The fire crackled and burned, and occasionally one or two bright, burning sparks appeared abruptly, then quietly dimmed, before finally vanishing in mid-air, while the cave walls covered in dark green moss appeared darker and darker under the firelight.
“I thought the map to Cuiwei Cold Pool would never come together, but I didn’t expect…” Xie Wanting didn’t continue. Instead, he stared in awe at the tortoiseshell on his knee, the flickering firelight and the swaying light of the fire reflecting in his dark pupils, which had an odd gleam to them.
Somewhat puzzled, Qiu Yutong couldn’t help but ask, “Senior brother, what’s wrong?”
Xie Wanting came back to his senses, and gently shook his head, ” Nothing, just remembered something from the past, alas… Right, you should all have heard of the story of Immortal Qing Heng who sacrificed his life to the devil, right?”
At some point, the crowd had gathered around, sitting around the fire.
Yang Ruoyu nodded and said, “Disciple has heard of him.”
The others chimed in, “Yes, I’ve heard of him.”
“I’ve heard of him too.”
Qiu Yutong also nodded, “I’m somewhat aware of it.”
Xie Wanting sighed and said, “In fact, those stories can’t be taken seriously. Immortal Qing Heng he… didn’t die with the demon but was enticed by it to the point where he lost his dao heart, turned against the cultivation world, and finally died alongside the demon, besieged by the entire cultivation world.”
The crowd all looked astonished, ” How is that possible?”
“No way, right?”
Qiu Yutong’s eyes also widened, “Really? Senior Brother, how do you know that?”
Xie Wanting said slowly, “Because three thousand years ago, it was the four great sects of the cultivation world, leading thousands of cultivators, that besieged Cuiwei Cold Pool. The truth of this matter has only been passed down from generation to generation by the heads of the four great sects, so of course you wouldn’t know about it. The current status of the four sects, namely Nanshan Temple, North Sea Sword Sect, North Snow City, and Yuqin Palace…, was also established by the battle at Cuiwei Cold Pool back then.”
“So that’s how it was… Senior Brother, continue.” Qiu Yutong loved listening to stories, so he couldn’t help but sit forward again, listening intently.
Xie Wanting stared at the fire, looking somewhat distant, ” I also heard it from my master. Three thousand years ago, there was a great rebellion in the Demon World, and the Haotian Demon Emperor was betrayed by his subordinates and died. At that time, his only son was very young and had not yet transformed, so he could only take the form of a young and weak beast and hastily escaped from the Demon World and came to the Cultivation World. “
Qiu Yutong said curiously, “Immortal Qing Heng captured it?”
Xie Wanting shook his head, “It is said that the prototype of this young demon’s beast body was not hideous, it was even quite cute and at that time, it was badly injured, so it looked very pitiful. In a moment of confusion, Immortal Qing Heng actually took it into the Glazed Terrace and raised it carefully; it even took human form.
Unfortunately, the happy times didn’t last long, because after a few years, the demon revealed its true nature and escaped from the Glazed Terrace while Immortal Qing Heng was in seclusion and went on a rampage, injuring many powerful cultivators. At that time, that demon creature was fatally wounded, but the cultivators didn’t dare go forward easily and just when the two sides were at a standstill, Immortal Qing Heng finally came out of seclusion and rushed to the secret realm.”
Hearing this, Qiu Yutong couldn’t help but interject, “Immortal Qing Heng rushed to subdue the demon?”
Xie Wanting shook his head, “Perhaps at that time, the cultivators thought the same thing, so they were defenseless. Who knew that when Immortal Emperor Qing Heng saw the dying demon, his face immediately changed; he casually summoned Tianzhao Yunhai and swept his sword across! With that amazing sword, he instantly wounded twelve great powers and finally tore a gap in the encirclement. Then he took the demon with him and fled into Cuiwei Cold Pool.
Shocked and angry, thousands of the cultivators of the four great sects besieged Cuiwei Cold Pool for seven days and seven nights until finally, the four sect leaders took action, set up the Heavenly Death Sword Formation, and inflicted serious damage on Immortal Qing Heng and wounded the demon mortally.
Everyone advised Immortal Qing Heng to hand over the demon in exchange for his own life at the time, but who could have predicted that Immortal Emperor Qing Heng would… explode his own spiritual body and dissipate all his cultivation to seal the entire Cuiwei Cold Pool! At that time, thousands of cultivators at the periphery of the Cuiwei Cold Pool were seriously injured, and nearly all of those closest to the pool fell.
The four sect leaders were all within, so naturally, none of them were spared. The chief disciples of the four sects who managed to survive used the shell of a tortoise in the Cuiwei Cold Pool to make a tracking guide, which was divided into four pieces and handed down from generation to generation by the heads of the four sects, namely Yuqin Palace, Nanshan Temple, North Snow City, and North Sea Sword Sect. “
“All that matters is this.” Xie Wanting paused and couldn’t help but sigh, “Ai, Immortal Qing Heng is really… it’s a pity. Demonic creatures and demons compelling people’s hearts; they’re really harmful.”
Qiu Yutong was puzzled, “Since Immortal Qing Heng has fallen, and that demon is also dead, why do the four great sects still need the map, and why are they going to such great lengths to find Cuiwei Cold Pool?”
Lu Xiao mused, “I think, perhaps it’s for Tianzhao Yunhai.”
Xie Wanting nodded, “Not bad. One of the purposes of the cultivators searching for the Cuiwei Cold Pool is for this supreme spirit sword, Tianzhao Yunhai. But the most important purpose is for… the demon core of that demon. That demon was the only remaining bloodline of the Demon Emperor’s lineage and although it has died, as long as the demon core wasn’t destroyed, it would be able to enter reincarnation again, to wreak havoc on living beings. In addition to that, if a cultivator refines this demon core, they will have a dual cultivation body. One of the Dao and of the Devil, and henceforth be invincible under the heavens.”
Sang Lingxi suddenly understood and slapped his thigh, “I see! That’s why Gui Wuyou wanted this stupid turtle shell so badly. In fact, he wanted to go to Cuiwei Cold Pool, find Tianzhao Yunhai and the demon core and refine it into a Dao-Devil dual-cultivation body.”
Xie Wanting sighed softly, “That’s what I’m worried about… We must be the first to find Cuiwei Cold Pool, find Tianzhao Yunhai and the demon core, then use the Tianzhao Yunhai to suppress it under Wenjian Cliff. Not only must we not allow it to reincarnate, but we also shouldn’t allow the demon core to appear. This is the only way to ensure the peace of the cultivation world.”
“So that’s how it is…” Qiu Yutong murmured.
Lowering his eyes to look at the intact spirit turtle shell, he couldn’t help but think wildly. So this spirit turtle shell, was the guide to Cuiwei Cold Pool? And Gui Wuyou’s people were trying to steal it for Tianzhao Yunhai and the demon core? How powerful was the Dao-Devil dual-cultivation body? Why would a person like Immortal Qing Heng be compelled by a demonic creature? What kind of demon was this, that was so terrifying…
A wave of tiredness appeared on Xie Wanting’s face as he rubbed his brow, “Everyone should rest. First thing tomorrow morning, we’ll set off for Cuiwei Cold Pool.”
Qiu Yutong suddenly remembered something and turned his head to look at Lu Xiao, “Right, Xiao’er, do want to check your blood…”
Lu Xiao shook his head and said, “Shizun, it’s too late today, let’s talk about it tomorrow.”
……
It had been a really tiring day, but for some reason, as Qiu Yutong lay on the pile of dry grass he tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
He closed his eyes and tried to count sheep for a long time but was still very much awake. Sighing helplessly, he got up, walked gingerly to the outside of the cave, found a big stone, and sat down.
The night sky in the secret realm wasn’t quite the same as the one outside. It was an almost demonic deep blue, with neither a moon nor half a star, looking very bleak.
As Qiu Yutong sat on the boulder and stared blankly at the night sky, he couldn’t help but think about what Xie Wanting had just said, about Cuiwei Cold Pool, about Tianzhao Yunhai, about Immortal Qing Heng, about the demonic creature, and about the inexplicable tightness in his chest, as if something extremely heavy was pressing down on him, so hard that he could barely breathe.
He couldn’t help but rub his chest when suddenly his shoulders sank a little. Blinking, he turned his head, “Xiao-er? Why are you up too?”
Lu Xiao carefully draped his outer robe onto him and then sat down beside him, “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Oh,” Qiu Yutong nodded and didn’t continue to ask. Young people always had this and that on their minds, so it wouldn’t be good to ask too much.
The two of them sat shoulder to shoulder, looking quietly at the deep blue night sky, and no one spoke. It wasn’t known how long it took, but Qiu Yutong’s eyelashes slowly drooped and his head began to move forward like a chicken pecking at rice, little by little.
Lu Xiao looked down at him, then gently held his shoulders, carefully bringing him into his arms, letting him lean on his lap, his entire body curled up in his arms, just like when this person held him as a child.
In his daze, Qiu Yutong had a vague feeling that this position was a little strange, but sleepiness hit him like a tidal wave, so he didn’t bother to think about it. Instead, he leaned into to the heat source behind him, rubbing himself comfortably, then changing his position to nestle more comfortably once more.
Lu Xiao took the person in his arms and couldn’t help but lower his head again, burying his face in the other party’s long thick black hair, lightly sniffing the cold fragrance of the snow, finally slightly relieved.
These days, he was really having a hard time. When he had just entered the secret realm, the bloody scent of that giant lizard frenziedly poured into his body. And later, that tiny golden silk snow mouse, that little bit of scent. He didn’t let go of it either… And then later, between the heaven and earth of the secret realm, those tiny breaths that were everywhere… he couldn’t control it at all; those breaths seemed like living things, wisps of them gushed into his body. He wanted to resist, but he couldn’t help but greedily absorb them, that sense of power, that sense of control, that sense of bloodlust… as if he could get everything, everything he wanted, for as long as he wanted.
He didn’t know what exactly these auras were, he had never felt the so-called spiritual power, so he had no way to compare, but reason told him, this might be the so-called… demonic qi.
Gritting his teeth, Lu Xiao suppressed this thought down hard. It would be good if he was just a mortal and not able to cultivate but to be that demon… What had happened at Medicine Monarch Manor to that demon bride, the story of Immortal Qing Heng and the demon, everything was telling him the cultivation world’s attitude towards demons.
And if he was that demon, then this person in his arms…
Lu Xiao closed his eyes to stop thinking about it, but his arms involuntarily tightened slowly, almost becoming a cage.
“Uuu…” The person in his arms mumbled lowly. His thick eyelashes fluttered lightly twice and he frowned slightly, looking uncomfortable, but he didn’t struggle violently. He only twisted slightly then shifted into a more comfortable position and went back to sleep.
Lu Xiao felt that the tender and fragile tip of his heart, which was as cold and hard as stone, was completely squeezed in the palm of his hand as he looked down at the person sleeping quietly in his arms. This person was unaware of it, innocently and uncontrollably rubbing his heart at will, the sensations that he caused sometimes sour and painful, sometimes bitter and astringent, sometimes sweet as thick honey, sometimes so painful that he nearly lost all his strength…
He held him close to him, simply not knowing what to do to make it better. His Shizun, pure and frank, without distractions, having submerged in the rotten sludge of the human world, was still the same as when they had first met, like the first snow of winter, clean, pure, soft, and merciless… If he held it in his hands, it would melt in a moment, and in the end, nothing would be left behind.
Lu Xiao hesitated for a long time, then finally lowered his head after having great difficulty in holding back and captured those soft and merciless lips gently.
This was the third time he had touched these lips since he was a child; he didn’t know how many years he had longed for them. Unlike the bitter and anxious medicine feeding before, and the dazed and forced kiss in his stupor, this was the first real, conscious kiss, though, it was also just a pathetic stolen kiss.
He pillaged, ravishing and ravaging those soft lips, from the initial tender kiss to a light nibbling that was hard to resist and then he couldn’t help but want to go deeper. It wasn’t until his Shizun seemed to be a bit out of breath, causing him to subconsciously open his mouth… that Lu Xiao shook slightly, finally coming back to his senses.
He couldn’t go on like this.
It wasn’t the right time yet; it would scare this person.
It took almost all of Lu Xiao’s strength to barely control himself, raising his head extremely slowly and with difficulty. Looking down at the lips that had been kissed to the point of being red and slightly swollen, and at the unguarded sleeping face, he felt his heart beat hard and fast, with even the muscles in his back tensing up.
Such a kiss was like a small sip of fresh water from the master’s jug when the slave’s thirst had reached its peak, and while it slightly relieved his thirst, it made his chest burn even harder.
No, not enough. It wasn’t enough, it wasn’t enough at all. He wanted more, more… He wanted to follow the corners of this person’s lips, kissing recklessly and fiercely all the way down, he wanted to hear this person make all sorts of sounds, impatient gasps, broken sobs, the tiny trembling sound of upper and lower teeth chattering involuntarily, he wanted to hear him call him ‘Xiao-er’ in a hoarse voice… he wanted this person to cater to him with a strong shame, trembling and struggling to accept him… he wanted to leave a large mark on all of the most secret places of this person’s body, he wanted to leave a large trail of marks that belonged only to him…
He would never let go of this person in his arms. For the rest of his life, forever and ever, he would never let go… he was his master, he was his, he was his eternal destiny, he was all he had, and the only thing he thought about.
