The Third Year After the Immortal Venerable’s Death - Chapter 4

Perhaps due to his incomplete soul, Gu Qingyi’s body temperature leaned toward the chilly side.

Having his hand forced against the cold cheek the sensation was not particularly comfortable. By all rights, Wu Youqi should have mobilized the demonic energy throughout his body to blast this daring, foolish child three feet away, and then reprimand the Gu family for their absurdity and insolence. However, he remained silent for a long time, simply staring blankly at Gu Qingyi, his gaze sweeping over the young man’s entire face before slowly settling on his parted, moving lips.

Why is even his voice so similar?

Although Immortal Venerable Qing Yi had been a mighty powerhouse during his lifetime, living for hundreds of years, his voice had been purely clean, like a clear spring bubbling over stones.

Gu Qingyi closed his eyes, seemingly very fond of the warmth in Wu Youqi’s palm, and after turning his head and fumbling a few times, he opened his eyes with reluctance. Those pitch-black, shining pupils, so pure and defenseless, reminded Wu Youqi of a stray puppy he had fed by the Ying Lake when he was seven: it was a little milk dog about two months old, no bigger than a palm, with watery eyes. A bowl of milk and a few spare ribs were enough to earn its trust and attachment.

Observing this bizarre scene, the plaza fell into a deathly silence once more. It must be known that Immortal Venerable Qing Yi had only been dead for three years, and many in the Demon Realm still had fresh memories of his face and his voice. As for the head of the Gu family, watching the two standing together, he felt momentarily dazed in years past, when Immortal Venerable Qing Yi was still alive, he and Wu Youqi had stood shoulder-to-shoulder like this in the main square of Qingshuang Mountain, in the same cyan-green Daoist robes and lotus crowns.

Now…

Before the family head could lose himself in melancholy, Gu Qingyi let go of Wu Youqi’s hand and stood slightly on his tiptoes to look at him more closely. Meeting his eyes for a moment, the smile on Gu Qingyi’s face finally faded.

“Pretty brother,” he lowered his brows and pouted, “don’t be sad. Everything will be okay!”

Wu Youqi glared at him, laughing dismissively after a long pause, “Which eye of yours saw this Lord being sad?”

“But you are very sad… hmm??”

Before Gu Qingyi could finish his sentence, Wu Youqi pressed his index finger against the young man’s cupid’s bow, narrowing his eyes with a mocking smile, “Guess—”

“Does this Lord have the ability to make you unable to speak for the rest of your life?”

Gu Qingyi’s breath hitched, and he hurriedly raised his hands to cover his mouth tightly. Although he stopped speaking, his round eyes spun around after a quick rotation, and he still pinched Wu Youqi in defiance. Wu Youqi shot him a glance, finding it amusing: He is indeed a fool, but his courage is truly not ordinary.

Shaking his head and regaining his composure, Wu Youqi turned to the Gu family. “I accept the gifts and the person. Go back and wait for news.”

The Gu family members were overjoyed, especially the old family head, who wept on the spot and threw himself to the ground, kowtowing repeatedly: “Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you! The Gu family will forever remember your great kindness!”

Wu Youqi waved his hand, too lazy to deal with such people, and ordered a nearby demon envoy to take care of it: accept the gifts, register them, and send them off. Before leaving, the finally composed Gu family head, with red eyes, could not help but shout across the sea of demon soldiers: “Your Majesty, after we return, we will immediately send you the genealogy! Also, this child’s birth date and the local annals of the county!”

How could Wu Youqi not know what this old man was thinking? He was simply afraid that he would break his word and fail to save the Gu family’s young master. However, he was too lazy to point it out; he merely cast a glance at the envoy, and the envoy formed a seal, opening a portal to teleport the group away.

The Demon Realm had a formal gate called “Wu Rensheng” (Where None Live). Beyond this, there were many hidden passages between the human and demon realms, which the demon race called “Mie Shen Jing” (God-Extinguishing Wells). These wells required activation and were usually poorly guarded, unlike the strictly defended formal gate. The Gu family had exploited this loophole to break into the Demon Realm.

After sending them to the gate, the envoy pushed the Gu family members unceremoniously, “Get lost.”

“That… that Honorable Envoy…” the Gu family head stammered.

“Fine,” the envoy raised a hand, “don’t you just want to ask when the Lord will go to save him? Rest assured, our demon race values our promises; since the Lord has promised you, he will never delay your matters! Put your heart in your stomach.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” the head nodded repeatedly, showering him with thanks, and took out several spirit stones from his storage ring to hand to the envoy, “But… but I must trouble you to mention us to the Lord slightly. The Liuren City grand competition is on the seventh day of the sixth month, which is… next month.”

The envoy took the spirit stones and weighed them in his hand, knowing they were top-quality, before tucking them into his robe with satisfaction, “Easily done.” The Gu family head bowed and scraped before finally turning to step through the gate.

After the envoy confirmed they were gone, he turned back to report to the Blood Flame Flowing Cloud Palace. By this time, Wu Youqi had already punished the shifts of demon soldiers who had been negligent in their duties today and had sent word to the Great General leading the campaign abroad. The palace servants also began to clean the plaza, poring in and out as they moved the large boxes into the storeroom.

Seeing the envoy return, Wu Youqi nodded at the soldiers kneeling on the ground—the matter was settled for the day. “Are they all gone?”

“Yes, they are all gone.” The envoy was about to continue when he caught sight of the young master surnamed Gu hanging limply off Wu Youqi: though his eyes were closed, he was still gripping Wu Youqi’s hand tightly, while his other hand draped loosely over the Lord’s arm. As if trying to stay awake, Gu Qingyi rested his head on Wu Youqi’s shoulder, his fingers idly winding around a lock of Wu Youqi’s hair.

The envoy’s face turned livid, and he nearly reached out to pull him away, but he retained enough reason to know that this face was deeply significant to the Lord, so he managed a sycophantic smile: “Xizhu, why haven’t you come yet to take Young Master Gu away to rest!”

“Yes,” answered a handmaiden dressed in pink silk.

“No need,” Wu Youqi raised a hand to stop her, “I have my own arrangements for him. You may all withdraw.”

The envoy and the handmaiden were stunned, exchanging glances and blinking, before Wu Youqi pulled Gu Qingyi and turned toward the Blood Flame Flowing Cloud Palace.

“This…” the handmaiden Xizhu frowned, “Surely the Lord is not… planning to keep that weird thing as a pet?”

The envoy hissed, looking at their retreating backs. He also felt something strange in his heart, but upon closer thought, it didn’t seem to be the case: “The Lord hates Immortal Venerable Qing Yi to the bone, how is that possible? Keeping this Gu surname is likely just a way to torture him personally don’t worry yourself blindly!”

Xizhu shook her head, “You don’t understand.”

Envoy: ?

“Since ancient times, there has always been something suspicious between master and disciple in the cultivation world.”

“…” The envoy scratched his head, “The Lord is a man!”

“It’s precisely because they are both men that it’s dangerous!” Xizhu stomped her foot, “No, I think it’s safer to report this to the Grand Priest.”

“Eh? You”

Xizhu ran extremely fast, disappearing onto the floating bridge on the east side of the plaza in a few leaps, leaving the envoy’s final words to drift away on the wind: “But the Grand Priest is in seclusion…”

While they were making a commotion, Wu Youqi had already brought Gu Qingyi into the Blood Flame Flowing Cloud Palace: the interior was paved with black bricks, each three feet wide and long. Twelve blood-colored inner eaves pillars stood around, adorned with octagonal palace lanterns, and four-sided landscape floor lamps stood before them. In the center of the pillars lay a long, ochre rug embroidered with clouds and dragons rising from the sea, stretching from the entrance to the dais at the end. The dais was built of black gold, totaling three tiers of steps, each inlaid with North Sea pearls and mermaid scales from the Phantom Reflection Sea. On the dais stood a triple-fold screen of ink-shade wood, with two enormous red corals on either side.

Before the corals sat the Demon Lord’s golden seat and the desk where he processed government affairs, cluttered with files and books. The Moon Sand bed where the Demon Lord cultivated and rested hung with golden ice-silk curtains, hidden behind the screen. These were all the work of the previous Demon Lord; having only been in the Demon Realm for three years, Wu Youqi did not want to undergo major renovations and had simply continued to use them.

Thinking of the previous Demon Lord, Wu Youqi paused slightly and looked through the hollowed-out window of the palace toward the Holy Fire floating on the great river in the distance. The “Three Wisdoms” of the demon race had told him—or perhaps he didn’t need them to, as all living beings in the Demon Realm said—that the previous Demon Lord, Queyue, was the best Demon Lord the realm had ever had. He was powerful, enjoyed high prestige among the populace, and had sacrificed everything for the Demon Realm, including his own life.

Just as the human realm required the Buzhou Mountain and four pillars for support, the Demon Realm required the continuous burning of the Holy Fire for its operation. Hundreds of years ago, the Holy Fire had suddenly weakened, causing the thirty-six realms of the Demon Realm to teeter, with the top two realms even collapsing into ash. If the Holy Fire were to extinguish, the Demon Realm would disintegrate and disappear, and the demon race would lose the home they depended upon for survival. Demon Lord Queyue and the Three Wisdoms tried every means to slow the decline of the Holy Fire, but were forced to use the most primitive and desperate method: injecting demonic energy directly into the fire. Although the Holy Fire was preserved, the root problem remained unsolved, leading the demon race to launch a major offensive against the human world over those few centuries: cultivators with higher cultivation levels were captured and thrown into the Mohaluo Spring, consumed by the Holy Fire. Those who weren’t needed yet were imprisoned in a special cage that floated on the Mohaluo Spring, called a “Jimi Cage” (Restraint Cage).

Using people as firewood eventually stirred dissatisfaction in the cultivation world. Thus, Qingshuang Mountain mobilized cultivators across the land, led by Immortal Venerable Qing Yi, to launch a counterattack on the Demon Realm. The Demon Realm suffered heavy damage, and the Holy Fire was once again in jeopardy. In a desperate move, Demon Lord Queyue threw himself into the Mohaluo Spring, reigniting the Holy Fire with his life and ordering the Three Wisdoms to close the demon gates and lie dormant until a later date.

In fact, before hearing the story of Demon Lord Queyue, Qing Yi had once told Wu Youqi a story while taking him to the Western Buddhist Realm to discuss the Dao: it wasn’t the cliché story of feeding a tiger with one’s body, but of lighting a lamp with one’s body.

It spoke of a Venerable who had vowed to illuminate all the darkness in the world like a bright lamp, or never attain Buddhahood. However, upon arriving in the secular world, he discovered that the darkness in the world was not a place where the sun did not shine, but within the human heart. The evil in the human heart was endless. This Venerable could save the world for a moment, but not forever. Seeing his lifespan nearing its end, the world remained full of foolishness and evil hearts. In the end, filled with unwillingness, he threw himself into the pool of pure fire, transforming into an eternal “Heart Lamp” hanging high in the Buddhist realm.

The young Wu Youqi thought this person was foolish; human hearts were always greedy, and even if they were born pure and innocent, they would face countless temptations upon growing up: “His vow, I see it as fundamentally impossible.” Hearing this, Qing Yi only closed his eyes and said, “Knowing it to be impossible yet acting nonetheless—that is the way of a Saint.”

Wu Youqi didn’t understand it at the time, and didn’t take it to heart. Now, suddenly reminded of Demon Lord Queyue who cast himself into the Holy Fire, and that person who blew up his spiritual core to seal the Dark Source!

“Ha, hahahahaha”

He suddenly burst into laughter, his waist bending with it. Gu Qingyi, who had been leaning on him, had fallen asleep at some point. As Wu Youqi bent over, Gu Qingyi naturally slid from his shoulder, falling softly toward the dais. Someone with incomplete souls and spirits, besides being naturally dull and foolish, also had poor physical health; having low energy and sleeping all day was common. This was perfectly normal, but Wu Youqi’s pupils shrank slightly as he watched the person fall.

However, he didn’t move, watching Gu Qingyi fall and land uncomfortably on the three steps of the dais. A smile hung on Wu Youqi’s lips, but blood-red surged in his pupils, “Knowing it to be impossible yet acting nonetheless, hahaha, what a ‘way of a Saint’!”

Even knowing this wasn’t Qing Yi, he knelt down halfway, grabbed Gu Qingyi’s collar, and his voice spiked: “How orderly you are, the number one person in the world! The dignified Immortal Venerable Qing Yi! You are calm, rational, and always know what the correct choice is!”

“You will never make a mistake, and your heart is always filled with your world and your common people! You… you…”

Wu Youqi’s gaze was searing; his blood-red eyes traced the face before him over and over, gnashing his teeth as if he wanted to swallow him alive, while simultaneously looking through him at someone else.

“Then… what about me?” “What about the only disciple you ever had in this life?”

Wu Youqi laughed, the fingers gripping the fabric tightening inch by inch, refusing to let go even as the face turned a sickly purplish-red. With just a little more force, Gu Qingyi would have suffocated silently in his sleep, but a drop of water from nowhere fell, landing right on his eyelashes and causing him to grunt and stir slightly.

At this, Wu Youqi finally came back to his senses. He looked in astonishment at the drop of blood-tear that had fallen onto Gu Qingyi’s face and suddenly loosened his grip, his shoulders trembling.

“So, I only thought you were cold-hearted and would not change for anyone or anything, but Master… you have so much feeling, don’t you?” “For the sake of your common people, you are willing to give your life.”

Wu Youqi stopped laughing. He looked calmly at the sleeping Gu Qingyi, “You are good to all living things…”

Having said half the sentence, he suddenly opened his mouth and bit into Gu Qingyi’s neck with hatred. Warm blood gushed out, staining Wu Youqi’s teeth and lips, but he sucked greedily twice like a bloodthirsty monster. Upon hearing Gu Qingyi emit a pained grunt, Wu Youqi took a deep breath, lifted his head, and looked at that face with empty eyes:

“Qing Yi, you are good to all living things, yet you alone… were cruel to me.”

After saying this, the blood-red color faded from his eyes, and he regained his clarity. Wu Youqi stood up slowly from the steps and wiped the blood from the corners of his lips with the back of his hand:

“Xizhu, take him away.”