Chapter 63
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Gong Wei was in a daze, as if he had had many dreams, mixed with inexplicable anxiety, oppression, and fear.
He tossed and turned in Xu Shuangce’s arms, never feeling settled, emitting faint and blurred murmurs. Every time he was about to wake up, his eyelashes would start fluttering rapidly, and Xu Shuangce would reach out to pat and comfort him, soothing Gong Wei back into a temporary peace, sinking into dreams repeatedly throughout the night. It wasn’t until dawn approached that he finally woke up groggily, his body extremely sore, tired, and exhausted, yet filled with a strange and constant spiritual energy.
That was the result of dual cultivation with the number one person in the world.
Gong Wei laid on his side, nestled tightly in those familiar arms, with Xu Shuangce’s arm draped under his neck from the side, allowing him to rest his head. Because he had cried too harshly last night, he was still a bit angry inside, so he didn’t turn around. After lying like this for a while and feeling bored, his gaze fell on Xu Shuangce’s hand in front of him.
Xu Shuangce’s hand was resting on the pillow, his fingers graceful and slender — Gong Wei had already experienced their exact length last night. It was rare to see Sect Master Xu so relaxed with his palm spread out like this. Gong Wei couldn’t help himself, he reached out and started playing with his fingertips, plucking them one by one like playing a string instrument.
At first, he was cautious, but when Xu Shuangce didn’t react after a few plucks, he became bolder. There happened to be a long strand of hair in the bedding, which must have fallen out when Xu Shuangce forcibly grabbed his head last night when he resisted kissing. Gong Wei had nothing better to do, so he picked up the hair and wound it around the base of Xu Shuangce’s middle finger, then carefully tied a fine knot.
He found it quite amusing himself, admiring it left and right for a while. But he was a bit afraid that Xu Shuangce would wake up and get angry, so he wanted to quietly undo the hair without him noticing.
But as soon as he reached out to do so, before he could untie the knot, Xu Shuangce suddenly moved and tightly grasped his hand in his palm, not allowing the slightest movement.
Gong Wei turned guiltily, and every movement pulled at him painfully, causing him to shudder.
With a low voice, Xu Shuangce asked above him, “What’s wrong?”
“…”
Sect Master Xu’s expression was unreadable, completely devoid of emotion, with deep eyes, obviously awake for a long time, just not moving.
With large patches of bare skin pressed together, Gong Wei suddenly realized that he was completely naked, feeling quite uncomfortable as he tried to move away, but he was held in place by Xu Shuangce’s arm. Then Xu Shuangce propped himself up with his elbow, lightly pressing down on Gong Wei’s upper body. This dominating posture made him appear even more calm and composed as he asked, “Can’t sleep anymore?”
Gong Wei told the truth, “It hurts…”
His thin and fair eyelids were red from crying all night, his lips swollen and cracked, unconsciously slightly parted, with three finger marks still visible on his neck.
The space under the secretive bed curtains quieted for a moment.
Xu Shuangce remained silent, for some reason Gong Wei felt his muscles tensing very tightly, as if hesitating about something.
After a while, he seemed to sigh as if giving up, no longer pressing down on Gong Wei, but hoarsely said, “Turn over.”
Gong Wei didn’t understand why, but still obediently rolled over, lying face down on the soft pillow.
Immediately, he felt Xu Shuangce’s hands on his lower back, starting to massage him with just the right amount of pressure, the spiritual energy flowing in like a warm spring, instantly easing his discomfort greatly.
Gong Wei didn’t expect Sect Master Xu to be so considerate at this moment. His anger inside suddenly dissipated by more than half, and he lazily laid there for a while before suddenly remembering something. With half-closed eyes, he asked, “Xu Bai.”
Xu Shuangce responded with a sound.
“What did Du Kaixun say to you under the abyss that day?”
These days, Gong Wei had been unclear-headed, with no thoughts in his mind except the urgent need for spiritual energy to support his golden core. Now he finally remembered to ask.
Xu Shuangce casually replied, “Nonsense, not worth mentioning.”
Gong Wei was very curious, about to turn back to ask, but his lower back was punished with a heavy press, causing him to inhale sharply.
It took him a while to recover from the shock and he dared not continue to ask, forced to change the subject, “Then… what happened to the soldier puppet in the end?”
Xu Shuangce replied, “Destroyed.”
“Did you destroy them alone… Ah!!
Gong Wei almost jumped up, his heart filled with confusion and grievance, completely puzzled as to why such a normal conversation could hit Xu Shuangce’s sore spot so easily: “Xu Bai, you’re simply—”
Xu Shuangce interrupted, saying, “You talk too much.”
Gong Wei gritted his teeth and grabbed the soft pillow, forcing back the desire to passionately rebuke, and settled back down to be massaged again. After a while, he couldn’t help but stir up some idle chatter, finding a safe topic, “Xu Bai, Du Kaixun said you like me.”
This time, Xu Shuangce didn’t silence him forcefully, but he also didn’t answer immediately, taking a moment before saying, “What about it?”
The number one person in the world actually liked him. Gong Wei felt a subtle sense of satisfaction, “Since when?”
“…”
“What do you like about me?”
“…”
Gong Wei was extremely adept at reading people’s expressions. Sensing the hands massaging his lower back showing signs of wanting to increase pressure, he quickly changed tack, “Forget it, forget it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t say. I’ll tell you. I’ve liked you ever since I first laid eyes on you. I like everything about you, even when you scold me. Are you satisfied, Sect Master Xu?”
This guy dared to say anything sweet when he was happy, but unfortunately, he didn’t turn around to see Xu Shuangce’s expression at the moment.
“Hey,” after a while, he suddenly remembered something else, feeling even more pleased, and asked eagerly, lying on the soft pillow, “By the way, Xu Bai.”
Finally, Xu Shuangce responded with, “What?”
“When I summoned Bai Tai Shou under the glacier at Tianmen Pass and you found out that the junior disciple you’ve been spending time with was actually me, Gong Zhiyu, you must have been shocked, right?”
“…………….”
Xu Shuangce suddenly fell silent again, and facing this question, his silence became unexpectedly prolonged.
Gong Wei keenly sensed his hesitation several times, and after a long while, Xu Shuangce finally calmly uttered two words, “Not bad.”
Just “not bad”?
Gong Wei felt dissatisfied, “Xu Bai, you shouldn’t lie just to save face. When you saw me restore my true body’s form, weren’t you extremely shocked and impressed? I bet you were stunned at that moment.”
An indescribable silence enveloped the entire sleeping chamber.
Gong Wei waited with bated breath for what seemed like half a stick of incense, until finally, Xu Shuangce’s strained voice came from behind, saying, “…Sort of.”
At least he admitted it. Gong Wei happily said, “I didn’t mean to hide it from you for so long. You won’t be angry about this in the future, will you?”
Xu Shuangce replied, “No.”
Gong Wei finally relaxed, wanting to continue asking about the incident with the Iron Sect family in the abyss that day, but he was afraid that Xu Shuangce might suddenly give him a heavy blow, so he had to temporarily give up.
It was so comfortable lying there being massaged, especially after being infused with a large amount of spiritual energy, a normal person would want to sleep. Soon, drowsiness engulfed him again. He yawned and, in a daze, heard Xu Shuangce suddenly say, “Gong Wei.”
“Hmm?”
Xu Shuangce’s voice seemed to tremble slightly, but he still asked, “Do you like me?”
Gong Wei mumbled in a daze but earnestly replied, “Yes.”
“Well, if one day I do something unforgivable, hurt you deeply, or even want to kill you, what will you do?”
This question was too strange. If Gong Wei were normal, he would definitely pester for reasons, but now he was very tired and wanted to sleep, so it took him a while to understand the question: “What do you mean?”
Xu Shuangce asked, “Will you hate me?”
Gong Wei said, “No, I won’t.”
“What will you do?”
With his eyes closed, Gong Wei seemed half asleep and half awake. After a while, he smiled and said, “Then I’ll try to like you a little less.”
The inner room was quiet. After a moment, he let out a faint and steady breath, falling asleep comfortably.
Xu Shuangce’s movements came to a halt as he stared at him motionlessly, as if guarding the only precious gift fate had bestowed upon him.
After a while, he reached out and stroked the fine hair on Gong Wei’s forehead, his fingers trembling slightly. He leaned in and placed a kiss on Gong Wei’s temple.
***
The sound of robes rustling echoed as Xu Shuangce got up and walked to the outer room, sitting behind the desk in the study. He took something out of his sleeve.
—It was the bronze box from the skull of the World-Destroying Soldier Puppet.
Named a box, it was actually a set of locks, with each precisely cast bronze wedge locking together to form a whole, hollow inside for storage. As long as the bronze wedges were moved in a certain order, it could be completely disassembled. Therefore, opening it was not difficult, but Xu Shuangce, lost in thought, did not touch it for a long time. After a while, his gaze fell on his right hand, looking at the strands of hair wrapped around his middle finger.
Finally gaining some bitter confidence, he sighed and got up, gently moving the first bronze wedge with a “click.”
The sound of bronze tapping continued in the study. Xu Shuangce’s movements were swift, as if he didn’t want to give himself time to regret. After a cup of tea’s time, the upper half of the bronze box had been dismantled into more than a dozen large and small square wedges, revealing the interior that had been hidden from the world for thousands of years.
—The only way to return from the illusion world to the real world, sought after by ghost cultivators, desperately sought after by Du Kaixun, and said to be the only way to crack the illusion and return to the world… Xu Shuangce was prepared for whatever ancient artifacts or spiritual treasures might appear in the bronze box.
But unexpectedly, there was only a thin, ordinary silk scroll inside.
Xu Shuangce furrowed his brows tightly, then took it out and gently unfolded it.
The scroll was only one finger in length and two fingers in width, thin as a cicada’s wing, with clear ink characters. There were over a thousand words on the silk, all written in ancient seal script that had long been extinct. Even someone as knowledgeable as Xu Shuangce couldn’t fully understand it; he could only grasp the general meaning by combining the context.
It was the biography of the Supreme God of the Northern Wall.
Before ascending, the Supreme God of the Northern Wall was a grandmaster, born into a prestigious orthodox sect of cultivation. His name in the mortal world was untraceable. During his lifetime, the Central Plains were embroiled in a fierce war between the two major countries, resulting in widespread famine and misery, to the point where nine out of ten households were empty.
In these two countries, the weaker country downstream of the river had struggled for many years but couldn’t overcome the enemy. So the enemy, situated upstream, came up with a plan—to secretly dig the opponent’s river channel. They planned to take advantage of the imminent rainy season, hoping that when the levee broke during the torrential rain, they could seize the opportunity to completely defeat the opponent.
But there’s a predestined fate for every country. That year, an unprecedented and rare torrential rain suddenly fell. The massive river mouths of the weak country couldn’t hold on, and they were on the verge of bursting.
—Once the river mouths burst, tens of thousands of people downstream would instantly perish, and millions of people would be displaced. After the flood, countless lives would be consumed by plagues, famine, pestilence, and more. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a disaster of a century.
Even ants cling to life, let alone tens of thousands of common people. So at this critical juncture of life and death, someone came up with an idea and gathered a large number of common people to kneel before the Immortal Sect.
For cultivators to resist natural disasters was a big deal. To resist nature with one’s own strength, losing cultivation at best, and dying on the spot at worst, or even having one’s soul annihilated, was possible. Therefore, all the major sects at that time remained silent, closed their doors, and were extremely frightened. The desperate cries, weeping, and cursing of the terrified people all surged beneath the mountain where God of the Northern Wall’s sect was located, echoing endlessly, the cries of anger, sorrow, and curses still heard.
Aren’t you the number one person in the world? Aren’t you a grandmaster at the Immortalization Realm, aiming to cultivate and ascend?
A natural disaster is about to strike, and thousands of people are kneeling before your gate. How can you stand by and pretend not to know?
Seeing death without saving, worse than pigs and dogs!
After tens of thousands of people knelt, cried, raged, and cursed for seven days, the mountain gate finally opened with a bang, and the mortal God of the Northern Wall entered the world with a sword.
The battle against the catastrophe was just as tragic as the later battle of the end of the world fight at the end of the Xuanjing River. Even God of the Northern Wall, a grandmaster at the Immortalization Realm, couldn’t possibly block the thousands of hectares of rivers pouring into the Central Plains. In the end, he exhausted his cultivation, burned his golden core, barely blocking the flood within a thousand miles of Lake Tai downstream, and then inevitably died from exhaustion.
Who would have thought that at the moment his body dissolved into water, dark clouds suddenly covered the sky, and a mirror-immortal descended from the heavenly realm, intercepting his soul about to plunge into the Yellow Springs.
At this point, God of the Northern Wall’s soul had exhausted its spiritual power and was exhausted, so he asked, “Are you here to guide me?”
The mirror-immortal replied, “When every cultivator in the mortal world is eligible to ascend, I will come down to reflect their souls. If their merits are complete, I will open the heavenly gate and let them ascend to immortality; if they have any doubts in their hearts, I will send them down to the ghost realm to be reborn and reincarnate as humans again.”
God of the Northern Wall asked, “Then am I considered to have completed my merits?”
Actually, this is not a problem at all. Resisting a huge natural disaster and saving thousands of common people, regardless of which dynasty or era it is placed in, is the utmost merit. If this isn’t considered complete, then there’s hardly any merit in the world that can be deemed complete.
However, the mirror-immortal hesitated. He said, “Your merits are complete, but your karmic obstacles are also filled.”
God of the Northern Wall was extremely surprised and asked, “But I’ve never had any karmic obstacles in my fate, and my friends can attest to that. How could karmic obstacles suddenly appear out of nowhere overnight?”
The ancient text was extremely concise, and this question and answer amounted to only half a line in the original document. However, Xu Shuangce’s gaze suddenly stopped, and then he carefully read each word several times before confirming that he hadn’t misread it.
God of the Northern Wall did mention a “friend” that had never been mentioned before in the previous text, and the mirror-immortal didn’t raise any questions—could there be a third person present, deliberately hidden by the text?
What’s even more strange is that God of the Northern Wall actually developed karmic obstacles at this moment.
A grandmaster who had just sacrificed himself to save the common people, at the most tragic and glorious moment of his life, with people all over the world grateful and grieving for him, where could these karmic obstacles possibly come from?
The following ancient seal characters were obscure and difficult to understand, so Xu Shuangce could only guess at their general meaning.
God of the Northern Wall’s soul was weak and about to dissipate, but the mirror-immortal was still struggling and seemed reluctant to open the heavenly gate for him. At this deadlock, suddenly a faint crimson color drifted in the rushing flood under their feet. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a withered peach blossom branch.
For some reason, the mirror-immortal’s heart was moved, and he suddenly came up with a solution.
He summoned the withered branch and handed it to God of the Northern Wall, saying, “Your physical body has dissolved, and your merits are complete, so ascending is indeed appropriate. However, after ascending, you must plant this peach blossom branch in the East Heaven and Northern Wall of the immortal realm because it represents the power needed to restrain karmic obstacles. The more prosperous the flowers, the heavier the karmic obstacles, and you must expend more mana to restrain yourself. Do you understand?”
God of the Northern Wall took the branch, hesitated for a long time, and then asked a question, “What if I don’t remove my karmic obstacles?”
Xu Shuangce’s gaze fell on the next line of complex ink strokes.
The mirror-immortal extended his hand and placed a drop of blood on the peach branch. Instantly, the withered wood revived, and abundant flowers bloomed. The youth plucked a peach blossom stained with blood from the branch. In his calm eyes, there seemed to be boundless pressure: “So I must make a blood oath with you here.”
“If in the future, you, as the highest authority, fall into karmic obstacles, then I will ascend to the highest heavens and descend to the depths of the underworld. Even if I have to chase you to the deepest part of h*ll, I will strip you of your divine position and execute you on the spot.”
Then, in front of God of the Northern Wall, using the highest standard of making a blood oath, he placed the peach blossom inscribed with the oath into his mouth and swallowed it down his throat.
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