After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

Candle Nine Yin pointed toward the rear mountain. “A cave.”

“He was afraid he might smash a hole through the house and leave you without anywhere convenient to sleep tonight, so he found a cave instead.”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

How considerate of him.

Candle Nine Yin finally reeled in his fishing line and stood. He grabbed Yu Qingtang by the back of his clothes and lifted him off the ground.

“Let’s go.”

He glanced at the others. “You’re coming too? You won’t be able to help.”

“Even if we can’t help, we can at least worry pointlessly.” Scholar Xiao frowned with righteous concern and pulled out his manuscript. “We’ll come take a look!”

Tianxin turned her face slightly toward him.

Scholar Xiao immediately confessed, “Admittedly, I’m also curious.”

Candle Nine Yin did not chase them away. He led the entire procession to the mouth of a cave, then pointed at the enormous boulder blocking the entrance.

“That rock was not there earlier. He probably moved it here himself.”

“Should we move it?” Chi Yantian rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll do it!”

Candle Nine Yin raised one hand.

With a thunderous bang, the boulder shattered into pieces.

Standing calmly in place, he shook his head. “No need.”

The cave suddenly trembled as though someone inside had punched the wall.

Ye Chenyan’s exasperated voice rang out.

“What are you doing now?”

Candle Nine Yin remained outside the cave.

“He’s here.”

The cave instantly fell silent.

Yu Qingtang held the Spirit-Locking Ring in both hands and nervously took a step forward. He looked back at Candle Nine Yin.

“Then I’m going in?”

Candle Nine Yin nodded.

Yu Qingtang shuffled another step inside, then looked back again.

“Senior, aren’t you coming in to help? At least explain how I’m supposed to use this ring—waaah!”

Before he could finish, a hand shot out from inside and yanked him into the cave.

Yu Qingtang’s vision went black.

Not figuratively. It went completely, solidly black—Ye Chenyan had covered his eyes from behind.

His body was burning hot, even hotter than Yu Qingtang’s after climbing out of the sulfur springs. He wrapped himself tightly around Yu Qingtang like an enormous furnace—or some large, clingy animal.

Yu Qingtang blinked, his eyelashes brushing Ye Chenyan’s palm.

Ye Chenyan only covered his eyes more firmly.

He leaned close to Yu Qingtang’s ear and spoke in a low voice.

“Don’t move.”

His voice was hoarser than usual, with an inexplicable edge that made Yu Qingtang’s heart race.

Yu Qingtang obediently remained still.

For a while, he could hear nothing but the breathing behind him. When Ye Chenyan made no further move, Yu Qingtang gathered his courage. Keeping his body motionless while allowing one small part to move, he secretly poked Ye Chenyan with a finger.

“Are you all right?” he whispered.

Ye Chenyan buried his face in the crook of Yu Qingtang’s neck.

“Not really.”

He fumbled through the darkness until he found Yu Qingtang’s hand, then held it tightly.

“I told them not to call you here...”

Yu Qingtang sighed sympathetically. “I heard you overturned all seventy-two divisions of the demon race. You caused quite a commotion. You were even pounding away at the cave just now...”

Ye Chenyan said nothing.

“They asked me to give you this.” Yu Qingtang shook the Spirit-Locking Ring in his hand. “You’ll be fine once you put it on.”

Ye Chenyan blindly grabbed the ring. “Leave it here. I’ll do it myself.”

“Can you?” Yu Qingtang quietly reminded him, “I’m not exactly confident that I can surpass all seventy-two divisions and hold you down either, but Senior Candle Nine Yin said someone has to cooperate with you and seal your acupoints...”

“I’ll seal them myself,” Ye Chenyan said softly. “Go outside first.”

“Oh.”

Yu Qingtang lowered his gaze toward the arms still locked tightly around him, then innocently raised his head.

“Shouldn’t you let go first?”

Ye Chenyan tightened his embrace.

Yu Qingtang: “...”

Ye Chenyan closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

Then he suddenly released Yu Qingtang and pushed him toward the entrance.

“All right. Go outside. I can handle this myself.”

He rested his forehead against Yu Qingtang’s back.

“I can’t see you right now.”

Yu Qingtang did not answer immediately.

Ye Chenyan paused, worried that his words had sounded wrong, then lowered his eyes and added, “It’s not that I don’t want to see you. It’s just that right now, I—”

Yu Qingtang abruptly spun around.

“Then how about this!”

Ye Chenyan froze.

His gaze slowly settled on Yu Qingtang’s face, which was now covered by a piece of light gauze. For a moment, he was speechless.

Yu Qingtang apparently thought himself a genius. He shook his head proudly.

“Now you can’t see my face. You don’t have to think of me as me. Just pretend I’m a kindhearted passerby!”

Ye Chenyan closed his eyes in silence.

“Hm?” Yu Qingtang suddenly leaned closer. “What’s on your face...?”

Ye Chenyan instinctively turned away and raised a hand to cover it.

“I already told you not to look...”

Yu Qingtang reached out and poked his cheek.

Chaotic demonic markings had spread across half of Ye Chenyan’s face. His forceful suppression had seemingly provoked their ferocity instead, making him look exceptionally sinister.

“I leave for one day, and you get yourself a flashy new tattoo.” Yu Qingtang pinched his cheek. “Were you afraid you’d scare me?”

Ye Chenyan lowered his eyes without speaking.

Yu Qingtang could not hold back his laughter.

Slightly annoyed, Ye Chenyan pressed him against the cave wall.

“...Stop laughing.”

“All right, all right. I won’t laugh at you.” Yu Qingtang obediently raised both hands, then pointed at the Spirit-Locking Ring Ye Chenyan had carelessly set aside.

“Now behave and don’t move. I’ll put it on for you.”

Ye Chenyan pursed his lips.

In the end, he handed the Spirit-Locking Ring back to him.

“Ah.” Yu Qingtang sighed regretfully. “Who would have thought that being too talented and cultivating too quickly could cause suffering too?”

He cautiously extended his spiritual power, already prepared to be accidentally injured.

The spiritual power within Ye Chenyan’s meridians was currently rampaging wildly. It could hardly be called peaceful.

Yet Ye Chenyan had clearly forced it under control, carving out a narrow path for Yu Qingtang.

Yu Qingtang had seen how domineering Ye Chenyan’s spiritual power could be.

But now, that savage beast bowed its head, retracted its claws and fangs, and docilely allowed Yu Qingtang to seal his acupoints.

Yu Qingtang raised his head.

Ye Chenyan was staring at him without blinking. In the dim cave, his eyes shone with startling intensity.

“Is it done?” he asked hoarsely.

“Ah—oh!” Yu Qingtang snapped back °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° to his senses and nodded hurriedly.

He sat upright, holding the Spirit-Locking Ring solemnly in both hands.

“Only this is left!”

“Don’t worry. It won’t harm your body. It will only temporarily suppress your cultivation to early Nascent Soul. Once you’ve inherited all seventy-two totems and remove it, your accumulated strength will burst forth all at once—just like when you suppressed your Golden Core so you could enter the Dragon Transformation Pool!”

He kept muttering, though it was unclear whether he was trying to reassure Ye Chenyan or himself.

Ye Chenyan only stared into his eyes.

Even through the light gauze, his gaze was difficult to withstand.

He gave a slight nod.

“All right.”

Ye Chenyan sat cross-legged before him.

Yu Qingtang swallowed and leaned forward, carefully placing the Spirit-Locking Ring around Ye Chenyan’s neck.

The act itself was clearly simple, yet his hands trembled for no apparent reason.

As a modern man, faced with an object that currently served a perfectly proper purpose but could also serve highly improper purposes under highly improper circumstances, certain peculiar associations were unavoidable.

Yu Qingtang inwardly condemned himself.

No lewd thoughts!

Click.

The Spirit-Locking Ring snapped shut.

Trying to cover his guilty conscience, Yu Qingtang tugged at Ye Chenyan’s collar to see whether it could conceal the ring.

“All—”

Before he could finish, Ye Chenyan pushed him against the wall and kissed him through the gauze with a hint of forcefulness.

Yu Qingtang: “!”

Ye Chenyan pressed his forehead to Yu Qingtang’s and rubbed a finger over his lips through the gauze.

His voice was hoarse.

“You said that with this covering your face, I could pretend you weren’t you.”

“Then if I do this, does it not count as a kiss?”

Yu Qingtang’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What?”

The kiss rubbed against him through the gauze. There was no direct contact between their skin, yet it somehow felt even more unbearably provocative.

Yu Qingtang’s face flushed bright red. He reached out in panic and clutched Ye Chenyan’s collar.

“That isn’t how it works!”

“It doesn’t count.” Ye Chenyan’s eyes gleamed as he trapped Yu Qingtang in place, preventing his escape. “It isn’t a kiss, and it doesn’t violate your precepts.”

“We merely touched once.”

He moved closer, leaving Yu Qingtang, whose back was already against the cave wall, nowhere to retreat.

“Does that mean we can touch a few more times?”

Yu Qingtang flailed blindly and suddenly caught hold of the Spirit-Locking Ring around Ye Chenyan’s neck.

Red-faced, he gripped the ring and protested, “D-don’t move!”

Ye Chenyan paused.

Then he took Yu Qingtang’s hand and clasped their palms together. He bent down and looked at him pitifully.

“I’m injured.”

“And you don’t even—”

“Hah.” Yu Qingtang closed his eyes, face burning, and strengthened his resolve not to be swayed by such petty tricks.

He hooked a finger around the Spirit-Locking Ring and tugged Ye Chenyan forward.

“Some people are supposedly injured, yet their mouths still work well enough to kiss others. Terrifying!”

Ye Chenyan collapsed against him and laughed into his shoulder.

“Hmph.” Yu Qingtang glanced sideways at him and tore the gauze from his face.

Although he was still flushed, his imposing manner had already recovered.

“Where are you hurt?”

Ye Chenyan turned his head and presented one side of his face.

“Here.”

A thin line of blood marked his cheek, probably left by a sharp weapon. It had already nearly healed.

“Wow—what a serious injury!” Yu Qingtang cried with exaggerated alarm, cupping Ye Chenyan’s face. “We need to find a miracle doctor immediately! Otherwise, it might finish healing!”

Ye Chenyan could no longer hold back. Laughing, he dropped his head into Yu Qingtang’s lap and turned his face aside, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Yu Qingtang raised an eyebrow and poked his uninjured cheek.

“What are you laughing at?”

As Ye Chenyan’s emotions settled, the demonic markings on his face gradually faded as well.

“At myself.” Ye Chenyan tilted his head to look at him. “In the past... even if my muscles and bones were injured, even if I broke a bone, I could endure it and set it myself.”

He looked up at Yu Qingtang.

“Now I bring even the smallest wound back to show you. If the old man found out, he’d laugh himself to death.”

He gazed resentfully at Yu Qingtang and pointed at him.

“Unfortunately, a certain heartless person not only refuses to feel sorry for me, but even mocks me.”

“So you do know.” Yu Qingtang pointed straight back without mercy.

Then he muttered softly, “Still, there’s nothing wrong with learning to say when something hurts.”

He bent down to examine him.

“Apart from your face, are you really not injured anywhere else?”

A thoughtful light shifted through Ye Chenyan’s eyes.

“Let me think whether I can find another injury somewhere.”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

Ye Chenyan chuckled and closed his eyes, looking somewhat exhausted.

“I’m only tired.”

“Then rest for a while.” Yu Qingtang generously allowed him to remain in his lap. “There’s no hurry. Don’t you have a three-day interval before the next trial?”

Ye Chenyan lowered his eyes.

“I thought you would try to persuade me.”

Yu Qingtang tilted his head. “Persuade you to do what?”

“To give up if it was too troublesome.” Ye Chenyan looked away. “To say that if inheriting those totems means suffering this much, then perhaps I should simply abandon them. Something like that.”

Yu Qingtang nodded deeply. “That does sound like something I’d say.”

Ye Chenyan looked up at him. “But I—”

“But you are you, and I am me.” Yu Qingtang leaned back. “I have always followed my own wishes and never forced myself to do anything, but I know you’re different from me.”

He spoke quietly.

“You don’t have to be like me.”

“Everyone in the world is different, and so is everyone’s Dao.”

He closed his eyes and swayed his head smugly.

“I’ve never believed in that ‘those who follow different Daos cannot make common cause’ nonsense. I belong to the school of different Daos, arms around each other’s shoulders, staggering crookedly down the road and somehow reaching every destination anyway!”

A faint smile curved Ye Chenyan’s lips.

“Then I intend to rise above the Nine Heavens and become supreme beneath heaven.”

Yu Qingtang applauded. “Very ambitious.”

Ye Chenyan stared directly into his eyes.

“I will drag every secret hidden from the light into the open and distinguish right from wrong for all the world to see.”

Yu Qingtang nodded along. “Excellent spirit!”

Ye Chenyan leaned closer.

“And I want you.”

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