Gu Baiqing thought Half-Step Mad had poor alcohol tolerance. He’d expected they would drink through the night, but halfway through, Half-Step Mad was already drunk and acting ridiculous, singing, dancing, and insisting Gu Baiqing join in.
Before long, he couldn’t even stand straight and half-hugged Gu Baiqing from behind, trying to squeeze onto the same bench while grumbling, “Why am I the old man and you the handsome guy? Not fair, not fair… d*mn! The more I look, the better you look. Did I really write Gu Baiqing to be this handsome? I remember the best-looking male character was supposed to be your disciple!”
Gu Baiqing wanted to say that he’d always looked more or less like this, but being complimented so earnestly made it awkward to explain.
“Strange,” Half-Step Mad suddenly muttered, still leaning against his neck. “Why do you have the aura of a barrier spell on you? Huh? There really is one, it’s… complicated. Interesting, interesting.” He leaned closer, sniffing and peering at Gu Baiqing’s nape.
Gu Baiqing felt ticklish, rubbing the back of his neck. “What?”
“Seems like a protective barrier,” Half-Step Mad said, then started laughing drunkenly. His words were slurred. “You’re so strong, and you still need this kind of spell? Coward much? C’mon, let me test it, see how strong it is.”
He wobbled to his feet, swaying and raising his hand as if preparing to cast.
“What barrier? I never set one. You’re drunk, stop it. Don’t waste spiritual power, it’s hard enough to replenish,” Gu Baiqing said impatiently.
“No way! You looking down on me? I’ll use my spear against your shield! I’m not letting you leave till we test it.”
Gu Baiqing’s mouth twitched. He swore to never drink with Half-Step Mad again.
“I don’t have any spiritual power right now. You’ll kill me if you hit me,” he bluffed.
“Relax, I’ll just use a tiny bit. Just a little tap like this.” Half-Step Mad giggled, slowly raising his fist.
Gu Baiqing thought he was just joking and didn’t move.
But when the gust of spiritual energy-laced fist wind came, it was too late. He was too close to dodge, he could only take it head-on.
He braced for pain but instead, he felt the fist strike his chest lightly, like a soft thud.
Gu Baiqing exhaled in irritation, ready to scold the drunkard for scaring him when suddenly, the stone bench beneath them shattered into pieces.
He jumped up in shock, heart pounding, looking down at the ruins of the bench before hastily checking himself over with disbelief.
Half-Step Mad’s attack had been real. With that level of power, there was no way he should’ve felt nothing. What in the world!?
Wait… the last time Mo Xuanli had been affected by the formation, lost control, and attacked him, wasn’t it the same?
But he clearly had never…
“This barrier’s amazing,” Half-Step Mad said, wobbling closer and clapping him on the shoulder. “No ordinary protection spell could block me without even a shimmer of light, it’s like the impact was absorbed elsewhere. How’d you do that? Teach me. I know every spell in this world, this one definitely isn’t mine.”
A barrier… new spell…?
The damage was absorbed somewhere else?!
Gu Baiqing’s eyes widened sharply. “You said the spell’s on the back of my neck? What does it look like? Can it be removed?”
He twisted his head, trying to reach the spot, but couldn’t see it.
“I’ll look more closely,” Half-Step Mad said, leaning forward.
Gu Baiqing turned his back to him. Half-Step Mad took a wobbly step and immediately tripped, falling right onto Gu Baiqing’s back.
Gu Baiqing lost his balance and was shoved forward, pressed against the stone table. Just as he was about to push the drunkard off, he felt a hand brush the back of his neck.
“A red ring… with flowers inside… and… lemme see…”
Half-Step Mad traced the markings with his finger while Gu Baiqing could only brace himself, letting the drunken man lie sprawled over him.
“…Can’t read it… huh…”
D*mn it.
Gu Baiqing realized the fool had actually fallen asleep, snoring right against his back. He was speechless, just about to move when a sharp, furious voice rang out—
“Master!”
That voice made Gu Baiqing freeze instantly. He turned around at once and saw three figures standing in the courtyard entrance.
Li Xiuran and Ji Chuling were both staring wide-eyed at the scene before them.
An old man was sprawled over a young Immortal Lord, pressing him down against a stone table, one hand on the other’s slender white neck and that usually aloof, noble Immortal Lord wasn’t resisting at all.
This… should be an accident. Maybe a fall, after all, he was acting drunk, and the scene was hard to interpret in any other way.
Ji Chuling took it entirely as an accident. Li Xiuran hadn’t thought much either until he suddenly sensed the intense murderous aura from the person beside him. He reacted immediately, realizing just how awkward the situation must look from Mo Xuanli’s perspective.
Although it seemed impossible, a brother’s jealousy couldn’t be ignored.
Li Xiuran stepped back with Ji Chuling.
By now, Mo Xuanli’s face had darkened completely, his eyes churning with some unfathomable emotion.
Instinct moved faster than thought. With a snap of his “God Nine Transformations,” a parasol-like force appeared. A strong gust of wind blew, and Half-Step Mad, still sleeping on Gu Baiqing’s back, was sent flying. If not for the Ascending-Cloud Stork’s quick interception, he probably would’ve crashed hard.
Gu Baiqing hadn’t even had time to react when a whip coiled around his waist.
The next second, he was dragged into someone’s embrace.
“Master, what did he do to you? Did he hurt you?” Mo Xuanli’s eyes were locked on Gu Baiqing, already reddening faintly with anger.
Gu Baiqing said nothing, his expression cold as he stared at Mo Xuanli.
Ji Chuling seemed a bit startled. “What’s wrong?”
Li Xiuran noticed Mo Xuanli might be losing control. A foreboding aura radiated from him, jealousy shouldn’t be this intense, clearly nothing serious had happened.
“Xuanli, it’s definitely a misunderstanding. He’s probably just drunk. How could Senior Half-Step Mad harm Elder Luofeng?” Li Xiuran said awkwardly.
But Mo Xuanli’s face was full of barely contained rage. “No… he definitely hurt you. Master, step back, I…”
Before he could finish, he felt a gentle touch on the corner of his mouth, Gu Baiqing’s finger brushing lightly.
The single gesture instantly suppressed the storm of fury.
“Master…” Mo Xuanli froze, staring at Gu Baiqing in astonishment. He felt like a wild beast doused with cold water, instantly tamed.
Li Xiuran looked embarrassed. Ji Chuling was stunned by the sudden turn of events.
Gu Baiqing withdrew his hand expressionlessly, then placed his finger under his eye, scanning a cold arc, lifting his gaze to meet Mo Xuanli with sharp intensity.
“How did you know he hurt me?” His voice was sharper than his look.
Mo Xuanli, sensing the slowly building anger from his master, was startled. The red in his eyes faded, and he could no longer hold Gu Baiqing’s waist.
“Master… um…”
“We were just sparring,” Gu Baiqing said slowly. “Strange… he struck me with his palm, but I wasn’t hurt. He said I had a barrier, yet I didn’t know.” He lifted his hand in front of Mo Xuanli’s eyes.
The pad of his thumb had blood from the corner of Mo Xuanli’s mouth.
Mo Xuanli’s expression changed instantly.
Gu Baiqing suddenly raised his hand and struck Mo Xuanli in the chest. Unable to restrain himself, Mo Xuanli spat a mouthful of blood.
Ji Chuling was dumbfounded and hurried forward. “Why did you hit him?”
Li Xiuran frowned and pulled Ji Chuling back.
Gu Baiqing snorted coldly. “Go back!”
He turned and walked off.
Mo Xuanli followed obediently, head bowed, as if he’d done something wrong.
“What happened to them? Did they fight?” Ji Chuling asked anxiously.
Li Xiuran reassured her, “It’s fine. They just… care about each other.” From the previous exchange, he had a rough idea. The strike Gu Baiqing used wasn’t infused with spiritual energy, it just forced out the blood Mo Xuanli had been holding back.
Before Mo Xuanli arrived, everything was fine. But halfway through the walk, his expression suddenly changed, and Li Xiuran rushed over.
Looking back, it made sense, he must have been injured at that moment, suppressing the blood until now.
It was natural for a master to be upset when their disciple protected them silently in such a way.
Li Xiuran still didn’t understand why Elder Luofeng would need Mo Xuanli’s protection, but clearly their bond ran deep.
“But I’m still worried. Just now… Mo Xuanli seemed to have demonic energy. Could he lose control?” Ji Chuling asked.
“Demonic energy?” Li Xiuran was taken aback.
Ji Chuling nodded. Their clan was extremely sensitive to such things, and as the inheritor of the goddess line, she had the most innate talent for detecting demonic energy.
In that instant, Mo Xuanli’s aura had registered as demonic and terrifyingly powerful.
But Mo Xuanli couldn’t be a demon. He hadn’t been caught in a formation, so Ji Chuling concluded he was merely losing control from internal energy imbalance.
Li Xiuran’s gaze, however, grew slightly complicated.
Meanwhile, Gu Baiqing was already storming off, furious.
He hadn’t expected that Mo Xuanli’s previous attempt at a barrier had been to place one on him.
A substitute barrier.
No matter how badly Gu Baiqing was injured, all damage would be redirected to Mo Xuanli.
It wasn’t hard to imagine, this was because of Half-Step Mad’s ridiculous prophecy. Mo Xuanli had gone so far to protect him, willing to sacrifice himself.
It was truly touching.
Yet all Gu Baiqing felt was pure anger, raging straight to his head and chest.
His mind felt dizzy. He even wondered if he was getting high blood pressure from anger.
“Master…” Mo Xuanli called timidly from behind. They were almost at the cableway, he should have been leading his master.
But before he could say more, Gu Baiqing had already used his spiritual energy to surge ahead.
Mo Xuanli panicked, rushing to catch up.
Behind them, still following at a distance, were Ao Hang and Three Bean, obediently protecting Gu Baiqing. They weren’t close enough to see what had just happened.
But now Ao Hang was even more excited because he saw Gu Baiqing using spiritual power again! Did that mean Three Bean, his little wife, could finally recover?
“Three Bean, change back to human form!”
“No! Didn’t you see something’s wrong? Master seems really angry!” Three Bean looked up anxiously. At that moment, even the clouds hiding in the night sky seemed to sense Gu Baiqing’s mood, soft thunder rumbled in the distance.
“Who cares about them? Let a man coax his own wife. We shouldn’t disturb them.” Ao Hang immediately transformed into human form and begged Three Bean to do the same.
Three Bean had long heard of those two’s ambiguous relationship and had half accepted it by now. Thinking it over, he realized it was true, if he went, he’d only be intruding. Seeing Ao Hang so eager, he could only sigh and reluctantly transform back into human form. Ao Hang, overjoyed, hugged him tightly and found a random spiritual tree to land beneath.
In the shade, accompanied by the faint sound of little bells, the tall man pressed the slender youth against the tree and coaxed softly, “Last time, you promised me a kiss.”
“Just… just one kiss, okay?”
Ao Hang finally kissed his little wife, so thrilled that his heart nearly flew out of his chest. His body naturally grew aroused. Three Bean was frightened and unwilling, but resisting was difficult, fortunately, the spiritual power fueling the bond quickly ran out.
Ao Hang, furious, was about to go find someone to complain to, but Three Bean angrily swiped at him, so he gave up.
Meanwhile, Gu Baiqing had leapt and flown several times before finally landing in the courtyard, with Mo Xuanli naturally following close behind.
Gu Baiqing strode into the house, but hearing Mo Xuanli’s footsteps right behind him, his temper flared again. With a sweep of his hand, a burst of spiritual energy sent Mo Xuanli flying out the door.
Though the force carried no real harm, Mo Xuanli could tell just how angry his master was, he had truly infuriated him. He quickly rushed back in to apologize, only to be shouted at: “Get out!”
Mo Xuanli refused to leave and immediately dropped to his knees.
“Master, I’m sorry. Please don’t be angry.”
“You—! You insolent brat! How dare you! Do you still remember I’m your master? Do I need your protection? You dare to hide things from me and recklessly cast barriers on me, well done, Mo Xuanli! You’ve really grown capable! All that you’ve learned, and you use it against your own master!” Gu Baiqing was so furious his head buzzed; he didn’t even care what he was saying anymore.
Mo Xuanli crawled forward on his knees until he was right before Gu Baiqing. Looking up, he clutched his master’s robes. “Master, I didn’t… I never meant any disrespect. I was just worried….”
“Worried that when you attacked me, I couldn’t take it? Did you think about whether you could withstand an attack that I couldn’t? You’re only at the Nascent Soul stage, how strong do you think you are? You could barely hurt me, but you’d end up half-dead yourself! Are you stupid? Can’t you even do that bit of calculation? That ‘Half-Mad Step’ just now said it was a test, yet it only worsened your injuries. What if another accident like that happens? Can you guarantee you’ll survive?”
Gu Baiqing couldn’t stand it whenever he remembered those scenes of Mo Xuanli coughing up blood in front of him.
A mere Nascent Soul body, hybrid or not, how many layers of wounds could he possibly endure?
But just as Gu Baiqing was venting his anger, the hand clutching his robe suddenly stiffened.
Mo Xuanli stared blankly at him, stunned for a moment, then abruptly stood up, grabbing Gu Baiqing’s shoulders with trembling hands. His black pupils quivered violently.
“Last night when I lost control did I strike you? Did I hurt you?”
Gu Baiqing froze, shocked by the sudden question, realizing too late that he had let something slip. He didn’t know how to answer.
Mo Xuanli’s restraint nearly snapped. He clutched the man before him tightly, regret and fear swirling thick in the air, inescapable, suffocating.
He couldn’t remember. He didn’t remember.
But he had hurt his master. Truly attacked him.
He knew that pain, the kind that made breathing torment, that made blood spill endlessly, the recovery slow and agonizing. And he, he had dared to unleash that same attack on his master.
If… if not for that barrier… wouldn’t his master have suffered exactly what he did? The thought alone was unbearable.
Mo Xuanli’s breath caught; his heart twisted painfully, as if he really had already hurt Gu Baiqing, it hurt so much he could hardly breathe.
His hands trembled; his voice, burned raw by emotion, came out hoarse. “Master, I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… How could I… Master, please punish me, punish me harshly.”
Gu Baiqing shoved him away. Maybe it was because he was worked up, but whenever Mo Xuanli came close, the heat radiating from him felt almost scorching.
“I will punish you, but not for losing control. It’s for casting a barrier on your own accord! Undo it, now!”
Gu Baiqing had tried to use spiritual power to check, but he couldn’t even sense it. How had this brat managed to create such a troublesome barrier!
But Mo Xuanli suddenly went quiet. “Master… maybe the prophecy isn’t over yet. What if I lose control again…”
“Rubbish! I said undo it! You’re not listening to me anymore? And that so-called prophecy, that old man tricked you. I’m not going to die.”
Mo Xuanli froze, as if, amidst countless terrible things, he had finally heard a piece of good news. His eyes lit up with something almost like blooming light. “Really… really?”
“If you don’t believe me, go ask that old man yourself. Now undo it!” Gu Baiqing snapped.
But Mo Xuanli’s gaze flickered. “Master, actually… your spiritual power often runs low. This barrier can…”
“You won’t undo it?” Gu Baiqing was incredulous. The brat had been caught red-handed and still dared to make excuses!
Mo Xuanli, recalling his fear from before, bit his lip and took a step back, his hands instinctively rising as if to protect something.
Gu Baiqing drew Morning Snow and slashed through the air. Mo Xuanli’s robe split open.
Near his heart was a circular mark, almost identical to the one described by Half-Mad Step.
Gu Baiqing touched his own neck. It felt as though a red-hot brand had been pressed there, burning into his very soul. His emotions were tangled, indescribable.
Mo Xuanli quickly covered the mark over his chest, protecting it like a foolish child guarding his most precious treasure.
Then he stubbornly retorted, “I won’t undo it!”
