Chapter 60: Passing Through the Official Road (Part 11)
Ah.
“……”
After returning last night, Bai Chunsheng hadn’t expected to run into Jiang Ji and the others again. He had been too preoccupied with figuring out how to catch Yan Jingqiu’s weaknesses and had completely forgotten about his current identity.
Now that Jiang Ji had pointed it out, Bai Chunsheng instinctively exchanged a glance with Yan Yi. In that instant, he realized he had exposed himself.
She had probably figured it out.
That identity token, which he had specially made for the little demon beast Bai Bai, had ended up being useless. Bai Chunsheng felt a bit regretful at the thought.
Regardless of what Jiang Ji might be thinking right now, Bai Chunsheng quickly tried to change the subject and asked, “I am Bai Donghan. May I ask for your esteemed name? How should I address you?”
Bai Donghan—she had never heard of that name before.
So he was a hidden hermit cultivating in seclusion.
This was exactly the answer Jiang Ji had been waiting for. Straightening her posture, she responded with dignity, “Jiang Ji of Yuhan Peak.”
Bai Chunsheng had already known that. He simply replied, “Oh.”
Oh?
Jiang Ji had waited all this time, only to receive a single “oh” in return. She hesitated a little longer, but seeing that neither Bai Chunsheng nor Yan Yi showed any further interest in her, she began to doubt herself. Had the world really changed this much? Once, she had been a high-ranking figure with real power in a great sect, yet now she wasn’t even worth interrogating.
Bai Chunsheng had left the carriage window open, and under Yan Yi’s control, the vehicle sped forward at an incredible pace.
Every so often, fallen trees and lurking beasts blocked the road, but the carriage never slowed down. It barreled straight through every obstacle, obliterating them just before impact. Curious, Bai Chunsheng leaned out and glanced back. He couldn’t tell whether Yan Yi or Jiang Ji was responsible for clearing the way.
At one point, He Shan groggily woke up. In the silent carriage, her suppressed groans of pain echoed faintly. Earlier, Jiang Ji had casually claimed that He Shan had faked her death using a secret technique to escape, but judging by her condition, things were far worse than she had let on. Later, Jiang Ji cradled her in her arms, allowing her to rest more comfortably.
Bai Chunsheng leaned against the carriage wall, gradually feeling drowsy. He closed his eyes, intending to rest for just a moment—but in reality, he quickly fell asleep.
When he woke up, he was no longer leaning but lying down completely. The carriage window remained open, and at the edge of the forest, the setting sun painted the clouds in blood-red hues.
It was almost nightfall. Bai Chunsheng blinked in confusion before realizing that he was curled up entirely, sleeping on Yan Yi’s lap. He turned his head and saw that the mask he should have been wearing had inexplicably grown larger and had somehow fallen to the floor.
Crap!
Alarm bells rang in Bai Chunsheng’s mind. He hadn’t used a disguise spell this time. Jiang Ji had seen him more than once—she would definitely recognize him.
What’s more—what’s more, she had even seen his original form!
It was bad enough that Yan Jingqiu knew. If the rest of the world found out that Bai Chunsheng’s original form was so tiny, how would he ever survive?
Just as Bai Chunsheng was internally wailing in despair, Yan Yi, noticing that he had woken up, reached out and ruffled his little head. Then, without hesitation, he planted a kiss on top of it.
—Bai Chunsheng himself had once said that kissing him didn’t require permission. It could just be done.
Even though Bai Chunsheng quickly grew embarrassed afterward, Yan Yi still remembered that statement.
Still half-asleep, Bai Chunsheng had instinctively reverted to his original form—a small, delicate creature.
And because he was still groggy, he didn’t even react much when Yan Yi kissed him.
Yan Yi, noticing that Bai Chunsheng, who had been sleeping like the dead, suddenly twitched and tried to get up, knew immediately that he was awake.
Bai Chunsheng realized that he had changed back to his original form. He wasn’t sure whether he should feel awkward or relieved. He sent a voice transmission to Yan Yi, asking, “What happened to me? I… I didn’t reveal my true face in front of that woman, Jiang Ji, did I?”
“No,” Yan Yi chuckled, then truthfully explained, “While you were sleeping, you turned back into your original form and started making little ‘wah woo wah woo’ sounds in your sleep. Probably talking in your dreams. That woman said you must have been dreaming about me. After I picked you up, you stopped making noises.”
Bai Chunsheng: “…Nonsense.”
“Right,” Yan Yi agreed smoothly, his tone calm. “I’m guessing you had a nightmare. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be thinking about me.”
He spread his hands in an utterly neutral and matter-of-fact way, his words cutting straight to the point.
Bai Chunsheng had been about to nod when he heard the latter half of Yan Yi’s statement. Furious, he snapped, “That’s not true!”
He immediately thought to himself—how could he possibly miss Yan Yi? He was just about to emphasize this point over and over again, to tell Yan Yi to stop deluding himself. What self-indulgent nonsense!
But just as he was about to speak, he suddenly realized—if he played along with Yan Yi’s words, wouldn’t that mean falling right into his trap? He had no idea what had actually happened while he was asleep. Whether he outright denied it or reacted too strongly, it would make him seem like he had been caught off guard and was trying too hard to cover it up. That would only make it look even more like he really had been thinking about Yan Yi.
Bai Chunsheng decided to gloss over the topic entirely. He began shaking his head and mumbling vaguely, trying to brush it off.
Fortunately, in his current tiny duck-like form, the motion didn’t seem too strange.
Jiang Ji, who had just finished transferring spiritual energy to He Shan, looked visibly fatigued. Seeing that Bai Chunsheng was awake, she mistakenly believed she had figured out the secret behind Yan Fengxing and Han Fengchen’s defeat.
After all, where in the world were there so many geniuses? First, there was Yan Jingqiu, who was supposedly unbeatable, and now Yan Yi, who could fight across realms beyond his level.
She had already been wondering how those two had managed to deal with Yan Fengxing and his group. Now, watching Bai Chunsheng slumber so deeply, she was almost certain of her guess.
Jiang Ji assumed that Bai Chunsheng had suffered the aftereffects of some secret technique—this would also explain why he had looked like this the first time they met.
Since matters involving cultivation techniques and secret arts were extremely sensitive topics, Jiang Ji rationally avoided mentioning it altogether. She didn’t even bring it up. Instead, she turned to Yan Yi and asked, “May I ask how I should address you?”
She had wanted to ask this question earlier, but before she had the chance, Yan Yi had walked over and scooped Bai Chunsheng into his arms. As if afraid of disturbing him, he had plunged the entire carriage into the same eerie silence as the night before.
Jiang Ji found this person incredibly strange.
He was just a late-stage Nascent Soul sword cultivator, yet he exuded an inexplicable, indescribable pressure. Sometimes, even just glimpsing him made an unprecedented sense of dread rise within her.
When that little duck had been awake earlier, she could still barely manage a conversation. But after Bai Chunsheng had fallen unconscious—whether from exhaustion or something else—she no longer dared to speak at all.
She suspected that Yan Yi must have been cultivating some immensely powerful yet uncontrollable secret technique. Otherwise, he wouldn’t make her feel such fear.
Luckily, that little duck had finally woken up. Jiang Ji let out a quiet breath of relief.
Yan Yi remained silent for a long time without answering Jiang Ji. Just as she assumed he wouldn’t respond and was about to find another opportunity to ask again, he finally spoke, his voice slow and steady: “Ye Jingxing.”
—It seemed like a name she had never heard before.
Jiang Ji was about to exchange a few polite words when she suddenly felt that the name sounded somewhat familiar. She tried to search her memory for anything related to it. Perhaps she had heard it before, but since so much time had passed, it had been buried deep in the corners of her mind.
Seeing the change in her expression, Yan Yi took the initiative to say, “You have heard this name before.”
Jiang Ji let out a hoarse chuckle. “I don’t remember it very clearly.”
Yan Yi nodded in understanding. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve lost my memory.” He meant it sincerely.
Jiang Ji couldn’t help but feel uneasy at his attitude. Could this Ye Jingxing have been someone of great importance in the past? Considering how secretive both of them were, it seemed to make sense. If that were the case…
A moment passed in silence. The atmosphere was calm as Yan Yi absentmindedly combed Bai Chunsheng’s feathers. Then he brought up another matter: “What exactly were those people after last night?” He had been curious about it yesterday, but not overly so. “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”
Jiang Ji laughed. “It’s nothing too important.”
“Capturing me was one thing. But more importantly, they wanted to force an answer out of me.”
“What answer?” Bai Chunsheng, who had been lazily enjoying being groomed, suddenly perked up. He folded his wings, blinking with keen interest.
Jiang Ji said, “They wanted to know the last thing Sword Sovereign Yan Jingqiu did before he died.”
Yan Yi could clearly feel the muscles on Bai Chunsheng’s back tense beneath his hand. The duck froze completely, as if paralyzed with shock.
Yan Yi, as though oblivious, continued grooming Bai Chunsheng at a leisurely pace.
Bai Chunsheng stole a glance at him. It was obvious that Yan Jingqiu’s memory loss and his drastic drop in cultivation level to the Nascent Soul stage were likely tied to this event. His curiosity was piqued—he wanted to know what had truly happened.
Yet he hesitated. After all, Yan Yi was right here. What if recalling the past triggered something?
Bai Chunsheng seemed to struggle with himself for a moment before curiosity won out. After all, knowing one’s enemy was key to winning a hundred battles. He wanted to understand why Yan Jingqiu had ended up like this.
Hesitantly, he pressed further, “What did he do?”
Jiang Ji gave a cryptic smile—half amused, half unreadable. “How would I know?”
“If I did, I probably wouldn’t still be alive right now,” she said, a hint of melancholy in her voice. “Besides, even if we knew what these great figures did, what could we possibly do about it?”
“Exactly,” Yan Yi added coolly.
Bai Chunsheng: “…”
Calling that guy a ‘great figure’ now? Yan Jingqiu really had no shame.
Bai Chunsheng shot an incredulous glance at Yan Yi.
Author’s Note:
Bai Chunsheng: If people find out that the mighty Bai Chunsheng is actually this small, how am I supposed to live with that?!
Yan Jingqiu picked him up and weighed him in his hands. “Ten pounds. Not small.”
Bai Chunsheng: “…”
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
