CH 48

In the middle of the night I hear the willow unfolding1

When Wenren Ye received the letter, his first reaction was that it was a strategy or plot cooked up by the Cultivation World in order to distract him.

He didn’t believe it.

But he still retracted the black blade in his hand, and made the knife dissipate into thin air before opening up the letter.

He recognised the handwriting of Jiang Zheliu, a very mature style. The tone of voice was also like him, his manner of speaking was very concise, explaining the entire situation and asking Wenren Ye not to go looking for him.

The sentences were so cold and concise, that there was not one superfluous word used, as if he was just writing to an acquaintance he had just met.

He still didn’t believe it, in fact, it wasn’t that he didn’t believe it, it was that he was still wholeheartedly of the belief that—— the little willow tree had said that he would stay with him and would never leave him.

Shi Binghen had learned more about the situation from the person who had delivered the letter. He didn’t know what to say at this moment. After a long while, he hesitated and said: “…… my Devil Lord, Gongyi Yan also sent word back with a location, there could be a turning point with the Devil Queen.”

……. Turning point?

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What turning point? Could it be a resurrection.

Wenren Ye’s thoughts were a little rigid. He had gained an understanding of the word “death” when he was young, and gained a thorough understanding of it when he grew up, so he believed himself to understand its meaning.

His father fell to flaming calamity not long ago, and was annihilated before achieving the ultimate goal of all cultivators of Dao Fusion, leaving behind only an incredibly dangerous and precious Dao seed.

Could it be that his knowledge of “death” was not actually enough?

At the bottom of this letter was written the coordinates to a location that was written in a script that was unique to the Devil Realm and attached to the letter. Wenren Ye flipped over the letter, his gaze rested on the seal script by his fingertips. His purple eyes barely moved from the coordinates. After a while, he finally spoke, “Shi Binghen.”

His voice was unexpectedly quiet, but it still made the great devil in red’s heart tremble and his mind buzz with confusion.

Shi Binghen had an ominous feeling.

“I’m going to make a trip over there.” Wenren Ye said, “I’ll leave things to you here.”

Shi Binghen nodded, thought for a moment and then said: “Devil Lord, you…… you’re not too upset are you…….”

Wenren Ye wasn’t even listening to him, as if he had just shut himself off automatically, so naturally no response was given. Instead, the teleportation spell was activated directly heading to the location indicated.

It wasn’t until Wenren Ye had left that Shi Binghen recovered his senses, he turned his head and glanced at the devil who had come to deliver the letter and asked him about the Devil Queen’s condition, and then sighed helplessly: “Convene all the high-ranking Generals, I have a feeling……. The Devil Lord will soon give up on our gentle progress.”

“Eh…….?”

“How can I explain this?” Shi Binghen stroked his chin, “People are prone to make irrational decisions when they have received a harsh shock, but such decisions are often more effective and…more dangerous.” “

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, now that the Devil Queen is not here, who cares if the Cultivation World lives or dies.” The great devil in red licked his sharp teeth, and from the tone of his voice, the innate violent nature of the devil race could be heard, “get ready to attack.”

“Yes.”

At the same time, a thousand li2 away.

The carriage was stopped at the border between the Netherworld and the mortal realm.

In the world of mortals, there was no sign of habitation, only lush verdant greenery, full of blooming wildflowers.

When Wenren Ye arrived, his bone wings behind him were half-open, and the patterns all over his devil horns were faintly glowing, reflecting a scarlet cold glow like lava.

He didn’t look at Gongyi Yan and just directly entered into the carriage to see Jiang Zheliu.

He stared at him for a long time, his mind was very calm. But this kind of calmness was not normal. He could hear the cicadas and birds around him, could hear the wind blowing past his ears, and even hear —— the faint breathing sound of the other whilst he slept that Wenren Ye had actually concocted in his mind.

It really was a joke to make a fool of him. Wenren Ye thought.

How could the little willow tree not want him? It must be that his beloved missed him, that he was using this kind of evil joke to make him come back.

But in reality, this in truth, was a body in deep sleep ——a mere body and nothing more. His body temperature was maintained at the same temperature as before his death. Although it was low, he could still feel it. His heartbeat, his breathing had all disappeared, anyone who was thinking rationally could tell whether he was dead or alive.

But the little devil could not, he believed wholeheartedly in Jiang Zheliu’s promise.

Wenren Ye picked him up and carried him out of the carriage, taking Ling Xiao Sword as well. He looked at the gloomy lamp, and thought it was just a normal lamp but since it was for Jiang Zheliu, he decided to take it as well.

The entire time he hadn’t asked a single thing to Gongyi Yan, until she blocked his path.

“My Devil Lord.” Gongyi Yan’s eyes behind the mask glowed a deep blue, “The Devil Queen has only temporarily left you, in fact, he is……”

She didn’t finish her sentence.

Gongyi Yan was blocking his way, and was thrown a hundred meters away by a strong and oppressive devilish energy, straight through lush trees and rocks, before being smacked into a stone wall.

She turned her head and spat out a mouthful of blood, she wasn’t bothered by it at all and instead reached out to fix the falcon mask over her face, before staring back at Wenren Ye.

She watched as her Devil Lord whispered quietly in Jiang Zheliu’s ear.

But even though the Dao body had its meridians reconnected and had been repaired smoothly, even if it was kept at body temperature by the jade pearl and the body did not rot, it had already lost the support of the soul. It couldn’t speak, wouldn’t open its eyes, and won’t respond to him anymore .

She climbed back up, because she was bleeding internally, she spat out another mouthful of blood. But this kind of injury was not serious for the devils, in the end, it was just painful, and it was the type of pain that she could endure.

Gongyi Yan watched as the Devil Lord took the Devil Queen away.

She closed her eyes, and she had an ominous feeling that was not too different from what Shi Binghen was feeling.

————

They were right to have an ominous feeling.

Yu Jinnian was “invited” to the Devil Realm, He Tan was also “invited” to the Devil Realm.

The Chinese medicine doctor and the Western medicine doctor looked at each other in dismay, they were both speechless and could only advance forwards.

The Jingshan Hall of the Devil Realm was the living quarters of all the previous Devil Lords who have lived. It was just that the decoration here had changed drastically, and all the furnishings have been redone according to the interior of the little pinehouse.

A divine sage of medicine and a skilled puppet master, the meeting of the number one mortal medical cultivator and the number one ghost cultivator who met beyond their race and age to come together to consult on a corpse, it had become a sort of farce.

The problem was that the person who had instigated this farce did not think the same way, and instead thought that it was quite normal that if one was sick, then one must get treatment.

If one was sick, then one must get treatment. This was also something that Yu Jinnian and He Tan wanted to say to Wenren Ye, but did not dare to say it out loud.

Everyone knew that Jiang Zheliu was already dead, his broken soul was in the gloomy lamp, floating around in the lamp, lighting up every dark spot in this Jingshan Temple.

It was only the eyes of Wenren Ye that he was only sleeping.

He was breathing, had a heartbeat, and his body temperature was the same as before. And sometimes, Wenren Ye even heard him calling out to his name quietly. He was living in a very odd situation, as he didn’t think that Jiang Zheliu was dead, so he was not upset at all.

After Yu Jinnian finished writing the third prescription out, he finally couldn’t resist any longer, he turned his head towards the child ghost cultivator and said: “Is your jade pearl going to be okay, if we add medicine will it melt the pearl?”

He Tan frowned and said moodily: “What are you on about, are you looking down on my ghostly products. My jade pearl will not be melted by any medicines, but what are you prescribing, can’t he swallow?”

Yu Jinnian was even more annoyed than him, he slapped the table, and said filled with anger: “He’s dead so how can he swallow, in a bit, I’m going to add something to get rid of the medicinal effects and just treat it as giving him some hydration.”

Hydration was a good idea, even if it was an empty corpse, the jade pearl was also capable of absorbing water.

The doctor and the ghostly puppet master sat on the table together, staring at each other, staring indifferently.

After a while, He Tan finally got up and then sat on the table: “…….. What about the Devil Lord’s illness……”

“Don’t ask.” Yu Jinnian said angrily. “I can’t heal people’s minds.”

“This must be…… a sort of hallucination?” He Tan only looked about seven or eight years old, his short little legs were dangling over the table and swaying from left to right “If you can bring the Devil Lord out of the illusion……”

“No need.” Yu Jinnian was so furious that his head was about to explode, “Haven’t you seen that all devils are already a race that just goes around killing people blindly?”

The Devil Lord was now sick in the head, but he was not particularly crazy. If he really realised that Jiang Zheliu was dead, he might go and wreak havoc across the six realms.

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Wrong, five realms. The Empty3 has never been part of this world, hidden in the macrocosm of the other side.

He Tan nodded his own little head, and said regretfully: “I thought that I wouldn’t get into any trouble, but in the end I still got dragged over here……… The ghosts are not worth…….”

“Don’t even go there.” Yu Jinnian patted him on the head. His hand was frozen, it was like touching a corpse so he quickly retracted his hand and said: “And that lamp of yours, is there really hope?”

“Yes.” He Tan laid down on the table and flipped over, “A resurrection device, that’s how it is used, but I’ve never seen anyone succeed.”

Yu Jinnian’s eyes widened: “But you…..”

“When one is alive, one must have hope right?” He Tan said with conviction, “The day that the Devil Lord recovers his senses, won’t he be holding on to this hope to continue living?”

…… What he said actually made sense.

The two of them stared at each other in agreement.

The two of them were accommodated next to Jingshan Hall to be as close to Wenren Ye as possible. Because Wenren Ye had slightly lost his head, he really could not accept that Jiang Zheliu had already died, and really believed simply that the latter’s illness had become more serious and was comatose.

But it was also because of this, the battle launched by the Devil Realm was not hindered in any way, but the progress had been accelerated, making the ink knife that had been fused with the destruction beads to be soaked with blood.

The devils uprooted Tianji Pavilion and Ling Xiao Sect like weeds in their way, Lan Re Temple was hidden from the world, indicating that it had officially withdrawn from this battle, and Wushuang Jian Pavilion also removed itself, having no desire to fight for power.

Jin Yujie had taken over the post of Pavilion Lord from his father, and under the circumstances that Ling Xiao Sect no longer had any leader and Tianji Pavilion had hidden themselves and stayed silent. He temporarily, on behalf of the Cultivation World, negotiated an agreement with the devils to open up a channel between the two realms and yielded some spiritual land that had been untouched by the Cultivation World to the devils. After the agreement was drawn up, he withdrew from the four great immortal sects and gave up the power to influence the future direction of the Cultivation World, thus retaining the power of his own sect, Wushuang Jian Pavilion to the greatest extent.

Wang Wenyuan disappeared, in the same fashion as the Zenmaster, Ming Jing back then.

The flames of war were about to spread to the farthest realm, the Netherworld.

But even so, Wenren Ye still went home every night.

The candles had been lit in Jingshan Hall. There are several candles on each candlestick. The flames were clear and bright, and the originally dim hall was illuminated very brightly, so even if it was late at night, it would not hurt his eyes.

Jiang Zheliu’s books had all been moved here, and lined up neatly, it was just that since they had been moved here, they had not been touched.

He had always liked to sleep, and now it was even more than people, he rested the entire day and never opened his eyes to see him.

Wenre Ye stepped into the hall, took off his bloody wind cloak, dispelled the coldness on his body, unwilling to bring any speck of dirt from the outside into his home.

He knew that the little willow tree was asleep so he tread lightly, not wanting to wake him up.

In reality, it was impossible to wake him up, he was really sleeping far too long, so long that it was like….. There would be no end.

But it didn’t matter, he was just sleeping a bit longer, it wasn’t a big deal.

Wenren Ye sat at the edge of the bed, and stared at Jiang Zheliu for a long time. The violence and irritability from battle can be smoothed out at this moment, and the feeling of being affected by the killing often returned to normal when he was beside the little willow tree.

Jiang Zheliu’s robes had white plum blossoms embroidered upon them, and were hidden in the corners of his sleeves, making them unclear at first glance. His long snow-white hair draped down softly, his long and delicate eyelashes slanted downwards, he had a calm expression upon the soft pillow, there was not the slightest difference in his appearance.

Wenren Ye stared for a while longer and then reached out to smooth out his hair, and then whispered: “You’re still tired?”

No reply, but Wenren Ye didn’t mind, it was as if he could feel the harmonious breathing of Jiang Zheliu, as long as he could hear the sound of his breathing, his anger and suffering could be eased in an instant.

The little willow tree was asleep and would not reply.

It doesn’t matter. Wenren Ye thought calmly to himself, he lowered his head and planted a light kiss on the other’s lips, it was cool and soft, bringing with it a very familiar smell.

“I let Jin Yujie go.” He said, “He’s your junior, I don’t think you’d want him to die.”

The little devil stretched out his hand, and gently opened Jiang Zheliu’s robes that were embroidered with plum blossoms, moved his undershirt, and applied medicine on the stitches and scars on his body.

This ointment was very effective, and can restore most of the body in just a few days. In a few days, He Tan could come to remove the stitches.

“After reconnecting your meridians, you can cultivate again,” Wenren Ye whispered, “When you wake up, I will accompany you to recultivate again.”

After the ointment was applied, it was absorbed into the skin and disappeared without a trace. Wenren Ye put his robes back properly, then covered him with the quilt, and then he lay down beside Jiang Zheliu.

His body still had a very faint icy aura about it, as well as a very inviting scent from the Heavenly Spirit Body.

The little devil thought about it for a while, and then reached out to embrace Jiang Zheliu.

“Wang Wenyuan has gone missing.” He whispered, “When I find him, I’m going to kill him.”

In reality, Wenren Ye was actually very tired. The things he was carrying upon his shoulders were not easy at all, but when he came to Jiang Zheliu, he lost all sense of tiredness. He just wanted to look at him and accompany him.

He wrapped his hand around and slowly clasped the other’s fingers, putting Jiang Zheliu’s slender and cold fingers into the palm of his hand.

“You’ve been sleeping all day in Jingshan Hall, but your hand is still so cold.” Wenren Ye was unsatisfied and rubbed his cold fingertips until the temperature warmed up a bit, before he finally buried himself in Jiang Zheliu’s shoulder and softly asked: “He Tan said if that lamp continues to be lit, you will wake up. You are just too tired, and don’t have energy to reply to me right?”

In reality, it wasn’t like this, even if Jiang Zheliu had no energy, or was sleepy, he would still talk to him and make sure to help calm his emotions.

Wenren Ye believed deeply that Jiang Zheliu would not lie to him.

Zheliu said that he would not leave me, so he would not leave me. He is just sleeping beside, or perhaps when he was not there during the day, Zheliu would get up to read, or chat to the devils outside and ask how Chang Qian and Ah-Chu were doing studying with Qing Lin Zhenjun.

“Qing Lin told me that after Chang Qian is in the Demon Realm, when he heard about your condition, he said he will come back to the Devil Realm to see you.”

He was just speaking casually, and didn’t actually want to wake Jiang Zheliu up.

“But if you are tired and you don’t see him, that’s fine too. Even if he is a half-devil, he is still a devil, he ought to learn through experience in our army.”

Wenren Ye put his hand back to its original place and just buried himself in the other’s shoulder for a long while, and then finally whispered: “There are some rumours in the Cultivation World that you have left.”

Daylight entered through the window, and reflected off the lamp’s flame.

The little devil’s cruel and downcast voice could be heard.

“Those people have all died in the battle.”

He said.

“You will stay with me forever, you won’t leave me, you would never not want me.” He paused, “You would never abandon me by myself.”

He said it with much conviction, with much calm, there was not a trace of someone with a disturbed mind, but to say this sentence was already dangerous to an unpredictable degree.

Wenren Ye could feel the other breathing.

And he was also the only one in this world 一一 who could still feel his breath.

“Good night.” He said, “Just stay and sleep with me.”