Even as Chen Yixin complained inwardly, he raised a hand to Wenren Li’s cheek and guided his face farther around, then gave the reddened skin a light nibble, thoroughly confirming his reputation for taking liberties.
Afterward, Chen Yixin remained pressed against Wenren Li’s cheek with a faint smile, appearing exceptionally proper and serious. “Why did A-Li call my name?”
The flush on Wenren Li’s cheek had already spread to his ear. He resumed walking before finally answering, “A-Rong needn’t worry. They pose no threat to me. The main purpose of this journey is merely to obtain a few things from them while we are there.”
Wenren Li had not been the one to propose the gathering. It simply happened to save him a certain amount of trouble, because he still required several unusual items to remove the curse from Chen Yixin’s divine soul completely.
As Soul Transformation cultivators, the Demon Lords naturally possessed extensive collections. Even if they did not have what Wenren Li required, they might know relevant information. Wenren Li also possessed his own methods of dealing with them.
In any case, the Likui Demon Lord would never allow himself to suffer a loss when dealing with outsiders.
“That’s good.”
As Chen Yixin spoke, he rubbed his cheek against Wenren Li’s, then poked Wenren Li’s slightly stiff chest several times before finally letting him go.
By the time they returned to the red sedan, Nan Ke and the others had already prepared lunch. The meal included meat, vegetables, and fruit and looked exceptionally delicious. The culinary skills of Nan Ke’s squad genuinely made the Demon Guards under Wu Fei view them with newfound respect.
“Not bad.” After taking a bite, Chen Yixin nodded lightly. Nan Ke and the others, who had shown no reaction whatsoever to Wu Fei’s praise, immediately flushed and nodded with faint excitement.
Earning the words “not bad” from Chen Yixin was genuinely difficult. During their journey from north to south, he had disapproved of their cooking countless times. Of course, Chen Yixin never directly said that the food tasted bad; whenever it did, he simply coughed up blood in various alarming ways for them to witness.
After returning to the Demon Palace, nearly every Demon Guard in their squad had privately studied cooking outside their daily cultivation. None of them were foolish, and after receiving guidance from the Demon Palace’s chefs, they had even identified which dishes best suited their individual spiritual roots. On this journey, Chen Yixin had no need to worry about growing tired of the food.
“A-Li, would you like to try some?” Chen Yixin picked up a piece of demonic-beast meat roasted to a golden brown and held it to Wenren Li’s lips.
Wenren Li’s gaze moved from the corner of Chen Yixin’s mouth to the piece of meat between his chopsticks. Without hesitation, he opened his mouth and bit into it.
Chen Yixin studied Wenren Li’s expression and watched him chew slowly without showing any particular reaction, yet Chen Yixin’s mood inexplicably improved even further. A radiant smile appeared on his face, making even the scenery before him lose some of its splendor.
After finishing an entire large plate of meat by himself, Chen Yixin shifted into Wenren Li’s embrace, took Wenren Li’s hand, and pressed it against his lower abdomen so that Wenren Li could help him digest the meal.
Only then did he ask lazily, “Which tastes better, this or a beast core?”
As Chen Yixin asked, he casually raised a hand and wiped the corner of Wenren Li’s mouth, although there was not actually any grease there. Chen Yixin had simply become addicted to teasing him.
Wenren Li was the child of a Ghost King and a tree spirit, born a Demonborn. He had probably never eaten demonic-beast meat prepared in this manner throughout all his years.
Wenren Li gently rubbed Chen Yixin’s stomach as spiritual power seeped into him, slowly removing the food’s impurities. At the same time, he found himself fascinated by the sensation of rubbing Chen Yixin’s stomach and wanted to continue doing it forever.
However, he still needed to answer Chen Yixin’s question. He glanced at Chen Yixin, then at the spotless plate, and told the truth. “I don’t know.”
For Wenren Li, food was never divided into delicious and unpleasant. The only distinction was whether eating it served a purpose.
“Mm.” Once his stomach felt more comfortable, Chen Yixin turned onto his side, nestled directly into Wenren Li’s arms, and closed his eyes for a nap.
Wenren Li had been born a Demonborn and differed from ordinary demonic cultivators, but regardless of what anyone else thought, to Chen Yixin, Wenren Li was simply Wenren Li. Birth could determine nothing, nor did it have the right to decide anything on Wenren Li’s behalf.
Holding Chen Yixin, Wenren Li was once again overcome by that helpless stiffness. It did not come from rejection, but because he understood far too clearly how important the person in his arms was to him, making him unable to stop worrying—even to the point of fearing that he himself might hurt Chen Yixin.
He continued holding him until Chen Yixin had fallen completely asleep, then carried him back into the red sedan, and their journey resumed.
Traveling at an unhurried pace with frequent stops, they finally arrived at Luanmo City one month later. Including Wenren Li, eight of the Southern Territory’s Ten Demon Lords had already arrived.
Wu Fei sent the other thirty people ahead to settle into their assigned residence, while he and Nan Ke continued accompanying Wenren Li and Chen Yixin as they explored Luanmo City’s cultivator market.
Luanmo City bordered the Luanmo Ghost Domain, which contained tens of millions of nether ghosts. Even the lowest-ranked nether ghost had a chance of leaving behind a Nether Pearl when destroyed, and Nether Pearls were among the most important primary ingredients for treating injuries to the divine soul.
The Danyun Sect even used them as the principal ingredient in a grade-seven pill capable of strengthening spiritual sense and stabilizing the divine soul. The sect purchased Nether Pearls year-round at high prices, and whether for wealth or for the sake of someone suffering from an injured divine soul, tens or even hundreds of thousands of low- and mid-level cultivators were drawn to the Luanmo Ghost Domain every year.
“Nether Pearls! Buying Nether Pearls of any grade…”
“Protective talismans! Grades one through three…”
The cries of purchasers and vendors filled the cultivator market, which was crowded with passing cultivators. Their clothing, however, was remarkably uniform: all wore pitch-black hooded cloaks capable of blocking spiritual probing.
As Chen Yixin and Wenren Li approached, Chen Yixin’s pale-yellow robe resembled a brilliant ray of light piercing the darkness—and a dazzling golden ray at that—making him exceptionally conspicuous.
That was merely his clothing. When Chen Yixin turned his head and revealed his excessively beautiful face, both buyers and sellers wherever he looked slowed in their speech and movements.
“Nether… Pearls… Buying… Nether… Pearls…”
Chen Yixin had long since grown accustomed to such reactions. He turned back toward Wenren Li, only to see the expressionless man seize his hand at once and clasp it tightly.
Chen Yixin returned Wenren Li’s grip, narrowed his eyes slightly, and allowed a different sort of smile to curve his lips. A frozen face was an illness, and illnesses had to be treated. He rose onto his toes and whispered something beside Wenren Li’s ear, then lowered his heels and continued watching him.
After another moment, a faint and somewhat unpracticed smile appeared on Wenren Li’s otherwise emotionless face. He smiled at Chen Yixin, his silver-gray eyes revealing emotions markedly different from their usual coldness: complete attention and profound affection.
Chen Yixin’s heart suddenly stirred. His smile faded, and he returned Wenren Li’s gaze with equal concentration.
With a loud smack, an old monster watching the spectacle from a rooftop lost his balance and fell directly to the ground.
He climbed back up, brushed off the dust, and stared at the smiling Wenren Li with his mouth hanging wide open.
“D-Demon Lord, who are you trying to frighten?!”
Wenren Li was already terrifying enough when he did not smile. Somehow, the sight of him smiling was even more frightening.
Wenren Li’s smile gradually faded, but he ignored the old monster’s shouting and continued leading Chen Yixin through the market. However, the old monster’s cry of “Demon Lord” had already exposed Wenren Li’s identity as a Soul Transformation cultivator. A broad space rapidly cleared around them, even among the buyers.
“Is there anything A-Rong wants?” Wenren Li’s spiritual sense swept rapidly across the market, but he found nothing that caught his attention. Still, merely because he found nothing worthwhile did not mean Chen Yixin would feel the same.
Aside from being a sword cultivator, Chen Yixin was also a grandmaster of talismans. At present, however, he possessed no spiritual power. The talismans he drew could still have some effect against minor ghosts and resentful spirits at the first or second level of Qi Refining, but from the third level onward, they could no longer penetrate even their defensive barriers.
That was only Chen Yixin’s present condition. Once he began cultivating again, everything would become different.
Chen Yixin’s gaze swept across the old monster fidgeting restlessly in front of them. He had never met this Soul Transformation cultivator before, but judging from the man’s bearing and clothing, he had already guessed his identity.
Chen Yixin withdrew his gaze and whispered to Wenren Li, “Let’s return first. I’ll write a list for Nan Ke and have him bring people to make the purchases.”
Wenren Li nodded and led Chen Yixin back. Only when they passed the old monster did Wenren Li offer an introduction. “He is Demon Lord Hei Yu.”
At the same time, Wenren Li glanced toward him, and Demon Lord Hei Yu immediately straightened his expression.
“Hei Yu greets Lord Likui and the Demon Consort.”
Although Demon Lord Hei Yu did not bow at the waist, both his voice and posture were exceptionally deferential. They were both Demon Lords of the Southern Territory, yet Wenren Li clearly stood more than one level above him; otherwise, a fellow Soul Transformation cultivator like Hei Yu would never behave so submissively.
Wenren Li’s gaze sharpened slightly, and Hei Yu immediately stopped following them. Wenren Li continued leading Chen Yixin toward the residence at the center of Luanmo City.
As they walked, Chen Yixin could not help falling into deeper thought. For now, his understanding of both Wenren Li and the Southern Territory remained superficial and incomplete. Even the Ten Immortal Sects did not understand them comprehensively.
“Hong Ni greets Lord Likui and the Demon Consort.”
They had barely reached the residence’s entrance when they found four Soul Transformation Demon Lords waiting for them, their faces red from arguing. The moment a seductive demonic cultivator dressed in red noticed them, she immediately sent a flirtatious glance in their direction and offered a formal greeting.
“Zitan, Hegui, and Qingning greet Lord Likui and the Demon Consort.”
Wenren Li turned his head and gave them a slight nod before leading Chen Yixin inside, showing no intention whatsoever of exchanging further pleasantries. The three male and one female Demon Lords all released a breath of relief; they did not want Wenren Li to engage them in polite conversation either.
They resumed their previous quarrel and argued all the way back to their respective residences. Only then did Luanmo City’s streets gradually recover their proper liveliness.
As for Chen Yixin and Wenren Li, who had arrived in the residence’s heated reception hall, neither spoke for a long time.
Chen Yixin stared at Wenren Li, examining him from the left and then the right as though conducting some sort of study. Wenren Li obediently sat still and allowed himself to be inspected, somehow becoming faintly embarrassed beneath Chen Yixin’s gaze.
“Why are they afraid of you?”
Chen Yixin felt that he neither should nor wished to make unnecessary calculations or suspicions concerning Wenren Li. He could ask, and whether Wenren Li chose to answer remained entirely up to him.
“Probably because I’ve lived longer than they have…” Wenren Li said, pressing his lips together slightly as a hint of worry entered his voice.
“How long?” Chen Yixin had considered all manner of possible explanations, but this had genuinely never occurred to him. In his estimation, Wenren Li was at most a little over three thousand years old. Could he possibly have lived longer than three thousand years?
“Thirty thousand years…” Wenren Li once again caught Chen Yixin’s hand, no longer concealing his concern. “Does A-Rong dislike me for being old?”
He was thirty thousand years old, while Chen Yixin was only one hundred and thirty-one—not even a fraction of the years Wenren Li had lived.
Chen Yixin’s eyes widened slightly. Wenren Li’s answer had indeed startled him.
Yet what appeared on his face afterward was not disgust, but fascination. He raised a hand and touched Wenren Li’s hair, then his cheek, and even slipped his hand inside Wenren Li’s clothing to feel his chest several times.
A genuine thirty-thousand-year-old antique…