Stars sparkled, meteors occasionally fell, the crescent moon hung high, spreading silvery frost across the ground.
The cool night wind made the tree shadows rustle. In the courtyard, Gu Changhuai leisurely paced back and forth, opening his mouth: "Apologize to me. Say you're sorry."
His lazy, languid voice trailed upward, carrying a trace of pleased satisfaction.
Indeed, he was very satisfied. Bringing down the cultivation world's leader—if he took this out, it was something he could brag about in the Demon Realm in countless ways for three lifetimes.
Moreover, this was the male protagonist's golden finger, an immortal who would eventually ascend. That made it even more heavyweight!
Rong Ye looked at Gu Changhuai, saying word by word: "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have used you as bait."
Gu Changhuai, meeting his gaze, froze.
After being poisoned by Obedience Mushroom, Rong Ye's sword intent was completely restrained, becoming reserved and silent.
This caused his deep, handsome face to appear extraordinarily dazzling under the moon at this moment, like a sealed ancient sword.
Being gazed at by those emotionless, unfathomable eyes, there was unexpectedly the illusion of being held dear in one's heart.
An illusion...
He'd almost been bewitched!
Too careless!
Gu Changhuai snapped back to his senses in time, reaching out to cover Rong Ye's eyes, muttering quietly: "Thank goodness, thank goodness..."
He'd almost thought Rong Ye was sincerely apologizing.
But taking advantage of the effect not wearing off yet, he should think of a way to command Rong Ye to do something else.
Gu Changhuai looked down at Rong Ye whose eyes were covered, raising an eyebrow as he leaned forward, letting his fingers slide downward.
His fingertip slowly traced from Rong Ye's nose tip, tapping his lips before falling to his clearly defined jawline. With a light hook, Rong Ye's entire face was completely lifted.
Heh, a rare opportunity.
The corner of his lips curved slightly as he examined him seriously.
With his jaw lifted, Rong Ye's neck was completely exposed to the air. Looking further down was the tightly covered collar.
Gu Changhuai said gently: "Don't move."
Rong Ye truly maintained this posture, looking at him without moving.
Under the mushroom poison's influence, the gaze watching him was dull, calm, and unfocused, yet revealed a restrained yet submissive flavor.
The Immortal Lord, usually noble, self-possessed, with an imposing aura that couldn't be violated, was now obedient like a helpless, soft lamb. It must be said, this feeling was extraordinarily satisfying.
"So obedient." Gu Changhuai coaxed in a low voice, his eyelids lowering as his fingertip slowly slid through the air to the protruding Adam's apple, teasingly tapping this fragile point.
This fragile place uncontrollably rolled up and down once.
Gu Changhuai's eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze sharpening as he scrutinized Rong Ye's pupils.
The rich purple representing the poison's persistence was still there. Obedience Mushroom hadn't been dispelled.
Under the stars, all was silent. An inexplicable atmosphere silently spread. Gu Changhuai's doubts didn't dissipate. Maintaining stillness, he continued to closely watch Rong Ye's eyes.
Until a deliberately suppressed exclamation came from a not-too-distant wall: "Holy crap?!"
"You really brought down Qing Lian Immortal Lord?? Amazing!" Hua Mei said.
Suddenly breaking this standoff's silence.
Gu Changhuai's expression returned to normal as he turned to look at the wall where the sound came from.
Hua Mei, who'd climbed onto the wall, was frantically patting at sparks on his robe hem. Flipping over and jumping into the courtyard, he was still muttering: "That pile of fire lotuses outside can only be looked at but not touched. What bad luck."
Gu Changhuai stood up incredulously. "This is Supreme Peak's Waterside Residence, Rong Ye's territory. Sneaking here is one thing, but you actually dared to try picking the fire lotuses? Why didn't they just burn you to death!"
Though he said this, he still stepped forward in two or three steps to help put out the flames about to ignite on Hua Mei.
With the fire out, Hua Mei breathed a sigh of relief before saying to Gu Changhuai: "The outer sect is all rules. I couldn't stand it and was worried about you. Who knows if that black-hearted person transferred you here coveting your beauty? So I snuck over late at night to check the situation."
As he spoke, he turned to glance at Rong Ye nearby. Though knowing Rong Ye was poisoned by the mushroom, he still felt creeped out and shuddered, actively moving two steps aside. "Being too close to the demon clan's evil star makes me uncomfortable."
Gu Changhuai smiled at him: "Is this your reason for being backlashed by the fire lotus?"
"I'm poor!" Hua Mei declared righteously, touching his pitch-black face pitifully. "Poor me, a person of peerless beauty, without a few coins in my pocket. In this cultivation world, I can't move an inch. I want to buy some rouge and powder to cover this up but can't even scrape together three spirit stones."
"But..." He changed topics, looking at Gu Changhuai with a strange expression, hesitating: "What were you doing just now, getting so close to him? Hmm?"
Hua Mei didn't know how to describe the scene just now. Afraid of making noise, he'd finally managed to quietly get rid of that fire lotus he'd provoked. Just as he struggled to climb up the wall, he saw the slightly odd situation in the courtyard.
Speaking of ambiguous distance, it was certainly enough. But scrutinizing the atmosphere, it was somewhat strange. Thinking more carefully, it was more like a silent confrontation.
At that time.
Under the star-filled night sky, tree shadows swayed in the courtyard. In the pavilion, two people—one sitting, one standing.
One raised his head, one slightly leaned forward. Hua Mei could swear their noses were definitely no more than three inches apart.
Gu Changhuai had his black hair tied back with a jade hairpin. The already loose bun dropped several strands when he leaned forward slightly, hanging from his side and draping over Rong Ye.
Then he naturally and lightly pressed his raised fingertip on the protrusion of Rong Ye's neck, meeting his gaze with a smile at the corner of his lips. But those usually gentle eyes contained not a trace of emotion.
Shadow covered his eyelids, the usual laziness completely swept away, brewing a frightening indifference.
And Rong Ye—though seeing clearly that his pupils had indeed changed from being poisoned by Obedience Mushroom, could still reveal a few traces of chilling coldness from the corners of his eyes, like deep, cold pool water concealing unknown dangers beneath, ready to break through the surface at any moment.
Just like that, these two people outlined this scene of intimate entanglement.
Silvery frost scattered over them both, adding several degrees of cold blade-crossing intent.
Clearly a beautiful scene, yet it made Hua Mei, who witnessed everything, shiver.
Hua Mei pondered: "I just felt like with you two like that, the next second you'd either start kissing or start fighting."
Gu Changhuai: "..."
Gu Changhuai rolled his eyes. "Right, right, right. I was going to kiss him."
As soon as the words fell, Rong Ye sitting beside them suddenly stood up. The dark blue figure flashed. Gu Changhuai immediately sensed trouble. Too late to speak, he instinctively raised his hand to block his lips.
The next instant, the figure was already before him. At the same time, a slightly cool touch pressed against his palm. His pupils constricted in shock as he looked at Rong Ye who'd approached. If his hand hadn't blocked fast enough, they really would have kissed!
"Holy shit..." The sudden scene shocked Hua Mei so much his eyes widened. "Obedience Mushroom is this effective?"
The current distance was even closer than before—close enough to feel the faint breath against his palm. Gu Changhuai, still immersed in the aftershock of surprise, couldn't recover for a long time. Finally reacting, he immediately said in a muffled voice: "Back up!"
Rong Ye stepped back one step, quietly gazing at him.
Gu Changhuai pressed his lips with lingering fear. "Back up more."
Rong Ye stepped back another step.
Gu Changhuai said: "Not enough. Back up more! Don't stop."
Rong Ye then stepped back several steps until reaching another tree in the courtyard. Only then did Gu Changhuai call out to stop: "Stop! Stay right there. Don't come over."
The person under the tree stood tall and jade-like. After the voice fell, he obediently stood still without moving.
Hua Mei was awestruck. "This mushroom... amazing!" He stepped forward, poking Gu Changhuai and giving him a meaningful look. "Taking advantage of this opportunity, do something to make this life worthwhile."
Gu Changhuai didn't understand Hua Mei's meaning, asking in confusion: "...Do what?"
Hua Mei quietly whispered in his ear: "Take his primal yang."
Gu Changhuai: "..."
Gu Changhuai choked twice, silently turning to look at Rong Ye under the tree. Meeting those spiritless, unfathomable eyes, though knowing the other party wouldn't remember current events, Gu Changhuai still inexplicably felt guilty and averted his head.
"No thanks." Gu Changhuai refused Hua Mei's suggestion.
Hua Mei persisted in his sales pitch. "You know how many people in the cultivation world and even the Demon Realm want his primal yang? Converting it over, one time can increase cultivation by decades. Drain him dry, then kill him!" He rolled up his sleeves with a sinister smile. "If necessary, I can help you hold down his hands."
Increasing cultivation by decades... Gu Changhuai admitted he was shamefully tempted. But soon he firmly shook his head: "No, no. I can't do it." After a pause, he warned: "And don't you get any ideas about him either."
At these words, Hua Mei stamped his feet in anger. "Just let me die of frustration!"
"Go find a room next door to sleep in." Stuffing the large pot of remaining porridge into Hua Mei's hands, Gu Changhuai waved him away. "After eating, sleep quickly. I'll get you an access token to transfer you to Supreme Peak."
Supreme Peak didn't welcome disciples mistakenly entering. Even for disciples sweeping or coming and going to handle miscellaneous matters, they needed an engraved access token.
Hua Mei huffily left carrying the pot of porridge, pouting. Gu Changhuai helplessly let out a long sigh. Being interrupted like this, he'd also lost the mood to tease Rong Ye.
He turned and came before Rong Ye. "Tomorrow you'll remember that you agreed to transfer another attendant."
Rong Ye: "Alright."
Then a wooden token was handed to Gu Changhuai. Gu Changhuai looked down—it was different from his. This token had simpler patterns. Seemed there were several versions of access tokens.
What else... After thinking for a moment, Gu Changhuai pondered: "Give me one stalk from the lake's fire lotuses."
Rong Ye: "Alright."
Gu Changhuai smiled lightly: "Immortal Lord, return to your room. Rest early. Tomorrow morning you'll only remember agreeing to my transfer order and giving me one fire lotus."
Obedience Mushroom's effect was that the poisoned person wouldn't remember anything that happened during the poisoning period, unless someone specifically stated which things to remember. The poisoned person would, based on the things needing to be remembered, fill in the blanks themselves.
Rong Ye: "Alright."
At the same time, he followed instructions and walked step by step back to his room. Gu Changhuai stood in place without moving. The night wind lightly blew, making a disobedient strand of long hair at his temple fly up. He raised his hand to brush it back.
At this moment, the door closed under spiritual power's prompting. Rong Ye stood behind the door. The instant the door closed, he glanced up. Gu Changhuai happened to raise his head to look at the sky.
The door completely closed. Silent room.
Rong Ye's amber eyes were completely clear—where was there any sign of poisoning or half a trace of dullness?
After a moment, he turned, his entire person melding into the shadows. Only a beam of moonlight through the window crack fell on him. His expression was unclear, only the corners of his lips lifting in a smile of unusual danger.
How interesting.
At the same time.
Coming to the lakeside, picking and choosing among a pile of fire lotuses, after selecting the largest fire lotus, Gu Changhuai reached out to pluck it.
Who knew that as soon as his hand approached, flames mixed with lightning attacked!
Gu Changhuai's expression didn't change as he still reached toward the fire lotus stem.
Just as the lightning and flames were about to approach, his slender, pale hand—fingernails with a faint pink tint like pearls and shells—instantly wrapped with a silver light.
Silver protective armor appeared on his five fingers as if naturally grown, along with a silver bracelet tightly fitting around his wrist bones.
Chains connecting the armor and bracelet closely adhered to the back of his hand along bone lines. Everywhere carved with intricate, exquisite patterns yet extremely sharp. Reflecting fine, cold light, every movement seemed capable of taking lives with ease, everywhere revealing threatening killing intent.
On this pale hand, it further embodied cold intent and eerie beauty.
Or rather, this was originally one with him—the life-bound artifact Shattered Shadow.
With Shattered Shadow equipped, Gu Changhuai casually waved, repelling the flames and lightning attempting to counterattack. The aura brought by Shattered Shadow also instantly made the surroundings chillingly cold.
Gu Changhuai acted as if unaware. His fingertip sliced and severed the fire lotus's root. Completely unafraid of the scorching Three-Flavor Lotus Fire, he held it in his hand and weighed it, examining it with a smile: "Oh my, five hundred top-grade spirit stones. How nice."
This time he'd really profited!
Selling it would instantly increase his wealth by one hundred percent.
Gu Changhuai happily pulled out a box to store it. The instant the box lid closed, his hands became clean and white again, extremely harmless.
Then he carried the box back to his room to sleep, completely satisfied.
Author's Note (Original Author):
Seems like flirting, but actually Little Gu wanted to try poking his neck to see if he could stab through...
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Clarifying, Gu Changhuai has been book-transmigrated for many years, living with difficulty. Much of the time he subconsciously optimistically maintains peace and finds it hard to actively truly harm anyone, so he's just thinking about it without doing it for real... otherwise Rong Ye would have slit his throat long ago and he wouldn't have survived until now...
These two had no prior contact, no previous story
Rong Ye: Seeing through but not saying
Gu Changhuai: Thinking about how I should deceive everyone (wise eyes)
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TL:
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Screaming inside