang-shidi’s disciple alone.”
“Many thanks.” Qin Jun said, “Since the day of our reunion, I have felt repentant for my actions. I will show him the utmost respect, so the two of you needn’t worry.”
This conversation was quite a bit like a friendly chat between the two families brought together by a couple. Yan Caiwei was almost fooled into agreeing. As she wanted to redirect the topic, she heard her Shixiong say from beside her, “It seems like Jiang-shidi…just left?”
Yan Caiwei was stunned. “But he just came back! Didn’t we tell him that Xiao Yun-shidi would recover from his injuries with time? He doesn’t need to worry about that, so where did he go?”
Zhou Zhengping was just about to speak when he saw that Qin Jun was also staring straight at him. He sighed before saying, “Perhaps he went out to clear his head.”
Yan Caiwei’s words became stuck in her mouth. She recalled the sporadic news and rumours about what her Shidi had gone through recently, and her emotions became complicated. She sighed, “With Jiang-shidi’s degree of cultivation, he would be fine anywhere. His biggest problem is the three disciples around him.”
She didn’t mince her words just because Qin Jun was around.
Zhou Zhengping nodded, then looked at Qin Jun and said solemnly, “I hope that Patriarch Qin will be understanding of his decision and refrain from searching for him. Allow him a moment of peace.”
He could feel the precision of a Half-step Golden Immortal as Qin Jun breathed in deeply. Naturally, he could also feel the dense and cold resentful energy that surrounded the other when his emotions fluctuated.
After a moment, the dense miasma dissipated entirely. The surroundings suddenly became completely silent.
“…Alright.”
Author’s Corner
The doors of the crematorium have opened before you~
The attitudes of my readers are unfathomable like the depths of the sea… Let me see if HeHe’s heart of steel will break first or yours.
About Xiao Yun’s relationship…there’s no noncon. I’ve always wanted to gradually reveal the details, so please be patient… I like you guys so much, so let’s communicate more amicably~