Qing Zhu’s eyes were red with anger as he glared at Xiao Linfeng. “Whenever I see you, even killing you would be too light a punishment. When you see me in the future, take a detour and go around me. Don’t appear in my sight!”
Liu Mengchen didn’t know what to say. In this matter, he was the one who had the least right to speak.
Xiao Linfeng, however, stopped pretending and put his foot down. His knife-shaped eyebrows pinched together as he frowned at Qing Zhu, “Has this elder brother offended you before?”
Qing Zhu glared at him scathingly, “Who are you taking advantage of?”
Xiao Linfeng cocked his head and stared at Qing Zhu with a pair of slightly slanting phoenix eyes, trying to please him, “You misunderstood me. I swear I didn’t mean to take advantage of you at all. I can even call you ‘elder brother’, even though you look much younger than me. I wouldn’t want to be blamed for calling you old, right?”
Qing Zhu rolled his eyes. He knew about this Xiao Linfeng before but had only heard his name. He never knew this guy was such a character.
Liu Mengchen’s face was not looking very good. He hadn’t expected Xiao Linfeng to come over and dare to flirt with Qing Zhu, making Liu Mengchen feel strange. It felt like a territory of his was being invaded.
Thus Liu Mengchen came over and interrupted the two men’s war of words. He said to Xiao Linfeng, “Linfeng, why are you here?”
Xiao Fengfeng replied, “I haven’t seen my friend for several years. I miss you so much that I went to the Liu family to look for you. I just didn’t expect your brother to say that you went to the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest with a group of people. I came here looking for you. Haha, it’s destiny that we met in this place.”
Qing Zhu laughed coldly, “Take your time chatting. I’ll leave first.”
With that, Qing Zhu left the room with a swing of his sleeves. Liu Mengchen followed closely behind him. After they left the room, Liu Mengchen said nervously, “Zhu’er, he’s a good friend of mine. It’s just like this between me and him, that’s all.”
“You don’t have to explain anything to me.” Qing Zhu airily replied, “I’m no longer the idiot who was tricked into falling in love by a few words. The person you worked so hard to please is now in front of you, and I’m of little value to you now. Just like this, you go your own way, and I go on my own single wooden plank. That’s it.”
“Zhu’er.” Liu Mengchen took hold of Qing Zhu’s wrist and urgently said, “I admit that I deceived you in those days, and it was my fault. But now I regretted it and I shouldn’t have done so. If only I told you everything…”
“But you won’t.” Qing Zhu stared at Liu Mengchen coldly, “You know that the most important thing for an Inquiring Immortals spiritual grass is its spiritual core. Even if you tell me everything and discuss with me, I will never easily give it — a spiritual core worth half my lifespan — to your old lover. Liu Mengchen, besides loving you, what else do I owe you?”
Liu Mengchen seemed to have been struck by lightning. His body was stiff. His lips trembled slightly and his face was pale. Obviously, he was thinking of how he had treated Qing Zhu at the beginning.
Qing Zhu shook off Liu Mengchen’s hand, then turned and strode away.
Liu Mengchen stood in place for a while, looking at his empty hand. He couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable inside.
“It turns out that the spiritual core of an Inquiring Immortals spiritual grass that you found for me back then was obtained from that little thing.” Xiao Linfeng’s expression was slightly complicated as he stood behind Liu Mengchen. He looked at Qing Zhu’s disappearing figure and touched his own abdomen.
Xiao Linfeng touched his face, “Why did you need to lie to him?”
Liu Mengchen replied, “If I knew I would fall in love with him, how could I cheat him?”
Xiao Linfeng looked at Liu Mengchen, the two people falling silent.
Xiao Linfeng was a chivalrous man. He traveled around the world and fought with his sword, knowing that he’d never done anything wrong to others. However, he now had an innocent person’s spiritual core which made Xiao Linfeng feel wrong all over.
Xiao Linfeng said in a complicated tone, “You were trying to save me so I have no complaints against you. I just don’t want things to be obtained through such means. I am not willing to take them either. In the future, you should stop doing these things.”
Liu Mengchen took a deep breath and said with a bitter smile, “One time is already an everlasting regret. Now I wish I could go back to that moment.”
Xiao Linfeng patted Liu Mengchen on the shoulder, then walked outside.
Yuan Tianwen and Duan Yuyang returned just in time. Duan Yuyang said to Lin Xuanzhi who followed him, “What’s wrong with Brother Qing Zhu? He ran away with an unhappy look. Do you know that little fellow who followed him?”
Yan Tianhen had deduced something from their dialogue earlier, “Master Liu’s former lover is chasing his present lover.”
Duan Yuyang, “….”
Liu Mengchen was also embarrassed. He glanced at Yan Tianhen, “That is my sworn brother, not my little lover.”
Yan Tianhen sighed, “Other people always endure having knives pierce their sides for the sake of their sworn brother, yet you could stab your own lover for a sworn brother. Master Liu really is unique.”
Liu Mengchen, “…”
Duan Yuyang, “….”
What’s all this messy male-to-male relationship?
Yan Tianhen waved his hand, “I’m done talking, I’m going to go comfort Brother Zhuzi. I don’t think your sworn brother is a bad person, but I can’t guarantee that he won’t covet Brother Zhuzi’s beauty. I can’t let him bully Brother Zhuzi for no reason.”
Lin Xuanzhi watched Yan Tianhen leave. While standing beside Liu Mengchen, he glanced at him and lightly commented, “Master Liu is an expert strategist. Disguised himself as a mortal, lured Qing Zhu to voluntarily give his life for you, then took his spiritual core and gave it to others. This humble one admires the fact that there was no flaw in the interlocking links.”
Liu Mengchen was hurt by Lin Xuanzhi’s words, but he was not angry. He really had nothing to be angry about. After all, the original incident was entirely his own fault.
Liu Mengchen replied, “At that time, I did not understand love and let Zhu’er pay for it wrongly. Now I will definitely change my mind and dare not hurt him anymore.”
Lin Xuanzhi sneered and also left.
Duan Yuyang looked thoughtful and patted Yuan Tianwen on the shoulder. “Brother Tianwen, compared to him, you are not too scummy.”
Yuan Tianwen, “…”
His knee hurt a little.
Qing Zhu ran to the streets and felt he had to vent his frustrations for a while and calm down. When he thought of the guy named Xiao Linfeng whose body had his precious spiritual core, he felt an impulse to harshly slit open Xiao Linfeng’s stomach.
Qing Zhu saw that there were tanghulu being sold on the roadside and wanted to eat them.
When he was with Lin Zhan before, Lin Zhan bought him a lot of delicious food every time. He took his hand and walked him from the beginning to the end of the street.
“This Daoist friend, why don’t you have a bite?” The old man selling sugar-coated fruits had a wrinkled face and a brilliant smile. “I am well known for the fruits used in my tanghulu. The fruit of the mulberry tree that I planted only ten years ago is delicious, absolutely free of impurities, mild and harmless to eat, and sweet and sour to taste.”
Qing Zhu’s saliva was about to flow out. Just as he was about to reach for them, a hand snatched a stick of round, big and red sugar-coated fruits from behind him.
“Old man, I’m buying this stick for him.” A man with a sincere smile that made people feel good at first sight threw a piece of silver to the vendor.
Smiling happily, the old man took the money and walked down the street.
Qing Zhu stared at the newcomer angrily, “Are you trying to make trouble with me?”
Xiao Linfeng waved the candied fruits in front of Qing Zhu, “How can I be against you? I am clearly trying to please you.”
Qing Zhu scoffed and angrily walked away, but Xiao Linfeng pulled at his sleeve and forced a candied fruit in his hand.
When Qing Zhu raised his hand to throw it on the ground, Xiao Linfeng reacted quickly, “Don’t be impulsive. When you enter the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest, you won’t be able to eat it even if you want to!”
Qing Zhu, “…”
Qing Zhu thought about it and figured Xiao Linfeng made sense. Anyway, the sugar fruits did nothing wrong. Why did he need to take his anger out on the tanghulu?
Qing Zhu then opened his small mouth and took a bite at the top of the biggest fruit, feeling that the taste was really sour and delicious.
Xiao Fengfeng’s eyes curved when he smiled, “Little Zhuzi, when I see you, I feel drawn to you. Why don’t you stop paying any attention to that little bastard, Liu Mengchen, and stay with me, instead?”
Qing Zhu gnawed at the candied fruits while squinting at Xiao Linfeng, “You are as disgusting as he is. Unless you return my spiritual core to me, I won’t care about you.”
Xiao Linfeng went on smiling without changing his expression, “I can give it back to you, but it has to wait until we leave the Myriad Beasts Demonic Forest. That road is difficult and dangerous. My current cultivation has reached Primary Realm. I can still help you.”
“Liar.” Qing Zhu said firmly, “You human beings like deceiving people the most. My spiritual core is so good; of course you won’t give it back to me.”
“Your spiritual core is so good that I can’t bear for you to give it to me.” Xiao Linfeng blinked, “If Little Zhuzi really wants it now, then let’s find a place where you can directly take out the spiritual core from my Dantian sea. Is that okay?”
Qing Zhu’s eyes brightened, “Are you serious?”
Xiao Linfeng had a strong-willed temperament, his character as upright as bamboo. “In my life, I, Xiao Linfeng, have never told half a lie. If you want to do something, I will never stop it.”
Qing Zhu was stunned. He looked at Xiao Linfeng and felt that there was definitely a reason that Liu Mengchen thought of this man for so long and willingly took such a big risk to deceive him into surrendering his spiritual core.
Qing Zhu frowned, bit two pieces of the sugar fruits, and thought for a moment, “Keep it first. When I’m unhappy one day, then I’ll come to take out the spiritual core.”
Xiao Linfeng smiled, “Little Zhuzi, how could you be so kind? You believed whatever I said.”
Qing Zhu’s face turned cold, “Did you deceive me just now?”