Chapter 95
Gu Xiyu woke up, but it was already the next morning.
After soaking in the medicine and meditating to recover, it was expected that he would wake up in a refreshed state, but Gu Xiyu only felt that his head was a bit heavy and he was not in good spirits.
He was about to get up when he suddenly became aware of the presence of another person in his bed.
After what he had experienced in the previous world, Gu Xiyu had spent a lifetime thoroughly familiarizing himself with the Great Demon’s aura. Now that he had come to the cultivation world, where the degree of perception could be amplified many times, his sensitivity to the great demon was naturally deeper.
He suspected that it was this familiarity that had made him forget that he was now dealing with another soul fragment and that it was because of this familiarity that he had not noticed something was wrong when he first woke up or even during his sleep.
He sat up, looked down at the hand that was resting on his waist, and then looked at the young Bu Tianhan who was pretending to be asleep.
He didn’t pull his hand away, but raised his hand and made a ‘flick’ in the direction of his head, and a not-so-gentle spiritual power instantly struck his head.
It was not painful, but the subconscious reaction to an attack was an instinctive one, and Bu Tianhan, who was pretending to be asleep, immediately opened his eyes and got up, glaring at Gu Xiyu unhappily: “You ……”
Before he finished his reprimand, Bu Tianhan looked into Gu Xiyu’s cold eyes, and recalling his current situation and identity, he could only force himself to put out the small fire in his heart. He bowed his head and said, “Master.”
Gu Xiyu waited for a while, but when he didn’t see Bu Tianhan speak, he asked in a cold voice, “No explanation?”
Explain why he was in his bed.
Bu Tianhan was silent for a moment, then he lowered his voice and tried his best to make himself look like a guilty and helpless teenager: “I …… something like that happen in the village, and I followed Master to a new environment. I was not used to sleeping alone, and I was a bit scared.”
“I couldn’t sleep at night, and I came to talk to Master, but I found that you were already resting, and it happened that the door was unlocked, so I took the liberty… Master, please forgive this disciple. I was just too scared and wanted to stay with my master.”
Gu Xiyu knew whether the door to the room was really unlocked. Not to mention the time when he was still at the Time and Space Bureau, he had never lost his vigilance in any world since he started these missions.
However, when faced with this mission target, Gu Xiyu didn’t point it out and only said, “Really? Even so, you cannot barge in without your master’s permission.”
There was a sudden, regular knock on the door of the hut, and Gu Xiyu in bed ignored Bu Tianhan, getting his hand off his waist before getting out of bed to tidy up a little and prepare to meet the person outside.
Bu Tianhan stared at his hand. He could feel the warmth and scent of the other person slowly dissipating from his hand, and his thoughts could not help but go back to last night.
He had initially suspected that Gu Xiyu had already figured out his identity and was pretending to be asleep to try to trap him in return, so he began to whisper threats in his ear. He did not stop at just threatening; he even went ahead to carry them out after receiving no response. The thin robe became loose the moment the belt was mercilessly removed, and the areas that had been closely covered became hidden, like the silent seduction of a lute that tickled the heart.
When the door was opened, the blinding sunlight shone in from outside, and Bu Tianhan heard Lu Cheng’s voice.
But at this moment, his mind was not on the person outside the door; his eyes were still staring at his small hand, his eyes dark, obviously in deep thought.
Bu Tianhan hadn’t thought much about his actions; he was just trying to test Gu Xiyu’s bottom line and had accidentally gone too far. He eventually confirmed that Gu Xiyu had indeed fallen asleep and lost consciousness.
Why was he able to confirm?
Because his hand had touched every part of Gu Xiyu’s body.
That’s right, all of it. His attitude was even provocative, he touched what he could and couldn’t touch, and even did what he shouldn’t do, he was challenging the bottom line. If Gu Xiyu was awake, neither he nor Tai Ling Jun would have allowed such a thing to happen, no matter what his nature was.
Once upon a time, the name Gu Xiyu only existed in his memory. Through their past encounter, it was obvious that his nature and way of handling things were particularly similar to those of the cultivators of the Emotionless Dao, so even though he knew in his heart that the current Gu Xiyu was an outsider, there was no sense of incongruity when the other party came to him as Tai Ling Jun.
Even though they were two different people, he was certain that Gu Xiyu’s nature was somewhat similar to that of the original Tai Ling Jun, so if Gu Xiyu did not even react in that situation, it could only mean that he was asleep. In that case, the fact that his demonic qi could enter Gu Xiyu’s subconsciousness and reach his spirit was somewhat inexplicable.
After frowning for a while and not understanding the reason, Bu Tianhan couldn’t help but look at the man with his back to him at the doorway with complicated eyes. The long black hair fell on his back, and his cold temperament seemed to be diluted a little by the warm sunlight, giving an illusionary softness.
Bu Tianhan was in a bit of a trance again.
Gu Xiyu was definitely different from the original Tai Ling, but he didn’t know what the exact difference was.
He couldn’t understand and didn’t want to think about it for the time being. His eyes flicked over Gu Xiyu’s slender back, and the corners of his lips suddenly lifted upward, smiling in a meaningful way.
At least he understood one thing last night – just because you don’t want something doesn’t mean you can’t do it.
How interesting.
On the other hand, Gu Xiyu did not know that the Great Demon had been thinking so many immodest things behind his back and was talking to Lu Cheng outside the door.
When Lu Cheng saw him, he politely bent down and saluted him, saying the reason why he had come over was, “Master, I originally wanted to do some activities with junior brother after I woke up this morning, but I found that he was not in his room.”
“Do you think he was overly excited at arriving at the Immortal Sect yesterday, and decided to go to the mountains for a stroll, but accidentally got lost and couldn’t return?” Judging from his expression, Lu Cheng was genuinely worried about his junior brother ‘Xie Xing’.
Gu Xiyu sighed at his words and turned his body so that he could see the other figure in the room. “He’s fine, he’s here with me.”
Lu Cheng looked at the skinny boy sitting on his master’s bed with a surprised look on his face, and his first reaction was to worry that his lawless junior brother would be blamed, so he hurriedly said, “He’s… Master, junior brother must be unaccustomed to the place and came to disturb you at night because I didn’t take care of him properly. Please don’t blame him!”
Gu Xiyu looked at the risk value on the panel and thought that he certainly could not punish the great demon yet.
“I’m not angry, you can rest assured.”
Lu Cheng, as the male protagonist, naturally had a good personality and disposition. He thought that since these two were placed together by accident, maybe there was a chance for them to cultivate a good relationship in the early stages, and then they would not fight in the future. The chain effect would avoid the male protagonist’s early death at Bu Tianhan’s hands.
Gu Xiyu remembered something and took the opportunity to ask Lu Cheng, “You and I have never met before, and that little matter between me and Bu Tianhan is not enough to make you so persistent and anxious to come to the Immortal Sect to worship me as your master.” The days until the Immortal Sect Trials were not many, and Lu Cheng could have waited a little longer.
Unexpectedly, Lu Cheng suddenly went down on both knees, bowed to him, and said, “I wonder if Master remembers that when you entered the demon’s palace by mistake, you saw a girl with her brother in the stone prison? She should have also given you a personal object as well.”
As soon as Lu Cheng said this, Gu Xiyu immediately remembered the pitiful, cute girl who was sitting next to him back then. He spread his hands slightly, and after a flash of light, a white jade hairpin appeared in his palm out of thin air.
Gu Xiyu spoke softly, “You’re talking about this, right?”
It turned out that the ‘second senior brother’ that the girl had mentioned was Lu Cheng. Lu Cheng lost his family during the wanton riots of demon cultivators. He was only four or five years old when he escaped from the demon’s clutches with his family’s help and was saved by a middle-aged man who was passing by. The man was the patriarch of a small sect in a distant town, and Lu Cheng had been working for them all these years.
The patriarch had not officially accepted him as a disciple—Lu Cheng wanted to, but the patriarch refused, always saying, “You are very talented and can fly higher and farther, it is a waste to stay in my small place; I don’t want to limit your qualifications.”
The patriarch hoped that he would be free to go out on his own path in the future when he found a large, suitable sect. Even so, the people in the sect had already treated him as a part of themselves and addressed him in various ways, such as “senior brother” and “senior disciple”.
The moment Gu Xiyu helped the girl and her brother to escape, they fled back to the sect and excitedly told the people of the sect about the incident. It didn’t take long for Bu Tianhan to start making all sorts of trouble outside, and they learned that the person who had saved them from the stone prison was a Daoist from the Tianxiu Immortal Sect, and was cultivating the Emotionless Dao.
“The Patriarch knew that I had the qualifications to practice this Dao, so he encouraged me to come to the Tianxiu Immortal Sect to worship you as my master. I originally wanted to wait until the Immortal Sect opened the sect trials for recruiting disciples, but the Patriarch made a divination for me and said that this trip would be successful, the prerequisite was that I had to be bold and not wait to go through the trials to be initiated, and that’s why I came to Tianxiu.” Lu Cheng explained.
Gu Xiyu now finally understood why the male protagonist acted slightly differently from the original plot.
In the end, it was because ‘Tai Ling’, who should have already died, had survived.
The hairpin was supposed to be a gift for Lu Cheng, but the girl ended up giving it to him, so it wouldn’t make sense to return it. He took out a small bag of materials from his storage device and said: “I had to borrow the item that your junior sister was originally going to give you, so considered these as compensation.”
Lu Cheng was flattered and wanted to refuse, but Gu Xiyu just stared at him without saying anything until he couldn’t stand his aura, so he accepted it.
He gave Lu Cheng a few more words to calm his worries about the young Bu Tianhan: “I’ll let him come over soon, then meet me in my house when you’ve filled your stomachs.”
After sending Lu Cheng away, Gu Xiyu did not immediately walk back into the room but turned to stare unblinkingly at the teenager still sitting on his bed.
This man still wanted to stay.
Bu Tianhan quickly sensed his gaze and understood that he was giving him a silent dismissal. He could only obediently roll over and get out of bed, and ‘thoughtfully’ made up Gu Xiyu’s bed and blanket for him before walking towards the door.
As he brushed past Gu Xiyu, a gentle breeze blew outside the door, and the very light fragrance of Gu Xiyu’s body, which had just disappeared from his surroundings, slipped back into the tip of his nose and rolled around.
He had smelled it during the night when he had slept with Gu Xiyu. He did not have any scent pouches on him, and he did not know where it came from. It smelled like some kind of flower—not strong but elegant—and had a magical calming effect on the mind and heart.
Before going out of the hut, Bu Tianhan suddenly asked Gu Xiyu, “Master, can I come and sleep with you every night?”
He subconsciously paused after asking this question and convinced himself that this was to make it convenient to secretly send demonic qi into Gu Xiyu’s spirit every day and slowly wear him down.
However, Gu Xiyu asked him in return, “Will it make you happy?”
Bu Tianhan’s heart skipped a beat as he looked up and met Gu Xiyu’s eyes, which seemed clear but were unreadable.
Half a second later, Gu Xiyu said, “If that makes you happy, then feel free to do so.”
The glowing panel that emerged with Bu Tianhan’s thoughts slightly calmed the sudden stirring inside him.
As expected of a mission executor, he was quite scheming.
Bu Tianhan reminded himself that he should not be easily lulled by the illusion created by others. Gu Xiyu had a system with all the information about this world, so Gu Xiyu knew his past and knew everything he had ever experienced.
Bu Tianhan clenched his fist and tried not to show any abnormalities in his voice: “Thank you, Master!”
After leaving Gu Xiyu’s hut, Bu Tianhan and Lu Cheng went to the side kitchen and cooked breakfast with the ingredients inside—actually, Lu Cheng did all the cooking. Except for helping to wash some vegetables and meat, Bu Tianhan spent the rest of the time sitting on the stool next to him, waiting for the meal with his feet up.
Lu Cheng did not complain, probably because he was used to taking care of his younger siblings in his previous sect, and did not feel irritated by Bu Tianhan’s attitude.
But Bu Tianhan was restless, mainly because he was keenly aware of the sudden arrival of someone on the mountain peak. He finished his breakfast early and slipped out of the kitchen, not appearing directly in front of Gu Xiyu but hiding in the shadows to watch Gu Xiyu, who was standing outside the house talking to a neatly dressed and beautiful girl.
That girl was none other than Guo Yiyi, and as soon as she saw Gu Xiyu, the expression on her face and the look in her eyes showed obvious affection, and Bu Tianhan immediately guessed her little feelings.
He couldn’t help but remember that a gentleman who looked morally upright would have a bunch of suitors.
Guo Yiyi had come to bring Gu Xiyu medicine, and she said to him shyly, “Senior Uncle, this is the medicine that Master asked me to bring to you, it is refined from his unique prescription, and it has a good recovery effect on the injuries caused by the immortal whip.”
Gu Xiyu accepted it and said, “Say thank you to your master for me.”
Guo Yiyi smiled implicitly and took out a food box, saying, “I, I was also worried about Senior Uncle, this is a pastry I made with my own hands, it’s a small token from me, please accept it.”
Gu Xiyu did not reach out to take it this time. “Thank you, but cultivators don’t like eating and drinking, but thank you for your concern.”
Guo Yiyi was somewhat disappointed. Gu Xiyu felt that the original owner must have been too slow to realize the girl’s feelings, so he did not say anything. However, Gu Xiyu didn’t want to keep someone waiting when it wasn’t possible, so even though he was a bit blunt, he took the initiative to make it clear: “Yiyi, I know what you have in mind, but the path I practice is destined to lead me to end this life alone. Therefore, you should not continue to spend your time and thoughts on me.”
Guo Yiyi was still a young girl, and with red eyes, she said stubbornly, “But I don’t care; I don’t necessarily want to have a name or the approval of the heavens. I am satisfied as long as I can see Senior Uncle every day and be by his side to practice together.”
Gu Xiyu shook his head, “You know my nature, there is no way I would agree to let you stay by my side.”
Guo Yiyi was unconvinced, and she cried, “But you took Lu Cheng and Xie Xing as your disciples, why do they get to be by your side?”
Gu Xiyu could only say plainly, “Because I am their master and they only want to practice with me wholeheartedly. They have no other unreasonable intentions.”
Guo Yiyi also understood this in her heart. After all, they were all men, and Gu Xiyu had little interest in delicate and soft girls, so naturally, he would not get involved with his male disciples. But she was still angry and desperate in her heart, and no matter how much she tried, she felt that the distance between them had grown even greater even though the man was standing right in front of her.
Bu Tianhan, who was hiding in the shadows, looked at the girl, who was hiding her face and crying from Gu Xiyu’s rejection, and a new thought came to his mind.
The best way to defeat an emotionless dao practitioner was to make him emotional.
As long as he got emotional, he would not be able to continue on his path, and it would naturally be impossible to successfully cultivate those two techniques.