Chapter 40
Due to Xie Xi’s nasty behavior, Chu Yu felt that it was still necessary for him to establish the dignity of a s.h.i.+xiong and so, with a cold expression on his face, he kicked him out the door.
He had taken care of that small problem but there was still a big problem remaining.
Chu Yu thought hard over how he could keep up the lie ——
Xie Xi was easy to fool and he was even helping him patch up the holes in the lie. The brocon was also easy to fool, but it wouldn’t be easy to keep up the lie…
It was entirely too easy to imagine just how agitated Chu Sheng’s state of mind would become once he heard that their father could be resurrected. He’d immediately begin preparations to send his men to search high and low for any clues. He absolutely would be unable to trust the protagonist…
However, it didn’t seem too bad of a plan to just not tell Chu Sheng that this ability belonged solely to the protagonist and let it seem as if he had the idea himself.
Chu Yu then cheerfully meditated and waited for Chu Sheng to come back.
The night gradually deepened, the stars were spread sporadically in the sky. It was already late autumn and the tree leaves had withered away. Before long, snow would fall in Qing Tu.
Chu Yu s.h.i.+vered for no reason and opened his eyes to look pa.s.sively at the color of the sky.
Several hours had pa.s.sed and it was already 11 at night. Why wasn’t Chu Sheng back yet?
Chu Sheng had always been punctual and returned at 9 on the dot, not a moment earlier or later. After arriving, the first thing he’d do would be to come and have a long, heartfelt talk with him while they sat knee to knee. It would be midnight usually before he’d be willing to leave. It couldn’t be that he was no longer willing to have a heart-to-heart chat with him now that he had found out his little brother was bent, right?
Hesitating for a moment, an uneasy thought suddenly flitted across Chu Yu’s mind. He abruptly stood up, pushed open the door and left.
After circling around the entire Chu family camp, he found that, as he had expected, Chu Sheng hadn’t returned yet. Chu Yu pondered: Could it be that those old farts had let their emotions take them over again while discussing official business and therefore caused a delay so that they were still discussing a countermeasure for the great war between demonic and righteous cultivators even now?
Although it was a possibility, Chu Yu still couldn’t help give a few subordinates some instructions before grabbing Xun Sheng and leaving the camp.
At night, other than the cultivators of the Immortal Alliance who were patrolling the grounds in small groups, the rest of the cultivators all stayed in their own areas. They all were meditating and cultivating so that they could strive to kill some more demonic cultivators tomorrow or even tonight.
After wandering around the Jiao Xia camp in the dark, he wasn’t able to find anything particularly conspicuous. Chu Yu thought about it for a moment and then changed direction, heading towards Qing Tu’s main discussion hall located in the center of the city.
The distant streets were a field of black where nothing could be seen clearly. It was as if there was a malicious spirit or evil G.o.d coiling around hidden somewhere, quietly lying in wait for some young person to be delivered to their door. Chu Yu slowly walked towards them, with the uneasiness in his heart getting stronger and stronger. His hand subconsciously gripping Xun Sheng’s hilt. He pursed
his lips and adopted a cautious att.i.tude.
All the surroundings were quiet except for gusts of wind from the west that made whimpering noises that sounded like sobbing. Chu Yu felt his hair stand up on their ends and involuntarily pulled Xun Cheng out by three inches. He had yet to enter the region shrouded by shadows when someone suddenly lightly patted his shoulder.
A feeling of numbness crawled up from the soles of his feet to the top of his head as Chu Yu narrowly avoided jumping up in fright. Once he got over his momentary fear, he swallowed the cry of alarm that he had almost given. He flipped his hand and pulled out his sword to press it against that person’s neck before turning around.
The person behind him had a face like frost and snow, his eyes still. He was as calm as a mountain as he silently looked at him.
……
Chu Yu gave a dry cough and withdrew his sword: “……s.h.i.+zun, why are you here?”
He still had yet to make a noise as he stood behind him. It was fortunate that his mental fort.i.tude had been forced to slowly strengthen since he had transmigrated into the book. Otherwise, this kind of scare would’ve definitely caused his legs to go soft.
Lu Qingan concisely said: “Little Three hasn’t returned yet.”
Third s.h.i.+di was missing?
Chu Yu subconsciously said: “Didn’t Third s.h.i.+di go patrolling with Second s.h.i.+di…”
He only got out half of what he had wanted to say before the rest died under Lu Qingan’s silent gaze and his own memories. Xie Xi had snuck back to peep on him, leaving Third s.h.i.+di by himself… moreover, based on Lu Qingan’s appearance, he had also realized that Xie Xi had come looking for him.
There was an eighty percent chance that Xie Xi had already gone out to look for third s.h.i.+di.
Although for most of the year Third s.h.i.+di was in a state where his IQ was offline, he could still be considered as sharp and clever. In addition, Lu Qingan had left a magical item on his person so if there really was an accident, Lu Qingan likely wouldn’t be talking to him in such a relaxed manner.
Then the question was, what the heck was Lu Qingan still lingering around in this vicinity for?
As if he had heard Chu Yu’s thoughts, Lu Qingan said: “I heard that a demonic cultivator had infiltrated tonight’s discussion meeting and injured two people before fleeing from the main hall. One of the injured was Song s.h.i.+xiong.”
So now you have to chase and kill that demonic cultivator.
Chu Yu nodded his head and was just about to say something else when a thought flashed across his mind, making him s.h.i.+ver: “……Injured two people? Aside from Sect Master Martial Uncle, who else was hurt there?”
Lu Qingan silently looked at him for a while and then he nodded his head and said: “Chu Sheng.”
F***! They had dared to injure the brocon!
As expected, his previous unease hadn’t been unwarranted.
Chu Yu took a deep breath: “Where’s my big brother? Is the injury… serious? Why wasn’t there any news sent back to the Chu family?”
It was unlikely that it had gotten so bad that no news could have been sent back unless Chu Sheng…
Chu Yu didn’t dare to continue that thought, with his mind in sudden disarray. Lu Qingan patted his head and said in a heavy tone: “Chu Sheng wasn’t seriously injured. However, it’s temporarily unsuitable for him to be moved about. Right now he’s at the main hall and he has forbidden anyone from sending news back to the Chu family.”
Chu Yu blanked out for a moment then became speechless.
A brocon was still a brocon. He wanted
wanted to protect his little brother in all aspects, even wanted to hide the fact that he was injured by him.
To be capable of injuring two people inside the main hall and then escaping, the demonic cultivator must have been at least at the Nascent Soul stage. Since he didn’t have the protagonist’s halo, Chu Yu decided against joining in on the action and delivering his head to them. He tactfully said: “Then s.h.i.+zun should continue to track them down. Disciple will head to the main hall first.”
The light in Lu Qingan’s eyes was dim as he nodded his head, but he made no move to leave. He hadn’t left so it wasn’t appropriate for Chu Yu to leave yet either. He silently stared at Lu Qingan’s paralyzed face and pondered over how he could help s.h.i.+zun cure this illness.
Only after a while did Lu Qingan softly ask: “Yu-er, he ……during those years, did he mention anyone?”
Who?
Chu Yu reaction time was extremely slow and quite a bit of time had pa.s.sed before he suddenly realized what the question meant and finally replied: “Senior… Shen Nian would speak practically every day about a best friend that he had had at Tian Yuan Sect. He said that this friend was the most important person to him.”
Originally, Chu Yu had naively believed that the one Shen Nian had been talking about was a woman of peerless grace and elegance. Now he knew that they really did have peerless grace and elegance, it was just that they, unfortunately, weren’t a woman. Moreover, now that he knew who the other person was, he couldn’t help feeling a little bit guilty as he spoke. He snuck a peek at Lu Qingan’s face.
Lu Qingan was as quiet and calm as usual. There wasn’t the slightest slip-up in his expression as he nodded his head: “Let’s go.”
He then immediately turned around and walked away.
Chu Yu already knew about Lu Qingan’s inner character. His eyebrows couldn’t help but twitch as his already complicated mood became even more complicated: “… s.h.i.+zun, you’re going in the wrong direction…”
Once he sent Lu Qingan off in the correct direction he was able to shake the worries out of his heart, Chu Yu then shook his head and set off flying on his sword.
That demonic cultivator definitely wouldn’t be able to escape tonight. Therefore, there was no need for him to be concerned about them.
Qing Tu’s central main hall was located not far from the Jiao Xia camp. Chu Yu no longer had his previous leisurely and carefree mood and flew rapidly on his sword to the main hall. The upper regions of the main hall forbid using swords to fly up and there was also a very long flight of stairs to climb. Chu Yu put Xun Sheng away and ran up while inwardly cursing the person who came up with this lousy rule.
After climbing up the stairs, his view suddenly opened up to a wide clearing. There was a large plaza in front of the main hall and at the moment, there were cultivators sporadically spread out and talking in low voices. With a quick glance, Chu Yu spotted Chu Sheng standing not far away in front of a stone railing.
The light inside the main hall was warm and harmonious and yet when it shone outside, it fell a good distance short of being able to reach his body. He only had the cold and bleak, snow-like moonlight s.h.i.+ning down on him. On his lilac satin robe, he could faintly make out a dark bloodstain.
Chu Yu was suddenly a bit reluctant to approach Chu Sheng.
Chu Sheng was very lonely, there was no need to doubt this. But in reality, there wasn’t actually any sort of relations.h.i.+p between him
between him and Chu Sheng. He had just taken over his little brother’s body. He could even be considered to be the enemy that killed his brother…
Chu Yu hesitated for a moment but then he still slowly walked over.
He deliberately let the sound of his footsteps be heard but Chu Sheng continued to silently look down as if his mind had seemingly drifted away on a long journey to the highest heavens.
Chu Yu softly called: “Big brother.”
Chu Sheng’s body shook before he swiftly turned around. When he caught sight of Chu Yu, he was stupefied: “Little brother, why did you come here?”
“If I didn’t come, would big brother have told me that you had received an injury?” Chu Yu looked at him reproachfully. Seeing that his complexion wasn’t too bad, his gaze s.h.i.+fted to his shoulder. Looking at that deep bloodstain, his heart felt somewhat heavy, “Big brother, we are brothers.”
If only one side invested their time and energy it couldn’t be counted as familial love.
Chu Sheng mouth opened as if to say something. His gaze brightened but then it sunk again: “Nowadays even little brother is soon going to leave me. I will have to… get used to it first.”
… What’s with this melancholic manner of speaking as if your daughter’s about to go away and get married?
Chu Yu’s eyebrows rose. Although technically speaking, he was the shou, the one getting pressed down yes, but he had never told Chu Sheng this! Why did Chu Sheng now conclude that he was the one who had to leave?!
No wait, this wasn’t the right time to get his thoughts tangled up in that kind of question.
Chu Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry: “Big brother, even if in the future my s.h.i.+di and I were to……become Dao companions, it’s won’t be as if I’ll never come back to Falling Maple Leaf Valley. We’re still brothers, what is there for you to worry about?”
Chu Sheng turned his face away: “Falling Maple Leaf Valley is very big. In the past, when little brother wasn’t around, I could still talk with father and mother. Now… there will only be me left.”
Chu Yu felt ball-breaking pain as he struggled with the matter. It wasn’t until he took a careful look that he discovered the faint, hidden tears in Chu Sheng’s eyes. He clenched his teeth and used a hand to spread a barrier. His pressed both hands down on Chu Sheng’s shoulders: “Big brother, listen to me.”
He copied the same excuse that he had used earlier to deceive Xie Xi: “You also know that there are countless rare treasures in the Mausoleum Ruins. During the ten years that I stayed inside the Mausoleum Ruins, I once picked up a damaged jade scroll. In it had the records of a certain place that as long as you go to that place, you can summon the souls of cultivators that had been scattered and reconstruct a body in their own image for them.”
Chu Sheng widened his eyes and mumbled: “Little brother, there’s no need to fabricate such a lie to comfort me…”
“Big brother!” Chu Yu took a deep breath, “For what reason would I ever deceive you? There is indeed such a place. It’s just that I don’t know where it is or how to get there so I never brought it up. Big brother, you have to pull yourself together. We can find that place and bring father back.”
Chu Sheng’s eyes were already a bit red: “…Truly?”
Chu Yu wasn’t happy: “Big brother, do you have no faith in your little brother?”
Chu Sheng hugged Chu Yu, as his shoulders shook slightly. Chu Yu helplessly patted his shoulder. It wasn’t until after performing the action that he sensed something was amiss. He looked down and saw his b.l.o.o.d.y hand. Hisb.l.o.o.d.y hand. His face immediately twisted.
He had only remembered that he had to quickly cheer Chu Sheng up and had unexpectedly forgotten that he was injured.
Chu Yu dismissed the barrier while staring at the blood on his hand. He silently pulled his hand back and pushed Chu Sheng away: “Big brother, the injury on your shoulder? Is it very serious?”
Chu Sheng looked overall relaxed and cheerful. A lot of the malignant and gloomy air that had been stagnating around him had already dispersed. He easily moved his hand and said with a smile: “It’s nothing.”
He had just said this when a gentle voice came from beside them: “That demonic cultivator was a poison-using expert from the Demonic Path’s Snake Valley. That your hand was not crippled can already be considered a good thing. At the very least, you won’t be able to use your sword for a month and that is still nothing?”
Who was this person, to ruthlessly expose the brocon’s words of comfort like this?
Chu Yu turned his head and something lit up in front of him for a split second.
It was unknown when the black-clothed man had come to stand beside them. He seemed to be clean and bright and as gentle as jade. The ends of his brows and eyes carried a shallow smiling intent. He wasn’t extremely handsome and couldn’t compare with the people of Xie Xi, Lu Qingan, or Chu Sheng’s cla.s.s. However, he made people feel comfortable as if the spring wind had just brushed past them, and you couldn’t help having a favorable impression of him.
Chu Yu looked down.
Oho, not bad. He must be a compa.s.sionate person to carry a white fox in his arms in such a way.
The Chu Sheng who had never seem to pay any attention to other people actually had a dark look on his face: “None of your business. Little brother, let’s go, we’re heading back.”
“Is there really a need to avoid me the moment we meet Lord Chu?” That man sighed and his face dropped and he seemed rather disappointed.
Chu Yu silently looked at him and then looked at Chu Sheng. He softly asked: “Who is he?”
Chu Sheng’s facial expression relaxed although the look he had as he glared at the man was still as hostile as before. He also softly replied: “An idiot.”
That black-clothed man coughed lightly: “Lord Chu, I can still hear you.”
“So what if you can hear?” Chu Sheng seemed to get mad just by looking at him. He then turned his face away to look only at Chu Yu and said, “Does little brother still remember what I told you about Linlan’s Fu family?”
Chu Yu entered a state of contemplation.
Linlan’s Fu family?
When did he talk about this?
Chu Sheng reminded him: “The auction.”
Chu Yu suddenly understood: F*** that was so long ago! Brocon please don’t just casually bring it up!
In any case, he had now remembered. Over ten years ago, he had brought Xie Xi down the mountain to exterminate some water demons and had also come across Chu Sheng. They had been preparing to use Xing Yan gra.s.s to attract the water demons and defeat them all in one go. When they then arrived at the auction, Chu Sheng thought that he was too impatient with his cultivation and so he had earnestly told several stories that had served as a counterexample.
One of them had been——The neighboring region’s Fu family, they had had someone called Fu Lanxue who had experienced a qi deviation and had killed his family and then killed himself by jumping off a cliff.
Fu family?
Chu Yu silently looked at that man. Coincidentally, that man was also looking at him. He looked at him with a faint smile on his face: “Brother Chu, this is?”
Chu Sheng expressionlessly said: “My son.”
Chu Yu: “……”