Falling off

Not far from the infiltrated camp, two figures crept through the woods.

“Yin—Senior Brother Yin…” Jing Yan’s face was deathly pale as he stretched out a trembling hand to hold Yin Shaoyang. “Should we really leave them alone?”

“So what? I told you they aren’t dead,” Yin Shaoyang shouted through his exasperation. “Ah, you’re so faint-hearted. What’s the big deal?”

Jing Yan involuntarily shrank. “Yes, but—”

“There’s nothing to worry about. If you don’t want to go, stay here and feed yourself to those monsters.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure emerged from the woods before them. 

Yun Ye’s clothes and hair accessories were not disheveled at all. Although the moonlight was faint, it still illuminated the viscous downward movement of what appeared to be blood trailing down the sword he brandished before the two.

“Where do you think you’re going?” 

He opened his eyelids, exposing the demon allure in his eyes that had yet to dissipate. 

Both were shocked. Yin Shaoyang took a half step back seamlessly, blocking Jing Yan behind him. “Why are you here?”

Yun Ye asked back, “What do you think?”

A frown crept up his brows as his right hand carefully reached inside his robe. However, he was met with surprise.

There was nothing in there.

“Are you looking for this?” Yun Ye asked casually. 

He raised his hand, holding a jade flute at his fingertips. 

“You—” Yin Shaoyang gaped at him in astonishment. He roared in disbelief, “You stole my jade flute?!”

He always carried this flute close to his body, and never once did he put it away. When did this person steal it from him?

Yun Ye was unbothered to offer any explanation. His following words were willfully stretched out as his fingers traced the jade flute slowly as if he recalled something from memory. “If I’m not mistaken, this should be something of the Demon Race?”

Yun Ye paused but never gave the other a chance to speak as he said coldly, “Do tell me, who gave you this?”

“No comment.” 

Yun Ye deliberated an “oh,” ostensibly as if he was surprised at this answer. He raised the jade flute to his mouth and played a tune right then.

Yin Shaoyang realized right then what he was going to do and shouted, “No, stop!”

“Yin, Senior Brother Yin…” Jing Yan clutched his clothes from behind, and his voice shuddered immensely to the point his words became hard to understand. “Brother Yin, look….”

Within the unlighted woods, countless pairs of moss-green lights lit up like predators lurking in the dark, waiting and staring at the luscious feast before them. 

Yun Ye put down the jade flute and calmly turned around, heading back towards the camp. As soon as he was a few steps away, several massivewhite tigers stepped forward and surrounded the horror-stricken individuals in the middle of a forest.

“No, don’t! I don’t want to leave yet! You come back, come back—!!!”

The coarse shrieks soon quieted down, and silence returned under the night sky. Yun Ye walked out of the woods with a bored expression and spotted a delicate young man waiting not far away. 

As he approached, Bai Tu furrowed and implored, “How could you lynch them?”

Yun Ye took out the jade in the lapels of his clothes, unconcerned. “They used this method to harm so many people. I just fed them their own evil fruits.”

Bai Tu shook his head. “That wasn’t in compliance with the rules.”

“Rules?” Yun Ye raised an eyebrow and leaned closer toward Bai Tu. “Have I ever told you that sometimes your voice is like my shizun?”

Bai Tu averted his eyes. “… How is that possible? How can I compare to the Venerable Immortal?”

“Naturally, you can’t.” Yun Ye straightened up and declared his following words while he thumbed his chin. “My shizun has a profound cultivation level and is good-looking. Way in contrast to a little idiot who’s fragilely ill all day and has to be taken care of.”

Bai Tu: “…”

‘Really, just you wait.’

Bai Tu pondered for a while and asked, “By the way, what are you going to do with that demonic flute?”

Yun Ye rolled his eyes and rolled his words as he said, “Why should I tell you?”

Bai Tu felt bewildered by the tantamount attitude change this person had right now. He could not help but miss the real world outside the secret realm and his cute and docile apprentice.

He chanted in his heart, ‘You can’t be angry. After all, this is the cub you raised yourself.’ Bai Tu took a deep breath and inquired, “Do you know the history of this thing?”

A crack formed in Yun Ye’s domineering expression, yet he remained silent.

Bai Tu continued, “Since Xianjun Zhaohua suppressed the Demon Abyss over ten years ago, there has been no occurrence of such a demonic weapon that can manipulate the human heart in this world for a long time. This is a demonic instrument.”

“I know.”

Bai Tu patiently persuaded, “A demonic instrument has emerged in this world. You must hand it over whether the said matter is great or trivial. Also, the two disciples who possessed the demonic weapon—”

“You really are long-winded.” Yun Ye interrupted Bai Tu’s words. He then scrutinized Bai Tu and questioned, “Speaking of which, you are just an entry-level disciple of the Tianyan Sect. How are you so knowledgeable about these things?”

The sudden interjection caused his brain to undergo a sudden buffer. Bai Tu stalled for some time, yet he still did not know how to explain.

Fortunately, Yun Ye pressed no further, and both walked in the camp’s direction without talking. As soon as they neared, they were welcomed by a group of disciples waiting at the center. Each wore the same complicated and befuddled expressions as if they had not yet awakened from the calamity they had foreseen in their dreams. 

Yun Ye glanced at the disciples in front of him, then turned his head to Bai Tu to say, “Oh ho, you—this little idiot’s magic tools are actually exceptional, ah.

“To create such a large illusion, to confuse the beasts and save those people without others knowing. Even if a senior cultivator wanted to do this, it’d take some strain to accomplish.” Yun Ye asked, “In the end, just where did you acquire so many strange magical instruments?”

Bai Tu: “…..”

‘Can’t this kid ask questions I can answer?’

As a condition of his role, Bai Tu could not tell the reason. Yun Ye seemed to be frowning, but his outward face showed a calm facade while his eyes revealed his suspicions. 

He eyed Bai Tu for a few minutes, then walked up to the group of disciples and frankly proclaimed, “I believe you all know what happened. The two individuals who controlled the monster to kill have been eliminated by us. Now, you can all go on your own since the crisis is lifted.”

Everyone eyed each other in dismay and exchanged whispers but stood in their place. 

Yun Ye glowered. “What are you guys doing?”

Within the crowd, someone spoke up. “How do we know there won’t be more people like Yin Shaoyang outside? And…”

“And there are still countless traps and monsters outside. We can’t take the risk anymore,” someone threaded.

“Yes. It’s only been two days, and several people have died already. It’s too perilous outside.”

“That’s…”

Yun Ye listened to the clamor of those people, and the more he listened, the more upset he became. He interjected, “Then what do you want?”

Everyone looked at each other. The person with the most courage walked ahead of the crowd, seemed to find it hard to speak, and pleaded, “Brother, we want to stay.”

“… You are the disciple of Immortal Lord Zhaohua. By following you, we have a better chance of leaving the secret realm without many casualties.”

Yun Ye eyeballed him for quite a while, then his mouth curled up a little. “You’ve made a good calculation.”

As soon as he said that, he tilted his head to one side to look at Bai Tu blankly. “What do you think?”

Bai Tu gave the nod. “There are still five days left. It’d be better if we could take care of each other.”

“Okay, then do that.” Yun Ye stretched out an arm to clamp Bai Tu’s shoulders, and he said, “You can stay if you want. For the remaining days, he will arrange everything. No objections will be entertained.”

Bai Tu: ….???

If it were not for Yun Ye and Bai Tu tonight, this beast-infested portal would have become their first burial place. Thus, no objections were raised.

When everyone dispersed, Bai Tu overtook and confronted Yun Ye. “Why are you doing this?”

Yun Ye placed his hands behind his back. “Do you not like to train people? Now that I have given so many individuals for you to train, you’re still dissatisfied?”

“You—”

“Well, I’m too lazy to care for meddlesome things. Can you just help me?” Yun Ye said lightly and casually stepped into the tent he opened. 

He slumped onto the bed and rolled over. Then, his pointed finger beckoned at Bai Tu: “Come over and sleep, little idiot.”

Bai Tu did not move. In response, a slight wrinkle appeared on his brows. He seemed to have anticipated something. 

It was already deep into the night. Exhaustion soon took over, and everyone fell asleep, one after another. No sound could be heard aside from the rustling of the leaves. Nobody knew how much time had passed when a figure crept out of the camp. A sword light glimmered within the woods, followed by a silhouette of shadow flying across the sky.

Once the light’s mirage vanished, Bai Tu walked out of the forest, looking towards the horizon where the figure flew with a complicated expression. 

‘This wolf cub….’

Yun Ye drove the flying sword to a particular snow-capped mountain. This was where he faced the Hunyuan beast guarding Tai Chu. 

He espied a cavern to shelter from the wind and snow, then used his spiritual power to gather a pile of firewood and kindle fire. 

Yun Ye sat on the edge of the bonfire, lost in thought. His hands subconsciously reached to his chest and touched a small, hard object. It was a jasper-like, smoothly carved bluestone, which the delicate young man forcibly stuffed to him before elucidating that it was a spirit stone that could detect good and evil. 

He also had a clue where that person got those magic tools. 

Yun Ye always felt that the person resembled his master too much. Not the usual upright and aloof Immortal Lord Zhaohua, but rather the soft and frail master who was at the mercy of desire in his dream. 

At this moment, the spirit stone in Yun Ye’s hand shuddered, and a faint brilliance appeared on the bluestone. Yun Ye frowned, jumped on his feet on instinct, and vacated the cave with a flying sword. 

The moment he left the cavern, the entrance collapsed. 

The earth and the rocks crumbled and fell into ruins over the collapsed cave. Ashes and clouds of dust soon surrounded the destruction, and a monster beast as tall as three adult men that seemed to have been coagulated into a colossal block of ice appeared in front of him. 

Hunyuan Beast.

On the other side of the snow-capped mountain, Bai Tu held a spiritual stone exactly like the bluestone in Yun Ye’s possession and trudged against the almost knee-deep snow towards the mountain. 

Bai Tu clutched the lapels of robes in one hand while he looked at the snow-capped mountains as far as the eye could see. He muttered in a grumbling tone, “That scoundrel. What’s wrong with having another companion by him? Ah, now I have to plow through this snow-capped mountain that is so difficult to enter.”

He entered the secret realm to help Yun Ye obtain Tai Chu. According to his initial plan, Yun Ye only needed to be well-behaved during his stay inside the Secret Realm for seven days. And once they were about to leave, the Huyuan Beast would naturally emerge as the last hidden boss of the ordeal. 

This was the adventure set by the author of the original book for Yun Ye.

— No matter when he entered the Mysterious Realm of the Absolute Beginning, and regardless of whatever he encountered inside, he would definitely trigger this plotted adventure before leaving. 

But who knew that the little wolf pup would be so enthusiastic? As soon as he successfully formed a team, he slipped away immediately. 

The more Bai Tu brooded about it, the angrier he became. Yet, in any case, anger would not benefit him now. He let out a soft sigh and infused enough spiritual power into the spirit stone in his hand. 

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Before he could determine the direction with the spirit stone, a violent surge of spiritual qi concurred not far ahead. The snow-capped mountains in the distance collapsed one after another, and the billowing snow waves assaulted the senses of those nearby.

Bai Tu raised his brows. ‘Sure enough, he is the protagonist and has adventures wherever he goes.’

At the place where the spiritual qi fluctuated the most, a human and a monster beast traded blow after blow with immense force. 

The appearance of a Hunyuan beast was similar to that of a demon ape. It stood on both feet and had massive, powerful limbs. Despite its enormous size, its movements were surprisingly quick. Yun Ye had been fighting the Hunyuan beast with all his might for quite some time, but he had yet to find a way to break through its aggression.

The Hunyuan beast let out a wrathful roar and knocked Yun Ye backward into the bottomless abyss behind them, where the rows of snow-capped mountains once stood.

A figure appeared before Yun Ye’s eyes just as he was about to summon a flying sword to save himself from falling. The man who appeared out of nowhere grabbed his wrist, saving them both as they shot through the other side and rolled through the snow.

They tumbled for a few yards before skidding to a stop. Yun Ye looked up, his vision blurred, and saw an unmistakably beautiful face.

Yun Ye looked at him, both anxious and angry. “What are you doing here?”

Bai Tu propped himself up on Yun Ye, looked down at him, and said in a low, serious voice, “Looking for you.”

Yun Ye pushed Bai Tu away and stood up. He waved his hand in anger. “Get out of here. It’s dangerous.”

“So you came, although you knew the stakes?”

The Hunyuan Beast bellowed and charged toward them as they vented their frustrations. Bai Tu did not spare even a moment to look at the aggressive monster as he backhandedly drew a long sword from the cloth bag he carried.

It was just a regular long sword that could be found in any market and possessed no spiritual power.

Yun Ye saw through his intentions and took a step forward to stop him. “No, you can’t beat it. Simply leave—”

Bai Tu pushed his hand away and said, “I’ll go up and attract its attention first, then you pierce its heart with a sword. Remember, it has to be the heart.”

That took Yun Ye aback. 

Bai Tu did not have the time to care about Yun Ye’s reaction. He skipped the other’s still-raised hand and advanced with a lifted sword. A stream of pure spiritual qi shot through the sword’s groove in a fleet. Once the blade was imbued with enough qi, Bai Tu jumped and ruthlessly slashed down at the beast.

With only a single sword movement, he cut off an arm of the Hunyuan Beast. 

“Prick its heart. Now.”

Yun Ye, on the other hand, didn’t move an inch. Bai Tu jerked his head back suspiciously and urged loudly, “Hurry! What are you contemplating? ”

The young lad dashed forward and leaped, plunging his sword into the heart of Hunyuan Beast the moment his voice fell.

The beast slammed into the ground with a loud bang, followed by a brief earth tremor. Bai Tu exhaled a deep sigh of relief. He was about to say something when Yun Ye grabbed his wrist.

Bai Tu shifted his head to look at the young man, whom he discovered to be frowning and had a complicated expression.

Bai Tu shrank, wanting to take a step back subconsciously.

He… wasn’t exposed, right?

The author has something to say:

Yun Ye: What stupid things have I done???? [Doubting Life.jpg]

Bai Tu: Nothing. Just being vicious to me, scolding me, despising me, and giving me nicknames. That’s all. 

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