Vindicated After a Wrongful Death - Chapter 23

Gu Sange’s face practically had three giant words written across it: I did not!

Xiang Zhongjing didn’t care whether Gu Congxu did or not; if he said he did, then he did.

“I told you, don’t be so shy.” Xiang Zhongjing continued to hook his arm around Gu Congxu’s neck, preventing him from moving. He seemed quite satisfied with Gu Congxu’s reddening face. Having just woken up, his voice still held a trace of lazy drowsiness, murmuring like a low sleep-talker, “It’s not a shameful thing to have designs on me. Have you ever seen Man Qiuxia act shy? Sange, if you had even one-ten-thousandth of Man Qiuxia’s boldness, during those sixty years in the secret realm, our little dragon cubs would already be adults.”

Gu Congxu: “…”

Little… dragon cubs.

Gu Congxu’s gaze went blank, his head nearly steaming from Xiang Zhongjing’s words.

He was struck dumb by Xiang Zhongjing’s ability to flip black and white and a skin thicker than dragon scales. He completely forgot he could simply retreat into the sea of consciousness. Instead, he remained frozen in that intimate posture, his mind a total blank, his breath filled with the crisp, woody scent lingering on Xiang Zhongjing.

Gu Congxu’s true form could only emerge for a short time during the third watch. Usually, he felt that time passed in the blink of an eye, but today, he felt as though each second was a year, every breath an excruciating ordeal.

Gu Congxu’s face turned scarlet from holding his breath. The more Xiang Zhongjing watched, the more amusing he found it. He chuckled and pressed down on the dragon’s neck, pulling him closer until their faces were nearly touching, close enough to see the fine detail of each other’s lashes.

Xiang Zhongjing blinked, his lashes sweeping like butterfly wings against Gu Congxu’s cheek. He whispered softly, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Gu Congxu desperately suppressed his breathing, terrified that a single heavy breath against Xiang Zhongjing’s face would be misinterpreted as “having designs on him.”

His body was stiff and his lips trembled. Even now, he was still thinking about not letting Xiang Zhongjing know he had intended to go and kill Qu Weixian.

Under Xiang Zhongjing’s increasingly suggestive gaze, Gu Congxu finally couldn’t take it anymore. He closed his eyes with an expression of one facing execution and blurted out, “I just wanted to go slaughter that peacock, I wasn’t planning anything else!”

Xiang Zhongjing’s eyes darkened. “Oh? So it wasn’t to kill Qu Weixian?”

Gu Congxu’s tone was forceful, yet he kept his head turned away, not daring to look Xiang Zhongjing in the eye. “N-No.”

“I see.” The softness in Xiang Zhongjing’s eyes deepened, his voice carrying a hint of a smile.

Hearing the long trail at the end of his sentence, Gu Congxu had a bad premonition.

Sure enough, after Xiang Zhongjing lazily finished his sentence, his left hand, which he could temporarily control because Gu Congxu had returned to his true form, suddenly reached out and brushed against Gu Congxu’s waist in an almost flirtatious manner.

Gu Congxu: “…”

Gu Congxu’s eyes snapped open, staring at him in shock.

“If you were going to kill a peacock, why did you lunge onto me?” Xiang Zhongjing smiled warmly, his voice even more tender than his actions. “Do dragons consider rolling around on a bed with a man a casual matter, rather than an improper design?”

Gu Congxu: “…”

Isn’t the one currently feeling up someone’s waist and acting improperly… you?!

Gu Congxu was on the verge of a total breakdown. He was never good at lying, and being framed so deliberately made him reach his limit. He decided to spill the entire plan.

“I intended to kill Qu Weixian, and killing the peacock is true as well, but I absolutely did not have any improper designs on you!” Gu Congxu bit down hard on the word “absolutely,” looking as though he wanted to bite Xiang Zhongjing’s neck instead.

Xiang Zhongjing: “Then you…”

“The reason I fell back onto the bed was an accident! Your strange seal won’t let me move too far away from you, otherwise, I get yanked back!” Gu Congxu even revealed this disadvantageous secret; it seemed he was truly terrified by Xiang Zhongjing’s playfulness.

Xiang Zhongjing stared unblinkingly at the red-eared, eye-shut Gu Congxu, then suddenly burst out laughing again.

Gu Congxu was truly scared of that laugh. He opened his eyes and glared in a fury. “I am not like Man Qiuxia, someone who is moved by mere looks. Are you satisfied now?!”

“Satisfied, I am.” Xiang Zhongjing nodded, then suddenly shifted the topic. “If you can’t leave my side, how are you going to find your dragon bones alone?”

Gu Congxu: “…”

He had almost forgotten about that.

Xiang Zhongjing narrowed his eyes and said with a smile, “You help me find the truth, and I’ll help you find the dragon bones. Now the deal is fair, isn’t it?”

Gu Congxu glared at him fiercely, his eyes rimmed with red.

Xiang Zhongjing: “Hmm?”

At that moment, Gu Congxu’s time of freedom exactly ran out. He was yanked back into the sea of consciousness. Frustrated and annoyed, he began to stir up a storm within the mind, causing the lamps in the divine sense to cluster together.

Xiang Zhongjing rose from the half-collapsed bed and found a guest room to lie down in. Once Gu Congxu had finished his tantrum, he spoke calmly, “Deal?”

Gu Congxu, his face dark, coiled his body into a circle. Having no other choice, he said coldly, “Deal.”

Xiang Zhongjing narrowed his eyes, his tone like he was coaxing a child. “Good boy.”

Gu Congxu: “…”

The dragon, who had just barely settled down, began to stir up the sea of consciousness once again in a rage.

One of these days, I will break this seal and swallow this detestable human whole!

Early the next morning, Man Qiuxia arrived in high spirits, carrying a set of clothes for Xiang Zhongjing. As soon as he pulled back the bed curtains, the sight of the half-collapsed bed hit him directly.

Man Qiuxia: “…”

His first reaction was that Su Cansheng or Jin Chuling, those two who were uglier than beggars, had come to sneak-attack Xiang Zhongjing. But a quick scan showed that the surroundings were perfectly intact; it wasn’t the aftermath of a fight.

Just as he was about to go looking for him, he turned to see Xiang Zhongjing walking in from outside, looking bleary-eyed and disheveled. He gave Man Qiuxia a vague greeting.

Man Qiuxia was indeed “moved by looks”; no matter what state Xiang Zhongjing was in, his eyes seemed to glaze over.

He hurried over with the clothes, asking as he helped Xiang Zhongjing change, “Where were you? What happened to the bed?”

Xiang Zhongjing, rubbing his eyes, gave a light chuckle and said casually, “I was doing some work in the middle of the night and wasn’t careful, so it collapsed.”

Man Qiuxia’s hands paused while tying the sash. He looked at him in shock. “Doing work?”

Xiang Zhongjing repeated with a suggestive smile, “Doing work.”

Gu Congxu in the sea of consciousness: “???”

What work? Doing what?!

Why say something so ambiguous just to make people misunderstand?!

Man Qiuxia sucked in a breath of cold air.

All the way to the Beast Taming Grand Ceremony, Man Qiuxia acted like he had gone mad, interrogating Xiang Zhongjing with a sharp gaze.

“Who is he? What’s his name?”

“What’s his family background? Are his parents cultivators? Is he a good match for you? Does he have siblings fighting him for the inheritance?”

“How is his character? Does he have a private grotto? Can he accept marrying into the Wujin Building as a resident son-in-law?”

“What’s his aesthetic? Can he accept preparing a different outfit for you every twelve hours, every thirty days, every three hundred and sixty days of the year?”

“I don’t intend to meddle in your private affairs, but as long as I can see this face of yours anytime, I’d even be willing to follow along as a dowry maid. The prerequisite is that he must be able to afford the upkeep of this face.”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Gu Congxu: “…”

Man Qiuxia: “Speak! Are you mute?”

Xiang Zhongjing’s lip twitched. “Just pretend you didn’t hear what I said this morning.”

Man Qiuxia looked confused. “Why? Didn’t you mean you were dual-cultivating with a man in the middle of the night? What’s wrong with me asking a few questions?”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

Are those just “a few” questions?

You’re practically digging up the man’s ancestral grave!

Xiang Zhongjing rubbed his temples, forced into a humiliating surrender. “When I said ‘doing work,’ I meant making a deal with the dragon. It wasn’t any sort of ‘dual cultivation’ under the sheets.”

Man Qiuxia frowned. “What kind of deal makes a bed collapse?”

Xiang Zhongjing’s face turned green. “Can you just stop asking?!”

Man Qiuxia looked Xiang Zhongjing up and down, and seeing that he wasn’t lying, he finally shut his mouth with great difficulty.

Gu Congxu: “Hahahahahaha!!!”

Xiang Zhongjing: “…”

It was the first time Gu Congxu had seen Xiang Zhongjing look so defeated. He immediately vented all the frustration of being teased earlier into boisterous laughter. His laughing was so loud it made Xiang Zhongjing’s head throb.

Gu Congxu: “Xiang Zhongjing, where’s that silver tongue of yours now?”

Xiang Zhongjing gave a cold smile. “Waiting to serve the Great Dragon Lord.”

Gu Congxu, in a great mood, gave a huff. “Then I shall be waiting.”

For once, Xiang Zhongjing didn’t reply. With an expressionless face, he used his jade token to enter the competition grounds of the ceremony.

Today’s match was a two-on-two between the winners of yesterday’s four brackets. As soon as Xiang Zhongjing entered the arena, he was led by a disciple of Shangyao Peak to a private waiting area at the very edge of the platform.

When Xiang Zhongjing arrived, Yi Junting was sitting obediently in a chair drinking tea. The other two had already arrived: one was a massive, mountain-like figure, while the other was dressed in black robes with a mask covering his entire face, looking extremely strange.

Seeing Xiang Zhongjing, Yi Junting immediately jumped up and ran over. “Senior!”

Xiang Zhongjing patted his head. “Are you alone?”

“My father is outside in the viewing area.” Yi Junting looked a bit worried. “Will I embarrass him later?”

Xiang Zhongjing glanced at the two silent eccentrics nearby. Both seemed capable of crushing Yi Junting in terms of cultivation and spirit beasts. He sighed, patted the boy’s head, and said, “You should just pray you’re paired with me.”

Yi Junting tilted his head, confused. “Huh?”

Xiang Zhongjing said, “That way, you won’t get beaten too badly.”

Yi Junting: “…”

Yi Junting had watched the other two matches yesterday. He knew these two had higher cultivation levels and more powerful beasts; they were not to be trifled with.

He looked at those two, then at Xiang Zhongjing, feeling like there was a wolf in front and a tiger behind. He almost cried.

While Xiang Zhongjing’s luck was usually poor, Yi Junting seemed to have excellent fortune. Not long after Xiang Zhongjing spoke, a disciple from Shangyao Peak came and respectfully asked them to draw wooden lots.

Both Xiang Zhongjing and Yi Junting drew red lots, meaning they would be in the same match.

Upon seeing this, Yi Junting cheered immediately, his eyes shining. “Sword Sovereign! We’re in the same match!”

Xiang Zhongjing nodded. “Yes. You’re definitely going to lose.”

Yi Junting: “…”

Yi Junting felt choked by that.

Yi Junting was indeed destined to lose, but he wasn’t particularly depressed. After all, he had been forced to participate by the Sect Leader of Linjiang Peak. With the spirit beast Xiang Zhongjing had tamed for him, his only goal had been to knock down the arrogance of the detestable Quyi Sect.

In the previous round, Yi Junting had stolen the spotlight and left the Quyi Sect disciples in low spirits. He was already satisfied and had no hope for today’s match.

Yi Junting stepped onto the arena happily and summoned his spirit beast, planning to fight for a bit before surrendering gracefully, thus not embarrassing his father.

However, the moment the mountain-sized Black Panther stepped out with a fierce aura, its gaze landed on Xiang Zhongjing’s slight figure. Its vertical pupils shrank, and the psychological trauma from before resurfaced instantly. It deflated like a popped balloon, suddenly shrinking into a panther about half the height of a man. It looked at Xiang Zhongjing pleadingly and gave a soft, “Meow.”

Xiang Zhongjing raised an eyebrow. He had intended to summon the Snow Wolf’s true form, but after a moment’s thought, he also raised his hand, letting the Snow Wolf appear in its normal size.

The countless cultivators waiting to see two savage beasts tear each other apart watched with wide eyes as a wolf and a panther ran toward each other with “Meows” and “Awoos,” and then… collapsed onto the ground together, rolling and frolicking like kittens.

Everyone: “…”

The match ended with the Snow Wolf snatching a tuft of black fur.

Xiang Zhongjing won without a fight.

Yi Junting, cradling his meowing panther (which was now missing a patch of fur), ran off happily, looking more like the winner than the actual winner.

The cultivators were in a daze, unable to believe what they had just seen.

Is this the Beast Taming Grand Ceremony? Or is this a pet show held by commoners in some rural village to imitate the ceremony?

Taking advantage of the crowd’s stunned silence, Xiang Zhongjing strolled back into the private area.

The other two in the room went up next. Xiang Zhongjing originally had no interest in their match, but as the man dressed entirely in black passed him, he suddenly had a strange feeling. Instinctively, he fixed his gaze on the man.

The black-robed man had already reached the center of the arena. Although his face was hidden, one could still sense a cold arrogance coming from him.

Just by standing there, he exuded a sense of solitary pride that seemed to hold everything around him in contempt; even the mountain-like opponent before him didn’t seem to enter his eyes.

Xiang Zhongjing leaned against a soft couch, resting his chin on his hand as he watched lazily. “Sange, can you tell what that man’s spirit beast is?”

Gu Congxu was still laughing about Xiang Zhongjing being defeated by Man Qiuxia’s questions earlier, looking ready to milk that joke for the next two years. Hearing the question, he said dismissively, “Why bother looking? No matter what beast it is, with one look from me—”

Before Gu Congxu could finish his boast, his gaze swept over the black-robed man, and his voice cut off abruptly.

Xiang Zhongjing keenly sensed something was wrong. “What is it?”

Gu Congxu frowned. “The aura on that man… is very strange.”

“How so?”

“The spiritual energy of Jiuzhou all comes from the spirit veins deep within the earth. Everyone I’ve encountered has the same aura.” Gu Congxu looked more confused the longer he watched. “But that man seems different. Only an outsider or an ascended being would have a different spiritual energy.”

But how could an outsider or an ascended being casually come to Jiuzhou?

In thousands of years, there had never been such a precedent.

Xiang Zhongjing didn’t quite understand, but before he could ask further, he saw the strange black-robed man raise his hand. As a crisp sound rang out from his wrist, a phoenix bathed in flames leapt into existence. With a shrill cry, it caused the temperature of the entire arena to soar.

Xiang Zhongjing glanced at the scene, but his pupils suddenly shrank, and he stood up abruptly.

Hanging from the black-robed man’s wrist was a golden bell.