Although he had learned of He Mu’s true intentions, Wenren Sheng ultimately couldn’t resist the persistent coaxing and ended up doing it twice more.
If it had been before the Golden Core Realm, he really would have worried that his body would be ruined by He Mu.
Wenren Sheng flipped over half-dead onto the bed, hissing in pain as he rubbed the side of his waist.
“We need to restrain ourselves a bit, Brother,” he mumbled, half his face buried in the bedding. “I’m still growing…”
He Mu drew in his legs and sat cross-legged beside Wenren Sheng, massaging his lower back and thighs for him.
Following Wenren Sheng’s words, he said: “You’ve already passed the Golden Core Realm. What body are you still growing?”
Wenren Sheng buried his head lower, aggrievedly swishing his tail. “At least wait a few days before doing it again! My whole body feels like it’s falling apart. How can I cultivate like this?”
They had initially gone to bed for dual cultivation, but in reality, they hadn’t properly focused on dual cultivation at all during this time.
Most of the time, they were like two fish entwined until death, unwilling to let go of each other even if the pool dried up.
He Mu smiled without speaking and reached out to pat Wenren Sheng’s lower back. His fluffy tail quickly perked up from the pat, and Wenren Sheng narrowed his eyes, comfortably arching his neck.
Before long, he undid the Transformation Technique and reverted to his original form, only to be scooped up in He Mu’s hand.
Wenren Sheng whined twice and hugged He Mu’s palm with all four limbs.
“Alright,” He Mu said. “Starting tomorrow, we’ll cultivate properly and aim to reach the Mahayana Realm before returning to Cang Province. How’s that?”
“Really?”
Wenren Sheng’s tone clearly brightened with joy, his tail whipping so fast it left afterimages.
“Brother, you’ll cultivate with me, right!”
He Mu said matter-of-factly: “Of course. And you learn faster than others. Once your birthday this year passes, you might even ascend.”
Wenren Sheng happily barked twice, playfully gnawing on He Mu’s fingers.
But after being happy for just a short while, he slowly retracted his smile, tucked his paws, and pondered: “But after reaching the Mahayana Realm, what do I need to do to ascend?”
He Mu stroked Wenren Sheng’s fur and said: “The final hurdle for ascension is reaching the Great Perfection Realm and fulfilling the Dao Heart you established when you awakened your enlightenment and divine weapon. Then, the Heavenly Court will naturally grant you a Divine Graven.”
Wenren Sheng asked doubtfully: “But last time, Siming seemed to say that when you ascended, Brother, you had to go through the Pointing Generals of the Heavenly Court Immortal Division?”
“That’s correct,” He Mu said. “The Immortal Registry selects heirs they fancy from those qualified for ascension. That process is called ‘Pointing Generals.'”
Wenren Sheng tilted his head against He Mu’s finger and quietly listened to him speak. After He Mu briefly explained the origins of ascension and Pointing Generals, Wenren Sheng voiced his question.
“Then, if someone reaches the qualifications for ascension, but no immortals in the Immortal Registry are willing to take them as an heir, what happens?”
“Well…” He Mu smiled. “I haven’t heard of it before.”
“You haven’t heard of it?”
“Mm, the number of ascenders each year is limited. I haven’t heard of any precedent where someone failed to ascend because they weren’t selected in Pointing Generals.”
He Mu paused, then continued:
“But not hearing of it doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.”
This statement was loaded, and Wenren Sheng caught on. He sat up, his wolf ears perking up.
He Mu said calmly: “As far as I know, there haven’t been any demons among ascenders in the past century. However, during the years I’ve been in the lower realms, I’ve visited many sects and found that there are quite a few demons with ascension potential.”
“Last time in Cangzhou City, Siming said she had completely mastered the Heavenly Dao,” Wenren Sheng said. “The massacre of the Shan Yue clan happened over a hundred years ago, and the timeline matches.”
At this point, Wenren Sheng suddenly thought of something and looked up to meet He Mu’s gaze.
After gazing at each other for a moment, he jumped into He Mu’s arms, sitting on him with his legs hooked around.
“Brother, why was it Siming who selected you during Pointing Generals when you ascended? How did she see at a glance that you were so powerful?”
As soon as this was mentioned, He Mu didn’t want to answer. He averted his eyes, lowered his head slightly, and his gaze fell on Wenren Sheng’s collarbone.
He kissed it, coaxing: “Shengsheng, ask something else.”
The more he refused to say, the more anxious Wenren Sheng became. Finally, he grabbed He Mu’s head and buried his face into his own chest, intending to smother him until he sobered up.
“Mmph…!”
“Tell me quickly!” Wenren Sheng said angrily. “I’ve finally got such a clear train of thought. Don’t drop the ball at the critical moment!”
“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you—”
Hearing He Mu agree, Wenren Sheng finally relaxed.
He Mu lifted his head again and said slowly: “Is your heat period almost over?”
Wenren Sheng said warily: “Wh-what?”
“The scent is much fainter than usual,” He Mu said.
During Wenren Sheng’s heat period, he had a special scent on him, sweet like pear blossom dew. He Mu had often smelled it while kissing him during this time.
The scent itself wasn’t lustful, but the contexts in which it appeared were always so lascivious and entwined, leaving a deep impression on He Mu. Now that it had suddenly faded, he naturally noticed.
Wenren Sheng said coquettishly: “Of course it’s ending…! It’s almost summer now.”
As he spoke, he reached up to rub his nape, where He Mu had just left a kiss mark right over that faint mole.
It was clear that He Mu really liked biting him, even remembering his scent so clearly.
Brother is such a rogue…!
Wenren Sheng huffed twice, not angry at all, even a bit happy.
He tried to flatten his mouth and said: “Alright, stop changing the subject, Brother. Tell me quickly—why did Siming choose you?”
Unable to resist him, He Mu had no choice but to tell the truth.
“Probably because… of my divine weapon.”
He beckoned, summoning Color Kill from the nearby weapon rack into his hand.
“Every divine weapon has its own characteristics. For example, your divine weapon Heavenly Heart can release Illusion Arts that can even deceive immortals.”
He flipped Color Kill over, revealing the plum blossom cracks on it.
“And Color Kill is the only sword in the world that can erase a Divine Graven.”
“At that time, Siming couldn’t cover the sky with one hand yet. Many opposed her idea of exterminating the demon race. She needed just such a sword to silence those dissenters.”
At this point, He Mu set the sword by the bed and rested his forehead against Wenren Sheng’s.
“After ascending, I told Siming that I would only kill the guilty, and she agreed to that condition,” He Mu said softly. “But later I found out that the so-called crimes of those I killed were all fabricated by Siming. She deceived the Three Pure Ones Bell and my sword.”
“…”
He Mu sighed and said: “I’m sorry. I took many wrong paths and did many wrong things. The current situation is inseparable from my involvement.”
Wenren Sheng turned his head to look at Color Kill, and after a moment, reached out to touch it.
Having grown up reading stories about the Mountain God, to him, Color Kill wasn’t some ferocious divine weapon. It was just targeted by Siming because of its powerful ability and misused for so many wrong deeds.
Seeing Wenren Sheng silent, He Mu couldn’t help but grasp his hand and press it to his own chest.
“This is the whole truth, Shengsheng,” he said. “If you blame me and want my life…”
Wenren Sheng’s face flushed a bit as he felt the strong heartbeat, slightly curling his fingers.
Even if He Mu hadn’t told him, he had already guessed most of it during that confrontation with Siming.
Hearing the full story today, the questions that had always puzzled him finally had answers.
“Does Brother feel sorry towards me?”
Wenren Sheng suddenly asked.
He Mu hadn’t expected such a direct question. He held Wenren Sheng and guiltily hummed in affirmation.
In the end, he didn’t care who he had wrongly killed before, who he had helped, how many sins he committed or merits he lost. The only thing he cared about was Wenren Sheng. He didn’t want to cause him any pain or unhappiness.
But such things had still happened. Siming was cruel and ruthless, and he had aided the tyrant. He originally had no right to sit here, tightly embracing Wenren Sheng.
Having all this now was because this little demon Wenren Sheng was too kind. He always repaid kindness with kindness and wouldn’t implicate others because of it.
As expected, after only a brief silence, Wenren Sheng reached up to cup He Mu’s cheeks.
“But when Brother was helping Siming, I hadn’t even been born yet,” he said earnestly. “You have nothing to be sorry for towards me. Don’t talk about yourself like that anymore.”
He Mu smiled helplessly: “I knew you’d say that.”
“You knew again,” Wenren Sheng was unhappy, frowning. “If you knew, why did you still have to say such things!”
“Because I think you’re too kind, forgiving me too easily. I clearly—”
“So Brother means,” Wenren Sheng coldly interrupted him, “that it’s all my fault now?”
“No, no,” He Mu saw him about to flare up and quickly stroked his wolf ears. “It’s all my fault. I won’t say it again.”
Wenren Sheng was even more dissatisfied. He dodged He Mu’s hand and said angrily: “I didn’t say it was your fault. Why are you always rushing to admit fault? You didn’t even listen to what I said properly!”
“I did,” He Mu felt wronged. “Shengsheng, I listened to every word carefully. Don’t be angry. I just think I have issues too, so—”
“Didn’t I say you have no problem!”
“…………”
He Mu opened his mouth but didn’t dare speak again.
Wenren Sheng was nearly pissed off by He Mu. He hadn’t asked about this for any accountability from the start. He didn’t feel He Mu had caused him any pain and didn’t need his apology.
But this man didn’t understand his feelings at all, kept saying sorry, making it seem like there was some blood feud between them.
Hadn’t they agreed not to let barriers form between them? The Mountain God had completely forgotten their promise!
The more Wenren Sheng thought, the angrier he got. Finally, he huffily rolled himself up in the blanket like a spring roll and lay at the edge of the bed.
He Mu called out, amused yet helpless: “Shengsheng, you’re not wearing clothes. You’ll catch a cold sleeping like that.”
“Starting tomorrow, I won’t talk to you,” Wenren Sheng interrupted coldly. “If you have anything, go through Night Dharma Protector to relay it.”
Finally, he viciously tossed out “Good night, Brother” and ignored He Mu completely thereafter.
