He had left the Golden Phoenix Manor and spent ten years with ordinary people. Thinking back on the things he had done, he felt ashamed. He simply couldnât understand why all those years, it was like he was caught in a gu. He had lost the ability to distinguish, and he had believed those absurd and preposterous arguments. At the Jin Feirenâs request, he served him wholeheartedly, abided by the rules of the Golden Phoenix Manor, satisfied all his evil interests, learned to indulge his desires, proactively asked for pleasure, and did a lot of sordid things to please him. He believed it was what he had to pay for their mutual affection.
Bai Zihao was about to cry at how stupid he had been.
He didnât want to see Jin Feiren anymore. He didnât want to live a life full of humiliation. However, Jin Feiren would rather he die than lift the water caltrop flower mark and let him be free.
Jin Feizhen was very good at keeping up appearances. The overwhelming majority of people in the immortal realm couldnât see the humiliation and torment he suffered in private. They only saw the handsome and rich Nascent Soul cultivator doting on him in every possible way. Jin Feiren casually squandered away spirit stones and bought him whatever he wanted. He killed the people who framed and bullied him. He even blocked the attack of a Flame Wolf for him. At the banquet to celebrate their marriage, he was given boatloads of gifts. There were countless rare and precious treasures. The eyes of everyone were ruined with envy, saying that he was so luckyâŠ
No one knew how much he paid for being so âluckyâ.
It would be fine if Jin Feiren had died. But he was still alive, thrown behind bars, subjected to a miserable fate.
Bai Zihao could imagine what his reputation would be after abandoning his Daoist companion. He would be branded as having forgotten favors and violated justice, of having a heart of stone⊠Moreover, he also knew that although Jin Feiren had a distorted personality and expresses his affections in a way that no one would agree to blindly, his heart really had moved for him. Back when he had sustained a near fatal injury, it was like Jin Feiren went mad, and he stayed by his side without stopping to sleep or restâŠ
He didnât quite have the heart to kill him.
Bai Zihao was dazed. He found that he had unconsciously been thinking about the third option. He was faintly looking forward to Jin Feirenâs death. But he was afraid of gossip, afraid of being known as ruthless and unfeeling, afraid of being a murdererâŠ
He desperately tried to restrain his thoughts with morality. He wanted to consider the second option, but hidden and terrifying reasons emerged in his heart. Like the devil, they tempted him,
âI am not a bad person. I was just forced to do it. Itâs not really killing someoneâŠâ
âHe wonât live long, Iâm helping him relieve the painâŠâ
âWhen heâs dead, I can conceal my identity and resume my happy new lifeâŠâ
âI still have a lot of paintings that I want to paint but havenât finished paintingâŠâ
ââŠâŠâ
His hold on the dagger in his hand grew tighter and tighter.
Bai Zihao hesitantly raised his head and looked towards the god. He asked for help, âI have never killed anyone. I, I donât understandâŠâ
Shenjun had the Blood King Vine take out an account book that had been prepared early on and handed it to him. He chuckled softly and said, âYou will understand.â
Baffled, Bai Zihao took the account book and found that it Xie Queâs.
Back then, when he found out that Xie Que had brought the bandits to kill his mother to whom he had been mutually dependent on, he was consumed with towering rage and wanted to take revenge.
Seeing him with no appetite, feeling depressed and moody, Jin Feiren consoled him for a long time. He also sent people to take Xie Queâs head to make him happy. Although they found that Xie Que had been killed by the Medicine King Xianzun, he was still moved by his kindly regardâŠ
Weâre sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so weâre going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Jin Feiren always said, this was the proof of his love.
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Shenjun had appeared suddenly. Everyone had tried to guess his origins. Although Yue Wuhuan and the god had the same Blood King Vine, their power was far too different and their identities were as different as sky and earth that no one could connect the two of them together. Everyone guessed he must be some ancient god who emerged from closed door cultivationâŠ
Now, the Medicine King Xianzun had killed Xie Que and obtained his account book. And then the same account book had fallen into the hands of the god. Bai Zihao had to think of the relationship between the twoâŠ
Yue Wuhuan has a deep-seated hatred towards the Golden Phoenix Manor; and those sects that the god first destroyed, regardless of whether they were righteousness or evil, were by and large those that had gone to the Golden Phoenix Manor as guests. They have received the Golden Phoenix Manorâs kind hospitality and entertainment. They may even have participated in Yue WuhuanâsâŠ
Bai Zihao once again remembered the forgiveness shenjun granted to Cultivator Ma⊠Cultivator Ma wasnât anyone good, but he did something that everyone took to be a joke. After getting drunk, he severely reprimanded the guys who had played with Yue Wuhuan, saying they had gone too far, that they were shameless beasts, for this, they had spoiled the mood of the guests. He ordered them to stop the whipping.
Everyone, everything, Yue Wuhuan remembered.
Grace is paid with grace. Enmity is paid with enmity. There was no departed spirit demanding justice at the Inextinguishable Peak.
This was really goodâŠâŠ
Bai Zihao was very happy. He had had many beautiful dreams. In his dreams, he was a white bird. He tried to open the cage door. Flapping his wings, he bravely rushed into the wind and rain, awkwardly chasing after the proud red shadow.
When the news of Yue Wuhuanâs death and tragedy came, he was very sad. He felt that what he wanted most had been broken, and for a time, he had even fell into confusion. He felt that any resistance was meaningless. It was better to simply submit to his fate.
But, Yue Wuhuan hadnât died. He had come back.
The beautiful red bird flew higher and was even freerâŠ
Bai Zihao once again found the pillar in his heart.
He can be strong. Donât despair!
Bai Zihao wiped away his weak tears. He opened the account book, and earnestly looked at it line by line.
Xie Que had kept a very detailed account book. He included each childâs name, physical characteristics and sales price.
There was also a section dedicated to special orders, which were slaves that major customers requested with specific requirements. Various exacting requirements were written, including appearance, personality, spiritual roots, cultivation base, etcâŠ
There was a special order from Golden Phoenix Manor. The customer specified that he wanted a boy with a single water-type spiritual root. He required a beautiful appearance, a clean body, no blemishes. He must be kind-hearted and gentle and have a well-behaved and weak personality. It was best he have no father or mother, no one to care; because the customer wanted to personally raise and train a perfect slave who belonged body and mind to him.
Bai Zihaoâs eyes widened in disbelief and he looked at the name on the cargo pen. He finally understood something that he hadnât understood before â why Xie Que didnât just kidnap him and sell him, instead he wanted go through a roundabout way to sell him. He killed his mother and then appeared before him as a savior.
This account book gave the answer.
Bai Zihao stared at it for a long time, and then succumbed to maniacal laughter. He laughed until he was gasping for breath. He was laughing at the stupidest man in the world, laughing at his kindness and cowardice, laughing at his innocence and gentleness, laughing at his love and loyalty⊠Of what use were these things in the face of the devil? All these were utterly worthless rubbish!
Shenjunâs meaning, he understood it all.
Bai Zihao slowly stood up from the ground. He straightened his hair and made the darkness vanish from his eyes. He once again showed the softest smile. He gratefully bowed to the god and hid the dagger in his sleeve. Without the slightest hesitation, he followed the yao cultivator who led the way to the dungeon of the Inextinguishable Peak.
âŠâŠ
In the dark dungeon, there were two brightly lit oil lamps that were kept burning day and night.
The heavy chains passed through Jin Feirenâs shoulder blades and hip bones, firmly nailing him to the wall. His appearance, once considered handsome had gone unbearably ugly from torture. His strong figure was now as thin as a match. His hair had gone gray, and his body was covered with terrible scars. Rot had appeared in many places, but there were precious immortal medicines keeping his life hanging by a thread. He couldnât die even if he wanted to.
Although a cultivatorâs will was stronger than that of a mortal, such torture has long exceeded the limits of tolerance. Jin Feirenâs feeling of pain has been numbed. He was groggy every day and he looked forward to the arrival of death.
Gentle fingertips glided across his cheek and gathered his messy hair for him. Someone carefully dipped a handkerchief with some water and moistened his lips, slightly rousing his mind.
Jin Feiren opened his eyes with difficulty and found the person he had been yearning for standing before him. He couldnât help but smile. âAm I dreaming again?â
âNo,â Bai Zihaoâs voice was very soft, with a hint of sympathy. He fed him some water, âI missed you, so I begged for shenjunâs grace to come and see youâŠâ
âHow did you ask for it? Forget it, donât talk about itâŠâ Jin Feiren didnât want to think about this issue anymore. He knew that Bai Zihao was weak and kindhearted. He didnât have much prospects. He had cultivated for so long but was only at Foundation Building. After losing his support, the only way he could satisfy those shameless yao cultivators was with his body.
Although he was a little uncomfortable, after having played with so many slaves, he didnât care much about a green hat. Now, he has nothing. He couldnât even be regarded as a man. Bai Zihao still thought of every possible way to come and take care of him. Obviously, he has kept him in his heart this many years. This affection moved him very much.
Bai Zihao looked at him. He seemed hesitant to speak.
Jin Feiren softened his expression and asked, âIs there anything you want to ask me?â
Bai Zihao smiled and asked, âDid you miss me during these years?â
Jin Feiyu said, âI missed you every day.â
Bai Zihao asked cautiously, âReally? I always feel that in your heart, IâŠwasnât important.â
âYou are important.â Jin Feiren looked greedily at his body. He saw his beauty, and wanted to touch. But was restricted by the chains, unable to move. Now, he had been reduced to a prisoner. He had already lost his ambitions back then. He knew he hadnât long to live. Fearing that they would never see each other again, he told him a lot of the feelings buried in his heart, wanting to leave the last mark in Bai Zihaoâs heart, âIn the beginning, I only treated you as a beautiful slave, but youâre so beautiful⊠The more we interacted, the more I grew to like you. Later you used your weak body to block that sword for me and ended up almost dying. I understood how important you were in my heart. Therefore, I disregarded everything to marry you.â
Bai Zihao touched the water caltrop flower mark on his collarbone, and said, aggrieved, âYou always bully me, I thought you didnât like meâŠâ
Jin Feiren quickly defended, âIf I didnât like you, how could I have blocked that Flame Wolf for you?â
âThatâs right,â Bai Zihao thought for a while, and laughed, âI finally understand. Youâre a bastard. You clearly knew I was very good, that I was attractive. So you deliberately bullied me and poisoned me with you malicious words so that I wouldnât dare to leave you, so that I would obediently stay by your side, fall in love with you, and belong only to you, right?â
Jin Feiyu felt that his tone sounded coquettish, and smiled. âYou found out.â
Bai Zihao gently grabbed his head and placed it on his neck, blocking all his vision. He reconfirmed seriously, âFeirenâŠDo you still love me now?â
Jin Feiren replied sincerely, âI love you. The only person I have loved in this world is you.â
âFeiren,â Bai Zihaoâs eyes gradually darkened, and his body trembled slightly with excitement, âIâm really happy.â
The sharp dagger finally pierced out of his sleeve and plunged into Jin Feirenâs underbelly. Jin Feirenâs eyes widened and he was so shocked that he couldnât speak. He couldnât believe the Daoist companion who he had given his sincere heart to, who was always obedient to him, the docile beautiful boy, the little fool who was so kind that he wouldnât even dare to kill a rabbit, would unexpected kill him with his own hands.
Bai Zihao drew out the dagger and in disgust, pushed Jin Feiren away, still spurting blood. It splashed all over his body, but his heart was calm.
Killing wasnât hard at all.
Although he has never killed anyone before, and he didnât know how to kill, this didnât prevent him from relying on his instincts and indiscriminately stabbing this way and that. Just as Jin Feiren knew what to say to hurt his heart, he too knew what to say to cause the most suffering to the other,
âI have never liked a scumbag like you. Iâve met someone I really like.â
âI like him so much. I like him ten thousand times more than I ever liked you. I just want to stick right next to him every day. I want to give myself to him in marriage.â
âWhat kind of man are you? Youâre just trash who doesnât even have that thing! Hideous!â
âHeâs better-looking than you, more interesting than you, more lovable than you, and his c*ck is bigger and better than yours!â
âHe let me know what real happiness is.â
âYou dare to miss me, to love me. Thatâs so ridiculous.â
âYou donât even have the qualifications to die. Stay in a soul lamp and watch me live a happy life with someone else.â
âI have s*x with him every day. Want to know how we have fun?â
ââŠâŠâ
The physical torture didnât make Jin Feiren completely succumb. However, Bai Zihaoâs words broke all the lines of defense in his heart. The treasured bird in his palm had flown away. His heart that he had given him had been trampled on the ground. His Daoist companion was happy in the arms of someone elseâŠ
He was an extremely arrogant man, so for him, even more than for others, he couldnât bear such humiliation.
The breath of life gradually disappeared, and the magic formation, arranged in the dark, emitted a faint brilliance, imprisoning his soul.
At the last moment when he closed his eyes, he saw Bai Zihao take the eternally burning lamp off the wall. With its flame, he burned off the water caltrop flower mark on his collarbone. He burnt off skin and flesh and the last trace he left was removed. Bai Zihao then left the dungeon without even a look back.
Jin Feiren will stay in the soul lamp, and savor the taste of shame forever.
âŠâŠ
Bai Zihao walked out of the dungeon covered in blood. He squinted his eyes. He felt that the sky was so blue and the bright sunlight was a bit dazzling.
Shenjunâs figure stood not far away, looking at him quietly.
Bai Zihao once again knelt down and thanked him. He asked the question that had been buried in his heart for so many years, âHow can I become as brave as you? To no longer be afraid of anything.â
Shenjun turned to leave. âUse your own feet, stand up.â
Bai Zihao was taken aback. He stood up, and quickly followed after him.
He no longer needed emotional charity. He no longer needed to depend on others to save him. He will use all his strength and rely on himself to tear open the cage around his heart. He will strengthen his wings, make them large and powerful. Then he will follow closely behind the red shadow.