Chapter 105: Ning Ke: Pestering and Unreasonable
Because Wu Gou was born with a Seven-Apertured Exquisite Heart and could see the lifelines of karma, he had been much more sensible than other children since he was young.
He was also much more indifferent.
The grandmother who lived next door was very kind to him, but because her spiritual roots were poor and she could not cultivate, her lifespan was naturally that of an ordinary person. She passed away at the age of seventy.
At the funeral, the grandmother’s relatives cried piteously.
Wu Gou, however, stood to the side and said, “This is her fate. There is no need for you to be sad.”
When those people heard Wu Gou’s words, the way they looked at him changed instantly.
It was only because his father covered his mouth and led him away from the funeral that a major incident was avoided.
Wu Gou joined the Buddhist sect simply because some of the truths within the scriptures resonated with him. It wasn’t to achieve a high level of cultivation or possess immense strength.
He followed his heart, wanting to see the world clearly through it.
Until… he met Ning Ke.
He found this Yao Lord to be very interesting.
Bound by so much karma and shrouded in so many mysteries, Ning Ke piqued his desire for knowledge.
As they spent time together, Wu Gou discovered that Ning Ke possessed an inexplicable infectiousness. It tugged at his emotions, making him want to stay by this person’s side to uncover more secrets.
Thus, being shut out by Ning Ke was an experience he did not wish to repeat.
He was willing to gamble with his life.
Gamble for a chance to make Ning Ke accept him.
Ning Ke frowned. “Why are you so stubborn? Do you truly think I don’t dare to kill you?”
“I am not afraid of you killing me.” Wu Gou was already feeling waves of suffocation, yet he continued to speak. “I am only afraid… that you will never listen to what I have to say again…”
Ning Ke was stunned.
After a moment, he finally let go.
He watched Wu Gou, who had slumped to the ground coughing.
Ning Ke pursed his lips tightly. After a long silence, he finally said, “…Fine, do as you wish.”
With that, he swept his sleeve and walked back in the direction they had come from.
Wu Gou hurriedly scrambled to his feet, crudely bandaged his neck with a strip of cloth, and followed in Ning Ke’s footsteps.
On their way back, they encountered Lou Yunxiao, who was searching for Ning Ke.
“Fellow Daoist Wu Gou.” Seeing the two walking side by side, a dark light flashed in Lou Yunxiao’s eyes. He asked, “Why are you with A-Ke?”
“Where did the two of you go in the middle of the night? Why didn’t you inform me and my Master before leaving?”
“He is your Sword Sect’s A-Ke, but he is also the Buddhist sect’s Ming Xin—my fellow disciple. Is it not normal for us to be together?”
Wu Gou replied with a faint smile, “There was an anomaly in the north, so I invited Ming Xin to investigate with me. We found no trace of the Great Mo, so we were returning to rendezvous with you. Now that we’ve found you, we can return to Sect Leader Gao together. I’ll have to trouble Benefactor Lou to lead the way.”
His answer was seamless, and he even helped Ning Ke hide the matter of picking up the sachets.
This caused Ning Ke to cast a glance at him.
“…” Lou Yunxiao’s expression was quite grim.
When he discovered A-Ke was missing, he had panicked. He feared the person had been so angered by his words during the day that he truly left, leaving him with nowhere to search.
Now that he had finally found him, the man was with Wu Gou.
Lou Yunxiao had never considered himself a jealous person before.
But now, seeing A-Ke—who avoided him like a venomous snake—being so close to Wu Gou, his heart felt as if it were overgrown with thorny grass, pricking him with both itchiness and pain.
With a cold face, he said to Wu Gou, “Next time you sense an anomaly, speak up directly. Don’t exclude me and my Master. It will also reduce the danger.”
Wu Gou shrugged, not arguing with him.
However, seeing Lou Yunxiao move to Ning Ke’s other side, he arched an eyebrow and said, “Didn’t I say? Benefactor Lou, you should lead the way in front.”
“Master is just up ahead; I don’t need to lead the way.” Across Ning Ke, he looked at Wu Gou and said, “Furthermore, what I choose to do is not for Fellow Daoist Wu Gou to dictate.”
[System: Host, I think I smell a strange scent of gunpowder in the air.]
Xiao Yuan’s voice rang out in Ning Ke’s consciousness.
Ning Ke lowered his eyes, ignoring the two of them as he walked forward on his own.
After half a step, he stopped.
Turning his head, he saw Lou Yunxiao had grabbed his sleeve.
The youth’s eyes were filled with obsession as he sent a voice transmission.
—A-Ke, I will watch you closely from now on.
—I will never let you leave my sight again.
Cultivators can transmit their voices within a certain distance without others hearing.
Ning Ke’s gaze flickered.
He pulled his clothes back, ignoring Lou Yunxiao.
The latter, however, intentionally ignored his coldness and leaned in, saying, “A-Ke, I know you threw away those sachets because my embroidery wasn’t good enough. I will continue to hone my skills in the future. I will embroider until you are willing to accept them.”
Ning Ke’s jaw tightened.
He replied coldly, “You are not the one my heart desires. No matter how well you embroider, I will not accept them.”
Listening from the side, Wu Gou rubbed his prayer beads, thinking to himself that he didn’t know who it was that had just picked the ground clean of those sachets. He himself had nearly been silenced by a certain someone for witnessing it.
Though he didn’t know the full story behind the emotional entanglement between Ning Ke and Lou Yunxiao, there was one thing he was certain of.
Ning Ke’s feelings for Lou Yunxiao were no less than Lou Yunxiao’s feelings for him.
It was just that Ning Ke himself didn’t seem to realize it.
He was merely forcing himself to endure.
Lou Yunxiao was still smiling.
Though there was a hint of desolation between his brows, he still pressed on: “Then I will work hard to become the one your heart desires. Will you be able to accept them then?”
“…Pestering and unreasonable.”
“A-Ke, you’ve called me ‘pestering and unreasonable’ twice today.” Lou Yunxiao continued to pursue Ning Ke. “I can see it. Although you are cold to me, you are still willing to answer my questions. This means you don’t hate me.”
“To not hate is to like.”
He said, “Therefore, A-Ke, you like me.”
“?”
Ning Ke was speechless. He replied with four words: “Full of twisted logic.”
“I feel that if twisted logic is spoken enough, it will eventually become the truth.”
Lou Yunxiao followed Ning Ke closely.
The usually cold and ethereal Lou-someone was acting as if he had undergone a personality shift, shamelessly continuing.
“So, the part about A-Ke liking me—that will definitely be realized in the future.”
Ning Ke frowned, wanting to argue back, when his expression suddenly sharpened.
He accelerated, heading toward Gao Ze’s location!
Lou Yunxiao also sensed the anomaly and caught up to Ning Ke without a second thought.
From a distance, they saw Gao Ze engaged in combat with something!
The thing was two yards tall, roughly the size of a man, and pitch black. It was shrouded in spatial turbulence, tearing fractures in the air, snapping trees, and sending sand and stone flying.
“A Great Mo!” Lou Yunxiao said in a heavy voice. “We searched for so long without finding him, yet he appeared on his own!”
Gao Ze’s long sword expanded several yards, slashing down. The Mo reached out to block, the spatial turbulence disrupting the sword intent and minimizing the damage.
At the same time, it lifted its head and saw Lou Yunxiao in the distance. Its exaggeratedly large mouth opened, emitting a he-he sound.
It seemed to be laughing.
Immediately after, a spatial entrance abruptly appeared behind it.
The Great Mo took a step back and successfully stepped into the entrance.
He waved at Lou Yunxiao, his face transforming into the likeness of Lou Jing.
“My dear son, hurry and come over to your Father—”
Translator’s Note: Talk about a cliffhanger! Nan Lou using Lou Yunxiao’s father’s face to taunt him is just peak villain behavior. And can we talk about Lou Yunxiao’s “twisted logic”? He’s really leaning into that blackened obsessive energy. Poor Ning Ke is stuck between a monk who can see his secrets and a protagonist who won’t take “no” for an answer.
Glossary:
- Seven-Apertured Exquisite Heart (七窍玲珑心): A heart that is incredibly perceptive and intelligent, often associated with a special constitution in Chinese mythology.
- Mo (魔): Demon.
- Dao (道): The Way / Path.
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