Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 82: Reunion

The pain of addiction was as agonizing as the torture of skinning.

The young Shi Jingzhi closed his eyes. Silence enveloped everything, and the maple forest disappeared. Only intense pain and darkness remained in his memory.

When the crucial memories returned, the pain pierced through time like splitting a bamboo*. Completely recalling that moment from the past, Shi Jingzhi’s mind was almost torn apart.

*(势如破竹) Metaphor referring to something so powerful it’s unstoppable, just like how bamboo can be split with ease when using great strength and momentum.

In that fleeting moment, he finally understood the danger of breaking the ban.

Accompanied by the sweeping fragments of memories, the pain continued without end. It felt like sinking into a swamp, unable to breathe or move. It was as if he was forcefully crammed into a small iron cage, and his entire body was in excruciating pain.

Shi Jingzhi tried his best to maintain a shred of clarity in his mind.

It wasn’t for the sake of the truth; for a moment, desires and bets were thrown to the side. Amidst the growing chaos in Shi Jingzhi’s mind, only one thought remained.

What happened afterward? What happened next?

Yin Ci would return in haste with medicinal herbs, only to find a scene of carnage. Faced with the scattered internal organs and shattered bones, what emotions would he experience?

This was the second time Shi Jingzhi didn’t wait for him to return.

Would Yin Ci fall into madness again? Without him by his side, Yin Ci would be alone once more. At the moment of Yin Ci’s utmost suffering, there would be no one to hold him.

They only had one short month. The best day would be their last meeting.

Twenty-four years later, they encountered each other again at Kushan, but an invisible ban separated them, making them strangers despite seeing each other.

As far as he knew, Yin Ci’s “three generations” of relatives were all on Kushan… After the dispersal at the gathering in the Juyi Valley, did Yin Ci never leave the vicinity of Kushan again?

The heartache and sorrow overshadowed even the intense pain caused by the ban. The sadness didn’t solely stem from their separation…

On the day of their forced separation, the eerie battle between Yin Ci and the giant monster was still vivid in Shi Jingzhi’s mind.

According to legends, the immortal body restored its physical form through blood-red fine roots, thus achieving immortality. In Shi Jingzhi’s mind, the ink characters that recorded the legends swayed, and the scattered clues assembled like pearls at this inopportune moment.

Yin Ci was also an immortal.

For a long time, Shi Jingzhi had been seeking the path to longevity, but he had never heard of an immortal body. Chen Qianfan had studied this path for thirty years and only discovered a rumor. The immortal body wasn’t as common as mushrooms after the rain, impossible to appear so frequently.

A near-absurd conjecture gradually took shape.

…What if there had been only one such person since ancient times?

Since their reunion, regardless of the situation, Yin Ci never showed obvious external injuries. His aura, honed through years of experience, and his exceptional combat skills were all unlike those of an ordinary person.

Twenty years ago, Yin Ci was present in this place. He referred to himself as “This Seat”, his authority profoundly imposing.

Was Yin Ci really just a descendant of the “Su Clan”? If the Chigou Sect, which became the top demonic sect in the world, couldn’t find the “Su Clan”, was it really because they chose to live in seclusion? …Did the “Su Clan” really exist?

One hundred years ago, Su Zhi and his renowned Bone Sweeping Sword technique simply passed away, but was it really just a natural death and not fabricated aging using the ghostskin robe? Two hundred years ago, that strange person kneeling before the village—was he also Yin Ci?

This almost pitiful “immortal” state—when did it actually begin?

Numerous questions surged up and down, eventually condensing into waves of palpitations. Thousands of words gathered and scattered, and in the end, he only wanted to give that person a hug, twenty-four years late.

Shi Jingzhi had never wanted to wake up so much before.

The ban sensed his intentions. The headache became more piercing, and more memories rushed in, attempting to disrupt his thoughts and occupy his entire mind.

He saw his own mother.

The woman leaned against the bed, with only a pair of eyes left in her emaciated appearance. She looked at Shi Jingzhi expressionlessly, with traces of her past beauty still visible on her face. Since he regained his memories, it seemed that he had only seen her like this once.

The unfamiliar mother didn’t speak, but simply reached out and caressed his head. The thin, withered hand naturally slid down his face, tucking a strand of unruly hair behind his ear.

The next moment, he saw himself being held down by the eunuch, Lu Fu, reluctantly putting on a tattered mountain villager’s clothes. The clothes reeked of a wild, foul odor, causing the young Shi Jingzhi to be immediately nauseated by the stench.

The eunuch forcefully dressed him, saying, “Ancestor, just behave yourself. If you wear those luxurious and fragrant robes, you’ll be taken away by wild beasts the next day!”

Shi Jingzhi remembered the carriage carrying him to Kushan, the taste of bitter medicine lingering in his mouth. He also remembered the Imperial Preceptor carrying him back to the mansion, with the added aroma of medicinal herbs. He heard people whispering angrily and arguing. He also heard others whispering, mourning, and crying.

Memories became increasingly fragmented, and the voices became louder and more chaotic. Emotions from the past cycled endlessly. The three elements combined into countless invisible hands behind him. They constantly tempted him to lose focus, to be angry, and even to be confused, trying to drag him into the depths of darkness.

In the depths of his mind, Shi Jingzhi felt as if he had returned to Juyi Valley and stepped onto a strange path with no way out. Sweet floral scents wafted behind him, and he knew that as long as he turned around, gave up struggling, the endless pain would stop.

But this time, he strode forward, without even glancing back.

A’Ci told him to wait for him. But he had been away for too long, and he couldn’t waste any more time here.

The “immortal” under the maple tree had been waiting for him for twenty-four years.

Finally, at the end of his memories, a soft sigh echoed. In the last memory, a thin, withered finger pressed against his forehead.

“A bottomless pit of desire, an endless world of mortals. You have collected the desires of all living beings, often destroyed by your own desire. To maintain your sanity, you can only choose one desire.”

“Unfortunately, for over three hundred years, anyone who chose their desire, be it wealth, fame, love, or family, eventually became a calamity, without exception.”

“You are somewhat special… Your desire was formed early, and your character is not yet mature, which makes you suitable for our careful cultivation. Perhaps this great achievement in a hundred years can be accomplished by this old one’s own hands…”

Suddenly, Shi Jingzhi felt like laughing.

Born with an insatiable desire, destined to bring calamity in the future. It turned out that he had even attempted to adopt a disciple and hold a “Zhuazhou” ceremony. But little did he know that the world had already made him go through a “Zhuazhou” once, letting him choose one from countless desires.

A thought flashed, and his mind became clear.

Shi Jingzhi knew what desire he had chosen. On that day, in Yin Ci’s embrace, he grasped a moment of worry-free contentment and lasting satisfaction in his heart.

Countless beings in the world spend their whole lives seeking what they desire. It was no different from this.

That old man really made a mistake. Over three hundred years, Shi Jingzhi didn’t know how many people became those who “chose their desires”, but he must have been the greediest among them all.

In the past, he disregarded everything to seek survival, yet he never found satisfaction. The reason was simpler than he imagined—what he desired was “the happiness of living”, but it was forcefully cut off, leaving only a vague “life” without meaning.

…Until he met Yin Ci again.

At this moment, the person he eagerly wanted to see was just within reach. If he really died due to the ban, wouldn’t it be a letdown to the “bottomless pit of desire” the old man spoke of?

In an instant, a strong gust of wind rose, bringing a heavy sense of oppression.

Chen Qianfan was busy disassembling the formation and almost spat out blood. His movements almost came to a halt.

Shi Jingzhi on the wooden platform had his eyes tightly shut, and his face looked somewhat distorted. Threads of blood-like patterns appeared around him, and his surging inner force went out of control, causing the flames below the platform to scatter chaotically. The ban formation behind Shi Jingzhi’s head manifested again, emitting a series of explosions, significantly weakening the brilliance of the grand formation.

The brilliant golden formation seemed alive. Strands of runes detached from the formation and crawled towards Shi Jingzhi’s temple, burrowing into his flesh and disregarding any resistance. They swelled and wriggled beneath his skin like restless blood vessels.

Between Chen Qianfan’s fingers, silver-blue threads of light intertwined, forming sharp “tweezers”. He held his breath and carefully disassembled and twisted the runes, pulling them away from the formation. The golden runes he plucked wriggled like worms but soon turned into scattered specks of golden dust.

However, their numbers were too great, their structures too complex, and their speed of burrowing into the flesh was too fast. Chen Qianfan’s face became drawn, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Shi Jingzhi’s skin turned a golden color, blood oozing from the corners of his mouth, and his trembling fingers showed signs of resistance.

Without Chen Qianfan needing to explain, Yin Ci knew that it was a critical moment in unraveling the formation.

Shi Jingzhi must have sensed the “root of desire” and was fighting for his life against the ban, which provoked the crazed counterattack of the formation. If Shi Jingzhi lost consciousness, these runes would immediately seize the opportunity to infiltrate his body and turn him into a lifeless husk.

Although Shi Jingzhi was adept at circumventing others, he wasn’t a coward. Judging from the situation, he was forcefully intimidating the runes with his qi, daring to confront them head-on.

Yin Ci saw no trace of retreat or fear on his face, but he sensed a sorrow of unknown origin.

Shi Jingzhi was highly skilled at finding joy in adversity. Even if he faced despair and anger, he always clung to his full vitality. Yin Ci had never seen Shi Jingzhi like this… filled with sadness.

Thankfully, Yin Ci knew how to deal with this situation.

Yin Ci tightened the outer garment stained with blood and stepped back into the formation. He withstood the chaotic inner force while matching the path with his right hand drawing the “Purifying Words”, sequentially pressing on the acupoints around Shi Jingzhi.

His left hand gripped Shi Jingzhi’s trembling fingers, covering them with his palm.

Chen Qianfan immediately puffed his cheeks, glaring at him angrily. “What are you messing around for? Just behave yourself!”

Yin Ci didn’t let go. “I won’t interfere with you in disassembling the formation. I’m just helping him.”

As if sensing a familiar aura, Shi Jingzhi’s trembling gradually stopped, and the rampant inner force around him also quieted down a lot. Whether it was oblivious or deliberate, Shi Jingzhi’s fingers moved in Yin Ci’s palm, as if trying to hold that hand again.

It was this moment that made the ban go completely berserk.

The momentary calm passed, but instead of improving, Shi Jingzhi’s condition became even more terrifying—blood flowed from his seven orifices, and his whole body convulsed. The wriggling runes at his temple struggled frantically, making his complexion even darker, and the former exuberance in him gradually revealed the appearance of decline.

Shi Jingzhi’s fingertips, which were originally scorching hot, now cooled down a bit. Yin Ci’s hand tightened, and his heart turned cold as well.

Did he make another mistake?

Did he once again choose the seemingly correct but ultimately destructive path?

The scorching heat in his palm suddenly changed its nature, and the scene before him overlapped with the tragedy of twenty-four years ago. Yin Ci almost couldn’t control the rising resentment in his heart.

On that day many years ago, he didn’t understand the cause of the Little Mute’s illness. But Yin Ci knew in his heart that he needed some medicine for internal injuries to stabilize the Little Mute’s condition.

He had never exerted his full effort in qinggong like he did that day. At the nearest medicine shop, Yin Ci tossed a few silver ingots and directly took away the most precious medicines in the shop. He continued without stopping, and he couldn’t count how many wounds he got from the branches along the way.

He handled things properly and returned in a timely manner. Even though Yuyi Valley was vast with a wide variety of monsters, it was only a temporary departure, so the Little Mute should be fine.

He couldn’t afford to have anything happen.

Yin Ci already knew that prayers were useless, but at that moment, he uncharacteristically made a wish. In the vastness of the world, he only wished for the heavens to accommodate the destiny of a three-year-old child.

When Yin Ci returned to his original location, the autumn wind blew gently, and the red leaves remained. The monster’s corpse was still there, looking the same as when he left.

However, the smell of blood in the wind was overpowering.

As if it was destined by the heavens, his wish would never be fulfilled. All the hopes he held onto would eventually end in vain. Faced with a ground covered in flesh and blood, in a daze, Yin Ci’s mind found a kind of almost cruel calmness.

He remembered how he had repeatedly inspected those remains, trying to find any traces of the “Little Mute” still being alive. He also recalled how he despaired bit by bit in front of the roasted fish and wild fruits inside the corpse’s stomach.

Yin Ci didn’t fall into madness, although he even hoped to lose his mind.

Even if he couldn’t die, he just wanted to escape from the tragic scene before him and find liberation. Blaming others was easy, but hating oneself was like hell. People said there were eighteen levels in hell, but his personal hell seemed like an endless abyss.

Unfortunately, this time, he couldn’t take that final step off the cliff.

In just one month, Yin Ci had developed a pitiful habit. Just as his resentment surged, it silently dissipated once more.

In a daze, it was as if someone was holding his hand and giving him a sticky embrace.

What a pity. He still wanted a flower.

The heavens indeed gave him an answer that was so sharp it was almost ironic—indeed, there was such a person who, from birth to death, never disappointed him once.

Then he would leave it to fate, continue to maintain his clarity, and wander through the world. If one day that hand could no longer hold him, if that embrace could no longer stop him, he would leap off the cliff once again and perhaps never have a clear day ever after.

Now that he had finally found a glimmer of hope, would he watch it extinguish before his eyes?

Yin Ci tightly held Shi Jingzhi’s hand, unable to meet the man’s face covered in blood. The suppressed resentment of twenty-four years sensed his fear and began to stir once again.

Crack.

A series of cracking sounds followed by continuous explosions rang out.

Within Shi Jingzhi’s heavy qi, a hint of warmth emerged. Golden dust exploded throughout the room. Chen Qianfan’s hand froze in mid-air, and the runes on the “tweezers” continued to writhe.

A hand reversed and gripped Yin Ci’s wrist. The hand was scorching hot and almost burned him, but its strength was just right—gentle yet irresistible.

In an instant of daze, Yin Ci was pulled towards the wooden platform, and the slight resentment within him had no time to dissipate.

Immediately after, he received a warm embrace.

On the wooden platform, Shi Jingzhi’s face was covered in blood, looking disheveled. But his embrace was fervent, and his heart beat steadily and vigorously. The ban was completely shattered, and the dark green sparks on the wooden platform turned into a radiant gold-red color. They were swept up by Shi Jingzhi’s inner force, resembling tiny scattered petals.

“You’re back.”

Shi Jingzhi buried his nose in Yin Ci’s neck and sighed softly.

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Kinky Thoughts:

I’m just a hot, crying mess reading these chapters.

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