Chapter 85
When Su Shu woke up, he was still seeing stars.
Shen Nian was truly a master at screwing people up. It was agreed that Su Shu would work hard to improve himself in the Jinghua Secret Realm so that he would not hold anyone back when he emerged. Who would expect Shen Nian to imprison him for a year…
Su Shu contemplated it for a long time. He felt ambivalent.
Second Shixiong likes Eldest Shixiong, Young Master Fu likes Clan Head Chu, and Elder Shen… Elder Shen had booted him away in jealousy when he saw his Shizun teaching him how to cultivate with his hands on his. So, Elder Shen likes Shizun.
……
Su Shu sized his surroundings up and thought: good thing there’s still me to hold the fort.
It was all dark around him. He reached his hands out to probe around, then attempted to roll on the ground. It was all soft underneath him, and he rolled about in a merry mood. Then he used too much force and banged his head against something. It was so painful, his eyes watered and the darkness before him turned a shade darker.
But he finally understood after testing it with his own body this way. He held his head until he no longer felt dizzy and carefully sat up.
He now seemed to be in an object of a length and a width appropriate enough for him to stretch out his arms and legs and roll around two or three times.
This seemed to be… a… box?
Why would he be locked in a wooden box?
His obtuse mind finally cleared up. Su Shu acutely felt some slight shaking beneath him as if someone was walking while carrying the box. There was also the din of a noisy and unclear conversation around him. No one seemed to have heard the sound of his head hitting the box just now.
Although there was no light in the box, he could still breathe as usual. Looked like this was a magic treasure. Thus, the people around here should be cultivators. He could even vaguely hear someone saying something about “righteous path… hypocrites.”
They were most likely demonic cultivators.
No matter what the situation was, he could not continue to remain in this lousy box.
Su Shu took a deep breath and groped around his ring for a moment. He pulled out two talismans. He stuck the one that could protect him onto his body. The other one was to blast the box open. It should be able to scare this group of demonic cultivators so he could take the chance to make his escape.
…… The plan was fine, but Su Shu was trembling, trembling, trembling all over.
Su Shu was timid by nature. It scared him every time he saw a demonic cultivator. What’s more when he seemed to be held captive by them now.
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After a long struggle, Su Shu tentatively tried to prop himself up. Just before he could stick the talisman at the top of the box, the world before him brightened. But it was so bright Su Shu felt as if he was blinded by it. Without any hesitation, he joined his index finger and middle finger together and threw the talisman out.
The vague sound of laughter rang in his ears. The voice was rather pleasing to the ears. However, it sounded like the loud peals of a massive bell. Su Shu felt as if he was now deaf after being blinded. Just as he felt that he was near handicapped, his vision gradually returned.
The instant Su Shu opened his eyes, he was frightened out of his wits by the world before him.
It has been less than a year since he left. Why has the world changed the moment he returned?!
Everything before him was immensely massive. He was the only one who was small. In the distance, giants flew around with long swords. Just a single strand of hair looked like a meandering stream in the mountains. The person before him was even taller. As much as he tried to raise his head, he could only see the smooth, beautiful contour of a lower jaw.
A slender, fair hand flashed before his eyes. Each of the fingers was almost as thick as his body.
The next moment, that huge hand picked him up and placed him onto its palm. The hand rose slowly as if it was lifting him up to scrutinize him. Su Shu was afraid of falling, so he grabbed onto a finger out of fright and looked up in fear and trepidation.
…… Although the man had grown bigger, and he had not seen him for a long time, it was still a face Su Shu could never forget…
Su Shu said. “Screw your ancestors.”
Wei Ciyin.
Heaven. Earth. Shen Nian. Shizun. Shixiong.
Can he just return to the Jing Hua Secret Realm?!!!
The giant version of Wei Ciyin was beaming. The corners of his eyes were slightly raised, giving it a trace of tantalizing charm. When he opened his mouth, he still sounded as if he were asking for a fight. “Third Shidi, it has been a long time. I miss you so much I can’t sleep at night.”
Su Shu’s calves cramped as he trembled. It was not out of fear, but anger. There was a frosty expression on his face. “Who are you to me? Are you qualified to call me Third Shidi?”
Wei Ciyin smiled softly and extended a finger to stroke his head.
Su Shu felt as if a huge rock had struck him. He almost staggered and fell.
Wei Ciyin said, “I’ve been running after you asking your name, but you kept hiding from me. I don’t know what your name is, so I can only address you as Third Shidi like Third Young Master Chu does.”
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After weighing it over, Su Shu could not accept a pervert calling him Third Shidi; thus, he said with a straight face, “One never conceals his name. I’m Tian Yuan Sect Yuan Chen Peak’s Lu Qingan’s third disciple, Su Shu.”
“Su Shu?” Wei Ciyin repeated it several times in a low voice as if he were mulling it over. After a while, he burst out laughing and reached out to stroke and pinch Su Shu’s little face. “How wonderful. As expected, you are a little mouse.”1
Su Shu felt that he had been attacked yet and yet again. With a sullen expression, he held onto Wei Ciyin’s finger and bit down viciously on it.
Unaffected, Wei Ciyin simply let him do as he wished. He said in an unhurried tone. “You’re right about being Lu Qingan’s third disciple. Only that there’s no longer a Tian Yuan Sect and a Yuan Chen Peak.”
Su Shu was shocked. “What? They are no more? Did the righteous path alliance lose? What happened? Did you all become so big because you won?”
“Hmm?” Wei Ciyin blinked. “What has become so big…” He paused, then suddenly let out a laugh. “It’s not that we’ve gotten bigger; you’re the one who has become smaller. Do you remember the time your Eldest Shixiong became that way? It’s a pity that I suck at learning. When I saw you suddenly fall from the sky, I cast a spell. But it only made your body smaller…”
Su Shu’s face went dark.
Wei Ciyin continued, “But it’s fine this way; you’re pretty cute, and you can’t run away. Little mouse, we are heading for Jinhe. We have just passed the place where we first met. It’s a pity that you were still unconscious at that time.”
Then he handed him a talisman. “Hurting others when you’ve just wake up isn’t good. But it isn’t good for you not to have claws and fangs either… Keep it.”
The color drained from Su Shu’s face when he heard about the place of their first encounter. He pursed his lips and took the talisman, then threw it at Wei Ciyin’s face without hesitation.
Wei Ciyin pinched the talisman with his hand and stopped it in its tracks. He looked down at it and smiled, but he was not angry. He pointed to the bottom. “From now onwards, this will be your residence. See if you’re pleased with it?”
Su Shu looked down subconsciously and saw an alluring young maiden holding a small box padded with soft silk inside and inlaid with gold on the exterior. The pattern was exquisite and the carving was meticulous. If it were not for Wei Ciyin, it would have truly looked good.
After a long pause, Su Shu returned to his senses and flew into a rage. “What’s the meaning of this?!”
Wei Ciyin smiled softly and sweetly. “Raising you, little mouse. Who asked you to love running away that much? Now you can’t run anymore… It’s a pity it’s too small and inconvenient to do some stuff in it.”
Su Shu’s mind was in a whirl. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he said through clenched teeth. “You won’t want to offend my shizun and my shixiong.”
“I just have to keep them from finding out.” Wei Ciyin was still in no hurry. “Alright. You’re tired too. Go back and take a rest.”
With that, he put him back into the box and fastened the lid.
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It was all darkness around him again.
Without Wei Ciyin’s face in sight, Su Shu was able to calm down and ponder it over. He had always been glib and intelligent. He could smile at anyone—except Wei Ciyin.
Wei Ciyin had lied to his Eldest Shixiong. That day, Wei Ciyin had accidentally fallen victim to the aphrodisiac poison. Without release, it would have been impossible to purge the poison in him.
Each time Su Shu looked at Wei Ciyin’s face now, he would recall everything about that day.
The cave covered in darkness, the warmth of skin glued together, a man’s low pants and words of comfort in a hoarse voice, the lingering kisses on his ears, the wandering hands, the whispered apologies… and the suffocating pain of being pinned against the mountain wall…
When Xie Xi hurried over that day, he saw Su Shu all covered in blood and paralyzed on the ground.
Wei Ciyin was beside him, saying something with a nervous expression. Su Shu looked apathetic and paid him no attention. When he saw Xie Xi, he gave him an anguished smile and implored him in a low voice.
Although Xie Xi’s usual attitude towards Third Shidi was not that good, he would still more or less protect his own. In addition, he was especially furious about meeting the enemy. He took off his robe and covered Third Shidi with it. After instructing him to return, he picked up his sword and chased after the enemy.
It was only when everyone left that Su Shu had time to think about what to do—
The other party had powerful backing. It was impossible for a humble cultivator like him to succeed in his revenge.
Earlier, he had only begged Xie Xi not to say anything. But he was afraid that Xie Xi had only agreed in a moment of fury, then killed his way into the enemy’s camp and ended up being killed prematurely by the old monster among the demonic cultivators.
If words that he had been raped by a man spread, it would bring dishonor upon his shizun. As long as Xie Xie did not mention it, he believed that the demonic cultivator would not spread the word around either. What’s more, that demonic cultivator did not know him.
Su Shu sat on the cold ground for a moment and forced himself to swallow the spiritual medicine. When he recovered his strength, he found a cold spring to clean himself up. Then he dug out a set of clothing to wear and tidied himself up. It was only when that strange pain receded did that he maintained his usual composure and returned to Qingtu. Without batting an eyelid, he continued to clown around. Even Lu Qingan did not notice anything wrong with him.
Although he pretended not to take it to heart, and Xie Xi also kept his silence, deep down, Su Shu was terrified, furious and resentful.
Since then, whenever he met Wei Ciyin, the latter would beam and greet him. He had even repeatedly tried to take him home. A year ago, when the Great Righteous and Demonic War broke out, Xie Xi had followed Chu Sheng to protect him while Lu Qingan lent a hand occasionally as he searched for a soul-nurturing spiritual medicine. On thinking how the Demonic Cultivators had caused Chu Yu to plunge into the Demonic Abyss, Su Shu had joined the cultivator’s little squad with the thought of seeking revenge. He even got by smoothly on the battlefield by relying on his talismans.
He did not expect to encounter Wei Ciyin several times. There was a time Su Shu had strayed from the squad and came across Wei Ciyin, and the latter had knocked him out to take him away without so much as a word. Fortunately, Lu Qingan stopped him halfway. Lu Qingan seemed to be on good terms with Wei Ciyin’s father, and so he let him off.
Whenever Su Shu came across Wei Ciyin, the latter would be all smiles as he approached him. Who knew how many screws were loose up there in his head? He was always thinking of taking Su Shu back to Mei Yin Valley.
Entering the Jing Hua Secret Realm was firstly because of Shen Nian’s weird bout of jealousy; secondly, it was to avoid Wei Ciyin.
…He had never expected to be caught by Wei Ciyin as soon as he returned.
Su Shu rubbed his temples to ease his headache. He stopped ruminating about the past and began to mull over the current situation.
The demonic cultivators are now heading for Jinhe? Could it be that the demonic cultivators have really triumphed? Then, Lu Qingan, Chu Yu, and Xie Xi are now… not being held captive, are they? Is that why Wei Ciyin is not afraid of provoking Lu Qingan?
Tian Yuan Sect was already hanging on by a thread. It was normal for it to be the first to collapse during this Great Battle…
Su Shu thought, frowned, and turned over to continue thinking.
If Shizun, Eldest Shixiong, and Second Shixiong had been captured by the demonic cultivators, he might have a chance to rescue them if he remained by Wei Ciyin’s side.
The demonic cultivators outside who chatted from time to time soon shattered this idea.
Although it was all bits and pieces of news, Su Shu got the gist of it.
Since it was impossible for Lu Qingan and the rest to be taken captive, then why did Wei Ciyin keep him? To threaten Lu Qingan, Chu Yu, and Xie Xi? Or was it because of his talent for drawing talisman?
Su Shu felt dizzy in the dark box. He could not tell day from night. The good thing was that he was a Core Formation cultivator and did not need to eat or drink. Wei Ciyin seemed to have forgotten him too, leaving him to his fate in the box.
Other than sleeping and resting, Su Shu would contemplate how to send news out to Lu Qingan or Chu Yu and Xie Xi, and how he could escape from this place.
Sometime later, the world before his eyes lit up again.
Wei Ciyin’s face reappeared in front of him. He picked up Su Shu and placed him on his palm to gently caress him. Su Shu heard him laugh. “Little mouse, Mei Yin Valley is now based in Jinhe. This will be yours and my residence in the future. Don’t think of escaping. Predators that love to eat little mouse abounds everywhere…”
Su Shu’s scalp tingled as his eyes wandered around. He could not help but suck in a cold breath.
…Leaving the environment aside for now, the sky was full of hawks with ominous glints in their eyes, while the poisonous snakes barricaded outside the barrier hissed as their cold triangular eyes eyed him from time to time.
Wei Ciyin raised his eyebrows and asked, “Are you satisfied?”
Su Shu’s face darkened. “Satisfied, my ass.”