GB Chapter 69
by VolareZhuge Qingtian had imagined the Demonic Cult to be a gloomy, sunless place like the Ghost Domain. Now, as he stretched out his hand and watched the bright sunlight fall onto his palm, he felt his mood brighten. He praised Qian Ren, “Your place here is more tasteful than I imagined.”
“Originally, the elders wanted to build a hall of human bones with a predominantly blood-red color scheme. You Jiang immediately rejected the design upon seeing the blueprints, saying, ‘Are you all sick in the head? Do you have to make the place you live in look like a rotten tomato dropped on a pin cushion?’ Then he took the initiative to lead people to construct it into what you see now.”
Qian Ren didn’t care much about clothing, food, housing, or transportation. However, You Jiang valued his surroundings greatly. In the past, when he was at the Bliss Palace, he couldn’t help but trim the flowers and plants in the courtyard. Now that it was his own territory, he personally drew the blueprints, meticulously designing every detail, proving that although he had spent the last few years painting erotic art, his past mastery as a painting saint had not diminished in the slightest.
Jiang Fengzhi was considered half a student of Zhao Huai’an, and his painting style was in the same lineage as his. Looking at the familiar murals that stretched across the corridors, Zhuge Qingtian felt a surge of intimacy in his heart. He looked at You Jiang with a hint of nostalgia, “It seems your taste in architecture hasn’t declined along with your fashion sense.”
When Jiang Fengzhi entered the Tian Shu Pavilion, he was still young and naturally arrogant. Looking at him, Zhao Huai’an would always be reminded of Zhao Jicheng when they had escaped together, so he took good care of him. Now, when You Jiang was looked at with that long-lost gaze, he was also stunned. However, in the end, he calmly shifted his gaze, only saying with his usual tone, “Those old geezers probably have a watermelon on their heads! Who doesn’t want to live in the sunshine? It’s precisely by letting the most luminous place in the world be occupied by my Demonic Cult that we can show we are a cut above the righteous sects.”
Qian Ren didn’t understand the communication between these painting masters. Seeing that Zhuge Qingtian and You Jiang could surprisingly have a few words, he didn’t interrupt. He summoned a messenger disciple and made a series of arrangements, “First, prepare a superior room and take the Demon Lord over. Send the accumulated official documents to my study, and I’ll handle them immediately. Prepare hot water and a change of clothes in my room, sized to fit him.”
“Yes, Great Protector!”
With the messenger disciple’s retreat, the Demonic Cult subordinates who had been waiting for a long time finally had a chance to see the Great Protector handling official matters. They immediately crowded around with documents.
“Great Protector, the righteous sects are quite wary of our alliance with the Ghost Domain. It seems they’ve been sending people to test the waters recently. Should we strengthen the cult’s defenses?”
“Have the spies keep a close watch on the entry and exit of all righteous sects. All cult disciples must report before going out. If any unfamiliar cultivators appear in the Northern Desert, report them immediately.”
“Great Protector, He Huan has been involved in multiple conflicts with the elders in the cult these past few days. How should we handle the resulting losses?”
“Tally up all the losses and send the bill to the righteous sects, with an added ten percent interest.”
“Great Protector, after the Cult Leader came out of seclusion, he has been clamoring about attacking the Heavenly Dao Alliance every day. Are we actually going to fight?”
“Ignore him. He is just making a fuss because his seclusion was interrupted. If there is a true battle between the righteous and demonic paths, all the disciples will naturally receive a written notice.”
“Great Protector, are we preparing for a wedding or a funeral?”
“Immediately issue invitations to all sects of the martial world. I will become cultivation partners with Zhuge Qingtian in seven days. Those who do not send a gift will have their names handed to the Cult Leader so he can vent his excess energy.”
“Is that really my son?”
Lüling, eyes wide open, watched Qian Ren handle all affairs in an orderly manner while surrounded by people. Recalling his own life as the Demon Lord when he only cared about killing, he instantly felt that Qian Ren might be a fake Demon Lord.
Looking at him and then at Qian Ren, whom the Demonic Cult members treated as their savior, Zhuge Qingtian honestly responded, “Maybe Grand Master adopted the wrong child back then.”
Seeing that his own father’s position was being shaken, Lüling immediately retorted with the most impeccable reason, “Shut up, he’s just like Qin Jiu with his meticulousness! Don’t you know a son is like his mother?”
Of course, Zhuge Qingtian had only one thought, “Thank you for making me deeply realize the importance of marrying a good wife.”
Even they thought this way. The Great Elders, who had been nearly driven to death by the unreliable duo of You Jiang and He Huan, were moved to tears. They wiped the corners of their eyes and sighed, “Cult Leader, when are you planning to abdicate and give way to the worthy?”
“Get lost. As long as I don’t die, he will always be the Great Protector!”
Glaring at the Great Elder, who wanted to usurp his position every day, You Jiang finally displayed the majesty of the Cult Leader. Pointing at Zhuge Qingtian, he yelled, “What are you all standing around for? Quickly wash him clean and send him to the Great Protector’s room. If you scare this kid away, you can all sleep with him yourselves!”
With just one sentence, the group of disciples who had been curiously watching suddenly surrounded Zhuge Qingtian fully armed. Seeing that they seemed to want to use some kind of immortal binding rope, Zhuge Qingtian finally accepted a reality—he indeed had no love rivals.
Of course, he didn’t have a habit of being tied up for a bath, so he could only explain to the Demonic Cult disciples who had surrounded him like thugs in a marriage snatch, “Calm down, I’m doing this willingly. Please let me climb onto the Great Protector’s bed myself.”
At this, there was a collective gasp. Everyone’s gaze at him could only be described as admiration. One of them even stepped forward with the expression of facing a martyr, and then asked in a tragic tone, “Sir, do you need to prepare any special tools or enhancement drugs?”
Was there something wrong with the connection between that expression and those words?
After carefully considering their logic, Zhuge Qingtian could only honestly continue to explain, “We are simply cultivation partners, don’t overthink it.”
“Isn’t a physical relationship pure enough?”
“…”
Faced with their such pure question, Zhuge Qingtian finally surrendered. Indeed, the boldness of the righteous and demonic paths was on a completely different level.
To this, he decided to first take a bath, then roll around on his cultivation partner’s bed, and personally ascertain how bold the Demonic Cult Great Protector could be.
The Demonic Cult was indeed efficient. Following the guiding disciple to Qian Ren’s room, although the room was simply furnished according to Qian Ren’s style, Zhuge Qingtian instantly found a familiar scent.
When he was a ghost, he had imagined what Qian Ren should smell like. It was only after he gained a physical body that he realized that it was different from what he had imagined. Although Qian Ren appeared to be a cold and hard man, he smelled faintly of sandalwood, which was very comforting and relaxing in his arms. Zhuge Qingtian had been curious about how this was the case. It was only when he saw the incense burners that were everywhere in the Demonic Cult that he understood it was the scent of the Demonic Cult.
After looking around the room carefully, he found that the styles of the clothes were all the same. He also found the cultivation manuals on the bookshelf and the letters from He Huan that had been carefully stored in a small box on the desk. It was indeed full of traces of Qian Ren’s life.
In such a place, even though he was alone, Zhuge Qingtian didn’t feel a bit lonely. He put his hand into the bathtub, feeling the warm water flowing over his fingertips. Only now did he truly believe that he was alive. This time, he still chose to maintain the appearance of his youth. As a result, whether in the past or the present, he hoped to start over, not to become the Master of the Tian Shu Pavilion again, not to learn to disguise himself for survival, but to grow up simply and then spend his life with the person he loved.
But he also knew that protecting a simple youth was tiring, and he didn’t want Qian Ren to bear this hardship. Now, sensing the aura outside the door, he slowly raised his head and calmly spoke, “Since you’re here, why not come in and talk in detail?”
Seeming surprised that he had been discovered, the person outside the door paused, but in the end, they did not enter, instead responding from the corridor, “This old man just has a few questions to ask Master Zhao.”
The voice was the Great Elder’s, presumably taking advantage of his absence to ask Qian Ren. Indeed, the Demonic Cult was still quite wary of his identity.
His mind habitually went through various analysis, but Zhuge Qingtian still calmly replied, “Please ask.”
“Since ancient times, the righteous and the demonic have been irreconcilable. The Great Protector was taught by He Huan, so his nature is somewhat better than the average demonic cultivator, but not everyone in my Demonic Cult is like that. You must consider whether you can endure the dregs of this place.”
As expected of a veteran of the martial world, his questions were direct and probing, but Zhuge Qingtian was not afraid. He chuckled and replied, “Your Cult Leader just said that no one dislikes living under the sun. I am not a child just entering the martial world. What kind of people haven’t I seen? Great Elder, you worry too much.”
“Demonic cultivators prioritize themselves. In terms of love, the Great Protector is not a very good partner.”
Qian Ren had long said that the Great Elder was the most concerned about him in the Demonic Cult. Now, this seemed to be true. Although Zhuge Qingtian understood his concerns, he did not yield in the slightest at this time. He only said, “You haven’t tried to fall in love with him, so how do you know?”
“This old man finds it hard to imagine that you, a ruthless person who once controlled the Tian Shu Pavilion, would truly develop feelings for anyone.”
This was the real crux of the matter. If it were an ordinary young man, the three elders of the Demonic Cult would not doubt Qian Ren’s judgment at all. However, thinking that the other party was an old fox much older than him, they couldn’t help but worry. It seemed that he couldn’t get away with playing the part of a young, tender thing.
Sighing helplessly in his heart, Zhuge Qingtian could only answer truthfully, “Zhao Huai’an is dead. The Tian Shu Pavilion has been destroyed. The current me is just the ghost god Zhuge Qingtian whom Qian Ren picked up. What I seek is simply to live peacefully. Besides, isn’t the Great Elder always watching over me?”
“There have always been many who have gone from the righteous path to the demonic one. What this old man fears the most are cultivators like He Huan and the Cult Leader, who were forced into the demonic path. They may be in the demonic path, but their hearts have always yearned for the world of the righteous path. As long as they have the opportunity to go back, they will discard everything they have now. I can tell that your heart is not on the side of evil, but the Great Protector is a true demonic cultivator. With such different paths, how can you become cultivation partners?”
This question stumped Zhuge Qingtian. In reality, he was not particularly clear about his own path. In the past, he had only chosen the most suitable path to survive. Now that he thought about it, although he had no intention of harming the world, he had never been particularly compassionate either.
He wasn’t saving the common people, so he couldn’t be considered righteous, but merely being non-interventionist didn’t make him demonic either. In the end, the future he yearned for was only to live a peaceful life with his family, to have someone to chat with at any time. He, from the very beginning, had never paid attention to the world. Perhaps he was still in the world of mortals, but would Qian Ren like such a simple life?
Zhuge Qingtian finally fell silent. However, just as he was wondering how to respond, You Jiang’s voice drifted in from outside, “All you old geezers are so talkative. When he abandoned the Tian Shu Pavilion and went to die alone, he didn’t think about the righteous path at all. He won’t betray Qian Ren for the sake of the world in this lifetime. You can go back to sleep.”
“Cult Leader, why did you come here?”
As soon as You Jiang’s signature words appeared, the Great Elder knew that this person had come to cause trouble. As expected, he shook his fan and said, “I am the Cult Leader. Where can’t I go? So what if I came to peek at him taking a bath?”
Based on their many years of understanding each other, the Great Elder knew that this person had chosen to support the Great Protector’s decision. For a moment, he couldn’t figure out what these young people were thinking, and he could only angrily say, “Heh, you wait. This old man is going to tell the Great Protector!”