EHRPS CH172

The night was thick and viscous.

The flying artifact streaked past the cloud layer at lightning speed, tearing a deep rift through the dense clouds to reveal the slumbering, verdant mountains tens of thousands of feet below.

Beneath the vast, starry sky, the man hadn’t even had time to sit up and take in the scenery before the person beside him stunned him into a blank expression with just two sentences. He couldn’t help but squeeze his eyes shut…

“No sleeping!”

Maintaining his leaning posture, Tu Tianba swiftly shot out both hands and forced the man’s closed eyelids open, revealing the slightly sluggish eyes beneath.

A-Hui: “…”

He saw the youth hovering above him with a displeased expression. His high ponytail had slipped from his shoulder, and a slightly curled strand of hair was tickling his cheek.

The two were uncomfortably close. A-Hui could feel the burning heat of the youth’s breath; the flickering flames in his eyes looked as if they were about to fall onto him.

…Why is he angry again?

Tu Tianba was almost dead from anger.

The man had slept for hours on end, while he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in over three hundred years due to his noisy inner demons. He couldn’t help but feel jealous.

Along the way, Tu Tianba had disturbed the man numerous times, but the man slept incredibly soundly. No matter how much he was teased, he didn’t react at all; instead, his breathing only grew more rhythmic and long.

Tu Tianba: “Truly detestable!”

Fuming, he threw a flurry of punches at the empty air.

Once he got tired, Tu Tianba continued to glare at the man. Realizing that the bullshit Immortal Lord’s sleeping face was also top-tier, he pulled the book back out and savored it once more.

That was the exact moment the man woke up.

The Wondrous Immortal Sect was far away, and they were only halfway there.

Tu Tianba pried the man’s eyelids open and scolded, “You ate, you slept, and you’re still not satisfied sleeping halfway through the trip. Are you a reincarnated pig demon?”

As soon as he finished speaking.

His inner demon chimed in quietly: “Host, he passed out from the pain. This is all happening because you recklessly fed him medicine…”

Tu Tianba snorted coldly in his mind: Then why didn’t I pass out?

Just as he was bickering with his clever inner demon, a hand suddenly rested on his wrist. Tu Tianba’s gaze instantly sharpened, but then he heard the man say softly:

“…I’m sorry to have kept you waiting so long.”

Tu Tianba’s gaze shifted slightly. “Hmph.”

A-Hui placed his other hand on the youth’s wrist, the smile on his lips somewhat strained. “I won’t sleep anymore. Could you let go?”

His eyes were getting incredibly dry.

Tu Tianba cast a suspicious side-glance at the person beneath him. Seeing the man’s red, irritated eyes, he was genuinely afraid he would pass out again from some imperceptible sliver of pain.

He would really succumb to jealousy then.

Therefore, Tu Tianba confirmed in a stiff tone: “Do your eyes hurt?”

A-Hui only felt that the wrist beneath his palm, although slender, contained boundless strength, faintly revealing an unstoppable dominance that he couldn’t budge in the slightest.

He let out a noncommittal ‘mm’.

The next moment.

Sure enough, the youth retracted both hands.

A-Hui naturally let go of his wrists. Unexpectedly, the youth propped his elbows on his knees, looking down from above, and critiqued:

“Hmph, truly delicate.”

“You are a disgrace to this stalwart physique!”

A-Hui blinked, feeling incredibly awkward yet finding it novel to be labeled “delicate” by the youth. He was also slightly thankful the youth’s vocabulary wasn’t too…

He turned his face, bypassing the youth’s childish yet oppressive face, and sat up. He realized they were riding in a flying boat, heading to an unknown destination.

A-Hui remained silent for a long moment before finally asking aloud.

“What exactly happened to me?”

Tu Tianba really wanted to howl at the heavens: Is this bullshit Immortal Lord hard of hearing?!

“Seriously, how many times do you want me to repeat it!!”

He scratched his jaw in frustration, infused his voice with spiritual energy, and shouted at the man: “You’re pregnant! You’re pregnant! You are pregnant—!”

In an instant, the words echoed through the celestial dome, carried thousands of miles by the wind.

A-Hui plunged back into silence.

Fortunately, although the man had amnesia, his memory retention was perfectly fine. He looked up at the furiously glaring youth and pondered, “If I’m not mistaken…”

“You said in the cave earlier that you wanted to…” He paused slightly before continuing, “Wanted to dual cultivate with me for the first time…”

“From this, it is evident that no skin-to-skin intimacy has occurred between us yet. So how could I possibly be pregnant?”

He didn’t notice anything strange about his phrasing.

All things in the world focused on the harmony of Yin and Yang. Men inherently lacked the ability to conceive, but for cultivators who had entered the Dao, there were more than a few methods for a man to give birth. Pills, magical artifacts, secret manuals, and so on—all possessed miraculous effects.

It would have been fine if the man hadn’t mentioned dual cultivation.

The moment he brought it up, Tu Tianba grew furious.

Since he still possessed his Primal Yang body, once he dual cultivated with the man, it would accelerate the flow of spiritual energy within the man’s body. This would cause the Pill Fetus to absorb the mother body’s life force even more violently.

In other words—

Until the man successfully had the fetus surgically removed or gave birth to it, Tu Tianba’s hopes of dual cultivation were dashed. Furthermore, both options were exceedingly dangerous, near-death experiences, and the mother body would still need time to recover.

Tu Tianba counted on his fingers to calculate the time and couldn’t help but sigh in frustration: Being a cut-sleeve is so troublesome!

There was no other way, he’d just have to delay it for a while.

He glared at the man in exasperation. “Why couldn’t you have held on for one more day before fainting?”

A-Hui: “…”

He’s still thinking about dual cultivation?

After talking past each other for quite a while, the man finally understood his own condition.

Thank goodness.

He wasn’t actually pregnant.

It was just that he was severely injured, yet had ingested too many high-tier heavenly treasures in a short period, causing spiritual energy to gather in his abdomen, which miraculously formed a fetus. Now, the youth was taking him to a cultivation sect called the ‘Wondrous Immortal Sect’ to borrow a life-saving artifact from their Sect Master to remove the fetus.

Although this phantom pregnancy was caused by the youth, A-Hui couldn’t muster a single shred of malice toward him. He only felt that circumstances were unpredictable and the youth had already done his utmost out of kindness.

His heart held only gratitude, no resentment.

Thinking of this, A-Hui couldn’t help but reflect on whether his own subtle wariness was unfair to the youth, or perhaps had hurt his feelings? Was that why the youth constantly wore an angry expression?

Grumble…

Suddenly, the man was jolted from his thoughts.

Realizing the muffled rumble came from his own stomach, he felt the sensation with a sense of unfamiliarity, then looked at the youth and called out,

“Little Cultivator.”

The youth didn’t react until he called a second time. He then slowly glanced over and snapped viciously,

“What now?!”

A-Hui intentionally softened his tone, speaking gently and politely, yet without losing a sense of intimacy:

“…I’m hungry.”

The end of the man’s sentence was soft, like a gentle breeze brushing past the face.

Tu Tianba glared at him, only to see the man purse his lips and bloom into a very faint smile. Bathed in moonlight, with a vast sea of clouds behind him, he looked ethereal.

“…Hmph.”

Despite cursing the bullshit Immortal Lord as a reincarnated pig demon, Tu Tianba knew how uncomfortable the pangs of hunger were. Not to mention, jealous as he was of the bullshit Immortal Lord’s fine flesh, he also couldn’t bear to see him starve and lose his shape. Naturally, he readily pulled out a large chunk of fragrant cooked meat and handed it over.

“Eat.”

The man blinked again, pursed his lips into a light smile, and said, “I don’t like eating meat. Do you have any fruits or similar food?”

He’s actually a picky eater?!

A picky eater who grew this tall?

The damn heavens are truly unfair to me! Damn it to hell!

Muttering curses, Tu Tianba clamped the chunk of meat in his mouth. He rummaged through several looted storage bags in his sleeve-dimension, searching for a long time before finally finding some ready-made mortal food in a low-level cultivator’s bag. Not only were there fruits, but also hot dishes and wine.

He pulled out a low table, set the food on it, and grumbled, “Here, eat.”

Having done so, Tu Tianba’s wicked intentions flared up again, and he asked, “I treat you so well. Don’t you righteous cultivators place the most importance on propriety, righteousness, integrity, and honor? Must repay every debt? Since you ate the food I gave you, take off your clothes and let me take a look. This request isn’t excessive, is it?”

At that moment, the clever inner demon spoke up:

“Host, your dagger is revealed a bit too quickly, don’t you think?”

Tu Tianba was very adept at ignoring the interference of his inner demon voices. He stared intently at the man, gestured with both hands in front of his chest, and added, “Stripped bare, mind you—”

Holding a pair of chopsticks, A-Hui could already handle this repeatedly occurring request with ease. His expression remained calm as he asked in return, “Aren’t we Dao Companions?”

He paused, then continued, “The bond between Dao Companions is extraordinary; they are the closest people in the world. How can it be compared to ordinary relationships?”

In Tu Tianba’s ears, this translated to only one meaning.

This bullshit Immortal Lord actually wants to freeload off my food!

Tu Tianba felt a bit regretful and started glaring again.

The man sat up straight behind the table, which was covered in celadon bowls radiating a warm luster. Holding the chopsticks, his sleeves were half-rolled up, revealing his sharply defined wrists, which still bore a ring of bruised fingerprints.

Cultivators were not ordinary mortals. Even low-level cultivators lacked no good things. A pair of white jade chopsticks was held lightly between the man’s fingers. For a moment, Tu Tianba couldn’t tell which was whiter or possessed more elegant character—the chopsticks or his hand.

It was just dazzling.

While Tu Tianba hesitated, the man slightly lifted his knuckles and picked up a curled crystal shrimp. The shrimp was plump and tender, its surface glistening with sauce. It was brought right before Tu Tianba, hovering just in front of his lips. All he had to do was open his mouth to swallow it whole.

“…What are you doing?”

Tu Tianba cast a suspicious downward glance and questioned him.

Although they hadn’t spent much time together, A-Hui had already realized the youth seemed incredibly bad at interacting with others. His tone was stiff, and the content of his speech was even more…

For example, constantly bringing up stripping naked and dual cultivating at the drop of a hat.

A-Hui didn’t know what his past was like, nor how the youth had developed this personality. He vaguely felt that he must be older and should shoulder the responsibility of guiding the youth’s words and behavior.

Meeting the youth’s confused gaze, he held his wrist steady and explained calmly, “Offering one’s body and beauty is not the only form of repayment. True repayment is treating someone well from the bottom of your heart and considering their needs.”

While he was speaking, Tu Tianba had already eaten the shrimp. His cheeks slightly puffed, his reasoning was surprisingly sound: “You really are shameless. You used my ointment to apply on me, used my food to feed me, and this is called treating me well?”

He curled his lips in disdain.

“Tch, you might as well take off your clothes.”

Being bluntly called out like that did make a sense of indebtedness arise in the man’s heart, but his response remained magnanimous. “Currently, I rely on you for everything and require your care. But I will also do my best to treat you well. This is the way Dao Companions should interact.”

He glanced at the youth’s moistened lips, carefully observing his expression, and suddenly asked, “Is it good?”

Tu Tianba felt this bullshit Immortal Lord was truly adept at acting cute; just feeding him one piece of shrimp and he was already taking credit. He replied indignantly, “With such a tiny bite, how am I supposed to know if it’s good or not?!”

He slammed his hand on the table.

“…Give me another one!”

After eating seven or eight shrimp in a row, along with dishes from other plates, Tu Tianba still couldn’t taste anything. Instead, the itch in his heart grew stronger. He lowered his voice, negotiating, “Just taking off your top is fine too.”

A-Hui wore a smile as he used the chopsticks to feed him a piece of roasted meat. “Is it good?”

Tu Tianba sat crookedly across the table, his posture worlds apart from the man’s. He was even propping his chin with one hand, looking lazy and completely expectant of being fed.

With meat stuffed in his mouth, he couldn’t speak, so he could only silently curse this bullshit Immortal Lord’s cunning mind, while his other hand secretly reached under the table…

And grabbed a handful of the man’s thigh.

Fucking awesome!