The last time Teng Qingshan visited the Fiery Domain, it was already night. Now, as he rushed back to Ox Head Mountain from the Fiery Ridge, the sky was just beginning to show a faint, milky dawn. After all, the round trip spanned hundreds of li, and he had spent a good half-day searching the lava lake.
On Ox Head Mountain, atop that nameless peak.
A figure the color of earth flew up the slope, reaching the summit in just two steps.
“Xiaojun, Ashou, Xiaoping, Adong, wake up! We must leave immediately,” Teng Qingshan burst into the courtyard, shouting urgently.
“Teacher!” Teng Shou was the first to rush out of the house, followed closely by Yang Dong.
Li Jun and Fu Yuping also ran out, hastily buttoning their clothes. At this early hour, with stars still visible, why was Teng Qingshan waking them up?
“Brother Teng, what is it?” Li Jun asked immediately.
“Pack up quickly, we’re leaving right now,” Teng Qingshan insisted, already rushing into his own room. Upon entering, he first slung the Samsara Spear over his shoulder, then placed the Mountain-Splitting Divine Axe and the stone carvings into an iron chest, which also contained crucial items like the Cloud Dream White Fruit.
Whoosh!
Hoisting the heavy iron chest, Teng Qingshan turned and strode out into the courtyard.
“Hurry, hurry up,” he urged them repeatedly.
Li Jun, burdened with a pack, looked worried: “Brother Ten—what happened?”
“Xiaojun,” Teng Qingshan said gravely, “I rushed to the Fiery Ridge last night and successfully retrieved the Nine-Leaf Red Lotus. However… the news is now known to thousands. The Nine-Leaf Red Lotus involves too much, we must leave here immediately… We will take the Azure Luan and the Gale Eagle and go to some remote, uninhabited place. Perhaps Cloud Dream Marsh, or some desolate island.”
Teng Qingshan was acutely aware that the situation had worsened following the great roar of the Iron Sword Martial Saint, Helian Haoyan.
He had no choice but to seek another secluded refuge.
“The Nine-Leaf Red Lotus?” Li Jun instantly grasped the gravity of the situation.
“Sister Xiaojun!” Fu Yuping rushed in from outside the courtyard, anxious. “The Gale Eagle is here, but I don't know where the Azure Luan is.”
“The Azure Luan?” Li Jun exclaimed, startled.
Normally, Teng Qingshan and the others didn't impose strict limits on the Gale Eagle and the Azure Luan; they just had to remain nearby.
“Hurry, call the Azure Luan back! We need to leave quickly,” Teng Qingshan commanded.
“Okay.” Li Jun nodded, immediately tilting her head back and letting out a loud cry: “Yoo~~~”
Teng Qingshan turned to the nearby Teng Shou, Yang Dong, and Fu Yuping. “Ashou, you, Adong, and Xiaoping, all get onto the Gale Eagle’s back. Later, you must take good care of Adong and Xiaoping and make absolutely sure they don't fall off the eagle’s back.” The Gale Eagle flew at extreme speed, and the headwind was immense.
One careless moment and they could be blown off. Since Teng Shou had cultivated the Gang Jin, he was stronger than most innate Golden Core Martial Saints, so his care would certainly suffice.
“Yes, Teacher.”
“Quickly, let’s go.”
Teng Shou, Yang Dong, and Fu Yuping jumped onto the Gale Eagle’s back. Fu Yuping was small, and though it was a bit crowded, she managed to settle in securely.
Just then—
“Brother Teng,” a clear voice sounded. A streak of lightning landed on the courtyard wall—it was Mu Wang, the Grand Elder of the Sunrise Merchant Guild. Mu Wang looked at Teng Qingshan. “Brother Teng, this Nine-Leaf Red Lotus, do you intend to hoard it all to yourself?” Mu Wang felt a touch of displeasure.
“Old Brother Mu, we can talk later,” Teng Qingshan soothed.
Swish! Swish!
Two figures landed almost simultaneously on the courtyard wall: the Iron Sword Martial Saint, Helian Haoyan, and the female Martial Saint, Jiang Yan.
“The Female Martial Saint.” Li Jun couldn't help but glance at Jiang Yan; their strikingly similar features naturally drew her attention.
“Mr. Teng,” the Iron Sword Martial Saint, Helian Haoyan, smiled. “About this Nine-Leaf Red Lotus, why don't you bring it out, and we can divide it amongst ourselves.”
“How would we divide it?” Teng Qingshan countered.
“You produce the Nine-Leaf Red Lotus, and then we can discuss the division,” Helian Haoyan stated.
At that moment, a fiery afterimage shot through the air rapidly—it was the Azure Luan returning.
“Xiaojun, get onto the Azure Luan’s back,” Teng Qingshan instructed, while he himself remained highly vigilant of the people before him, fearful that the Iron Sword Martial Saint and the others might ambush Li Jun or Teng Shou.
…
By now, the Gale Eagle was circling high in the sky, with Teng Shou, Yang Dong, and Fu Yuping safely aboard. As for Li Jun, she leaped up and sprang toward the Azure Luan’s back.
“You can’t blame me,” Helian Haoyan thought, his intent stirring. A trace of innate Zhenyuan entered the pocket over his chest, easily piercing the jade vial contained within.
Hooo~~
It transformed into an invisible, odorless gas that rapidly diffused outward.
…
Teng Qingshan remained on guard. Seeing that Li Jun had successfully boarded the Azure Luan, he finally relaxed. He lifted the heavy iron chest, intending to jump onto the Azure Luan himself. Suddenly—
“Hmm?”
Teng Qingshan felt something was terribly wrong within his body, accompanied by a faint dizziness. His expression changed drastically. “Not good! Xiaojun and the others…” He instantly forced his blood to reverse its flow, expelling the inhaled poison from his system, while shouting hoarsely: “Poison! Hold your breath!”
“Poison?”
The Sunrise Martial Saint and the others reacted slightly slower than Teng Qingshan, but they immediately noticed.
“Poison!”
“Someone is poisoning us!”
The Sunrise Martial Saint Mu Wang, the Iron Sword Martial Saint Helian Haoyan, and the Female Martial Saint Jiang Yan shouted almost simultaneously. At that moment, the four Martial Saints, including Teng Qingshan, had no idea who was responsible for the poisoning.
“Xiaojun.” Teng Qingshan looked up anxiously.
Since the Gale Eagle was circling at high altitude, Teng Shou, Yang Dong, and Fu Yuping were completely unaffected. However, Li Jun had just leaped onto the Azure Luan’s back, and the bird was only about two or three zhang above them… Li Jun had inhaled the toxic gas almost at the same moment as Teng Qingshan, but she lacked his ability to force the poison out.
“Poison, hold your breath!” When Teng Qingshan’s shout reached her, Li Jun already felt her head spinning: “Poison? I’m poisoned!”
She swayed on the Azure Luan’s back, like someone deeply drunk. Though not completely unconscious, she could not control her body whatsoever. She listed sideways and tumbled off the Azure Luan’s back.
Li Jun felt dizzy…
“Poisoned? Am I… am I going to die?”
Scenes from her life flashed through her mind.
Childhood, living in a wealthy household, loved by her father and mother, enjoying the carefree life of a young lady.
Then, the night of nightmares: in just one night, her family was massacred. She and her mother fled in panic, and at that time, she could only rely on her mother…
When her mother was shot dead by a bandit’s arrow, she felt everything was over, the heavens had collapsed. Just when she was most desperate, Teng Qingshan appeared. A battle saber flashed, killing all the bandits in an instant. At that moment, she felt she finally had someone to lean on. Perhaps out of gratitude, perhaps for other reasons, she decided then that she wanted to follow Teng Qingshan, even if it was only as a servant girl…
She gained a master, and quickly became a core disciple of the high-and-mighty Celestial God Palace, even learning the Beast Tongue language. Suddenly, from a pitiable orphan, she transformed into an important member of the Palace, her status comparable to an innate Golden Core expert. But she wasn't happy, because she constantly worried about Teng Qingshan…
Every piece of news about him made her tense with worry.
Finally, on the vast grasslands, she encountered Teng Qingshan! She was happier than she had ever been before.
Teng Qingshan was preparing to leave, to go out to sea. She made her final decision… no matter where he went, even if it meant the boundless, desolate ocean, she would follow him—through mountains of blades and seas of fire, she was willing to go. Even if… she could only serve him silently, as a maid.
…
Whether during her days as a wealthy young lady or as a divine maiden in the Celestial God Mountain, she had never served anyone before.
But following Teng Qingshan, she was willing.
Washing his clothes clean…
Preparing delicious meals for him…
Watching him practice his martial arts…
Watching him battle other experts…
Teng Qingshan teaching her whip techniques…
“Xiaojun!” An anxious voice reached Li Jun’s ears.
“Brother Teng is calling me, it’s Brother Teng.” Li Jun was almost unconscious. She wanted to speak, but she couldn't move her mouth at all, and she couldn't even force her eyes open anymore.
“Xiaojun, you’ll be alright, you’ll be fine.”
The anxious voices from outside, along with waves of warmth, made Li Jun’s heart happy: “Brother Teng is worried about me… Brother Teng must be holding me now.”
Splash!
A teardrop fell onto Li Jun’s face.
“Is it raining? Or… is it Brother Teng’s tears…”
“Brother Teng… is crying for me?”
“He’s crying…”
Li Jun lost consciousness completely.
…
When Li Jun fell from the Azure Luan’s back, Teng Qingshan felt a sharp pain in his heart. Subconsciously, he lunged forward and caught the falling girl.
This girl who had followed him through wind and rain…
“Xiaojun’s breathing is weakening! Her heartbeat is slowing!”
Teng Qingshan panicked.
He felt like his head was about to explode.
When preparing to go to sea, Teng Qingshan had hardened his heart and said: “Fine. From today on, I am your elder brother!”
Teng Qingshan had always believed…
that his feelings for Li Jun were simply those of an older brother toward a younger sister—feelings of care and pity. As for the faint, special affection he sometimes felt for Li Jun—the urge to hug her sometimes, the faint desire to kiss her… Teng Qingshan had always dismissed those feelings, believing they were because Li Jun resembled his past life’s wife, Xiaomao.
Whenever he felt that way, Teng Qingshan convinced himself it was only because Li Jun looked so much like Xiaomao!
But—
At this moment, Teng Qingshan felt a tearing agony in his soul. His mind was filled only with images of the girl who silently devoted herself to him. When he went to Shenfu Mountain, she followed him to Shenfu Mountain. When he needed to cultivate arduously at Ox Head Mountain, she, a young girl in her prime, stayed with him in this desolate place.
She wove clothes for him… and watched him wear what she had made.
She prepared delicious dishes for him… and smiled while watching him eat.
Scenes of warmth flashed through his mind.
Home!
It was home. Being with Li Jun, he finally felt he had a home!
“Why, why does my heart ache like this!”
“The special feelings I have for her—are they not because of Xiaomao?”
Teng Qingshan’s body trembled slightly, and his gaze swept past the Female Martial Saint, Jiang Yan, who shared the same facial features as his deceased wife.
“Jiang Yan looks exactly like Xiaomao, too. Why, why have I never felt that urge to embrace and cherish Jiang Yan? Why didn’t I develop those special feelings for her?”
“No!”
Teng Qingshan’s body convulsed violently, his eyes widening into perfect circles.
In this instant, Teng Qingshan realized…
“I… I… I have fallen in love with Xiaojun?”
Love—indescribable, ineffable.
Li Jun, this girl who seemed ruthless in her methods but was actually extremely innocent in her heart, possessed even less calculation than the young Fu Yuping. She didn't know how to capture a man’s heart; she only knew silent devotion and quiet waiting. Unknowingly, Teng Qingshan had fallen in love with her, yet… he repeatedly hypnotized himself that these feelings were not for Xiaojun, but for Xiaomao.
Repeated self-hypnosis had maintained this delusion!
He did not love Xiaojun; all his love was directed towards Xiaomao!
He had even told Li Jun: “From today on, I am your elder brother!” forcing Li Jun into silent expectation…
But now, Teng Qingshan awoke!