NEBM Chapter 33: The Secret Realm

The other person was breathing gently, as if this situation was an extremely common occurrence. He was so calm, but the person who uttered the invitation was the one who ended up feeling surprised and unsettled.

The bed was very specious. Despite the fact that they were lying down side by side, there was still half a foot of space between them. Shen Zhixian laid stiffly for a long time before regaining his senses and pulling the cover over himself.

The other person, who hadn’t spoken and hadn’t moved since lying down, finally reacted. He pulled the cover up to his lower abdomen, slightly tilted his head, and said in a low voice, “Sui Xian, good night.”

“Good night,” Shen Zhixian subconsciously replied. After watching the other person close his eyes, Shen Zhixian forced himself to calm down, straightened his sleeping position, and closed his eyes.

But his drowsiness was gone. Even with his eyes closed, he still could not sleep.

In the dark, without his vision, the other senses became magnified countless times. Shen Zhixian could clearly feel the heat emanating from Yan Jin, which made him keenly aware of the chill in his own body. He couldn’t help but feel the impulse to inch closer.

It’s all good. Calm down. Go to sleep. After all, it was just Yan Jin. It was perfectly normal for him to want to take a good rest after so many days without it.

He pinched himself under the cover, determined to force himself to dispel any distracted thoughts and welcome sleep. He laid for a long time, and finally…

Found that he still could not sleep.

He wanted to turn over, to roll about, to banish the chill by rolling up in the comforter.

But Yan Jin was lying nearby. If he rolled around, he would disturb Yan Jin.

After so long, Yan Jin should have fallen asleep already….Shen Zhixian struggled with himself for a long time but, in the end, he couldn’t help it. He began to move carefully.

His movements were already very light, but it still disturbed Yan Jin. When a low, husky “Sui Xian” sounded, Shen Zhixian froze and then immediately apologized, “I still woke you up…”

“I wasn’t asleep,” Yan Jin said. In the darkness, he turned his head to the side. Spiritual power condensed in his eyes, allowing him to easily see Shen Zhixian’s action with the comforter. He asked, “Sui Xian, are you cold?”

“Mmn…” Shen Zhixian said vaguely, shrinking into the bed again. The chill seemed to be internal, making him think that his cold constitution was brought about by the heart damage. In fact, no matter how many comforters he used, he would still feel cold.

In the dark, he didn’t see that Yan Jin’s ears were turning red. He only heard Yan Jin calmly ask him, “Would you like to embrace?”

Ah?

Yan Jin’s tone was so calm, which was completely within Yan Jin’s style, that after hearing such words, Shen Zhixian couldn’t respond for a moment. He even suspected that he’d heard it wrong. He repeated doubtfully, “Embrace?”

The person next to him moved. In the next moment, the young man leaned over, quickly hugged him across the comforter, then quickly retreated. He said in a calm voice, “Like this. An embrace.”

The warmth was so fleeting that Shen Zhixian had to restrain the urge to reach out and capture it back. He coughed awkwardly. If not for the fact that he thought Yan Jin wasn’t able to see clearly in the dark, he would be glaring at him. “Why did you do that?!”

Yan Jin was silent for a moment, before he quietly said, “In the past, I used to feel cold when I fell asleep, so someone would hold me like that…”

In the past.

Shen Zhixian thought about it and asked, “Was it before you came to Qingyun Sect?”

“Mmn.”

“Was it a relative?”

“No.” Yan Jin denied decisively and paused before continuing, “It’s a very important person.”

“Ah.” Zhen Zhixian almost immediately remembered his identity as Sui Xian and how excited Yan Jin had been when they first met at the inn. He’d always thought that Yan Jin had mistaken him for someone else at first and then, later, regarded him as another “Sui Xian.”

That Sui Xian must be a person Yan Jin couldn’t forget. Otherwise, even until now, he wouldn’t still be describing that person as “important.”

Never forgotten.

Shen Zhixian felt that, based on Yan Jin’s indifferent attitude, the reason he could receive Yan Jin’s gentleness at this moment was probably because Yan Jin’s memory was still stained with that Sui Xian.

Shen Zhixian pushed his chin underneath the comforter, causing his voice to sound muffled. “When you came to join Qingyun Sect, why didn’t he accompany you?”

This time, Yan Jin didn’t speak for a long time. It wasn’t until Shen Zhixian’s eyes were drifting close and he was starting to become drowsy that he finally heard Yan Jin whisper, “I lost him…He lost me…”

His voice was so low that Shen Zhixian could not hear him clearly. Struggling to stay awake, he murmured, “What…”

Yan Jin only said, “Go to sleep.”

In the darkness, he quietly gazed at Shen Zhixian, watching until he fell asleep, before he finally sighed.

“But this time, I will find him, Sui Xian,” he murmured. Stretching out his hand, he hovered his fingers over Shen Zhixian’s face. All he had to do was press down a little and he would be able to touch that fair, jade-like skin. But, he didn’t.

He faintly curled his fingers and held them suspended, wanting to touch but was afraid to. His eyes carefully and seriously traced Shen Zhixian’s features over and over again, as if deeply carving his image into his mind.

Perhaps, his palm was too warm, causing Shen Zhixian to sense the radiating heat. Shen Zhixian moved his face slightly, pressing his cheek into Yan Jin’s hand and unconsciously rubbing against his warm skin.

Yan Jin’s hand stiffened, even as an odd sense of familiarity suddenly surged in his heart, making him feel at a loss for a moment. He instinctively retracted his hand. As he looked at Shen Zhixian, his expression grew uncertain and his breathing increased.

With the warmth on his face suddenly gone, Shen Zhixian shifted unhappily. His eyebrows slightly rose and his eyelashes trembled faintly.

Yan Jin couldn’t help but held his breath, watching as Shen Zhixian’s closed eyes tightened, his body restlessly shifting under the comforter, before falling into a deeper, more peaceful slumber. But, Yan Jin dared not do anything anymore. So, he called up a warm little white silvergrass.

The little white silvergrass swayed and wobbled underneath the comforter until half of it covered Shen Zhixian’s body. Then it dilly-dallied for a bit before forming a mass to cover Shen Zhixian’s upper body and lying still.

Shen Zhixian was very satisfied. He cuddled the warm little white silvergrass, and his eyebrows faintly softened, as if he was being immersed in a beautiful dream.

……………………..

Because the secret realm was about to open, more and more people arrived in the city.

The three of them had discussed the matter of entering the secret realm. Duan Yuan and Yan Jin naturally wanted to try it. After all, this was such a rare opportunity. Therefore, the matter of Shen Zhixian joining them became a problem.

Duan Yuan said, “The secret realm is dangerous. Brother Sui has no spiritual power and doesn’t understand magic…”

“I’ll wait for you outside.” Shen Zhixian promised very easily, almost without hesitation.

Duan Yuan didn’t suspect him. She only smiled and said, “It’s very noisy here. If Brother Sui wanted to go somewhere else that is more quiet, you can. Just leave a note for us.”

“Mmn, okay.” Shen Zhixian smiled and nodded. He slowly, leisurely shook his folding fan.

Yan Jin was keenly aware that he was up to something. He silently glanced at his master, feeling extremely skeptical of his words.

Duan Yuan only spent a small number of days with Shen Zhixian and didn’t know him well. But, Yan Jin knew his master very well. If Shen Zhixian didn’t want to enter the secret realm, he would have proposed to leave already. He’d never been the kind of person to like this kind of noisy and raucous environment.

But, Shen Zhixian insisted on waiting outside, not even mentioning once that he also wanted to enter the secret realm. With Shen Zhixian’s innocent appearance, Yan Jin could not ask him outright. Of course, even if he did ask, his master would probably not say anything.

The secret realm had completely emerged. It was suspended in mid-air, hidden in a cloud of white mist that glowed faintly.

The fluctuating qi became more and more dense, indicating that the secret realm was about to open. In fact, many cultivators no longer returned to the inn, preferring to stand here in groups day and night.

After waiting for a few days like this, the secret realm finally quietly emitted a cloud of white fog. It finally opened.

The excited cultivators immediately rushed forward toward the opening hidden in white fog. Some cultivators were able to successfully enter. Meanwhile, others stood outside for a long time without any movements before finally being pushed away by the mass of white fog.

After Duan Yuan and Shen Zhixian bid farewell, she also tried her luck. The white fog wrapped her up and she gradually disappeared.

The female lead went in, and the male lead should follow. But….

Shen Zhixian turned his head to look at Yan Jin. This person had been standing beside him since the secret realm opened and seemed to have no intention of going forward.

“Why aren’t you going?”

He was still waiting for Yan Jin to get in quickly, so he could quietly try to follow!

Yan Jin calmly met his gaze. Somehow, Shen Zhixian’s heart rate increased, afraid that his hidden plan had been seen through. He forced himself to calmly wave his folding fan. “Go on. I’ll wait for you to go in and then go back to sleep.”

The secret realm had opened at dawn, forcing Shen Zhixian to get up early. He was still slightly sleepy and even made a show of yawning to back up his reason for urging Yan Jin to hurry.

Before he could say anything else, Yan Jin looked down at him and straightforwardly asked, “Sui Xian, do you want to go in together?”

Shen Zhixian waved his fan and smiled casually. “I’m just an ordinary person. Forget it…”

“….” Yan Jin stopped talking, but he continued to look at Shen Zhixian with his deep, dark eyes.

Under such an intense gaze, Shen Zhixian felt as if he was on pins and needles. He gradually began to feel guilty, as if he’d done something wrong. He finally sighed, unable to stand it any longer. Yan Jin, this guy had been silent for so many days. It turned out that he was just waiting to stop him.

“Okay, okay, I just want to try it … If you don’t think it’s right, I won’t try it. I’ll just go back to the inn and sleep.”

He snapped the fan closed and turned to leave. But, just as he turned around and was about to step away, his wrist was suddenly caught.

Yan Jin slowly wrapped his fingers around that slender wrist and gently pulled him back to his side.

Shen Zhixian was caught off guard. Feeling taken aback, he took a step backward and bumped into Yan Jin. With one hand still wrapped around Shen Zhixian’s wrist, Yan Jin encircled his waist with his other hand, holding him firmly.

“What are you doing–”

The words stopped abruptly. Shen Zhixian was stunned. Because, Yan Jin’s warm breath had brushed against his ear and he said in a low, slightly helpless voice, “Master.”

—————————–
Xixi: Omg! I’m so excited. We get a hug (brief, though it was) and finally, the jig is up. Although I’d read this web novel from start to finish, a lot of the details have become vague so it’s almost like I’m reading this for the first time. What is Shen Zhixian going to do now? Hehe..

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