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Chapter 77 – Please have mercy
This chapter is by Lianyin of BC Novels.
Actually, it was not as laid-back at the frontline in Jin He as Xie Xi had said.
It was true that the demonic cultivators had suffered a great loss, but the righteous path had also lost Tian Yuan Sect. The general mood in the righteous path camps had always been bad. They could not keep up with the demonic cultivators, shouting “all for justice” with one voice to denounce their enemy.
The four of them did not even manage to have a break upon their arrival at Jin He as a voice transmitting talisman came flying over to request the presence of Chu Sheng and Lu Qingan at Jin He’s Conference Hall for discussion when they touched down.
Chu Sheng frowned. “They are sure to just be spouting nonsense again. In the end, they still can’t come to a decision. Little brother, head back to Chu’s camp first to rest up.”
Chu Yu did not have any objections, and neither did Xie Xi. Xie Xi’s eyes arched in a smile as he went over to Chu Yu to stick close to him.
Chu Sheng glared at him and fumed, “Aren’t you going to the main hall with Elder Lu?”
Xie Xi’s tone was light. “I’ll go where shixiong goes.”
Chu Yu’s head ached. “Big brother, calm down… Xie Xi, don’t make things worse!”
Chu Sheng and Xie Xi glared at each other for a moment. Seeing that he would not be able to persuade them, Chu Yu sighed, prepared to find a quiet corner to sulk and grow mushrooms.1 Before he could move, Lu Qingan, who had been quietly watching for a long time, spoke up, “Let’s all go together.”
Chu Sheng immediately compromised. “Fine. Little brother, keep up with us.”
It was safer for Chu Yu to follow him than it was for Chu Yu to be alone with Xie Xi.
The moment Chu Yu stepped into the Jin He’s Conference Hall, he felt everyone’s eyes on him. Breaking out in a cold sweat, he continued to maintain the original host’s cold and noble demeanor as he started to mull the situation over in his mind.
Perhaps these bosses… were finding it strange that he had not died even after so many close shaves?
Immediately, someone confirmed Chu Yu’s absent thought. “Clan Head Chu, is this your younger brother, Chu Yu? I’ve heard how your brother managed to remain safe in the Mausoleum Ruins for ten years. This time, he sacrificed his life for righteousness, and yet he managed to return safe and sound even after his fall into the abyss. It’s truly the case that the one who survives a great disaster will be blessed thereafter.”
Chu Sheng’s face darkened as he was reminded of how those two incidents had kept him on tenterhooks. But being the head of a clan now, he could no longer be as candid as before, so he simply cupped his hands and silently led Chu Yu to their seats.
Lu Qingan calmly took his seat beside Chu Sheng.
Everyone here should have known what had just happened at the Tian Yuan Sect’s mountain entrance. The representatives of all the major sects and clans who had been there were here now, but none of them mentioned it. They looked at each other with tacit understanding and smiled as they analyzed the current situation.
The slogan of the righteous path was “suppress the strong to help the weak, slay all villains, and eliminate evil to defend morals”.
Although it was all bullshit.
The demonic cultivators likely knew that the righteous path was only concerned with their reputation, and so they came up with a vicious idea to gather all the commoners of Yun Cuo together. On the battlefield, each of the demonic cultivators would bring along a commoner to use as a shield. Arguably, this kind of atrocity should have been heavily resisted by the ordinary folks of Yun Cuo. Yet it was not. Although, in the end, their resistance would be futile, it would still be better than only being able to stare bitterly at the righteous cultivators before being killed by mistake.
As everyone knew, Yun Cuo had always been lacking in both spiritual energy and natural resources. Under the intentional manipulations and propaganda of the demonic cultivators, the common folks in Yun Cuo had grown more hostile and resentful towards the righteous cultivators.
On what grounds did the righteous cultivators and the cities under the jurisdiction of the righteous path get to live in such favorable environments with their abundance of natural resources, while they had to live in the barren Yun Cuo, with scarcely enough food and warmth to last them a lifetime?!
This resentment was the reason the commoners of Yun Cuo were willing to be the demonic cultivators’ shields.
If the demonic cultivators managed to break through the defense of the righteous path, those who survive might have a chance to leave Yun Cuo and settle down in Jin He, Qingtu, and even Jiao Xia and Linlan.
Faced with these human shields, the righteous cultivators’ hands were tied. Many of them could not simply disregard their sensibilities and morals to thrust their swords through the commoners just to stab the demonic cultivators. Thus, the battle was at a stalemate.
It was likely that the demonic cultivators were going all out with such drastic measures because their highest grade spiritual stone ore deposits had finally dried up after holding out for several hundred years. If they did not fight now, they would all die.
The group discussed it noisily for an entire afternoon until Chu Yu felt sleepy. In the end, they prepared to adjourn without coming to a resolution.
Chu Yu could not help but lambaste them secretly.
At the end of the day, this group of people only ended up denouncing the demonic cultivators for being cruel and vicious while sympathizing with those commoners, but not one of them made any suggestions for concrete action. It would have been much better to simply give those common folks some incentives to win them over, such as a chance to settle down in a righteous path territory.
Chu Sheng had obviously run out of patience too. The moment the meeting broke up, he immediately led Chu Yu out of the main hall. Chu Yu had only taken a few steps when he realized that Xie Xi and Lu Qingan were not following. He stopped Chu Sheng and looked back to see Lu Qingan was surrounded by a group of people.
???
What were they doing???
These people were usually scared to death of Lu Qingan. So why were they in a hurry to approach him today?
Chu Yu was full of doubts as he moved towards them, only to hear those people were all asking, in an amicable tone, questions such as, “Since comrade Lu has withdrawn from Tian Yuan Sect, where will you rest your feet these days?”
Chu Sheng immediately understood when he heard this. He snorted and said, “As soon as Elder Lu leaves Tian Yuan Sect, these sects and clans all can’t help but come to recruit him.”
His words jolted Chu Yu, and Chu Yu solemnly and conscientiously imitated his elder brother as they looked on coldly and silently from the sidelines with folded arms.
Lu Qingan was a cultivator who could break into the demigod stage at any moment. No matter which side he joined, the power of the chosen side would be instantly boosted. If they did not quickly attempt to headhunt such a talent… he might be poached away by the Chu clan.
Although the Chu Clan had never harbored such a thought.
Lu Qingan’s expression was distant as if he couldn’t hear the pressing queries of the crowd around him and had already made his peace. Xie Xi was more or less the same as he contemplated something with lowered eyes. It was a while before he raised his head to glance at Chu Yu. On seeing Chu Yu’s look of impatience, he raised his eyebrows and whispered, “Shizun, we should leave.”
It was only then Lu Qingan gave a slight nod to the crowd and led Xie Xi away towards the entrance.
No one dared to try to stop him from leaving. When they saw Lu Qingan walking over to Chu Sheng, a murmur inevitably rose.
As they left the hall, Chu Yu looked at the upright back of Lu Qingan, then glanced at Chu Sheng, who musing over something with his head lowered. He struggled for a moment and then whispered, “Shizun… why don’t you and shidi stay at the Chu’s encampment for the time being?”
Lu Qingan did not mind and cast a glance at Xie Xi, who had a sparkle in his eyes. Naturally, he would not let his disciple down, so he looked over at Chu Sheng, “Clan Head Chu?”
Chu Sheng stared at Xie Xi with a complicated gaze and sighed after a moment’s dilemma. “It’s our great honor.”
It seems that this man with such a strong little brother complex still could not accept the protagonist…
Chu Yu sighed too.
Back at Chu’s camp, Chu Sheng immediately made arrangements for Lu Qingan and Xie Xi. Not surprisingly, he led Chu Yu in the opposite direction and sighed as he walked. “Oh, little brother. Big brother knows that Xie Xi has deep feelings for you and that you have feelings for him too. But this kid really doesn’t give me a good feeling… have you ever been bullied by him?”
“He wouldn’t dare.” Chu Yu said but also silently added, except when they were in bed, Xie Xi never ceased to take delight in bullying him.
After a moment of silence, Chu Sheng furrowed his eyebrows and said with a desolate expression. “Forget it… maybe it’s time for me to let you go… Little brother, don’t blame big brother for being selfish. Let big brother get accustomed to it first…”
Chu Yu patted him on the shoulder to comfort him.
They were all more or less exhausted after having been on the move for two days. Chu Yu stepped into his room. He had originally wanted to sneak into Xie Xi’s room to placate him, but when he saw Chu Sheng looking at him with shining eyes, he gave up the idea and obediently lay down on his own bed.
Chu Sheng carefully tucked Chu Yu in. He lowered his eyes to look at his new hand once again and frowned as he shook away that strange feeling of uneasiness in his heart. Turning his eyes to look at Chu Yu’s white hair, his heart ached. “Little brother, all that time at the bottom of the abyss… has been hard on you.”
As soon as he mentioned the demonic abyss, Chu Yu remembered the forgotten stone statue. He quickly rose to pull it out and handed it to Chu Sheng, revealing a small smile. “I carved this in the abyss. I hope that big brother won’t detest it.”
Stunned, Chu Sheng received it with trembling hands. His eyes reddened as he looked down at the small stone figure that Chu Yu had carved so patiently and carefully. His lips trembled, and it took him a moment before he could say, in a voice choked with emotion, “I won’t detest it… How could big brother ever detest a gift from little brother?”
He covered his eyes and continued, “You were so cold and taciturn when you were young. Whenever I tried to make you laugh, you’d just always stare at me without saying a word. I thought you hated me. Because of that, I felt despondent and didn’t dare to go looking for you. After I had been wandering around for a long time, I found you sitting at the door as soon as I stepped out. You were like a child of the snow, sitting quietly as if you were waiting for me. When you saw me, you looked up at me in silence, as if reproaching me for not looking for you… Little brother, at that time, big brother made up his mind to protect you all my life.”
Chu Yu felt uncomfortable and conflicted.
Chu Sheng was talking about his memories with… the original host, while he was only an impostor. It was normally fine between them, but once Chu Sheng started to bring up the past, Chu Yu would feel guilty and terrified.
“I’ve been worried about you. I was afraid you might be too antisocial and wouldn’t be able to find a friend. But deep down, out of my selfishness, I thought this wasn’t all that bad since then others can’t get close to you…” Chu Sheng lowered his voice as he spoke. “That year when you took Xie Xi down the mountain to eliminate demons together, big brother realized that you had changed. You were a lot more cheerful than before… which was good. Little brother, big brother has a question. Was Xie Xi the reason for your change?”
…… At first, he had changed because of the plot. But later on, it was indeed because of Xie Xi that even his body had changed this much.
Chu Yu nodded a little guiltily. “Yes.”
Chu Sheng sighed again and reached out a hand to stroke Chu Yu’s head. “Sleep now. Big brother will tell you a story.”
A story?
Chu Yu could not help but say, “Just don’t tell me a story about Fu Lanxue.”
Chu Sheng was dumbfounded. “How did little brother know that I was going to talk about Fu Lanxue?”
Chu Yu, “…”
Although Elder Fu had already lived in seclusion for a long time, the world was still eager to regard him as a bedtime story and a bad example…
Chu Yu slept until midnight when suddenly the heat woke him up.
His body was being held tight in an embrace, and his head was leaning on the chest of the person beside him, who was hugging him around his waist and clamping down on his legs.
Chu Yu looked up at Xie Xi with a complicated expression.
In the past, this child had always been staring at him with aggrieved expression and twinkling eyes until he woke up. Then he would act like a pampered child and beg for hugs. Recently, he had obviously let go of his self-restraint completely. Chu Yu did not even know when Xie Xi had climbed onto his bed and pulled him into his arms.
For him to hold Chu Yu this tightly, it was likely that Xie Xi did not really feel reassured that Chu Yu was with him.
Chu Yu could not return to sleep so easily after waking up. Since he could not shake off Xie Xi’s manacles either, he could only stare blankly at his face. Just as he was daydreaming, Xie Xi suddenly furrowed his brows and opened his eyes. His hand quietly stroked the back of Chu Yu’s head as he lowered his head to move closer until the tips of their noses were touching.
“… Shixiong, don’t stare at me like that.”
Chu Yu had yet to recover his senses and unconsciously asked, “Why?”
Xie Xi sighed. His voice was hoarse as he caressed Chu Yu’s white hair. “Shidi will not be able to control himself.”
Chu Yu, “Oh, then try your best to control yourself.”
Xie Xi laughed. “Shixiong has too many outstanding debts still owed to me. You have not even repaid tonight’s debt either.”
Having said that, his hand slid into Chu Yu’s flimsy inner shirt to grope at his chest. Chu Yu quivered. Seeing Xie Xi’s eyes gradually darken with desire, he could not help but sigh. “Alas, my lessons were futile… What a miscalculation.”
Xie Xi’s actions paused as he forced a smile, “Lessons… futile?”
Chu Yu grieved. “Shidi, I was just thinking about how innocent and naïve, pliant and adorable you were when you were a child…” Unlike now, where all you seem to think of after just a moment together is… that and that.
Xie Xi shrugged his shoulders. He stretched out his slippery, red tongue and licked along Chu Yu’s lips. “Shixiong… shidi was not that innocent and naïve as a child. There was once when shidi dreamed that you cried.”
Chu Yu’s lips felt ticklish and he could not help but raise his head for a kiss. “Huh?”
Xie Xi flipped over to press down on him. He said slowly, “Screwed to tears by shidi.”
Chu Yu: “…”
At those words, he lost any desire to talk to Xie Xi for the time being.
Chu Yu was already drowsy by the time Xie Xi had satisfied them both and then lay down holding Chu Yu in his arms, still kneading and pinching him all over. He sprawled weakly in Xie Xi’s arms for a moment, then perked himself up and reached out to scratch Xie Xi’s chin. “Shidi, you heard what those cultivators were saying in the hall today. What do you think?”
“The righteous are not righteous, but evil is still evil.” Xie Xi felt ticklish and extended his hand to give Chu Yu’s straying hand a squeeze. He smiled as he looked at Chu Yu’s fair and slender fingers, then lowered his head to take a finger into his mouth to lick and bite it as if he was tasting a delicacy. Startled, Chu Yu attempted to withdraw his hand but to no avail. He looked fixedly at an amorous Xie Xi, then turned his head aside to ignore this lascivious scene. He continued.
“If the righteous cultivators had been willing to welcome those commoners with open arms, perhaps this matter wouldn’t be so troublesome now.”
“Hmm?”
“I remembered that Wei Ciyin wasn’t in favor of the battle between the righteous and demonic cultivators. Neither was Elder Wei.”
With Chu Yu’s finger in his mouth, Xie Xi’s words were slurred. “Does shixiong want shidi to go to Mei Yin valley to deal with this?”
If Mei Yin Valley could take the commoners under their protection, then the righteous cultivators would no longer have any more misgivings and the war could be ended soon. The only thing was that this was obviously asking Wei Yin Valley to betray the demonic path… not something that anyone could deal with easily.
Wei Yuanshan seemed to have been on close terms with Xie Xi’s parents, especially Xie Xi’s mother… As they said, love me, love my dog. Thus, he was also concerned about Xie Xi by extension. Those few days at Yun Cuo, he had offered an olive branch several times, wanting Xie Xi to forsake Lu Qingan and stray from the righteous path. But Xie Xi refused to listen to anything about his parents’ past, and consequently, he disliked listening to Wei Yuanshan. He had clung on to Chu Yu, refusing to leave his side, so Wei Yuanshan had no choice but to let them leave.
Although Chu Yu was curious, he could not just hit Xie Xi where it hurt by asking more questions. But now that Xie Xi had seen through him after he had implicitly mentioned the need for Xie Xi to make a trip to Mei Yin Valley, his face reddened and he said with a dry cough. “It’s fine if you aren’t keen on the idea, don’t bother about me. Anyway, we will encounter Wei Ciyin eventually. We can discuss it with him.”
Xie Xi frowned and bit Chu Yu’s finger unhappily before releasing it. He felt better after taking the finger out and seeing the teeth marks on it. With a smile, he took out a handkerchief to wipe Chu Yu’s hand and said, “Shixiong keeps saying things like this. As long as it’s shixiong’s request, shidi will do it no matter what task it is. If shixiong keeps saying such distant words, shidi will be bitterly disappointed.”
Chu Yu said nothing for a moment, then dutifully offer up a kiss. “Then what will it take for shidi not to be disappointed?”
There was a glint in Xie Xi’s eyes and he turned them over to pin him down once again. “This?”
“…” Chu Yu said, “Please have mercy. Spare this old waist of mine today…”
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Reika’s Notes:
- This chapter is by Lianyin of BC Novels.
- I guess the brocon is slowly getting used to Xie Xi.
- Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading.
A bit miffed the author decided to off Third Brother like that. I hope he returns before the story ends.
I know this was released a year ago but why doesn’t Lu Qingan want to advance to the next stage (demigod, or at least I think that’s how it works)? It mentioned the reason somewhere in earlier chapters and my memory always fails me, so why doesn’t he?
Found the part you’re seeking. It’s in chapter 32.
“In this continent, Lu Qingan, the second Elder of the Tian Yuan Sect, was at the peak of the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm. In the ranks as a sword cultivator, he was the most famous one among the seven major sects. It was said that he could touch the immortal realm at any time. However, he was unwilling to enter the ranks of the immortals, because if he did then he would be sent far behind the front lines to keep watch over the sect as an officer. Lu Qingan thought that would be too troublesome so he didn’t want to advance his rank.”
So rough on his waist. There are other “options”. Even if they heal fast (￣へ￣)
Ahhh, the story is truly wrapping up… I’m a bit sad, it’s so good~
Thanks once again for your hard work <3
Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for the update! We appreciate all the work that you do, hope you’re okay
I’m definitely looking forward to CS’s arm reveal.
Thanks for the great translation ♥️
Thanks for the chapter! Hope you’re doing okay! 😘
Thanks for the chapter.
Love the translation! XD
I was so happy that Chu Yu gave Chu Sheng the carved statue, it was a cute moment. I’m still worried about his hand tho…
Thanks a lot for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter!!
Thanks for the chapter!
There is no rec or news today, so it feels a little desolate. I hope you’re doing okay.
Thank you for the update!
Thank you so much for the chapter! I’m so glad that the bro-con is getting used to Xie Xi. It’s kinda sad though considering how isolated he is now. I hope he hurries up and realises who’s hand he obviously has now and gets his own happy ending!
I love you so much Lianyin~~
I couldn’t sleep so I was just refreshing my list on NU and your update came up, ilysm!!!!
I guess I’m just dumb but wouldn’t it be easier to get some of the more skilled ones to kill demonic cultivators without hurting the citizens?