Chapter 102
After the door of the pagoda was closed, the space inside became dim.
Gu Xiyu took out the tools he had on him that could be used for lighting, and at the same time, he saw the upward and downward stairs. Remembering what the main system had told him, he did not hesitate to step onto the downward stone staircase and go deeper into the pagoda.
As he went deeper, the oppressive feeling from below grew stronger, and it was a magic that his body resisted. The evil aura lingered on him like a cloud of smoke, staining his exposed hands and deepening the scarlet color on the back of his hands.
Gu Xiyu could only use his mind to control the small night pearl he was using for illumination, and he hid his hands under his large sleeves.
[[Have you entered the stone pagoda?]] The intelligent system was still offline, but fortunately, the main system had finally reconnected with him.
Gu Xiyu was a little relieved. The systems had been with him for the past few worlds, and their sudden disappearance had caused him to worry that there was something wrong at the Bureau or the central station. After all, leaving this world depended on it, and he didn’t want to be stuck in this place for the rest of his life.
“Yeah.” He responded to the main system in a soft voice and described the strange changes he was feeling in the stone pagoda.
The main system pondered for a moment and said, [[From the overall situation, it seems that Bu Tianhan has touched the inheritance left behind by the ancient demons. The subsequent sealing of the stone pagoda and the operation of the formation can only occur when the inheritance has found a new successor.]]
Gu Xiyu was not so nervous: “Things have come to this, we can only think of another way to deal with it.”
The main system’s voice sounded much more humane than the intelligent system, and he could hear some patience and gentleness in the mechanical voice: [[In fact, there is no big problem now that you are here. The power of the inheritance is far beyond the techniques and skills in the cultivation world today, so there is a process and a price to pay to fully receive it. If you can control him during the time he is receiving it, or even suppress him with your power after he has fully received it so that he doesn’t go too far, the risk value should not reach its peak.]]
[[Don’t worry, if anything happens, you can contact me directly and I will get out of this mission world with immediate effect.]]
Gu Xiyu stopped walking and said with a light smile, “I suddenly realized that you are actually reliable.”
The main system: [[After all, I am the main system of the central station, the strongest backing for the mission executors.]]
Gu Xiyu nodded. “It sounds like you’ve served quite a number of mission executors.”
[[You’re the first.]]
“Is that so? Then you are quite skilled, and I will definitely give you a good review when I go back to the Bureau.” Speaking of this, Gu Xiyu suddenly gave a meaningful smile and added, “It would be great if staff could marry the system, I would have applied for a license with you.”
The main system was stunned by his words, and it was silent for a long time before slowly returning an uneasy: [[?]]
Some sounds were coming from the depths of the stone pagoda, and Gu Xiyu continued to walk down, still communicating with the main system in his mind, “I quite like you.”
Perhaps it was because his tone was too frank or the words were too shocking, but the main system seemed to collapse for a moment, and the panel suddenly flickered uncontrollably. He even caught a couple of scrambled codes that flashed by.
After a long time, the main system hesitantly asked: [[… like me?]]
After a pause, it added uncertainly, [[Why? I haven’t spent much time with you.]]
Gu Xiyu was smiling in a rare way today: “Really? It’s been five mission worlds.”
After a moment of silence, the main system added, [[But I thought you liked the mission target more, after all, you’ve been in love with him in every world.]]
“Yeah.” Gu Xiyu paused and said the most scummy words in the calmest and blandest tone: “It’s because we’ve been together for so long that I feel bored and want to change, and it just so happens that you’re pretty good. And haven’t you seen how he treats me in this world? I can’t wait to take my sword and rip him apart, so what’s the point of having a relationship with him?”
[[… I’m just a set of data.]]
“That’s okay, I used to love nothing more than studying data in the control room.”
The main system stopped talking.
Gu Xiyu registered the silence and was much happier.
The path under the stone pagoda was quite straightforward. Bu Tianhan’s current aura was too powerful, so he quickly found him. The man in black robes stood in the depths of the stone room, countless red and black interlocking lines emerging from under the skin of his face, the red in his pupils seeming closer to the color of blood, and his expression looking pained.
The stronger the power in the demonic inheritance, the greater the effect on the inheritor when it is received. All the evil thoughts and desires in the inheritor’s mind will be maximized, and blood and killing will be the only things they want to see and feel at the moment. Once they are pulled by these thoughts, the slightest movement can arouse their anger and killing intent.
For example, when Gu Xiyu entered at this moment, Bu Tianhan, whose thoughts were in chaos, noticed the clear aura on him. He turned around and glared at him like a vigilant cat and said in a deep voice: “So it’s you?”
Before Gu Xiyu could even react, Bu Tianhan attacked. Gu Xiyu had no choice but to respond with the techniques he was practicing regularly. The sword energy deflected Bu Tianhan’s attack, but at the same time, it also angered him.
“Cut off emotions …… love is so beautiful, why should it be cut off?” Bu Tianhan stared at him, the lines on his face gradually extending to his neck and advancing in the direction of his chest and heart. As if unaware, he took a step closer to him and said, “Family, friendship, and love can make others suffer. As long as one uses them for blackmail, they can enslave people to do many things.”
Gu Xiyu took a deep breath and said in a calm tone, “So they should be cut off.”
But as if he had not heard, Bu Tianhan lowered his eyes and murmured, “Unfortunately, it seems that no one will do that for me.”
Affection was something he had lost a long time ago, friendship was something he had tried to have; and as for love ……
Bu Tianhan’s head ached like it was splitting open; he felt as if another voice inside him was coaxing him, telling him that he didn’t need these things. He never had them, and he didn’t need them.
—“You will soon become more powerful than you ever thought possible, and when that happens, even the cultivators of the emotionless dao will not be able to help you.”
—“Child, the powerful are always alone, and since you are to be the heir to our power, you must have the qualifications to be able to accept it!”
—“The best way to liberate yourself from pain is to kill.”
—“You can start with the one in front of you.”
Do it.
Although his consciousness was in chaos, Bu Tianhan could still recognize the person who had entered as Gu Xiyu. He did not like the aura his cultivation gave off, but because he was Gu Xiyu, he immediately sent out a light attack, not to hurt him but to drive away this person who could affect him.
Before, he felt so irritated that he was ready to kill anyone who came before him.
Unexpectedly, Gu Xiyu didn’t understand his good intentions. This man who practiced the Emotionless Dao was good, he intercepted his attack and then took the initiative to strike at him, and his moves were quite deadly, attacking at places that could seriously hurt him.
Bu Tianhan instantly felt aggrieved. His good intentions had been fed to the dogs, and a fit of strange anger came out of nowhere.
It was like – how dare Gu Xiyu hit me for someone else?
But on second thought, there was no reason not to dare.
Gu Xiyu’s idea was actually very simple. The main system said that if Bu Tianhan went crazy, he would just use the techniques that could restrain him until he came to his senses. This method could restrain and consume his energy so that he would not have the heart to trouble others during the energy surge and stabilization process.
This cultivation world depended on him to remain safe.
Gu Xiyu sighed in his heart.
However, he and the main system had misjudged the explosive power that the current Bu Tianhan possessed. Even though Gu Xiyu’s attack had successfully weakened the demonic qi in Bu Tianhan’s body, there was now another demonic force inside him that was helping him, so things were not going well.
Gu Xiyu looked at the sword that had been forced a dozen feet away when his wrist was struck and was about to move his mind to recall it when a pressure fell over his head, interrupting his movements. The man in the dark black robe moved like a ghost and was in front of him in an instant, surrounded by a thick layer of demonic qi that touched him and felt like several needles stabbing at his body.
The pain was mild, but there was also an indescribable itch that his body subconsciously resisted.
As soon as Gu Xiyu tried to resist, his unhealed internal wounds were pulled again, causing him to frown and gasp in pain, and he could only meet Bu Tianhan’s indignant gaze indifferently. Bu Tianhan also noticed his weakness and thought his soft laughter sounded gloating.
“Tai Ling, you can barely protect yourself, and you still want to stop me?” Bu Tianhan had one hand around his neck and restrained him with his other hand and leg, making him unable to resist.
Seeing that he didn’t seem as possessed as the villain in the main system’s description, Gu Xiyu calmed his mind and also stopped struggling for the time being.
Bu Tianhan didn’t kill him outright, and amid the confusion, he looked distracted for a moment as he murmured, “Were these injuries worth it?”
Why go to the End of the Sea? Why was it necessary to retrieve that hook jade, even at the cost of losing the fenshen and an enormous amount of cultivation?
Those things in the dream—were they all true?
Bu Tianhan was asking these questions in a rather incoherent manner, but Gu Xiyu, who had seen through his disguise from the first moment, immediately understood and replied, “They are worth it if I could appease my disciple.”
Bu Tianhan heard this comment, but he did not feel much satisfaction or happiness. He felt incredibly jealous.
It felt good to be cherished, but that person was ‘Xie Xing’ and not him. If Gu Xiyu discovered Xie Xing’s real identity, he might even ask him to return the item.
When he thought of this, he suddenly remembered the hook jade he was wearing and lifted his hand to touch the lapel of his shirt.
The jade was now his, and even if Gu Xiyu wanted it back later, he would never return it.
The power he had just inherited was still moving around in his meridians, and a lot of fire was building up in his chest, forcing him to look for a way to vent it. His hand on Gu Xiyu’s neck couldn’t help but tighten. He enjoyed the vulnerability beneath his palm and the throbbing of the other man’s blood, yet he was trying hard not to gather the power to kill him.
He narrowed his blood-red eyes and asked in a deep voice, “Then you would do anything for your disciple?”
Gu Xiyu did not fall for the trap and said sensibly, “It depends on what kind of things, as long as they don’t violate the moral bottom line.”
Bu Tianhan smiled, “You have a choice: stay here and be tortured to death, or sacrifice your disciple. Give me the boy, and I will spare your life and let you go.”
Gu Xiyu gave him a sneer, his attitude very clear.
Bu Tianhan narrowed his eyes and said, “You think I’m joking?”
With those words, he raised his finger and pointed it at Gu Xiyu’s eyebrow, forcibly breaking through his defenses. He was no longer as cautious as he usually was at night due to his fear of being discovered, and he directly poured a large amount of demonic Qi into the place where Gu Xiyu’s Yuanshen was.
Gu Xiyu frowned and closed his eyes to struggle, struggling with the severe pain. Bu Tianhan deliberately eased the grip on his hands. He didn’t push the man away when he was free, he just grabbed the clothes on Bu Tianhan’s body with his hands and opened his eyes slightly to endure the pain.
The feeling of being invaded was not pleasant, especially since it affected his consciousness that had crossed over. In addition to the pain, there was also the weird feeling of having been violated. When he thought that the person who was treating him like this was the mission target, the Great Demon, his mood instantly became complicated.
Seeing that Gu Xiyu was enduring silently, Bu Tianhan was a little annoyed, and he subconsciously intensified his attack on him. However, Gu Xiyu didn’t yield to him like the others he had threatened, and even though he was already in too much pain to stand, he didn’t utter a single sound.
He held Gu Xiyu’s waist before he fell to his knees and took him in his arms. It was the first time that his arms were filled with the scent of another person. It was not as if a teenager was trying to embrace a grown man, but more like he was holding his own possessions and had complete control.
Bu Tianhan expressionlessly withdrew his hand from Gu Xiyu’s brow, stopping the assault, and indifferently thinking to himself: what’s so good about Xie Xing?
Another voice was attempting to confuse his thoughts again and he immediately pushed the man away, saying before his consciousness fell into complete confusion, “I don’t want to kill you just yet, get out of here.”
“You don’t want to kill me, so you’ll kill the people outside?” Gu Xiyu did not leave, but stood still and asked rhetorically.
But Bu Tianhan thought that killing the others outside seemed like a good way to go.
However, Gu Xiyu didn’t appreciate his kindness, and he recalled the sword that had fallen a short distance away into his hand. He was clearly uncomfortable and had broken out in a cold sweat, yet he still attacked him, saying, “No need to attack others, if you want to play, I can play with you here, for days and nights.”
That was his last memory.
When Bu Tianhan regained his consciousness again, he was lying in a ruin. Actually, it was the area of the stone pagoda that had been broken into countless pieces of rubble.
Even the stone sculptures of the four beasts, which were used to initiate the formation, had been smashed to pieces.
The power that should have been plaguing his body seemed to have stabilized quite a bit. If he hadn’t moved his breath slightly and felt the magic power surging in his meridians, he would have thought that the experience he remembered was just a dream or an illusion.
“…… Finally, I’ve found you!”
He was still sitting in a daze and trying to remember what had happened when Lu Cheng’s eager voice suddenly rang out from ahead. He was about to assume an attack stance when he saw Lu Cheng crouching in front of him with a worried face and saying, “Junior brother, where have you been all these days? Have you been injured?”
Only then did Bu Tianhan realize that he had reverted to his ‘Xie Xing’ teenage form.
He suppressed the power in his body, and when he was helped up by Lu Cheng, he still felt some soreness in his body, as if he had expended too much energy and exercised excessively.
Lu Cheng helped him pat the sand and gravel off his body, and when he saw that he looked like he had just woken up, his expression was incredulous: “…… Junior Brother, you didn’t sleep here for all these days, did you?”
Bu Tianhan came back to his senses and asked with a frown, “Days?”
“Yes, we’ve been in this secret realm for five or six days. I heard from Master and the others that this realm is collapsing for some reason, so we rushed around to see if there were any fellow disciples we hadn’t found.” Lu Cheng’s expression slackened for a few moments. “I heard that the great demon, Bu Tianhan, was also here, but I couldn’t find you during this time, so I thought something had happened to you.”
Bu Tianhan was silent.
Before he lost consciousness, he remembered that it was still the first day in this secret realm. Little did he know that so many days would pass in this brief moment of closing and opening his eyes.
“You have seen Master?” Bu Tianhan remembered Gu Xiyu.
He hadn’t forgotten Gu Xiyu, who had barged in and insisted on fighting with him. Looking at his current state, he didn’t have any injuries other than excessive energy consumption and a wound from Bu Mingfeng’s sneak attack.
He could not resist asking Lu Cheng, “Is Master hurt?”
Lu Cheng only thought he was concerned about his master and answered truthfully, “He rejoined us a short while ago and didn’t look any different from when he first entered the secret realm.”
Lu Cheng sighed, “As you know, Master was already ill when he arrived.”
From the sound of it, he hadn’t killed anyone when he wasn’t in his right mind. Well, Gu Xiyu was a high-ranking cultivator of the Emotionless Dao, so it wasn’t that easy to kill him.
Under Lu Cheng’s guidance, Bu Tianhan finally saw Gu Xiyu, who was dressed in white and had a very immortal air. He was still away from the crowd, his figure sitting alone in a corner, meditating to recover. He didn’t know if it was because he felt guilty, but he felt that Gu Xiyu’s already not-so-good complexion had turned a shade whiter compared to before.
He walked over, and Gu Xiyu, who was meditating with his eyes closed, noticed his arrival and opened his eyes, looking at him accurately.
Gu Xiyu treated him and Lu Cheng well, even though he usually seemed indifferent. But this time, he felt that Gu Xiyu’s eyes were colder and sullen, only glancing at him before moving his sight away, as if with so much anger that he didn’t even want to look at him.
“?” How had he provoked him? Was it because he hadn’t found ‘Xie Xing’ and was angry at him for running off?
Bu Tianhan walked behind Lu Cheng and called out to him respectfully, “Master.”
Now that he was closer, he noticed that Gu Xiyu didn’t seem to have rested much for days and was in a worse mental state than him.
Gu Xiyu’s cold eyes gently skimmed over them, and he responded nonchalantly, “Mm.”
It was a very simple word, but it sounded as if his voice was more hoarse than when he had seen him the other day. Although it was a very subtle change, the attentive Bu Tianhan still noticed it.
As he gazed at Gu Xiyu in front of him, he somehow felt that Gu Xiyu was indeed in an unhappy mood, yet he couldn’t say exactly why, even the bystanders didn’t seem to notice this.
In addition, he felt weird when facing Gu Xiyu again.
The feeling that Gu Xiyu should belong to him had intensified. It was so serious that when he saw Lu Cheng accidentally touch Gu Xiyu’s hand as he took something from him, he subconsciously slapped Lu Cheng’s hand away.
–It was as if something that had been classified as his had been touched by someone else without his permission.
With this action, both Lu Cheng and Gu Xiyu were stunned, and they looked at him in unison. Especially Lu Cheng, whose eyes were full of confusion.
After all, that one blow was quite rude and out of the blue.
Bu Tianhan looked at Gu Xiyu, and as he struggled to remember what had happened during that chaotic period, his head was suddenly filled with a few images.
He and Gu Xiyu had indeed fought more than once at the bottom of the stone tower. He couldn’t remember who had won or lost; maybe neither of them had been able to tell the difference in the end.
What happened afterward?
In his faulty memory, he vaguely remembered Gu Xiyu saying something to him.
—“Bu Tianhan, it really hurts.”
Bu Tianhan was suddenly startled by the way the voice sounded.
The usually cold and emotionless voice seemed to have become the soft sound of a kitten’s purr mixed with some pain and a slight plea.
Bu Tianhan fell into a daze.
He didn’t remember what happened. And what was his answer?
Gu Xiyu looked at Bu Tianhan, who had turned into an innocent boy again, and the more he looked at him, the angrier he got.
He could never forget how that man with ruthless eyes and a desire to destroy the heavens and the earth suddenly wanted to torture him in a different way while they were fighting. He pinned him down, the corners of his lips curving upward in pleasure, but his tone was extremely harsh: “Yes, it hurts, I want you to feel it hurt.”
“You can beg me if you can’t take it anymore.”
The man’s husky voice slowly pressed close to his ear.
“And then I’ll try to make you cry out a little louder.”