Seven years ago, at the foot of Xuyun Peak.
Fireflies flickered in front of his eyes, gradually blurring into a cloud of mist. A young man in black, carrying a long knife on his back, ran through the rugged mountains.
“…Huh…huh…”
The twelve-year-old Fang Zhiyuan’s face was pale. As he ran, he panted violently, cold sweat dripping down his jaw. Darkness surrounded him, and the shadows of the trees and the cold wind swept past him.
Faint red marks seeped out from various places on his clothes, marking the wounds the yin monster had left on him.
Just yesterday, the handsome and elegant little immortal frowned his beautiful eyebrows, carefully changed the bandages for him, and told him to rest well and not to move.
The medicine smelled slightly bitter. The girl in red sat on the edge of the bed, swinging her feet, and wanting to feed him the medicine with a curious look on her face.
—In just one night, those brief moments of peace came to an end.
He was leaving.
The more serious wound split open, and blood gushed out. The blood loss gradually blurred his consciousness, and breathing became more and more difficult.
In the next moment, the boy fell forward without any warning. The hillside was steep, and Fang Zhiyuan rolled straight down, tree roots and weed scratching countless additional wounds on his body.
His back slammed painfully into a huge rock, which broke his fall. Darkness flashed across his eyes, and his lungs and spine felt as if they’d been shattered. A fishy-sweet liquid choked out of his throat, and in the next moment, he coughed so hard that he nearly blacked out.
“Cough cough cough…! Cough cough…”
Fang Zhiyuan trembled all over, his eyes dazed. Even as he was coughing up blood, he struggled to get up.
Looking up, a bright moon had emerged from the clouds at some point and hung high in the sky.
He thought vaguely: Ah, the moon is out, the mountain road will be a little easier to walk on.
He was leaving…
Fang Zhiyuan gritted his teeth and continued to walk through the mountains, his body covered in blood, sweat, dust and mud. He stumbled and fell countless times, taking one step deep and one step shallow.
He thought about tomorrow.
Tomorrow, when the dawn rose, every inch of the mountains that were now dark would become bright, green, and full of vitality.
Tomorrow, the little immortal on the mountain would wake up.
“……….”
As he thought this, a flicker of light sparked in the depths of Fang Zhiyuan’s cold pupils.
That little immortal would lazily open his eyes, bathed in the white morning light belly-up like a fish, and put on a robe whiter than snow.
He would stand up, his figure slender and thin, his neck so soft and white, and his loose long hair black like ink.
When he smiled, his lips were rosy and his eyes were clear.
Tomorrow, he would make porridge and a sweet rice cake… Yes, he said yesterday that he would make rice cake. The soft and glutinous white cake would be cut into small pieces, drizzled with a layer of golden nectar, and they would look like small floating stamens, exquisite and cute.
Tomorrow, he would turn his clear eyes, pick up the little girl in the red skirt, and talk to her leisurely. His tone would be gentle and light, like a wisp of mist in the mountains.
…But there was no him in that story anymore.
Earlier that day, when the sun was setting in the west, he had heard Yu Hongtang giggling in Lin Fuqing’s arms. “Is the master coming back? Will he like Yuan ge?”
Lin Fuqing rubbed her head and said, “He definitely will.”
At that moment, he suddenly woke up. He had become immersed in the warmth that didn’t belong to him. Lin Fuqing was pure and innocent and did not understand the world, and Yu Hongtang was young and naive. But there would always be a reasonable person who would pour cold water on him and drag him out of the illusion.
He imagined the scene in which Lin Fuqing was looking at him, his eyes cold or sad, and he would say to him, “Go away” with a wave of his sleeves.
Bitterness filled him.
But relief quickly followed.
He was so used to it that he had become numb and thought of it as a dream.
He was leaving. He had strayed into Wonderland and had stayed there too long. He was about to fall back into his blood and darkness. There was no dawn for him.
His short dream would end, and his long night would continue.
The chaotic shadows of the trees in front of him suddenly opened up, and the moonlight poured into his eyes. He finally passed through the forest.
Fang Zhiyuan abruptly stopped.
Dizziness washed over him, and his pupils slightly constricted.
Why……
He stood in the dim shadow of the trees, breathing intermittently, his eyes frighteningly sinister.
“You still won’t let me go?”
A figure stood on the cliff covered by the night.
The moon was bright in the sky, illuminating the figure.
“Lin Fuqing.” Fang Zhiyuan pulled the corners of his lips coldly, his voice hoarse and piercing, “Your good master hasn’t explained to you clearly what I am.”
He still wanted to maintain his cold and fierce look, but in fact he was barely holding on by a thread.
He still hadn’t recovered from his many serious injuries, and so his condition was already very poor. Running in the mountains for several hours on a cold night like this had already maxed his limit. Now, he was gripping tightly onto the warmth in his heart to prevent himself from fainting.
He was afraid that he would faint and not be able to walk anymore.
“……..”
Lin Fuqing stood far away on the rocks and asked calmly, “When you finally get down the mountain, there is also the sea at the bottom of the mountain. You don’t even have a boat. How can you cross the sea?”
Fang Zhiyuan raised his head and said, “It has nothing to do with you. If you’re here to see me off, forget it. Go away.”
Lin Fuqing sighed softly.
He no longer looked down at the boy, but raised his head and looked quietly at the starry sky that was like an inverted white waterfall.
He suddenly asked, “Is that your star?”
Fang Zhiyuan also looked up, and the red light of the Star of Calamity fell into his eyes.
His eyes gradually lost focus and he said, “Yes.”
Lin Fuqing said, “There are seven thousand stars in the world, but only this one can compete with the bright moon.”
Fang Zhiyuan: “…….”
“Is it because of this star that the world hates you and humiliates you?”
“I also bring disaster to the world.”
“Are you really the Star of Calamity?”
“I can feel it. It’s connected to me.”
The mountain wind rose from the silence.
Lin Fuqing’s cloud-patterned headband danced behind him, and the red light of the calamity star happened to fall on it, making it look like blood-stained white snow.
Lin Fuqing asked calmly, “Is there really no solution?”
An unreasonable anger surged in Fang Zhiyian’s heart. He patted his chest vigorously and sneered at himself. “Oh, yes. I’m an immortal. I can just live for a billion years and wait for that calamity star to fall! This fate will naturally be resolved—“
Enough. Too much useless gossip had already been said. He wearily raised his eyes. “Have you asked enough questions? Why won’t you go away?!”
Lin Fuqing said, “Master told me that immortals who have transcended tribulation have the ability to move mountains and fill the sea; and as long as they have passed the tribulation, even the birth and death of the sun, moon and stars can be achieved with a single thought.”
“So?” Fang Zhiyuan was impatient. As his breathing gradually became unstable, he clenched his teeth and laughed coldly. “Ridiculous! Are you still going to encourage me to be pure and cultivate, and break the ascension bottleneck of a thousand years—“
“I will ascend to become an immortal.”
A cold voice interrupted this hoarse one.
Fang Zhiyuan choked.
A long wind blew past the mountain peak.
Behind the young Demon Lord Lin was the boundless vast night sky.
He raised his sleeves and pointed his slender finger at the red star, and his fingertip seemed to be stained with a hint of red.
“When the time comes, I will kill this star for you.”
Fang Zhiyuan opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
He felt as if he’d been struck by lightning.
He was confused for a moment, and even felt that it was both funny and absurd. He thought to himself: What did this boy say? Why kill it?
“You’re a very good star, and I like you.”
The voice was soft and clear, but the words that came out were shocking.
Lin Fuqing walked towards Fang Zhiyuan and said calmly, “Don’t leave. Stay by my side and watch me become an immortal and kill stars for you, okay?”
Fang Zhiyuan stood there motionless, thinking like crazy: He said he wanted to ascend. He wanted to kill…the Star of Calamity?! Kill that calamity star?!
He also said he liked…liked—liked what?!
Fang Zhiyuan stared at Lin Fuqing intently, feeling both dizzy and boiling hot. He looked, looked, looked… Suddenly, he couldn’t help but laugh with a slight tremor.
—Because he actually found that Lin Fuqing’s face was calm and self-assured. This boy was serious, this boy was really serious…
Lin Fuqing reached out and stroked his pale, cold cheek. “A’Yuan.”
“Don’t touch me!” Fang Zhiyuan felt as if he had been burned. Trembling, he slapped his hand away.
“Lin Fuqing…you, you really…don’t know how to live or die! You don’t know how high the sky or how deep the earth is!” Fang Zhiyuan’s eyes were red, and his breath came out short and disordered. “How capable do you think you are to bear the fate of others…”
Lin Fuqing said, “What does the sky and the earth have to do with me? Why should I know them? I don’t want to know the sky and the earth, nor do I want to know life and death. I just want to know whether you’re willing to stay now.”
“Impossible… You’re crazy! As long as I live one more day, the yin monsters I attract will only become stronger…There will always be a day… There will always be a day—You don’t want to live. Don’t you care about the life and death of your little sister?!”
“But as long as I live one more day, I will be stronger by one more day. If that’s the case, can’t I always be stronger than yin monsters and protect you forever?”
Lin Fuqing tilted his head and said it as a matter of course.
“You…” Darkness swam across Fang Zhiyuan’s eyes. Unable to stand steadily anymore, he fell two steps back. Yet, he continued to shake his head in despair. “You, you will… regret it later…You will…”
Before he could finish his words, he collapsed helplessly like a puppet with its strings cut off.
Lin Fuqing hurriedly caught him and held him in his arms.
Fang Zhiyuan’s consciousness was intermittent, his eyelids trembling. He still mumbled with difficulty, “You…will be…harmed by me…”
Lin Fuqing changed his position, letting his head fall on his shoulder. He coaxed him tenderly. “Be good.”
Then he stepped on the rocks, and gracefully returned to the mountain.
Fang Zhiyuan was stunned. Just before he completely lost consciousness, his frozen memory suddenly broke open.
The cold waves were rushing and surging. Amidst the howling of yin monsters, a youth with a pair of clean white hands pulled him out of the deep sea even though he was so dirty.
This was the same breath, the same posture.
The same person.
Overhead, the Star of Calamity was faintly flashing a blood-red light. Fang Zhiyuan felt as if he was no longer in the mortal world.
He seemed to have fallen into the eternity where thousands of stars were circling, and met an immortal with bright eyes.
=========
The sword rose into the air, like a flash of snowy light cutting through the night sky.
To these two people, the Vermillion Qilin family’s mansion was just a place where they could chat and laugh and come and go as they pleased.
Lin Fuqing manipulated the sword and laughed softly, “You are not as cute as you were then.”
He sighed again. “For so many years, you were afraid of harming me, so you quarreled with me, fought with me, and bared your teeth in front of me, pretending to be fierce. Who would have thought that in the end, it was you who protected me again and again…”
“……..”
Fang Zhiyuan paused. He looked up at the night sky, and said absentmindedly, “I am happy to do so.”
He was no longer the boy who would be embarrassed by the word “cute”. He was just thinking in his heart—
He had asked Lin Fuqing to cultivate immortality in this life, but this man avoided the question.
In his previous life, Lin Fuqing had only cultivated to Golden Core as an immortal cultivator. Then, as a demonic cultivator, he reached the peak of Tribulation Crossing. It went without saying which path he should practice in this life, because it was more familiar, allowing him to gain achievement faster and become more powerful.
Only……
The road ahead was full of danger.
Fang Zhiyuan let out a deep breath. It was already very late at night, and a cool breeze swept across the sky above Liuhua Continent.
The inn was already visible.