White clothes fluttered, and the fresh scent of grass and trees mixed with the subtle fragrance of lotus immediately filled his nose.
Shen Xiaojiang’s face flushed, and he hurriedly stood up again, “My apologies, my deepest apologies!”
Before he could finish his words, Shen Xiaojiang’s back suddenly went cold and numb as a murderous intent enveloped him.
He shuddered and saw that on the edge of the cliff not far away, the terrifying Fang Shixiong had drawn his sword again and swung it back.
There was a cracking sound, and several rocks were instantly broken into pieces. Fang Zhiyuan swung his long sword diagonally, and all the rocks flew into the air.
He kicked hard and flew up, stepping on the small rocks in the air towards the iron chain!
Strong wind blew up the messy hair on the forehead of the young man in black. There was clearly madness and murderous intent in the depths of his sharp eyes, as if to say, “I’m going to kill you, you bastard.”
Shen Xiaojiang was horrified: ???
—What did I do wrong?
Poor him, he subconsciously shrank into Lin Fuqing’s arms.
Then……
Clang!
The flash of a sword appeared before his eyes.
Help!!
Shen Xiaojiang’s eyes rolled back and he nearly fainted from fright.
In the next moment, the handle of a sword slammed into his stomach and he flew backwards, hitting the ground on the other side with a bang.
“Ahhh!”
Fortunately, Shen Xiaojiang still had some cultivation. If a mortal was hit like this, he would probably vomit three liters of blood.
…For a brief moment, the air was silent, with only the late summer and early fall breezes blowing peacefully over the four lush green peaks.
Fang Zhiyuan stepped on the iron chain, pressing down hard with his toes. The long rope became stiff under his pressure and could not even sway.
His arms were wrapped around the thin shoulders and slender legs of the young man in white.
Fang Zhiyuan held Lin Fuqing horizontally in his arms.
His eyes were dark and sinister, his expression full of hostility, but his movements were upright and extremely natural… as if he had repeated them thousands of times in some distant past.
Perhaps because of the heavy damage caused by the lightning strike just now, Fang Zhiyuan’s face was slightly pale. He lowered his eyes and whispered, “Shige.”
Lin Fuqing looked unhappy, and he glared at him from his embrace. “Why are you bullying a child?”
Shen Xiaojiang had just gotten up with a dusty face, and hearing this, he looked up blankly. Of course, there was only one person in the four peaks of Xuyun who could be called shige by Fang Zhiyuan.
But, how was this possible?!
Shen Xiaojiang was on the verge of collapse. Would second shixiong hold da shixiong in his arms? And would he kill anyone who touched him?
Everyone knew that Fang Zhiyuan Shixiong had an extremely bad fate, and that he was a calamitous star. He had a terrifying innate talent for cultivation and a terrible temper. He always had a long sword in hand, causing trouble for Xuyun since he was a child. When angry, he even dared to chop at the sect master.
The sect master was the master of these martial siblings.
Looking at the entire Immortal Realm, the number of powerful figures in the Tribulation Crossing period could be counted on one hand, and Xuyun Sect’s Taoist Master could be counted on one finger among them.
Even so, second shixiong still dared throw a sword over.
A powerful figure in the Immortal Realm once asserted that Fang Zhiyuan was a heretic and would go astray in the future, while Lin Fuqing had a noble and sincere character, and this pair of brothers would definitely become enemies one day.
Of course, the Xuyun’s disciples didn’t take this prophecy seriously. But the eldest shixiong and second shixiong often got into a fights over a disagreement, which was true…
It was said that they had a bad relationship. Whenever these two gods meet, they fight. When they fight, the sky collapses and the earth cracks, and the sun and moon lose their light.
Therefore, as soon as they see the second shixiong going to find the eldest shixiong with a sword, bystanders should retreat quickly to preserve their own life.
This was the third ironclad rule of the Four Peaks of Xuyun.
But now this… this this this…
Shen Xiaojiang looked at the young man in white robe who was held in the other person’s arms and stammered, “You, you really are…”
Lin Fuqing raised his eyebrows indifferently.
Shen Xiaojiang wanted to cry but had no tears. He said hesitantly, “Disciple greets da shixiong…”
It was so embarrassing. He was embarrassed enough to die.
But even if he really wanted to sacrifice his reputation, as the hope of this batch of disciples, Shen Xiaojiang still had to hold his stomach firmly and cry, “Da, Da Shixiong…the, the, the sect test…”
Lin Fuqing couldn’t help laughing. “Okay, I’ll go.”
Meanwhile, Fang Zhiyuan said in a dignified manner, “Get lost, he won’t go.”
They both spoke at the same time.
Shen Xiaojiang: “…”
Fang Zhiyuan snorted coldly, turned around, and left without saying a word.
Still being carried by him, Lin Fuqing smiled helplessly. Sticking half of his face out from his junior brother’s shoulder, he called out, “I’ve been in seclusion for a long time and Zhiyuan misses me a little. You go back first, and I’ll comfort him for a bit.”
“……”
Shen Xiaojiang looked at the two people going away with a bleak expression.
What else could he say?
Oh my, rumors could kill people.
==========
“…How are you?”
Fang Zhiyuan passed through the lush forest. The beautiful flowers and herbs along the way were shining brightly. Everywhere he looked, he saw natural treasures that were priceless to cultivators in the outside world.
Held by him, Lin Fuqing swung his legs, and his snow-white shoes kicked his junior brother’s legs intentionally or unintentionally.
Silence permeated until a certain moment, when the future Immortal Sovereign Fang spoke first. He asked in a low voice, “How are you?”
It was a question laced with many different meanings.
Lin Fuqing replied, “I’m fine.”
Fang Zhiyuan suddenly snorted coldly and said through gritted teeth, “How could you let that little thing hit you!”
“Should I just watch him fall?” Lin Fuqing laughed. “You, why are you panicking? I’m no longer the same person I was in my previous life, so getting hit won’t hurt me.”
As they were talking, a steep rock wall appeared before them. It was formed by nature, extremely high and steep, as if piercing straight into the clouds. There was a crack in the middle, just enough for one person to pass through.
Fang Zhiyuan said coldly, “Since you used the forbidden rebirth technique by force, who knew if there’ll be any backlash. You’re too careless.”
He carried Lin Fuqing into the crevice of the stone wall and walked a dozen steps in the shadow, until the sunlight suddenly cascaded down from the front and the view became clear.
Abruptly, the atmosphere was filled with a hint of water vapors, intermixed with the scent of grass and lotus flowers, refreshing and rejuvenating.
The scenery inside the mountain wall was like a fairyland. The sky that could be seen from the domed top was clear and blue, and two white waterfalls streamed down, as if they were falling from the sky.
Dark green vines climbed up the mossy cliffs, with a few of them hanging down softly. On the cliff was a large clump of sacred trees. In early autumn, the branches were already heavy with bright red immortal fruits.
Under the lush green cliff, surrounded by mountain walls on all sides, there was a small pool. The water was as clear as a mirror, with emerald green lotus leaves in full bloom and large patches of white lotus growing in between.
Fang Zhiyuan stepped forward, and ripples spread silently under his feet. He walked on the water, separating the white lotus with each step and walking to the center of the pond.
There was a large rock outcropping sticking out of the water like a tiny island. It was gray-black in color and shone warmly and brightly in the sunlight.
Fang Zhiyuan slowly bent and put Lin Fuqing down with great care, as if placing some fragile glass or porcelain, letting him sit on the stone.
Then he raised his eyebrows and started to get angry again, “You should have stayed in the cave and waited for me to come! Why were you walking around out here?!”
Lin Fuqing argued, “I just took a few steps…”
Fang Zhiyuan glared at him coldly. “How dare you get on the iron chain! Who’ll save you if you fall? Even I won’t be able to save you!”
Lin Fuqing lifted his hand from his loose white sleeve and ruffled Fang Zhiyuan’s hair.
But Fang Zhiyuan frowned darkly as his head sank a little and immediately evaded the touch.
He could only sigh and smile.
In fact, it had been a long time since Lin Fuqing was able to look at Fang Zhiyuan’s face so calmly and carefully. Now, looking at his young shidi beside him, he felt very nostalgic.
For such a long time, he was the Demon Lord of Red Lotus Abyss’ Snow Bone City, and his shidi was the Immortal Sovereign Fang in the Golden Osmanthus Palace in Liuhua Continent.
There was a wide distance of immortals and demons between them, and at that time, in the eyes of the world, the difference between immortals and demons was the difference between good and evil.
Who would have expected that the Demon Lord and the Immortal Sovereign, both of whom seemed to be in complete opposition and incompatible like fire and water…would actually have a close personal relationship in secret.
Until the demonic cultivators were brutally encircled and suppressed, and Snow Bone City was ravaged. His cultivation was completely destroyed, and he was brutally tortured and was dying from the backlash of yin qi. It was Fang Zhiyuan who threw away everything to save him like a madman.
They were very close at that time. Lin Fuqing was so weak that he barely had the strength to walk on his own. After nearly 80,000 miles of bloody storm, it was all thanks to Fang Zhiyuan that he was able to fight his way out.
But at that time, the situation in the Immortal Realm was very bad. Both the immortals and the demons were in chaos, and there were massacres everywhere. It was so terrible that the phrase living in the abyss of suffering could not fully summarize it.
He himself was on his last breath and spent eight to nine hours out of twelve in a coma. Naturally, he had no time to reminisce and chat with his shidi.
…Perhaps it was because he was too frightened by his senior brother’s half-dead state at that time that the Immortal Sovereign became so neurotic now. Lin Fuqing was reluctant to say anything to him, so he just held him obediently.
But Fang Zhiyuan was not satisfied, and he said with a frown, “What sect test do you want to watch? A bunch of little Qi-drawing things, what’s there to see?”
Lin Fuqing had no choice but to coax him, “I have already agreed. After all, I am their da shixiong. It’s not good to go back on my promise.”
As he spoke, he hooked his finger. The water in the pond began to ripple, and under the control of spiritual power, it transformed into a fish that leaped into the air, “Look, I am now…”
Before he could finish his words, Fang Zhiyuan’s expression changed as if he was facing a great enemy, and he grabbed Lin Fuqing’s wrist and said, “Why are you using your spiritual power so recklessly?!”
Lin Fuqing moved his finger. The fish swam in response and slapped Fang Zhiyuan on the cheek, wetting half of his hair.
“……”
Fang Zhiyuan wiped his face expressionlessly and endured it.
Lin Fuqing almost laughed out loud. He stretched out his hand and pinched a cleansing spell to get rid of the water for him. “Okay, okay… Immortal Sovereign Fang. You see, I’m fine, I’m fine.”
His expression was soft when he spoke, as if he was coaxing a grumpy child, but his aura had subtly changed.
It was the soul of the Demon Lord from nearly a hundred years later, stained with the frost, loneliness and vicissitudes bestowed by time, that quietly awakened in the body of a young man.
“Don’t be afraid, it’s all over.”
Lin Fuqing looked at Fang Zhiyuan deeply, his eyes like the deep ocean and the distant stars.
…It was as if he could see through the young man in front of him to the broken and bloody corpse of his previous life.
He knew that they would meet again after he’d completed the forbidden rebirth spell and time turned back. But when he actually stood on Xuyun Peak and looked down at Fang Zhiyuan’s lifeless body, he couldn’t help but burst into tears at the sight of it.
Lin Fuqing touched Fang Zhiyuan’s chest, his eyes drooping wearily. “No…it hasn’t happened yet.”
Fang Zhiyuan’s expression suddenly darkened, and he said with hatred, “I will tear Mu Hong, that thief, into pieces in this lifetime.”
The future Demon Lord, who had transformed into a young man in a white robe, did not speak. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something, his fingers playing with the clear, pond water. Several beautiful golden and red carps swam over and stopped beside the stone where he was sitting.
Water fell from between his soft and white, slender fingers, creating ripples on the surface of the pond.
Lin Fuqing raised his head and narrowed his eyes in the sunlight.
The sky was so blue, like emerald green that had just been washed with water.
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The author has something to say:
Lin Fuqing: Now comes the question. Why was it that it was me who was miserably attacked by the backlash of yin qi in the previous life, but it was my junior brother who suffered from PTSD after rebirth?
Fang Zhiyuan: Because of love.
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Translator Notes:
Shidi = junior brother, junior martial brother
😍😍😍