CH 42

Feng Ci had no way of knowing if Pei QianYue continued to touch him or not.

Because he fell asleep very soon afterwards. 

Then he sank into another dream.

This time he was in a pitch-black, concealed cave.

Inside the cave, the flames of a candle flickered. Feng Ci sat cross-legged and a figure was kneeling in front of him. The other had his head lowered, his face indistinguishable in the darkness. Only the shadows reflecting on the stone wall from the candlelight showed that it was the skinny figure of a man.

“……Currently on that list, besides the 7-8 cultivation sects still waiting and observing, other cultivation sects have all made their decisions.” 

“Waiting and observing?” Feng Ci opened his mouth, voice low and clear: “What are they waiting for?”

“May…… maybe it’s because of the Broken Sword Manor’s announcement……” The man speaking already sounded somewhat panicked and uneasy: “Please give them a little more time. It’s definitely because they still haven’t thought this through clearly, definitely not because they want to oppose you……”

The man’s voice echoed in the cave. Feng Ci vaguely felt like it sounded somewhat familiar.

But before he recalled who the voice belonged to, he heard himself speak again: “Are you feeling afraid right now?”

The kneeling man couldn’t hold back a shudder.

“No…… no……”

“Why are you afraid?” Feng Ci got up, his long hair falling downwards, so long it practically touched the ground. He walked in front of the kneeling man and lowered his head slightly: “Don’t you guys revere me greatly?”

The man instantly buried his head even lower. 

Feng Ci didn’t pay him any attention. He continued to walk outside, directly out of the cave. At this point, Feng Ci noted that this cave was actually located on a high cliff which overlooked the mountains and forests around it.

On the peak of the highest mountain in the distance, there was a Daoist Temple that was currently burning incense. A green smoke wafted upwards and disappeared in the night sky.

Feng Ci closed his eyes and spat out a few words: “Broken Sword Manor.”

Feng Ci opened his eyes. 

He stared at the beam of the bed above his head and dazed off for a while before finally clearing up slightly from the dream. He had already returned to the appearance of a teenager. An arm was laying horizontally around his waist. As if sensing that he had woken up, Pei QianYue’s arm drew inward tightly and Feng Ci’s back touched this person’s chest.

“Did Master sleep well?” Pei QianYue asked from behind him.

Feng Ci acknowledged him quietly.

Pei QianYue heard the irregularity in his voice and asked: “What’s the matter?” 

Feng Ci said coolly: “He’s coming.”

The arm around Feng Ci’s waist stiffened.

Feng Ci originally thought Pei QianYue would ask him more questions, but he didn’t say anything at all. Feng Ci said proactively: “This is my 3rd dream about him.”

The first time was on LinXian Terrace. He dreamt about ‘himself’ walking through the present day LingWu Mountain. 

The second time was in the disciple’s courtyard. He dreamt about ‘himself’ killing the monks of Hanshan Temple.

And this third time, he dreamt about……

“He’s at a Daoist temple.” Feng Ci said.

Pei QianYue: “A Daoist temple?” 

“That’s right.” Feng Ci nodded: “It’s a Daoist temple. That place is most likely where he’s been hiding lately.”

But Feng Ci has never been there before. Even though he saw it in his dream, he couldn’t recognize it.

He didn’t put too much attention on this matter. Instead, he stretched lazily, escaped from Pei QianYue’s arms, and sat up.

It was still early in the morning. The skies outside the window were hazy with mist, so dark it looked like it was going to rain heavily soon. The trees in the courtyard swayed as the cold wind blew in, bringing moist air. 

Gratuitously exuding a ‘the wind is sweeping through the towers, heralding an incoming storm from the mountains’ kind of feeling.

“Hey, I’m giving you one last chance.” Feng Ci rolled over and pressed down on Pei QianYue, saying half jokingly: “Is there really nothing you want to explain in advance?”

Pei QianYue said: “What does Master want me to say?”

“Of course you have to say clearly…… just how many secrets are you still hiding from me?” 

Pei QianYue stopped talking again.

Feng Ci was ready to laugh in anger because of him.

Naturally he hasn’t given up on prying something out of Pei QianYue’s mouth in the last few days. At first, this person would still fabricate nonsense to trick him. Until later on, he shut his mouth directly and refused to say anything.

Feng Ci laid on top of Pei QianYue, smiling through his teeth: “It’s fine if you don’t want to say anything, but if I find out later that you’ve been hiding things from me, I’ll definitely punish you severely.” 

Pei QianYue raised a hand to support Feng Ci’s elbow and prevent him from falling off before saying softly: “Isn’t Master also hiding things from me?”

Feng Ci was stunned: “What am I hiding from you?”

“Why did you come back?”

Feng Ci blinked. 

Now this, he’s really never mentioned to Pei QianYue before.

But actually, this didn’t count as something that needed to remain a secret. At the beginning, he never brought it up because many things were still unknown. He didn’t dare to expose the heaven’s secrets brashly. As for later on, it was simply because he had forgotten.

Who would have imagined, Pei QianYue still cared a lot about this.

Feng Ci grabbed the long hair dangling in front of Pei QianYue and played with it. He felt like sometimes, his family’s little snake is really very cute: “If you wanted to know, why didn’t you ask me directly?” 

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But when Pei QianYue heard this, his expression turned heavy: “It was the Heavenly Principle…… who told you?” 

Feng Ci’s smile subsided in response: “What’s wrong?”

“……It’s nothing.”

Although he said this, his breathing has clearly turned chaotic.

Feng Ci still wanted to ask more, but Pei QianYue interrupted nonchalantly: “Didn’t Master say that the enemy is coming? We can’t delay any longer.” 

After saying this, he pushed Feng Ci aside and got out of bed, completely ignoring Feng Ci’s reaction.

When Feng Ci looked up again, Pei QianYue had already picked up the robes hanging to the side and put them on, only leaving Feng Ci a tall and slender view of his retreating back.

Strange.

Feng Ci narrowed his eyes. 

With the imminent arrival of the enemy, Pei QianYue didn’t continue to be the little beauty that Feng Ci had hid inside his golden estate, and instead left the house together with him and went to the front yard.

The morning inside Broken Sword Manor was terrifyingly quiet.

During the last few days, the atmosphere inside the manor turned more solemn by the day. Everyone seemed to have an invisible string stretched tightly in their heads. The atmosphere was so tense it was hard to breathe.

Leading the way, Feng Ci brought Pei QianYue from their residence to the front yard. In the front hall, they saw the young Manor Master. 

“Manor Master Xiao, good morning.” Feng Ci greeted him.

“Immortal Master? You……” The first thing that Xiao ChengXuan saw was Pei QianYue, who was following behind Feng Ci.

He had once seen Pei QianYue at Wanhai Bazaar before. However, Feng Ci had arrived alone so Xiao ChengXuan didn’t ask about this companion of his.

But how did this person suddenly appear inside the manor today? 

Wasn’t there…… magic arrays set up at the entrance of the mountain? Weren’t people sent to guard the place strictly?

“Manor Master Xiao, don’t worry.” Feng Ci explained, saying: “He’s a friend, not foe. He came to help out.”

“If that’s the case……” Xiao ChengXuan hesitated for a moment and then saluted Pei QianYue: “Many thanks to this Immortal Master. May I know your name?”

The name Pei QianYue was known throughout the entire cultivation world, but there’s still a grudge between LangFeng City and Broken Sword Manor even now. At such a crucial juncture, they couldn’t waste more time over this right now. 

Feng Ci thought briefly and said earnestly: “You can just call him Feng XiaoHei.”

Pei QianYue: “……”

Pei QianYue turned his head towards him.

Feng Ci blinked innocently at him: “Isn’t that right, Xiao Hei?” 

“……” Pei QianYue said: “En.”

The group finally sat down in the front hall.

Feng Ci asked: “How come the Manor Master woke up so early today? Not going to get some more rest?”

Xiao ChengXuan laughed bitterly: “Just had a nightmare. Dreamt that someone broke through the array below the mountains. After waking in fright, I couldn’t sleep anymore. Might as well come out to take a look.” 

Feng Ci was speechless. He said to himself internally: your dream is pretty accurate.

But he didn’t say anything out loud and only comforted: “When the boat reaches the pierhead, it will naturally go straight.”

Xiao ChengXuan: “Yes, you’re right.”

Very quickly, a disciple came to pour tea for the group. Xiao ChengXuan fell silent for a moment and then said: “Even if Broken Sword Manor cannot escape from this unscathed, I still hope that the two of you will put your own safety first. Don’t get hurt in the process.” 

Feng Ci was busy enjoying the tea. Upon hearing these words, he looked up.

He heard Xiao ChengXuan continue to say: “Also that disappointing little brother of mine. I have already sent him to GuangLing City and assigned some disciples to watch him. If I…… am unable to see him in the end, can I ask that you bring him some words from me, Immortal Master?”

“No, you can’t.” Feng Ci interrupted him: “Leaving last words right before a battle is a great taboo, don’t you know that, Manor Master Xiao?”

Xiao ChengXuan said: “But this one is worried, if I don’t say it right—” 

Before he finished speaking, a disciple suddenly ran inside.

It was Jin Yi.

At this point, Xiao ChengXuan’s mental state was already stretched to the breaking point. Instantly, he turned vigilant: “Is there news of the enemy?”

“No, no.” Jin Yi glanced at Feng Ci and Pei QianYue who were sitting to the side and said: “It’s Xiao-Shishu. He came back!” 

With a loud crash, Xiao ChengXuan got up abruptly and knocked over the tea by his hand.

Feng Ci raised his brow slightly and smiled: “Manor Master Xiao, looks like you don’t need to leave last words anymore.”

Xiao ChengXuan’s face was ashen-gray: “ChengHuan? Didn’t I already…… Why did he come back?!”

“He…… he also brought people back with him.” 

As soon as Jin Yi finished speaking, a young voice was heard from a distance: “Elder brother, I’m back.”

“You—” Xiao ChengXuan was so mad at him that even his voice trembled: “Why did you come back?!”

Xiao ChengHuan flinched slightly from his roar and said weakly: “Not only me.”

As soon as he spoke, footsteps could be heard outside again. Feng Ci looked up and over. Dozens of people in red walked towards the front hall. They were all wearing the disciple’s uniform of Broken Sword Manor. 

“Manor Master, we’re back!”

“Greetings, Manor Master!”

In unison, the crowd knelt down in front of Xiao ChengXuan and instantly jammed the front hall packed with people.

These were all the disciples that had left Broken Sword Manor after the list was announced. 

“You guys……” Xiao ChengXuan was stunned: “Didn’t you guys already leave the manor?”

One of the disciples said: “Forgive me, Manor Master. This disciple had to return to my hometown to make arrangements for my aged parents first.”

“Me too, me too. There’s only an ol’mum and a younger brother left in my family. I went back to let her know.”

“I…… At first, I did want to leave. But after my dad found out, he kicked me out with my luggage and all. He said if it weren’t for the Manor Master’s help back then, our entire family would have already died of starvation; how could I have lived until now and even studied to be a sword cultivator. If I were to abandon my sect and leave, my dad said he wouldn’t recognize me as his son anymore.” 

The crowd explained noisily, speaking all at once.

“I went to see my fiancee to tell her to stop waiting for me and marry someone else as soon as possible……”

“What? Li-Shixiong has a fiancee? How come we didn’t know?”

“Haven’t even seen her, what a pity.” 

“Shut up you guys!” That disciple with the surname Li was teased until his ears turned red. After a scolding, he finally said to Xiao ChengXuan seriously: “Manor Master, as long as we live by Broken Sword Manor’s teachings for even one day, we are disciples of Broken Sword Manor. Confronted by a powerful enemy, how can we just abandon our sect without a care!”

“That’s right!”

“We are not leaving!”

Jin Yi walked in front of the crowd of disciples and fell on one knee in front of Xiao ChengXuan. He said resolutely: “I, the Head Disciple of Broken Sword Manor Jin Yi, as well as the other 78 disciples of the manor… we’re willing share the same fate as the Sect!” 

Xiao ChengXuan closed his eyes.

Then he opened his eyes and looked towards Xiao ChengHuan: “Is this what you want as well?”

Xiao ChengHuan said: “When I stole the treasured symbol of the sect back then, I had indeed wanted to use that to persuade elder brother to abandon Broken Sword Manor. Even right now, I still feel like elder brother should just give up.”

“You……” 

“Broken Sword Manor’s legacy has been passed on for over 300 hundred years. Admittedly, it is important, but it’s far less important than the lives of this group of people. This is what I was thinking.” The youth’s expression was unprecedentedly staunch: “But since elder brother has decided to live and die with the manor, and all the disciples have decided to share the same fate as the sect, how can I run away on my own as the 2nd Master of Broken Sword Manor?”

The youth knelt down in front of Xiao ChengXuan and said loudly: “The 2nd Master of Broken Sword Manor, Xiao ChengHuan, vows to bear the same fate as the manor!”

Xiao ChengXuan didn’t respond for a long, long time. Instead, it was Feng Ci who started laughing quietly.

He put down the teacup, got up, and walked in front of Xiao ChengXuan. He patted the other man on the shoulder: “Manor Master Xiao, what did I say. When the boat reaches the pierhead, it will naturally go straight.” 

In this world, there will always be things that transcend life and death. It’s faith and belief. It’s loyalty and self-sacrifice.

It’s a warm heart filled with zest.

“Very good!” Xiao ChengXuan took a deep breath and shouted: “To have such disciples in Broken Sword Manor is our ancestor’s great fortune. It’s also my great fortune!”

“Today Broken Sword Manor and I will be sharing the same fate with all of you!” 

The return of the numerous Broken Sword Manor’s disciples had increased the assistance in the manor’s fortification. Under the two Manor Masters’ instructions, the disciples laid down various defenses. For a moment, the atmosphere within the manor actually became lively.

Feng Ci didn’t get involved and sat on the roof of the front hall, slacking off with Pei QianYue.

He even snuck a jar of wine up there.

Feng Ci unsealed the cover of the jar and took a deep whiff. However, a hand reached over and covered the wine jar. 

“With your liquor capacity, you still dare drink right now?” Pei QianYue said.

“…….” Feng Ci, displeased: “Feng XiaoHei, is this how you should be speaking to your master?”

Not answering, Pei QianYue went to snatch away the wine jug in his hands.

Feng Ci hastily backed out of the way: “Just one sip. Even Manor Master Xiao didn’t say anything.” 

This wine was brewed by Broken Sword Manor. The taste was really not bad. After Feng Ci got drunk that day, instead of teaching him a lesson, it actually gave him a craving.

He even felt rather uncomfortable, not taking a sip or two a day.

Feng Ci said: “Don’t you know that in the past, before two armies engaged in battle, everyone would always drink a bowl of farewell wine.”

The two fell into a deadlock for a moment before Pei QianYue withdrew his hand: “Just one sip.” 

“Don’t worry. I’m aware of my limit.” After receiving permission, Feng Ci happily took a sip and handed it to Pei QianYue: “You want any?”

Pei QianYue fell silent briefly and leaned forward, tasting a bit right from where Feng Ci sipped before.

Such a small amount, to call it tasting and drinking even seemed slightly overstated. He had merely moistened his mouth.

Feng Ci realized something and raised his brow: “Wait a second. You’re so afraid of me getting drunk. Don’t tell me, it’s actually because you’re very bad at drinking? I hope when the enemy arrives later on, you won’t end up falling over intoxicated. That would be extremely humiliating.” 

Body stiffening slightly, Pei QianYue sat up straighter: “I won’t.”

Feng Ci looked at him with a smile.

He understood now.

But he didn’t expose this person’s weak point. Leaning against the roof’s ridges, he took another sip of wine. 

The roof of the Broken Sword Manor’s front hall was the highest point in the manor. Sitting on top of it, not only was there a panoramic view of the entire manor, it’s also possible to see the mountain gate in the distance, as well as the flowing river beneath the mountain.

Feng Ci gazed into the distance and said pensively: “After today, this should reach a conclusion, right?”

Pei QianYue: “Hope so.”

Feng Ci smiled faintly and tilted his head back to take a sip of wine: “I’m looking forward to it.” 

Have been looking forward to it for a very long time already.

Pei QianYue didn’t say anything.

A long while later, he finally asked quietly: “Master said before that you returned here because the world needs you. If these things can be resolved today, what do you plan to do afterwards?”

If this world didn’t need him anymore. 

What would he do?

The expression on Feng Ci’s face retracted somewhat.

Pei QianYue turned to look towards him and asked quietly: “Would you leave again?”

Feng Ci lowered his eyes. 

“You’re contemplating?”

Pei QianYue frowned deeply and subconsciously grabbed Feng Ci’s wrist: “Why hesitate?”

Feng Ci still didn’t answer.

“Feng Ci.” Pei QianYue’s breathing turned chaotic. A moment later, he finally said with a struggle: “You can’t do this.” 

“I know.” Feng Ci raised his other hand and placed it over the back of Pei QianYue’s hand. He said warmly: “I won’t.”

Pei QianYue didn’t let go.

His face was heavy like water. His voice has also become ice-cold: “If you lie to me again……Feng Ci, if you lie to me again……”

His face turned somewhat pale. The hand holding Feng Ci was even trembling. 

He was terrified.

“Pei QianYue……Pei QianYue!” Feng Ci suddenly yelled sharply. Pei QianYue looked up. There was a faint red mark flashing at the center of his brows.

The inner demon.

But he seemed completely unaware of it. He was still holding onto Feng Ci’s hand while the uncontrollable energy in his body started to churn. 

Feng Ci loosened his grip. The wine jug in his hand slipped out and rolled down the ridge of the roof, smashing into pieces on the ground.

From time to time, disciples patrolled the front yard. Afraid that he’d attract their attention, Feng Ci threw an arm around Pei QianYue and jumped off the back of the building.

“Xiao Hei, calm…… calm down.” Feng Ci dragged Pei QianYue into a corner and held him down tightly. As he channeled spirit energy slowly into Pei QianYue’s body, Feng Ci said gently and quietly: “What happened 3000 years ago won’t happen again. I won’t abandon you…… I won’t.”

“…… Won’t?” Pei QianYue’s voice was soft and hoarse. The faintly visible red mark at the center of his brows faded. 

Feng Ci said: “I won’t.”

The turbulent energy within Pei QianYue’s body has yet to calm down, but his awareness seems to be returning again.

“Feng Ci, I’m a lunatic.” He said in a low tone: “You know the consequence of lying to me.”

Feng Ci: “I know.” 

Pei QianYue: “So you can’t lie to me.”

“I won’t.” Feng Ci looked up and gazed into his handsome and beautiful face. He said seriously: “As long as I am alive in this world for even one day, I won’t abandon you.”

Pei QianYue gently released his grip on Feng Ci’s wrist, the energy in his body was also soothed: “……Okay.”

But Feng Ci didn’t let him go. 

His gaze swept across Pei QianYue’s face inch by inch. With a little bit of force, he pulled Pei QianYue closer to himself: “Why are you this afraid I’d leave?”

Feng Ci’s voice was very soft, almost like a deep sigh.

“What should I do… to make you feel a little more at ease?”

So he didn’t need to watch him day in and day out, guarding him; no need to feel uneasy or afraid just because of a brief moment of separation. 

Pei QianYue abruptly exerted force.

And pressed Feng Ci against the wall. His slightly chaotic breathing puffed onto Feng Ci’s face.

Feng Ci raised his head and glanced outwards briefly. No one was walking around the corner that they occupied. He grinned: “Let you have a kiss?”

As he spoke, a faint golden light appeared around him. 

The youth’s body grew swiftly, almost as tall as Pei QianYue. He looked up, but suddenly, he heard a loud commotion in the distance.

“Someone broke through the array at the bottom of the mountain!”

“Full alert! Full alert!”

Not arriving anytime sooner or later— you just had to pick a time like this. 

Feng Ci clicked his tongue and placed his hands on Pei QianYue’s shoulders. Even his tone became urgent: “Hurry. Do you want it?”