EHRPS CH190

With merely a single encounter, over one thousand three hundred years of long memories surged up, drowning out the brief four or five days of recent memory. A-Hui suddenly remembered—

He wasn’t named A-Hui after all.

Nor was the youth some “Doctor Tu.”

Between them, it wasn’t the fabricated tale of a kind medical cultivator and a destitute sword cultivator, but the divide between immortal and demon. The scene before him was none other than the very first meeting between the Immortal Lord of the Guiqing Sect and the Demon Lord of the Heaven Slaughtering Sect.

The “Heaven Slaughtering Sect” sounded terrifying, as if reeking of the blood, blades, and swords of slaughter, yet in Nie Wuhui’s mind, a sentence of the youth’s furious cursing unexpectedly echoed:

“This damn heavens truly deserve to die!”

…So that was what “Heaven Slaughtering” meant.

Nie Wuhui couldn’t help but curl the corners of his lips, but quickly reined it in. Gazing at the youth driven into a manic frenzy by a few questions from his other self, he murmured softly:

“…You were right. You truly possess manliness, and you truly are responsible. Even when your most painful memories were stirred, you never forgot to suppress the demonic resentment in the cauldron, keeping yourself from falling into a mindless demon.”

“Had it been me, I would have paled in comparison.”

With his memories fully recovered, Nie Wuhui naturally knew what would happen next.

He looked up at the pitch-black sky, where lightning snakes coiled among the dark clouds, faintly revealing a flash of their bright white tails.

Nie Wuhui closed his eyes, sighing, “It was my fault for disturbing your sanity.”

Three hundred years ago, the Grand Elder of the Astrology Sect met with him, claiming that this world was about to face an apocalyptic catastrophe, and only Nie Wuhui could resolve it.

That prophetic jade slip happened to display a person’s name and a string of locations.

To divine this cataclysm, the Grand Elder had exhausted all his spiritual qi and lifespan. Before passing away, he calculated that this person would become an invincible demon lord in the world, imploring Nie Wuhui to defend the righteous path.

Nie Wuhui didn’t accept his bow, merely replying:

“—Wuhui will not shirk his duty.”

He had been born in turbulent times, losing his parents at an early age, barely able to keep himself alive. Fortunately, the founding Sect Master of the Guiqing Sect took him in, taught him benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and integrity, and instructed him to hide his special constitution…

To Nie Wuhui, the old Sect Master was both mentor and father.

He viewed the Guiqing Sect as his home. Blessed with a unique constitution that granted him peerless advantages in cultivation, he felt duty-bound to repay the sect for raising him, to repay heaven and earth, and to take eradicating demons and protecting the Dao as his own mission.

Thus, Nie Wuhui cultivated in seclusion for three hundred years to prepare for the apocalyptic calamity, until the prophetic jade slip activated and teleported him to that unfamiliar place.

The day of the tribulation had arrived.

On that day, he saw the demon lord of the prophecy with his own eyes, yet doubts arose in his heart. Before he could recover from the youth’s frenzied state, thunderclouds gathered furiously in the sky, arriving with menacing momentum.

Rumble!

The first lightning bolt struck down.

In an instant, the prophetic jade slip clutched in Nie Wuhui’s hand soared into mid-air, blocking the strike on the youth’s behalf before crumbling into fine powder!

Nie Wuhui suddenly realized: The prophetic jade slip never wanted the youth to die.

Beneath the thunderclouds, the youth, shrouded in demonic qi and with blood-red eyes, roared furiously: “Shut up, shut up, all of you shut up!” Soon, the hand slapping himself stopped, balling into a fist and smashing mercilessly against his own head!

Back then, Nie Wuhui did not yet understand the true meaning of the prophecy. But he made the same choice as the jade slip; raising his sword, he stepped forward to guard the youth and withstand the remaining heavenly tribulation lightning.

The dark clouds were thick as ink. Blue-violet lightning pierced the sea of clouds in an instant, crashing down with apocalyptic force. Even before the lightning landed, the pine forests within a dozen miles were charred to cinders, the mountain boulders shattering!

Holding his immortal sword Untamed, Nie Wuhui charged straight up.

The lightning tribulation was immense, each strike sharper than the last. It was Nie Wuhui’s first time facing such a terrifying tribulation. After an unknown time, he suddenly heard a crack; his natal immortal sword snapped on impact! The Untamed sword broke. Nie Wuhui was injured as well. Yet the heavenly lightning was still far from over.

“…”

As a phantom, Nie Wuhui re-examined the past from a bystander’s perspective.

Watching his own silhouette enveloped by lightning and the youth who, despite his scrambled mind, still stubbornly held his ground, he finally understood what the prophetic jade slip truly meant.

Both the Astrological Grand Elder and he had wronged the youth.

The prophecy was never for Nie Wuhui to slay the demon lord, but for him to help the youth conquer the demonic cauldron, preventing the ancient demonic resentment from returning to the world and igniting another Immortal-Demon War. The mortal realm could no longer bear such devastation.

As for how to help?

Nie Wuhui suddenly remembered his well-concealed special constitution. It was not a cauldron, yet superior to one; dual cultivating with someone could purify their spiritual roots or cleanse impure breath…

Presumably, demonic resentment could also be dissolved. All it required was for him to dual cultivate with the youth…

Immediately after, Nie Wuhui recalled how the youth constantly badgered him about dual cultivation day in and day out. Could it be that the youth instinctively sensed that he could help resolve the crisis, which was why he pestered him relentlessly?

Inexplicably, ripples stirred within Nie Wuhui’s heart. But the ripples soon calmed.

Following right behind was the wailing of an infant.

Nie Wuhui lifted his gaze, discovering the scenery around him had shifted. He stood in darkness, before a membrane of fleshy fetal tissue.

Within the membrane, an infant curled up, golden spiritual qi escaping from its eyes, nose, throat, and ears, blending into the surrounding dark. It grasped at Nie Wuhui with tiny hands, as if begging for rescue.

Nie Wuhui had regained his past memories without losing those of recent days; through the youth’s perspective, he had even filled in the blanks of what transpired while he was unconscious. He naturally understood this infant was extraordinary.

The youth’s elixir, his own constitution, and a wisp of innate spiritual qi left on him by the heavenly tribulation; all three were indispensable in creating this current predicament.

Nie Wuhui stepped forward. Taking the Pill Fetus’s small hand, his expression was compassionate yet free of hesitation as he spoke softly:

“I apologize, but I cannot die just yet, so I cannot let you be born into this world.”

“Considering the karmic ties you share with the two of us, if you are willing to relinquish this vessel of innate spiritual qi, I can preserve your spiritual awareness and help you be born when a suitable opportunity arises in the future. How about that?”

Before long, the Pill Fetus cried a few aggrieved whimpers, ultimately surrendering its physical form. Its spiritual qi was refined away completely, leaving behind only a tiny speck of spiritual awareness, held safely in the man’s palm.

In the darkness, Nie Wuhui closed his eyes.

·

As the old saying goes, one truly must not be too impulsive.

Tu Tianba genuinely regretted his impulsive actions from days prior. While refining the boundless spiritual qi within the Pill Fetus, he silently reflected:

It was all his fault. It was all his fault for becoming a cut-sleeve too late! He had truly picked up a hoe only to smash his own foot!

Yet just as this thought crossed his mind, Tu Tianba felt the Pill Fetus beneath his palm cease its resistance. Vast spiritual qi poured out, entirely refined by him.

In less than half a quarter of an hour, the slight swell on the man’s abdomen vanished. The lines of that waist were so fine they made his chest look even more mouthwatering.

Tu Tianba retracted his blood mist. The moment his skeletal hand reverted to flesh and bone, he couldn’t help staring at the man’s chest, wondering if he could take advantage of the moment to sneak a couple of bites.

It wasn’t that he was depraved. After all, eating mouths was already so pleasurable; Tu Tianba could hardly imagine how great this would feel. He held no bad intentions, he was just curious!

However, just as Tu Tianba hunched over and leaned his head in, the man, seemingly asleep, happened to sit up without a word. Tu Tianba only felt something remarkably chewy brush against his lips…

Before he could even react, his head bumped straight into the man’s chest.

Tu Tianba jumped up with a guilty conscience, retreating two paces. Facing the man’s eyes, who had just taken off his blindfolding hair ribbon, he went on the offensive to make a false accusation: “Your chest is truly vicious! How can it slap someone across the face?! It wasn’t me breaking our promise!”

“I didn’t try to sneak a taste; I didn’t!”

After shouting flushed and flustered, Tu Tianba finally noticed the man staring at him in a prolonged daze, looking as if stunned silly, eyes shimmering with a light he couldn’t quite decipher.

Tu Tianba’s heart gave a sudden thump.

His inner demon had said that an abortion was no small matter and might affect the pregnant husband’s condition. Could it affect their upcoming dual cultivation?

And so, Tu Tianba quieted down, scrutinizing the man before offering clumsy comfort: “Ah, don’t be sad. That wasn’t our child anyway, just a freeloader. I’ve already kicked it out! If you truly want children, I’ll let you get pregnant again later, as many as you want!”

He scratched his cheek and chuckled to himself, “Haha, out with the old, in with the new!”

Inside the cave, it was dead silent. Only Tu Tianba’s hearty laughter echoed.

Tu Tianba laughed while continuing to size up the man. The man sat on the white jade bed, bare-chested, still clutching the hair ribbon in his hand. His expression seemed slightly different from before, appearing even more serene. Mmh… seems to whet the appetite even more…

Yet those tranquil eyes remained fixed on him, as though having endured a parting of life and death, causing Tu Tianba’s laughter to dwindle until he coughed twice and shut up completely.

Speak! Why aren’t you speaking?! Dammit, this Venerable was caught red-handed after all!

Tu Tianba uncomfortably kicked a pebble away, then pretended to be busy looking left and right. Unable to endure being stared at any longer, he was just about to shout when he remembered this man was a pitiful pregnant husband who had just lost a child…

Tu Tianba: “…” Feeling a bit guilty.

Fortunately, Tu Tianba was quick-witted and immediately thought of a solution. Clatter! Turning his back, he dumped a pile of spiritual wood firewood onto the ground, then pulled out a white egg the size of a fist. Avoiding the man’s gaze the entire time, he rattled off at lightning speed:

“Oh dear, oh dear, you must be very weak right now. I’ll make you some brown sugar spirit beast egg soup to nourish your body.” This was an egg he had painstakingly poached, exceptionally rare.

With that, Tu Tianba stubbornly added, “I’ve already stopped holding a grudge over your chest slapping me. Dao Companions don’t carry overnight grudges. I am very reasonable. You shouldn’t brood over it either…!”

Silence. Still silence.

Tu Tianba couldn’t bear it anymore and secretly glanced back.

The clothes the man had removed were still neatly folded. He simply gazed at Tu Tianba, and when Tu Tianba looked back, he nodded slightly, raising a hand to brush a lock of hair beside his cheek behind his ear.

This gesture made Tu Tianba’s heart surge with an inexplicable wave of emotion, unable to look away for quite some time.

A few breaths later, the man said softly,

“…Do you…”

“…still wish to dual cultivate right now?”

These words landed like a thunderclap, ringing clear and resounding. Just as the man finished speaking, Tu Tianba heard a crack as a spark burst from the fire, leaping to his feet and rolling several times before settling down.

He couldn’t help opening his mouth wide.

“…Ah?”

As he responded, he was still holding up that huge egg.

Perhaps still preoccupied with the brown sugar spirit beast egg soup, Tu Tianba unconsciously tapped the egg in the air two or three times. Yet feeling around with his fingers for a while, he couldn’t find any crack, unable to peel it no matter what.

Seeing this, the man turned his head aside, his well-shaped lips pursing into an imperceptible curve, which Tu Tianba keenly caught.

He asked alertly, “Are you laughing at me? What are you laughing at?”

Nie Wuhui remained silent for a moment, then lifted his eyelids, revealing those clear, upright, and gentle eyes underneath. It left Tu Tianba completely unable to vent his temper. When the man spoke, his tone was even more measured and soft:

“…Though your actions may be unconventional at times, I know it is only because your nature is pure and upright. You expend most of your energy where you are needed most, which only makes you appear erratic.”

“So how could I possibly laugh at you?”

Tu Tianba felt comfortable from head to toe, letting down his guard instantly.

Nie Wuhui smiled faintly, laying bare his true thoughts. “I only admire how brave and unyielding you are at such a young age. I feel ashamed of my own inferiority.”

He paused, making up his mind, to resolve the apocalyptic crisis and help this youth, who had resisted the demonic cauldron alone for three hundred years, overcome this tribulation, what did this mortal body of his matter?

Nie Wuhui suppressed the burning heat on his face, quietly taking a deep breath, and offered the invitation once more:

“If you wish, you may eat my…”

Before he could finish, Nie Wuhui stopped short. He had forgotten that he was still a mortal right now; the speed at which spiritual qi repaired his meridians wasn’t that fast, and he had no excess qi to waste.

With a burning face, Nie Wuhui finally couldn’t help shifting his gaze slightly, not daring to look at the youth’s expression, merely completing the latter half of his sentence in a low whisper:

“…chest.”

Hearing these words, Tu Tianba’s hand shook, and the spirit beast egg fell to the ground with a thud.

Fortunately, the spirit beast egg was no ordinary egg and didn’t crack. But Tu Tianba had no time to pay attention to an unimportant egg. Crouching before the fire, his face illuminated an orange-gold by the flames, his mouth hung wide open.

A moment later, Tu Tianba remembered the egg, snatched it up from the ground, and paced slowly over to the man.

Carefully placing the spirit beast egg onto the man’s waist and abdomen, he fought back his urge to bite into that chest, patting the man’s shoulder with a solemn face: “…I understand. Losing a child in old age is very painful.”

Hehe, the shoulder is so smooth.

Tu Tianba patted it twice more, though with his palm pressed against the man’s skin, it looked much more like stroking.

He continued in a sorrowful tone: “Although that wasn’t my child either. Ah, not that I’m saying you stepped out on me; this isn’t your child either. Just make do with it for now, and may your grief pass swiftly.”

“Is a quarter of an hour enough?”

“I can hold back for a quarter of an hour at most before I won’t be able to resist digging in. You won’t think I’m a lecherous Dao Companion with no manly dignity when that happens, will you?”

“Or maybe half an hour?”

“…Dammit, I really can’t wait any longer! Who told it to sway right in front of me, looking as if it can’t wait to slap me across the face and plug my mouth? How could I resist?!”

Listening to this wildly imaginative comfort, the heavy burden in Nie Wuhui’s heart seemed to be swept away by a gentle breeze, bringing a knowing smile to his lips. Yet his face was still rather hot.

Nie Wuhui gently set the spirit beast egg onto his folded clothes, involuntarily leaning toward the youth, tilting his head to plant a soft kiss on his lips.

Tu Tianba fell abruptly silent, eyes wide. At the same time, he breathed an unconscious sigh of relief.

Eating mouths is good; eating mouths is wonderful. He was great at eating mouths, which spared him from showing cowardice and having the man discover he had never dual cultivated before, that he was a completely green fledgling!

He made a plan in secret: Once night fell and the man drifted to sleep, he would thoroughly study the book several times, researching dual cultivation to the core, ideally reaching the profound realm of a Dual Cultivation Grandmaster. He was brilliant; it would never stump him. Tomorrow, they would dual cultivate smoothly!

Tu Tianba rolled his eyes, his mental abacus clicking away furiously. He couldn’t help letting out a chuckle, suddenly pouncing on the man and pinning him onto the white jade bed, completely restored to his usual confidence and composure.

Pressing against the man, he skillfully began eating mouths.

However, in the next instant, Tu Tianba found that while eating mouths, the man suddenly parted his sealed lips, causing him to catch a warm tongue tip off-guard. Instantly, an unprecedented wave of tingling numbness surged from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his skull.

Tu Tianba: “!”

Tu Tianba: “Y-Y-You, what are you doing?!”

Meeting the youth’s stunned, bewildered gaze, Nie Wuhui felt an inexplicable awkwardness, as if he had done something wrong. The other was clearly not young, and normally babbled intimate words all day long, completely uninhibited…

Yet Nie Wuhui was far older than him and was the one who initiated it. Facing such a reaction from the youth, he couldn’t suppress the strange fluttering in his chest, the heat spreading from his cheeks to his ears. He explained softly, “This is a kiss. Close Dao Companions do this.”

Indeed. Close Dao Companions did this.

But in the end, Nie Wuhui and the youth were not genuine Dao Companions.

Though he had steeled his heart, willing to sacrifice his primal yang to dual cultivate with the youth to avert the world-ending crisis, that was an act of righteous self-sacrifice. Dual cultivation was dual cultivation; kissing was by no means required.

Nie Wuhui closed his eyes, ripples spreading across his heart.

—It was his own selfish desire at work.