Chapter 34: Eating Fish – If He Is the Black Lotus, Then They Are Destined to Draw a Clear Line…
Su Huan’s eyes widened, and he felt so ashamed and indignant he could die.
He immediately struggled to get up, but was caught off guard by the other’s gaze. He was startled to find that those eyes, usually pitch-black and heavy in his impression, now looked like an inverted galaxy. Yet, amidst the myriad of stars, they held only his reflection.
Su Huan’s movements involuntarily slowed.
A thought drifted through his mind: So this is what it looks like when the Black Lotus falls in love with someone.
Aside from the murmuring water, he couldn’t hear any other noise.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of a heart pounding wildly.
“Huan-er?”
A single word stirred up a thousand waves. Su Huan was jolted awake. He hurriedly pushed Xiao Jianming away, but used too much force and accidentally fell back into the shallow water, splashing countless droplets.
It was only then that Su Huan realized the fish in his hand had long since escaped to parts unknown.
Su Chao pushed through the bushes to the creek bank, the worry on his face not yet faded. Behind him followed Ning Zhou, who looked at the two soaking wet figures with a meaningful expression, letting out an ambiguous “Tsk, tsk.”
“No wonder we haven’t seen you for so long; so you were out here doing it in the wild…”
“Ah Zhou!” Su Chao scolded lightly, stopping him from saying anything more explicit. Yet, he seemed to believe Ning Zhou’s implication, turning his head away with reddened ears. He stammered, his voice getting quieter and quieter, “You… you two as well… the secret realm is so dangerous, yet… yet you still mess around like this…”
By the end, his voice trailed off, and he was so embarrassed that he dragged Ning Zhou and ran off into the distance.
Su Huan wanted to explain, but the posture he and the Black Lotus had just been in was simply too ambiguous. Given how sharp the eyes and ears of cultivators were, Su Chao and Ning Zhou must have seen everything clearly. Explaining now would only look like covering up.
As he stood up from the water, Su Huan saw Xiao Jianming still in the same spot, motionless. The expression on his face was dazed, as if he had lost his soul. It was like he had been stimulated by something and had turned a deaf ear to the outside world.
Su Huan felt puzzled. He couldn’t help but reach out and wave his hand in front of Xiao Jianming’s eyes. Suddenly, his hand was seized.
Xiao Jianming subconsciously caught the flash of white before him. Once he reacted, he released it as quickly as if he had been electrocuted and squeezed his eyes shut.
The way Su Huan had been soaking wet and pressed against his body just now was exactly like a dream he had once had.
A dream that had taught the youth what desire was.
He had only had that dream once and had long forgotten its contents.
But the moment he accidentally touched that warm, lean waist, he instantly remembered everything.
The tenderness and beautiful allure of the dream came flooding back, tempting him to almost lose control and do exactly what he had done in the dream.
But he couldn’t do that.
Xiao Jianming scooped up cold water and splashed it fiercely onto his face, thoroughly suppressing the turbulent violence and restlessness in his heart.
If he really did that, Buhuan gege would definitely fall out with him.
When he touched the youth’s soft waist just now, what he remembered wasn’t just the romantic scenery of the dream, but also…
The sword he had personally stabbed into him.
At this thought, a trace of bitterness spread through his heart, turning into boundless guilt and regret.
It was precisely this thread of emotion that allowed him to control himself and not get lost in the abyss of delusion.
Su Huan was bewildered by his actions. A thought flashed through his mind like lightning, and he subconsciously looked down.
When he saw clearly, his eyes immediately rounded.
That place was actually… tented up!
Xiao Jianming sensed his gaze. Before he could lower his head, he saw Su Huan quickly turn his back, his white jade-like ears now completely crimson.
Once he realized what had happened, he felt a sense of shame. With some embarrassment and annoyance, he used his spiritual power to suppress his body’s reaction and said in a muffled voice, “Let’s go back.”
After speaking, he couldn’t wait to stride quickly up the bank, but was called back by Su Huan.
Su Huan stammered, whispering, “Um… are you good at catching fish?”
He looked somewhat discouraged at the stream, which had returned to its calm, gentle flow. The fish had all been scared into the water weeds.
If he had known this job was so hard, he wouldn’t have taken it on.
Xiao Jianming paused. He brought his fingers together in a sword gesture and moved his fingertips slightly. Several icicles condensed out of thin air and simultaneously pierced into the lush water weeds by the bank.
Just like that, over a dozen pearly white spirit fish, worth thousands of spirit stones on the market, were brought out, their struggling tails flinging a string of water droplets.
Su Huan, who had busied himself for ages only to catch one fish that ran away, couldn’t help but let out a gasp of amazement.
Yet, this sound turned into an invisible blade, stabbing fiercely into Xiao Jianming’s heart.
If his Golden Core hadn’t been shattered, Su Huan could have easily done such a small trick too.
Thinking of the lethal hand he had dealt back then, Xiao Jianming began to rejoice that the divine beast had been there.
Otherwise, he would have unknowingly killed his own bright moon with his own hands.
When Su Huan and Xiao Jianming returned carrying two large ice buckets, Su Chao couldn’t help but gasp at the quantity of spirit fish inside: “So many!”
Ning Zhou also leaned over to take a look. “Getting so many, are you planning to set up a stall and sell them in the secret realm?”
Xiao Jianming retorted, “I didn’t control my spiritual power well; it was just a slip of the hand.”
Ning Zhou raised an eyebrow. The wounds on the spirit fish were all fatal one-hit kills—this was called not controlling it well?
It wasn’t until he saw Su Huan happily eating the grilled spirit fish, finishing one and reaching for another, that he finally understood.
What slip of the hand? He clearly knew someone liked eating fish and deliberately caught extra.
Su Huan ate until he was full. He sat on the ground with satisfaction, feeling so comfortable all over that he wanted to sleep. Turning his head, he saw the other three meditating on the spot, circulating their energy.
Their auras were climbing steadily, one more rapid than the other.
He couldn’t help but be stunned, thinking, No wonder cultivators always cook spirit food in secret realms. Eating one meal increases spiritual power this much.
Unfortunately, only spirit beasts naturally bred in the secret realm had such effects, and fresh catch eaten on the spot worked best. Since secret realms mostly vanished into chaotic turbulence outside of fixed times, cultivators couldn’t live inside permanently. Otherwise, he would be extremely willing to live here forever.
Su Chao and Ning Zhou had already set up defensive arrays around them. With nothing to do, Su Huan boredly studied the formation patterns on the ground. Suddenly, he realized he seemed to understand them all.
Not only did he understand the mysteries within at a glance, but he could even see through the array’s eye and visualize other formations that, if superimposed, would double the effect!
He was amazed; his “Golden Finger” could actually be even more powerful!
Thinking of Nangong Yi and Yue Jiusi whom he met earlier, he wondered if “Meng Qinghui,” who granted him this cheat, would also appear in reality.
Recalling the illusion, Su Huan couldn’t help but sigh. The name “Heart Tribulation Illusion Dream” was truly fitting. His biggest knot in his heart was indeed that no one could pull him up after his parents died. He hadn’t expected that transmigrating would accidentally break it.
It was just that… Su Huan glanced at the Black Lotus beside him, feeling quite indignant.
He had looks, wealth, and conscience… wait, except for his face, the guy was black through and through.
Sigh.
Thinking of this, Su Huan involuntarily touched the spot on his dantian where there was a bump.
He spread his hands, lay back, and looked up at the starry sky.
If it were anyone else, he would certainly try to become close friends with them. But if it was the Black Lotus, then they were destined to draw a clear line.
Although the Black Lotus’s attitude toward him now was heaven and earth compared to before, he was lucid enough to know that he wasn’t Ji Buhuan. If he didn’t extricate himself in time, he would be doomed sooner or later.
Right, I still have to find a way to get rid of that contract seal in my soul…
I wonder if my Golden Finger can crack it…
Before he could put his plan into action, Su Huan felt a wave of drowsiness and groggily fell asleep.
Beside him, Xiao Jianming intermittently felt the joyous and relaxed emotions coming from the other end of the contract seal, and his furrowed brows gradually smoothed out.
The next day, after fully absorbing the spiritual food, Su Chao stretched comfortably.
Seeing that Su Huan hadn’t woken up yet, he asked the two who had woken up earlier to guard the surroundings and check if the nearby arrays were damaged.
However, even by noon, the person still hadn’t woken up.
Worried that something was wrong, Su Chao reached out to check him, only to discover that the place in his dantian where the Golden Core should be rotating was shattered.
Without a rotating Golden Core, the spiritual power brought by the spirit fish could neither be refined by itself nor expelled. It just accumulated in the dantian, becoming a pool of “silt.”
He didn’t know how it happened, but when he tried to guide this spiritual energy out, the spiritual power he sent in disappeared like a mud ox entering the sea.
He stumbled, reaching out to pick up the quietly sleeping youth, but he was trembling so much he couldn’t even stand steady himself.
Seeing him like this, Ning Zhou asked, “What’s wrong? Why such panic?”
Su Chao’s voice trembled, “Huan-er… Huan-er’s Golden Core is gone, but I can’t channel out the excessive spiritual energy in his body no matter what I do. What should I do, Ah Zhou?”
Hearing this, Ning Zhou immediately frowned, feeling annoyance rise within him. He grabbed Xiao Jianming by the collar and growled low, “He doesn’t have a Golden Core, yet you dared to let him eat so many spirit fish?!”
“Don’t you know that people without a Golden Core can’t eat too much spirit food!”
Xiao Jianming froze completely.
After a long while, he said dazedly, “…I didn’t know.”
Then, he asked hoarsely, “Without a Golden Core… what will happen?”
No one answered him.
But in Su Chao, he saw a surging malice rushing towards him.
Ning Zhou glanced at him before saying, “You should be thankful his dantian is intact; otherwise, he would have exploded and died.”
Hearing the last four words, the blood in Xiao Jianming’s body seemed to solidify.
Ning Zhou rubbed his chin in thought. “Logically, once a cultivator forms a Golden Core, they share its fate. Without the Golden Core, one is either dead or crippled. But this kid can still run and jump like a normal person… This might be why we can’t channel the spiritual energy out of his body.”
“I ask you, what did you two go through? And why did he lose his Golden Core and become like this?”
Xiao Jianming closed his eyes and said hoarsely, “His Golden Core… shattered because of me…”
Just a few words, yet they stabbed his heart until it was dripping with blood, causing him so much pain he couldn’t speak another word.
“What did you say!” Su Chao looked at him sharply, the malice on his body skyrocketing, crashing down like a collapsing mountain.
Ning Zhou also frowned, mocking, “Is this how you take care of your Dao Companion?”
“And Chongjiang Zhenren actually allowed you two to form a contract?”
Su Chao had the heart to kill him right then. Suddenly hearing this sentence, a light flashed in his mind. “Master. Right, Master surely has a way to save Huan-er. Let’s return to the Xuanji Sect quickly!”
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