ATAVID CH20: Embracing [Vol 2]

The surrounding forest trees had their branches and leaves rustling down from being curled by the fire waves.

That gloomy green lantern merely swayed within the tongues of fire, not catching alight.

Instead, the silhouette of the lantern-bearing woman abruptly faded by a few fractions. The sinister, eerie smile on her face froze, turning into a look filled with spite and malice.

Wei Xun lowered his eyes listlessly. With a slight condensation at his fingertips, the gloomy blue flames flared up a bit more. He gave a light sneer: “Playing gods and ghosts (faking supernatural phenomena).”

Saying that, he slightly raised the hand holding the green lantern. A wisp of green fire instantly darted out from the wick, spreading forward along the night wind.

Another miserable scream rang out.

Jiang Qunyu kept feeling something was wrong.

This voice carried a bit of a man’s hoarseness, completely inconsistent with the silhouette of that lantern-bearing woman.

Before Jiang Qunyu could think it through in detail, a human figure suddenly darted out from the flames, screeching and yelling indiscriminately as he pounced out.

His mouth continuously shouted: “Stop burning, stop burning! You’re going to roast this young master thoroughly!”

Wei Xun, however, acted as if he hadn’t heard. Expressionlessly, he intensified the fire, the tongues of flame chasing and licking at that figure.

Jiang Qunyu: “…”

What a standard villainous style.

As a youth of the 21st-century harmonious society with beautiful morals, Jiang Qunyu ultimately couldn’t stand watching it anymore.

“Stop burning, that thing doesn’t seem to be that female ghost.”

Wei Xun coldly curled his lips: “I know.”

You know, yet you’re still burning him?!

Jiang Qunyu’s expression was complex, forcibly holding back the urge to roll his eyes.

For some unknown reason, Wei Xun suddenly had a surge of kindness. He retracted the fire and stopped chasing that youth to burn him.

He stood in place, his face pale and lips faint. With the corners of his eyes slightly raised, he glared at Jiang Qunyu with a cryptic smile: “Jiang Qunyu, you really are a good demon.”

Jiang Qunyu gritted his teeth and glared back at him.

Wei Xun was using his own previous words to choke him again.

He didn’t want to argue with Wei Xun, and clearly, he was more interested in the youth who had suddenly popped out.

“This young master is still alive?!”

Hissing and gasping as he rubbed his scorched clothes corners, the youth saw the fire recede and let out a fierce sigh of relief.

He turned his head to glance at the phantom image of the female ghost still suspended in mid-air, and then looked at Wei Xun, dressed entirely in plain white and surrounded by hostility, standing in front of him.

After hesitating for a long while, his legs turning to jelly, he still shifted over toward this side.

Only when he drew near did Jiang Qunyu see the youth’s appearance clearly.

His face was smoked pitch-black by the fire, but his brows and eyes still couldn’t conceal their handsome elegance.

He wore a vermilion robe with narrow sleeves and gold-woven cloud patterns, though it was stained with quite a bit of black ash.

The sapphire blue waistband at his waist was loose and sloppy, the gold crown on his black hair was crooked, and a few stray hairs stuck to his temples. Though he looked wretched, it couldn’t conceal his noble air. Presumably, he was some dandy young master from a prominent family in the mortal realm.

“A-Are you human or ghost?” the youth asked with a trembling voice, his footsteps still shrinking backward.

Wei Xun swept a cold glance at him, his entire body radiating hostility: “Scram.”

Saying that, his footsteps didn’t pause, walking straight toward the phantom image of that female ghost.

Jiang Qunyu fell silent again.

With Wei Xun acting like this, wasn’t he truly going to get beaten up?

Jiang Qunyu clicked his tongue lightly, his eyes full of sympathy as he looked at that youth.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing Wei Xun’s voice, the youth’s eyes abruptly lit up.

He immediately plopped his butt onto the ground and made a posture as if to hug Wei Xun’s calves.

But just as his fingertips were about to touch the hem of the clothes, he caught a glimpse of Wei Xun’s icy gaze glaring over.

Instantly, he retracted his hand guiltily, muttering softly: “Fellow Daoist! It’s me! Do you not recognize me anymore?”

Jiang Qunyu was originally crouching beside the youth, examining him, and also felt this youth looked very familiar.

Hearing this, he turned sideways, raised his eyes to look at Wei Xun, his eyes full of curiosity: “Quick, ask him who he is?”

Wei Xun cast a faint glance at Jiang Qunyu.

His eyes displayed a glaring unwillingness.

Jiang Qunyu fell silent for a long time.

His uncle’s.

Wei Xun truly knew how to pinch his weaknesses.

He relented: “Fine, I promise you one condition.”

Anyway, he had seen through it a long time ago. Wei Xun harbored nothing more than the thought of killing him; what other tricks could he possibly have?

The reluctance on his body practically overflowed.

Seeing his state, a trace of an almost imperceptible smile flashed extremely quickly through the depths of Wei Xun’s eyes, like a dragonfly skimming the water—fleeting and gone in an instant.

“Who are you?” Only then did Wei Xun turn his gaze toward the youth beside him, who had almost shrunk into a ball.

Just now, seeing Wei Xun delay in responding and his gaze constantly falling on the empty space beside him, the youth already felt creeped out in his heart. Now, hearing his ice-cold voice, his scalp went numb and his hairs stood on end even more.

His Adam’s apple rolled with difficulty, his legs going weak uncontrollably, his voice even taking on a crying tone.

“I-I am Wen Xingyao! The Wen family! You know the Wen family, right? My father is Grand Secretary Wen, the current dynasty’s Prime Minister! My mother is the legitimate daughter of the Cui clan of Qinghe! My family is really very rich!”

Wen Xingyao stiffened his body, not daring to move an inch: “W-We met at Buye Fang! This young master spent a full fifty thousand gold taels to buy clues about East Mirror Lake City! You were in the private room right next to mine at the time! You even scolded this young master for being stupid! Have you forgotten?”

He saw Wei Xun seemingly frown impatiently, and was so frightened he hurriedly sped up his speaking pace, pouring words out like dumping beans, crackling endlessly.

“That day when I saw you use techniques, this young master—I knew you were a cultivator! As long as you are willing to safely escort this young master to East Mirror Lake City, once I step onto the immortal path in the future, whatever you ask for is yours!”

As soon as he spoke, Jiang Qunyu remembered.

Ah!

And Wen Xingyao.

Wait, Wen Xingyao.

Wasn’t this the second disciple taken in after the original plot?

In the original plot, by this point in time, Shen Peiqiu and Lan Yuanzhou had already begun to develop mutual feelings.

But constrained by worldly etiquette, Shen Peiqiu could only restrain his thoughts, coldly hiding away that affection.

Lan Yuanzhou was filled with disappointment and drank to drown his sorrows, having a few too many cups.

Unexpectedly, it was these few cups of wine that allowed Su Fuyao—another disciple in the Profound Sword Sect who had admired Lan Yuanzhou for many years—to take advantage of his vulnerability.

That Su Fuyao looked somewhat similar to Shen Peiqiu. With hazy, drunken eyes, Lan Yuanzhou mistook him for the wrong person and had intimate relations with him.

The next day, Su Fuyao meticulously plotted, deliberately having someone stumble upon the matter.

After it caused a massive uproar, although Lan Yuanzhou was filled with guilt, he also harbored a bit of a testing intent, wanting to see if Shen Peiqiu truly cared about him.

Yet, even though Shen Peiqiu was utterly heartbroken, he didn’t reveal it on his face in the slightest.

Instead, he calmly brought up the matter of letting him and Su Fuyao form a Dao Companion contract.

Lan Yuanzhou flew into a rage on the spot, his eyes red as he threw down a sentence: “My matters with Fuyao will not trouble Shizun to worry about. From now on, you and I are only master and disciple.”

From then on, the relationship between the two became increasingly delicate.

Until one time during sect experiential training, Shen Peiqiu went down the mountain. Upon returning to the sect, he unexpectedly brought back another disciple with good root bones.

Lan Yuanzhou felt jealous and resentful.

After pushing and pulling for a period of time, he finally exploded.

He barged straight into Shen Peiqiu’s quarters, pressing him against the bed curtains.

He interrogated Shen Peiqiu on exactly who pleased him more—himself, or the newly accepted junior martial brother.

It was also from that moment on that Shen Peiqiu indulged himself step by step, sinking into this lingeringly affectionate lust and desire.

And the junior martial brother in this scenario was precisely the Wen Xingyao before his eyes.

Although he was a mortal, his root bones were decent. Coupled with the plot needs of Shen Peiqiu and Lan Yuanzhou’s deeply abusive romance, he naturally became Shen Peiqiu’s disciple under his tutelage.

This plot point could be considered the first minor climax of the entire book.

But at the time, Jiang Qunyu didn’t like dog-blood misunderstandings, so he directly skipped this section.

Therefore, only now did he belatedly realize that this massive sucker in front of him who spent fifty thousand gold taels was that unlucky tool character.

He would also have to endure a period of being bullied by the Profound Sword Sect disciples because of Lan Yuanzhou’s jealousy.

Speaking of which, one couldn’t blame Lan Yuanzhou; he merely disliked Wen Xingyao.

But Lan Yuanzhou was the sect’s heaven’s pride at such a young age, and the other disciples admired him exceedingly.

Seeing that he disliked Wen Xingyao, they subtly targeted Wen Xingyao.

It was genuinely quite miserable.

Even more fatally, since they ran into Wen Xingyao here.

That meant Shen Peiqiu and Lan Yuanzhou would also come to East Mirror Lake City.

Jiang Qunyu: “…”

His mood was extremely complicated.

Had he known earlier, he wouldn’t have skimmed through it! He should have recited the entire original text!

It caused him to now lack even half a point of memory regarding East Mirror Lake City, only vaguely remembering that the disciples of the Profound Sword Sect suffered heavy casualties here.

“D-Fellow Daoist, what do you think?” Wen Xingyao asked with a trembling voice, his eyes full of pleading.

Wei Xun wasn’t interested in this, his tone as faint as if steeped in ice: “No.”

Jiang Qunyu was beaming with joy: “Sure.”

The voices of the two fell simultaneously, and the air quieted for a moment.

The hand Wei Xun used to hold the green lantern paused slightly. He turned around abruptly, giving a sneer, every word hooking with provocation: “Jiang Qunyu, if you want to save him, get on my body yourself.”

His gaze landed faintly beside Wen Xingyao.

Scaring Wen Xingyao into another tremble.

“D-D-D-Fellow Daoist, i-is there a ghost beside me?”

Hearing this, a bizarre arc hooked at the corners of Wei Xun’s lips. He lowered his eyes, staring at Jiang Qunyu: “Naturally there is.”

Jiang Qunyu’s teeth itched with anger, forcefully suppressing the urge to fight him.

After all, in Wen Xingyao’s eyes, only Wei Xun was here. If they really fought, to outsiders it would look like Wei Xun was throwing a fit at empty air.

No matter how you looked at it, he would seem like a psychopath.

Wei Xun didn’t want face, but he still wanted face.

He gritted his teeth and cursed in a low voice: “Wei Xun, can you go get treated if you’re sick?”

Wen Xingyao, however, was scared half to death. With teary eyes, he screamed loudly: “There really is a ghost! Don’t eat me, I don’t taste good!”

Jiang Qunyu: “…”

“Jiang Qunyu, right?”

Wen Xingyao stiffened his neck, not daring to move, his voice trembling completely out of shape, “Wait until I get out, I’ll burn more paper money for you. Whatever gold, silver, and jewels you want, just visit me in a dream!”

As if Wei Xun had heard something extremely amusing, he laughed softly in a low voice.

Jiang Qunyu, however, suddenly paused.

In this world, this was the first time someone other than Wei Xun had called his name.

His heart felt as if a small pebble had smashed into a tranquil lake—with a “plop,” it rippled out circles of subtle waves.

He stood up abruptly and looked at Wei Xun.

Yet the smile on Wei Xun’s face receded bit by bit. His pitch-black eyes looked coldly at Jiang Qunyu, and the aura surrounding him abruptly chilled.

A piercing, sarcastic smile hooked at the corners of his lips: “Jiang Qunyu, the first time you’ve so proactively wanted to possess my body, is just to save him?”

Jiang Qunyu felt baffled.

Wasn’t this the condition he himself proposed? Why was he angry again?

Jiang Qunyu simply nodded: “You could say that.”

But inside, he was making his own little calculations.

Mainly, he wanted Wen Xingyao’s hefty reward. In the original plot, Wen Xingyao expanded his family’s mortal business into the cultivation world and became very wealthy. If he could take this opportunity to rake in a fortune, it wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Secondly, he hadn’t spoken to anyone else in a long time. Wen Xingyao looked like a chatterbox at a glance; the two of them would definitely hit it off.

Therefore, meeting Wei Xun’s gaze, he walked over: “Are you swapping or not?”

“Don’t regret it.”

Wei Xun abruptly grabbed his wrist, his thumb pad grinding over the skin of his wrist. Lifting his lips, he spat out a few words, his tone icy.

Wen Xingyao listened, completely confused in the clouds and mist.

His eyes were vacant, thinking to himself that he was definitely going to die this time.

But unexpectedly, the next second, a hand with distinct joints was suddenly extended in front of him.

That hand was extremely beautiful—slender, fair, with a very, very small black mole on the wrist, and cyan blood veins meandering until they disappeared into the sleeve.

“Get up.”

The youth’s voice sounded.

It was clearly still the same face, yet Wen Xingyao just felt his voice was different from just now.

Much softer, like the spring wind brushing over the lake’s surface.

He turned his head in a daze, raising his eyes to gaze into the youth’s eyes.

Those eyes that were previously covered in frost were currently very bright, holding fragmented light, and a faint smile even hung at the corners of his lips.

Driven by some ghostly or divine influence, he placed his hand into that palm, and relying on Jiang Qunyu’s strength, slowly stood up.

“Fellow Daoist, did that ghost beside me leave?” Wen Xingyao asked, his eyes still not daring to glance around wildly.

Jiang Qunyu: “…”

He looked at Wen Xingyao and pulled a polite smile: “I am that ghost.”

Wen Xingyao: “…………”

After a long while, he dryly tugged at the corners of his mouth to force an apologetic smile: “You’re joking, right?”

Jiang Qunyu shot him an expressionless glance: “What do you think?”

Wen Xingyao wilted again. After a long silence, he tentatively called out softly: “Jiang Qunyu?”

“Mm.” Jiang Qunyu nodded, not holding back in the slightest as he made his demands, “Later when I take you into East Mirror Lake City, don’t forget the hefty reward you mentioned earlier.”

Wen Xingyao’s Adam’s apple rolled violently, and his heart raced along with it.

He never expected he had actually encountered a ghost.

Originally, he wanted to turn around and flee, but his legs felt as if filled with lead, so heavy he couldn’t move them forward.

Forget it!

Finally, he gritted his teeth. Regardless of whether it was a god or a ghost, as long as it could take him into the city, he didn’t care.

He also didn’t ask about the relationship between Jiang Qunyu and Wei Xun.

He merely nodded his head awkwardly: “Rest assured, once this young master gets out, I will definitely repay you.”

With his words, Jiang Qunyu instantly felt reassured.

He ignored the gaze beside him from Wei Xun, which had almost condensed into physical form.

He directly asked Wen Xingyao: “Why are you here alone?”

Hearing this, Wen Xingyao’s eyes instantly turned red, and he wailed: “I originally came together with my servants, but after a short while, I didn’t know where they went. I figured they went to slack off, otherwise, how could it be this long without seeing them come find me?”

Jiang Qunyu’s expression was faint as he explained: “This place is probably within the boundaries of East Mirror Lake City. There should be restrictions that only allow certain people to enter, while others will be blocked outside. I estimate your servants are still outside.”

“Really?” Wen Xingyao’s eyes instantly lit up.

He said with pleasant surprise: “Then they aren’t dead, right?!”

“Really.” Jiang Qunyu consoled him, finding it unavoidably amusing: “Weren’t you just saying they went to be lazy? Why are you happy now knowing they’re outside?”

Wen Xingyao’s earlobes turned slightly red. He coughed unnaturally twice, stiffened his neck, and said: “This young master has his own reasoning, it’s none of your business!”

Jiang Qunyu gave an “Oh.”

Suddenly, Wen Xingyao’s trembling voice, tinged with a cry, sounded in his ear: “Is that female ghost getting closer to us?”

Jiang Qunyu’s scalp instantly went numb.

To make matters worse, Wei Xun was standing beside him as if the matter had nothing to do with him, his entire person almost melting into the thick shadows.

Demonic energy swirled around his body, and his face was frighteningly pale in the dim light.

Looking exactly like a water ghost who had just crawled out of a deep pool, carrying a body full of damp, cold resentment.

Jiang Qunyu lamented inwardly. Right now, they had a ghost in front and a ghost behind them.

Wei Xun smiled. He seemed to be rather happy, telling Jiang Qunyu: “What? Are you regretting it? If you regret it, it’s not impossible to swap back.”

Before Jiang Qunyu could say anything, he heard Wei Xun’s voice lower, full of bewitchment yet wrapped in chilliness: “However, you must kill this person first.”

He didn’t know how Wen Xingyao had offended Wei Xun again.

Jiang Qunyu quickly refused, focusing his mind to summon Soul-Devouring.

Forcing himself to calm down, Jiang Qunyu turned around and looked again at that lantern-bearing female ghost.

Wen Xingyao wasn’t wrong; she had indeed drawn much closer.

He estimated it was only a distance of fifty meters.

At such close range, the woman’s appearance also became clearer and more vivid.

She actually… had no face!

No, not just a face. Every exposed part of her body was covered in a layer of freshly dripping flesh and blood, as if she had been completely flayed of her skin.

A puddle of dark red, viscous liquid continuously seeped from beneath her, slowly spreading to the surroundings.

At this moment, she was facing the direction where they were, slowly bowing once again.

No matter how one looked at it, the entire scene was bizarre.

Jiang Qunyu had no time to think further.

He shoved the green paper lantern he was holding into the arms of Wen Xingyao, who was so scared he was about to pass out.

He himself advanced with Soul-Devouring in hand. The sword edge flared sharply, carrying a piercing wind as he slashed straight at the female ghost’s phantom image.

Yet the female ghost remained completely unharmed, a smile still hanging on her lips.

“Just what the hell is this thing?” Wen Xingyao’s voice trembled, his entire person almost pasting onto Jiang Qunyu.

But before he could touch Jiang Qunyu, he was abruptly staggered by a gust of gloomy wind, forcefully opening up a distance between the two of them.

Jiang Qunyu was busy dealing with the woman and didn’t notice the commotion behind him.

Wen Xingyao was scared to death; his Adam’s apple rolled violently.

Although he couldn’t see the expressionless Wei Xun standing right in front of him, radiating an aura of low pressure all over his body, he instinctively sensed a much deeper danger.

His mouth kept muttering continuously: “No taboos, no taboos…” (a warding phrase against evil).

Wei Xun lowered his eyes, looking at the shivering youth, demonic energy condensing slightly at his fingertips. He was just pondering whether he should simply kill him when Jiang Qunyu suddenly turned around.

Almost simultaneously, Wen Xingyao widened his eyes and screamed: “She bowed again!”

Jiang Qunyu understood: “So that’s how it is.”

“What ‘so that’s how it is’?” Wen Xingyao was about to fall to his knees again, his voice trembling uncontrollably. “That female ghost is now right behind you!”

As the words fell, Jiang Qunyu felt a damp, sticky aura creeping up his back like a venomous snake.

Following it came an indescribable, strange stench.

His eyelashes fluttered uncontrollably, and he subconsciously lowered his eyes.

Only to see a lantern had silently appeared beside him.

That lantern wasn’t the one Wei Xun had been carrying.

As the night wind blew past, this newly appeared lantern was blown to sway gently, spinning leisurely.

By its faint light, Jiang Qunyu saw clearly that covering the lampshade was actually a sheet of human skin with horrified, twisted facial features.

A human skin lantern…

This woman was carrying a lantern, and what covered the lantern was her skin.

Jiang Qunyu’s face instantly went white.

Wei Xun’s pitch-black pupils shifted. Dressed in white robes surpassing snow, frost that couldn’t melt condensed between his brows and eyes.

Unhurriedly, he strolled to Jiang Qunyu’s side, leaned close to his ear, his eyes fixed on the woman’s bloody, mutilated face, and chuckled softly: “What do you think of my proposal just now?”

Jiang Qunyu shot him an expressionless glance and said coldly: “Not much.”

The smile on Wei Xun’s face instantly froze and then receded. The already low and cold air pressure surrounding his body abruptly dropped a few more degrees.

Unfortunately, Jiang Qunyu didn’t have the energy to pay attention to him right now.

Forcibly suppressing the wildly pounding heart in his chest, he shouted urgently at Wen Xingyao: “Turn around quickly! Don’t look at that woman! Walk backward in reverse!”

Hearing this, Wen Xingyao hurriedly did as told, scrambling backward using both hands and feet.

That lantern-bearing woman was about to slowly bow again, her ghastly pale fingertips almost brushing past Jiang Qunyu’s shoulder.

Wei Xun suddenly reached out to wrap around his waist and spun sideways to dodge.

The moon-white hem of the clothes traced an arc in the night wind, and the two landed straight behind the female ghost.

At almost the exact same moment, Wen Xingyao also staggered over to this side.

That lantern-bearing woman abruptly froze, stopping in place and no longer moving. Even that human skin lantern dimmed down along with her.

“Jiang Qunyu! I made it over!” Wen Xingyao was overjoyed, hastily waving his hands to call him.

Jiang Qunyu gave a response.

However, his gaze landed bizarrely on the hand Wei Xun had used to wrap around his waist.

Wei Xun shot him a cold glance, letting go in disgust. His fingertips rubbed lightly as if he had touched something dirty, his tone flat: “Don’t let any random cat or dog touch you.”

He turned his head to the side, inexplicably feeling somewhat irritable: “Jiang Qunyu, it’s very dirty.”

Jiang Qunyu finally understood.

Fine, so it turned out his germaphobia was acting up again.

“Oh,” Jiang Qunyu nodded. “I know.”

Saying that, he raised his foot and continued walking forward.

Behind him, Wei Xun lowered his eyes slightly, concealing the increasingly irritable emotions in their depths.

When he raised his eyes again, they were once again completely devoid of ripples.

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