After Escaping From Death, He Went Even Crazier By Criticizing Black Lotus Chapter 43
byChapter 43 Drunken Tea
After watching Xiao Jianming leave, the smile on Yinzhu’s face gradually faded and disappeared.
The drunkard beside him was still rambling: “Eldest Senior Brother, you don’t need to worry about me… I can walk by myself…”
He couldn’t help but chuckle softly: “Walk by yourself? Where do you plan to go?”
Wei Yinzui slapped him on the shoulder, leaning in to whisper: “Me? I’m going to find a great demon…”
“And after you find it?”
Naturally, he would execute it on the spot.
Wei Yinzui took a swig of wine, patted the heavy sword at his waist, and said: “I will make it a lost soul beneath my sword, a sacrifice to my dead parents.”
Yinzhu heard this, paused, and sighed softly: “Your parents… are you sure they died by the hands of the Demon Race?”
“Of course, I saw it with my own eyes,” Wei Yinzui said without hesitation.
Yinzhu lowered his head and whispered: “Junior Brother Wei, seeing is not always believing.”
Wei Yinzui sobered up slightly. Thinking Yinzhu was trying to persuade him to be benevolent, he frowned and said: “Even so, what does it matter! Even if my enemies weren’t them, does that mean the Demon Race shouldn’t die? Wherever the Demon Race goes, disaster is endless, and life is extinguished. If we allow them to remain in the world, the entire cultivation world will eventually turn into a living hell!”
Yinzhu fell silent, then murmured after a long while: “…It was the gods who abandoned them.”
“What did you say?” Wei Yinzui, clutching his wine jar, seemed unable to understand what Eldest Senior Brother was saying.
Unexpectedly, Yinzhu laughed, supporting him, and whispered: “Haven’t you been looking for me all this time? I am right here in front of you.”
Wei Yinzui instinctively gripped his sword hilt, his eyes narrowing, yet he felt something was slightly off.
He could sense the presence of the Xuanji Sect’s core cultivation method in the person before him. If it were possession, the expression wouldn’t be so unchanged.
After a moment of hesitation, his body became uncontrollable, slowly slumping down.
Yinzhu caught him and brought him back to his own cave dwelling, placing him on the bed.
Wei Yinzui was already sober. The spiritual energy in his body had mysteriously become empty, his body was immobile, and his consciousness was confined within his physical form. He could only stare at Yinzhu.
Yinzhu saw that he looked somewhat pitiful, so he lifted the silencing spell.
Wei Yinzui felt the change, still somewhat incredulous, and questioned him sharply: “How can you be a demon?! If you are a demon, how could you have passed the Path of Seeking Immortality and become the chief disciple of the Xuanji Sect?!”
Yinzhu leaned against the bedside. Hearing the question, he shook his head slightly, pulled up his sleeve to reveal a section of his pale wrist, and wiped away the illusion covering it: “The Path of Seeking Immortality is indeed formidable.”
What was revealed were hideous, purplish-red veins bulging on the snow-white wrist, swollen and engorged, with violent surging beneath the blood vessels, as if something alive was moving within.
Furthermore, large and small lightning scars crisscrossed the skin, flesh turned outward, and purple lightning flickered within. A milky-white spiritual medicine was applied to the wounds, emitting a faint medicinal fragrance.
This scent was like the superior life-saving spiritual medicine rumored to be made from the Immortal Burial Fruit.
Legend held that the Immortal Burial Fruit only grew in places where immortals had fallen, naturally carrying a trace of immortal energy, like a natural immortal pill with endless wondrous uses. Yet, here it could only inhibit the wounds from worsening, a testament to the power of the lightning.
Yinzhu slowly said: “An ordinary demon naturally couldn’t withstand the immortal lightning punishment of the Path of Seeking Immortality, let alone the heart-piercing curse that feels like ten thousand ants gnawing. But you know, I am the Demon Lord’s son.”
He continued: “The current Demon Lord was once a divine messenger under the Cangxuan Divine Venerable tens of thousands of years ago. For his meritorious service in curing disasters in the mortal world, he was granted a drop of divine blood by the Divine Venerable…”
Yinzhu gave a bitter laugh: “This drop of blood happened to be passed down into my body, concealing my demonic bloodline. Therefore, since my birth, he has been plotting how to send me into the Xuanji Sect. Clearly, he succeeded.”
Wei Yinzui felt the blood in his body run cold: “You really are a demon…”
Yinzhu neither confirmed nor denied it, merely tracing his fingertips across Wei Yinzui’s cheek, whispering: “Do you know what he sent me here to do?”
Wei Yinzui desperately wanted to turn his head away, but couldn’t move, glaring furiously: “I don’t want to know!”
Yinzhu didn’t grant his wish, slowly narrating: “He said that the Cangxuan Divine Venerable did not actually perish, but voluntarily entered reincarnation. He wants me to enter the immortal sect, provoke an unprecedented catastrophe, and force Cangxuan to appear in the world…”
“Since the Cangxuan Divine Sovereign ascended to the position of Divine Venerable, my race has always been his devout followers, willing to collect all the evils of the world for the gods. But now we have fallen to this state. He wants to ask the Cangxuan Divine Sovereign directly: why was he so decisive back then, and how could he bear to abandon the Demon Race and leave alone?”
Wei Yinzui was listening in secret shock when he suddenly felt the bed dip beside him, and his vision darkened as a few strands of dark hair fell across his face—
Yinzhu leaned over and embraced him, his voice full of desolation, trembling slightly: “Just for one sentence, I have been forced to live cautiously, treading on thin ice, hiding myself… Junior Brother, is he truly my father?”
Cold lips pressed against his cheek. Wei Yinzui instinctively shivered but couldn’t move, forced to endure it, gritting his teeth: “…What do you want to do!”
Yinzhu held him tightly, laughing softly: “I don’t want to work for him at all.”
Before the words finished, a blood-red demonic restriction mark suddenly appeared on his forehead. Yinzhu let out a cry of pain, writhing in agony, yet refusing to let go of the person in his arms.
He nestled against Wei Yinzui’s neck, murmuring almost silently: “Junior Brother, you once said that from now on, you would be my family. But now, I don’t want to be brothers with you anymore.”
Wei Yinzui’s eyes widened in disbelief, but a hand covered them, and a chill spread across his neck.
He heard Yinzhu’s voice sound in his ear, light as a dissipating cloud: “Sleep. Everything will be fine when you wake up.”
“By then, I will travel the Seven Continents and Four Seas with Junior Brother. We will be free and unrestrained forever.”
…
When Su Huan and Xiao Jianming returned to the tavern, Yue Jiusi had already jumped down from the eaves and was sitting behind a table full of dishes, grinning mischievously at him.
Su Huan was suspicious. Before he could figure out what was going on, Nangong Yi approached him with a look of helplessness and apologized: “I am sorry, Fellow Daoist Su. I have already paid for this meal. Please accept it as compensation for Jiusi’s mischief, and please do not blame him.”
Hearing this, Su Huan was puzzled. He had promised to treat them, so why the sudden change of plans?
He looked closely again and realized that all the dishes on the table were the most expensive ones in the tavern!
He estimated the cost in his mind—it would probably cost ten thousand spirit stones. He truly couldn’t afford that!
Su Huan turned, his eyes shining, and grasped Nangong Yi’s hand. Rich guy, please take me with you!
Xiao Jianming coldly pulled the two apart, sneering: “There is no need to trouble Fellow Daoist Nangong. No matter how expensive the meal is, he can afford it.”
Su Huan looked at him in disbelief. Where would he get that much money!
Xiao Jianming hooked his pinky finger, silently hinting: I have money, more money than that Nangong fellow.
Nangong Yi was surprised by the remark, then smiled: “It seems I was being overly helpful. No matter, Fellow Daoist Su can treat us next time.”
The four sat together at the table drinking wine, but Su Huan drank only milk tea, which earned him another round of mockery from Yue Jiusi.
Despite his bright eyes and white teeth, Yue Jiusi was not doing anything proper. He dipped a chopstick in some wine and waved it in front of Su Huan, smirking:
“Beg me, and I’ll let you taste a little, how about that? This spiritual wine tastes like the white snow of Cangshan, sharp yet with a sweet aftertaste, and a hidden gentle softness. It’s no less potent than my Zhaoyue’s fiercest Snow Chill Brew!”
“One sip, and not only is the flavor wonderful, but it can also increase your spiritual power! Are you really not going to try some?”
Su Huan was initially tempted, his mouth watering, but upon hearing the last sentence, he quickly shook his head and refused. He didn’t want to pass out again.
Who knew that milk tea could also be intoxicating? After half a pot, Su Huan started acting drunk.
First, he played finger-guessing games with Yue Jiusi and shamelessly reneged when he lost. Then, he insisted that Xiao Jianming dance with his sword under the moonlight, causing a fuss when he refused.
Xiao Jianming’s face was dark, but in the end, he went.
The moonlight was cold, and the sword flashed brilliantly with every movement.
Whether he was truly watching or not, Su Huan clapped his hands and giggled incessantly, nearly falling backward off his chair.
Nangong Yi held up the drunken Yue Jiusi with one hand and supported Su Huan’s chair back with the other, saying helplessly: “Be careful.”
Su Huan’s eyes were hazy. As if sharing a treasure, he beckoned to Nangong Yi and whispered: “Do you know? When I read books, my favorite person is you…”
The tip of the sword under the moon paused, then continued its movements subtly, as if nothing had been heard.
Nangong Yi was surprised, his ears quickly turning red with shyness: “Thank you for your appreciation, Fellow Daoist Su, but I currently have no intention of marriage…”
Su Huan suddenly grabbed his hand, stumbling as he spoke: “Everyone says, says you wield your sword to aid the world, traveling everywhere to subdue demons and monsters, praising you as a living… living Bodhisattva who ‘has not endured many hardships, yet still pities the suffering of the common people.’ I also like, like a true gentleman like you, but I also know what you truly want to do…”
Nangong Yi was stunned, thinking this was perhaps an exaggeration. They had only met twice; how could Fellow Daoist Su know?
So he asked: “What is it?”
Su Huan smiled foolishly, mysteriously uttering eight words: “Burn incense and play the zither, boil snow and brew tea.”
Nangong Yi smiled and shook his head, asking him: “I don’t even know myself, so how do you know I want to do these things?”
The sword shadow outside the window slowed. The moonlight was clear like accumulated water, spilling into the brightly lit room.
Su Huan held the half-empty tea cup, shaking his finger, his voice slow and delayed as he analyzed it for Nangong Yi bit by bit: “When your sword dao reached mastery, you chose the Daoist title ‘Yinfang.’ Others say you named yourself after your sword, yet few know that your mother had a zither named Sufang… And you, as the Young Sect Master of the Jianqing Sect, could only learn the sword, bearing the heavy responsibility of a sect and a noble family, and thus could only slay demons and monsters, becoming the Young Sect Master everyone relies on…”
As Su Huan spoke, his eyelids gradually drooped. He struggled to say the words he absolutely had to say: “Fellow Daoist Nangong, actually, indulging yourself occasionally is not impossible… For example, treating me to more wine and big meals, hehe…”
The sword had stopped at some point.
Nangong Yi was speechless for a long time, looking at the sleeping young man, momentarily lost in thought.
Xiao Jianming walked in and glanced at him coldly.
He warned: “Fellow Daoist Nangong should know what relationship he and I share.”
Nangong Yi lowered his head in confusion: “…Yes, I apologize.”
“I cannot control him, but I ask Fellow Daoist Nangong to stay far away from him in the future. He is mine.”
Xiao Jianming picked up the sleeping youth and strode out of the tavern.
It wasn’t until he brought the person back to their lodging that he couldn’t resist pinching that hateful face, muttering: “Who taught you to flirt everywhere like this? You truly are a little rascal.”
Unexpectedly, the youth shivered upon hearing his voice, then relaxed again, repeating something in his sleep.
When Xiao Jianming heard clearly, his entire body froze.
He heard the youth softly mumbling in his dream: “Once we’ve formed a bond, you can’t kill me anymore, okay…”
He instantly felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave.