CH 39

Xiao Du’s face was distorted, blue veins on the backs of his hands protruded violently, and his anger and humiliation were unspeakable. On the surface, he looked at Xiao Yuan condescendingly; in fact, Xiao Yuan had stepped on his heart and trampled on it mercilessly.

Xiao Yuan didn’t want his heart; he would rather sleep with another man! Something so important, something so precious, he practically gave him half his life and he didn’t want it…… As Xiao Yuan said, something he regarded as a treasure was worthless in his eyes.

Look for a man… Who, who will Xiao Yuan look for?! He restrained himself from thinking about the past, otherwise if he thought of Xiao Yuan and those many men he was dual-cultivating with, he would want to kill in fury. But he knew very well that it was he who caused the current situation. He thought he wouldn’t care, he didn’t understand why he cared. Wasn’t it just sleeping with someone? Sleeping once doesn’t mean anything. Short-lasting love affairs could be found everywhere in the romantic scene. As long as Xiao Yuan came back in the end, there was nothing to worry about in the past. What he wanted was Xiao Yuan, not his chastity.

But he cared, he just cared! He couldn’t help but imagine Xiao Yuan’s appearance in bed, imagine him in a million different ways under one man after another, their faces blurred; imagine his eyes drunk, his lips slightly opened as he whispered ambiguously… His emotions were surging, his headache was splitting, he was almost beyond himself with rage. He didn’t even know what to do to make himself feel better. But Xiao Yuan reminded him of it again and again, every word stinging his heart, and he had no power to fight back.

When did he treat anyone like he treated Xiao Yuan? If someone dared to provoke him like this, he would have been dead and his ashes scattered a hundred times. Xiao Yuan was the only one. He hated that he couldn’t absorb his bones into his body, or really use the soul-possession technique on him for a lifetime, so that he would always be obedient and stay by his side. It’s not that he hadn’t thought about it, he almost did it in shock and anger. But he still couldn’t bear doing it after all.

Love and hatred intertwined in Xiao Du’s eyes, then gradually the turmoil calmed down, leaving only sadness and helplessness. This was exactly what being trapped felt like; all his joys and sorrows were in the palm of another person, and no matter how unwilling he was, he could only watch himself sink deeper and deeper, and in the end he couldn’t even get angry.

He did lose, but it didn’t matter. As long as Xiao Yuan stayed by his side for a day more, he would not lose everything.

Xiao Du looked at Xiao Yuan and said softly, “Do you think I will allow you to find a man?”

“Yes,” Xiao Yuan said, “isn’t it just a matter of dual cultivation? It’s just an everyday occurrence for you. Why will you forbid me to eat?”

Xiao Du smiled, and his eyes filled with chill, “It will be the 15th in a few days, so you can think about it again. You will either change your mind about my offer, endure it, or…” Xiao Du lowered his voice, his breath scalding, “Come to me.”

Xiao Yuan raised his eyebrows and said, “Oh?”

Xiao Du’s voice was low and hoarse: “You once asked me about the method of dual cultivation. I can teach you.”

“Thank you, Your Lordship, for recommending yourself as a pillow mat and for throwing yourself into my arms,” Xiao Yuan said clearly, “but I don’t need it.”

Xiao Du slowly clenched his fists, endured it and said, “Ah Yu, let’s stop while we can. If you force me again, I really don’t know what will happen.”

Xiao Yuan nodded, “I was forcing you? I have gained a lot of knowledge.”

Xiao Du’s tone softened: “I just want to pamper you. Be good and the two of us won’t come to any harm, understand?”

Xiao Yuan didn’t understand and didn’t bother to understand.

Thinking of the heart exchange incident afterwards, Xiao Yuan got a little scared in hindsight. Fortunately, he recognized the Sword Seeker Lord of Yunjian Pavilion, otherwise it would be horrible to really exchange hearts with him. It didn’t matter if he used someone else’s body, but if even his heart belonged to someone else, would he still be considered himself? It was just Acacia Gu, there was no need to harm others for the things that could be solved by dual cultivation.

Since he decided not to remove his Gu, there was no need to stay in Xingtian Sect. Instead of wasting time here, it was better to go to the snowy mountains outside Luling City to ask Gu Louyin for help, or go back to Tong’an County to invite a live-in partner. Xiao Yuan planned to escape, but to his surprise, someone he didn’t expect came to Xingtian Sect.

After the incident with the removal of the Gu, Xiao Yuan naturally was alienated from Meng Chi. He knew that Meng Chi was only acting on orders. Being Xiao Du’s confidante, she was friendly towards him but it was all based on her loyalty to Xiao Du.

Meng Chi had always been sensitive, so she naturally perceived the change in Xiao Yuan’s attitude. She felt sad and when she came to visit him again, she brought his favorite rice cakes.

“These rice cakes are the lo… I specially sent someone to Luling City to buy them.” Meng Chi said, “I bought them from the rice cake stall you used to like.”

If you have something to eat, eat it, it’s not like he was upset with the rice cakes. Xiao Yuan picked up a piece and tasted it, and it really had the familiar sweetness and soft waxy taste.

Meng Chi looked at him expectantly: “Is it delicious?”

Xiao Yuan nodded: “It’s delicious.”

Meng Chi smiled and said, “In addition to rice cakes, I also brought a lot of fresh, fat crabs from Jiangnan. You can make as many orange marinated crabs as you want in the next few days.”

Xiao Yuan wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and said, “There’s nothing to be courteous about, just be honest. Speak, what’s the matter?”

Meng Chi put on a pitiful appearance, “It’s nothing, I just want to apologize to you and let you know that the people of Xingtian Sect do know how to apologize.”

Xiao Yuan: “Oh.”

“In addition, I didn’t want to hide it from you but I had to obey the Lord’s order.” Meng Chi sighed, “Don’t blame me, most of all I don’t like being hated by beautiful men.”

Xiao Yuan smiled, “I won’t hate you. But if you can do me a favor, I will like you a little more.”

Meng Chi smiled bitterly: “I have already said that it is impossible to help you escape.”

Xiao Yuan shook his finger, “No, no, no, I don’t want you to help me escape.”

Meng Chi blinked, “Then what?”

“I just want you to forget to lock the door of your medicine room on the 15th during the full moon.”

Meng Chi suddenly said, “Are you going to steal the antidote to Acacia Gu?”

“No,” Xiao Yuan pretended to be shocked, his expression innocent, “Did I say anything like that, did you hear it wrong?”

Meng Chi hesitated. Xiao Yuan didn’t ask her for the antidote directly but just asked her to deliberately forget to lock the door, so that when Xiao Du tracked down this matter, she would be only be punished for neglect of duty at most and her status in Xingtian Sect would not be punished much. The most important thing was that she suspected Xiao Du was reluctant to make Xiao Yuan endure the suffering of the Gu attack at all. The reason why he said that he would not give him the antidote was just to force him to change his mind. In the end, seeing Xiao Yuan suffering from Gu attack, he would definitely still give in.

After weighing the pros and cons, Meng Chi gritted her teeth and said, “I will make an appointment with a few sisters to drink on the 15th. After three rounds of drinking, I was negligent and forgot to lock the door.”

Xiao Yuan’s eyes lit up, “Thank you for your trouble, Jiejie.”

Meng Chi teased: “Oh, now you call me Jiejie again?”

Xiao Yuan smiled and said, “I will keep calling you that from now on.”

Meng Chi gave a deliberately cold snort, suddenly thought of something and said, “By the way, your Shidi has come to Xingtian Sect.”

Xiao Yuan was taken aback, “Mu Yingyang? What is he doing here?”

“The Venerable Lord will soon wash Yunjian Pavilion with blood, and he is here to help out.”

So, Xiao Du couldn’t get Qingyan by skill and changed his plan to taking it by force. But what did it have to do with Mu Yingyang? Yunjian pavilion was not considered the number one sword sect for nothing. Yunjian Pavilion had a lot of powerful people and Xingtian Sect might be able to match even with them using all its strength. However, the other two of the three major sects, Xuanle Sect and Baihua Palace, were both on friendly terms with Yunjian Pavilion and they would naturally take Yunjian Pavilion’s side, not to mention that there were countless small sects and schools in the Lower Immortal Realm that followed Yunjian Pavilion’s lead. The future situation was unknown, but taking into account the current strength of the two sides, it was absurd to think Xiao Du would win. What kind of excitement was there for Mu Yingyang to fool around in this kind of lost battle?

Meng Chi knew what Xiao Yuan was thinking and said, “The reason why your Shidi came to Xingtian Sect at the invitation of the Venerable Lord is because he wants to avenge you.”

“Avenge?”

“He thinks the people of Yunjian Pavilion forced you to death, so…”

Xiao Yuan didn’t know what to say for a while and said helplessly: “I really want to open his head and see what’s going on inside.”

“Your Shidi is no longer the impetuous teenager he was two years ago,” Meng Chi said. “He is very strong, and even I am not necessarily his opponent.”

Xiao Yuan asked, “Is he in Xingtian Sect at the moment?”

“Well, I can let you meet, but you can’t reveal your identity in front of him.” Meng Chi reminded him, “Don’t forget, for him, you are dead.”

Xiao Yuan thought for a while and said, “Okay.” Obviously, Xiao Du was using Mu Yingyang. Mu Yingyang was a little silly sometimes, but he wouldn’t fail to notice this. At the end of the day, his Shidi was doing it for him. It was his responsibility to persuade him and, along the way… along the way, find out what happened at Yunjian Pavilion that day and why Gu Louyin suddenly became demonized.

The next day, Xiao Yuan met Mu Yingyang at Meng Chi’s medicine room. Mu Yingyang’s weapon Duya needed to be fed with poison and Meng Chi’s specialty was all kinds of poisons.

At the time Xiao Yuan walked in, Mu Yingyang was feeding the poison blended by Meng Chi to Duya drop by drop. Duya’s claw was entwined in poisonous vapour, and the poisonous liquid dripped on it, making a hissing sound, like a hungry venomous snake.

Meng Chi saw Xiao Yuan and said, “You are here.”

Mu Yingyang looked up, frowning slightly, “It’s you.”

Meng Chi said in surprise: “You… know each other?”

Mu Yingyang had seen An Mu’s body used by Xiao Yuan in Hongxiu Prefecture, so naturally he knew him. Xiao Yuan said, “Master Mu and I had a relationship in Hongxiu.”

He and Mu Yingyang hadn’t seen each other for half a month; it might be an illusion but Xiao Yuan felt that Mu Yingyang had grown a little calmer again and his face had become sharp and cold. His eyes were no longer dazzlingly bright and starry like in the past; only a dull shadow was left in it’s place.

Mu Yingyang asked, “Why are you here?”

Xiao Yuan had already planned his words and said, “I was taken captive by the people of Xingtian Sect.”

Mu Yingyang said suspiciously: “What do the people of Xingtian Sect want from you? Weren’t you following Gu Louyin and Shen Fugui before?”

“I just did a business with them, it was nothing personal.” Xiao Yuan smiled and said, “Master Mu, don’t look at me like this. In fact, I am also a man with skills.”

Mu Yingyang said sarcastically: “You are very modest.”

“Just moderately modest, I guess.”

Meng Chi covered up for Xiao Yuan and said, “He is indeed useful to Xingtian. His Lordship keeps him in Xingtian to prepare for the battle in the upcoming days.”

Mu Yingyang was not very interested in An Mu and his attention returned to Duya. To be precise, except for avenging his Shixiong, he had no interest in anyone or anything.

Xiao Yuan gave Meng Chi a wink, Meng Chi understood and said, “I’ll go get something, you guys wait for me here.”

After Meng Chi left, Xiao Yuan took a small porcelain vial from the shelf and said casually, “Was Master Mu also taken captive?”

“It’s not your business.”

Xiao Yuan pretended not to hear it and said, “Xingtian Sect is by no means an opponent to Yunjian Pavilion, Xuanle Sect and Baihua Palace. The Demon Lord caught us to work for him purely for us to die. Master Mu should think twice.”

Mu Yingyang said coldly: “You said that you have skills. Is your skill to talk a lot? Then it’s really amazing.”

Xiao Yuan was silent for a while and then said in a deep voice: “I don’t want anything big to happen to you. It doesn’t matter if something minor happens, but it’s better for you not to lose your life.”

Mu Yingyang turned around abruptly and Duya in his hand pointed directly at Xiao Yuan, only an inch away from his throat. “Who do you think you are?” Mu Yingyang said with a vicious look in his eyes, “You and I don’t even count as acquaintances, so why do you care about me?”

Xiao Yuan raised his hands, took a step back and said, “Okay, okay, I don’t care about you and I won’t care about you in the future. Don’t regret it.”

Mu Yingyang said coolly: “Whoever regrets it is a dog.”