Why was it slapping the face of a man who looked down on him if he married a more powerful man?
My host, can you grow up a little?
Being thrown into prison was better than marrying Xie Shiyi.
Yan Qing lost his appetite. He couldn’t finish his lunch, but once he looked down at the stir-fried pork, kung pao chicken, milky fish soup and fried quail in his lunch box, he thought he could at least try to taste it.
As he ate, he tried to worm facts out of the servant nearby. “Do you know where the Serene Prison is?”
The attendant was shocked. “The Serene Prison? That’s where the sect locks up the most heinous of criminals. Young Master, why are you asking about a place like that?”
Yan Qing pointed at himself. “What, do I not look like a heinous criminal?”
The attendant looked shy. “Of course not! Young Master, how could you be a heinous criminal? You’re pure and kind. It’s all because that ungrateful Yin Wuwang bewitched you that you committed such a great wrong!”
Yan Qing smiled. “Wonderful. I love the way you can lie with your eyes wide open.”
Yan Qing planned to leave tonight. He didn’t have the slightest interest in participating in the main character shou’s romantic carnage. But he suddenly thought of something, and placed his chopsticks down, closing the lunch box. He said to the attendant, “Let’s go. Bring me to see Yin Wuwang.”
The attendant was stunned by his sudden motion. “Young Master, what do you want to find Yin Wuwang for?”
Yan Qing: “To call in a debt.”
The attendant looked like he’d seen a ghost. He wailed and protested, trying to bar his way: “No, you can’t, Young Master! You’ve already stolen the siftrain flower. If you steal Yin Wuwang away now, you’ll add another crime on top of your last one. You’ll go to prison!”
Yan Qing: “?” When I said, “call in a debt,” that’s what I meant?
Yan Qing smiled. “You’re so smart, you knew what I was thinking right away.” He pulled on the attendant’s arm. “Let’s go, we’re going to steal Yin Wuwang away.”
The attendant cried so hard it sounded like someone was slaughtering a pig. “Young Master!”
Yan Qing left the ancestral hall and went straight to Yin Wuwang’s abode.
The rain outside had stopped, but it left a layer of water on the ground. When Yan Qing stepped through the threshold, he saw his image in the water when he looked down. The moonlight left a chill on the surface, reflecting the face of a young man. Yan Qing shared his personal name with him, but they had different family names — the host’s was 燕 Yàn, while his was 言 Yán. Their appearances were very similar as well. His jet-black hair was bound with a violet wooden pin, and he wore a luxurious green robe. By the light of the moon, he could see the young man’s lips smiling wordlessly. When he looked at someone, his eyes seemed to conceal some deep emotion. His skin was fair as a spring dawn. At a single glance, you could tell he was a spoiled son of nobility.
In his last life, Yan Qing had been the young lord of Tenside City. He always had an idle, languid manner, as if nothing was too big of a deal for him. So the character he had transmigrated into matched him well. If you gave him a fan, he’d be the perfect casanova.
The attendant bawled. “This won’t do, Young Master! If the elder knew you lost your chastity tonight, he’d kill me!”
Yan Qing comforted him. “Look at the bigger picture. It’s me taking his virginity.”
The attendant howled into the night. “Young Master!!!”
Yan Qing: “What are you shrieking about? Shut up.”
If the old eunuch who served at his side in his last life had been as innocent as this attendant, he wouldn’t have gone through such an abyss of suffering in Tenside City, so scared he almost lost his virility.
Yan Qing had a simple reason for finding Yin Wuwang. He wanted his sagecloud mirror back. It was only when he reviewed his memories that he found this wastrel had actually given a sagecloud mirror to Yin Wuwang.
That was a sagecloud mirror, the sagecloud mirror that could reveal phantasms! In his heart, it was far more important than the siftrain flower.
In this world, there were nine levels. The upper three levels were the cultivation realm, the lower three levels were the demonic realm, and the ones in the middle were the human realm.
Demonic creatures ran rampant across the three realms. The greatest difference between humans and demons were the phantasms. It was said that the phantasms were the curse the demonic god laid down ten thousand years ago, out of the resentment they felt before their death. Phantasms laid dormant among the minute particles of the world, and could embed themselves into a fetus. If an infant in the womb was unlucky enough to be tainted, the phantasm would become a parasite in their mind.
Once the phantasm silently grew to maturity, the host would lose their reason and turn into a puppet that knew nothing but slaughter.
The phantasm could control a human being’s soul, take over their body and turn them insane, bloodthirsty and bent on murder.
The cultivation realm called these phantasm hosts demonseeds.
Once they discovered a demonseed, they would join hands to kill them.
The nine great cultivation sects created a Cultivation Alliance just for the sake of hunting out all demonseeds and upholding the peace of the realm.
However, before the phantasm fully matured, the demonseed’s appearance and behavior was no different from that of an ordinary person. They might not even know themself that they were a demonseed. The Cultivation Alliance had to rely on external sources of strength, such as the sagecloud mirror, the most common immortal weapon for discovering phantasms.
When they traced their path back to the peak, Yan Qing came to the sect’s medicine valley behind the mountain.
Yin Wuwang had always kept his identity a secret, so all of Springturn Sect had no idea this man was the young sect master of Lightstream Sect, the foremost sect among the nine great cultivation sects of the realm. They all thought he was just a random man from some outside sect, and settled him in a desolate, secluded cave.
The medicine valley at the back of the mountain was a place to grow spiritbreed grain. It was called a valley, but it was really more of a ravine. The two peaks on either side were high and precipitous, towering among the clouds.
Yan Qing chatted with his attendant as they climbed the mountain. “What’s your name?”
The attendant said respectfully, “Young Master, you can just call me Congming.”
Yan Qing looked around him. “Congming, why do I feel like the back of the mountain is a little eerie today?”
Congming trembled. “Yes, I feel that way too. Young Master, let’s head back.”
Yan Qing scoffed. “That won’t do. We’ve already come all the way here; it’s bad practice to quit halfway.”
This body was that of an ordinary person. Walking in the pitch dark, branches pulled Yan Qing’s hair crown loose. He thought it was a bother, so he pulled the crown off, and raked through his hair a little, giving it a scattered beauty. In order to match his hairstyle, he was fussy enough to open his collar a little. With a fan in his hand, he was quite eye-catching.
“......” Seeing his confident movements, Congming hesitated for a while until he couldn’t hold himself in anymore. “Young Master, let’s go back. Ever since you stole the siftrain flower and gave it to Yin Wuwang, the elder has been in a thunderous fury. He punished Yin Wuwang cruelly and even imprisoned him. There must be people guarding the cave now, so we won’t be able to get in.”
Yan Qing didn’t take him seriously. “What are you afraid of? If soldiers come, we’ll fight them; if water comes, we’ll dam it.”
Yan Qing pointed the way ahead with his fan. He crouched behind a bush and asked, “Are those the guards you were talking about?”
Ahead, where two mountains met, there stood a man and a woman. The man had dark skin and a trustworthy appearance, and he held a long spear. He was holding in his feelings so hard his face was the color of pig liver. Across from him was a girl in the dress of a maid. Her face was round, and her hair was bound in a flowered kerchief. She was holding her stomach with tears in her eyes.
The leaves rustled in the wind. The scene was desolate.
The girl sobbed. “A-Hu-ge, are you really not going to follow me?”
A-Hu couldn’t bear to look at her. “A-Hua, go on alone. The elder did me a great favor in the past, and I can’t betray my benefactor.”
The rims of the girl’s eyes were scarlet. She said hysterically, “I won’t go! If even you don’t want me, then I might as well die. If you don’t come with me, I’ll jump down from here.”
A-Hu hesitated. “A-Hua, be careful. You have a child in your belly.”
The girl grew even more hysterical. “Is it because of that?! Is it because I’m pregnant that you don’t want me?! You’re nothing more than an animal!”
Hiding behind the bushes, Congming and Yan Qing exchanged a glance.
Congming: “Young Master, what should we do?”
Yan Qing: “Let’s go, we’ll lend a hand.”
Yan Qing poked his head out from behind the bush, and with an expression of surprise, acted as a peacemaker. “What happened? How did you start fighting?”
It was as if A-Hu had found a piece of driftwood in the open sea. He was so anxious he was sweating. He turned and said to Yan Qing with teary eyes, “Save me, comrade. My fiancée is refusing to leave, and wants me to come with her. She’s threatening to jump off the cliff if I don’t go.”
Yan Qing said, “Then just go with her.”
A-Hu said, aggrieved, “But I don’t want to go with her.”
Yan Qing tsked and said, “Aren’t you a man?”
A-Hua sobbed. “A-Hu-ge, I really was blind when it came to you!”
Yan Qing nodded. “That’s right, that’s right.”
A-Hua spoke while shedding tears. “This is the baby I toiled for nine months to bear! But you actually think it isn’t yours! You scumbag!”
Yan Qing went along. “Just so, just so.”
“?”
“...Ah, not quite.”
A-Hua was incredibly agitated. She pointed to Yan Qing and Congming. “Hurry up and tell them to get lost! We can resolve our matters ourselves. If I count to three and they’re still here, I’ll jump! Three, two—”
A-Hu was as anxious as an ant in a hot pan. He pushed Yan Qing back and said, “Forget it, hurry up and leave, comrade. If you don’t leave now, my fiancée’s going to jump off this cliff.”
Yan Qing looked at the green light gleaming on top of A-Hu’s head and patted his shoulder. “Alright, take care.”
After saying farewell to this pair of lovers, Yan Qing pulled Congming into the cave.
Congming kept turning his head back. “Young Master, are we really going to leave them like that?”
Yan Qing scoffed and walked into the cave as if he owned the place. “Who cares what they do? Did you forget what we came here for?”
It was so dark in the cave that it was hard to find their way. Yan Qing took a night pearl out of his sleeve. It was craggy and damp inside the cave, and the path sloped downward.
Only now did Congming realize: “This isn’t right, Young Master—how come we were able to get in so easily?”
Yan Qing: “That’s right, we have to thank the power of love.”
Holding the night pearl aloft, Yan Qing walked toward the smaller cave where Yin Wuwang lived. But before he could reach the entrance, the flash of a sword that carried killing intent swept before him, cutting off—two strands of his hair???
Yan Qing: “?”
At the same time, the clear sound of a conversation came from within the cave.
The man’s voice was low, carrying a suppressed rage. “Xiaoxiao, you just have to use this method to save him?”
The boy’s voice carried a sob, timid and soft. “Yan-shixiong, I-I’m sorry, but I can’t think of a better way.”
There were countless holes carved above the cave that let threads of sunlight into the darkness.
Yan Qing stuffed the night pearl into his sleeve. He walked in, waving his fan. He found that there were three people inside the cave. Besides Yin Wuwang, who his father had beaten until he was unconscious and half-dead, there was also the protagonist shou, his little shidi, Bai Xiaoxiao, who had tears rolling down his face. The violet-robed man standing by Bai Xiaoxiao was even more of a coincidence—it was the brother from a different mother who had always looked at Yan Qing as if he were a rat crossing the street, Yan Jianshui.
Yan Qing was surprised. “Oh, everyone’s here.”
Bai Xiaoxiao had just been in a teary standoff with Yan Jianshui. When Yan Qing suddenly burst in, he broke the tragic atmosphere.
It wasn’t long ago that Yan Qing had threatened Bai Xiaoxiao into giving him the Desireless Sect token. When Bai Xiaoxiao saw him, he couldn’t help but be subconsciously afraid, and he trembled.
Yan Jianshui despised this good-for-nothing brother of his, and didn’t bother to hide his disdain. “Yan Qing, what did you come here for?”
Yan Qing waved his fan. “I couldn’t rest in peace, knowing that Yin-gongzi was left here all alone.”
Yan Jianshui sneered. “Hah, the greatest care you could give him would be getting lost.”
Yan Qing glanced at Bai Xiaoxiao, whose fingers were tightly intertwined with those of Yin Wuwang. He tactfully declined. “I’d better not. How come everyone takes care of Yin Wuwang, but no one cares about you, Da-Ge? I’ll never let that happen.”
“......” A blue vein popped up on Yan Jianshui’s forehead. He wanted to beat him.
While the three people were in a standoff, Yin Wuwang’s fingers suddenly moved.
“Wuwang-gege!” Bai Xiaoxiao’s clear eyes widened. In his great joy, he took his hand. And while he was holding his hand, Yin Wuwang’s pale, cracked lips suddenly gave a heavy gasp, and a thin layer of unnatural red appeared on his handsome face.
Bai Xiaoxiao was stunned. “Wuwang-gege!”
In the next moment, Yin Wuwang opened his eyes, and they were filled with scorching lust. Like a wild animal without reason, he rushed forward and bit down on Bai Xiaoxiao’s lips.
“!” Bai Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened until they were round. He forgot to resist.
“Yin Wuwang!!”
This scene stimulated Yan Jianshui so much he forgot his reason, and he swept his sword toward Yin Wuwang.
Right now, Yin Wuwang was completely delirious, and had no strength to return the blow. If he met this blade, he was bound to die.
When he heard the sound of the blade, Bai Xiaoxiao grabbed Yin Wuwang’s shoulder, lips still touching, and protected him with his body as if he was offering himself as a sacrifice. He planned to take this blow for him.
Yan Jianshui: “Xiaoxiao!”
The blade abruptly stopped in midair.
Yan Jianshui’s eyes were filled with torment. “Xiaoxiao, you’re actually willing to protect him with your life.”
“......”
This sure was the novel that even the author had called melodramatic.
Yan Qing thought of something. “Is this the so-called battlefield of love?”
Congming thought of something as well. “Young Master, did you give Yin Wuwang an aphrodisiac?”
Yin Wuwang fell unconscious, but his body burned like molten iron.
Bai Xiaoxiao gripped him fiercely, hot tears swimming in his eyes. He looked back and said, “No, Shixiong, it’s because of me that Yin Wuwang is like this. Don’t touch him!”
Yan Jianshui squeezed out his words from between his teeth. “So you want me to watch my fiancée embrace another man with open eyes?”
Teary-eyed, Bai Xiaoxiao shook his head. “No, Shixiong, I don’t have feelings like that for Wuwang-gege. I’m doing this in order to save him. I happen to have an extreme cold physique. Right now, I’m the only one who can help him.”
Yan Jianshui: “Let go of him. I’ll go look for a doctor.”
Bai Xiaoxiao’s tears fell like rain. “No, Shixiong, we don’t have time. Wuwang-gege is in so much pain, and it’s all because of me. I can’t look on and do nothing.”
“Bai Xiaoxiao!” Yan Jianshui was on the verge of losing control.
Yan Qiing swayed his fan, and said with deep meaning, “Are you seeing this? In a love triangle, someone is bound to get hurt. That’s why, as a human being, you can’t be too emotional.”
Congming was a little confused. “So Young Master, was it you who gave him the aphrodisiac or not?”
Yan Qing: “I’m trying to explain romance to you, and all you ask is this kind of nonsense?”
Just when the scene sunk into peril again, the entire cave began to tremble fiercely. With a cracking noise, fissures opened in the stone wall beside them. Earth and stones tumbled down. “This is bad!” Yan Jianshui was stunned. His two bouts of fury and the vibration of his sword qi had caused the cave to collapse.
***
The author has something to say:
Is the world of phantasms familiar? Haha, readers who have seen my other novel, The Number One Scorer In the Whole Server, should have realized that the phantasms build off of the demonic thoughts in the “Draw Back the Wind and Moon” volume. I’ve found that when I write BL set in ancient times, I’ll always set down an idea at the very start. In this book, the idea I’ve pinned down is that you can turn into a demon from the time you’re born. But this isn’t a serious drama. It’s a sweet novel, that might be a little melodramatic, and a little silly… Xiao-Xie will appear two chapters later.
On Thursday, this book will make it to the rankings, so I’ll update another chapter at six o’clock in the evening.
I’ll continue to give out red envelopes in the comments for this chapter. It’s best if the comment exceeds fifteen words. Please and thank you, qwq!
***
cela’s notes
Thanks to Nyan for giving me my first ko-fi!
Xiè Shíyī’s name is 谢 (thanks) 识 (know) 衣 (clothes). His courtesy name is Yìng 应 (answer).
2 hours and 57 minutes for 3,127 words, or 5.7 minutes for every 100 words. A decrease in rate by 0.1 minutes.
A total of 6 hours and 46 minutes for 6,671 words, or 6.1 minutes for every 100 words. A decrease in rate by 0.4 minutes.
If you would like access to the next few chapters, please consider encouraging me on Ko-fi! 💛
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