Qin Shu did not rush to leave.
From the fragments of soul he had just absorbed, he obtained quite a few broken pieces of Zuo Zhe’s memories.
The man’s memories were too numerous and stretched across far too many years. Much of the information from ancient times had already become muddy and indistinct, but as long as Qin Shu could see what Zuo Zhe had experienced over the past few years, that was already extremely useful.
The passwords to Zuo Zhe’s computer and phone, the code to his safe, his cooperation with a Western expedition excavating caves, the names of the little ghosts he had hired and several wandering rogue cultivators… all of it had become an open book, laid out clearly before Qin Shu.
“No wonder that foreigner called Yuanbao ‘Hades.’ I get it now! A new species they discovered in a cave overseas a few years ago, some kind of hell centipede, had the same name… Hades means the ruler of the underworld.”
Qin Shu sat at the computer desk, unlocked Zuo Zhe’s phone, and searched through the old chat logs. “They tried to strip the cave of every resource it had, then blew up all the living things inside while they were at it. After the expedition returned home, two-thirds of them died mysteriously. The survivors were sent to Jiangcheng and handed over to Zuo Zhe for treatment.”
“Was the Cave God’s power involved?” Pei Zhao took every useful book from the shelves and packed them into a schoolbag without looking back. His voice carried the languid satisfaction that only appeared when he had eaten far too much, along with a faint trace of drowsiness.
“Yes. The concept of the Cave God is much larger than I imagined. Wherever a cave exists, some trace of the Cave God’s will remains… Every cave in the world is part of the deity’s territory. I brought a USB drive. I’ll copy everything from the computer first, and we can go through it properly at home.”
Qin Shu paused, then immediately smiled. “You absolutely can’t force yourself to stay awake when you’re sleepy. Zhaozhao, you’ve never fallen asleep in front of me before. This time I have to see it with my own eyes.”
Pei Zhao’s movements paused. After a moment of silence, he did not object. He had actually wanted to say, What is there to see when I sleep? But after thinking about it, whenever Qin Shu slept, Pei Zhao seemed to enjoy watching him too… There was no way to argue.
They hurried through the safe, finding several good treasures designed specifically for soul cultivators, and also took a large box of the special incense Zuo Zhe used while cultivating.
Qin Shu had genuinely never experienced the joy of defeating an enemy and then looting the spoils afterward. It was rather exciting, and he threw himself into the search with tremendous enthusiasm.
By the time they openly left by the same route they had entered, the schoolbags that had originally contained nothing but exam supplies were stuffed full of treasures.
Concealing the disappearance of the arena’s owner was effortless for Pei Zhao. One small illusion could maintain the deception for a very long time. As for what would happen to the arena’s operations afterward… Qin Shu sent Captain Wu a message and left that decision to them.
They did not touch the gold bars or other wealth inside the safe. A great deal of it was probably dirty money anyway, so it could become another achievement for Second Criminal Investigation Squad.
“Zuo Zhe’s house is actually pretty close to mine. It’s in the residential complex across from us. A detached villa with a wide river view, and everything within five hundred meters is his private property… Tsk, tsk. He really knew how to enjoy himself.”
On the way home, Qin Shu enthusiastically scrolled through Zuo Zhe’s phone and shook his head in amazement.
“Mm. We’ll go look tomorrow. For you, a soul cultivator’s inheritance is a fortuitous opportunity.” Pei Zhao’s voice grew quieter and quieter. He gave a soft yawn and rested his head against Qin Shu’s shoulder.
“Don’t fall asleep while you’re walking. Give me the schoolbag.” Qin Shu laughed, took the burden from Pei Zhao’s shoulder, then simply lifted Pei Zhao onto his back.
Pei Zhao’s weight was almost nonexistent to Qin Shu.
To be honest, Qin Shu would rather Pei Zhao were heavier. Now that Pei Zhao lay quietly against his back and closed his eyes without hesitation, he felt more like a cool, soft cloud, so light there was something unreal about it… and he was not breathing.
Seriously. He was not even pretending anymore. Qin Shu sighed. The shadow that had only just been cleared from his heart began aching faintly again.
It was not pure pain, but it was pain all the same. Pei Zhao was sleeping on his back right now, his head relaxed against Qin Shu’s shoulder, soft hair brushing his neck. Qin Shu could touch him, see him, feel all that unconscious closeness and trust.
If Qin Shu turned his head slightly, he could even kiss him. Probably as many times as he wanted.
But Pei Zhao really did seem dead. At the very least, he had died once. Whatever the cause, whatever the reason, Qin Shu was beginning to realize he probably could not accept that fact lightly.
And all the pieces of Pei Zhao’s past that he refused to discuss only confirmed the bad suspicion in Qin Shu’s heart. It absolutely, definitely, inevitably could not have been a peaceful or pleasant death.
Qin Shu stopped talking and did his best to focus on other things. He watched students on the roadside celebrating the arrival of winter break, wandered past the last few roasted-sweet-potato stalls of early spring, and casually bought a bag of fresh lemons, letting their clean citrus fragrance surround him.
Life contained countless tiny beautiful things. He ought to have eyes that knew how to notice them.
When they got home, Qin Shu silently carried Pei Zhao to the bed, laid him down carefully, and kissed him softly before leaving the bedroom to put everything away. Once he finished, he changed into comfortable pajamas, quickly returned to the bedside, slipped under the covers too, and pulled Pei Zhao into his arms.
A long silence spread through the room. Qin Shu did not close his eyes. As he looked at the pale person in his arms, he suddenly realized something.
Pei Zhao almost never left Qin Shu alone inside silence. Even when neither of them had anything to say for a while, Pei Zhao would still remain beside him, quietly doing one small thing or another.
Qin Shu was the one who always left the silence of night to Pei Zhao.
Whenever Qin Shu fell peacefully asleep, there was no one left to keep Pei Zhao company or do anything with him. That was why, at this moment, Qin Shu suddenly felt this strange sense of not knowing what to do with himself…
He really was not used to seeing Pei Zhao asleep. Qin Shu could not do anything, did not want to do anything, and had no idea what he should do.
But doing nothing felt wrong too… Qin Shu knew he could not fall asleep alongside Pei Zhao, yet if he simply stared at Pei Zhao’s face, the reassurance he felt was accompanied by a powerful wave of anxiety.
He seemed to be fretting pointlessly. There was clearly nothing he needed to do. He had only just eliminated one of the threats hanging over his heart and should have allowed himself to enjoy the coming vacation and rest for a while. Yet every time he noticed Pei Zhao was not breathing, some instinct inside him refused to relax.
Just then, Pei Zhao moved and turned his face into Qin Shu’s chest.
That familiar coolness pressed close. Qin Shu’s heart jolted, and he suddenly realized, as though waking from a dream, what was wrong.
No. This was exactly how emotional spirals started, by thinking yourself in circles like this! Let it go on too long, and it would become an inner demon!
And then Qin Shu would not be the only person getting upset.
“I really am sick in the head.” Qin Shu muttered quietly, almost laughing from exasperation with himself. Then he drew a deep breath and pulled the soft blankets tighter around both of them.
What was there to think about? If Pei Zhao could sleep peacefully, then Qin Shu had nothing to worry about. Sleep first. Everything else could wait.
＊
That delayed afternoon nap unexpectedly lasted a very, very long time.
Several days of high-intensity exams, the “dungeon” training sessions squeezed into every spare moment between revision, the mental exhaustion of repeatedly discussing their plan, and the yin-energy impact from the Myriad-Soul Banner exploding in the office building… every scrap of fatigue was washed away by that deep, satisfying sleep.
When the two finally woke in a haze, the sunset outside had only one last violet-red edge remaining. The glaring sun had hidden itself inside the clouds, dyeing the approaching night in rich layered colors.
“What are we going to do… Will we even be able to sleep tonight?” Qin Shu’s voice was slightly hoarse. His lips rested against the side of Pei Zhao’s neck, his warm breath spilling over that patch of pale, cold skin.
Pei Zhao’s deeply relaxed body stiffened for one brief instant. Only after a moment did he speak softly. “If you enter meditation and cultivate, you can fall asleep very quickly. If you have time, you can open a hidden cave dwelling and sleep inside it for several decades. That was how the old ascetics who practiced qi cultivation lived.”
Qin Shu was still trapped in drowsiness and had trouble processing such a long sentence immediately after waking. He did not notice that Pei Zhao’s face had turned slightly pink. The only thing he heard clearly was that astonishing unit of time at the end.
“Several decades?! That sounds miserable. Hahaha, I have absolutely no interest in spending decades without seeing you. I’d definitely go insane.” Qin Shu laughed and wrapped one arm around Pei Zhao’s waist, pulling him even closer.
Qin Shu had held him tightly while asleep and did not loosen his grip after waking. Pei Zhao was trapped so firmly that he could not move and could not even roll over.
“Why are you holding me so tightly?” Pei Zhao finally asked after struggling briefly and discovering it was useless.
He was actually a little confused too. Qin Shu’s attitude felt strange, but he could not work out exactly why.
“Sigh… How do I put this? I realized I’m a little too sensitive, and kind of immature about it too.” Qin Shu turned his head and kissed the corner of Pei Zhao’s eye. In a gloomy voice, he said, “When I should be sensitive, I’m oblivious. When there’s no need to be sensitive, I notice everything. What a pain. Don’t you think I’m an incredibly troublesome person?”
Pei Zhao closed his eyes and comfortably allowed the warm lips to touch his face. “Nonsense.”
“All right. As long as you say that, I’m reassured.” Qin Shu chuckled and lazily held Pei Zhao for a long while longer before hunger finally dragged him reluctantly out of bed.
He did not let Pei Zhao cook. Qin Shu went to make an enormous pot of char siu noodles loaded with ingredients instead. Pei Zhao opened the refrigerator, inspected the lemons Qin Shu had bought while he was asleep, then selected two to make a refreshing little dessert.
Ever since the two of them started living together, Qin Shu had continued craving Pei Zhao’s cooking, but he increasingly could not stand watching Pei Zhao work alone while Qin Shu merely stood beside him doing nothing. He always ended up crowding closer and taking over part of the work.
After enough of that, Qin Shu accidentally succeeded in stealing his teacher’s skills. The slapdash cooking he had once used merely to feed himself while living alone improved dramatically, not only in taste but even in presentation.
Every now and then Qin Shu photographed something and sent it to his mother. No explanation, purely to show off. But even now his mother still refused to believe Qin Shu could make perfectly round, delicate snow-skin mochi. She simply assumed that poor Pei Zhao had spent another exhausting afternoon cooking and would transfer Qin Shu a huge sum of money, warning him not to mistreat the boy.
Qin Shu could not even refuse. Whenever he tried to emphasize that he had plenty of money now, could earn money himself, and absolutely did not need living expenses… his mother believed him even less. She would start suspecting an online scam and warn him that he had better obey the law.
Qin Shu did not dare tell her the truth. No matter how open-minded and accepting his mother was, he could hardly admit that the enormous sum in his bank account had been earned from some foreigner at a subway station…
So far, among every major, minor, and important thing that had happened this year, the only truth Qin Shu had dared tell his parents directly was that he and Pei Zhao were dating.
He had been a little nervous at the time. Senior year was a sensitive period, and Pei Zhao was the same sex as him, another sensitive subject in some people’s eyes. Qin Shu had never had this particular string in his brain before and had never discussed romance with his family, so he genuinely had no idea how his parents might react.
His mother, however, was not surprised in the slightest. She even complained that Qin Shu had moved too slowly and was hopeless.
Only then did Qin Shu learn that Ms. Qin had realized long ago that he liked Pei Zhao. Not only her, but Ms. Su next door had apparently reached the same conclusion.
The two women had already speculated about when Qin Shu would finally make a move… In the end, Qin Shu nearly wasted his entire high-school career before slowly becoming aware of the obvious.
Fortunately, it was not too late.
After finishing an entire huge pot of char siu noodles, Qin Shu’s energy returned. He enthusiastically joined Pei Zhao in what he was doing: inspecting the treasures they had looted from Zuo Zhe’s office.
Pei Zhao was extremely picky, but among the treasures Zuo Zhe possessed, there really were a few things that more or less met his standards.
Some of those treasures might have been ordinary goods during the flourishing era, but after so many years of the Severing of Heaven and Earth, most magical artifacts genuinely worthy of being called divine weapons had either been hidden away long ago, destroyed in various catastrophes and wars, or… had already left this world together with their owners.
Today, Zuo Zhe’s treasure storehouse was probably one of the most coveted collections in the world outside the dragon race’s own vaults.
Pei Zhao divided the treasures he selected into three piles. One contained things that were not especially powerful but could be given to friends. Another consisted of objects that looked better than they worked and that Pei Zhao kept purely because he liked their appearance. Only three lonely items remained in the final pile, all reserved for Qin Shu.
He pulled Qin Shu down beside him and first picked up a clear, perfectly round pearl. It resembled the eyeball slightly in appearance, but was much smaller, only about the size of a thumbnail.
“This is a Soul-Stabilizing Pearl. Take it. I’ve erased the mark Zuo Zhe left behind. Drip your blood on it and bind it to yourself directly, then keep it with you from now on. Once Chang Liu Yi’s artifacts arrive, string this pearl into them and wear it together with the rest,” Pei Zhao instructed solemnly.
Qin Shu immediately obeyed. He touched Yuanbao’s sharp mouthparts with one finger, then gently dripped the tiny bead of blood that appeared onto the magical treasure. Thoughtfully, he said, “Cultivators back then really did love using round things as magical artifacts. We’re accumulating more and more beads at home.”
“This pearl is different from the others. For a soul cultivator, it is one of the strongest guardians available during cultivation. It protects your soul from disturbance by evil things and can calm your mind quickly when you become too agitated, acting like a stabilizing anchor.” Pei Zhao paused and narrowed his eyes. “Do not forget. Inner demon.”
“…Hiss. Right.” The look Pei Zhao gave him made Qin Shu jolt as he abruptly remembered his strange state that afternoon. His fingers closed more tightly around the little cold pearl.
He absolutely did not dare forget Xiao Zhu’s curse. In that case, he could use this little pearl to remind himself at all times.
“All right. Next.” Only then was Pei Zhao satisfied. He reached beside the rug and picked up a dagger with an ancient, understated design.
There was nothing flamboyant about it. It came with a black sheath, and the dagger itself was pitch-black from end to end. Only the handle carried a few simple grooves to improve the grip. The texture of that darkness was unusually pure and free of impurity, reflecting a mesmerizing cold gleam beneath the living-room lights.
Qin Shu tilted his head as he accepted it and gave another soft “hiss” from the cold. Curious, he asked, “This is seriously cool, but do I need a dagger?”
“The dagger is made from Profound Yin Cold Jade. In special earth veins rich with spiritual energy and resources, only a piece the size of a fingernail can form every three hundred years. So-called cold jade is the essence left when water vapor from the River of Forgetfulness occasionally passes through a channel between the Three Realms, becomes stranded in the mortal world, then slowly accumulates and transforms. Its yin energy has condensed to the absolute limit. Every cut can wound the soul.”
Qin Shu’s eyes grew brighter with every sentence. Then Pei Zhao curved his lips into an extremely rare, faintly smug smile and said softly, “There’s actually a piece in Phoenix Village too, about the size of a fist. I stole it and brought it home. If you ever need to repair a damaged artifact later, we can use it as replacement material at any time. So if you need this dagger, use it freely. There is nothing to worry about.”
“Zhaozhao, you… did well!” Qin Shu could not help lowering his voice too. Even inside his own house, he sounded like a thief, his voice growing quieter and quieter. “This is great. It’ll definitely be incredible for killing ghosts. Cough. Even better for killing people.”
Fortunately, the first step in their plan had been to disable Zuo Zhe’s ability to move instantly. If Zuo Zhe had truly found an opportunity to drag Qin Shu into a prolonged fight while holding a dagger this powerful… Qin Shu did not dare imagine how many tiny, stabbing wounds his soul might have ended up carrying.
Simply holding the pitch-black dagger now made Qin Shu cold all over. If he brought it closer and studied the impossibly sharp edge, he even felt an uneasy sensation as though his vital point had been targeted. He hurriedly took advantage of the fact that his index finger had not healed yet, tore the wound open again, and dripped blood onto the dagger to bind it.
“Give it a name. Magical treasures possess spirits, and the longer you use one, the more intelligent it can become. This belongs to you now, so familiarize yourself with it and cultivate a bond,” Pei Zhao said softly, his gaze resting on Qin Shu’s fingertip.
Qin Shu was terrible at this sort of thing. He scratched his head for a while. “Then… Little Black?”
“…Your taste is terrible.”
“Who says? I like you best, which proves my taste is number one under Heaven,” Qin Shu retorted proudly.
Pei Zhao froze and quickly looked away. “You’re strangely quick when it comes to this… Fine. The last thing is protective too.”
He lowered his eyes, moved the box aside, and took out the object sitting at the very bottom.
An old-man tank top.
Yes. A white old-man tank top.
It was a single thin layer and slightly too small for Qin Shu. If he forced himself into it… every line of his body and every trace of muscle would be stretched visibly beneath the cloth. It would probably look aggressively suggestive.
Qin Shu stared blankly for a moment without speaking. The look he gave Pei Zhao gradually became strange.
“…Don’t think nonsense. This is Gold-Silk Heart-Guarding Armor, a ritual garment refined from pure gold and Earth-Marrow Milk. Its original color was glittering gold, which was far too ostentatious.”
Pei Zhao’s ears reddened. He threw the garment into Qin Shu’s arms, and his speech quietly sped up. “Zuo Zhe disguised it in this inconspicuous form. I think the style is suitable too. It certainly won’t attract suspicion from other people. Once you put it on, the size adjusts to your body. It won’t be that tight.”
Qin Shu pinched the cloud-soft fabric and fought so hard not to laugh that it nearly caused internal injuries. He hurriedly lowered his head and coughed several times, speaking just as quickly. “I’m begging you, Zhaozhao. Can you turn it into a normal T-shirt for me? Don’t you think an old-man tank top has absolutely no sex appeal? If I walk around the house in this every day, I’m going to look like a plumber with ulterior motives!”
“Fun fact. On a certain website, romantic films featuring plumbers are… exceptionally well represented.” Pei Zhao’s answer was strangely specific. The tips of his ears were still faintly pink, and his voice quietly softened. “Qin Shu, I don’t dislike role-playing.”
“Huh? What… oh.”
Qin Shu did not understand at first. Then his voice slowly disappeared. After a long silence, he grabbed the white tank top, crumpled it into a ball, and forcibly stuffed the whole thing into his pants pocket.
For the moment, he did not mention changing its style again. The treasures had all been distributed, and Pei Zhao suddenly had nothing else to add.
Great. Now the two of them sat silently on the rug staring at each other, invisible steam rising simultaneously from both heads like two red apples locked in a standoff.
“…Y-you pick a date?” In the end, Qin Shu was the one who summoned every scrap of courage and broke the silence, then immediately added, “Not today.”
“I never said today.”
Pei Zhao answered instantly without looking at him either.
Winter break had begun.