Chapter 191 – A Kindred Spirit
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In the moment they locked eyes, Liu Zhongming suddenly felt his nose tingling.
Perhaps it was being moved by An Ning’s story, or perhaps it was thinking about their two chance encounters. They had been so close to each other yet it felt like they had been on a long journey.
When he fell from the rope bridge, fear wasn’t in his heart, only regret.
Regret for brooding in solitude for so long, regret for not receiving the little fox’s forgiveness in person, regret for not having the chance to complete their six rituals, regret for being unable to give the little fox a lifetime of peace.
He once believed there was plenty of time to make amends, but now there were no more opportunities in the future.
All the complexities stripped away from his heart, and he saw with clarity that the only one at the core was Qu Chenzhou.
The most important place in his heart belonged solely to Qu Chenzhou.
He suddenly lunged onto the bed, as if losing his sanity, and kissed the still slightly moving lips passionately. Only here could he know that they were both alive.
After such a long and arduous journey, they could finally be together.
The person on the bed didn’t anticipate such a stormy kiss. The fever that had just subsided brought a flush back to his cheeks. He lost his breath once again and emitted a low sob from his throat.
Initially, that hand responded with anger and humiliation, fiercely pounding and scratching on his back. Gradually, Qu Chenzhou’s fingers crumpled the fabric on his back and pulled Liu Zhongming closer to himself.
Their tongues entwined between their lips, as if they wished to chew each other to pieces and become one.
Liu Zhongming was pushed upright, but they didn’t separate. Both of them tumbled from the bed to the floor together, indulging in their desires, shamelessly giving in to their feelings and crying freely.
From the doorway came a surprised exclamation, followed by a hushed voice asking, “Guiqi, why aren’t you going in?”
“An Ning, come on, let’s go. We can come back later.”
The sound of the door closing and the footsteps departing finally brought the two back to reality. When their lips finally parted, they were both panting heavily, their disheveled hair tangling together, and their faces glistening with a thin layer of sweat.
Qu Chenzhou sat on top of Liu Zhongming, his lips slightly swollen and tingling painfully. The corners of his eyes were reddened as if from intoxication. Suddenly, he lifted his hand.
The slap was fierce in its inception, but it landed gently, as if it had only caressed his cheek, and Liu Zhongming pressed Qu Chenzhou’s hand against his face.
“Chenzhou, wait until you’re better before you hit me, alright?”
Qu Chenzhou’s other hand couldn’t bear to strike again. After gritting his teeth for a while, he suddenly stood up and then sat back down.
Liu Zhongming let out a muffled groan from the impact and took a while to catch his breath. He was puzzled, “Chenzhou, did you eat something heavy? Why are you so heavy?”
He received another bump on his chest and didn’t dare to dodge. He could only plead softly, “Chenzhou, I was wrong.”
“Where were you wrong?!” Qu Chenzhou’s tone was sharp.
“I…” Liu Zhongming finally found the chance to confess, “I shouldn’t have doubted you. I shouldn’t have hidden anything. From now on, if I don’t understand something, I’ll definitely ask you. I won’t let my imagination run wild.”
“Wrong!”
“Ah… I shouldn’t have disobeyed your words.”
Qu Chenzhou’s expression slightly softened, “Which words of mine didn’t you listen to?”
Liu Zhongming was at a loss and racked his brain, “You becoming a Si Tian Guan, I didn’t agree…”
He received a not too gentle, not too harsh touch, and corrected himself, “You said not to take off the ring, I didn’t listen.”
Then he received a soft touch again and tried again, “You said you would die a hundred times for me, I didn’t believe…”
Qu Chenzhou couldn’t take it anymore and gave him another bump on the chest.
“I said I was willing to die with you, I told you not to care about my life or death, I told you to run, why didn’t you listen!”
Liu Zhongming sat up, supporting himself as he slid from his chest to his lap.
“Chenzhou, except for this one request, I can’t do it. I don’t want to die with you. I want you to live.”
Their hands came together, sliding until they reached Liu Zhongming’s heart.
“Last time, you let go and left me behind. You have such a cruel heart. If you say that again, this time, I’ll be the one leaving you behind and letting you experience…”
His mouth was covered.
The terror from last night was still present. Just hearing those words unsettled his heart. If it weren’t for An Ning and the others arriving in time, those words might have come true.
Qu Zhenzhou seemed somewhat guilty, a tinge of red at the corner of his eyes, and he fell silent without saying anything further.
Liu Zhongming didn’t dare to press his advantage, his thoughts bottlenecked, as if afraid of startling the other. He cautiously asked, “Chenzhou, has the fever subsided?”
Qu Chenzhou turned his face over.
A hand reached up to his forehead, palm sweaty.
“It has. Are you hungry? The porridge in the kitchen is still warm on the stove. Have some.”
“Where are we?” He held the person down and asked.
The two slaps from last night had drained the last of his strength. He only remembered falling, and after that, he didn’t know anything.
“We’re already out of the mountains. We came out on their flying yuan, and now we’re staying in a cottage in the town. It’s not far from Shimao County.”
Liu Zhongming had heard whispers outside the door earlier. His arm moved downward and he smoothly turned Qu Chenzhou half a circle, holding him horizontally in his arms.
“You’ve been lying down for so long, let’s go eat something outside. It’s a good time, An Ning said he wants to see you too.”
Qu Chenzhou struggled a bit but couldn’t break free. He could only shrink in Liu Zhongming’s embrace and be carried out.
The two people by the table outside didn’t look surprised at all by this. An Ning signaled for the person beside him to bring the porridge and rice over and asked in a low voice, “Is Sir feeling better?”
“Much better.”
After Qu Chenzhou sat down, he found that An Ning seemed a bit uneasy. An Ning lowered his head slightly and looked at the table, which had only a bit of confusion. But when he saw An Ning get up to serve the food, he suddenly realized.
“Can you see now?”
“Yes,” An Ning smiled faintly, touching his empty eye sockets. “It’s all thanks to Sir. Otherwise, I would still be half-blind now.”
“Me?” Qu Chenzhou was puzzled. “Why don’t I remember?”
“It’s nothing to be afraid of, sir. It happened hundreds of years ago. I’ve already told Young Master Zhongming about it. If sir is interested, we can talk about it later after a meal to relieve your curiosity.”
To say he wasn’t shocked would be a lie, but they had encountered too many incredible things on this journey. He could accept it, especially since the “tree creature” was now sitting silently across from him.
Liu Zhongming chimed in from the side, “Chenzhou, these things aren’t important. What’s important is what we talked about before. Show An Ning that thing.”
Qu Chenzhou remembered and quickly took out the piece of jade from his pocket. “Young Master An, do you know what this is?”
An Ning had already heard Liu Zhongming talk about what had happened these past few days and wasn’t surprised. “It’s truly coincidental.”
Qu Chenzhou still didn’t understand, and Liu Zhongming put the deboned fish meat on his plate.
“An Ning said he’s a Yanshi, not the same kind of Yin Wood we saw before, but a Kunlun Tree, a ‘Tree of Heaven.’ So, he’s the most familiar with this thing. But he said he’ll wait until you wake up to explain.”
An Ning smiled faintly, “I left a little suspense for Young Master Zhongming. I’m sorry. The coincidence I mentioned isn’t just about this.”
He extended his palm to Qu Chenzhou, picking up the piece of jade on his fingertips.
“Both of you guessed correctly, this is a Wood Spirit of the Yin Wood. Using water was the right choice. Luckily, you didn’t use fire to test it.”
“What’s going on?” Liu Zhongming didn’t understand. “But I felt like that thing could repel fire. When I tried to grab it, it seemed like it protected me from being burned.”
“After all, it’s where its essence resides. Supporting it for a while isn’t a problem. But if it’s for a long time, it will burn even more fiercely than oil. Fortunately, you took it out in time, otherwise you and the thing would have turned into ashes in an instant.”
The two exchanged a glance, both seeing fear in each other’s eyes. After this journey, they could indeed consider themselves lucky.
But what concerned them more were other matters.
“May I ask, Young Master An, since it’s the essence of the Yin Wood, are there any distinctive qualities about it?” Qu Chenzhou didn’t want to reveal their plan to deceive the emperor. He asked ambiguously, “For example, calming the mind and soothing one’s temperament?”
After all, the emperor was quite frightened by them now. If he were to pass away in this standoff, they wouldn’t be a match for Ning Wang and Huai Wang. The situation would only worsen.
“Just thinking about it in terms of calming the mind and soothing temperament is underestimating it.”
An Ning smiled and motioned for Yan Guiqi to place a flowerpot on the table, submerging the jade in a glass of water.
“The so-called wood generated from water—Wood Spirits absorb all the essences devoured by the Yin Wood. It’s the essence of life.”
He poured the water from the glass into the flowerpot. A dry branch had been stuck into the soil at an angle, and it visibly sprouted and shot out small weeds from the soil at an eye-visible speed.
In just a few breaths, the small flowerpot was lush like in the summer.
Qu Chenzhou breathed a long sigh of relief—thank heavens, this trip wasn’t in vain.
If such miracles existed, even if the emperor didn’t say anything, everything he saw right now would be enough for him to consider it a holy relic.
Liu Zhongming stared as An Ning ate a small bowl of porridge, considering carefully, “An Ning, if someone carries this thing with them for a long time, could they also become a monster?”
“Humans and plants aren’t originally connected. A tree transforming into Yin Wood and devouring people already defies common sense. Humans can only extract a limited amount of life force from the Wood Spirit. Perhaps it can only serve as psychological comfort.”
An Ning handed the Wood Spirit back and looked at Qu Chenzhou with a smile. “But living spirits seem to be an exception.”
Qu Chenzhou listened to Liu Zhongming mumbling by his ear for a moment and frowned.
Living through two lifetimes was already tough enough; he didn’t want to know things from even further back. But judging from An Ning’s gaze, it seemed to have something to do with his present self.
“Me?”
“Yes. Sir must not remember.” An Ning smiled as he answered, “When Sir entered reincarnation, fearing he would become an ordinary passerby, he endured hardships throughout the mortal realm. Coincidentally, when I and Yan Guiqi went to the place where Sir was, I happened to have a Wood Spirit in my possession. I gave it to Sir to enter reincarnation together.”
“Are you saying…” Qu Chenzhou touched his chest, bewildered by his own speculation, and even afraid to voice it out loud.
Before, he had even doubted whether An Ning was trustworthy, but compared to them, the other side held overwhelming power yet was open and honest, not asking for anything.
Moreover, while it might sound fantastical, each thing An Ning said seemed to be piecing together many unresolved mysteries.
Liu Zhongming voiced it for him, “You mean Chenzhou was born with a Wood Spirit?”
“Yes,” An Ning smiled in response. “Sir said that this way, perhaps some remnants of living spirit could be preserved. I once asked whether a reunion might be possible someday, and Sir said these eyes of his would never change. I believe I haven’t mistaken the person.”
“No wonder!” Liu Zhongming blurted out.
“How so?”
“I mean, no wonder that Yin Wood went to great lengths, moving all night, just to find us. Is it related?”
An Ning nodded. “Wood Spirits are rare. Based on what the young master described earlier, its power isn’t strong. It seems like it just recently took form, so it’s naturally covetous.”
Seeing Qu Chenzhou left speechless from shock, he motioned for Yan Guiqi to leave and gave them some privacy.
Qu Chenzhou didn’t speak, so Liu Zhongming patiently served him food. It had been a while since they sat together like this in the capital, and even longer since they had a peaceful meal. These moments were incredibly precious.
“Zhongming…”
He heard the usually composed voice of the little fox tremble slightly. He put down his chopsticks and wrapped his hand around the other’s palm. “Don’t be afraid.”
Qu Chenzhou seemed not to hear his words, his fingers restlessly curling in his palm. He whispered softly, “Those people in the mountains… can’t be left… can’t let Huai Wang know about us…”
“I know,” Liu Zhongming reassured him. “Before you woke up, I already spoke to An Ning about it. An Ning said they would take care of it. Those people won’t leave the mountains.”
“Then… where should we… go next?”
“To Shimao County, okay? With An Ning and Yan Guiqi accompanying us, we won’t need to alert the authorities for now. We can investigate the family that had the incident before.”
They had discussed this before they arrived at Dingling Hill. Around the time of Liu Qingyan’s accident, a family in Shimao County had suddenly disappeared, and they still hadn’t been found.
Qu Chenzhou absentmindedly made a few vague sounds, his eyes cast down.
Liu Zhongming smoothed the dark hair in his hand. “Chenzhou, were you about to say that I really am a monster?”
He saw Qu Chenzhou quickly look up, then just as quickly avoid eye contact. It pained him.
Even though the little fox’s heart was filled with countless calculations, it could only see others clearly, unable to fully comprehend and accept itself. It was no wonder it always dared to take reckless risks and not consider itself.
“Chenzhou, whatever you are doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you’re yourself, unique and incomparable in your own life.”
Liu Zhongming leaned forward and brushed against warm lips.
“An Ning said that you and I were once the same kind, and we’ve been searching for each other for many, many years. If you’re a monster, then so am I.”
“From now on, I won’t ever leave you alone again.”
“Regardless of what you are, you deserve to be cherished. If you can’t do it yourself, I’m willing to cherish you for lifetimes.”
Finally, he received a response, starting shallow and growing deeper. The person held in his embrace gradually calmed from their initial restlessness.
“Chenzhou, you are my deity.”
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