Chapter 99
To continue to cultivate a ‘master-disciple relationship’ with Gu Xiyu, Bu Tianhan still had the cheek to come to Gu Xiyu’s room at night after receiving permission.
When he returned from his trip, Bu Tianhan should have continued to imbue Gu Xiyu’s yuanshen with demon qi. However, when his fingertips touched Gu Xiyu’s forehead that night, the man who had been sleeping under the influence of his magic, suddenly frowned uncomfortably, as if he were having a very uncomfortable sleep.
He noticed the look on Gu Xiyu’s face and remembered that he had been punished because of him, so he withdrew his hand and did not do what he usually did.
He was a little annoyed. It was all because Lu Cheng was always talking to him about how miserable, great, and good Gu Xiyu was, causing him to feel guilty for doing something he should have taken for granted. This man was obviously from the outside world and wanted to harm him, so why should he be softhearted?
He had never met him.
Probably thinking that it would be unseemly to go soft, Bu Tianhan murmured a reason for his actions, “I just don’t want to get you killed so quickly.”
The most taboo thing for an emotionless Daoist was to have emotions. Since he cared so much about his disciple, perhaps he should use this status to establish a good relationship with him and wait until the time was right …… He had experienced the feeling of betrayal countless times and naturally understood how painful it would be.
Bu Tianhan convinced himself in his heart and finally calmed down.
The two of them had a tacit understanding for some time now, for example, the lights would remain on and the door would be unlocked for him. Bu Tianhan didn’t think there was anything wrong or strange about it and ignored the fact that, as a high-level cultivator, Gu Xiyu could remain awake for 10 days or even half a month without sleeping.
During these days, Bu Tianhan would have some strange dreams. In the dreams, he exists in different identities and different worlds, magically experiencing a life that he has no memory of but that feels familiar and natural. No matter whose name he has in the dream, there is always someone called ‘Gu Xiyu’ around him.
The emotions these lives conveyed to him were so strong that he would wake up feeling as if he had just experienced the real life in his dreams and would have a hard time extricating himself from those feelings whenever he saw Gu Xiyu. After a few days, the feeling that he had lived many lives with Gu Xiyu not only did not fade with the number of times the dream appeared but also grew stronger.
It was as If this outsider called Gu Xiyu should stay under his nose and belong to him, and his attitude toward him… should be more enthusiastic.
He began to suspect that It was a plot by Gu Xiyu, that he had used some mysterious spell to put a curse on him so that his hatred for him would gradually disappear.
It was not until the night before they left for the secret realm at the End of the Sea that Bu Tianhan finally stopped dreaming of strange worlds and lives, and instead saw a man whose face he could not see.
The other man was hiding In the light, saying nothing but smiling softly in a way that was somewhat familiar to him, yet it displeased him.
In his dream, he asked the other man, “So it’s you?”
“Who are you? What are you trying to do with these false dreams?”
“False?” The man’s voice carried a bit of indifference and arrogance: “You have obtained the most energy of all the soul fragments, and your resonance with the other souls is the most intense, so I think you should know whether it is true or not.”
However, the moment the other party opened his mouth, his mind was no longer on those words.
Was it an illusion? Why did that person’s voice …… sound exactly like his?
For a moment, the person who had been a small distance away from him suddenly came to him in the blink of an eye, and his blurred form gradually came into focus, eventually becoming a face identical to his.
“Who am I?”
“I am you.”
When Bu Tian was awakened by these words, it was already dawning outside. The spot beside him was already empty. He reached out and felt that it was cold, so Gu Xiyu must have been awake for a while.
Perhaps not wanting to disturb his rest, the old wooden door was half-closed, with only a little light filtering in through the gap, and happened to avoid where his head was lying.
Outside the door, he could hear Gu Xiyu and Lu Cheng’s low voices as they talked.
As they chatted, he heard Lu Cheng mention him: “Master, if junior brother doesn’t get up soon, won’t he fail to catch up?”
After all, the secret realm was in an open place, so although Gu Xiyu had discovered it first, there would certainly be many people from other sects coming to explore it. The cultivation world has always been very contentious among cultivators, and even if they shared the same path, they would still kill each other for the sake of profit, so the best thing was to move together.
“It’s alright.” Gu Xiyu patted Lu Cheng’s shoulder and said, “I’ll call him right away.”
He felt that Bu Tianhan was really unqualified to be the world’s villain. He didn’t go to sleep at the same time as him, and he even woke up later than him. He was expecting this guy to do something when he asked to sleep in the same bed, but he has done nothing aside from being a good disciple.
He pushed the door to his room and was about to call out when he saw his mission target sitting on the bed, staring at him with a dumbfounded expression and a look of great shock, as if he had lost his wits overnight.
Perhaps it was because of this childish image of Bu Tianhan, but Gu Xiyu felt even more irritated.
Bu Tianhan stared at him for a moment, then suddenly averted his gaze and said in a low voice, “I’ve heard everything, I’m going to get ready now.” Without waiting for his consent, he hurriedly got out of bed and ran out.
Gu Xiyu silently watched his figure disappear from his sight and then clicked on the system panel.
He hadn’t done anything in the past few days since Bu Tianhan had returned from outside, but it was as if Bu Tianhan had plotted against himself, and his danger value of 85 points had dropped to 70 points, even lower than when he had just arrived.
From his background, Bu Tianhan was a person who lacked love, trust, and companionship, so he thought that he might have been moved by his act of going to the End of the Sea. So the loss of cultivation didn’t seem to matter so much, he could get it back with time and effort.
Because of the recent progress in his mission, Gu Xiyu was in a much better mood on his trip, although it was not obvious to others.
The only one who could notice the difference in his mood was Bu Tianhan, who had spent a short period of time with him.
When they went out, Bu Tianhan stayed beside him, as was his custom, and the usual tugging on his sleeve became a logical grip. Gu Xiyu was looking out for the senior in the sect who was going to the secret realm with them when he suddenly felt his palm being stretched by someone. He looked down and saw Bu Tianhan’s vigilant eyes asking, “Master, you seem happy. Is it because you already know that there will be something good in the secret realm?”
Gu Xiyu paused and replied, “No.”
These two words made Bu Tianhan wonder whether he was answering the first question or the second, or both.
He had only asked the question casually and did not care if he did not get a specific answer, but when he saw that Gu Xiyu’s eyes kept falling on Bu Mingfeng’s body in front of him, he felt a little uncomfortable. Even so, he had to admit that Bu Mingfeng, who had benefited from the evil technique, looked handsome and noble when he didn’t say anything. Moreover, he was still in his mid-thirties and had a high status in the Tianu Immortal Sect.
Probably due to the influence of his dream, the first reaction Bu Tianhan had when he saw Gu Xiyu was that the other party liked men, so it was only natural that he became interested in Bu Mingfeng.
In the mindset that he was still his master, he could only snort and remind him, “That Bu Mingfeng is not a good guy, so be careful when you befriend him, or he might take you away and stew you as medicine one day.”
Gu Xiyu was startled. The Bu Mingfeng that Bu Tianhan was referring to was the senior they were waiting for. He had only looked at him a few times because he thought he was a new face to him, but the rest of his time was spent focusing on Lin Qianyu, who was following him. Although Lin Qianyue was the daughter of the sect master, she seems to be under the tutelage of Bu Mingfeng.
But the man was not called Bu Mingfeng and was known as Yuan Chengjun, an inner disciple like Second Elder Yuanming and of the same generation. From what Bu Tianhan just called him, the surname is the same as that of the Great Demon. …… There is obviously something fishy about it.
Seeing Bu Tianhan act as if Bu Mingfeng had a story and was waiting for him to ask, Gu Xiyu went silent for a moment and replied indifferently, “Really, he has a high reputation within the Immortal Sect and is very decent looking, so he should not be the kind of person you are talking about.”
He suddenly chuckled and added, “At least, he looks much better than the great demon, Bu Tian, whom I met at the Demon Palace that day.”
Bu Tianhan: ……?
He almost wanted to ask Gu Xiyu if there was something wrong with his eyes, as he was clearly superior to Bu Mingfeng in terms of looks and strength.
How could he even compare him with that beast in human skin?
The cultivators used up all their spiritual energy traveling and would stop every so often to take a break.
Gu Xiyu sat with Bu Tianhan away from the crowd, his image as aloof as ever, and he hadn’t aroused anyone’s suspicion since his return. He looked at Lu Cheng and Lin Qianyue, who had inexplicably come together over the past few weeks, and at the risk value on the system panel, and his mood improved.
Once he was in a better mood, he wanted to be nicer to Bu Tianhan. He took out the food he had prepared with Lu Cheng in the kitchen this morning out of his storage device and said in a cold tone, “You have not yet had breakfast yet, so eat something to pad your stomach first.”
Not knowing that some of the food had been cooked by Gu Xiyu, Bu Tianhan sat cross-legged under the tree like him, looking ahead, and said arrogantly, “I’m not hungry, I don’t need it.”
Gu Xiyu felt that the acting skills of the Great Demon in this world were lacking. He forgot about how he had begged to be brought to the Immortal Sect and was so relaxed that he didn’t even hide his superior attitude. He would see his attitude towards Lu Cheng at times and would command him to help out more. He had to resist the urge to remind him to act more like a villager starting his cultivation journey.
Gu Xiyu didn’t say anything and was about to put away the rejected food when a shadow suddenly fell over them and took the food box from his hand.
When he looked up, he saw Bu Mingfeng, whom Bu Tianhan had just pointed out as someone he needed to be vigilant with, standing in front of him and looking at him with gentle eyes.
Bu Mingfeng said, “I just heard your senior disciple and Qianyue say that you made their food with your own hands. I didn’t expect someone so aloof to pay attention to his disciples.”
Then he spoke a little emotionally, “I was surprised to hear from the sect master that you had taken on two disciples, after all, you told me that not only would you never have a Daoist partner in this life but would also never take on a disciple. Extra emotional attachments would only hold you back in your pursuit of the emotionless dao, and you didn’t want to be held back by the mundane things of the world.”
Gu Xiyu lowered his eyes and said, “That is not a bad way to train the heart.”
At his words, Bu Mingfeng laughed and held the food box in his hand, “I’ve known you for so long, but I didn’t know you could cook. Since your apprentice doesn’t want to eat, why don’t you give it to me and let me satisfy my hunger?”
As soon as he said this, the weight in his hand suddenly disappeared.
The youth who had just rejected his master’s kindness with a carefree face stood in front of him, holding the food box that he had just snatched, and said disrespectfully, “I’m suddenly very hungry now, so don’t fight with a junior for food.”
You don’t even know whose prey Gu Xiyu is now, do you think any pig or dog can come here to make its presence felt?