When I Mistook My Arch-Rival for My Dao Companion - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

He said he was going to kill him, but doesn’t Fu Guzhou understand his own Dao companion by now? The man was definitely a classic case of “tough talk, soft heart” he certainly cared for him deep down. Consequently, no tragic incident of “slaying one’s husband to prove the Dao” actually occurred.

Since they couldn’t leave for the time being anyway, Fu Guzhou and Wenren Qian set off once again to scavenge other areas. During this time, Fu Guzhou didn’t forget to ask where the heap of Nether Ghost Flame Flowers and vines from earlier had gone.

Wenren Qian merely said nonchalantly: “Naturally, This Seat burned them all to ash. Did I not tell you? Since I dare to strike, I fear no obstacle.”

Fu Guzhou believed these words at the time, but it was one thing for the man to suppress those poisonous creatures; how could he completely suppress the plants as well?

“The Nether Ghost Flame Flower is a master at manipulating fire. To be able to burn even it away… Wenren Qian, I am truly curious now as to what kind of demon you are.”

“Oh, so you weren’t curious before?”

Fu Guzhou, who looked serious just a second ago, immediately explained, “I was curious before too, but it’s different. Before, it was because you are my Dao companion, so I was curious about it. Now, the curiosity is more about the strength you’ve displayed. Could it be that the spatial suppression here is useless against you?”

After saying this, Fu Guzhou denied it himself. “That shouldn’t be right. I can clearly feel that your demonic power is suppressed below the Golden Core stage. How can you, in such a state, easily burn the Nether Ghost Flame Flowers to death? It seems this only proves that the fire the Great Demon Sovereign uses is extraordinary.”

Wenren Qian let out a laugh. “So, are you about to guess This Seat’s original form?”

“I can’t guess. There are simply no records stating which fires can counter the Nether Ghost Flame Flower. Moreover, I don’t know if this is a fire you were born with or a spiritual fire you acquired later.”

After finishing his sentence, Fu Guzhou gave Wenren Qian a wink.

Fu Guzhou’s hint was very obvious; he was hoping the other would tell him if the fire was innate or acquired. This single piece of information would be enough for Fu Guzhou to eliminate many options.

Wenren Qian acted as if he hadn’t heard Fu Guzhou’s hint at all, saying coldly and heartlessly: “Guess slowly. Perhaps you’ll get it right eventually.”

“How can you be like this?”

Wenren Qian smiled playfully. “This Seat is just like this. What are you going to do about it?”

Fu Guzhou grabbed the man’s sleeve and shook it slightly. “Wenren Qian, good Dao companion, just tell me. Satisfy my curiosity, pretty please?”

In order to learn the answer early, Fu Guzhou even sold out his charms, resorting to the “acting spoiled” tactic he hadn’t used in years.

“No. Figure it out yourself.” Wenren Qian remained unmoved.

Having not used the “spoiled” tactic for years, it was clearly quite rusty. A method that used to be invincible was now suffering a miserable rejection.

Fu Guzhou pouted. “But surely, if you want me to figure it out myself, you can’t leave me with zero hints.”

“It was you who wanted to guess; why should This Seat give you a hint?”

“Fine.” Fu Guzhou hung his head in dejection, retreating crestfallen.

Wenren Qian caught a glimpse of Fu Guzhou out of the corner of his eye. “This Seat is skilled in fire—does that not count as a hint?”

“But there are quite a few demons skilled in fire. It’s hard to guess based on that alone. Why not give me another one?”

“It’s not impossible to tell you another one, but even if I do, you probably won’t be able to guess it.” Wenren Qian, pestered beyond endurance by Fu Guzhou, relented slightly.

“I’m ready.” Fu Guzhou waited quietly for the hint.

Wenren Qian chuckled. “Actually, This Seat is also quite decent at artifact forging.”

The light that had just sparked in Fu Guzhou’s eyes went out instantly.

Seeing Wenren Qian looking at him with interest, he asked with lingering hope: “That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Fu Guzhou protested, “What kind of hint is that? Cultivators skilled in fire inherently have an advantage in artifact forging. You are clearly just making fun of me.”

The smile on Wenren Qian’s lips grew even more delighted. “Then the Immortal Venerable can just assume This Seat is making fun of you.”

Fu Guzhou almost started sulking over this, but he quickly thought of something. It was true that many fire-attribute cultivators were good at artifact forging, but Wenren Qian was a demon. In his first ten-plus years of life, he had never heard of a demon who could forge artifacts well. If it was truly difficult for demon cultivators to forge, then Wenren Qian’s fire was ten-to-one an innate gift. Only an innate talent could potentially overcome a demon’s natural difficulty with forging.

Knowing that Fu Guzhou understood, Wenren Qian asked with a smile: “Immortal Venerable, do you still feel This Seat is making fun of you?”

Fu Guzhou felt a bit embarrassed by the question. Even someone as thick-skinned as him felt his face heating up. He coughed lightly to hide the awkwardness. “I don’t. But it doesn’t seem to help much. No matter how I rummage through my memory, I can’t find an answer. Never mind. When you want to tell me in the future, I’ll know then.”

“Very good. For the Immortal Venerable to have such enlightenment is This Seat’s honor.”

“Hmph, I suspect you just think I’m noisy.”

“Absolutely impossible.”

Fortunately, regardless of whether that was the case, Fu Guzhou’s attention was soon diverted by other things.

As mentioned before, Wujian contained many things not found in the cultivation world—or rather, things rarely seen. This place was the easiest for all sorts of natural treasures to grow. Regardless of whether they could get out, they had to “freeload” some of these good things first.

Fu Guzhou wasn’t polite at all, launching a massive search for anything in Wujian that caught his eye. However, natural treasures are never easy to take. Even though he held the incredibly powerful Dingxie Sword, he soon encountered an aggressive danger.

The Miasma.

It wasn’t surprising for miasma to appear in a place like Wujian, but when this miasma carried something that could bewitch the heart, it was a different story.

When had a teenager in his teens ever encountered such a situation? He was clearly walking perfectly fine with Wenren Qian a moment ago, yet who could have guessed that as they walked, the person beside him would suddenly be gone?

To be able to blur his senses and make a person disappear from his side without him noticing—Fu Guzhou immediately went on high alert. Alertness alone wasn’t enough; he specifically drew the Dingxie Sword, which possessed evil-warding properties itself. Yet, even so, he continued to spin in circles within the miasma.

Under these circumstances, Fu Guzhou grew a bit irritable and even began to worry about Wenren Qian. He forcibly spread his divine sense wider, but the reason miasma is called miasma is that no matter how far he spread his sense, all he could perceive was a vast expanse of grey fog.

This left Fu Guzhou distressed. He threw out various techniques into the fog as if they cost nothing, yet he couldn’t clear even a fraction of the annoying mist.

The thick fog and stagnant air even made Fu Guzhou lose his sense of direction. He could only follow his gut and keep walking in one direction, unsure if he was going deeper or moving away from the concentration.

After walking for a full half-hour, Fu Guzhou suddenly spotted a dark red figure and immediately cried out in joy: “Wenren Qian!”

On the other end, Wenren Qian seemed somewhat surprised to meet Fu Guzhou here. However, compared to Fu Guzhou’s excitement, he was much more composed. He only nodded after Fu Guzhou approached. “This miasma is strange. Be careful.”

Fu Guzhou nodded hastily. “It’s beyond strange.”

After all, a big living person like Wenren Qian had vanished from right in front of him.

Wenren Qian gave a soft “mn,” took hold of Fu Guzhou, and led him in a certain direction, not forgetting to ask: “How are your eyes?”

“My eyes? They’re fine!” Fu Guzhou was confused. After all, his eyes were still blind; the backlash from using that move wouldn’t disappear so quickly.

“This Seat means, is it inconvenient for you to use your divine sense to see right now?” Wenren Qian’s tone carried a hint of amusement, as if silently saying, “How can you be so stupid?”

Fu Guzhou realized belatedly that he was still in a blind state. Seeing relied entirely on divine sense, and this miasma heavily suppressed it. Using divine sense to “see” felt like something heavy was pressing down on Fu Guzhou’s eyelids; it was not only uncomfortable but also blurry. If it weren’t to prevent himself from going completely “dark,” Fu Guzhou would have wanted to retract his divine sense entirely.

So, Wenren Qian’s words were a sign of concern.

Fu Guzhou’s eyes lit up. “Wenren Qian, are you worried about me?”

“No.”

Fine, so he was.

Fu Guzhou remained in a very joyful mood. When he heard that Wenren Qian had actually found the exit and would have left long ago if not for him, he was moved to tears.

His Dao companion didn’t abandon him!

Amidst the emotion, Fu Guzhou felt a bit embarrassed. “Actually, I could have made it out on my own.”

Wenren Qian patted Fu Guzhou’s head, a gentle smile on his lips. “Mn, you could have made it out on your own.”

Fu Guzhou was a bit surprised that Wenren Qian would actually follow his lead. This was clearly the reaction he had hoped for, yet when the man actually reacted that way, he felt it was somewhat eerie.

Fu Guzhou felt odd in his heart, yet what he said was: “I feel like you don’t really trust me.”

“How could that be? I trust you implicitly.”

Fu Guzhou rubbed his head awkwardly. “Wenren Qian, why do you suddenly seem easier to talk to?”

“Why? Do you perhaps not like it?” Wenren Qian smiled gently, but his tone carried a hint of teasing.

How should he put it? Fu Guzhou felt a bit uneasy. As someone who had never even held a girl’s hand and whose entire theoretical knowledge came from storybooks, he had been in a state of constant trepidation since suddenly gaining a Dao companion. After learning that his pre-amnesia self had been “inhuman” to his companion, his interactions with Wenren Qian were mostly defined by self-reproach and guilt. Thus, when facing danger, he always rushed to the front without hesitation. Bolstered by his racing heart, Fu Guzhou never doubted his affection for his Dao companion.

But to be honest, he was now a bit unsure if his post-amnesia self had actually fallen in love with him. When the man was cold, sarcastic, and distant, he hadn’t felt this way. Now that his Dao companion had suddenly turned gentle, he felt he should be happy—it meant their relationship was finally thawing—but the result was that he felt… nothing.

Yes, no feeling. He wasn’t happy, nor did he have that intense heart-racing sensation from before.

Could it be that his body actually had some hidden ailment, and he just preferred being ignored and mocked?

Fu Guzhou suddenly felt out of sorts.

He felt so… so strange.

While Fu Guzhou was questioning his life choices, Wenren Qian spoke again: “Looking at your expression, it seems you really don’t like it much.”

“No!” He couldn’t possibly have a hidden ailment.

“No?”

Fu Guzhou’s face was a bit awkward. “Wenren Qian, I feel like something is wrong.”

At this point, Fu Guzhou’s expression was hesitant, clearly leaving something unsaid.

“What is wrong?” Wenren Qian asked.

Fu Guzhou picked at his hands, a rare look of panic appearing on his face.

The feeling of his heart racing was gone—was that not “wrong” enough?

But Fu Guzhou didn’t know how to tactfully express this point.

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