EHRPS CH196

Having said that, Tu Tianba felt much more broad-minded, tossing all those trivial matters to the back of his mind. Tugging at the man’s sleeve, he led him back to the cave and said with vibrant enthusiasm:

“It’s a deal then. This time, you can’t tie me up again…”

Nie Wuhui remained silent. Guided by the youth, his steps were exceedingly steady, yet the heartbeat beneath his chest stumbled.

Having lived for over a millennium, it wasn’t until he met this youth that he first tasted the flavor of love, naturally finding himself unable to control his own feelings.

Despite this, Nie Wuhui didn’t forget to urge the youth to circulate the dual cultivation mental method. It was just that he occasionally relaxed his self-restraint, subconsciously cooperating with the youth, yielding the reactions the youth was so fond of.

Specifically regarding the sounds.

Tu Tianba was absolutely thrilled, growing more skilled day by day.

“…”

To a cultivator, three years of heat and cold might not amount to much, but the old willow tree by the riverbank had truly added three solid rings of age.

Over these three years, the river valley had undergone considerable changes.

The spring flood broke the ice on the river surface. The wild cherry blossoms bloomed exceptionally early this year, their pale pink petals drifting downstream, swirling past smooth, water-washed cobblestones before floating far away.

Clusters of spring grass sprouted from the crevices between rocks, crystal-clear water droplets hanging from their tips, reflecting the entire river valley.

—Especially the small wooden cabin on the bank.

Morning.

Tu Tianba gathered his collar and sneaked out of the small wooden cabin, looking entirely suspicious. His fair, tender neck was covered in red marks, new and old layered over each other, trailing all the way down past his collar.

However, before the wooden door could close, the man’s hoarse, dry voice sounded from behind:

“Where are you going?”

Just three words, ringing loud and clear.

Tu Tianba froze, obediently halting his steps. Racking his brains, he fished for an excuse:

“Um… the weather is nice today. I’m going to pick a fresh bouquet of flowers for you. You go to sleep first, you’ve been exhausted for several nights. I’ll be right back!”

“You just picked some a few days ago.”

Tu Tianba hemmed and hawed, changing his tune: “Oh, um, I want to eat roasted river deer. I have to go hunting, and maybe forage for some herbs while I’m at it…”

The wooden door was half-open. The warm morning light brushed past Tu Tianba’s silhouette, illuminating the scene inside the cabin slightly. Hazily, one could only make out a few outlines.

The furnishings in the room were simple.

By the window sat a table and two chairs. On the table rested a section of green bamboo filled with spiritual spring water, where the fresh flowers picked days ago still brimmed with vitality.

The bed in the center of the room was large, though the giant bearskin blanket was a size larger still. The man lay prone upon it, the marks on his back so startling they practically left no patch of good skin.

Especially where the flesh was fullest, the handprints looked fresh.

One of Nie Wuhui’s hands hung off the edge of the bed. With slight effort, he twitched his fingers, waving at the youth by the door, calling him back.

Tu Tianba offered a guilty smile, then tiptoed his way back. Squatting by the bed, he allowed the man to poke his forehead.

He let out a highly exaggerated “ouch,” crying out in pain.

Nie Wuhui couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile. Eyes half-lidded, he slowly rolled over. The marks on his back faded into the shadows, only to reveal an even more wretched sight on his front.

He opened his arms, his meaning clear.

Tu Tianba muttered, “So clingy…”

Nie Wuhui: “Say what you will. Come here.”

Over the past three years, Nie Wuhui had also undergone many changes.

Having cultivated in purity for over a millennium, he was now accustomed to lying stark naked in bed all day, like a dual cultivation cauldron imprisoned in an unpopulated wilderness, harvested for his essence from dawn to dusk.

Though the reality of the situation seemed to be the exact opposite.

Seeing the man open his embrace, Tu Tianba kicked off his shoes in a couple of swift motions and slithered smoothly into that familiar, warm embrace, suddenly hearing the other whisper softly in his ear:

“…In the past, you used to nag about dual cultivating with me all day long. How come you’re always running outside nowadays? Are you bored of it?”

Nie Wuhui was merely speaking casually, a smile hidden within his words.

The two had just finished a round of dual cultivation that had lasted six or seven days. The youth’s reaction could absolutely not be described as ‘bored.’ Nie Wuhui frequently felt he would die in that bed.

But he hadn’t.

Tu Tianba’s self-praise was not wrong; he truly was a considerate, good Dao Companion. He would feed his bedmate water and food, apply medicinal ointment, and help him clean and groom…

In the youth’s mind, Nie Wuhui wasn’t the number one figure of the righteous path, nor did he need to shoulder the burden for the righteous sects—

He was merely a delicate crybaby who would shout in pain at the slightest touch and needed to be carefully looked after.

Nie Wuhui was already accustomed to the youth calling him that.

At first, he felt slightly embarrassed.

Now, he only felt it was sweet.

Tu Tianba didn’t pick up on the nearly imperceptible teasing in the man’s tone. Genuinely believing the man was feeling neglected by his actions, he immediately began to explain.

“How could I be bored? Even if you don’t believe me, you have to believe in your own big chest…” Tu Tianba listed a few of his favorite spots, then added, “Besides, what right do you have not to believe me?!”

As he spoke, his eyes were wide round, his expression utterly serious.

Nie Wuhui gazed back. Unable to resist, he stroked the corner of Tu Tianba’s eye with his fingertip, suddenly noticing something. “Your eyes don’t seem as round as before…”

Then, he measured Tu Tianba’s shoulders.

“Your shoulders are broader than before too. Did you grow taller?”

Tu Tianba’s heart instantly bloomed with joy. Although he suspected the man was deliberately coaxing him to make him happy, he already believed half of it.

The corners of his mouth turned up high, though his tone remained modest. “It might… it might be because dual cultivating with you for three years was too exhausting. The few times I slept in between, I must have grown a bit in my dreams!”

Although each sleep lasted less than a quarter of an hour, Tu Tianba was already extremely satisfied, and the inner demon voices trying to shake his sanity had grown much more sluggish.

Dual cultivation is good, dual cultivation is wonderful, dual cultivation is top-notch!

…Even though dual cultivation was a thousand times wonderful and Tu Tianba was deeply addicted to it, under the man’s diligent supervision, he inexplicably felt the urge to do something during the intervals.

Like picking flowers, hunting, cooking, and so on.

The inner demon called this “slacking off.”

The inner demon also said that he had upgraded his personal hobby into a profession, so he needed breathing room, much like a corporate slave getting off work who likes to sit in the car for a while before going home.

Tu Tianba half-understood.

Right now was precisely the interval after a dual cultivation session had ended.

Tu Tianba had initially just been talking, but as he spoke, he genuinely formed the thought of going hunting. He disliked eating fasting pills. Today he would hunt a river deer—half for roasted meat, and half to make soup to nourish the man’s body…

Of course.

Hunting was only the first layer of reasons.

More importantly—

The book stated that it was precisely in this year that Doctor Tu and the man were caught intimately by that Gu Chen fellow.

Tu Tianba absolutely could not accept this!

Although most demonic cultivators had no taboos about being seen intimate and frequently invited more people to join in…

Tu Tianba was a traditional, proper demonic cultivator!

Therefore, during this period, Tu Tianba frequently found excuses to sneak out and reinforce the concealment arrays he had laid down three years ago, just to prevent outsiders from mistakenly stumbling into the river valley.

Unfortunately, his Dao Companion was too clingy, unable to leave him for even a half a quarter of an hour.

Tu Tianba sighed, yet secretly felt smug in his heart.

Aside from the concealment array, the river valley also had defensive arrays. Because of this, Tu Tianba didn’t have to worry about the man’s safety during the brief moments he was away.

Besides, the man’s own cultivation wasn’t low anymore.

Three years ago, Tu Tianba had refined that Pill Fetus. Afterwards, he considered whether he should give him another pill to suppress his spiritual power.

He mulled it over and ultimately gave up on the idea.

Precisely because of this, the man’s cultivation gradually recovered. Now at the Nascent Soul stage, he had long surpassed Tu Tianba’s superficial Foundation Establishment Ninth Level.

He could be considered to have the power to protect himself.

If it had been three years ago, Tu Tianba absolutely wouldn’t have let him raise his cultivation, and would have used the miniaturization spell or other methods to keep the man firmly under his control…

As for now,

Tu Tianba glanced at the man’s drowsy face. That warm hand was still incessantly stroking his features.

Their heads were pressed close together, the man sniffing his hair, the corners of his lips curved in a smile.

Oh my, oh my…

This person truly loves me to death.

Tu Tianba lay with him for a while, noticing that the man hadn’t fallen asleep after a long time but was merely resting his eyes, looking as if he didn’t want to move an inch. So he simply picked the person up, urging,

“Time to get up…!”

He sat cross-legged, the man’s long limbs bundled in his arms. Seemingly not having heard him, the man remained motionless.

Tu Tianba helped him slip on his inner robes. Seeing that the man wouldn’t even lift his eyelids, he couldn’t help but complain,

“Why are you so lazy now?”

Nie Wuhui burst out laughing, his voice carrying a raspy edge. Hearing it made Tu Tianba start to feel restless again. He hastily stopped himself and dragged the man out of bed.

“Stop using your Charm Art on me!”

Nie Wuhui opened his eyes: “…I don’t know how to do that.”

Tu Tianba retorted: “How do you not know? You know it all too well! You smile at me, hook a finger, hum a little, and my soul leaves my body, leaving only it standing at attention!”

Saying so, Tu Tianba even gestured to illustrate his point.

Nie Wuhui remained silent for a moment. Unable to resist, he poked the youth’s forehead again, stating calmly: “It’s not that I practiced a Charm Art, it’s that you’re too lecherous.”

Tu Tianba didn’t dodge or evade, straightening his back.

“I am a hot-blooded, virile man. Isn’t being lecherous perfectly normal? Besides, I’m not lusting after anyone else, this is called being devoted!”

With one arm around the man’s waist, he urged him to stand up straight. With his other hand, he measured against the top of his own head, discovering that he had indeed unknowingly grown taller.

…I’m only half a head shorter than him now, the future looks promising!

This Venerable can definitely grow more!!

Tu Tianba smiled so widely his eyes vanished into slits. In high spirits, he moved the table and chairs outside the cabin, pulling the man out to bask in the sun while preparing a meal along the way.

Nie Wuhui helped out.

This wasn’t his first time, so his movements were fairly practiced.

During their days of seclusion in the river valley, Nie Wuhui discovered something—the youth’s cooking skills were actually quite good. The brown sugar spirit beast egg soup was fresh and delicious, unlike the roasted spirit beast meat he had tasted the first time, which had been overly salty.

At the time, he chose to ask directly,

“Xiao Xiu, is there something wrong with your five senses?”

Tu Tianba answered very openly, “Yeah, I can’t really taste things well, so I was a bit heavy-handed. Plus, back then I didn’t actually like you very much…”

He paused, emphasizing:

“I won’t let you eat salty meat now!”

Nie Wuhui suddenly lost the strength to speak, only wanting to hug him, to treat him well, and even better.

In the blink of an eye, three years flew by.

The two spent most of their time in dual cultivation. During their breaks, they lived together like an ordinary married couple, their actions growing increasingly intimate and inseparable, their words affectionate.

The sunlight became increasingly sheer.

The spring tide arrived. River water mixed with crushed ice crashed against the moss-covered stone walls, the splashing water droplets blooming into countless rainbows, awakening the Emerald Scale Snakes that had just ended their hibernation.

Two pairs of bowls and chopsticks were set on the small wooden table.

Tu Tianba’s mood was floating on air. Holding his bowl in one hand and chopsticks in the other, he first placed a chopstick-full of roasted mountain mushrooms into the bowl of the man across the table, then passed the bowl over…

Seeing the man also serve him several chopsticks-full while gazing at him with a smile on his face, Tu Tianba felt that his days now were as joyful as an immortal’s, praising:

“You truly are virtuous.”

Not knowing if it was an illusion brought on by his joyful mood, as Tu Tianba chewed the mountain mushrooms, he seemed to taste a sweet, refreshing, and delicious aroma mixed with the fat, and couldn’t help but sigh,

“…Smells really good.”

“Though, I still smell a bit better.”

Just as his voice fell.

The smile on Tu Tianba’s face abruptly vanished, his gaze turning icy. He looked up at the sky, sensing that several layers of the arrays he had set up were shattering one by one—

Crash!

A figure plummeted from high in the sky, smashing into the river and splashing countless water droplets.

Suspecting this person was that Gu Chen fellow, murderous intent gradually rose within Tu Tianba. He hurriedly got up and walked toward him, preparing to kill the person first and then tell his Dao Companion,

Oh my.

That person had bad luck and fell to his death.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he got close, the uninvited guest lying in the water coughed several times, sighing softly: “Such heavy murderous intent, truly…”

Splash.

Tu Tianba blinked. He watched as the person, clearly heavily injured, still managed to flip over and sit up, revealing a face that was somewhat familiar yet somewhat foreign.

Tu Tianba: “!”

I remember now.

So he frowned, saying in extreme displeasure:

“Why is it you, you well-aged cut-sleeve?”

__

Author’s Note:

Here I am, getting ready to change maps.