Chapter 62
Chapter 62 – For the Single People (Part 1)
Zhuzhi-Lang said, “Master Shen, please pardon me.”
Don’t! A thousand times don’t! I got into this miserable state when you wanted to thank me, now that you’re apologizing, can I even hope to live!?
Shen Qingqiu had just been walking perfectly fine, but suddenly his whole body tilted, holding on to the stone wall for support.
It seemed that something was struggling to escape from his stomach, squirming towards the countless veins running through his body. Feeling this familiar awful sensation, Shen Qingqiu nearly busted out a “motherf***er” on the spot.
Luo Binghe was still sleeping in that coffin, so the blood wreaking havoc in his body could only belong to someone else. Tianlang-Jun said, “Peak Lord, this shouldn’t be the first time you’ve drank Heavenly Demon’s blood, how come you’re still not used to it?”
Shen Qingqiu suppressed the urge to retch. “…When did you make me drink it.”
Tianlang-Jun said in a vaguely mocking tone, “Peak Lord Shen, don’t forget, your immortal body was in our hands for more than a brief period of time. There really are too many things we could have done.”
No wonder it was so easy for them to determine where he was heading. Shen Qingqiu paused, then continued walking forward. The more he walked the sharper the pain in his stomach grew, but he walked faster instead of slowing down. It was partly because he had an increased pain tolerance, but more importantly, he knew he absolutely could not collapse now.
While these two were frozen, there was still the opportunity to escape. If he dawdled until they thawed, don’t think of stalling them again!
The faster he walked, the more fiercely Zhuzhi-Lang urged the blood into action. Though he clearly knew the risks, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t resist turning to shoot a fierce glare at Zhuzhi-Lang. Is this how you’re repaying a kindness, by making these blood parasites lay eggs, nest, and have a family reunion in his stomach?
Tianlang-Jun sighed, “Even in this state you can walk so many steps, Peak Lord Shen is willful and resolute, truly an extraordinary person. I should say, you’re even willing to throw away your own life for my son?”
Suddenly, Zhuzhi-Lang said, “My lord, I… this subordinate can’t keep holding on.”
Before his words had fallen, Shen Qingqiu felt the pain suddenly dissolve, his whole body lightening. Right away, he broke into a frantic run. Seeing that he was suddenly able to run away, Tianlang-Jun said, astonished, “Isn’t your blood able to restrain him?”
Tianlang-Jun was also at a loss. “Before, I was able to restrain him. But this time I can’t, I don’t know the reason!”
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t hear clearly through the buzzing in his ears and his sight was blurred, but he knew he had to drag Luo Binghe to the entrance and throw him through. Supporting himself on the wall, he continued to jog forwards. He tripped over something under his feet, making his whole body sway. After carrying on for this long, he was already approaching his body’s limits, lingering on the fringe of collapse, his knees turning to jelly. However, he didn’t fall to his knees but was firmly supported by a hand, half carried and half held up.
His head dizzy and his eyes blurred, his gaze focused upwards.
In the murky darkness of the stone corridor, it was impossible to see the face, but a pair of eyes burning with fury and a shining scarlet demon mark shone clearly through the gloom.
Tianlang-Jun and Zhuzhi-Lang were already frozen from ankle to neck, posed standing in the center of two ice sculptures coiled with black energy. After Luo Binghe strode into the hall, threads of ice-cold white energy crawled up along his black boots, but were mercilessly trodden into pieces. He rushed those two ice structures, giving each a strike. Cracks snaked along the surface of the solid ice.
Half-leaning on the stone wall, Shen Qingqiu said, “It’s no use, it’s not an easy task to break crystal ice after it’s already formed. Also, you won’t be able to harm the people inside by hitting it this way. We better take advantage of this opportunity and escape the Holy Mausoleum while they’re sealed up.”
Luo Binghe suddenly turned, walking towards him again.
Suddenly seeing Luo Binghe again, Shen Qingqiu was both alarmed and happy. He was planning on going back to the stone coffin to fetch him, but he never thought he’d already be awake. He was just going to blurt out a “How are you feeling”, when he discovered that Luo Binghe seemed to be in quite a fit of anger.
Luo Binghe said in a stern voice, “Didn’t I tell you not to associate with them?!”
This sentence was spoken in almost a roar. Shen Qingqiu was already dizzy, and being yelled at until his eardrums ached was like a basin of cold water to the face. After standing there dumbly for a moment, he suddenly felt a mysterious wisp of fire erupt in his heart.
He said, blandly, “Are you alright?”
Luo Binghe’s tone was still somewhat uncharitable. “Alright? What alright?”
Seeing him full of vitality, he was most likely fine.1 This being the case, he’d, at last, managed to repay a little favor to Luo Binghe.2 Shen Qingqiu nodded. “Then that’s good.”
Turning around, he picked a random direction and walked off.
Actually, he didn’t know where he was going either. To exit the Holy Mausoleum, the Xin Mo sword and Luo Binghe were both indispensable, without either one you could only randomly wander around the inside. But, he had risked his life to drag him this far and got a faceful of yelling as a result. It would be pointless to stay there and sulk.
He hadn’t walked a few steps when the energy-draining candles suddenly lit up. The faint candlelight illuminated his side profile. Luo Binghe suddenly reached out to pull on him. “Are you crying?”
Shen Qingqiu stared blankly.
Is he crying?
Is he crying?
How is that possible!!!
Shen Qingqiu raised his left hand to check his face. Earlier on, this one intact hand was occupied keeping a firm hold on Luo Binghe, and only now did was there an opportunity to use it for something else. Upon feeling his face, at some time he really had unknowingly begun to cry, his cheeks streaming with tears.
Shen Qingqiu suddenly realized, these were the tears of pain he cried when he had pulled the QingSi from his leg.
How unsightly.
The anger that had just been in Luo Binghe’s voice disappeared without a trace. He said tensely, “So to say, when I heard Shizun crying earlier, it wasn’t fake?”
Shen Qingqiu flew into a rage out of humiliation. “Crying, what crying, I don’t know!”
He shook him off and walked away right after he finished speaking. Luo Binghe hurriedly grabbed him from behind. D*mn it, he just happened to grab the right arm where the QingSi had taken root. Shen Qingqiu managed to keep himself from shrieking, but still let out a stifled groan. Luo Binghe let go immediately, only leading him by his left hand and inspecting him under the candlelight.
The more he looked, the more apprehensive his expression grew. Right now there wasn’t any place on Shen Qingqiu’s body that was safe to look at. He was nothing but a lump of wounds and blood, seriously a spectacle too horrible to endure. Luo Binghe remembered that before he lost consciousness, Shen Qingqiu was clearly in perfect condition. His voice shook. “This… was all for… me?”
Shen Qingqiu was going to start spitting blood. If not him, then who?
He couldn’t say this sort of thing, and he always disliked making a big deal of bestowing affection and showing scars in the past, so he could only spit out four words: “Your hand, let go.”
Luo Binghe changed his face in the blink of an eye, softening. “I won’t let go. Shizun, don’t be mad, I was wrong.”
How many times has he said this!
Shen Qingqiu waved him aside. Hurry up and go go go, the blind corpses are already encircling us, what are we doing here blocking the path. Having been sent off, Luo Binghe once again latched on to him like sticky candy,3 you couldn’t even pry him off. “Shizun, why don’t you hit me. You can beat me up to vent your anger, how about that?”
Someone come help me, there’s an M here, who can come lock him up–
They flew across the ground, but Luo Binghe was wrapped around him the whole way. Shen Qingqiu was already familiar with Luo Binghe’s set of moves, he knew he was open to coaxing but not coercion.4 After wearing him down for quite a while, Shen Qingqiu said helplessly, “…You’ve always been like this, crying and admitting your faults but you’ll die before you change your ways. What use is it?”
At this point, Luo Binghe was almost sobbing. “Changing my ways won’t be enough. Shizun, don’t abandon me.”
Seeing him in this good-for-nothing state, if not for the fact that he was still worrying about the bumps he left earlier Shen Qingqiu really wanted to give him a few smacks on the head. Was there something wrong with his teaching methods? How did he raise a crybaby? Luo Binghe, the demon king incarnate, likes to hang on to his Shizun’s clothes and wail when there’s no one around – if he were to tell about this who would f***ing believe it!?
Ning Yingying wasn’t even this much of a crybaby!
Shen Qingqiu almost couldn’t bear it. “Who’s abandoning you? Ah?”
Luo Binghe said, “After I lost consciousness, I still had a remnant of awareness left, I was fighting with all my might to wake up. But just when I managed to wake, I found myself lying in a coffin, and Shizun had run off to who knows where. I lost myself to anger for a while and I thought I had been abandoned, Shizun I thought you would rather go with them and didn’t want to pay attention to me…”
Waking up to find you’d been “abandoned” in a coffin, this feeling indeed would not be very good. Shen Qingqiu sighed, weighing his guilty conscience.
Luo Binghe continued, “Just now, I didn’t do it on purpose. I don’t know why,obviously I didn’t actually believe it, I didn’t want to say that sort of thing, but in front of Shizun, I never could control myself. I know I’m being embarrassing and losing face, but knowing that Shizun never threw me away but was protecting me all along, that I wasn’t just dreaming this whole time, I’m so happy…”
Who is it that’s being embarrassing and losing face?
Two grown men, rolled into a ball wiping snot and drying tears, both are being embarrassing, both are losing face, don’t you know!?
Likely because he was too happy and couldn’t get out any more flowery language, Luo Binghe could only keep repeating “happy”, “glad”, these two simple words. Shen Qingqiu’s face twitched a couple of times. Rubbing his temples, he heaved a long deep sigh.
Whatever. This wouldn’t be the first time. The Dream Demon even said that this kid would pull exactly this sort of disgusting behavior, acting like a cool blackened demon lord in front of your face then twisting handkerchiefs and crying behind your back, even arguing with him over things.
That said, he himself was also senseless enough, just then he inexplicably got angry over this small a misunderstanding. There’s not much of a difference between him and this mental case of an unfortunate child, how unlike a proper elder.
He slowed down and said, “Then, you really are alright now?”
Luo Binghe promptly nodded. “I’m alright.”
Just then you were burned so severely, but now you’re completely fine? Shen Qingqiu was quite skeptical and pressed his hand to his forehead, turns out it really was cool and smooth. Shen Qingqiu wanted to retract his hand, but Luo Binghe covered his hand with his own, refusing to let him pull away. His eyes gleamed below their folded palms.
This expression was too familiar. This was precisely that look he saw on that perfect little sheep following him around and eating grass every day on Qing Jing Peak, the young ray of sunlight Luo Binghe5.
Shen Qingqiu’s face was going to turn red under his stare, but he couldn’t bear to tear his hand away by force. Doing such a thing when the other was so happy and colored in excitement would really be giving him a slap on the face.
He said, “You’re really completely fine? No dizziness? Your spiritual energy and demonic energy are circulating effectively?”
Luo Binghe said, “Quite effective. Very effective. Even more effective than before?”
While they were talking, they had already reached a room on the east side of the mausoleum. Luo Binghe pulled his sword and slashed across the screen wall, cutting open a pitch-black rift in space. His broken arm had miraculously healed, his leg was no longer lame, the blood on his face had been wiped neat and clean, the always disobedient Xin Mo sword had been tamed into docile submission. The protagonist’s halo was still that protagonist’s halo, the male protagonist was still that male protagonist. Shen Qingqiu didn’t want to say another word and took the lead through the rift with a “let’s go let’s go” type of gesture.
Outside of the Mausoleum, the scene was bathed in light. Without prompting, Luo Binghe reached out a hand to support Shen Qingqiu.
As a matter of fact, it really had been a long time since they had had this sort of normal interaction.
After this sigh of regret in the bottom of his heart, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t resist shooting a glance at Luo Binghe. He looked very satisfied with himself, looks like he really is “very well”. Fancy that he staked his old life to protect him from everything, but in the end not a trifle of it stuck to Luo Binghe. Turns out the whole time he spent sleeping was to recharge his cheat halo [Wave Bye-Bye].
Luo Binghe suddenly said, “But, other than hearing Shizun cry…”
Shen Qingqiu smiled faintly. “En? Who was crying?”
Luo Binghe immediately changed his tune. “Other than hearing someone cry, there was also this strange feeling.”
Hearing this, Shen Qingqiu began to feel a bit worried again. Turns out there really were some lingering repercussions? He said quietly, “What sort of feeling?”
Luo Binghe shook his head. “… I can’t say.”
“Does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt, it’s very…”
He hadn’t finished speaking, his face showing a bewildered expression, looking down at himself.
Shen Qingqiu: “…”
Sky pillar hello, sky pillar goodbye!
This topic couldn’t continue anymore, and they let it drop. TianLang-Jun’s voice drifted up like a deceased soul refusing to disperse. “Peak Lord Shen, why are you so eager to leave? You two nearly overturned this race’s holy land, isn’t leaving like this without leaving anything behind really inexcusable?”
With every word, his voice got quite a bit closer. Before long, his figure appeared over the horizon. Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes. But, it was fortunate enough that the Mo Bei clan’s hundred thousand-year-old ice enchantment would be able to delay those two until they exited the Holy Mausoleum.
Earlier, Luo Binghe was not quite pleased when he was not able to shatter them into pieces, but now that they had delivered themselves on a silver platter he was quite satisfied. His knuckles cracking, he fixed a glare on Zhuzhi-Lang, growling, “You dare feed my Shizun your blood.”
Zhuzhi-Lang peeked at Shen Qingqiu, an embarrassed look on his face. Tianlang-Jun looked at him and said, “Hey, you really can’t say these words with that sort of expression on your face. Didn’t you also feed Peak Lord Shen your blood? Otherwise, who’s the master of the other set of blood parasites in Peak Lord Shen’s body?”
Hearing this, Luo Binghe stiffened, clenching his fists. Shen Qingqiu had just raised the hand holding the Xiu Ya sword when Luo Binghe said softly, “Shizun you don’t need to fight, I’m enough by myself.”
And the battle begins!
Three pillars of black energy soared churning into the sky like storm winds. Watching the battle as a spectator, Shen Qingqiu was ever more deeply appreciative of the difference between demons and humans.
The difference in destructive ability is really too big!
In addition, Luo Binghe had not only refilled his cheat halo but also leveled up. A couple of hours ago, he had been viciously beaten up, powerless to return a blow, but now it seems the protagonist’s halo is still securely affixed to his head!
As he was watching, a scarlet red bone eagle began to circle the battlefield, lowering its wings, looking for an opportunity to rush into the battle. Luo Binghe, fighting one on two, seemed to not have noticed this newcomer obviously harboring malicious intentions, but Shen Qingqiu could see everything clearly. Just as he was going to call out a warning, the bone eagle suddenly swooped down, charging towards the top of Luo Binghe’s head.
A sneak attack?
Shen Qingqiu held Xiu Ya backward in his hand, and, squinting to take aim, fiercely threw it at his target. The snow-white blade shot out like an arrow, piercing lightning-fast towards the bone eagle.
Who would have thought that before he could heave a sigh of relief, the bone eagle’s body didn’t drop, but instead dispersed into a thousand pearls and ten thousand drops, flying towards Shen Qingqiu.
On that side, Tianlang-Jun suddenly pulled back, jumping out of the battle with a laugh. Luo Binghe, seeing the bloody pearls scattering through the air, let a panic-stricken expression flash across his face.
Shen Qingqiu suddenly realized, Tianlang-Jun had used his own blood to create this bone eagle. He had intentionally sent it to sneak attack Luo Binghe, but the real intent was to draw Shen Qingqiu into playing his hand and shooting it down!
Just when he discovered this, he got a faceful of bloody rain. Tianlang-Jun smiled faintly, raising his hand to make a sigil in the air. Shen Qingqiu felt his heart slow, like he really had been grabbed in the palm of a giant hand and maliciously squeezed.
There was just too much blood, even though he had shut his lips tight a faint taste of rust still appeared on his tongue.
Who else hum him would be drinking Heavenly Demon’s blood like Red Bull. Who else but him would have drunk three different Heavenly Demons’ blood?
Luo Binghe’s eyes were already red with tension, but TianLang-Jun’s blood was already in Shen Qingqiu’s body. He didn’t dare make a rash move, fearing that he would activate the blood parasites. He could only clench his teeth and yell, “Stop!”
Zhuzhi-Lang, seeing Shen Qingqiu’s face turn green and then white in succession, couldn’t help but start, “My lord, please forgive this subordinate…”
Tianlang-Jun shrugged his shoulders. “Then we’ll have to see what our other young friend will do next.”