Chapter 53 – Every Day the Protagonist Wants to Capture Me

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Chapter 53 – Solemn and Magnificent¹

When Third Shidi saw that the scary expression on Lu Qingan’s face and the way Yan Hue shook slightly as though he was on the verge of attacking with it, he slipped back into his room at once.

Chu Yu didn’t want to see his Shizun’s terrifying visage either. He gave Shen Nian a look of pity, cupped his hands to Lu Qingan, and then tried to use a hand to pull Xie Xi away, as was his usual habit.

However, Chu Yu was unable to grab Xie Xi’s hand or pull him away.

Chu Yu’s little face went dark immediately. The little jade dumpling’s face showed his killing intent.

Wei Ciyin had done a good deed. He must surely be rewarded for it in the future.

Xie Xi held back his smile as he knelt down. Looking at Chu Yu’s young and tender appearance, he couldn’t help but pinch his cheek and knead his face for a while. Then Xie Xi kissed Chu Yu and picked him up.

Chu Yu rolled his eyes.

To think that originally, he was stronger than Xie Xi… but that after becoming a child, Xie Xi didn’t even notice Chu Yu’s struggles. He was afraid that one day he would completely lack the capacity or even the desire to resist and would just lie down flat, ready to be trampled/crushed. Chu Yu felt so depressed that all he could do to express it was lower his head and angrily bite into Xie Xi’s shoulder.

Xie Xi wasn’t hurt at all. Knowing that Chu Yu was upset, he caressed the child-like Chu Yu’s hair then took his leave of Lu Qingan by bowing to him. He then set Xun Sheng’s course for the Chu family camp.

When they had left the Tian Yuan Sect camp, Chu Yu began to feel worried.

This sort of thing would be absolutely impossible for Chu Sheng to accept. Although Chu Sheng looked normal on the outside, inside his heart was more fragile compared to other people so he definitely wouldn’t be able to accept this.

But Chu Yu had just left for half a month. Now, he was too afraid of Chu Sheng’s reaction if he just snuck away without any explanation, Chu Yu probably wouldn’t be able to be back for a long time and Chu Sheng might be worried to death.

… Then it was clear that Chu Yu could only tell him the truth.

Chu Yu couldn’t figure out how he was going to explain how his appearance had been changed to Chu Sheng. Looking down at the densely packed-together cultivators’ camp, he saw that the tops of the houses and tents were covered with snow. White snowflakes were falling down in front of his eyes, looking peaceful and tranquil.

Xie Xi, worried that Chu Yu was cold, took off his robe and carefully wrapped it around Chu Yu. Chu Yu thought that he must look like a big white radish that Xie Xi was tightly holding in his arms, as he was currently unable to move.

But gradually his heart calmed down.

Chu Yu closed his eyes and took the initiative to rest his forehead on Xie Xi’s neck in a show of affection.

Xie Xi had always been the one who clung to him, unwilling to let go. Now he should try to reciprocate.

Xie Xi was currently keenly aware of every slight movement that Chu Yu made. He went still for a moment then rubbed his chin on the top of Chu Yu’s head. A warm smile drifted over his face.

Sneaking into Chu’s house, Xie Xi walked quickly towards Chu Yu’s room with Chu Yu in his arms and was about to push the door open when, suddenly, the door made a creaking sound as it was opened from the inside.

Behind the door was Chu Sheng, his face expressionless.

The faint moonlight reflected by the snow in the darkness lit up his face that was seemed to be stuck halfway between cold and angry.

… Big brother, have you come to check my bed in the middle of the night?

Chu Yu’s eyebrows twitched. His intuition told him something bad was about to happen.

The Chu family has a spell array that triggers to detect when someone enters or exits their area. Xie Xi always carefully avoided setting off the spell array’s alarm when he came to meet with Chu Yu at night. During the day, Xie Xi would then sneak back out and had never once got caught. However, when they went to the Tian Yuan Camp earlier, although Xie Xi seemed calm, he had clearly been quite shocked by Chu Yu’s sudden change in appearance. When they left, Xie Xi likely forgot to avoid the spell array when he rushed out with Chu Yu.

When the alarm is triggered, the person on duty will immediately report it to Chu Sheng. Chu Sheng always ranked Chu Yu as his top priority. Naturally, he would have gone to check if Chu Yu was safe…

Then there would have been nothing there to see.

Chu Yu turned his face around.

Xie Xi hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to say to Chu Sheng.

Chu Sheng unsheathed San Huo and stared at Xie Xi with blazing eyes: “The outer spell array barrier was broken by you! Where did you hide my little brother?! Don’t think just because you’re my little brother’s Shidi that I won’t beat you up!”

Xie Xi had originally wanted to get along with Chu Sheng but when Chu Sheng said that, Xie Xi’s face turned pale. He sneered coldly and didn’t answer Chu Sheng.

Big brother, please stop planting destruction flags…

Chu Yu sighed and as he opened his mouth to speak, Chu Sheng’s gaze fell on him.

For a moment, Chu Sheng was stunned then his gaze became heated.

Chu Yu’s mouth twitched. In a small voice, he called out, “Big Brother…”

Chu Yu has thought over all the many possible reactions that Chu Sheng might have – shock, anger, fear, stupefaction…

He had never expected that Chu Sheng would be completely overjoyed.

Chu Sheng quickly approached and took Chu Yu into his arms, glancing coldly at Xie Xi. Seeing that Xie Xi wasn’t wearing his outer robe, Chu Sheng looked down and realized that it was wrapped around Chu Yu. His face froze.

Xie Xi’s eyebrows twitched. Obviously, he was trying to be patient, he took a deep breath and stretched his lips up in a slightly distorted smile. He remained standing beside them like a person who had done no wrong.

Chu Yu was frightened by Chu Sheng’s scorching hot gaze and shrank from him. His childish voice couldn’t help but tremble: “Big brother… please calm down.”

This made Chu Sheng suddenly come to his senses. He touched Chu Yu’s face with great care. “Little brother?”

After a pause, he suddenly lifted Chu Yu above his head and laughed loudly. “Little brother, how did you become like this?”

Chu Yu’s head was full of black lines.

Big brother, your reaction isn’t right. Are you reading from the wrong script…?

Shouldn’t you rush around immediately, screaming, “Who did this to my little brother?! Tell big brother and I will kill him right away!”

囧囧

(TN: 囧 is a character used to express embarrassment and gloom, because of the character’s resemblance to a sad facial expression.)

After recovering from being stunned silent for a while, Chu Yu gathered his thoughts. He coughed then began to explain: “Big brother, I have been cursed and I ended up becoming like this…”

Chu Sheng’s eyes were gentle and warm, and he said softly, “Seeing my little brother like this makes me feel as if I’ve gone back to the past… back when we lived in Maple Valley, I was always with you my little brother, watching this little boy slowly grow up…”

While he was saying this, Chu Sheng’s eyes were so gentle and misty that they almost overflowed with tears. He seemed to be feeling a little sad and pained. Pressing Chu Yu’s head closer to his chest, Chu Sheng muttered: “Little brother, your big brother wouldn’t mind raising you from childhood to adulthood again, never letting anyone take you away.”

“Anyone” was clearly … referring to a very specific someone.

Chu Yu was the target of all of Chu Sheng’s emotions. Sneaking a glance at Xie Xi’s face, Chu Yu saw that although the expression on Xie Xi’s face looked as if he was indifferent, Chu Yu could clearly see the words “I’m unhappy” written all over his face.

… Protagonist, don’t be unhappy!

Chu Yu hurriedly returned to the topic at hand and explained what had happened while skipping over his most of his personal conversation with Wei Ciyin,

After listening to Chu Yu’s narration of events, the smile on Chu Sheng’s face rapidly disappeared and his voice was murderous as he said, “Wei Ciyin? Don’t be afraid, big brother has almost recovered. Tomorrow I will bring some people with me to go and take his head.”

As he was speaking, he appeared to suddenly remember that Xie Xi was still present. Turning his head, he looked at Xie Xi with unfriendly eyes: “Why did you take my younger brother out in the middle of the night?”

Xie Xi snorted coldly and, clasping his hands together, did not reply.

Wanting to avoid a quarrel breaking out between the two individuals, Chu Yu moved closer and said, “Big brother, my Shidi just took me to see Shizun…:

He hadn’t finished speaking yet when, suddenly, there was a loud “ding dong” sound. The sound was loud and low, coming from somewhere that wasn’t far away from the Chu family camp. The sound came crashing towards them like a strong wave. This sort of sound would be able to make lower level cultivators’ chests feel tight. Once the sound had come, it couldn’t be ignored. All over the Qing Tu camp, cultivators were flying up on their swords, quietly watching to see what was going to happen.

Chu Sheng now looked pale as he gazed towards the distant location the bell came from. After that sound had passed, not long after, the sound of the bell came again, like the roar of a lion, loudly resonating, it rang three times in a row, before quieting down.

Chu Yu’s small face became distorted: May the Lord Buddha preserve and purify us!²

Chu Sheng turned back and said: “Heavenly Thunder Bell.”

The Heavenly Thunder Bell was placed outside the main hall of the Qing Tu camp. During peacetime, the bell was hardly ever used. Three peals of the bell represented that a major event was happening and all cultivators were now heading towards the plaza in front of Qing Tu’s main hall.

Whenever there was a major event, the Chu family had always been at the forefront but this time Chu Sheng had been in solitary cultivation in the camp. He couldn’t come forward and now he also didn’t want to bring Chu Yu with him to listen to a crowd of people fighting battles with words. Currently, in the shadows, there were too many arrows being aimed at his back.

Chu Sheng had always intuitively felt that his younger brother was like the snow falling in the courtyard, pure and flawless, and that he shouldn’t be stained by anyone.

After thinking for a moment, Chu Sheng silently stroked Chu Yu’s head and whispered, “Little brother, you can go and follow Xie Xi but stay outside the main hall. I’ll go inside to check out the situation first.”

Unexpectedly, Chu Sheng voluntarily let Chu Yu go. Xie Xi, who was already secretly preparing a technique to grab him, was shocked when he heard Chu Sheng’s words.

A light bulb flashed over Chu Yu head: Could this be the legendary test?

Was this evidence that Chu Sheng was slowly beginning to accept Xie Xi?

Excited at the prospect of improving the relationship between Chu Sheng and Xie Xi, Chu Yu couldn’t help but blink up at Xie Xi to hint that he should accept this offer.

When the shota version of the person he liked started blinking at him with his big, limpid, bright eyes, as if casting flirtatious glances at him, Xie Xi heart couldn’t help but tremble. The unhappiness that he felt just now was completely dispersed. Xie Xi looked at Chu Yu and really felt like he wanted to snatch him away but dared not.

Chu Sheng snorted and, in front of Xie Xi, he murmured, “My little brother, if he dares to do anything to you, tell me which part touched you and I’ll cut off.”

Chu Yu: “… Big brother, rest assured that my Shidi isn’t so perverted.”

Chu Sheng first wrapped Chu Yu up like a baby then reluctantly held him out to hand him over to Xie Xi. When Xie Xi reached his arms out to take Chu Yu, Chu Sheng withdrew Chu Yu and said harshly: “Take care of my little brother, otherwise, you will regret it.”

Xie Xi nodded angrily.

Chu Sheng finally put Chu Yu into Xie Xi arms. Stepping away, Chu Sheng then turned his head and saw several of the Chu family’s guests.

Chu Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed. He then turned back and took Xie Xi’s face into his small hands. Seeing that Xie Xi’s facial expression was still bad, Chu Yu said softly: “Xi-er, give me a smile.”

His voice was deliberately soft, sweet, and clear, like mellow Southern sticky rice wine. At that moment, Xie Xi felt as if his heart had been drenched in sweetness. Now there was nothing to feel unhappy about. Xie Xi could only stare at the Chu rice wine that he was unable to drink. He lowered his head and kissed Chu Yu gently on the forehead. Using his flying sword, they quickly went to the Qing Tu main hall.

Along the way, they saw that many cultivators were headed there. Many of the cultivators were talking about what could be happening in a low voice with their acquaintances. Some were worried, some were calm. This made some noise so Xie Xi, who always hated noise, waved his hand and made Duan Xue move faster. Before long they had arrived in front of the main hall.

At the top and bottom of the main hall were large open spaces used as training grounds. Now it was almost full of cultivators. Xie Xi stood at the back with Chu Yu. His eyes swept across the main hall then he whispered to Chu Yu: “It seems that the war with the demonic cultivators is about to enter a new phase.”

Chu Yu was wrapped in so many layers of clothes all which made him so hot that his little face had turned rosy but he couldn’t take any of the clothes off since he was being held so tightly by Xie Xi. Helplessly rubbing his face, Chu Yu looked at the crowd and he suddenly remembered Wei Ciyin’s words.

The Seven Demonic Sects were all under the control of the Dun Yue Sect. The Dun Yue Sect had woken up something terrible. What were they planning? In the Seven Demonic Sects, there should be a lot of people like Wei Ciyin who were strongly opposed to their plan. Thus, the demonic sects were not truly a united force and, therefore, did not have the advantage in this war.

According to Wei Ciyin, the situation is about to change dramatically. But how could it change? Through infighting amongst the demonic cultivators? Would one of them kill the top demonic cultivator then surrender?

As Chu Yu was thinking about all this he was looking all around him. Suddenly, he saw a very familiar back. Chu Yu made a loud noise then pointed at someone in front of them who was jumping up and down happily. Chu Yu was hinting that he wanted Xie Xi to catch someone for him.

Xie Xi obediently went to grab that person.

Third Shidi was frightened when he was suddenly dragged away by his collar. He almost fell to his knees but felt relieved when he turned around and saw that it was only Xie Xi. Then when he saw Chu Yu a big grin spread across his face.

Chu Yu felt as though in this lifetime, he had already lost all his face. He clamped down on his desire to kill someone and said solemnly and tolerantly: “Third Shidi, why aren’t you with Shizun?”

His cold and solemn tone created a strong contrast with his little white jade face. Third Shidi’s eyes shone brightly as he was overcome with the cuteness of Chu Yu’s appearance. He reached out to touch Chu Yu but then caught a glimpse of Xie Xi and drew his hand back gloomily. He whispered: “When you left, Shizun also left with the spirit of that strange man. After the bell was rung, seeing as Shizun hadn’t returned yet, I went out first.”

Chu Yu touched his chin, another gesture that formed a strong contrast to this current appearance. Xie Xi covered his nose and silently twisted Chu Yu’s head back. Pinching and massaging Chu Yu’s cheeks, Xie Xi felt as if he was wild with joy and couldn’t control himself.

He was having a great time. Chu Yu was being passionately played with but before he could get angry there was once again the loud clanging sound of the bell. Unlike the previous time the bell was rung, the sound this time was clear and lasted for a long time before dying. The noisy training grounds gradually quieted down.

Clasping his hands together, in a bad mood, Chu Yu looked sullenly around at the people who had suddenly appeared at the top of the main hall. It wasn’t surprising that Lu Qingan and Chu Sheng were both there but, unexpectedly, Song Yuanzhuo was also there.

Chu Yu didn’t know any of the rest of the people up there but they should all be Nascent Soul stage cultivators.

After waiting for the whole place to quiet down, the person in the middle of the hall said, “Everyone, the war between cultivators might be finished.”

There was a sudden commotion below.

He said: “Two hours ago, the demonic cultivators all withdrew from the Jinhe.”

********

Reika’s Notes:

• LOL, the brocon wants to raise his precious Little Yu-er!
• The little fish turned into a “Chu rice wine”!
• Still excited about the Mpreg tag from the last chapter… do you think it will really happen?
• By the way, early access chapters (only the first drafts) up to chapter 56 have been posted at my Patreon. Those who donated via Ko-Fi, please check your email (including your spam folder) to get special access to the chapters, too.
• I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading.

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1. 洪钟大吕 – (hóng zhōng dà lǜ) a type of music or literary rhetoric that is grand and solemn
2. 阿弥陀佛，六根清净 – literally “Amitabha, the six roots are purified.” I think it’s actually just an exclamation of surprise as used here.