When I Mistook My Arch-Rival for My Dao Companion - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Wenren Qian looked at the spatial barrier before him, which remained unchanged even after being scorched by fire. Just as he was thinking of using brute force to shatter it, a person actually stepped out from within that spatial barrier.

White robes and a long sword—a cold-faced Immortal Venerable emerged.

The opponent held his sword tightly, seemingly anticipating that things would not be peaceful the moment he came out. When he faced no immediate attack, his eyes actually widened slightly, showing his surprise.

After confirming that those “things” were not lying in wait for him, Fu Guzhou’s gaze quickly swept the surroundings and soon captured a figure.

Upon seeing the familiar dark red figure, Fu Guzhou immediately waved his hand to greet him. Disregarding his own meager remaining dignity, he ran over at a trot.

While observing whether the man was injured, he didn’t forget to ask: “Wenren Qian, are you alright?”

“This Seat is doing quite well; otherwise, I wouldn’t have come specifically to find the little thief who snatched food from the tiger’s mouth.”

As the “little thief” himself, Fu Guzhou lacked even a shred of self-awareness. He smiled extremely happily at Wenren Qian. “It’s great that you’re fine. I just met a very impressive senior, and he even taught me a particularly powerful move.”

As Fu Guzhou shared his joyful news, he casually placed the Spirit Fire Earth Essence he had snatched earlier into Wenren Qian’s hand.

“Fire-attributed things are useless to you. Why did you snatch it?”

“Ah? Didn’t you say they were interested in this? I thought I’d use it to lead them away for you first.”

“Very good. If the world had more people like the Immortal Venerable who sacrifice themselves for others, it would surely be a more beautiful place.”

Fu Guzhou acted as if he couldn’t hear the sarcasm in Wenren Qian’s voice. “How can this be called ‘sacrificing oneself for others’? You are my Dao companion. Protecting one’s own Dao companion is a matter of course.”

“What a coincidence, however. This Seat is not your Dao companion.” Wenren Qian put away the Spirit Fire Earth Essence and casually tossed the Wind-Fire Baby-Wash Grass, which Fu Guzhou had been eyeing greedily before, back to him.

Fu Guzhou caught the Wind-Fire Baby-Wash Grass. “Wenren Qian, I knew you were definitely thinking of me.”

Wenren Qian let out a cold laugh. “I was indeed thinking of you—thinking about how you haven’t yet become a dead soul beneath This Seat’s sword.”

Unfortunately, Fu Guzhou seemed to only listen to what he wanted to hear. He didn’t take such words to heart at all. To avoid further aggravating his own heart, Wenren Qian changed the subject. “What senior were you talking about?”

“Exalted Dingxie of the Dingxie Sword.”

The time goes back to half a stick of incense ago. At that time, the white-browed child performed a demonstration for Fu Guzhou. It was a sword strike that no sword cultivator could possibly ignore. Fu Guzhou, who had looked indifferent earlier, began to comprehend it very seriously after seeing the sword technique.

Although it was only one strike, that single strike held a thousand variations. How could such profound mysteries be understood in an instant?

However, Fu Guzhou only watched seriously once, and he was barely able to learn a semblance of its form.

The white-browed child laughed. He raised his sword again and demonstrated for him once more. The mysteries of this second time were even more numerous than the first. Fu Guzhou constantly deduced the opponent’s footwork in his mind, wondering what exactly the opponent used when condensing that sword strike. After a long period of silence, he finally raised his sword again, and this time, he even captured two points of the underlying spirit.

“Good lad. With such comprehension, your master must have saved himself a lot of worry.”

Fu Guzhou smiled but said nothing. He somewhat understood why his master had taught him that way back then.

In his early years, he was made to swing his sword every day by his master. He practiced for several years without learning any powerful techniques. At that time, Fu Guzhou had quit, insisting on learning some impressive moves. His master, however, said: “What is there to learn from flowery fists and embroidered kicks? As long as you practice this well, whatever you learn in the future will come easily.” Fu Guzhou hadn’t believed it then, but looking at it now, his younger self had been shallow.

“However, I really dislike the other party’s teaching style. With a bone structure like yours, one should apply strong medicine.” Halfway through his sentence, the white-browed child seemed to think of something and stopped again. “I once thought about taking a disciple and training them well, so that the brats of those old fellows would all live in the shadow of my disciple. I didn’t expect to ultimately lose to that ‘gentle village’ (romantic entanglement).”

“But This Seat has no regrets.” The white-browed child, who had been acting like a world-weary old man, finally showed a hint of a smile on his face. “This Seat’s only regret is personally killing her when I fell into madness.”

Fu Guzhou was momentarily stunned. His lips moved slightly, and he looked as if he wanted to speak but hesitated.

“Lad, with your bone structure and talent, wouldn’t the path of the Heartless Dao be much faster than your current one? Can you tell me why you chose the path of the Carefree Dao?”

“Because if a cultivator of the Heartless Dao cannot sever their emotions and desires, it is difficult to achieve great things. And severing emotions and desires is simply too boring. In a human life, besides the Great Dao and the sword in one’s hand, there are many more exciting things. My master also said that the Carefree Dao is much harder to walk than the Heartless Dao. Even the Slaughter Dao or the Passionate Dao are easier. But back then, I always felt that no matter what happened in the future, I would always remain carefree and happy.”

The white-browed child didn’t say whether he was right or wrong. Instead, he switched to another question. “Is your relationship with your Dao companion good?”

“Huh?” What kind of question was that?

“Do you know why the relationship between the Demon Race and human cultivators is so tense? Because every demon will inevitably devour humans. Boy, aren’t you afraid that your Dao companion will eat you one day?”

Fu Guzhou didn’t like hearing that. He turned around to leave on the spot, only to hear the sound of a sword breaking through the air behind him.

Fu Guzhou caught that slightly transparent white longsword, and the white-browed child who had stood on the sword to trick him into suicide earlier had vanished without a trace—as if everything just now had been nothing but Fu Guzhou’s illusion.

Mentioning this matter now, Fu Guzhou still felt a lingering fear. Was the white-browed child he saw really the remnant soul of Exalted Dingxie, or just a lingering thought left by the other on the Dingxie Sword?

To be honest, even now Fu Guzhou couldn’t quite tell. He only knew that he had truly almost played himself to death earlier.

So, the moment he saw his Dao companion, he almost impulsively gave him a hug. But to avoid being improper, he held back.

Now that Wenren Qian asked about the sword, Fu Guzhou really wanted to demonstrate it for him, but thinking about the last words the white-browed child had said, he became a bit awkward.

“Wenren Qian, let me ask you a question!”

“Speak.”

“Then you must answer truthfully.”

Wenren Qian raised an eyebrow. “That depends on my mood.”

Fu Guzhou wasn’t very satisfied with such a vague answer, but he couldn’t force it. He cleared his throat and said seriously: “Wenren Qian, do all of you demons eat people?”

Seeing Wenren Qian fall silent, Fu Guzhou’s heart skipped two beats. It was actually true!

Fu Guzhou opened his mouth, hesitated, stopped, and then tried again.

Just as Wenren Qian was about to let out an impatient “tsk” because of this, Fu Guzhou finally asked weakly: “Then… could you just drink blood and not eat the meat?”

“Hmm?”

That hum with a nasal tone was entirely interpreted by Fu Guzhou as dissatisfaction.

Fu Guzhou pulled at the man, trying to sell himself. “The spiritual energy content of my blood is quite pure. The effect of blood is definitely better than meat. Also, just eat me alone, okay? Please don’t go eating others. Otherwise, if you end up being sealed by other people, what would I do? Besides, when we hold our Dao companion ceremony, we won’t be able to invite anyone.”

The veins on Wenren Qian’s forehead throbbed. He said through gritted teeth, “Do you need This Seat to eat you right now? Not leaving a single shard of bone behind—after all, This Seat loves you so deeply.”

“Maybe,” Fu Guzhou tried to negotiate, “you should still restrain your love a little bit.”

Support