Ch61 - Honing Willpower

Editor: Sahloknir

Jiang Yinghe put that little yellow book aside. “I believe Tong Guiyu intended this for me. He probably had some suspicions after meeting with Protector He yesterday he wanted to confirm.”

Jiang Yinghe looked towards Li Huanhan. It seemed like the other person was aware of this from how calm he was, but Jiang Yinghe still explained, “Hun Yuan Xianjun isn’t old-fashioned or a stickler for rules. It isn’t a big deal even if he knows of your identities.”

Li Huanhan nodded, his demeanor unchanged. “Before I arrived, I had the Tian Mo School covertly surround He Huan Sect.”

His words trailed off as he took a glance at the night scenery outside the window. “Even if Tong Xianjun had malicious intentions, this matter will not have reached the ears of others.”

He spoke so calmly that it was a moment before a startled Jiang Yinghe realized that Huanhan was prepared to destroy the other sect. Although his words were as plain as usual, they concealed a trace of extremely sharp killing intent.

“But I held back because I understand Shizun’s temperament.” Li Huanhan continued, “I wouldn’t have done anything if he was just curious or joking around.”

Only at this moment did he truly act like the Xuehe Demon Lord of a thousand years ago. When it came to matters like power struggles or confrontations, he never hesitated to utilize the most violent and cruel solutions.

Jiang Yinghe was relieved. “When did you receive this letter?”

Li Huanhan thought about it. “At midnight last night.”

Since He Huan Sect had quite a bit of territory in its surroundings, it took some time to make the necessary arrangements. Therefore, Li Huanhan borrowed the positioning abilities of the Blood Shadow and the Blood Pool to arrive so quickly.

Jiang Yinghe nodded. Before he spoke, Li Huanhan seemed to suddenly sense something. He turned his head to look at a lamp on the side.

The candlelight was bright. It cast long and wavering shadows on the walls. Chang Ye seemed to also notice something was amiss. He approached the candle and circled around it twice, his fluffy tail waving in midair.

“He’s here.” Li Huanhan said.

Before Jiang Yinghe could ask for clarification, the candle in front of him flashed, turning from ordinary mortal flames to the green-blue hue of phosphorescent fire.

At the same time, a dense and oppressive cloud of miasma filled the surrounding air. The thick fog spread out until one wasn’t even able to see their own fingers.

Jiang Yinghe was taken aback for a split second before his hand was tightly gripped. He looked down to see a ghastly skeletal hand holding his. The stark white bones of exquisite quality seemed like the perfect model for medical students to study with.

That was the first thought in Jiang Yinghe’s mind. He wasn’t scared at all as the icy bone hand tightened its grip.

The next moment, flesh, blood and skin grew to cover the limb until it was indistinguishable from a human’s hand. Since Jiang Yinghe was so close, he felt the other’s ephemeral body slowly solidify until he was touching slightly cool skin.

Jiang Yinghe didn’t feel wary at all. In fact, he found all this to be rather familiar. A cool breeze brushed past his ear, accompanied by the quiet and hoarse voice of a man.

“Do you still remember me?”

…I swear there’s a ghost story that starts like this.

Jiang Yinghe felt like this was the perfect setup for a ghost story, but he was still fearless. He even wanted to scold the other person for his over dramatic entrance.

He pinched the fingertips resting on his palm and said, “Nie Xiaoqin?”

The other person was silent for a moment. His next question was dripping with barely hidden jealousy and rage, “Who is Nie Xiaoqin?”

The surrounding fog surged, sending the phosphorus fire adrift. Jiang Yinghe was greatly amused. He thought for a moment before deciding to explain. “She’s a very beautiful…female ghost.”

“A female ghost?” Jiang Yinghe could hear this guy gnashing his teeth. “Which ghostly buffoon dared to steal away my person behind my back.”

Jiang Yinghe lowered his head to hide his smile. He tugged on the cold hand holding his tightly. “But she’s very pretty.”

The wraith in the fog seemed to be more anxious than ever. Jiang Yinghe could feel him draw closer, gently kissing the base of his ear before whispering, “Does Shizun like pretty ones like Chang Ye?”

The air brushing past his ear was alternating between hot and cold, like the other person was somewhat angry. Jiang Yinghe, fearing that he might go cause trouble for Chang Ye, said, “But she doesn’t like me back. The person in her heart is a scholar named Ning Caixin.”

There were a few more beats of silence. Then the other person sighed in relief. His voice, however, was still a little indignant.

“She must be blind to not like you.”

Closely following those words, a pair of thin and cold lips pressed kisses all the way from Jiang Yinghe’s earlobe to the corner of his lips. Before it could go any further, the surrounding phosphorescent fires violently trembled as the thick fog was gradually dispelled by sword winds.

Qin Jun stood in front of him.

Jiang Yinghe looked behind him to see the bright red Jimie sword partially slammed into the floor. It seemed to be what whisked away the enveloping fog.

Li Huanhan sat opposite him, slowly tapping his finger against the table. “How childish.”

Qin Jun didn’t care what Li Huanhan thought of him. He looked at Jiang Yinghe with gray eyes the colour of mist. “You really don’t remember me?”

Li Huanhan wasn’t the only person who thought he was acting like a child. Jiang Yinghe pulled at Qin Jun’s collar as he deliberately said, “I don’t. The only one I remember is Nie Xiao—”

“Wu…”

Clearly this guy had no sense of humour.

The kiss sealed his lips. Like he was trying to jog his memory, the other person deepened their connection, exploring further beyond. Jiang Yinghe  couldn’t breathe. He gripped Qin Jun’s shoulders and tilted his head away from this brief yet fierce kiss. He stepped back, trying to catch his breath, “Jun…Jun-er!”

Qin Jun barely managed to stop himself. He reluctantly licked his lips, capturing the taste of his shizun. Before he could say anything, a cat pounced on him and separated the two of them.

…As expected of Chang Ye. This guy’s an expert at finding needles in haystacks.

Qin Jun got up slightly and retreated a distance before turning to Li Huanhan. “Having so many demonic cultivators around He Huan Sect is too suspicious. Withdraw them.”

Li Huanhan met his gaze head on. “Withdraw them?”

“Yes.” Qin Jun took out the letter and another book. “This letter was personally delivered by the He Huan Sect Protector. He wouldn’t have come personally if they had ill intentions… I noticed that the demonic energy in the surroundings was slightly higher than normal. It’s very likely to attract the attention of others.”

Li Huanhan nodded quietly. “Fine.”

When their conversation ended, Qin Jun then casually passed both the letter and the book to Jiang Yinghe. “There’s nothing in the letter, but this book is….”

Jiang Yinghe stiffened as he received the book. Upon recalling what was in the last one, he had the foresight to put down the kitten in his arms. He cautiously asked, “What about it?”

“Its contents are very…interesting.”

Jiang Yinghe glanced at the cover. The title of this book was “The Days and Nights I Spent with a Sword Saint”.

With a title like that, his expectations for what was inside lowered even further…

Jiang Yinghe coughed and said, “Young people shouldn’t overindulge in this kind of stuff.”

“It’s not that.” Qin Jun explained, “There’s a comment inside saying that this book…is based on previously unknown accounts of Sword Saint Taichu’s life.”

Li Huanhan glanced at him. “Sword Saint Taichu’s era was even before Chang Ye’s. After tens of thousands of years, it’s likely that the facts have been twisted and distorted, if not outright fabricated.”

Qin Jun could vaguely understand Li Huanhan’s concern. He seemed to be afraid that, if Jiang Yinghe was really Sword Saint Taichu’s reincarnation, he would one day remember his dead wife and close his heart again.

After all, the most widely circulated information about Sword Saint Taichu was that he had married young and subsequently lost his wife.

Jiang Yinghe had always wanted to find out more about this Sword Saint Taichu. He had a suspicion that this transmigrated senior of his was closely connected to himself. For that reason, he didn’t throw away the little yellow book. “In that case, I will keep it and…take a look.”

He put away the books and caught the little white cat who was in his lap trying to sneak a look. He stroked it with both hands until the kitten was in a daze, laying back and contentedly kneading biscuits.

Qin Jun had a strange feeling as he stared at the little gremlin in Shizun’s arms. He sat next to Li Huanhan and asked, “Why does this cat seem so…”

“Slutty?” Li Huanhan said faintly.

“Tsk, so Li-shixiong can get jealous too.”

Li Huanhan ignored his verbal barbs. His tone was still as cold and indifferent as ever.

“Putting up with you is already testing my bottom line. What, do you want to put it to the test?”

Qin Jun braced his jaw with one hand and watched as the little white cat pestered his Shizun to pamper him more. “Bottom line? You’re right. If any other old or new lovers like that beautiful female ghost or an unforgettable dead wife pops up… I might as well go reincarnate right now.”

Li Huanhan gave this wraith a look. Without any tact, he said, “Even the Heavenly Dao doesn’t want you.”

Qin Jun sighed. “…I don’t need you to remind me.”

—-

It was barely dark out when Jiang Yinghe went to rest.

Perhaps it was because of the little joke he played on Qin Jun, but Jiang Yinghe tossed and turned for a long time, unable to sleep.

He thought for a moment, before getting up and lighting a small lamp near his bed. He took out the book he had just received, the one entitled, “The Days and Nights I Spent with a Sword Saint”.

Jiang Yinghe’s memory had almost recovered by now, but many details still eluded him. Since he couldn’t sleep, he might as well study this book.

The illustration on the very first page practically assaulted his eyes. Jiang Yinghe had to pause for a moment before he could start to read the story.

Although the book was based on Sword Saint Taichu, there were obviously a lot of artistic liberties taken. Jiang Yinghe was able to maintain his composure at first, but he quickly grew embarrassed as time went on. This protagonist was just too similar to himself!

Especially at the parts where the protagonist did it with his cultivation partner in all sorts of places.

Jiang Yinghe blinked. “…Is it even possible to do it there?”

According to the book, the answer was a resounding yes. It even gave a very detailed account of how to accomplish such a thing.

Even the sky itself was not spared.

Jiang Yinghe was once again shocked at the techniques used. He felt like the three views he grew up with underneath that red flag were beginning to crack.

And here he thought using his hands to relieve Chang Ye during his rut was pretty risque…

The candle wax slowly melted.

Just half way through the book, Jiang Yinghe’s head was filled with scenes of restriction artifacts, humiliation play, and the deepening affections of the protagonist as he was bent over this way and that by his cultivation partner.

…Hiss. There was even a cowgirl position scene.

Jiang Yinghe expressionlessly put down the book, but his ears were already completely red. He needed to work on his tolerance.

In the meantime, Jiang Yinghe started trying to extract useful information from the book’s contents.

The soft and sweet call of a cat interrupted his musings.

When he looked up, he saw that Chang Ye, who was in the form of a small, white cat, had jumped onto the bed and came over to him with a harmless expression.

Jiang Yinghe wasn’t on guard at all. He held the kitten and softed it like he always did for a while, gradually growing drowsy. Eventually, he fell asleep with the kitten in his arms.

The night was as quiet and gentle as water.

His breathing was even and steady.

The cat in his arms stared at him for a long time. When he finally confirmed that Jiang Yinghe was asleep, Chang Ye smugly returned to his human form. When he was about to cuddle with Shizun, someone grabbed him by his collar and pulled him away.

Furious, Chang Ye looked back to meet Li Huanhan’s bright red, yet icy cold eyes.

Chang Ye spoke “…What are you doing here?”

His voice was soft so as to not wake up Jiang Yinghe.

Li Huanhan faintly replied. “To supervise you.”

Chang Ye was about to implode with rage. His voice couldn’t help but get a little louder, “What’s wrong with you? Do you hold a grudge against me or something?!”

“Not really.” Those blood-red eyes narrowed a bit and shifted to glance into one of the shadows of the lamp. “I’m supervising him as well.”

Chang Ye followed his gaze. He saw Qin Jun’s figure gradually emerge from one of the shadows, leaning against the wall with a chilling look on his face.

Chang Ye sighed “…This—I can’t believe you guys, coming over in the middle of the night with impure intentions! Shame on you both!”

The other two looked at him together. One was emotionless while the other sneered.

Chang Ye stilled. “…”

Li Huanhan threw Chang Ye by his collar onto the floor, taking his rightful seat on the edge of Shizun’s bed. Perhaps because he had lots of experience watching over Jiang Yinghe at night or because wraiths didn’t need sleep, Qin Jun went even further and melded into the shadows a safe and appropriate distance away.

In the end, Chang Ye could only reluctantly turn back into a cat and squirm into Shizun’s arms again.

After a good night’s sleep…

When the morning came, Jiang Yinghe woke up a little slower than usual. He dreamt of many strange things, which caused him to blank out for a moment. Then he discovered the kitten in his arms had already woken up. His furry tail was curled around Jiang Yinghe’s wrist, twisting this way and that seductively.

Jiang Yinghe couldn’t help it. He went to pat the kitten, but what first met his hand were cold fingers instead of soft fluffy fur.

A slightly derisive voice entered his ears, accompanied by breaths that were sometimes cold and sometimes hot.

“Don’t you get tired of petting it for so long?”

Jiang Yinghe subconsciously replied, “How can you get tired of petting cats?”

He turned to see Qin Jun looking at him nearby, with a few strands of braided hair in his hand…

“Jun-er?”

Another familiar presence intimately approached.

Li Huanhan held his hand and leaned down to press a kiss to his brow whispering, “Are you fully awake?”

Jiang Yinghe hesitated for a moment. “Probably.”

“En.” Li Huanhan murmured, “Good morning.”

“…Good morning.” As Jiang Yinghe looked around, he couldn’t help but remember a scene from the book he read last night, where the Sword Saint’s cultivation partner used a dual cultivation technique… The description of the day after held more than a passing resemblance to the current situation.

He coughed twice and tried to put the image out of his mind. “Why are you all here?”

After a brief silence, Li Huanhan replied, “…To hone our willpower.”

Qin Jun nodded thoughtfully, “En, that’s right.”

Chang Ye languidly echoed, “Meow…”

Sahl

Ah! All our boys are back together! It’s lovely seeing them being nice, like good children…and er, honing their willpower not to ‘cultivate’ with their Shizun…