The Immortal Lord Always Pretends To Be Affectionate Towards Me - Chapter 3

“If you want to investigate, follow him yourself. Why drag me along? He is your master, not mine. Why should I care?”

In the guest room of the Zheng residence, Yu Zaixi was curled up in a chair, complaining and furious, yet utterly powerless. Just because Qin Nai had made the decision on his behalf, Jiang Yan had bound the three of them together by their life force.

This was an ancient technique used by sects to discipline disciples. By binding the life force of a lower-cultivation disciple to a higher-cultivation master, the latter could instantly sense the former’s danger and teleport to their side. However, it was originally an old method used by ancestors to control slaves; the one performing the spell could exert absolute control over the bound individual, choosing whether to protect or punish them.

With their life forces bound, Yu Zaixi could no longer escape.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He continued to grumble, “You are a talisman cultivator; shouldn’t you be the most knowledgeable about these things? You just agreed when he cast the spell. Were you not afraid that he might kill you if he got annoyed?”

Qin Nai, who had been sitting and drawing talismans, only smiled at this. “If I had refused, would he not have killed me on the spot?”

Yu Zaixi let out a mocking laugh, his expression complex. He could not grasp Qin Nai’s reasoning. “You had a chance to escape back then. You do not anymore.”

“My formations cannot stop a Mahayana-stage cultivator; there is nowhere to run,” Qin Nai explained calmly. He then held up a completed talisman toward Yu Zaixi. “You seem to have demonic energy circulating within you. This talisman can suppress it temporarily, but do not rely on it for too long. I will give you a new one in a few days.”

His words slightly eased Yu Zaixi’s anger. “I just scolded you, so how can I have the face to use your things?”

He was direct. Qin Nai could not help but laugh. “Brother Yu, your personality is so straightforward that it is almost childish.”

Yu Zaixi smirked and took the talisman. “I have decided to use it anyway. Also, do not call me Brother Yu. It sounds awful.”

The feeling of relief he felt when near Jiang Yan was too addictive, and now he felt uneasy with Jiang Yan gone. Once he had the talisman, Yu Zaixi channeled his energy into it, and the yellow paper dissolved into specks of light. The force within his body was immediately suppressed, and he felt much better.

Unable to continue complaining about Qin Nai, Yu Zaixi asked, “Did you intend to investigate the Wang family incident from the start?”

Qin Nai nodded. “The Wang family’s business might be related to my master. I want to get to the bottom of it.”

“Have you seen the groom?” Yu Zaixi asked out of curiosity.

“I have not,” Qin Nai looked at him. “What about the groom?”

Yu Zaixi decided to be open. They were in this together, so the sooner they finished, the better. “He looks exactly like your master.”

Qin Nai was stunned, seemingly caught off guard. A moment later, he gave a small nod. “That is truly strange.”

Seeing that Qin Nai had nothing more to add, Yu Zaixi continued, “The thing that ate the groom really was a vicious beast. It had fangs, and it looked like a mix between a wolf and a tiger. It was terrifying.”

Qin Nai was surprised by this description. “A mix of a wolf and a tiger? How could such a beast exist?”

Although this was a world of cultivation, the flora and fauna were no different from the mundane world. There should be no such hybrid species, as wolves and tigers were two entirely unrelated animals.

“You have not seen it either, right? Neither have I. Isn’t it strange? And it really is just a wild beast.”

Just as Yu Zaixi finished his sentence, someone knocked on the door. Mr. Zheng helped Jiang Yan open the door with a flattering, cautious smile. “Immortal Venerable, please!”

Jiang Yan nodded to him before entering, and Mr. Zheng closed the door with a sigh of relief, not daring to disturb the people inside. Yu Zaixi, who had been sprawled in his chair, turned his face away as Jiang Yan entered. Qin Nai nodded at Jiang Yan and asked, “Did you find anything amiss, Brother Jiang?”

Although Jiang Yan held high status and immense cultivation, his seniority rank was treated as that of a regular disciple. Other disciples of the sects would respectfully call him “Senior Brother Jiang,” while the personal disciples of elders or sect leaders would call him “Brother Jiang.” With his current cultivation, Jiang Yan was arguably the strongest in the world, yet he still maintained the rank of a common disciple, respectfully bowing to various elders.

Yu Zaixi watched from the side, snickering to himself. He heard Jiang Yan’s cold, emotionless voice: “You went to the Western Mountain last night to chase that beast. Why did you not tell me?”

The room went quiet for a moment before Yu Zaixi realized Jiang Yan was talking to him. He turned his head, baffled. “What beast did I chase? I went to the Western Mountain last night to exorcise demons.”

Not only did he fail to exorcise the demon, but he had almost been killed by it, and he would have died if he had not been saved by a stranger. Recalling the incident made Yu Zaixi feel humiliated. Fortunately, he did not know who his savior was, and the other person likely did not know him either, or he would have lost all face.

Jiang Yan frowned. “Was the person Miao Pei saved yesterday you?”

Yu Zaixi: “…”

Qin Nai looked between the two, sighed silently, and asked Jiang Yan, “So that beast is in the Western Mountain?”

Jiang Yan nodded. “It was.”

He was a man of few words, his sentences short and abrupt. Yu Zaixi hated this type of person—it was too exhausting to talk to them—so he continued, “So it ran away now. What, are you going to blame me?”

He had clearly left the city chasing demonic energy, and the Western Mountain did indeed have a strong aura. Perhaps his exorcism had disturbed the beast, causing it to relocate. Although Yu Zaixi looked fierce, he began to think. He had chased the demonic energy out of the city, yet he had not seen a single demon. The creature that had wounded him had never shown its face, lurking instead in the shadows of the mountainside.

Had he really been chasing that beast all along?

“What should we do now?” Qin Nai tried to mediate the tension.

Jiang Yan did not speak, staring at Yu Zaixi. “What artifact did you use?”

Yu Zaixi tilted his head, understanding what he was asking, and smiled. “Guess.”

His attitude toward Jiang Yan was so poor that Qin Nai feared Jiang Yan would draw his sword in annoyance. He smiled and explained, “I drew a talisman for Brother Yu, which can suppress demonic energy temporarily.”

Jiang Yan understood and looked somewhat surprised. “The Wufeng Tower still possesses such talismans.”

Qin Nai felt ashamed. “My master studied this for a long time.”

At the mention of his master, Qin Nai’s expression grew visibly weary. Yu Zaixi, watching closely, had his curiosity piqued again. He leaned in to ask, “Can you tell me why you injured your master back then?”

Qin Nai waved him off. “Little Yu, let us focus on the matters in Quzhou City.”

Yu Zaixi retreated, bored. Jiang Yan, showing no interest in the past of Wufeng Tower, raised his hand and said, “We must go to the Western Mountain tonight. You will accompany me.”

Qin Nai had no objections. Yu Zaixi raised an eyebrow, his tone sour. “You are already at the Mahayana stage; can’t you go alone? My cultivation is low, and it is very dangerous.”

Jiang Yan glanced at him expressionlessly. “Yuan Qi, you…”

Before he could finish, Yu Zaixi interrupted him. “I am Yu Zaixi.”

Jiang Yan lost interest in talking and turned his gaze to the books scattered around the room. Those were books Yu Zaixi had picked up on the street when he was bored. They contained everything, including several stories about the love and hate between the original owner and Jiang Yan. The plots were absurdly dramatic, and Yu Zaixi had tossed them aside after a glance. Now that he was in the same room as Jiang Yan, he suddenly felt curious about those books again. Wishing to annoy the other man, he casually grabbed one and started flipping through it.

The original owner’s formal name was Yuan Qi. He and Jiang Yan were fellow disciples, both rare geniuses. Yuan Qi was brought to the sect at the age of seven and was raised entirely by the teenage Jiang Yan. The sect leader was elusive, so Jiang Yan taught Yuan Qi everything—from martial arts to sword techniques. The two grew up together.

A hundred years later, Jiang Yan reached the late Nascent Soul stage and was on the verge of a breakthrough, while Yuan Qi remained stuck at the mid-Nascent Soul stage. The gap between the genius disciples widened. Outsiders often speculated that Yuan Qi, with his terrible temper, must have been jealous and resentful of Jiang Yan’s rapid progress. Since they were both geniuses from the same sect and master, and studied the same techniques, comparisons were inevitable. It was only natural for the one left behind to suffer.

Unfortunately, outsiders were wrong. Yuan Qi was not jealous; instead, he became increasingly attached to his senior brother. Over a hundred years of day-to-day companionship, he developed feelings for Jiang Yan that went beyond brotherly love.

These feelings did not last long. For unknown reasons, their relationship began to fracture. Yuan Qi shattered his own Golden Core and destroyed his own cultivation. When he returned to the sect, he began to practice the Way of Heartlessness alone, abandoning everything related to Jiang Yan. The hatred began there.

The story claimed that after Yuan Qi destroyed his path and rebuilt it, he hated Jiang Yan, yet could not bear to let him go, trying every method to win him back. Unfortunately, Jiang Yan was ruthless, ignoring their past, and forced Yuan Qi to commit suicide after he became possessed. Jiang Yan then took Yuan Qi’s corpse back to the place where they had grown up, guarding it behind closed doors every day.

The story was written brilliantly, with smooth transitions and overflowing melodrama. Yu Zaixi had originally meant to annoy Jiang Yan, but he found himself getting sucked into the plot, even commenting aloud at the shocking parts. He exclaimed at one point, “I know why he found a substitute!”

Yu Zaixi looked up at Jiang Yan. “Are you stupid? You think he was trying to upset you? He clearly found someone who resembled himself, just to see what he looked like through your eyes!”

With such a dramatic plot, the more Yu Zaixi read, the more stifled he felt. He sighed in disgust, “You two are truly exhausting when it comes to love.”

Jiang Yan only gave a faint “mm” in response to his assessment.

Yu Zaixi’s expression froze. He did not know how to feel; it felt like he had just witnessed a display of affection, yet it also felt like a final meal before an execution. Qin Nai remained silent, fearing he might be caught in the crossfire, and quietly continued drawing his talismans. Yu Zaixi stayed bored and kept reading.

Half an incense stick of time passed before hurried footsteps came from outside. Someone knocked on the door and pushed it open immediately. “Master, we have searched the Western Mountain. There are no other demonic creatures. That beast must have fled. Shall we pursue it?”

Jiang Yan was already aware of this. The young boy was restless. Yu Zaixi calmly flipped the page, inwardly complaining, and glanced up casually.

Heavens, a substitute.

It used to be a substitute found by Yuan Qi, and now he was being kept by Jiang Yan as a substitute. The two of them were truly messed up.

Yu Zaixi turned his head with a sneer. If he were not currently using Yuan Qi’s body, he would have loved to give them a piece of his mind.

The person who entered was Miao Pei, whom Jiang Yan had mentioned earlier. He was the one who had been brought back to the Tianji Pavilion by Yuan Qi three hundred years ago and the person who had saved Yu Zaixi outside the city last night. Miao Pei was clearly startled to see Yu Zaixi upon entering. His expression shifted several times before he let out a bitter sigh.

The mourning in his eyes was unbearable to look at. Yu Zaixi pointed toward the door. “Out. Close the door. Go pursue it yourselves; do not involve me.”

Miao Pei had no choice but to take back his gaze and look at Jiang Yan. The latter motioned for him to wait, so he closed the door and found a seat.

Yu Zaixi finished another page, flipping the book as he spoke, “Solve this issue as soon as possible and break the spell. I will leave immediately and never appear to disturb you for the rest of eternity. Do it quickly.”

Hearing this, Miao Pei became agitated. He looked helplessly at Jiang Yan, hoping for some response, but Jiang Yan was steady and ignored Yu Zaixi’s comments entirely. Although Yu Zaixi was reading, he kept glancing at Miao Pei out of the corner of his eye. He chuckled at the sight; this did not match what the book said at all. Wasn’t Miao Pei’s personality supposed to be very similar to Yuan Qi’s? How was his temper so much better than the Yuan Qi described in the book?

Before he could think more, Jiang Yan stood up and left. “Find me at the Western Mountain before dark.”

Miao Pei looked at Yu Zaixi, then at Jiang Yan, and followed him out. Yu Zaixi sighed and prayed silently. Yuan Qi, oh Yuan Qi, your parents divorced, and your son has chosen the father.