Ch72 - Serious Matters First, Alright?

Editor: Sahloknir

The sound of rain intermittently lingered throughout the night.

The next morning, a long-tailed bird landed on a pine tree on Qing Jing Peak. This bird seemed to have awakened its spirituality, seeing as it was able to fly so high up the cliff.

Jiang Yinghe opened the window and saw the bird on the pine fly over, land tentatively by the window and look at him with intelligent eyes.

The morning light and fresh air drifted in.

Jiang Yinghe only looked at it for a few moments, before continuing to peruse some descriptions and points on recasting swords. He was estimating when he could start preparing for the important stage, but he met with a problem.

When he went to retrieve another book from the shelf, his eyes landed on that journal.

As the unification level increased, its contents would also become clearer.

Jiang Yinghe retrieved the journal. As expected, the originally blank fourth page was now covered with neat and familiar handwriting.

‘…It hurts too much.’

‘Only now do I fully comprehend what an earthly purgatory he has created. Cannibalism within species, war between species, and corruption abound… There is no discipline, no morality, and no shame here—only endless strife.’

‘His Dao heart was muddled when he created this world. He thought it would be normal, but he did not realise that his creation would be influenced by his state of mind. Due to his emotions, endless amounts of desire and pain were added into the mix.’

‘The world slides inexorably into the abyss—towards a dead end… But I still cannot bring myself to agree and let him destroy his cultivation and put an end to this living hell.’

‘After all, despite this world appearing as purgatory to us, no one can truly know how many people are still struggling to survive in it now. Even if you are this world’s creator, I still think it is better to give these lifeforms the freedom to live and die as they choose, instead of…’

Instead of just condemning them to destruction.

Jiang Yinghe added silently in his mind, linking this account to that dark era and the few sentences used to describe it in the historical records.

He eased his mind for a moment and turned another page.

‘His Dao heart wavered when the human world was first formed, when I arrived… Perhaps it has something to do with me. Has my decision to cultivate the supreme path…moved him instead?’

The middle portion was blotted out by a large inkstain, the contents completely obscured from sight. Jiang Yinghe could not even guess half a word after a long time.

This was especially unfortunate, considering the line underneath the inkblot read:

‘His divine soul is going to disperse.’

Another small blank space afterwards.

‘…My kitty passed away.’

Jiang Yinghe’s heart suddenly clenched. He could sense the emotions behind these lines. The memories locked away in his mind began to shake.

Although he still couldn’t recall them, he could perceive the pain he felt ten thousand years ago in these two short lines.

He closed the book and took a breath, thinking that he wasn’t suited to read such an emotionally abusive text. With his basic level of skill obtained after confiscating novels as a good teacher should, he guessed that the next few entries would be especially twisted and angsty. Something like how his divine soul dispersed, so the two lovers were doomed to never cross paths again, no matter how long the living one waited…

After Jiang Yinghe finished guessing according to his rudimentary skill level, he steeled his resolve and turned to the last page he could read so far.

‘His Dao heart has deviated to the point that his divine soul is splitting. I suspect he’s thinking of unsanitary thoughts in that head of his again.’

En?

‘I’ve brainstormed with him through the night and we’ve come up with several ideas. In the end, splitting his soul seems to be the best option. His divine soul needs to be divided into three parts, so how should we make the split so as to prevent qi deviations due to unequal division of the Dao heart?’

‘This topic was so important that it made my back sore after discussing it for an entire night. But when we were at last finalizing the plan, it was like someone turned on a faucet in that head of his. He said that he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to find me again after being split…’

‘Heh, how naive. If everything goes according to my plan, not only will you find me, you’ll also have to kneel before me and call me Shizun. I really am a genius.’

……

Jiang Yinghe expressionlessly closed the journal and threw it back on the bookshelf. He dully returned to his seat, with only a single thought in mind.

…Peerless little genius, did you ever think about how to deal with three of him after the split?

The more Jiang Yinghe thought about it, the more his head hurt. Reaching up to rub his brow, he tried to relax and think about why he’d done this.

If his presence really did affect the Dao Ancestor, then he would have to be part of the process of reunifying his soul. Otherwise, everything would play out the same as before, and the human world would still be greatly influenced by his mental state.

When looking at it that way, this journal, Wuchen, and even the mirror that exposed Qin Jun’s identity in the Sword Saint’s old residence were all arrangements that Jiang Yinghe had devised beforehand to advance his ultimate goal.

Jiang Yinghe slowly pondered on this. He brushed up on the historical records to the present day again. After being cut off from the disruptive influence of its creator, the development of the world had gradually stabilized.

When he finished reading, he exhaled slowly and lightly rapped the table, not knowing whether to compliment himself on his peerless genius or to be ashamed about his lack of knowledge of a certain aspect between cultivation partners.

He truly paid an enormous price for his past self’s scheme. Every time it happened, his back ached for days.

The bird by the window cocked its head at him. It seemed to find the light scent of Jiang Yinghe’s body very pleasant, so it jumped onto the table and gave him a light peck on the back of his hand.

The gentle contact seemed to indicate the newly sapient little bird wanted to play for a while with the cultivator radiating a soothing presence.

The next instant, a black snake rose from the corner of the table, its scarlet eyes staring at the bird. Its tongue flicked out. Just as the bird was about to fly away, a hand casually picked the black snake up and tucked it back into his sleeve.

Li Huanhan put the Blood Shadow back. He glanced at what his shizun was reading as he replaced the cup of tea on the table. “Why are you alone?”

If it was an ordinary day, even if Qin Jun left to tend to his affairs, a certain little green tea cat that had to nestle in his shizun’s arms every day to sleep would certainly not leave his side. Strangely enough, both of them were conspicuously absent today.

Jiang Yinghe accepted the clear tea as he always did. He savoured the taste of Blessed Jade Dew for the first time in a while. “I asked Jun-er to take him to be neutered.”

…Neutering?

Li Huanhan paused while reaching for the paperweight. His fingers rested on the square of lapis lazuli. After a moment of silence, he asked again, “…Although he’s…”

For the first time, he had the thought of saying a few words for Chang Ye. After all, he didn’t know if this would affect him down there after they fused. After struggling for a moment, he continued, “But surely this is too…”

Jiang Yinghe gave him a very long look before he couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t worry, I was joking.”

He paused for a moment and added, “There’s been many rainy days recently. I checked the devil race’s canonical records. In this kind of weather, fierce beasts tend to build nests and go into heat, so I told Jun-er to take him to clear his mind. I don’t want to become famous in Peng Lai because Chang Ye can’t control himself and makes too much of a fuss.”

Li Huanhan nodded slightly and fetched the lapis lazuli paperweight. He set it down on a corner of the page before grinding some ink.

Jiang Yinghe looked up and saw that the other party’s blood red eyes were vivid and completely calm. There was not even a hint of the danger and horror the Xuehe Demon Lord was infamous for.

The splitting of the soul saved the extremely deviated Dao heart, but it also created flaws in each of their natures. Only with patience and guidance could those flaws be remedied.

“The blackened status bar has been cleared, so I should be almost done, right..?” Jiang Yinghe thought as he watched Li Huanhan. His gaze became more and more pronounced until Li Huanhan stopped moving and looked over.

The pair of unfathomably deep eyes the colour of blood were still. The two looked at each other for a long time before one of them suddenly moved closer, causing their breaths to instantly mingle into one.

Jiang Yinghe could feel his disciple’s blade-like aura, filled with killing intent, wax and wane. When he was calm, not a bit of this sharp danger could be detected, like he was a dragon hidden in a cold pool.

Then, Li Huanhan shifted slightly and kissed him.

Jiang Yinghe was taken aback as his pen-holding hand was seized. When he touched the slight coldness between the other party’s lips, he hesitated for a breath and asked softly, “Why did you suddenly…”

“Didn’t Shizun hint at this first?”

“…What?”

Li Huanhan’s voice was calm, his eyes focused on Jiang Yinghe. “Shizun looked at me for so long first.”

“Er, that’s because…”

“Doesn’t looking at me mean that you like me and want me to kiss you? Or did you want us to…”

…What kind of logic was that??

Jiang Yinghe was afraid that he would say something even more outrageous. He knocked on the desk. “Speak no more.”

Li Huanhan did as he wished. He used the strategy ‘actions speak louder than words’ to teach Jiang Yinghe what it meant to learn from teaching.

He kissed Jiang Yinghe again, without any of his previous tentativeness. It was a soft and lingering kiss that deepened by the second.

Jiang Yinghe had never been able to cope with such gentle attacks. He had a vague feeling that he might have been so fooled by this lunatic’s gentle exterior back then that it still worked on him now.

He raised his hand and grabbed Li Huanhan’s lapels. Just as he slowly relaxed and began to get into the mood—

The entrance gate opened abruptly, and the crane outside the door called out along with a familiar female voice.

“Jiang-shidi! Zhangmen-shixiong told me that you had safely returned to Peng Lai. Our decision to suppress the news of your death for four hundred years was not in vain after all. I have managed to break…through…”

Yan Caiwei stood in place, her words coming to an abrupt halt.

It was like her feet had taken root. She couldn’t move her eyes away from the scene in front of her. She watched the jade brush made with wolf bristles fall from her shidi’s pretty fingers and shatter in two on the floor.

Yan Caiwei blinked. She coughed dryly twice and said, “I-it seems I’ve interrupted something. Why don’t you two get the…serious business out of the way first?”

—-

On the other side, in Wanyao City.

The innkeeper sat at the counter lazily calculating his accounts. He ordered the bellhop to deliver the last one they had caught. He sighed, “So true love does exist in the world. This daren has expended every effort for the future happiness of his cub.”

The bellhop agreed as he carried the cage up and into a room.

Qin Jun nodded as the little devil put the cage down. He swept a glance across the room and asked, “Still not up to your standards?”

Chang Ye was dressed in red with all the fluffy hair on his tail standing on end. His suppressed aura gave off the feeling that he was going to go berserk soon. His palm slammed down on the table. “Did Shizun mean for you to get me a room full of female cats?! Qin Jun, are you asking for a fight—”

“Does it matter?” Qin Jun languidly glanced at the floor filled with caged cats. “Even the current you can’t beat me.”

He paused, “Moreover, Shizun asked me to bring you out here to clear your mind so the weather wouldn’t trigger your instincts. After all, devil beasts are…always in heat for a few days a month.”

Chang Ye was about to be angered to death by him. He breathed in deeply several times to try and calm down. “Don’t think for a second that I wouldn’t fight with you just because we’re the same person…”

Qin Jun continued to lounge around. His lips casually quirked up. “Whatever. We’re in Wanyao City anyways.”

Chang Ye grit his teeth. “…The only thing similar between you and Li Huanhan are how despicable your methods and attitudes are.”

“Thanks for the compliment.” Qin Jun laughed a little, “If I wasn’t afraid of experiencing side effects after fusing, I would’ve taken this opportunity to castrate you. Better than competing with a cat for favour everyday.”

Pei. Why do I feel like I’ve said these words before?

Author’s Corner

Yan-shijie (rubbing her hands together like flies do): A VIP front row seat is a bad idea, right? Hehehe…

Sahl: Ah! My baby Huanhan has Shizun all to himself! However as we’ve gone on I love Qin Jun more and more…and maybe Chang Ye – when he’s being a good kitty and not a little monster…wait…I—