FIMA Ch75: The Grand Ritual

Gu Siyuan and the Special Management Bureau team took a flight to S City airport and then transferred to a car to Fengdu County, arriving by dusk.

The next day was the beginning of the Grand Ritual. After dinner, everyone went straight to their rooms to rest without doing anything extra.

After washing up, Xie Xuanxing came out and saw a familiar, tall figure quietly standing on the balcony.

Perhaps the arrival of a large group of strangers had boosted the tourism industry in the small county. Usually quiet early in the evening, the small county was brightly lit tonight, making the distant mountains appear even darker and more sinister, like a lurking giant beast in the night.

Gu Siyuan stood between the lights of the human world and the dark mountains, tall and solid, his back imposing, giving an unparalleled sense of reassurance.

The late autumn night breeze came in, rustling his clothes and tousling his hair.

Moved, Xie Xuanxing took a few steps forward, wrapped his thin arms around the man’s waist and back, and pressed his face against the cool fabric, “I love you to death, Boss Gu.”

Gu Siyuan slightly turned his head to look at the little follower clinging to him. He reached out to pinch his chin and squinted, “Cuddling at night?”

Xie Xuanxing raised his head and snorted lightly, “What’s wrong with a hug? Is Boss Gu so stingy?”

“Not stingy, but as a bed partner, what right do you have to reach out?” Gu Siyuan coldly glared at him, his grip on his pale chin tightening.

“…” Xie Xuanxing.

Are you addicted to taking things by force?

However, recalling the incident from the day before yesterday, Xie Xuanxing found it quite thrilling and smiled, “Alright, Boss Gu, I was wrong. You can punish me all you want!”

Gu Siyuan picked him up horizontally and walked toward the bedroom, coldly saying, “Don’t cry later.”

“Whoever cries is the grandson,” Xie Xuanxing boasted shamelessly.

However, after a while, the only sound in the room was someone’s whimpering pleas for mercy.

But since tomorrow was the day of the Grand Ritual, where Xie Xuanxing had to represent the Special Management Bureau in the competition, Gu Siyuan stopped after just two rounds. He stroked the little follower’s sweat-drenched black hair and kissed the pale butterfly bone lightly.

Xie Xuanxing, curled up like a kitten in his arms, trembled slightly and looked at him with big, pitiful eyes, “Why is it always you moving, yet I end up more tired?”

Gu Siyuan said expressionlessly, “It’s a matter of constitution. Haven’t you discussed this with that lunatic Luo Chuan?”

Xie Xuanxing blushed, “Why should I discuss it with Brother Luo Chuan?”

Although… we did discuss it, we concluded that both brothers might be secretly wild beasts.

“…” Gu Siyuan was slightly puzzled and bluntly said, “Isn’t it obvious? You two are the same type, both on the bottom, so you both have experience in this?”

“…” Xie Xuanxing.

What do you mean by ‘on the bottom’? Are you looking down on me?

Xie Xuanxing glared fiercely at his boyfriend, pouting, “Hmph, in that case, I want to try being on top next time. Maybe being on top looks tiring, but it’s actually effortless?”

Gu Siyuan gave him a deep look and readily agreed, “Sure.”

“…” Xie Xuanxing.

Why do I feel there’s a conspiracy?

He tugged at his boyfriend’s sleeve and cautiously asked, “Did you really agree?”

Gu Siyuan didn’t hesitate, “Why wouldn’t I agree? We can try now. I’m also curious about what it feels like for you to put in the effort.”

Xie Xuanxing, feeling flattered, immediately decided to stop while he was ahead, “Not today. Tomorrow, after I win the Grand Ritual competition, we can try. It’ll be a gift to myself.”

Gu Siyuan squinted and patted the soft cheek, thinking: Isn’t this a gift for me? Another new position to explore…

He pulled the person closer into his arms and sincerely blessed, “Then I wish you great success tomorrow, may you win first place.”

Xie Xuanxing liked this blessing very much. Lying on Gu Siyuan’s firm chest, he nodded vigorously, “I definitely will. By then, you just enjoy yourself.”

Not only did he want to win first place in the competition for crafting talismans, but he also wanted to be on top in bed.

“Alright,” Gu Siyuan was silent for a moment, then lowered his head to lightly bite his red lips. This little follower sure knows how to please.

Hmm…

The two of them were not on the same page at all but could still converse normally.

…

The competition started at ten in the morning the next day.

After breakfast, the Gu brothers, Xie Xuanxing, and Luo Chuan left together. The rest of the Special Management Bureau members had already left earlier.

The county’s central area was not large. The hotel where the Special Management Bureau was staying and the competition venue were at opposite ends, but it only took them twenty minutes to walk there.

Taking out the Special Management Bureau’s credentials for the security check at the venue, the four had just entered the gate when they saw two familiar faces.

Han Mingye looked at the few people in front of him and squinted his eyes.

In recent days, the ancestors had taught them more profound cultivation methods and had also told them some things they had never known before, some very important things.

Soon, very soon, they would be able to wash away their previous shame.

The humiliation brought by the Gu brothers could only be erased with blood.

Xie Yuchen looked at Xie Xuanxing and said unexpectedly kindly, “Xuanxing, you are here too. Since you returned to S City, why didn’t you visit the Xie family?”

Xie Xuanxing glanced at him, seemingly indifferent, and said, “It seems the Xie family also signed up for the competition. Since you are the son of the family head, why don’t you represent the Xie family in the battle?”

“…” Xie Yuchen was momentarily speechless.

Xie Xuanxing had no habit of bickering with others. Seeing this, he bypassed them and continued to walk forward.

The Gu brothers and Luo Chuan completely ignored these people, but as they passed by, they caught a glimpse of Xie Yuchen lightly pinching his palm and his face instantly turning grim.

Han Mingye coldly watched the four leaving, then turned around and held Xie Yuchen’s hand, saying slowly, “Don’t mind them.”

Xie Yuchen gritted his teeth and forced himself to calm down. Just as the Han family’s ancestor had said, he and Han Mingye were children of destiny, people with great fortune. Previously, they were just disturbed by Gu Siyuan, this guy who came out of nowhere.

After today, they would welcome a new world, they would set things right, and everything would become clear again.

On the other side, the four who were walking into the venue.

Gu Beilin suddenly said coldly, “Those two give me an uncomfortable feeling.”

Gu Beilin, as a battle maniac, had always had a beast-like intuition.

Gu Siyuan raised an eyebrow and said casually, “It seems they’ve learned the method of spiritual sense attack.”

Xie Xuanxing looked at him, “I heard from He Pan that these two have been in seclusion recently. Now it seems their strength has indeed increased a lot. Is it just for today’s competition?”

Luo Chuan said leisurely, “Before coming, I did a divination. Although this trip will have many twists and turns, there is still a glimmer of hope.”

“Only a glimmer?” Xie Xuanxing looked at Luo Chuan.

Then you are quite calm.

Luo Chuan lazily raised his hand and placed it on Xie Xuanxing, helplessly saying, “After seeing the equipment you brought, I feel that the glimmer of hope might have been magnified infinitely.”

Xie Xuanxing smiled, bending his eyes.

…

Most cultivators had no idea about the upcoming changes and were fully immersed in the grand event before them.

When Gu Siyuan and the others entered the venue, a splendid performance had just ended on the stage.

Then, with a burst of fireworks, the crowd erupted in cheers.

The competition officially began.

The competition was divided into combat and a hundred arts, among which the hundred arts were further subdivided into pill-making, talisman-crafting, and artifact-making.

Of course, the most attention was given to the combat.

The rules for combat were simple: one-on-one matches, knocking the opponent down so they couldn’t stand up within ten breaths; or the opponent voluntarily admitting defeat, thus ending the match.

As long as no one was killed or permanently crippled during the combat, there were no other restrictions. One could use talismans to overwhelm or ancestral artifacts to suppress.

Gu Siyuan was very pleased with this, so after hearing the rules, he resolutely signed up to participate.

The booming sound of explosions constantly echoed in the ears of everyone present. For a moment, people were crying and laughing, but more were both angry and jealous.

The guy on the stage looked decent and cool, but when fighting, he was completely unprincipled.

“This rich guy is really eye-opening.”

“A talisman maniac… At this rate, except for the heirs of the four major families, who can beat him? Just relying on smashing talismans, he could go all the way to the final rounds.”

“Hmph, isn’t that great? By then, the four major families will teach him a harsh lesson. I saw that Young Master Han’s face was very ugly just now.”

“Hahaha, if that’s the case, why don’t we bet on how many talismans he’ll smash in this round?”

“With handfuls like that, who can tell how many? It would be easier to guess how long the opponent can last.”

The speaker’s tone was filled with a mix of sourness and heartache. So many talismans, he might never use that many in his lifetime.

…

Listening to the discussions, Xie Xuanxing glanced at them dissatisfiedly and muttered in a low voice, “Obviously, our Boss Gu is sincere, so he only uses talismans. Otherwise, if he used spiritual sense attacks, you people would really be in a sorry state, and it might even cause permanent damage to your sea of consciousness!”

“Truly ungrateful.” Xie Xuanxing, eager to find an ally, pulled Luo Chuan beside him and asked confidently, “Don’t you think so?”

Luo Chuan suppressed his laughter and nodded, “Yes, yes, you’re right.”

Xie Xuanxing nodded as a matter of course, “Of course.”

At this moment, Luo Chuan and Gu Beilin suddenly moved to another spot, distancing themselves considerably from their original position.

Xie Xuanxing blinked, slightly confused.

Just then, the commotion around them grew louder: “He’s here, he’s here, the rich guy is coming to our side…”

“Looks like there’s someone from his team here. I wonder if his teammate will also throw talismans like that.”

“Hahaha, maybe they’re all a bunch of wastrels. I want to see too.”

The nearby spectators laughed and joked as if watching an amusing spectacle.

“…”

Xie Xuanxing raised his eyes and looked at Luo Chuan and Gu Beilin, who seemed to wish they could shrink under their seats. He seemed to understand something.

Hmph, two disloyal fellows.

Gu Siyuan walked over expressionlessly, ignoring the crowd’s chatter.

He reached out and pinched his little follower’s chubby cheek, speaking softly, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Xuanxing shook his head, wrapped his arms around Gu Siyuan’s arm, and looked up at him with burning eyes, thinking: Brother, you really only have me.