Chapter 51 - This Dream is Pitiful

Sha Hualing thought that Luo Binghe definitely didn’t care who the other invader was. He most likely only cared about Shen Qingqiu’s corpse, which had been stolen away, so she hastily changed her tone and said, “Liu Qingge can’t get very far carrying that… that… by himself! This subordinate will take people and chase after him at once!”

Luo Binghe said, “No need.”

Sha Hualing trembled, her heart ice cold as a vague premonition welled up in it.

Only to hear Luo Binghe say coldly, “I’ll go myself. You call over Mo Bei.”

This time, Shen Qingqiu finally knew just how gentle Luo Binghe had been in the past while controlling the blood parasites in his body.

If Luo Binghe truly wanted to kill someone using his ancient demon blood, then there was no way that it would just be pain to the degree of period cramps. He could make you wish that you were dead rather than alive, where you would be in so much pain that you couldn’t even stand straight or speak. You could only roll around on the floor, and after you finished rolling around, you could only lie there like a corpse, but the agony in your body wouldn’t lessen a single bit. There was no way you could wait for the pain to dull or get used to it.

After the fury from the fighting passed, Luo Binghe finally remembered that he still had something like the ancient demon blood.

The person who had taken advantage of the chaos and dragged him out just then had most likely already brought him to a safe place. He slowed down and supported him as they walked. Shen Qingqiu wanted to sit, not walk, but he no longer had the strength to speak. He was dragged along for a while, more dead than alive, before that person finally discovered that something wasn’t quite right.

He placed Shen Qingqiu on the ground. His voice was both gentle and refreshing, and he talked a little slowly. He seemed to be a young man, and he asked in deep concern, “How are you? Did you get hurt just now?”

Shen Qingqiu moved his lips a little, but he still didn’t have the strength to say a single word. Right now, it felt as if there were millions and millions of parasite worms having a carnival inside his blood vessels, biting and expanding, wriggling and twisting. It felt both disgusting and agonizing.

This made it seem like when Luo Binghe was controlling the blood parasites in his body in the past, he didn’t have any malice whatsoever. Instead, he was basically being extremely tender, as if he was just teasing him a bit.

Shen Qingqiu rapidly flipped through all the various achievements and honourable accomplishments that he had gained under the coercion of the system during these past few years, and he truly felt that this was absurd and comical. Just what part of the story went wrong, causing Luo Binghe to be like this towards him?! Shen Qingqiu knew that he himself was an unmistakably straight man ever since he was born. There should be no need to doubt Luo Binghe’s sexual orientation either. Then whose fault was it exactly?

There was no need to think about it anymore. If the characters crumbled, then it was definitely the author’s problem. It was all Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky’s fault!

Shen Qingqiu had just laughed dryly before he was instantly wracked by more intense pain, and Shen Qingqiu really did roll a few times on the ground. It seemed like it could relieve the pain a little this way.

He didn’t manage to roll around for very long before he was restrained by that person, who touched Shen Qingqiu’s forehead and cheeks. His sparse beard had already pretty much fallen off completely by now, and he was covered in cold sweat. The person continued to stroke downwards until he touched Shen Qingqiu’s chest and abdomen.

For some reason, the places that he touched would all feel a little more bearable. Shen Qingqiu caught his breath and couldn’t help but say, “Uh, my dear friend, where… are you touching?”

If this was the past, he really wouldn’t have cared about where other people (referring particularly to those of the same sex) touched him. They could touch him wherever they wanted to, please do as you wish. But ever since Luo Binghe had opened a series of doors to a whole new world for him, the worldview that Shen Qingqiu had formed during his past twenty or so years had received a heavy blow. From now on, he would have to use an entirely new outlook and sensitive attitude to view this world.

Especially the problem of making friends with those of the same sex!

That person made an ‘ah’ noise and hastily let go. He apologized, “I’m sorry. I… didn’t do it on purpose.”

Shen Qingqiu said, “No no no! Go ahead and touch! Please continue! Thank you!”

It wasn’t a mistake. When this person let go, Shen Qingqiu instantly started to hurt again. It seemed that this person… could truly placate the ancient demon blood!

Shen Qingqiu turned his head. Underneath the moonlight, he couldn’t make out the other person’s features very clearly, but it was more or less the outline of someone with bright and delicate features. His eyes were extremely limpid, overlapping and reflecting Shen Qingqiu’s figure and the clear, shining moonlight like dew.

Shen Qingqiu looked at those eyes and faintly remembered something, but before he could think about it more deeply, his head suddenly felt as if it had exploded. It hurt so much that he let out a low moan before he buried his head downwards and slammed his fist violently onto the ground.

All of a sudden, Shen Qingqiu felt someone lift him by the back of his robe. There was a pain in his lower jaw as his mouth was forced open and a liquid was poured in. His tongue felt numb from the acid reflux from his stomach, and he couldn’t taste what the flavor of the liquid was, but it shouldn’t be anything that tasted good. He choked and wanted to spit it out, but that person covered his mouth. Though his movements were forceful, his tone was extremely gentle, and he coaxed, “Swallow it.”

Shen Qingqiu’s throat bobbed violently, and in a moment of haste, he actually swallowed that liquid. A bit of the unknown fluid trickled from the corner of his mouth, and he lowered his head as he coughed violently. That man stood to the side and patted his back, helping him calm down.

Shockingly, after this liquid entered his mouth and stomach, the agony from the blood worms’ biting, which had tormented him the entire way, swiftly disappeared.

Shen Qingqiu’s body felt better, but his heart grew tight instead. He grabbed the clothing at that person’s chest with one hand. “What did you give me to drink?”

The other person uncurled Shen Qingqiu’s hand, finger by finger, and took it away from his chest. He smiled slightly and said, “Does it still hurt?”

It didn’t hurt anymore. It really didn’t hurt anymore. But the reason it was scary was because it didn’t hurt anymore. He had never heard of something like ancient demon blood having an antidote!

As his sense of taste slowly returned to his tongue, Shen Qingqiu felt the scent of blood in his mouth grow even stronger. Strong to the point that he almost wanted to vomit. The original work said it very clearly: there was no medicine that would be effective against ancient demon blood.

Only ancient demon blood could keep the ancient demon blood in check.

F*ck.

Not only did he drink it twice, he drank the ancient demon blood of two different people.

Shen Qingqiu felt that he could really f*cking be considered someone with neither predecessors nor successors in this world.

After thinking this, Shen Qingqiu let out a cheerful sigh and toppled over.

The sound of flesh being ripped apart.

Also accompanied by the distant and hoarse sound of miserable screaming.

Shen Qingqiu pressed a hand against his temples, and the scene before his eyes slowly cleared.

An ocean of blood. A mountain of corpses.

Luo Binghe stood woodenly in this purgatory-like environment. He wore all black, so it couldn’t be dyed with the color of blood, but half of his face was splashed with spots of dark red. The sword in his hand rose and fell callously like a machine.

Originally, when Shen Qingqiu saw Luo Binghe, the image of him hugging his own corpse and rolling off the bed with it should have surfaced on its own in his mind, and it should’ve been hard to look straight at him. But right now, Luo Binghe was actually massacring the things that he had created in his own dreamscape. This was the same thing as him taking a knife and using it to stab his brain. What was the difference?

If he wasn’t intellectually disabled and didn’t know better, then only a lunatic would do something like this!

Even though Shen Qingqiu always liked to say that Luo Binghe was a masochist and loved to torture himself, there was no way Shen Qingqiu could squeeze out a few dry laughs and find the time to roast him if he tortured himself to this degree.

Luo Binghe lifted his head and looked at him with hazy eyes, seeming as if his mind was unclear. But the moment his eyes reflected Shen Qingqiu’s figure, they lit up instantly, and he threw his long sword far, far away. He hid his bloodstained hands behind his back and called in a quiet voice, “Shizun.”

Afterwards, he suddenly remembered that his face was also bloody and used his sleeves to wipe at the traces of blood on half of his face, as if he was trying to save himself. But the more he wiped, the dirtier it became, and he grew more and more uneasy like a child who was caught red-handed for stealing something.

It was difficult the first time, but easy the second. Shen Qingqiu now had experience pretending to be the product of artificial intelligence,1 so he felt quite calm. When he spoke, he couldn’t help but make his voice gentle. “What are you doing?”

Luo Binghe said quietly, “Shizun, I… I lost you again. This disciple is useless. He can’t even protect your body.”

When he heard this response, Shen Qingqiu’s expression and state of mind were similarly complicated.

So, just then, when he was brutally killing the things he had created in his dreamscape, it could be considered that he was… disciplining himself?

Looking at how skilled Luo Binghe was at this, Shen Qingqiu was afraid that this was not the first time he had done so. No wonder Luo Binghe was unable to even differentiate if he was a figment of his imagination or an intruder from the outside world last time.

Shen Qingqiu sighed and deliberated for a bit before he comforted him softly, “It’s fine if you lost it. I don’t blame you.”

Luo Binghe stared blankly at him. “… but right now, that’s all I have left.”

Shen Qingqiu suddenly didn’t dare to look directly into his eyes. Could Luo Binghe have really hugged his empty shell of a corpse, which Shen Qingqiu didn’t even want anymore, for five years?

Luo Binghe’s voice suddenly cooled down. “After Huayue City, I swore that I would never lose Shizun in this life again. But I still let someone else snatch you away.”

The resentment and dark red color in his eyes were similarly turbulent and ingrained. The sword that he had tossed away flew up into the air from his summoning, and it pierced through the chests of several ‘people’ who were dying and struggling. The sound of screaming filled his ears, and Shen Qingqiu hastily restrained him and reprimanded, “Don’t be reckless. Even if it’s just a dream, this is the same thing as harming yourself. Don’t tell me you forgot!”

Of course Luo Binghe wouldn’t have forgotten. He stared straight at Shen Qingqiu before gripping the back of his hand. He said only after a long pause, “I know that I’m in a dream. Only in a dream would you scold me like this, Shizun.”

When he heard this, Shen Qingqiu suddenly woke up to reality. Not good. Wrong.

He couldn’t treat Luo Binghe like this. If you didn’t have that kind of intention towards someone, then you shouldn’t give him hope. The bigger his hopes, the bigger his disappointment. He would continue to be delirious, and the probability of him going crazy would also increase.

Even if it was in a dream, he still shouldn’t drag things on fussily like this. He had to make a firm decision or else if their relationship continued to be ambiguous, then it would only lead to misfortune. Shen Qingqiu firmly withdrew his hand and adjusted the look on his face, adopting his best aloof and unapproachable expression before turning and walking away.

When Luo Binghe was thrown off, he was stunned for a moment before he instantly caught back up to him. “Shizun, I know that I was wrong.”

Shen Qingqiu said coldly, “If you know that you were wrong, then don’t follow me.”

Luo Binghe said anxiously, “I’ve long since regretted it, but I just never knew how to tell you. Are you still mad that I forced you to self-destruct your soul? I’ve already completely repaired the spiritual network in Shizun’s body, I’m not trying to trick you at all! As long as I can enter the Mausoleum, I will definitely find a way to wake you up again.”

Shen Qingqiu didn’t answer, hesitating over whether or not he should say something a little crueller so he would forget this idea. But Luo Binghe suddenly rushed over and hugged him from behind, embracing him firmly, and he refused to let go even if he rolled on the ground screaming. Shen Qingqiu’s entire body went stiff when he was embraced and felt as if he was brushed by something feathery, making all his fine hairs stand straight up. He collected energy in his hand but still didn’t strike out in the end. He gritted his teeth and forced out one word: “Scram!”

He said that after the blackening, they wouldn’t go down the tragedy path! Don’t push and pull back and forth!

Luo Binghe acted as if he couldn’t hear him. “Or is Shizun angry over what happened at Jinlan City?”

Shen Qingqiu said, “Correct.”

Luo Binghe still refused to let go and murmured, “When I first returned from the Endless Abyss, I knew that Shizun declared to the outside world that I was killed by the demon race. At first I thought that Shizun was being tender-hearted and still had some lingering sentiment for me, and that you didn’t want me to lose my reputation. Unexpectedly, after we met and I saw Shizun’s attitude, I became afraid that it was just my wishful thinking again. I was scared that the reason Shizun covered up the truth for me was only because you felt that it would stain your name if others found out you brought up a demon.”

He spoke pathetically, sentences tumbling one after another out of his mouth as if he was afraid that Shen Qingqiu would rudely cut him off and not let him continue. “I’m really not the one who arranged for the sowers. At the time, I was just so angry that I grew confused, and so I allowed Shizun to be locked in the water dungeon… I’ve known for a long time that I was wrong.”

If this was the Luo Binghe from reality, there might never be a time when he would pour out his words so steadily, disregarding his image. It was likely he would only ever dare to ramble so much in a dream that he created. If Shen Qingqiu pushed him aside now, it would be just like giving a tearful, trembling, heartbroken young maiden who finally worked up the courage to call her Chicken Soup for the Soul2 ‘big sister’ a slap right in the face. It was truly a bit too cruel.

Shen Qingqiu felt empathetic and greatly moved, but he also felt that this was all extremely ridiculous. What was more ridiculous than finding out that the person you did everything you could to run away from during the past few years didn’t even want to kill you, but wanted to do you instead? But no matter if it was killing or f*cking, the end result was still the same. Shen Qingqiu would still run away as fast as he could.

One person wanted to see the other but couldn’t, so he hugged a corpse for five years. The other person wanted to do all he could to avoid the first person, but he still felt like he saw him too much.

Shen Qingqiu’s hands were stiff. He raised them before lowering them again, clenching them into fists before relaxing. Finally, he ended up sighing and patting that head which was even taller than him.

He thought, “Heavens, I’ve really lost!”

Never mind his harem, a perfectly fine dark stallion protagonist didn’t have anyone else and was still a virgin. He had made himself like this, so if Shen Qingqiu continued to strike back, it seemed a little too unkind. Shen Qingqiu still lost to Luo Binghe, who had single-handedly made himself very tragic, as well as his own sympathy.

Luo Binghe instantly seized his hand tightly. Shen Qingqiu felt that the skin of Luo Binghe’s palm was slightly uneven against the back of his hand, and when he looked closely, he discovered that it was a sword wound.

At first, Shen Qingqiu didn’t understand how he got so many scars on his body, but at that moment, he suddenly remembered. During their night rendezvous at Jinlan City, Luo Binghe had played a game of cat and mouse with him the entire way. When he finally caught him, Shen Qingqiu had stabbed him. At that time, Luo Binghe had caught the edge of the Xiu Ya sword directly with his own hand.

As for the wound on Luo Binghe’s chest near his heart, Shen Qingqiu even more so shouldn’t have forgotten that one. That was the injury from when he had accidentally stabbed him when he was forcing him down into the abyss during the Immortal Alliance Conference.

It seemed like every time he had gone to stab Luo Binghe, he had never once dodged. He never avoided or evaded it, but caught it head on, letting Shen Qingqiu stab him, allowing him to pierce him. This was exactly why Shen Qingqiu had struck him, even though both times Shen Qingqiu didn’t actually want to stab him. After being stabbed, Luo Binghe didn’t even go to treat his wounds. Instead, he deliberately preserved them.

Reika’s Notes:

This chapter is by Yan.Some people have been complaining about “missing parts.” There are no missing parts. We use the latest official text from JJWXC. The author changed some parts but mostly only moved things around. For example, what used to be the last part of a chapter could be in the next chapter in the newly edited version. There’s nothing missing.Who is this mysterious person who gave his blood to Shen Qingqiu?At last Luo Binghe took the opportunity to show his remorse apologize and explain himself. What do you think? Are you satisfied with his apology?Thank you for reading!