CH 1

Xiao Yuan opened his eyes and the first thing he asked before he was fully awake was, “How many days are left?”

An indifferent familiar voice sounded in his mind: “The remaining time limit of the mission: one hundred days.”

“Hundred days…?” Xiao Yuan’s eyes lost their focus for a moment, then he sat up abruptly, “There are only a hundred days left?!”

“Yes.”

Xiao Yuan was quite excited: “This is a happy matter!”

Ever since he remembered, this voice had been living in his mind, popping up from time to time, and no one else could hear it, only he could. Because of the existence of this voice, Xiao Yuan had to do something he didn’t want to do and please some people he didn’t want to please. He didn’t know what this voice was. Since every time he heard it he all but had an urge to kick someone, he gave it a name, calling it – [All Have].

As long as Xiao Yuan remembered, he had been bound by [All Have] for many years. [All Have] once told him that when the time came, it would disappear, and Xiao Yuan would have a completely free life. Now there were only a trifling matter of hundred days left before the ‘ripe time’.

Xiao Yuan paced back and forth in his room joyfully. The hibiscus screen in the room was warm, gorgeous and soft, like a boudoir of an unmarried girl. Xiao Yuan had been locked up here for a month. In the past month, except for the maid who came to deliver meals every day, he had never seen anyone else. He was a little lonely but he also felt relieved. If the remaining hundred days could be spent in such a peaceful manner, it would be another happy matter.

Xiao Yuan looked at the courtyard through the decorative carved patterned window. The maid who delivered the meals should almost be here.

It didn’t take long for the door to rattle softly, and the maid walked in with a seven-leveled food box.

Xiao Yuan and the maid looked at each other, both of them taken aback.

Xiao Yuan said, “You’ve changed people?” It was not this girl who delivered him food before.

The maid lowered her head in a panic, not daring to look Xiao Yuan directly in the eyes, and whispered, “Yes, yes.”

Xiao Yuan asked, “Where is the girl that was here before?”

“She, she made a mistake and was punished.”

Xiao Yuan frowned, “What mistake did she make?”

The maid kept silent, put the food boxes on the table and set them one by one, “Master Xiao, please eat slowly.”

Xiao Yuan glanced at the food; they were all the dishes he liked. The portions were not big but exquisite and compact. Although he was locked up, he had never suffered grievances in eating.

Xiao Yuan sat down at the table. The maid stood aside and did not move for a long time. Xiao Yuan poured himself a glass of wine and casually said, “Are you new here? What’s your name?”

The maid said cautiously: “Le’er.”

Xiao Yuan was not a taciturn man. Now that he was in a good mood, he was talking more: “Then do you know who I am?”

The maid shook her head: “Le’er doesn’t know.”

“Guess.”

The maid boldly glanced at Xiao Yuan, “Master Xiao is… the Lord’s person.”

Xiao Yuan was accustomed to similar speculations, “Tell me, why do you think I am a male pet? Because of my face?”

The maid’s cheeks flushed red as she said, “Master Xiao is the best-looking person Le’er has ever seen in Xingtian Sect.” (Xingtian, headless giant hero of Chinese mythology fighting against the Supreme Divinity) 

Xiao Yuan smiled and said, “Do I look better than His Lordship?”

The maid was startled and said, “I haven’t seen His Lordship, but I heard that His Lordship is also a very handsome man.”

After a short conversation, Xiao Yuan saw that this girl named Le’er didn’t have a scheming mind, which was rare in Xingtian Sect. With her accompanying him, Xiao Yuan, who had been holding back for a month, talked more and more.

“I am not the male pet of His Lordship. A month ago, I was still his beloved younger brother.” Xiao Yuan took a peanut and threw it into his mouth, “And now, I am his prisoner.” 

The maid’s eyes widened; she was a little inexperienced girl, and she directly asked the question in her heart: “How, how could this be?”

There was wine, food and peanuts, everything most suitable for storytelling.

“When the Venerable Lord was young, he had a younger brother who he loved very much. There was a sudden change in his family, and he and his younger brother were unfortunately separated. Over the years, the Venerable Lord has been looking for the whereabouts of his younger brother, continuously searching for him, and finally landed on me.”

The maid listened very seriously, “And then?”

“Then I was invited to Xingtian Sect under the name of ‘young master‘. I was also favoured by His Lordship. He practically put the best things in this world before my eyes.” Xiao Yuan paused, “It’s a pity that I have only been spoiled for half a year, then a young man who claimed to be the younger brother of the Venerable Lord came to the door, still holding in his hand the keepsake that the Venerable Lord gave to his younger brother when he was a child. After some detailed investigation, the Venerable Lord finally discovered that he had found the wrong person. I am not his younger brother, but that young man was. Since then, His Lordship has not glanced at me again, nor said a word to me. I am locked up here, screaming to heaven and earth,” Xiao Yuan spread his hands, “Isn’t it tragic?”

The maid covered her mouth unconsciously. On the first day she came to Xingtian Sect, her senior told her that the Lord hated being deceived the most in his life, and anyone who lied in front of him would end up in a terrible way. If what this young Master Xiao said was true, how did he live to the present?

The maid couldn’t help asking, “Then is Master Xiao the younger brother of the Lord?”

There was a look of blankness in Xiao Yuan’s eyes: “I don’t know.”

The memories of his childhood were hazy. He vaguely remembered that he had an elder brother, but this did not mean much. The world was so big that he was not the only one who had lost his brother many years ago. Since he didn’t have that token, he was probably not really the younger brother of the Demon Lord.

But in any case, he was innocent. The Demon Lord himself blindly found the wrong person, what did it have to do with him? At the beginning, he didn’t want to come to Xingtian Sect to reunite with his family member. Everyone said that the Demon Lord had an ever changing temperament and was extremely difficult to serve. If he didn’t like someone, he would abolish his cultivation base and seize his golden core. He didn’t want this kind of brother at all. The main reason why he came was that [All Have] asked him to come, and the secondary reason was that his Shizun (teacher/master in the sect) persuaded him to come.

When Xiao Yuan thought of his Shizun, his mood became heavy. It had been a month, and his Shizun should have known the news about his mistaken identity of the Demon Lord’s brother, but he hadn’t come to save him.

Xiao Yuan fell silent, and the maid hadn’t recovered from the shock yet, so the room was quiet. When a charming female voice sounded out, both of them were startled, “Master Xiao is eating.”

Xiao Yuan recognized the woman as Meng Chi, a trusted aide next to the Demon Lord and one of the elders of Xingtian Sect. With a voluptuous body and a gorgeous face, no one was more worthy of the word ‘bewitching woman’ than her.

Xiao Yuan’s heart thumped; Meng Chi came to him personally. It seemed that his peaceful days were over.

Meng Chi looked at the dishes and said with a smile, “Master Xiao eats better than me.”

Xiao Yuan said, “What can I do for Elder Meng?”

Meng Chi rubbed her fingers against Xiao Yuan’s lips, “Don’t call me that, it makes me feel old.”

“Then what do I call you?”

“Call me what you called me before.”

Xiao Yuan smiled and said, “It’s not good, I’m afraid His Lordship will be angry.”

“Don’t be afraid,“ Meng Chi patted Xiao Yuan’s cheek, smiling brightly, “we won’t tell him.”

Xiao Yuan blinked, “Then… Meng-jiejie (elder sister), what are you looking for me for?” 

Meng Chi was satisfied and said, “Change your clothes and follow me to see the Lord.”

After one month, Xiao Yuan once again came to the main hall of Xingtian Sect. The Demon Lord had always been good at enjoying himself, and a place as serious and formal as the main hall that used to be empty and atmospheric when the previous Lord was still there, had now become a gentle and elegant place according to his wishes.

Xiao Yuan bowed deeply to the man in the lord’s seat. He wanted to call him ‘Lord’, but when he said it, it became: “Gege.” (elder brother)

……Don’t think about it, it was [All Have] messing up again.

Meng Chi, who was still smiling just now, changed her expression and sneered: “Who is Master Xiao calling ‘gege’? It’s been a month and he hasn’t  figured out his position yet?”

Xiao Yuan cursed secretly and knelt down on both knees, “I have seen the Venerable Lord.”

A low voice sounded: “Get up.”

Xiao Yuan stood up and looked at the man who had just spoken.

The man was reclining on the couch, with one long leg bent casually. His narrow eyes were hauntingly long, their ends upturned, and the colour of his lips was considerably brighter than that of an ordinary man.

This man was the venerable lord of Xingtian Sect, the Demon Lord Xiao Du.

Xiao Du said, “Ah Yu, come here.”

Xiao Yuan walked up to Xiao Du, “My Lord.”

Xiao Du raised his eyelids, lifted Xiao Yuan’s chin with two fingers, looked at him carefully up and down and suddenly smiled: “Ah Yu, how did you grow up like this? So beautiful.”

Meng Chi was also curious. She was a frequent visitor to the pleasure quarters but she had never seen such a stunning beauty. When she saw Xiao Yuan, she was taken aback like a little girl who had never seen the world before. However, Xiao Yuan did not yet have the consciousness of being a great beauty and his gestures were no different from the ones of an ordinary teenager.

Xiao Yuan lowered his eyes and said, “Well… My parents must have been good-looking, nothing to be done about it.”

Xiao Du chuckled lightly, “It’d be a pity not to use this face of yours.”

Xiao Yuan had a bad premonition, “I don’t know how my Lord wants to use my face?”

Before Xiao Du could answer, a pretty maid stepped forward and said, “My Lord, the young master refuses to eat, saying that he will wait for you.”

Xiao Du nodded: “I see. Let him eat first, don’t let him be hungry.”

The maid respectfully said, “Yes.”

This ‘young master’ who was waiting for Xiao Du to have dinner with had to be Xiao Du’s newly recognized younger brother. It was not difficult to see that he had long since taken Xiao Yuan’s place and after being favoured by Xiao Du had become the young master of Xingtian Sect.

Xiao Du didn’t seem to want to talk much to Xiao Yuan, so he glanced at Meng Chi. Meng Chi understood and said, “His Lordship wants you to seduce someone and become a Dao companion with this person.”

“……what?” Xiao Yuan didn’t expect Xiao Du to play with him like this. It was not as easy for cultivators to become Dao Companions as it was for ordinary people to get married. Those who were Dao companions swear an oath to merge in spirit and blood in this life. Once they violated it, their cultivation base would be damaged and their spiritual energy would be lost. The matter of Dao companions was extraordinary, it was not just a matter of tying the knot.

Xiao Yuan chuckled twice dryly: “Are you kidding me?”

Xiao Du smiled and said, “When did this Lord ever deceive Ah Yu?”

Meng Chi said, “Master Xiao, you have been eating and drinking for free for so long in Xingtian Sect, you should also pay back a little, right?”

Did I want to eat and drink for free? Didn’t you force me to eat and drink for free?! Don’t you have any shame?!

Xiao Yuan was so angry he dared to speak, but [All Have] tampered with his words again: “Who…who do you want me to be a Dao companion with?” 

Xiao Du slowly opened his lips: “The Young Master of Yunjian Pavilion, Gu Louyin.”

Xiao Yuan’s eyes widened.