chapter 16

Faced with her rude question, Jiang Xunyi was too lazy to pay her any attention, and merely minded his own business to continue walking out. Wu Tianqi was so terrified his face lost all color. He couldn’t care to reprimand his daughter, only hurrying to apologize for her, but within a few steps Jiang Xunyi had already disappeared.

Yun Xie frowned. Having lost face in front of her crush, Wu Hui was quietly angry and annoyed. She turned to Yun Xie, thoroughly wronged and aggrieved: “Yun-Gege…”

Yun Xie impatiently blocked her hand pulling at his sleeve, and indifferently said: “Miss Wu, as a woman, you should still watch yourself.” As he spoke, he did not tarry any longer, turning away to leave too.

After leaving the main hall, Jiang Xunyi asked a Heavenly Seal School disciple for the location of his lodgings and then went to his room. The weather that day was cloudy and overcast. The sky outside gradually darkened, but he did not light the lamp. He only lay on the bed in a slight daze, thinking about the plot events soon to come.

Suddenly, the room door opened and a figure flashed inside.

Jiang Xunyi did not get up. His arms folded behind his head, he leisurely said: “Every single time you enter my room, you don’t knock. There’s going to be a day where I think you’re a thief and kill you.”

Yun Xie laughed: “A flower-picking thief?” He looked around this gloomy room and shook his head: “Oh my~ Why are you lying on the bed without even lighting the lamp, all heartbroken and alone? Could it be… you saw those admiring me just now and got jealous?”

Jiang Xunyi didn’t grasp his exact meaning. He thought Yun Xie was insinuating he liked Wu Hui, so he responded with a sneer: “I have no interest in that kind of little girl.”

Yun Xie couldn’t do anything when faced with this sheer dense cluelessness, and he choked on his words. He angrily stomped over to the bed and kicked Jiang Xunyi’s leg. “Move in a little, give me room to lie down.”

Jiang Xunyi didn’t move an inch, only lazily said: “Was your bed shattered by lightning?”

Yun Xie simply bent over, both hands reaching under Jiang Xunyi into a hug and pushing him towards the inside of the bed. He openly and grandiosely lay down on the now available outside edge, and laughed: “Just do what I tell you to do, less useless jabbering.”

Jiang Xunyi was caught off guard, and Yun Xie’s sneak attack was successful. Hearing these words, Jiang Xunyi’s temper rose even further. He flipped back over and swung a fist at Yun Xie.

Yun Xie gently grasped his wrist and whispered: “Don’t make trouble, I have something to say.”

Jiang Xunyi harrumphed, tore his hand out of Yun Xie’s grasp, and raised his chin to look down imperiously.

Yun Xie laughed and looked at the flower pattern on the blanket: “Hey, I say, do you really want to seal away Demon Sovereign Xuan Li?”

Jiang Xunyi said: “Sealing him would only be treating the symptoms and not the cause. His strength has long since deteriorated compared to before. I want to directly scatter his soul.” He tilted his head to look at Yun Xie, but in this darkness Yun Xie’s expression could not be seen clearly. Jiang Xunyi then took a deep breath and added: “This is just my own choice. You don’t have to accompany me.”

On the pillow, Yun Xie turned his head, a few strands of black hair slightly tousled: “Aside from you, there is no one else in this world who deserves my accompaniment. If even you and I were separated, it would be far too lonely.”

Jiang Xunyi’s lips curled up in a smile——he knew that nothing would sway Yun Xie’s decision now. His heart warmed slightly, and he casually patted Yun Xie’s shoulder. But when he turned his face away, his brows could not resist wrinkling into a frown.

Yun Xie resisted the urge to clutch his hand. He lay quietly on the side, listening to Jiang Xunyi’s long breaths. His heart felt soft and warm, and he couldn’t help but reveal a silly smile in the dark where no one could see.

However, the smile had not spread past his upper lip corner when he suddenly felt an aching pain in his chest. A powerful sorrowful grief surged up from the bottom of his heart. For some unknown reason, he felt tears almost gathering in his eyes.

By his side, Jiang Xunyi suddenly turned over and sat up.

Yun Xie had not yet fully recovered, and his voice was low and hoarse: “What are you doing?”

Jiang Xunyi whispered: “Outside.”

Yun Xie pressed his temples: “These footstep sounds are only those of a normal disciple, you’re just paranoid.”

His voice had just cut off when a knock sounded on the door. Jiang Xunyi kicked the Yun Xie lying on the outside of the bed, urging him to open the door. Jiang Xunyi himself moved to sit on the bed’s edge.

Yun Xie opened the door to find the person standing outside was actually Wu Hui. The two of them had each not expected the other person to be there, and both froze for a moment.

Wu Hui was surprised at this odd sight: “Yun-Gege? I just went to your room to find it empty. So you were here all along.” As she spoke, she glanced inside the room either accidentally or on purpose: “Is young master Jiang also here? How come you two didn’t even light the lamp?”

Yun Xie expressionlessly turned his body to block her line of sight, and spoke coldly: “Need something?”

Seeing his appearance, Wu Hui’s smile froze on her face. Feeling wronged, she said: “Dad told me to invite you two for a meal.”

Yun Xie was just about to open his mouth, when his shoulder suddenly felt heavy—He was pushed to the side by the Jiang Xunyi behind him. Jiang Xunyi nodded at Wu Hui: “Thank you for your trouble, Miss Wu. The two of us will head over right now.”

Wu Hui had just learned the identity of this young master Jiang from her father. Even though she held some slight hostility towards this person, she did not dare to act rashly. Seeing his answer, she reluctantly bowed and then left without saying a word.

Yun Xie ridiculed him: “I couldn’t tell before that you held such tender feelings for the fairer sex1. You’re fawning on this little miss, but she isn’t fond of you.”

Jiang Xunyi rolled his eyes: “Still better than you frowning and giving the cold shoulder to every woman. In the end, we’re living at this Heavenly Seal School. Can’t you let them save just a little bit of face?”

Yun Xie whined: “Ah-Xun, just to eat and live here for free, you’re even making your big brother Yun sell my charms?”

Jiang Xunyi pushed him away: “Get lost.” He tidied his clothes and walked out.

In honor of the arrival of the Dual Jades of the Spirit Stage, Wu Tianqi had arranged an unusually rich dinner banquet. The servants pouring tea and water had all been replaced with the Heavenly Seal School’s disciples, just to show off their grace and elegance for these two guests. Jiang Xunyi did not like to talk much in public. On the other hand, Yun Xie talked cheerfully and made witty jokes during the meal, attracting the glances of many female disciples.

Jiang Xunyi had taken two bites when a female disciple walked past to pour tea for him. Just as he was about to thank her, he glimpsed the back of that woman’s hand out of the corner of his eye. His heart quaked, and he hurriedly grabbed her wrist.

Yun Xie was sitting right next to him. Seeing Jiang Xunyi’s movement, Yun Xie’s eyes darkened but his face instead brightened into an even more brilliant smile. “Ah-Xun, this is really too lecherous of you.”

Jiang Xunyi flung out his hand, and then immediately turned his body in his chair to kick at the woman’s chin. He angrily said: “Yeah right lecherous, her hand has the spots of livor mortis2!”

Yun Xie had already discovered the anomaly just after his “lecherous” comment. Now he also leapt up, his right hand activating a secret art. A bolt of purple light immediately flashed through the hall, and several Heavenly Seal School disciples let out screams. Under the shine of that purple light, they actually turned into ferocious-looking walking corpses covered in black spots!

With this abrupt transformation, the remaining normal disciples within the hall let out exclamations of shock. Various colors of sword light rose through the air, attacking these walking corpses. But these terrifying-looking monsters were actually completely unaffected. One walking corpse pounced forward, extending its claws to snap the neck of a former fellow disciple.

Jiang Xunyi called out: “Everyone, do not worry. These are the result of cultivators having been corrupted by demonic energy. They do not fear blades or swords, and can only be affected by purification-type spells.” His voice was not loud, yet among the countless screams and shouts, it actually transmitted clearly to everyone’s ears.

Wu Tianqi secretly smiled bitterly: The extraordinarily talented Jiang Xunyi made it sound so simple, but these purification-type spells were not easy, especially when used to deal with these heavily transformed walking corpses. There were very few people in the Heavenly Seal School with this ability. Wu Tianqi could only add: “All those who do not know purification spells should retreat, do not be stained by the demonic energy!”

Yun Xie created an enchanted boundary without even looking, and shouted: “Everyone inside!” Immediately afterward, he no longer cared for the rest of the people, instead gathering his energy to leap to Jiang Xunyi’s side. He frowned: “What exactly is going on?”

Jiang Xunyi’s hand supported a ball of flickering and wavering purple light: “Don’t ask me! But I’m guessing it’s related to Xuan Li.”

As he spoke, he turned his head towards Yun Xie: “The Sweeping Demons Seal?”

Yun Xie understood his meaning and nodded. He extended a hand to gather a bolt of blue light, merging it into the ball of purple-colored light in Jiang Xunyi’s palm. The two colors blended together, revealing a captivating blue-violet radiance. That ball of light then gradually formed a huge iris, its sparkling brilliance circulating in the dim candlelight of the hall. The walking corpses enveloped by this iris each let out a painful anguished howl, and instantly melted into puddles of pus.

All the world knew of the Spirit Stage Dual Jades; they could be said to be the goal that the entire younger generation of disciples strove for. But there were very few people who had actually seen their grace in action. The surrounding Heavenly Seal School disciples had originally revered these two men already. Now upon seeing those rampaging walking corpses neatly cleaned up in the blink of an eye, they were even more enraptured, immense admiration written all over their faces.

Footnotes:

1. 怜香惜玉 lit. “pity fragrance and cherish jade”. Basically means to give kind treatment to women

2. 尸斑 lit. “corpse spots” = Livor Mortis or Suggillation: After death, blood pools in the body, causing discolored patches to appear on the skin.

3. To clarify, 虹膜 is referring to the iris of an eye. Just think of it as a great big ring that looks like a blue-purple eye.