After hiding the last one, He Mu knocked on Wenren Sheng’s door.
“Wenren Sheng?”
Wenren Sheng hurriedly smoothed the wrinkles on his clothes and ran forward to draw the door bolt.
“Brother,” he pushed open the door and beamed at He Mu, “are we going to eat dinner? With Master?”
“Mm,” He Mu ruffled his hair and wolf ears, “why was the door locked?”
Wenren Sheng scratched his face and lied, “I was meditating just now and didn’t want to be disturbed.”
Afraid that He Mu would notice something, he quickly grabbed his hand and changed the subject as they walked. “Brother, after dinner, can you take me into the city for a stroll?”
“Into the city?” He Mu frowned slightly, “The city isn’t safe right now. What do you want to do?”
Wenren Sheng squeezed his hand and said honestly, “I want to help, Brother.”
Aside from that one secret meeting with Duoxiren, Wenren Sheng hadn’t entered Cangzhou City again. All the news about the city came from his master and He Mu.
He knew Cangzhou City was in dire straits right now, and since he possessed divine weapons and cultivation, he really wanted to share the burden for his master and the Mountain God, and protect the kin in Cangzhou City.
He Mu was silent for a moment before he said, “No.”
Wenren Sheng’s ears drooped at once, disappointment showing on his face.
“Why?” He let go of He Mu’s hand, full of confusion. “I’ve rested well, and I want to help too. Don’t always—”
He Mu’s lips curved slightly as he interrupted warmly, “These past few days, your master has been secluded in the study, poring over many ancient texts to research the toxicity of that red lotus. She’s finally made some progress recently.”
“…What progress?”
He Mu shook his head. “It doesn’t harm people directly, but it seems to incite madness in demons. If exposed long-term, the accumulated toxins in the body might cause one to lose control someday.”
That was why He Mu wouldn’t let Wenren Sheng show his face. They hadn’t found a proper way to destroy the red lotus yet, so He Mu and Yi Jinxiang could only isolate Cangzhou City’s residents from it for now.
But the city was only so big. Cang Province already housed a large number of demons, and now their living spaces were squeezed tight. Resentment would boil over sooner or later, sparking chaos.
Wenren Sheng was the hero who drove away Siming and protected Cangzhou. If he appeared publicly now, most people would pin their hopes on him subconsciously, expecting him to solve everything.
Hope in times of crisis came at a cost.
If Wenren Sheng failed to resolve the red lotus disaster in Cangzhou City someday, or failed to protect them, all the blame would point to him, all the sins laid at his feet.
To prevent that from happening, they couldn’t let Wenren Sheng be elevated too high. Best to have him vanish completely.
After hearing this, Wenren Sheng knew He Mu wanted to protect him, not confine him without reason.
He shook He Mu’s hand and softened his attitude again. “Brother, I know you want to protect me, but I’m already a sword cultivator at the soul formation realm. You don’t need to watch me so closely.”
“Let’s… discuss it, or I can just stick with you the whole time. If everything’s always left to you and Master, it makes me feel uneasy.”
He Mu sighed and said, “Then in a few days, I’ll take you into the city. Stay in Splendid Palace today. I’ll keep you company, alright?”
“In a few days?” Wenren Sheng’s eyes lit up. “You mean it, Brother?”
He Mu said confidently, “When have I ever lied to you?”
Wenren Sheng crossed his arms and deliberately scowled. “Talking nonsense again. When have you not lied to me?”
He had practically been deceived by He Mu from childhood to now. He wasn’t a fool; of course he’d notice after being tricked so many times!
It was just that every time, Wenren Sheng felt too embarrassed, too soft-hearted, and ended up agreeing to He Mu’s excessive requests after some coaxing…
He Mu saw his little face fall and couldn’t resist scratching his chin, laughing. “Trust me this once, Shengsheng. If I fool you again this time, you can have your way with me, alright?”
Seeing his sincere tone, Wenren Sheng huffed shortly and said, “Fine… alright.”
Wenren Sheng paused, then seemed to remember something, his cheeks suddenly flushing hot.
He grabbed He Mu’s hand again and whispered, “Brother, about tonight’s promise… do you still remember?”
“The promise?” He Mu laughed. “You mean dual cultivation?”
Wenren Sheng’s ear tips turned red as he squeezed his eyes shut. “I-I’m already prepared. We can start tonight!!”
After all, it was related to cultivation, and Wenren Sheng always took such things seriously. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have earnestly studied the spring palace diagrams all afternoon.
He Mu was amused by his sudden burst of enthusiasm. “You’re so eager, you’re not scared?”
Wenren Sheng blinked and stopped, taking the initiative to hug He Mu as he looked up at him.
“Brother,” he said softly, “with you, I’m not afraid of anything.”
He Mu’s expression stilled, the look on his face gradually softening into a gentle smile.
“I’ve prepared a gift for you,” he said. “Want to see it later?”
“Really?” Wenren Sheng said joyfully. “Thank you, Brother! I-I didn’t prepare anything… I’ll go tomorrow…”
He Mu ruffled his hair, interrupting. “Enough, enough. No need for you to fuss. Me giving you one is plenty.”
Wenren Sheng couldn’t resist tiptoeing up to kiss He Mu on the lips, then buried his face in his shoulder, rubbing happily against it.
See? What was there to fear?
Wenren Sheng thought to himself that with the Mountain God, there was only endless happiness. No time to worry or fret.
During dinner, He Mu barely touched his chopsticks, and Wenren Sheng had no appetite either. The two sat at the table, each lost in their own thoughts.
Across from them, Yi Jinxiang ignored everyone.
He Mu had bragged to her for half a month already that Wenren Sheng had agreed to his proposal. She could guess with her feet what these two were rushing off to do.
She calmly finished her last bite, set down her chopsticks, and glanced at them.
“Something up?”
He Mu leaned back with his arms crossed, about to speak, when Wenren Sheng hurriedly covered his mouth.
“Nothing, Master!” he said. “Eat slowly. We’ll wait until you’re done.”
Yi Jinxiang huffed lightly. “I don’t have the habit of prying into others’ private affairs.”
With that, she stood, flicked her sleeve, and turned to leave. Ye Lan beside her hurriedly bowed to Wenren Sheng and He Mu before hurrying after her.
Wenren Sheng vaguely overheard their conversation:
“Master, are you angry?”
“Mind your own business… scram.”
“…”
Wenren Sheng let out a breath of relief and finally dared to put his leg on He Mu’s lap.
“Good thing Master didn’t notice…”
He Mu tapped his forehead teasingly. “You’re so dumb. She definitely knows what we’re up to.”
“Ah,” Wenren Sheng clutched his head and muttered, “How could she know? She’s not a god.”
…She really was.
Wenren Sheng shyly wrapped his arms around He Mu’s neck, swinging his other leg over too.
“So embarrassing,” he complained. “All your fault.”
When this kid got shy, he liked burying himself in people, no different from a little animal. He Mu let him cling and smoothly scooped him up into a princess carry.
“Let’s go watch the sunset.”
With that, he leaped with lightness skill and soon flipped onto the roof of Splendid Palace.
Dusk settled outside the palace, a cool evening breeze rising and fluttering their sleeves.
Wenren Sheng clung to He Mu and slightly raised his head to gaze toward the city.
The sunset’s afterglow bathed all of Cangzhou City in warm light. The market was at the point of dispersing, with nearby stalls already lowering their banners, ready to pack up and head home.
Demons and humans had coexisted in the same world since ancient times. Their ways of life weren’t so different—humans studied demon spells, demons admired human appearances and customs. They interacted and learned from each other, meant to be the most intimate races, not turning blades on each other in the same home.
Wenren Sheng was a demon himself, so of course he loved his kin. But the one who raised him, loved him, and saved his life was He Mu. He could never hate humans.
Wenren Sheng didn’t want to hurt either side. He just wanted to set everything right, back to how it was at the beginning.
He Mu watched for a while beside him, then looked down at Wenren Sheng, his eyes suddenly clouding over.
“Shengsheng, actually, there’s something… I’ve always wanted to tell you.”
Wenren Sheng met his gaze, his heart inexplicably speeding up.
“What does Brother want to say?”
“I…”
He Mu hesitated, seeming conflicted inside.
Finally, he sighed softly and said slowly, “Actually, I’m not as good as you think, Shengsheng. Back then… I was always arrogant and looked down on everyone.”
“When I ascended at twenty-five, there were no opponents left in the world. I thought I could keep my mind steadfast forever, that my dao heart would never change.”
“Now I know there’s no such thing as constants in this world. The dao heart I chose back then was just a rash decision born of my arrogance.”
Wenren Sheng grew anxious listening. He jumped down from He Mu’s arms, cupped his cheeks, and looked up at him with rippling eyes.
“Don’t say that, Brother. You’re not like that at all,” he said urgently. “When I was little, I was all ragged with nothing to my name, but you still picked me up and took me home. That proves Brother is a really, really good person, not arrogant at all!”
He Mu smiled and covered the back of Wenren Sheng’s hand, teasing him. “You think too highly of me, Shengsheng. I’ve done many wrong things before that you don’t know about…”
“If you did wrong, just make it right!”
Wenren Sheng interrupted him.
“I don’t think Brother did anything wrong at all. Who hasn’t been fooled? It was your first ascension—how were you supposed to know if Siming was good or evil?”
He was so anxious, afraid He Mu would blame himself again, and quickly covered his mouth with his hand.
“Don’t talk about yourself like that!”
He Mu smiled and instead lowered his eyes to kiss Wenren Sheng’s palm.
He held Wenren Sheng’s hand and said gently, “I’ve let you down in many ways too. Back then, I couldn’t figure out my own feelings and thought I could suppress them. In the end, I fell into qi deviation and left when you needed me… making you sad for so long.”
“I’m sorry, Shengsheng. It was all my fault. Thank you for forgiving me and still willing to be with me.”
The two years apart had worn away He Mu’s excessive sharpness. He’d tasted the bitterness of arrogance’s consequences. Now, with a chance to regain Wenren Sheng’s forgiveness, he would never blindly decide anything with overconfidence again.
This was all thanks to Wenren Sheng. Wenren Sheng’s love for him was a gift from the heavens.
He had to cherish it well.
Wenren Sheng knew he wasn’t good with words and couldn’t think of a retort for the moment, so he simply pounced and hugged him, burying into his shoulder like a little bird.
“Anyway, I’m going to like you, going to marry you,” he said sulkily. “I’m going to make you my dao companion, my future husband!”
“You’re so dumb…”
He Mu couldn’t stop smiling. He tightened his embrace, as if wanting to meld the other into himself.
“So eager to get married, Shengsheng?” he said with a laugh. “Don’t you mind that I’m over three hundred years older than you?”
Wenren Sheng squeezed his eyes shut and shouted, “We’re getting married—no reason to dislike a husband’s age!”
After shouting that, his face burned like fever, turning fully red as a peach.
Crap, what had he even said!
Wenren Sheng, you’re hopeless. So dumb!
He Mu had to tease him right then: “Then remember to act spoiled later, call me husband softly, and I’ll pamper you.”
Wenren Sheng nipped him and scolded with a red face, “You’re so annoying!”
“Mm,” He Mu said with a smile, “I love you too, Shengsheng.”
