Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened, and his ears heated right along with them.
Something had to be wrong with the temperature inside this little pocket realm. It was practically cooking him alive.
This definitely wasn’t his fault. Absolutely not!
He abruptly looked away, not daring to meet Ye Chenyan’s eyes again. Then he reached out and gave Ye’s sleeve a small tug.
“Hm?”
Ye Chenyan had no idea what was coming. He leaned down without a trace of suspicion—and promptly got a faceful of pink mist.
His eyes flew open in shock. Before he could make a sound, he tipped sideways into Yu Qingtang’s arms.
And flattened the fragile, illusion-made chest Yu had been maintaining.
Yu Qingtang instinctively covered his chest. Then he remembered that Ye Chenyan was unconscious and would not expose him anyway, so he slowly lowered his hands.
Instead, he covered his burning ears and sat cross-legged on the ground, staring blankly ahead.
He was done for. His bell had rung.
After sitting there in a daze for a while, Yu Qingtang realized that avoiding reality was not going to help. He cautiously looked down at Amorous Secrets.
The title sounded so scandalous, yet the inside was completely blank.
There was not a single picture in it!
Still, that pink mist was impressive. Even Ye Chenyan had not been able to resist it.
Li Ling’er had quietly returned the book to Yu Qingtang during dinner. Apparently, the Discipline Elder had decided it would be wrong to keep something that belonged to him, but had been too embarrassed to hand over that sort of book in public. So the elder had first passed it to Wen Rubing and asked him to return it.
Wen Rubing had then decided that it would be even more inappropriate for him to deliver the book himself.
So he had passed it to Li Ling’er.
She had meant to give it back yesterday at Guiyi Sect, but curiosity got the better of her. She had taken one peek, gotten engulfed by the pink mist, and slept until dawn.
That was why the return had been delayed until now.
At first, Li Ling’er had only mumbled that she had forgotten. Then, after drinking too much, she had let the truth slip.
That was how Yu Qingtang learned that Amorous Secrets could be used this way.
Thank goodness he had thought quickly.
Yu Qingtang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
But next...
He lowered his gaze to Ye Chenyan, who lay unconscious in his arms.
Ye Chenyan was not stupid. He had probably—probably—already guessed from Yu Qingtang’s reaction that he was hiding something.
“You only think it’s fine for me to lie to you because you don’t know I’m a man,” Yu Qingtang muttered.
Carefully, he hefted Ye Chenyan onto his shoulder and sighed.
He couldn’t just leave him here alone.
He would carry him back to Fireblaze Tower, then pretend that Ye had gotten drunk with Chi Yantian and Scholar Xiao...
As he ran through the plan in his head, Yu Qingtang stepped out of the pocket realm and looked up.
Three people stood before him.
A man, a woman, and an old man.
Yu Qingtang: “...”
The attendant and the other handsome man were one thing.
But Tianji Zi—why was Tianji Zi here too?!
You really shouldn’t do bad things. The second you did, your victim’s master caught you red-handed.
“Hm?” Tianji Zi looked at Ye Chenyan. “Why is he unconscious?”
“Well...”
Yu Qingtang guiltily looked away.
“Maybe there was a small accident.”
“Oh?”
Tianji Zi’s eyes curved as he smiled. With a flick of his whisk, he lifted Ye Chenyan onto the cloud beside him.
“Then I’ll take him back and make sure he is properly looked after. And you... what do you plan to do next?”
Yu Qingtang did not dare look up at him.
“I’m going back to Jinzhou.”
“Then you should hurry.” Tianji Zi stroked his beard. “If he wakes up, you may not be able to get away.”
Yu Qingtang stared at him in shock.
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry.” Tianji Zi winked at him. “I understand your difficulties.”
“You go on ahead. I’ll help talk some sense into this boy.”
Yu Qingtang blinked, then thanked him on reflex.
“Oh... th-thank you.”
As he headed out of Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, he could not help glancing back once.
The whole thing had gone a little too smoothly.
Something about it felt strange.
But Tianji Zi had said so...
Yu Qingtang found Fifth Senior Brother below Fireblaze Tower, where he was mooching a meal, and immediately called him home so they could make a quick escape.
Fifth Senior Brother still had a piece of grilled meat in his mouth when Yu Qingtang told him they were leaving. He looked utterly confused, but stood up and followed him anyway.
Only after the two of them had climbed onto Fifth Senior Brother’s hole-riddled cloth artifact and started drifting through the sky toward Jinzhou did Fifth Senior Brother finally ask, “What happened?”
After thinking for a moment, he looked back cautiously.
“You said before that you planned to confess to Ye Chenyan. Did he get angry?”
Yu Qingtang had been absentminded the entire way. At the question, he turned his head slowly and shook it.
“No.”
Fifth Senior Brother scratched his head in confusion.
“Then he didn’t get angry and decided not to hold it against you?”
Yu Qingtang’s expression remained vacant.
“That’s not it either.”
“Then what happened?” Fifth Senior Brother looked even more lost. “He wasn’t angry, but he also didn’t decide not to hold it against you. What else could he possibly do?”
“I didn’t tell him.”
Yu Qingtang’s gaze wavered, and he did not dare meet Fifth Senior Brother’s eyes.
“I... I couldn’t say it.”
Fifth Senior Brother sighed.
“I did think that maybe you would get scared again when the moment came...”
Yu Qingtang shook his head lightly.
“I wasn’t afraid he would hit me.”
“I was afraid he would be too hurt...”
Yu Qingtang abruptly choked on his own words.
As he realized what he had almost said, his eyes widened in horror. He shook his head hard, as though he could throw the terrible thought right out of it.
“No, no, no! I was just afraid he would hit me!”
“Right! I’m only a cowardly idle cultivator who is terrified of dying. How could I possibly be bold enough to fall for a Long Aotian?!”
To make himself sound more convincing, he looked at Fifth Senior Brother with a righteous expression and added, “That’s right. That’s exactly it!”
Fifth Senior Brother looked even more confused.
“Who is Long Aotian?”
“Uh...”
Yu Qingtang scratched his head.
“It’s probably better that you don’t understand.”
Then he suddenly froze.
“Wait. Since we aren’t traveling back with Heavenly Music Sect, I don’t have to keep wearing women’s clothes!”
“Senior Brother, did you bring my clothes?”
“I did.”
Fifth Senior Brother nodded and took a set of clothes from his storage ring.
“Do you want to change now?”
“Yes.”
Yu Qingtang hugged the men’s clothes to his chest with feeling.
“Ah, this familiar feeling!”
He clenched his fist.
“Once I’m myself again, I’ll definitely be able to stay firm and stop getting confused!”
“Set us down for a moment. I need to change.”
“Oh.”
Fifth Senior Brother thought he was acting strange, but he still cooperated and landed the artifact. Yu Qingtang immediately dove into the grass to change.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Fifth Senior Brother asked worriedly.
“I’m fine!”
Yu Qingtang’s voice came from behind the bushes, full of spirit.
He changed back into men’s clothes, dismissed the false flesh created by his illusion, wiped his face clean, and swaggered out of the grass.
“Well? How do I look?”
Fifth Senior Brother assumed he was simply happy not to be wearing a skirt anymore. Smiling, he nodded.
“Mm. Just like before.”
“Right. Just like before.”
Yu Qingtang took a deep breath. He lowered his head, and a faint flash of loneliness crossed his eyes.
“There’s no need to think about it so much. I’m going home. Everything will be just like before.”
Ye Chenyan was a Long Aotian destined to ascend to the Nine Heavens and one day unite the immortal sects.
And Yu Qingtang...
He was only a passerby who had stumbled into this story by mistake.
He should never have been here in the first place. The person Ye Chenyan met should never have been him. The person Ye Chenyan liked should never have been him either.
Fifth Senior Brother looked at him with concern.
“Little Junior Brother, are you really all right? You don’t look very happy.”
“I’m not—”
Yu Qingtang immediately denied it. Under Fifth Senior Brother’s worried gaze, he held out for about three breaths before giving up.
“Fine. Maybe a little.”
Fifth Senior Brother looked troubled and worried.
“What happened? Can’t you tell your senior brother?”
Yu Qingtang lowered his voice.
“Ye Chenyan... said he likes me.”
“Oh.” Fifth Senior Brother nodded. “Didn’t we know that already?”
Yu Qingtang froze.
“Huh?”
Then he suddenly realized.
“Oh, right.”
“He told me a long time ago. I already knew.”
“Then why am I panicking?”
Fifth Senior Brother stared at him.
Yu Qingtang turned away, dazed.
“I’m done for.”
“My bell rang.”
“How could it ring...”
He covered his face.
“Fifth Senior Brother, I’m done for. I had thoughts I never should have had...”
“Huh?” Fifth Senior Brother was completely at a loss. “What bell? What thoughts?”
“No, Little Junior Brother, say something!”
...
“Mm.”
Ye Chenyan shook his head and sat up with one hand pressed to his forehead. He looked around in confusion.
“This is...”
“You’re awake.”
Tianji Zi leaned in with a cheerful smile, startling Ye Chenyan into sitting upright.
“Why are you here?!”
“Oh, what an ungrateful brat.” Tianji Zi clicked his tongue and shook his head. “I was the one who pulled you out.”
“What did you dream about? You were grinning so hard your mouth was nearly splitting.”
“None of your business.”
Ye Chenyan’s ears turned red. He looked away—then abruptly reacted.
“No, where is Yu Qingtang? I actually fell for that trick! He...”
“I know what you dreamed about.”
Tianji Zi smiled.
“The old fuddy-duddies from Discipline Peak studied Amorous Secrets with perfectly solemn expressions. There was nothing drawn inside. It is only a hidden weapon that knocks people unconscious and makes them dream about the person they love.”
“It isn’t some sinister object. The title is just misleading.”
“Who cares about that?”
Ye Chenyan frowned.
“Where is Yu Qingtang?”
“He ran away.”
Tianji Zi spread his hands, smiling with clear delight at Ye Chenyan’s misery.
“He left you behind and ran home.”
“You!”
A wildly disrespectful thought flashed through Ye Chenyan’s mind. In a rage, he moved to rush down the mountain and chase after Yu Qingtang.
Tianji Zi laughed and flicked his whisk, dragging him back.
“What are you in such a hurry for?”
“The little fish may have run, but he cannot take the fishpond with him. Biehe Sect is still right where it was. You can go anytime.”
“If I can go anytime, then I’ll go now.”
Ye Chenyan wrestled with the whisk.
“Let go! What are you doing?”
“Oh?”
Tianji Zi grinned.
“Didn’t you used to be unable to say, ‘Whatever’? Why are you in such a rush now? Where do you think you’re going?”
Ye Chenyan choked.
“I-I changed my mind. I’m fine with whatever now.”
“Oh?”
Tianji Zi widened his eyes in surprise.
“That’s unusually honest of you.”
“Let go.”
Ye Chenyan clicked his tongue.
“Stop messing around. At this rate, he’ll be out of Qingzhou already.”
“What a pity.”
Tianji Zi shook his head.
“You can’t just do whatever you please now. You have to go to Nanzhou.”
Ye Chenyan paused, then raised a brow.
“I’ll find him, and we’ll go to Nanzhou together.”
Tianji Zi raised his hand and used the whisk to bind him to the side of the bed.
“No.”
“You cannot take a leisurely sightseeing trip to Nanzhou. I need to find a few things. Tomorrow morning, I will personally take you there.”
“What?”
Ye Chenyan frowned.
“Why is this so urgent? Can’t it wait even one day? I’ll bring him back, and then immediately...”
“No.”
Tianji Zi was unusually firm.
“I don’t want to say it either, but it truly cannot wait.”
“Don’t worry. Once you return from Nanzhou, I will personally take you to Biehe Sect. Before then, I’ll also keep an eye on him for you...”
“Who asked you to keep an eye on him?!”
Ye Chenyan flared up.
“I can keep an eye on him myself! Hey, old man! Come back! Let me go!”
Tianji Zi pretended not to hear. As he walked out, he said, “You need to keep your cool. Endure a few days.”
He grinned in the most irritating way possible.
“Who told you that you can’t beat me yet?”
“You!”
Watching him walk farther away, Ye Chenyan realized he could not break free by himself. He turned his head and gave a sharp whistle.
Lightning immediately zipped onto his shoulder.
“Good. Go find someone to help.”
“Chirp!”
Lightning moved with astonishing speed. True to its name, it shot out like a bolt of lightning and returned not long after with Li Ling’er.
“Heh heh.”
Li Ling’er crossed her arms smugly.
“Ye Chenyan, looks like you finally got what was coming to you—”
“Stop wasting time.”
Ye Chenyan lied without blinking.
“Qingtang is in danger. I have to save him.”
“I know!” Li Ling’er muttered. “Why else would I wade into this mess?”
“But why won’t Martial Uncle let you go?”
Ye Chenyan raised a brow and changed the subject.
“Can you even do it? That’s my master’s restriction. Don’t tell me you...”
“Hah!”
Li Ling’er gave a cold laugh.
“You think I can’t handle it?”
She raised a hand and revealed the sword behind her.
“Take a look at this!”
Ye Chenyan’s eyes widened.
“The Sect Master’s Mountain-and-River Sword!”
Li Ling’er planted her hands on her hips.
“I just stole it!”
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