Edited by Fingerguns

Chapter 16: A Dream in the High Platform

… Oh s.h.i.t.

Meng Zhong Guang was unaware of the even slightest shifts happening within Xu Xing Zhi"s heart, he only thought to ask him, “I don"t know if it"s true… Shīxiōng, do you think the Lord of the Feng Mountains is lying?"

Xu Xing Zhi could only tell him responsibly in his heart that this news was indeed correct because Lao Zi really did write that in his story.

Xu Xing Zhi"s fake smile was stiffening on his face. “Did you fulfill his wish afterward?”

Meng Zhong Guang laughed and said, “Why would I? Do you mean what I said about killing him? That was just for the sake of saying it. I still have a use for keeping him alive."

… Xu Xing Zhi decided that, if his ident.i.ty was unfortunately revealed one day, he would absolutely slit his own neck with a dagger at once, so as not to be tormented by Meng Zhong Guang, this old demon, and lived wishing he was dead instead.

This old demon that might have belonged to the feline family soon fell asleep under his gentle strokes. He curled up around his knee and slept soundly like a kitten with his fluffy hair spread over his knee. This feeling was particularly nice.

Xu Xing Zhi stroked his hair with his prosthetic right hand that was made of rosewood, but his left hand grasped the handle of the dagger again and slowly pulled it out the sheath.

Meng Zhong Guang already knew the whereabouts of the next key"s fragment. Was it time to kill him?

The blade of the dagger pointed between Meng Zhong Guang"s eyebrows.

Because of his stirred up emotions from just now, a scarlet demon mark emerged, making it easy for Xu Xing Zhi to find it.

Meng Zhong Gang slept defenselessly, hiding under the dark black hair was such a peaceful and harmless face as if the place where he was sleeping at was the safest spot in the world.

Xu Xing Zhi poked at his head, he did not wake up, but muttered, “Shīxiōng, Shīxiōng.”

He smiled foolishly as he called out the name as if saying this name would bring him endless joy out of nowhere.

… Xu Xing Zhi eventually threw the dagger away and fell backward, putting his hand on his forehead.

f.u.c.k. Forget it.

He wasn"t any n.o.bleman, but he couldn"t lay his hands down against the defenseless Meng Zhong Guang when he showed such an expression.

If he had done such a thing, even if he had returned to his original world, Meng Zhong Guang"s face would probably appear in his dreams from time to time.

Instead of this, he should just use the dagger and sever his own neck neat and tidy.

Of course, Xu Xing Zhi, who always upheld the idea of “better a bad life than a good death”, would not drop dead so easily.

After putting the dagger back, Xu Xing Zhi painstakingly shifted Meng Zhong Guang to the bed.

He must have lost a lot of energy fighting against the enemy today. He should have a good sleep.

Seeing how soundly he was sleeping, he was actually somewhat jealous, so he sc.r.a.ped his grecian1 but still beautiful nose: “… really a living enemy.”

Then, he decided to go out for a walk to relax. Who would"ve thought he had just got up and left the bed for two steps, Meng Zhong Guang made a soft “En.” His voice was rough and alluring, stirring Xu Xing Zhi"s heart that he turned his head back to take a look.

—— Meng Zhong Guang"s eyebrows were scrunched up, and his lips, which had just been ruddy, were also pursed up, making a pale, deadly tight line.

Xu Xing Zhi tried to soothe his eyebrows by gently rubbing at them.

As soon as his fingertips met Meng Zhong Guang"s skin, Meng Zhong Guang"s expression strangely relaxed.

Xu Xing Zhi smiled helplessly and he put aside his intention to go out for a walk to clear his mind. He went back to the bed, laid down on his side and closed his eyes as well.

… Meng Zhong Guang seemed tired enough. It seemed that only by accompanying him could he sleep well.

Speaking of which, Meng Zhong Guang was picked up by the original owner from a young age. His attachment to the original owner was no less than that of a father and an elder brother. This wasn"t a difficult issue to understand.

He had nothing to do at the moment. Xu Xing Zhi looked at the top of the bed with his right hand cushioned behind his head. He remembered what the Animal Hide Man had insulted him just now.

“I was thinking, "who was it?" It turned out to be the traitorous and treacherous Xu Xing Zhi!”

“… With the ambition of a white-eyed wolf, possessing no virtue, murdering his own master…”

The entire world thought it was Xu Xing Zhi who killed his master. The memory of the former owner of this body told him that it was Meng Zhong Guang who went against the law and killed his master in order to seize the magic artifacts. After that, he made Xu Xing Zhi bore the black pot.

However, Xu Xing Zhi"s view of Meng Zhong Guang"s present work showed that he was very hot-blooded and righteous, unlike a person who would conspire to obtain mere worldly possessions unscrupulously.

Did his mind got confused because of how valuable the magic artifacts were?

He turned over and lay on his side, but somehow he felt suffocated.

… The name of the original owner"s master seemed to be “Qing Jing Jūn2“.

The name harped in Xu Xing Zhi"s mind, causing him to feel uncomfortable and nauseous for a while.

He propped up half of his body and leaned over the bedside, he felt nauseous but there wasn"t anything coming out.

Xu Xing Zhi thumped his chest lightly twice and lay down again. The pain and soreness in his chest eased a little.

Xu Xing Zhi couldn"t tell where this feeling originated from. He could only comfort himself by saying that this was because he was using the body of the original owner. Perhaps the former original held deep feelings for his master. It was only when he had remembered that he had already died that caused him to feel so depressed.

Conforming with his principle that sleeping could solve a thousand worries, Xu Xing Zhi went to sleep.

As his breathing gradually evened out, Meng Zhong Guang opened his eyes again and turned over. He gently drew Xu Xing Zhi near his arms, stretched out his hand and pressed it at Xu Xing Zhi"s chest.

The heartbeat inside was deep and powerful, and each of them reverberated into his eardrums.

Meng Zhong Guang then embraced Xu Xing Zhi from behind and whispered in his ear, “Shīxiōng, don"t be sad. If you"re going to kill me, I won"t fight back. As long as you are happy…

As he said that, he sniffed Xu Xing Zhi"s earlobe like a puppy. Then he opened his mouth and sucked his lobe before biting it lightly with his canine tooth.

Xu Xing Zhi frowned and hummed in protest, but he did not wake up.

That night, Xu Xing Zhi had another strange dream.

This time, when he opened his eyes, he was situated on a Yaotai high building3, holding bamboo slips4 and dressed formally. It seemed like he was preparing to teach about Daoism.

Under the platform, disciples were gathered together and he saw a few familiar faces. Meng Zhong Guang and Jiu Zhi Deng had shed off their young and inexperienced appearance and had transformed into handsome youths. They knelt on the praying mat5 and waited for the teaching attentively, however, both of them stared at him intently.

Meng Zhong Guang even took advantage of the fact that the other disciples were standing in respect and was ignorant of others to wave his hand and greeted Xu Xing Zhi, who was on the high platform.

A quiet and affectionate voice sounded from behind: “Xing Zhi, get started.”

Hearing this sound, Xu Xing Zhi"s body became stiff.

The scene here was quite different from Lu w.a.n.g Platform. The attires of the disciples below were all neat and uniformed. They were all in a white robe with a light green ribbon bound around their hair.

… It seemed that here should be Fengling Mountain.

And the one that could instruct the head disciple Xu Xing Zhi to start teaching, would it be the “Qing Jing Jun”?

Xu Xing Zhi wanted to turn around, but his body did not listen to him. He began to open the bamboo slips and read them out and explain the difficult ancient characters word by word.

Xu Xing Zhi thought the scene was so vivid that it should be the memory of the original owner until a sticky, thick and strong vine slipped silently into the bottom of his thick robe.

Xu Xin Zhi felt his lower half getting satiny for a moment, and he had not yet come back to his senses when the fingers holding onto the bamboo slips instantly clenched. A cry of alarm rushed out to the tip of his lips only to be sealed tightly between his teeth before it was swallowed back down again.

Seeing that Xu Xing Zhi dared not resist, the vine became more and more unrestrained. It stirred and turned between Xu Xing Zhi"s legs; like a deer thirsting for a drink, like a fish swimming in the water.

Xu Xing Zhi raised his eyes in panic, but no one else noticed his abnormality.

The disciples below looked up at him with admiration and reverence in their eyes, and Meng Zhong Guang was amidst them. He gazed at him with his bright and burning eyes.

Xu Xing Zhi endured until his veins popped, his fingers tightening and loosening as he endured this hardship. His forehead was already shining with sweat: “… Heaven is yang, the earth is yin. The spring is yang, the autumn is yin. The summer is yang, the winter is yin. The day is yang, the night is yin… Hnn!!!!"

… Entered… It actually went in…

… Right here…

The bell tied on Xu Xing Zhi"s wrist rang along with his contracted muscles. For a moment, he was sore, numb, frightened and angry, and the scriptures were stuck in his throat, unable to be articulated.

Some of the disciples below perceived something was amiss and looked up at Xu Xing Zhi.

A voice of inquiry came from behind Xu Xing Zhi: “Xing Zhi? Are you not feeling well?”

“Replying to Master, n…o.”

Xu Xing Zhi"s voice trembled slightly. “Up… Upper is yang and lower is yin. Male is yang and female and yin. Father is yang and son is yin. The older brother is yang and the younger brother is yin. Older is yang, younger is yin…”

He wanted to shout stop, but he didn"t know whom to shout at. He had to recite the serious words of Daoism. Stimulated by this, his body became more and hotter and he secreted warm silver silk like a spider. The vine took the opportunity to stir up even more and unload all the strength in his body.

He forced himself to kneel but he was at his limit. Gold stars burst in his eyes, it was bright and dark for a moment, and finally, he could not endure it anymore and fell softly to one side.

A few hours later.

Meng Zhong Guang hummed a tune and came out of the room in a very good mood. He washed his face and hands in the stream within the tower.

Zhou w.a.n.g happened to come out of Lu Yu Jiu"s room when she saw him, she said, “Meng Dà Gē is done with his sleep?”

Meng Zhong Guang answered with curved eyes, “Yes.”

After answering, he shook the water off his hands and turned back to the room.

When Zhou w.a.n.g saw his beaming face, she was stunned for a moment. It was not until Zhou Bei Nan came floating behind her that she sighed, “Uncle, I have never seen Meng Dà Gē smiling like that in all these years in the wilderness.”

Zhou Bei Nan glanced at the closed door. “That"s what you haven"t seen before. He sticks to his Shīxiōng all day long and refuses to leave him even for half a minute. He laughs like a sunflower at his Shīxiōng."

Zhou w.a.n.g was curious: “Since Xu Shīxiōng came to the wilderness, they have stayed in the room all day long. What are they doing? I want to go in and have a look."

“Pei.” Zhou Bei Nan frowned. “As a girl, why do you care about this?”

Zhou w.a.n.g argued: “You didn"t say I was a girl when you taught me how to use a knife before?”

Zhou Ben Nan took out his ghost spear and wanted to shine it at Zhou w.a.n.g. However, he didn"t expect her to be fast and evaded by stepping away: “Uncle, the two arguments you"ve used doesn"t seem to match? Xu Shīxiōng had told me that girls have to behave like girls.”

Zhou Bei Nan rolled his eyes when he heard the words “Xu Shīxiōng”: “If Xu Xing Zhi could teach, how could he teach two good junior brothers into becoming cut sleeves…”

Speaking halfway through, he knew he had said too much and stopped talking.

Zhou w.a.n.g"s interest was piqued: “Uncle, what is a cut sleeve?”

Zhou Bei Nan blushed slightly, brushed his sleeves and walked away, pretending like he didn"t hear anything.

Xu Xing Zhi was badly injured in his dream this time. He slept for most of the day. When he woke up, he couldn"t even walk properly. His feet were weak for two days.

For the next few days, Meng Zhong Guang did not mention that he would go to Tiger Leaping Stream to steal the fragment. Xu Xing Zhi also did not know how to execute his plans. He spent all his time with the people of the wilderness, chatting, drinking, and throwing arrows into a pot for fun. It was just like his life in the real world.

During the time he spent playing idly, Xu Xing Zhi learned something that made him tongue-tied.

… At last, he knew Tao Xian"s backstory.

Tao Xian was a mortal who had no magic power.

Tao Xiao naturally didn"t like to talk much, and he didn"t find it boring to stay with Qu Chi, a mentally disabled person. If he talked too much with someone, he would blush and stammer, hence, he didn"t really hang out with them much. It was actually Zhou w.a.n.g who told Xu Xing Zhi that he was a mortal.

At that time, Zhou Bei Nan had died tragically in the wilderness at the beginning due to unknown causes while Zhou w.a.n.g"s mother died of bleeding on the sport after giving birth to Zhou w.a.n.g. Zhou w.a.n.g was abandoned in the wilderness and she caught the attention of Qu Chi and Tao Xian who had just fallen into the wilderness at the time with her loud wailings. They buried her mother"s body before they picked her up and left.

If it hadn"t been for Lu Yu Jiu who pa.s.sed by later and saw Zhou Bei Nan"s wandering soul, which was on the verge of scattering, and then put his soul into his talisman, Zhou Bei Nan would have already turned into smoke in the wilderness.

From then on, Zhou w.a.n.g recognized Qu Chi and Tao Xiao as her G.o.dparents.

According to what she said, her G.o.dmother, Tao Xian was a mortal who could not even handle chickens. The fact that he could survive in the wilderness for thirteen years was all because of Qu Chi"s wholehearted protection.

Xu Xing Zhi was quite surprised when he heard this. When he b.u.mped into Tao Xian in the tower, he talked to him briefly.

Tao Xian fiddled with his clothes ashamedly: “… You"re right. I originally came to the wilderness for the sake of taking care of Qu Shīxiōng, but now it"s Qu Chi Shīxiōng who has to take care of me…”

Xu Xing Zhi couldn"t help asking, “What did you do before?”

Tao Xian asked in a low voice, “Xu Shīxiōng really doesn"t remember? I, I used to perform in an opera.” He added another line, “… the female role.”