ATAVID CH92

Xie Chuan curled his lips expressionlessly, completely disregarding Wen Xingyao’s threat. He simply replied with a flat, lazy, “Oh.”

Hearing his voice, Wen Xingyao instantly stopped howling with that cracked voice of his. He jumped off the bed and slammed heavily against the door. “You dead ice-cube face! Open the door for this young master right now!”

Xie Chuan remained completely unmoved. His task was already complete, so he chose selective deafness. Shifting his gaze lazily to the side, he found a spot of shade and squatted down comfortably, entirely ignoring the shouting coming from inside the room.

Jiang Qunyu: “…”

He fell silent for a brief moment before deciding to walk over himself. Wen Xingyao was right—he really ought to give Xie Chuan a good beating.

He stepped forward slowly and pulled the door open. Believing it was Xie Chuan outside, Wen Xingyao lunged forward furiously, ready to engage in a life-or-death struggle. Before his hands could even grope around for a decent sword, his gaze locked right into Jiang Qunyu’s eyes.

He froze on the spot. The moment he snapped out of it, his rims turned red, and he immediately made a move to fling himself forward. However, before he could even graze the hem of Jiang Qunyu’s robes, a piercing, bone-chilling cold suddenly flared up at the back of his neck.

Wen Xingyao went entirely rigid. Instinctively looking up, he saw a tall silhouette towering right behind Jiang Qunyu. Wei Xun stood there with a cold, listless expression, his heavy, dark gaze locked dead onto him.

Wen Xingyao’s lips twitched uncontrollably. Wiping the frantic expression from his face, he properly cupped his hands together and offered a highly respectful greeting: “Fellow Daoist Jiang, it has been a long time.”

Jiang Qunyu: “?”

He asked in all sincerity, “Have you lost your mind too?”

However, he quickly realized the issue stemmed from a certain individual who had been sticking to him like glue from behind. Turning his head, he glared fiercely at Wei Xun, gesturing with his eyes for him to back off and stand further away.

Wei Xun’s narrow, obsidian eyes half-closed. A heavy, oppressive aura emanated from his body as his thin lips parted, coldly spitting out two words: “No way.”

“Jiang Qunyu,” he warned, his tone sharp.

“Oh.” Dripping with absolute resentment, Wei Xun reluctantly drifted off toward Xie Chuan’s direction.

Only after his figure had completely vanished did Wen Xingyao drop his rigid, proper act. Taking advantage of Wei Xun’s absence, he reached out and lightly pinched Jiang Qunyu’s cheek, his face lighting up with a mix of shock and delight. “Wow! Jiang Qunyu! You’re actually alive!”

The veins on Jiang Qunyu’s temples throbbed violently. “If I wasn’t alive, would I be standing here as a corpse?”

He felt a sudden pang of guilt himself, quickly darting a glance over his shoulder at Wei Xun. After confirming that the man wasn’t looking, he hurriedly slapped Wen Xingyao’s hand away. “Take your paws off me.”

Wen Xingyao obediently withdrew his hand, nodding like a faithful puppy. “Right, right.”

His gaze landed on Jiang Qunyu’s wrist, and sure enough, he spotted that familiar, faint black mole. Finding it increasingly miraculous, a barrage of questions tumbled out of his mouth: “Is this your original body? Why wasn’t there a single trace of news from you for over a hundred years? And why on earth are you and Brother Wei in the Nine Serenities?”

Jiang Qunyu’s ears practically ached from the sheer volume of questions. “Which question do you want me to answer first?”

Wen Xingyao: “Any of them.”

“Well,” Jiang Qunyu pondered briefly before speaking, “this body is indeed mine, but I only woke up not too long ago, which is why I didn’t contact you. As for why I’m in the Nine Serenities—you heard Qin Shiyue mention it yesterday. I’m just as unlucky as you are; barely after waking up, I was kidnapped to serve as a lucky bride to ward off Qin Shiyue’s ill fortune. As for why Wei Xun is here, I honestly don’t know. I asked him, but he refused to say.”

Previously, Jiang Qunyu had deliberately avoided asking those two maids about any news regarding the Demon Realm because he didn’t want to hear anything related to Wei Xun—especially the rumors concerning him and Shen Peiqiu.

Back then, he hadn’t understood why he felt that way. But now that he had recovered his memories from Yunque City, he found it rather amusing. Time and again, he had been influenced by the plot of the original novel in his head, coupled with the fact that every time he developed feelings for Wei Xun, he would lose those memories shortly after. Consequently, he had stubbornly believed that there must be some sort of fated entanglement between those two.

Yet clearly, during the hundred-plus years stretching from the Xiping era to the Changning era, absolutely nothing had happened between Wei Xun and Shen Peiqiu. In fact, back then, in an effort to stop Wei Xun from constantly clinging to him, Jiang Qunyu had deliberately egged him on to go find Shen Peiqiu.

As a result, for a long time afterward, Wei Xun’s gaze toward him had been incredibly sinister, and he had deliberately kissed him a few extra times out of spite, scaring Jiang Qunyu so badly that he had literally hidden outside, playing dead for an entire month.

Thinking back on it now, his instinctive avoidance of that news was simply his subconscious being jealous.

Jiang Qunyu couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh, feeling rather curious now. However, those two maids hadn’t accompanied him into the Netherworld Abyss. If he went to ask Wei Xun directly, the man would likely refuse to answer, and the two of them would undoubtedly end up aggressively locking lips again.

Recalling the dense network of bite marks scattered across his skin, Jiang Qunyu really didn’t want to deal with him at the moment.

Therefore, he decided it would be better to ask Wen Xingyao instead. “Do you know what happened later in the Demon Realm after the 87th year of the Xiping era?”

Wen Xingyao let out a heavy sigh. “I’m not entirely sure either. After that great war, the cultivation world suffered catastrophic casualties, and Lan Yuanzhou died as well. My master spent more than a decade reorganizing the Immortal Alliance just to barely stabilize the situation. After that, I went into secluded cultivation. By the time I emerged, I heard that the Demon Realm had already changed masters.”

Jiang Qunyu paused for a fraction of a second, his eyelids fluttering lightly. “The Demon Realm changed masters?”

“Yeah,” Wen Xingyao nodded. “It was also in that exact same year that the tower you mentioned to me back then inexplicably caught fire. On the transmission jade slips, there were demons from Yunque City swearing up and down that they saw Brother Wei step into that raging fire all by himself, perishing within the flames.”

“That’s why when I heard Qin Shiyue mention Brother Wei’s name yesterday, I didn’t connect it to him at all. I never imagined it would actually be him.”

Wen Xingyao kept rambling on, completely failing to notice that Jiang Qunyu had gradually fallen into a deep silence. A faint smile flickered in Wen Xingyao’s eyes. “Then again, it makes sense. That heavenly fire wouldn’t be enough to kill him.”

Seeing that Jiang Qunyu had gone completely quiet, Wen Xingyao waved a hand right in front of his face. “Jiang Qunyu, what are you spacing out for?”

After a long silence, Jiang Qunyu finally spoke in a slow, measured tone: “Which year was it?”

“The 98th year of the Changning era,” Wen Xingyao answered.

That inexplicable, bizarre sensation surged up in his heart once more. The 98th year of the Changning era?

The fire at Yujing Tower, the year he was supposed to have been reborn, and Wei Xun leaving the Demon Realm.

Could there be some sort of connection between these three events?

“The rest, this young master doesn’t know either,” Wen Xingyao blinked.

Jiang Qunyu had essentially found out what he wanted to know. Anything beyond that was likely a secret known to no one else but Wei Xun himself. He stopped stressing over it, mentally planning to find a jar of spiritual wine in a few days to get Wei Xun completely plastered so he could interrogate him.

Right now, he was far more interested in how Wen Xingyao had ended up in the Nine Serenities. “What about you? Instead of staying safely in the cultivation world, how did you manage to get dragged down to the Nine Serenities?”

At the mention of this, Wen Xingyao could complain for three days and three nights straight. He launched into a deeply aggrieved, resentful rant: “For some unknown reason, resentful spirits have been cropping up all over the five realms these past few years. A few months ago, a massive influx of resentful spirits caused absolute chaos in a small mortal city, so my master and I descended the mountain together. Upon returning from the mortal realm, my master instructed me to escort those purified souls to the River of Forgetfulness, so down I came. Who would have guessed that the moment this young master sent those spirits off, those old fogies of the Nine Serenities would actually have the audacity to kidnap me, intending to use me as a spiritual vessel to nourish the vitality of the Netherworld Lord! This is seriously too much!”

As he spoke, Wen Xingyao began to wail miserably again. “They are picking on me way too much!”

Jiang Qunyu felt a headache brewing. “Alright, alright, stop crying already.”

He glanced at Wen Xingyao, who was still wearing that tattered, ruined wedding robe. The torn fabric exposed quite a few abrasions and scratches, making him look thoroughly pitiful.

A flash of annoyance toward Xie Chuan washed over him. He truly wondered how Wei Xun had raised that kid; throwing someone in here meant literally just tossing them in without even providing a change of clothes or some healing salve.

His gaze rested on Wen Xingyao’s wounds—the ones on his wrists were clearly the most severe, while his knees and other areas fared slightly better. As he rummaged through his own spatial pouch to pick out a set of robes for Wen Xingyao, he remarked, “They tied you up way too tightly.”

Wen Xingyao immediately took a mile given an inch, whining miserably to press his grievances: “Exactly! Exactly! Jiang Qunyu, you have to avenge me and give them a thoroughly brutal beating!”

Jiang Qunyu gritted his teeth, snapping irritably, “Why don’t you go do it yourself?”

Wen Xingyao blinked, adopting an incredibly solemn and serious expression. “If you beat them up, Wei Xun will help you.”

Jiang Qunyu was instantly rendered speechless. It took him a good while before he squeezed out a cold sneer: “…Heh, so now isn’t the time to persuade me to return to the cultivation world with you anymore?”

Wen Xingyao: “Hehehe.”

The veins on Jiang Qunyu’s temples throbbed violently. Lacking the energy to bicker with him, he instructed in a heavy tone, “Just rest up and recover here peacefully for a few days. Once the wounds on your body have healed a bit, I’ll figure out a way to send you out of the Nine Serenities.”

“Deal.” Wen Xingyao nodded frantically. Then, remembering Xie Chuan, he gritted his teeth and added maliciously, “Don’t you dare forget to give that ice-cube face a proper thrashing for me! That brat—I’m clearly older than him, yet he doesn’t have a single ounce of manners or respect!”

Fearing that Wen Xingyao might turn around and immediately lock horns with Xie Chuan, Jiang Qunyu could only casually agree to pacify him: “Got it, fine.”

Only then did Wen Xingyao rest satisfied. Turning his head toward where Xie Chuan was squatting in the distance, he stealthily pulled a massive, mocking face.

Jiang Qunyu: “…”

How childish.

He remained silent for a moment before asking, “Is Shen Peiqiu still with the Immortal Alliance?”

He was completely certain now that his feelings for Wei Xun had absolutely nothing to do with the spirit deer blood inside his body, but he still wanted to uncover why his reborn body belonged to the spirit deer clan.

If nothing went sideways, Shen Peiqiu should be able to answer his doubts.

Wen Xingyao let out a lazy yawn, replying casually, “Yeah, he’s still with the Immortal Alliance.”

Suddenly snapping to attention, he glanced at the menacing, dark figure of Wei Xun outside the house and lowered his voice, asking tentatively, “Wait… did Wei Xun force you? This young master felt something was off earlier. If you want to leave the Nine Serenities, you can slip out with me when I escape. Once we reach the Immortal Alliance, Wei Xun won’t be able to lay a finger on you.”

Jiang Qunyu let out a soft laugh. “What on earth are you thinking?”

He lifted his chin with a thoroughly smug, proud expression. “I am his husband now.”

The air fell completely dead for a few seconds. In the very next instant, Wen Xingyao burst into an unbridled, merciless roar of laughter: “Hahahahaha—”

Jiang Qunyu stood frozen on the spot with a deadpan, wooden expression. “…”

He decided that Wen Xingyao was also incredibly asking for a beating.

Wen Xingyao laughed so hard he couldn’t even straighten his back, clutching his stomach as he gasped for air. “If you had said that in the past, I actually would have believed you. But looking at things now, you can’t even win a fight against Wei Xun!”

Previously, whenever Jiang Qunyu appeared, he had always taken on Wei Xun’s appearance, which had mistakenly led Wen Xingyao to believe that Jiang Qunyu’s build was roughly identical to Wei Xun’s.

Jiang Qunyu let out a freezing, sharp sneer: “Heh.”

With a darkening face, he immediately stepped forward without a single word, making a move to snatch back the robes and healing salve he had just handed over.

Wen Xingyao instantly choked back his laughter, immediately raising his hands in surrender. “I was wrong.”

Seeing that the man knew how to read the room, Jiang Qunyu couldn’t be bothered to argue further.

Having asked everything he needed to know, Jiang Qunyu bid Wen Xingyao farewell, turned around, and prepared to leave.

However, after taking barely a few steps, he suddenly halted. Remembering something, he whirled around to look at Wen Xingyao. “Why exactly did you say earlier that that heavenly fire wouldn’t be enough to kill Wei Xun?”

Wen Xingyao blanked out for a moment, scratching his head. “Brother Wei’s cultivation is incredibly high. That fire shouldn’t have been any threat to him.”

“Oh.” Jiang Qunyu nodded flatly, pressing no further.

The moment he stepped outside, he spotted Xie Chuan still squatting beneath the tree to avoid the glare of the sun, alongside Wei Xun, who was leaning casually against the tree trunk.

Wei Xun’s eyelids were lowered, his entire posture exuding a somewhat lazy, listless air, yet the heavy pressure radiating from him was terrifyingly oppressive.

A strange, indescribable sensation welled up in Jiang Qunyu’s chest.

He felt an instinctive chill prickle across the back of his neck. It wasn’t until he walked forward step by step, meeting Wei Xun’s deep, swirling obsidian eyes, that he finally realized how to most accurately describe this exact feeling.

…It felt exactly like being caught cheating red-handed.

Jiang Qunyu felt a wave of guilt wash over him. But on second thought—he hadn’t done anything to compromise his conscience. Straightening his spine, he strode over, intending to take hold of Wei Xun’s hand.

Yet Wei Xun didn’t let him take it.

Jiang Qunyu’s brows hitched slightly. “?”

What kind of petty tantrum is this guy throwing now?

While he was still thoroughly bewildered, Wei Xun had already lifted his hand. His cool fingertips pressed firmly against Jiang Qunyu’s cheek, rubbing against the skin with a force that grew heavier with every stroke, as if desperately trying to erase some sort of mark.

Jiang Qunyu had no idea what kind of madness he was indulging in this time. Just as he was about to slap his hand away, a sudden mental image of Wen Xingyao reaching out to pinch his cheek flashed through his mind, causing his entire body to freeze instantly on the spot.

Wei Xun slowly lifted his eyes, his freezing, dark gaze sweeping past Wen Xingyao, who was currently sneaking around inside to close the door.

Only then did he pull his gaze back, locking it onto Jiang Qunyu’s reddened cheek. His tone was dripping with an icy, sinister chill: “Jiang Qunyu, what exactly are you feeling guilty about?”