When I Mistook My Arch-Rival for My Dao Companion - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Tempted by the sugar-coated bullets, Fu Guzhou almost nodded, but he managed to hold back, struggling: “But…”

“No buts,” Wenren Qian interrupted coldly.

“But I feel like even if I’m well-behaved, you won’t like me any more than you do now,” Fu Guzhou said stubbornly, resisting the pressure.

Wenren Qian was slightly startled, surprised that Fu Guzhou had suddenly become clever, until he heard the next sentence: “Because don’t you already super-like me? Could it be possible to like me even more than you do now?”

This time, Wenren Qian didn’t respond. After all, there was no way to answer that.

It was quite interesting; Wenren Qian didn’t believe he had done anything to cause such a misunderstanding, so why was this fellow so confident that he liked him? Oh no, in Fu Guzhou’s eyes, it wasn’t even “liking” it was deep love.

“So, what you’re actually worried about is this?” Wenren Qian asked, surprised.

“Is that not allowed?”

“Then it’s fine. It’s possible to like you more; if it really doesn’t work, I can like you so much it overflows.”

Wenren Qian clearly wasn’t being serious, but someone actually took it to heart. Fu Guzhou’s retort of “What a waste” got stuck in his throat as he belatedly realized something felt a bit off.

He asked uncertainly: “Why do I feel like you’re teasing me?”

“Don’t ‘feel’ it; it’s a fact.” Wenren Qian could now remain calm in the face of any words Fu Guzhou threw at him.

Fu Guzhou had a sudden epiphany. Just as Wenren Qian thought he had finally understood, Fu Guzhou broke into a sunny smile. “Wenren Qian, I will also love you a little bit more every day!”

Wenren Qian: “?!”

Hmm? Did he just say something that could be so easily misinterpreted?

Wenren Qian mentally re-read his own words twice and felt they were fine, so the problem had to be Fu Guzhou.

Wenren Qian waved a hand dismissively. “Fine, This Seat knows. Go stay to the side.”

Fu Guzhou pulled on Wenren Qian’s sleeve. “Let me do it.”

“…Let go.” It was rare for him to have the good temper to say so much, yet the person hadn’t forgotten his original intent. Wenren Qian was a demon with limited patience; as he spoke, he moved to brush Fu Guzhou’s hand away.

Fu Guzhou gripped him even tighter, his face full of earnestness. “When I say let me do it, I’m serious.”

Wenren Qian never denied that Fu Guzhou had an extremely handsome face. When that face was full of sincerity, it gave off a sense that one should trust him.

“Miss Fu.”

“Ah?” Being called that made Fu Guzhou’s back straighten involuntarily, his seriousness crumbling in a second.

“How do you know what they said is true? Being a ‘person of Wujian’ situated between life and death sounds simple, but it is actually the hardest state to grasp. With your human body of flesh and bone, it would likely be difficult for you to see the door while remaining conscious. This Seat, if nothing else, can at least hold on during the final moments.”

His gentle voice carried a hint of nonchalance, as if this truly wasn’t a big deal.

Fu Guzhou looked at Wenren Qian with a trace of suspicion. “Why do I feel that, at the end of the day, you just don’t trust me?”

“Oh?” Wenren Qian elongated his tone and smiled. “So the Immortal Venerable only just realized.”

Fu Guzhou: “……”

Fu Guzhou suddenly didn’t want to talk.

“Human hearts are sinister. Is the Immortal Venerable truly not afraid of being deceived?”

“Who would deceive me?” Fu Guzhou, despite not wanting to talk, still followed the lead obediently.

“This Seat, naturally.”

“But we are Dao companions,” Fu Guzhou said weakly.

“Among Dao companions, there isn’t necessarily absolute trust.”

“But Master said only people who truly love each other become Dao companions. Since we truly love each other, how could we not trust each other?” There was deep incomprehension in Fu Guzhou’s eyes, as if Wenren Qian had said something utterly preposterous.

Facing that overly sincere gaze, Wenren Qian actually found it hard to break the other’s beautiful fantasy. It had nothing to do with Fu Guzhou’s character specifically, but rather that everyone has had a period of youthful high spirits. Perhaps because Fu Guzhou was so honest and fervent, it felt a bit cruel to destroy his naive, almost laughable ideas.

“Fine, This Seat will tell the truth. If the Immortal Venerable were still the pre-amnesia version, This Seat would naturally trust you implicitly. But do you really think the version of you who has lost his memory can hold out? It’s not just about the half-dead state—are you really sure that your weakened self won’t be influenced by the invasion of ghost qi here? Fu Guzhou,” Wenren Qian said dismissively.

If one could feel a hint of urgency from Wenren Qian before, he had now returned to his usual leisurely state.

Fu Guzhou found it hard to argue; he likely really couldn’t do it.

Just as Fu Guzhou was feeling a bit dejected, he heard Wenren Qian say as if in passing: “If we can get out, you should be more careful of outsiders. Otherwise, the mere fact that the Qingchen Immortal Venerable has lost his memory will be enough to make you suffer.”

Of course, in the past, this would have been something Wenren Qian would gloat over. But now, Wenren Qian would rather all the harm Fu Guzhou suffered came from him.

For example, Wenren Qian had an excellent idea right now: what could be more interesting than making a nemesis lose both their body and heart to a lie? Unfortunately, Wenren Qian had no interest in men, and since this person was his nemesis, it was even harder to generate such thoughts. Thus, the idea was discarded before it could be implemented.

Wenren Qian’s words were meant to warn Fu Guzhou against being tricked by others first, but on the other side, Fu Guzhou fell silent for a long time. He remembered his Master’s words: “Miss Fu, human hearts are sinister. When you roam the world in the future, you must be a bit wary of outsiders.”

At that time, Fu Guzhou didn’t take it to heart. “Master, if I am willing to trust him, he certainly won’t hurt me.”

Master only smiled at that, saying cheerfully: “Even those closest to you might stab you in the back, let alone outsiders.”

Subsequent experiences forced Fu Guzhou to grow a wary eye, as the cultivation world was indeed a place of countless masks.

Fu Guzhou wasn’t without friends, nor had he never sacrificed for others—he had a life-and-death friend in Xiao Jingyu—but in seventeen years, this was the first time Fu Guzhou had encountered such a situation. It was the first time someone disregarded everything for his sake, and the first person besides his Master to tell him to be wary of outsiders.

At this moment, Fu Guzhou couldn’t even bring himself to say “I knew you loved me very much,” because it felt like anything he said would be wrong.

After a long while, Fu Guzhou said in an extremely serious voice: “I will guard you well while you meditate.”

Wenren Qian: “……”

Why do I always feel like you’ve misunderstood something?

In the end, the matter was settled. Only when the process truly began did Fu Guzhou realize the danger far exceeded his imagination.

Wenren Qian originally planned to just let blood, but bloodletting was clearly insufficient for someone of his level to reach a life-hanging-by-a-thread state. Letting enough blood for that would scare Fu Guzhou half to death. So, Wenren Qian chose to first remove his Demon Core and then inflict certain injuries on his body to reach that state quickly.

The Demon Core is the most critical part of a demon’s body. Once lost, a demon not only loses massive magical power but also becomes physically weak. It can be said that a demon’s core is even more important than a human cultivator’s sea of qi or meridians.

My Dao companion is taking out his Demon Core in front of me—that proves he loves me very much. Fu Guzhou silently regained his confidence, feeling that those “stabbing holes” were getting further and further away.

During this process, Fu Guzhou took an extra look at that blood-red Demon Core, secretly marveling at its beauty. It was so radiant and colorful that it didn’t look like something inside a demon’s body, but rather some priceless treasure.

Fu Guzhou only looked a bit more before obediently withdrawing his gaze. He wanted to keep looking, but felt it was impolite to keep staring at someone’s Demon Core, so he forced himself to look away.

After removing the core, Wenren Qian’s complexion looked much worse, but his state was still stable.

Wenren Qian measured a position with his fingers. Even as Fu Guzhou thought he was about to see a bloody scene, he saw Wenren Qian use his own fingers to pull at demonic energy. After tapping a few spots on himself, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Then, the demon who had just looked stable immediately became pale and his breath became as thin as a thread.

This… so fast?!

Fu Guzhou hadn’t even reacted yet, but Wenren Qian had definitely reached the so-called state of “hanging onto a single breath.” With Fu Guzhou’s divine sense, he could clearly feel that Wenren Qian was now relying entirely on the spiritual energy from the spirit-gathering array to barely maintain a spark of life.

But this was too fast. How exactly did he do it?

While Fu Guzhou was pondering this, he noticed something was wrong.

It wasn’t just “something” wrong; it was far more complex than that. Everything had been fine just a moment ago, but when Wenren Qian said he saw it, Fu Guzhou saw something too.

Ghost qi filled the air. Countless surges of resentment swarmed toward them as if sensing something, acting as though they wanted to seize the chance to devour them. In short, they were very ill-intentioned.

As soon as Fu Guzhou saw this, he knew that the biggest obstacle for those trapped in Wujian had arrived.

What did seeing the door mean? It meant they were very likely to leave this place. For those who hadn’t left, they naturally didn’t want the newcomers to succeed, so this resentment would inevitably find them.

Fu Guzhou actively stepped out of the spirit-gathering array, wielding his sword to defend.

Most sword cultivators of the Immortal Sects follow the path of righteous spirit. A sword naturally possesses righteousness, which is best at suppressing these evil entities. But when the resentment covers the sky and earth, can it truly be easily suppressed?

Fu Guzhou’s furrowed brows tightened even more as he felt the resentment like a boundless ocean; his face turned cold as frost.

To gather so much resentment, just how many people had seen the door but failed to walk out?

Fu Guzhou initially thought about suppressing the resentment first, but in this situation, trying to suppress it was a fool’s dream. Fu Guzhou struggled briefly but quickly chose to give up. If he insisted on driving those things back, they would likely be swallowed by them before they retreated.

Fu Guzhou was decisive. He first sent out a burst of righteous qi to hold them off for a moment, then slung Wenren Qian onto his back and began to run.

While running, Fu Guzhou didn’t forget to ask: “Which way is the door?”

He dared to run so fast without even knowing the direction.

Wenren Qian was weak and had no strength left for anger. He only weakly tugged Fu Guzhou’s hair to tell him: “Wrong way.”

“Ah?”

“…This Seat says the direction is wrong.”

Fu Guzhou glanced at the resentment chasing them wildly from behind and could only start running in a large circle toward the direction Wenren Qian indicated.

While running, he didn’t forget to ask: “Is this making you uncomfortable?”

Fu Guzhou didn’t just ask; while asking, he tried to use some leftover strength to make Wenren Qian more comfortable.

Wenren Qian reached out to stop him, signaling not to bother. “Keep it like this to feel the door more clearly. Continue Southeast.”

Fu Guzhou frowned but didn’t say more.

After running for a full half-hour, Wenren Qian’s face grew worse and worse. Making a demon lose their core for so long while being severely injured left him with pathetic self-recovery abilities. For him to persist this long was a testament to his staggering resilience. Feeling the breathing on his back grow weaker and weaker, Fu Guzhou couldn’t help but feel a sense of panic, fearing the other would suddenly stop breathing.

Rummaging through Fu Guzhou’s memories, there truly wasn’t a situation more dangerous than this. His cultivation was limited, countless resentments were chasing them, and he had a Dao companion on his back whose breathing might stop at any moment. Fu Guzhou felt the pressure. His steps grew heavier, yet he continued to squeeze out the spiritual power in his body.

Overusing spiritual energy made his nearly parched reservoir impossible to maintain, causing his meridians to ache whenever he circulated power.

Cold sweat appeared on Fu Guzhou’s face, but his tone remained normal. “Great Demon Sovereign, are we about to find the Wujian door?”

Wenren Qian didn’t answer for a long time. If it weren’t for the faint breathing he could still feel by his ear, Fu Guzhou would have been scared to death by the lack of response.

“Great Demon Sovereign?”

“Don’t be noisy,” Wenren Qian frowned slightly. “That resentment seems to have affected This Seat; the sensation of the door is becoming more and more blurred.”

“Then what should we do?” After asking, Fu Guzhou belatedly closed his mouth.

In his earlier years, Fu Guzhou had almost never experienced hardship. No matter what happened, he could rely on his Master, his Senior Brother, or even his friends. He rarely handled things entirely by himself; he almost always followed the instructions of others. For example, Master told him to practice the sword, and Senior Brother told him to cultivate; he only needed to complete the tasks.

It wasn’t that Fu Guzhou lacked the ability to think for himself, but rather that when more reliable people were around, he chose to seek their opinions. This led to his utter confusion and helplessness once Wenren Qian had completely fallen unconscious.

This was different from the previous illusions. No matter how real an illusion was, Fu Guzhou had a scale in his heart; he knew what was real and what was fake. But when the scene of the illusion appeared before him again, Fu Guzhou was completely unable to remain calm and collected.

Now, not only did he not know the direction of the door, but he also had a life-hanging-by-a-thread Wenren Qian on his back.

Fu Guzhou panicked for a moment, but quickly used talismans to set up an array specifically for defending against such yin evils. Then, he took out a top-grade Rejuvenation Pill from his space and fed several to Wenren Qian.

The pills melted on contact. After feeding several pills to Wenren Qian, Fu Guzhou could clearly see that Wenren Qian’s complexion improved slightly.

Then, Fu Guzhou only hesitated briefly before inflicting a nearly fatal wound on his own chest.

Once the wound appeared, Fu Guzhou, who previously couldn’t see the so-called door at all, actually had a mysterious, metaphysical sensation. He didn’t see the door directly, but he knew it was there.

Keeping a breath of spiritual energy in his body, Fu Guzhou hoisted Wenren Qian onto his back again, nearly falling over. Overburdened and swaying, Fu Guzhou headed toward that direction.

With one hand, he protected the person on his back; with the other, he drew a white, transparent sword.

The Dingxie Sword.

The so-called sword capable of quelling and slaying all evil.

Once this sword appeared, the resentment indeed didn’t dare to chase them quite so closely.

Severely injured and growing weaker from blood loss, Fu Guzhou’s steps became so heavy it took him a long time just to take two steps. Blood trailed along the way.

Fu Guzhou never hid his fear of pain, but at this moment, for the sake of the two of them getting out smoothly, he didn’t even hesitate to repeatedly slice his palm to keep himself rational. It felt as though a voice was constantly whispering in his ear to rest, just rest for a bit—after all, he was so tired.

The dripping blood even stained the Dingxie Sword in Fu Guzhou’s hand red.

Using his own pain to remain rational was indeed a good method, but as he lost too much blood, the sensation of the door grew stronger while Fu Guzhou found himself without the strength to continue. Was he to remain in Wujian silently after all?

Fu Guzhou casually stabbed the blood-stained Dingxie Sword into the ground and rummaged for pills again. He found a “Nine-Turn Deadwood Spring Pill” and held it in his mouth to keep his breath going, then began stuffing all sorts of pills into Wenren Qian’s mouth. He gave so many that as long as Wenren Qian could wake up on his own, he definitely wouldn’t die.

After confirming the other should be fine, Fu Guzhou actually felt quite relaxed. Ignoring his dizzy head, he carried Wenren Qian toward the door. Just then, he felt a connection.

A very faint voice appeared in his ear: “Why are you carrying him along? If you left him behind, you might have found the door already.”

The voice sounded childish, as if a toddler were truly curious.

Fu Guzhou was confused, but his mouth unconsciously answered the voice from within: “Because he is my Dao companion.”

“What is a Dao companion?”

“A Dao companion refers to an intimate relationship where we can cultivate together.” Fu Guzhou originally wanted to answer “he’s my partner,” but since the voice sounded like a child, he spoke very euphemistically.

The child seemed to suddenly understand something. “So it’s an intimate relationship where you can sleep together, right? What do you cultivators call it? Dual cultivation?”

Fu Guzhou: “?!”

Wait, who was this person? How did they even know about dual cultivation? He hadn’t even thought about that.

The child’s voice shifted. “A dual cultivation partner is indeed important, but it’s not like you can’t change to another one. You could just leave him and go by yourself; staying with him will only drag you to your death.”

Fu Guzhou, who had been a bit embarrassed, turned cold upon hearing this. “Who are you?”

“Why don’t you guess who I am? If you guess right, maybe I won’t kill you.”

The voice sounded very childish, like a kid acting spoiled, but its cruelty suggested it couldn’t possibly be a real child. Fu Guzhou initially thought it was the influence of the resentment behind them, but how could he be influenced by resentment while holding the Dingxie Sword?

A flash of inspiration hit Fu Guzhou, and he said coldly: “The Dingxie Sword.”

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