Wenren Sheng moved the books back to his room, found some covering cloths to drape over them, and finally stuffed them under the bed to hide them.
As soon as he stood up, he collided head-on with He Mu.
“Ah!”
Wenren Sheng’s nose bridge ached from the bump, and he covered his face as he retreated two steps.
He Mu caught him, rubbed the sore spot for him twice, then lifted his chin toward the space under the bed and asked, “What are you hiding?”
“Nothing,” Wenren Sheng shook his head. “I’m not hiding anything.”
His hand quietly reached behind his back and grabbed his tail to stop it from wagging nonstop.
“Nothing?” He Mu raised a brow. “Not something you plan to pull out at night to murder your husband with?”
…What the hell?
“Boring,” Wenren Sheng pouted. “I’m sleepy. I’m going to bed.”
He Mu’s arm tightened around Wenren Sheng’s waist and pulled him into his embrace. “Wait, Shengsheng. Let me show you something.”
Something?
Fine, as long as it wasn’t about that stack of books.
Wenren Sheng didn’t resist. He leaned lazily against He Mu’s chest and let He Mu lift his wrist, drawing a few lines in his palm.
Moments later, a spell seal lit up with light. Wenren Sheng felt a weight in his palm, and a red lotus soon spun into existence among his fingers.
“Do you remember this thing?” He Mu looked down at him and said softly. “That day in Splendid Palace when we fought Siming, she used this lotus to make contact with you.”
Wenren Sheng cupped the lotus and asked doubtfully, “I remember. How does Brother have this?”
He Mu shook his head, his expression a bit helpless. “Red lotuses like this have sprouted all over the city now. Your master and I have tried many ways to destroy them, but nothing works.”
“Though they haven’t caused any issues yet, anything Siming leaves behind is bound to be a disaster waiting to happen. Better to deal with it sooner.”
“All over the city?” Wenren Sheng’s eyes widened slightly.
During the time he’d spent recuperating in Splendid Palace under He Mu’s care, he hadn’t realized so many changes had happened in the outside world.
He lifted the lotus to his nose and sniffed. A strange fragrance emanated from the stamens—familiar enough that he couldn’t help wanting to smell it again.
Before he could lean in once more, He Mu reached out and snuffed out the red lotus. The petals scattered and fluttered down, vanishing in moments.
“We haven’t figured out what it is. Don’t sniff it randomly,” He Mu lectured him.
Wenren Sheng said “oh” and put his hands away.
Seeing him obey, He Mu didn’t say more. He hugged Wenren Sheng again, resting his chin between the pair of wolf ears.
The ears parted to the sides obediently as soon as they sensed He Mu, showing that all wariness toward him had been completely erased.
He Mu pinched Wenren Sheng’s waist and said, “Great hero, no matter what, you bought Cangzhou City five years. Have you thought about what reward you want?”
“Reward?” Wenren Sheng said. “Mm… no need.”
“No need?”
Wenren Sheng nodded. “Great heroes act chivalrously not for rewards. If there’s a next time, I’ll protect Cangzhou City all the same.”
“Oh,” He Mu chuckled lowly twice. “So cool, Shengsheng.”
Wenren Sheng grew a bit proud. “Of course. I’ve reached soul formation realm now. If I cultivate harder over these five years, I can reach Mahayana realm and ascend to immortality.”
He Mu said, “And after ascension? What do you want to do?”
“After ascension…” Wenren Sheng pondered for a moment, then planned earnestly. “First, I’ll obtain a divine graven, defeat Siming, then go to that emperor in Heavenly Court and ask why he treats demons this way.”
He made it sound simple, but his goals were clear.
Heavenly Court’s persecution of demons wasn’t a recent thing. Outside Fragrant Ze Mountain and Cangzhou City, demons across the world suffered oppression.
The number of demons ascending in the past century had dwindled, and even those who did often met untimely ends as immortals. It wasn’t hard to guess who was behind it.
Wenren Sheng was one of those pitiful ones. From childhood, he’d been hunted by Siming’s disciple, who schemed to dig out his spirit root and repeatedly tried to take his life.
Fortunately, Wenren Sheng was a resilient child. Despite all his suffering, he still thought about how to help demons reclaim their place in the world.
He Mu had no reason not to help him.
“Good,” he said, scratching under Wenren Sheng’s chin before answering straightforwardly. “I’ll help you.”
Wenren Sheng’s heart leaped at those words. He rubbed his face against He Mu’s palm on his own initiative.
“Thanks, Brother,” he said. “Brother’s Dao heart is set. We can ascend together, right?”
But ascension wasn’t easy. Even a genius like He Mu hadn’t ascended until age twenty-five.
Though he had a heavenly spiritual root, getting a divine graven within five years would require not just hard work, but shortcuts too.
Wenren Sheng wasn’t worried about that, though.
He sneaked a glance under the bed, and the corners of his lips curved up.
He had the dual cultivation method now. Tomorrow, he could cultivate with He Mu.
He Mu had cultivated for many years. Dual cultivating with him would let Wenren Sheng learn a lot, and the spiritual power his spirit root absorbed would grow stronger.
That way, ascending in five years wouldn’t be hard. He might even replace Siming or become Heavenly Court’s new emperor. That would be too cool!
As he thought about it, Wenren Sheng covered his mouth and snickered.
He Mu felt the slight trembling of his body and looked at him puzzled.
“What are you laughing at?”
Wenren Sheng quickly composed himself. “I’m not laughing. I’m just a bit cold, so my body’s shaking.”
“Oh…” He Mu nodded in sudden realization and whispered in his ear, “Then shall we do something to warm up?”
“Wh-what the hell!”
Wenren Sheng struggled out of his arms and grumbled, “Why do you always twist things that way? Brother, you’re such a pervert!”
He Mu spread his hands innocently. “I meant going out to practice swordplay. What did you think?”
Wh…?!
Had he overthought it this time?
Wenren Sheng’s face turned red. He stammered defensively, “I-I didn’t, that’s not what I meant. I misheard!”
He Mu crossed his arms and looked at him with a half-smile.
“Thinking naughty thoughts?”
!!
With his mind read, Wenren Sheng’s ears burned crimson. The more effortlessly He Mu acted, the more flustered and guilty he felt—his tail nearly whipped up a breeze.
“I didn’t…” he mumbled.
“Didn’t?” He Mu was certain he had. He narrowed his eyes, hooked Wenren Sheng’s chin, and said, “Then why’s your face so red?”
He touched his own face. It was burning hot.
“…It’s not red.”
After Wenren Sheng murmured that softly, He Mu’s fingertip slid down from his neck.
Coolness brushed his collarbone, lingered briefly, then undid his collar.
Wenren Sheng didn’t dare resist and could only stand there enduring it. His collar soon peeled open, exposing half his chest.
He Mu tweaked him twice and teased, “Your body’s reacting too. You definitely just thought something improper.”
Wenren Sheng bit his lip. The words amplified his shame, and his legs grew unsteady.
He didn’t dare speak again. One more word, and He Mu would catch another handle to play with.
He Mu didn’t continue. He pressed Wenren Sheng’s shoulders to make him sit on the bed’s edge, then dragged over a chair to sit facing him.
He Mu curved his eyes and said, “Don’t be scared. We agreed to start tomorrow night. I won’t do anything tonight.”
Wenren Sheng’s clothes hung half-open like that, and he didn’t bother fixing them. As soon as he sat on the bed, his mind filled with thoughts of that stack of golden house books.
Right under the bed. He Mu could easily notice from his position.
Wenren Sheng wasn’t good at hiding things. He sneaked a glance at He Mu, shifted to the bed’s center, crossed his legs to block the underside.
He covered up, “Then… I’m going to sleep. Brother should sleep soon too.”
He Mu saw right through him.
But he wasn’t sure exactly what it was—just that Wenren Sheng had hidden something under the bed.
Since it wasn’t for murdering his husband… Maybe it had to do with tomorrow’s dual cultivation?
“Wenren Sheng,” He Mu asked. “What did you do when you went out today?”
“Huh? I went to find that Wind Messenger from the teahouse, Big Brother Xu.”
He Mu asked again, “What for? To buy something?”
Wenren Sheng nodded honestly, silently chanting in his mind, “Please don’t ask what I bought,” because he hadn’t made up an excuse yet!
He Mu really didn’t ask.
He stood directly, shoved Wenren Sheng aside, bent down, and reached under the bed to check for himself.
Wenren Sheng’s expression changed in alarm. In his panic, he grabbed He Mu’s wrist.
“What are you doing?!”
He Mu paused and asked puzzled, “Just checking what’s under the bed. What’s wrong? Such a big reaction.”
“I didn’t react big!” Wenren Sheng sprang up, stood on the floor, and pulled at He Mu. “You’re not allowed to look!”
Wenren Sheng’s resistance only made He Mu more curious. He deftly shook off the grip and reached under again.
This time, he really touched something—a square bundle wrapped in cloth, like books.
Books. Why hide them so deeply?
He Mu felt the hemp rope binding the stack, tugged it, and planned to drag it out for a look.
Wenren Sheng’s soul nearly fled in fright. He lunged forward and hugged He Mu tightly, heart in his throat.
Just glimpsing those spring palace books filled him with shame enough to die. How could He Mu find out he’d hidden them?
No… absolutely not!
He Mu was caught off guard by the hug and paused.
Half-crouching on the floor, he turned slightly to look at Wenren Sheng. Their eyes met levelly.
“Shengsheng,” he smiled gently and said. “You really don’t want me to see?”
Wenren Sheng said, “It’s not anything fun. What’s there to see?”
He Mu pinched his cheek and said, “I think anything to do with you is fun.”
Wenren Sheng had wanted to argue, but He Mu’s softened attitude left him without strength to retort.
The Mountain God treated him so well and gently. Always hiding things from him made him seem disobedient.
But this… he absolutely couldn’t let the Mountain God know today.
Wenren Sheng thought for a moment, then tugged He Mu’s sleeve with a bit of force.
His other hand undid his own belt.
The already loose clothes immediately slid from his shoulders, leaving his upper body bare. Cool white skin bore the fingerprints He Mu had just left—red marks like plum blossoms on snow, eye-catchingly vivid.
“Brother.”
A flush colored the corners of Wenren Sheng’s eyes. He seemed helpless as he sighed lightly, then said softly,
“Tonight, let’s play something else instead.”
