Chapter 68: The Runaway Wife is in Danger! The Evil, Charming Cult Leader Loves Gently
This happened many years ago.
In a small, dark, and narrow room, several thin and emaciated youths were huddled together, their faces full of fear as they leaned against the wall.
A seven-year-old boy was holding a younger boy, comforting him in a low voice, “Don’t be afraid… don’t be afraid…”
The little boy himself was also very scared, but he could only force himself to hold it in. Otherwise, the person in his arms would have a breakdown.
The boy gripped the little boy’s sleeve tightly and said in a low voice, “Brother Dan Xi… I don’t want to take the medicine, I don’t want to be tied up by them… it hurts…”
Little Dan Xi gently patted the boy’s back.
“Don’t be afraid… we will escape…” Little Dan Xi gritted his teeth and secretly made up his mind that one day, he would escape from this demonic cult’s headquarters!
He had originally been the legitimate son of a prominent family in the capital, but on one outing, he had been accidentally abducted by the demonic cult and had been living a hellish life ever since.
“Don’t you be afraid. I will protect you.”
Little Dan Xi also decided that no matter what, he would protect this boy he had met here.
Seeing that the boy was really scared, Dan Xi pointed to the window. “Look, the stars are out again.”
The boy turned his head blankly and saw that the only window in the room was now bringing starlight into the dark room.
“Shall I teach you how to look at the stars?”
“Look at the stars?”
Dan Xi said mysteriously, “I’ve known how to look at the stars since I was a child. Sometimes I can even see what will happen tomorrow from the stars!”
The boy blinked. “So amazing…”
“I’ll teach you!”
Dan Xi drew a crooked and inaccurate formation on the sandy ground with a branch.
“Probably… like this?”
The two small figures huddled in a corner, and with that faint starlight, they spent every one of their nights.
Five years later, on a night of a sudden downpour, there was no starlight.
The door was pushed open, and a masked man pulled Dan Xi out of the room.
“Brother Dan Xi! Brother Dan Xi! Let him go! Let… mmph—”
The boy was held down and beaten by several other masked men.
“I’ll go with you! Don’t hurt him!”
“Brother Dan Xi…!”
Dan Xi was pulled to a large hall and saw an old man with fluttering robes. Behind the old man was a group of people in armor.
“I am the master of the Starfall Pavilion, and also the Imperial Preceptor of the Great Gong. It was the astrolabe that led me to you. I have been tracking you all this way and have finally found my destined successor,” the old man said with a smile. “I can take you out.”
“You want to… take me away?”
Dan Xi’s eyes widened in disbelief.
He looked at the masked men who had brought nightmares to their group of children, then at the old man. Dan Xi was so overwhelmed with ecstasy that his head was spinning.
“Yes,” the old man said with a kind smile.
“Take my fri… my brother with you!”
“I’m sorry. The imperial court should not interfere in the affairs of the jianghu. You are the ‘cauldrons’ of the demonic cult. We have already spent too much energy and paid too high a price to get one of you from the demonic cult. We can’t take any more.”
“If he doesn’t go, I won’t go either!”
The old man looked at Dan Xi’s stubborn appearance and shook his head. He waved his hand at a soldier beside him.
The soldier then went towards Dan Xi.
“You… don’t come over! I want to go with my brother! I can’t leave him, I…”
Then, Dan Xi was knocked unconscious.
For the next five years, Dan Xi was locked up in the Starfall Pavilion, focusing on cultivation. Sometimes, Dan Xi felt that the Starfall Pavilion was no different from that demonic cult, just without the punishments.
Dan Xi also often wondered what had happened to that little boy.
In the fifth year, the old Imperial Preceptor died. On the night Dan Xi came out of seclusion to inherit the Starfall Pavilion, the Starfall Pavilion was attacked by the enemy.
And Dan Xi also learned the answer to what had happened to that little boy.
Clang—
The door was kicked open, and Dan Xi stared blankly at the tall man before him.
At this moment, the Starfall Pavilion was in chaos. At this time, before this surprise attack, the Starfall Pavilion had been built outside the palace. Therefore, the Imperial Guard had not yet arrived, and most of the people here did not know martial arts. How could they resist the full-force attack of the demonic cult?
Dan Xi looked out the window. The sky was filled with firelight, and everywhere were the sounds of killing and people fleeing.
“Brother Dan Xi, do you still remember me?” The man was dressed in a purple robe, and he spoke softly, as if he were confessing his love to a lover. “I’ve been looking for you for a long, long time.”
Dan Xi’s body was stiff. He looked around. There was no chance of escape.
“I treated you as my heaven, but you abandoned me. You taught me how to look at the stars, we made formations together, we promised to go out together, but you betrayed me.” The man’s phoenix eyes were slightly raised, and his wicked features, paired with a smile that was not quite a smile, sent a chill down Dan Xi’s spine.
“I completed the formation by myself. I killed all those villains in the demonic cult and took over the Joyful Moon Cult.”
“I… I didn’t. I was knocked unconscious and taken away by force.”
“Are you still trying to lie to me now?” The man lowered his eyes. “Brother Dan Xi, I’ve really missed you all these years, really, really missed you, so much that I was about to go crazy. Do you know that you are the only one in my life, the meaning of my existence?”
The man went forward and pushed Dan Xi onto the bed, pressing down on him and kissing him. It was more like the bite of a wild beast than a kiss, roughly holding him down as if he wanted to tear him apart and eat him.
Dan Xi could see the pain and hatred in those eyes, but also the attachment and love.
“Ah…!”
“No… mmph…”
Outside the room was a sea of killing, and inside, the spring scenery was boundless.
XXXXXX
“Imperial Preceptor? Imperial Preceptor?”
Dan Xi’s eyes snapped open.
“Did the Imperial Preceptor have a nightmare?”
Dan Xi looked around. He was leaning against a lounge chair on the top of the Stargazing Tower. It seemed he had accidentally fallen asleep.
Dan Xi knocked on his forehead. Why had he dreamed of the past… and the night the Starfall Pavilion was attacked…
He thought of what Xing Huan had done to him. Although it was gentle, it had forced him to completely lose control. Dan Xi couldn’t help but want to pry open his own brain and remove these memories.
It was probably because of Xing Huan’s sudden closeness in Phoenix Ridge a few days ago.
Shaking his head, Dan Xi tried to calm himself down.
Many years ago, Xing Huan had attacked the Starfall Pavilion outside the palace. But the Starfall Pavilion had always been low-key and mysterious, and Xing Huan didn’t know what he was attacking. Therefore, after Dan Xi was rescued, he had managed to evade Xing Huan’s pursuit for a long time.
And when they met again through Zhao Linxu, Xing Huan’s attitude towards him was completely different, and his style and temperament had also completely changed.
Dan Xi shook his head, only hoping that Xing Huan would not come looking for him again.
He stood up, preparing to go back to his room to rest, but he was stunned.
He looked up at the stars in the sky, and Dan Xi was frozen on the spot. One of the stars was now flickering with a strange red light, unusually bright.
Xing Huan was in danger…?
XXXXXX
The headquarters of the Joyful Moon Cult was actually not far from the capital, just on a mountainside in the outskirts. It was a half-day’s journey.
When Dan Xi arrived at the archway at the foot of the mountain of the Joyful Moon Cult, he was immediately stopped by several cult members.
“Who goes there!”
Dan Xi was stunned.
“I am a friend of the Cult Leader.” Dan Xi thought for a moment and took a jade pendant from his waist. “Take this to your Cult Leader, and he will know.”
The several cult members looked at each other.
To have traveled so far and yet to be so unwelcome, Dan Xi had also calmed down by now.
Xing Huan was no longer the little child from back then. A little child would not have pressed him down and done that kind of thing. A little child would not have single-handedly founded the famous and prestigious Joyful Moon Cult.
Why had he rushed here in a hot-headed pursuit?
In any case, he had already warned himself. They had agreed to not interfere with each other in the future.
“No need to report.” Dan Xi did not take back the jade pendant. In any case, it was Xing Huan’s, and he did not want to take anything of his anymore.
With that, Dan Xi turned and mounted his horse to leave.
The sky had already started to turn dark. Dan Xi did not know martial arts, so he was unwilling to risk traveling at night. He stayed at an inn in the city.
At night, just as Dan Xi was soaking his feet and preparing to rest, he heard a “clatter, clatter” sound from the window.
Dan Xi was startled and immediately became alert, his hand gently gripping the dagger under his pillow.
Then, the window was pushed open, and a man struggled to climb in.
Dan Xi: “…”
The man’s hands were on the windowsill, one leg was inside the room, and the other was still outside.
In Dan Xi’s past life, the window was the only thing that had brought him light. Later, at the Starfall Pavilion, the window was what had isolated him. And now…
Now, a Xing Huan had climbed out of the window.
Seeing how hard Xing Huan was struggling to climb, Dan Xi, in his confusion, went forward and gave him a hand. After all, if Xing Huan were to fall in the middle of the night, it would not be good to disturb the others. It would be too embarrassing.
And after Dan Xi went forward, he understood why the highly skilled Xing Huan, the dignified Cult Leader, was having such a hard time climbing a window.
“You’re injured?”
The smell of blood assailed his nostrils. If Dan Xi looked closely, he could see bloodstains slowly spreading on Xing Huan’s side, but it was not clear because the purple robe was very dark.
“Ah… the wound has opened,” Xing Huan said helplessly. “I was attacked and injured today.”
“It’s not a big deal. I’ve already killed those who ambushed me.”
Not a big deal and you’re injured like this?
The stars were indeed not wrong.
Dan Xi had Xing Huan sit on the bed and applied medicine and bandaged him.
“Dan Xi…”
Xing Huan said with a grin, “I’m very happy that you came. I’m also very happy that you still have my jade pendant from back then.”
Dan Xi said helplessly, “You’re still injured. You don’t have to rush to see me.”
“I was afraid you would be angry. Those subordinates of mine are ignorant and don’t recognize you. I’ll have your portrait shown to every cult member later and have them treat you like a revered Buddha when they see you in the future.”
Dan Xi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“You care about me,” Xing Huan said with a low laugh. “You still care about me.”
Dan Xi didn’t speak.
“Give me a chance? Let’s start over.”
Dan Xi still didn’t speak, just lowered his head and carefully bandaged Xing Huan. The wound stretched across half his waist and looked extremely terrifying.
“Shall I stay the night?”
Although he didn’t get any reaction, Xing Huan was very happy.
The fate and red thread between them had long been tied together. No matter what had happened, they were still the youths in each other’s hearts. The memories of that year could never be erased, because they had long been integrated into their bones and blood.
Let’s take it slow.
Their road was still very long.
