The black-clothed man was momentarily silent as he gave Chu Sheng a strange look: "…I never heard that Brother Chu had gotten married, in addition, you even have such a big…son."

Chu Yu was silent as he twisted his head round beyond his limit.

…In fact, he could be considered his son. The image of the brocon"s earnest and well-meaning chatty and gossipy self really did look like that of a…mom.

Chu Yu restrained his sudden impulse to smile, "That one…this person is?"

Chu Sheng looked over with loathing at the black-clothed man: "The Fu family"s n.o.ble Lord, Fu Zhongyi, a n.o.body. There"s no need for you to know him, little brother."

Chu Yu was speechless.

…This person, Fu Zhongyi, was mentioned in the original novel. Although he wasn"t one of the protagonist"s little brothers, he was still famous throughout the whole realm as a medical cultivator. In the original novel, the protagonist had experienced a Qi deviation and had almost killed off the female lead (one of them). No matter what he did, he wasn"t able to save her. Afterward, he sent the female lead (one of them) who was already on the verge of death to Fu Zhongyi. Within a year"s time, she had returned to the protagonist"s side, the very picture of health as she flirted with him and demanded his attention in a spoilt manner.

Even if the current Fu Zhongyi"s reputation wasn"t that big yet, the Fu family was still a big clan and Fu Zhongyi was still the son of the Fu family"s first wife…

Yet was this still just a n.o.body?

Big brother, just what kind of person would you be willing to consider as important…?

Hearing the two words "little brother," Fu Zhongyi"s smile froze. The Chu family"s n.o.ble Lord"s reputation as a brocon was well-known far and wide. Who was not aware that Chu Sheng cherished this younger brother in every possible way and hated that he was unable to offer all the good things in the world to his younger brother? Anyone who even glared at his younger brother would be remembered.

If you wanted to get close with Chu Sheng, the best way to do that would be to build a good relations.h.i.+p with Chu Yu.

However, Chu Yu was widely known for being a flower on top of a mountain, aloof and n.o.ble. For an average person, they don"t even mention becoming friends with him, even seeing his face and talking to him was impossible.

On the other hand, as far as Fu Zhongyi was concerned, building a good relations.h.i.+p with Chu Yu would be much easier than worming his way into becoming Chu Sheng"s friend.

Fu Zhongyi blinked and then gave a slight smile: "So you"re the little brother."

The fox in his arms began to squirm, seemingly wanting to throw itself at Chu Sheng.

"Who"s your little brother?! Is little brother something you can easily call?" Chu Sheng was furious. He glared indignantly at that fox and then dragged Chu Yu away.

Chu Yu inwardly still had some misgivings. He turned his head to look back. Fu Zhongyi hadn"t chased after them and was only stroking the fox in his embrace in a comforting manner. He shot a gentle smile at the distant Chu Yu.

He seemed like a good person.

Chu Yu turned his head back around and gave a soft cough: "Big brother, is there…animosity between you and that person?"

The original novel didn"t give many descriptions of this Fu Zhongyi. Whenever the author described Fu Zhongyi they would use over and over the phrases "gentle as jade" and "a doctor"s kind heart." It was clear that he was a modest n.o.ble with a kind-hearted, gentle, charitable, and magnanimous personality. But then how could that kind of person become enemies with Chu Sheng who had a similar soft temperament?

Chu Sheng"s footsteps paused for a while, his facial expression seemed to be an interlocking mix of red and green before he seemed to have made some kind of decision. He then said in a low voice: "Little brother, I believe I have told you this before…in the past, while I was traveling around the world, I once confronted a demonic cultivator at the edge of the Jin River and suffered a loss at the hands of the Yu Shou Sect."

In pa.s.sing, Chu Yu took out Xun Sheng and flew himself and Chu Sheng back to the Chu family camp. He spent a great deal of effort searching for this specific event in his memories. After thinking for a long time, he finally remembered and nodded his head.

This particular experience of Chu Sheng"s was quite humiliating. Although he himself wasn"t very powerful, he had still been born into a powerful clan. From childhood to adulthood, he had always been treated with respect by other people so he was somewhat prideful. As such, while he spoke of this event he stuttered and stammered and sounded quite strained.

After Chu Sheng had finished telling the entire story while stuttering, Chu Yu silently had more or less remembered the entire event. He had pulled apart the entire matter from beginning to end and then reorganized it before he was struck with a sudden insight.

That was a story that had happened a long, long time ago…

At that time, Chu Sheng must have been just at the Foundation Building stage and had complied with their father"s plan to have him travel around the world to increase his experience. When he traveled to the front line at the Jin river, the restlessness in his heart had raged and so he, therefore, joined the battle against the demonic cultivators.

At that time, there was only a slight conflict between the Righteous and Demonic Paths. They hadn"t truly fought yet so the highest cultivation rank among the pract.i.tioners partic.i.p.ating in that battle would have been at the Core Formation stage. The ones at the Qi Refining stage were reluctantly relegated to cannon fodder status. When the two sides fought, they also weren"t particularly vigorous about it. There was none of the present day"s intensity and trickery.

Chu Sheng had met Fu Zhongyi there.

Although Fu Zhongyi wasn"t the eldest son of the Fu Family"s first wife, according to Fu family customs, he also had to go out and travel around the realm. He came to the Jin river with the same kind of mindset as Chu Sheng. The moment the two met, however, they had become enemies.

The gist of it was that Chu Sheng was a bit germophobic1 while that little fox in Fu Zhongyi"s arms, for some unknown reason, had become extremely excited the moment it saw Chu Sheng. It then struggled free of its master"s arms and pounced upon Chu Sheng. Chu Sheng naturally attempted to dodge but who could have known that that little fox had gained spiritual awareness? When it saw Chu Sheng dodge, it gave one kick from its small foot and it…pounced right upon Chu Sheng"s face.

Chu Sheng had almost lost it right then and there.

If it was just this then it wouldn"t have gotten so bad. The further issues stemmed from a demonic cultivator.

Chu Sheng and Fu Zhongyi had unfortunately been placed in the same group and they, unfortunately, were driven into a deathtrap with a Yu Shou Sect cultivator whom neither of them had any experience fighting against. The other people in the group were all at the Qi Refining stage and so in order to protect them, the two of them had been captured during all the confusion.

It was fortunate that the other side had recognized the clan motifs on their robes and knew that the two of them couldn"t be arbitrarily killed off since they were from high-status families. The two of them were then taken along and locked up together. Although they were captives, their treatment wasn"t all that bad. There was also tasty food and drinks and they were waited upon. So long as they didn"t think about the fact that their spiritual power and freedom had been restricted, there didn"t seem to be anything that bad about it.

Excluding the fact that there was only one bed.

The first thing that Chu Sheng had seen when he woke up each morning was Fu Zhongyi"s sleeping face. Plus, while Fu Zhongyi looked like a modest n.o.ble on the surface, his sleeping habits were quite strange. Every morning when Chu Sheng woke up, he"d find himself being embraced by Fu Zhongyi with that fox happily settled in between them.

Chu Sheng"s mood darkened as this went on. He thought of his little brother and parents every day and silently waited for the Righteous Path cultivators to come and pay their ransom.

Their days could still be considered peaceful up until they met a certain female Demonic Path cultivator who had shattered their peaceful lifestyle.

As everyone knows, the female cultivators of the Righteous path were like the descendants of celestial beings, with icy arrogance and aloof natures and along with exquisite beauty and purity. The Demonic Path"s beautiful women, on the other hand, acted in promiscuous and wanton ways, seemingly unable to conduct themselves with any dignity. Although it was an awfully one-sided and stereotypical statement, Chu Sheng just happened to encounter this kind of female Demonic Path cultivator…

That female cultivator was very fond of gentle and refined men like Chu Sheng and the moment she laid eyes on Chu Sheng, her eyes lit up. Obscene words would continuously fall from her lips like waves on a beach. Every moment that Chu Sheng saw her he was so furious that his vision went dark. His spiritual power, however, was sadly restricted so he was unable to make a move and could only stiffly sit down and turn a deaf ear to her words.

No matter how she tried to provoke him, the demonic enchantress was unable to get a response out of Chu Sheng and so in the end, she flew into a rage out of humiliation. Since she had already made a move, she then decided to carry it through, whatever the consequences. One night, she snuck into the small room that Chu Sheng had been imprisoned in and had planned to do this and that to Chu Sheng. If the deed had been done, then she"d be able to compel Chu Sheng to give in.

…Although he sympathized with Chu Sheng, Chu Yu still let out a rude laugh at this.

Chu Sheng and Fu Zhongyi were sleeping together at the time. But, it was impossible for the two of them to truly fall asleep so easily while within the enemy camp so when someone snuck inside, the two of them immediately detected her and were vigilant while they held on to their swords. Although the female cultivator had been discovered she didn"t attempt to hide. She bluntly announced that she wanted to do the deed with Chu Sheng and take him back home with her to have kids together.

Fu Zhongyi"s expression was: "…"

Chu Sheng nearly drew his sword out to cut her into pieces out of rage.

The moment that female cultivator saw that the two were sleeping in the same bed, she made some a.s.sumptions and her complexion underwent a big change: "You, you guys…"

The female cultivator to a large degree had her own principles. If Chu Sheng was bent, then she would give up and respect Chu Sheng"s s.e.xual orientation.

Chu Sheng"s face had become even more distorted.

Seeing as neither of them admitted to it, the female cultivator nodded her head and walked over and was about to grab Chu Sheng. Before she could, however, Fu Zhongyi had pulled Chu Sheng over, held him tight while grabbing his chin, and then kissed him.

…

The world truly was beautiful.

No wonder Chu Sheng"s face darkened the moment he saw Fu Zhongyi.

Chu Yu trembled all over from holding back his laughter.

When they returned to the Chu family camp, a rather unfamiliar face welcomed them back. Chu Yu stared blankly at them and then heard Chu Sheng call: "Third great uncle? Why have you personally come?"

Third great uncle bore the young, handsome face that was pa.s.sed down within the Chu family line. He stiffly nodded: "Sheng-er, Yu-er, you"ve worked hard during this past couple of days."

Chu Yu"s eyes shone: "These words, could it be that third great uncle intends to take over this horrible mess?

Third great uncle continued: "Give your father"s body and the soul-nouris.h.i.+ng jade that has been preserving your mother to me. You two can continue to work hard. There will come a day when the war between the Righteous and Demonic Paths ends."

F*** your uncle.

Chu Sheng hesitated and then said something to third great uncle in a low voice. A short moment later, a startled expression appeared on third great uncle"s face. He swiftly looked over at Chu Yu: "Yu-er, is what you have said… true?"

Chu Yu roughly knew what they were talking about and nodded his head: "It"s the truth."

In actuality, the details on how to resurrect Chu Shuangtian didn"t sound too hard. All that was necessary was to recall his injured and nearly faded soul from the depths of the world. After gently nouris.h.i.+ng it and restoring it, they would then lead it inside a body that would have the weakest chance of rejection. The best option was going to be the original body or a copy of it. But, who knew how long it would take before they could find and obtain the transcript of the resurrection process and then gently nourish the injured soul. During this period of time, they would have to rely on the Chu family to properly preserve Chu Shuangtian"s body.

Third great uncle pondered over this for a while before nodding his head. After discussing with Chu Sheng, he took the interspatial ring that Chu Sheng was using to specifically hold Chu Shuangtian"s body and the soul nouris.h.i.+ng jade. He had come in a rush and then left in a rush, immediately leaving them after that.

The good news was that he left behind two Nascent Soul cultivators.

Chu Sheng went to make arrangements for those two cultivators. Chu Yu mulled over his thoughts for a moment before he then turned his thought to another matter. He walked towards Chu Sheng"s at an exasperatingly slow pace and waited for him to come back.

In the center of the deserted courtyard, some cold jade plates hung in the middle of the air. The ground was covered in broken leaves while the branches had become bare. The weather had gotten colder and it wouldn"t be long before it snowed.

Chu Yu narrowed his eyes and used his fingers to calculate. It had been 13 years since he transmigrated into the book.

According to what the system had said, regardless of how many years had pa.s.sed since his transmigration, the original world"s time would be the same as the moment he transmigrated. The sole exception would be if he decided to stay in the book or if he managed to collect 1,000 points and then chose to leave.

He opened the system interface. The number of points listed on it slightly startled Chu Yu.

He hadn"t looked at his points in a long time. Who would have thought that it had already reached up into the 600s?

It wasn"t that far from 1,000 now.

On the day that his points reached 1,000, should he choose to leave or stay?

Chu Yu suddenly felt that his head hurt and ma.s.saged his temples. He recalled the moment he had just arrived at Qing Tu and Xie Xi"s eyes when they met up. They were blood-red and insane, but they had also seemed as if they had been unexpectedly rescued from a desperate situation.

It was as if Xie Xi was about to fall apart if he could no longer see Chu Yu.

The more Chu Yu thought about it, the more his mood sunk. Perhaps he shouldn"t have given Xie Xi any hope after all. Although he did have feelings of fondness towards Xie Xi…he was going to leave.

He seemed to have made a very big mistake.

Chu Yu gave a long sigh. The sound of familiar footsteps came from close by. He immediately discarded the many thoughts that had surfaced in his head just now and stepped forward: "Big brother."

Chu Sheng was surprised: "Why hasn"t that little brother returned yet?"

Chu Yu"s gaze fell upon his shoulder: "Big brother, Lord Fu has said that at the very least, you won"t be able to use your sword for a month?"

As expected of his intelligence, Chu Sheng immediately understood the meaning of Chu Yu"s kind thoughts and his expression changed: "Little brother, of course, big brother can protect you. So you shouldn"t have those kinds of ideas."

Chu Yu shook his head: "Big brother, a few days ago I already smoothly advanced to the Core Formation Middle-stage. I can protect myself out there. Therefore, during this month, I will take a Nascent Soul stage cultivator and the Chu family disciples out patrolling with me and we"ll fight with the demonic cultivators. You need to recuperate from your injuries."

Even Chu Sheng"s lips were somewhat pale now: "No, little brother, no…"

The desire to protect was really quite a scary thing…

Chu Yu felt a bit helpless: "Big brother, if you don"t properly heal your injury, then afterward in the future who will protect me?" Seeing Chu Sheng"s face stiffen, Chu Yu pushed some more: "If you"re really that uneasy, I"ll only travel with s.h.i.+zun. What do you think?"

Chu Sheng furrowed his brows and stared at Chu Yu for a long time before finally giving a long sigh: "Big brother understands…"

Understands what?

With a kind expression on his face, Chu Sheng patted Chu Yu"s head, "Little brother has grown up…I can"t hide you anymore…"

Big brother have you misunderstood something…?

Chu Sheng continued to sigh: "If you want to see that brat then go and see him. However, if he dares to touch you then don"t blame San Huo for not showing any mercy."

Chu Yu: "…"

Big brother you really have some excessive imagination…

Since he had decided to work with s.h.i.+zun, after resting for a night, he and Chu Sheng left for Tian Yuan Sect early morning the next day. Along the way, they saw many cultivators hurrying past and muttering to themselves. Chu Yu"s five senses were sharp. After walking for a while, he began to understand what had happened.

Last night, Lu Qingan had ferreted out the demonic cultivator who had injured the people at the main hall. Yan Han had been unsheathed and after a mere three blows, that demonic cultivator had been killed. The cultivators were all currently softly discussing Lu Qingan"s exceptional charm. One hand holding Yan Han which had been flourished with golden light, as he stood against the wind. His white robe fluttered like clouds. He truly was someone whose level of charm could only be matched by a few other individuals even if you were to search the entire cultivation world,

Chu Yu was speechless after hearing this. As expected of the protagonist"s s.h.i.+zun, he was utterly astonis.h.i.+ng.

Who knew if he would be able to see the appearance of the protagonist after he became the exceptional Sword Immortal…

Chu Yu let his thoughts wander for a bit and then shook his head out of the trance. He saw the entrance to Tian Yuan Sect"s camp just ahead of him and was just about to step forward when the sound of a considerably familiar voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Chu Yu?! You…"

As if he had suddenly recalled something, the owner of the voice forcefully swallowed the words that he had almost blurted out.

Chu Yu turned his head to look and he inwardly "oho-ed." The corner of his mouth twitched and he said in a light voice: "Oh? So it was Song s.h.i.+xiong. I trust you"ve been well since we last met?"

Translator"s Notes: